St Helena Records 1723-1725

Introduction: This is the seventeenth volume in the series of St Helena Records, which summarises the proceedings of official meetings held by the island’s Governor and Council, during which matters of government, defence, supplies, justice and discipline were discussed and recorded.

Source: Images of the original records can be viewed on the British Library’s website: https://eap.bl.uk/archive-file/EAP1364-1-1-18.

Text Transcription This transcription was produced by AI from handwritten document images held on the British Library's website, at about thirty pages per hour. Given the limitations described below, the text should be regarded as unreliable and used only as a search-and-find shortcut: once a relevant section has been located, it must always be checked against the source image via the hyperlinked Film Numbers listed in the main transcription table below.

Three specific problems affected the work. First, AI tends to prioritise meaning and readability at the expense of fidelity to the original, with a strong disposition to normalise spellings, expand abbreviations, and adjust grammar. It is particularly weak with unfamiliar surnames, and scrawled signatures often resist accurate transcription entirely. Transcriptions by eye of documents spanning four centuries have also shown that a single surname could be written in a wide variety of ways: the Crowie family name appears under six different spellings, and the Isaacs family name under sixteen. Searches for surnames are therefore hindered both by genuine variations in the originals and by mistranscriptions introduced by AI, and for this reason are best run phonetically. Second, the AI struggled with the late secretary hand, the script commonly used from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, in which the letter S appears in a form closely resembling a trailing L. Third, occasional passages in these volumes are written in a hand so obscure or poorly formed as to be difficult to read even by eye, sometimes compounded by heavy ink bleed-through from the reverse side or by the loss of sections of pages.

To mitigate these difficulties, a strict protocol was applied to each image, requiring the AI to rely solely on clearly visible ink strokes and to flag any uncertain reading, thereby reducing the risk of inferred or invented text. Two conventions are used. [...] marks text that could not be read with confidence; this may represent a single unreadable word, a full sentence, or occasionally an entire paragraph. Square brackets around letters or words indicate a conjectural reading supplied by the transcriber: brackets around a whole word, for example [Bazett], mean the entire word was unclear and a probable reading has been supplied, while brackets around individual letters within an otherwise readable word, for example B[a]z[e]tt, mean only those specific letters were unclear in the source and the unbracketed letters were legibly present.

Modern Summary and Analysis Each section of text was submitted for AI analysis in order to explain the archaic language in clear, modern UK English. These are not direct sentence by sentence replacements, but explanatory interpretations intended to clarify meaning while preserving the substance of the original. Where a specific individual is named within a section of the original text, that person will generally also be identified within the explanatory interpretation. However, where the original consists largely of lists of names, these are not usually repeated in the explanatory text.

Each text modern summary is followed by two forms of AI-generated analysis. The first, an Interpretations section, draws on wider information located on the internet to provide additional commentary on the material. The second, a Speculations section, offers one or more possible reflections on what the document might further suggest. The value of these notes ranges from the profound to the trivial or self-evident; time did not permit deletion of the latter.

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 page numbering begins on Film No. 5, that is, 5/1. It continues in sequence until Film Nos. 100 and 101, both of which are numbered as page 96. The sequence therefore runs as 99/95, 100/96, 101/96, 102/97, and so forth. The numbering then continues regularly until 204/199, after which the next page is numbered as 100. The sequence at this point runs as 203/198, 204/199, 205/100, 206/101, and so on. The numbering then resumes normally until 237/132, when it jumps by two from 132 to 134. The sequence here runs as 236/131, 237/132, 238/134, 239/135, and continues in order. From this point the numbering proceeds without further irregularities to the end of the volume.

Dates: This volume records consultations on St Helena dated at the time as between 20 February 1723 and 16 June 1725. England and its colonies then followed the Old-Style Julian calendar, in which the legal new year began on 25 March (Lady Day).

The earliest date recorded in this volume is a consultation held on 20 February 1722 (1723 in the modern calendar) and the last date is a consultation on 16 June 1725.

The Council meetings were held during the administrations of Edward Byfield (1723) and Captain John Smith (1723–1727).

AI Generated Summary

Introduction

This consolidated account draws together a sequence of reports on St Helena, running from February 1723 to June 1725. The island was then a fortified refreshment station of the English East India Company, held to water and provision the homeward East Indiamen on the route between Europe and Asia. The record opens in the days after the death of Governor Edward Johnson on 16 February 1723 and follows his interim successor Edward Byfield, then the commissioned government of Governor John Smith, whose council sat week by week at Union Castle and the plantation house in James Valley. [Film No. 5-9, 81]

The material is administrative throughout, built from weekly consultations, store accounts, livestock returns, gunner's tallies, petitions, sworn depositions, court proceedings and successive censuses. Its narrowness is worth marking at the outset. The record reflects the concerns of the Company's servants and preserves little of the voice of the ordinary planters or the enslaved people who made up much of the population. It was compiled to render account to the directors in London. It fixes numbers, prices and decisions, yet says little of the inner lives of the people who fill its columns. [Film No. 13-25, 55-104]

The whole period is dominated by two continuities. A long drought, running through four and then five failed seasons, threatened the settlement with famine and forced it to draw grain from India. Around this ran the endless business of land, leases, provisioning and the annual reckoning of every inhabitant's account, punctuated by criminal trials and the disciplining of disorderly officers. The reader must weigh throughout what such an archive was built to show and what it left unseen. [Film No. 205-254, 355-368]

Governance and Administration

The central event of the earliest months was the change of government. Governor Johnson died on 16 February 1723, and Byfield, as second of the council, succeeded him, the change proclaimed at the funeral and entered at the consultation of 19 February. The new Governor used the general muster of 25 February to address the whole island, pressing above all for an end to the divisions that had split the settlers for years. He urged the inhabitants to establish a funded public provision for educating their children in religion, virtue and useful learning. His choice of persuasion over command suggests a calculated approach to a fragile succession. [Film No. 5-6]

Byfield held office only through the graded establishment, his rule resting on seniority rather than commission. The regular line was restored in late May 1723. The Essex, under Captain John Sommers, arrived from England with stores and a new governor, John Smith, whose commission was read and published by beat of drum. Smith took the head of the council and Byfield dropped to second. The reordering followed the form the Company required at every change of head, showing the directors keeping a firm grip on the headship of the distant station. [Film No. 86, 87]

Correcting a predecessor

The new administration revisited the acts of the previous governor, whose summary dismissals of officers were reopened one by one. John Swallow, broken as corporal and whipped at the flagstaff, was restored because no formal order of consultation had ever dismissed him. The gunner John French and his mate William Worrall were both restored, French even allowed back-pay for his suspension, less the sum paid to the man who had covered his post. The council rested each decision on a point of form, distinguishing a governor's personal severity from the settled judgement of the bench. [Film No. 111, 125, 137-138]

The routine business of administration went on beneath these larger matters. The council verified fair copies of the account books and confirmed them balanced. It filled its offices from the personnel of visiting ships, taking on William Coulthread, purser of the Godfrey, as clerk of the council, and moving Benjamin Hawkes into the stores where his experience of shopkeeping better suited him. This shows a settlement with no ready pool of trained clerks, obliged to recruit administrative talent from the vessels that happened to call. [Film No. 9, 18]

Care for the records themselves marked the government. The council ordered that no books be carried out of the Fort, and fitted up a dry replacement office when the secretary's papers had been scattered among four or five leaky rooms. It later ordered alphabetical indexes made to its account and register books, so that any deed or account could be found without searching a whole volume. This concern ran alongside a wider anxiety about how the island's conduct would read in London. [Film No. 144, 146, 224-235]

The council editing its own record

The record repeatedly shows the bench managing its own image. In November 1723 a bitter quarrel between the Governor and Captain Alexander, together with John Long's petition complaining that Alexander had cut a drainage trench through his ground and abused him, was struck through in full by the clerk's pen. The bench cleared the whole affair from the record sent to London. The suppression did not wholly succeed, for Alexander recorded his reason for refusing to sign the consultation of 26 November 1723, preserving on the formal record the very break the cancelled pages had tried to bury. [Film No. 205-206, 210]

The management of the record surfaced again in the Hawkes affair. Governor Smith admitted that he had at first deliberately kept out of the consultation book the fact that Hawkes, the new councillor, had fathered a child on the widow Margaret Tovey. Only when Hawkes renewed the connection against warning did the Governor abandon discretion and set the whole matter on the record, tying the man's continued employment to his ending it. Two clerical mishaps tell the same story of a working archive, a whole consultation of 31 March 1724 being entered twice then struck through, and an orphans' estate account omitted by mistake and restored to its place. [Film No. 379-380, 305, 311]

Much business lay beyond the island's own authority and turned on the directors' orders. The council sold 10 acres bought of William Charles and later shipped 10 useless great guns east, both in direct execution of paragraphs in the Company's general letters. Where a matter had already been transacted in consultations sent home, the bench would not decide it afresh, referring the tangled Coales land dispute and the harshest demand of the free-black petition to the Company for its opinion. [Film No. 128, 153, 377, 391]

A settled monthly routine

By 1724 the council governed through a settled monthly routine, four officers each running a distinct branch and rendering their own returns. Captain Byfield held the plantations and livestock, Captain Goodwin the stores, Mr French the gunner's stores and Mr Crispe the General Table. The bench audited these together, checking every charge against the department that had consumed it before the total was struck. The audit was deliberately divided so that the whole account did not rest on a single man. [Film No. 514, 549]

A routine control governed the accounts themselves. Captain Goodwin examined the books and found the fair books to agree with the foul books, the foul books holding the rough daily entries and the fair books the clean copy made from them, so that agreement between the two confirmed nothing had been altered. This audit ran alongside the annual reckoning, when every inhabitant was pressed to pay his rent and clear old debt at once. [Film No. 509]

Military Affairs and Defence

The island's defence rested on its batteries and a compulsory militia of every able man. The gunner accounted for his stores month by month, the powder and shot entered against each salute and alarm. The burial of Governor Johnson on 18 February 1723 drew a large discharge of ordnance, and the salute for Byfield as succeeding governor a larger one still, the honours for the new ruler exceeding those for the dead. Attendance at muster was enforced as a duty owed to the island's safety, several men summoned to explain their absence before the council. [Film No. 13, 44, 15]

The annual survey of the magazine gave a measure of the island's armament and its wear. Twelve pedereroes and several sakers and culverins were marked decayed and unfit for service, while heavy consumption of lead shot against a small remaining stock reflected the demands of musketry at repeated alarms. One entry explained a heavy loss of powder without any enemy in sight, above 70 great guns loaded for a fortnight having to be fired off and reloaded, since a standing charge spoils and can damage the piece. [Film No. 45-46, 70, 97]

The road as a defensive position

Defence shaped the council's dealings with every ship in the road. On each alarm it wrote to the commanders present, directing them to run out a stream cable with a small anchor and heave in close under the west rocks, so that no pirate or other hostile ship should come between a vessel and the shore and cut it out. The instruction went in near-identical form to Captains Prince, Chambers, Pitt of the Stanhope and Hunter of the Barrington, applied as settled routine. The naming of pirates as the specific danger reveals the real risk to a remote anchorage holding only a few ships at a time. [Film No. 62, 63, 237, 242]

The guns served to control shipping as well as to honour it. On several occasions the fort fired from Munden's Point to make a strange ship bring to, compelling her to anchor where the council wished. This was a working signal rather than a salute. The same batteries that greeted the Company's East Indiamen thus policed the movement of every sail that came near, and the recurring alarms for strange fleets, most judged to be Dutch East Indiamen standing away from the Cape, kept the lookouts watchful over a lightly held coast. [Film No. 360, 378, 272, 285]

The convoy rule

A strict convoy rule bound the island's own shipping for the dangerous homeward passage past the Cape. When His Majesty's ship Salisbury arrived under Captain Brathwait in January 1724 and offered to take the Stanhope under her convoy, the council pressed Captain Pitt to delay and sail in her company, grounding the advice on the 59th paragraph of the directors' general letter. Under the same rule, when the Hartford arrived sick from China, the council held the Montague and Bridgewater back for her. The commanders turned the demand into a bargain, agreeing to wait only if each lent the sick ship two men, and the council disclaimed all liability for any loss, shifting the whole risk onto any commander who broke convoy. [Film No. 247-248, 336-340]

The island served as an arsenal within the Company's network. It received four bomb shells from Bombay for the Governor to test, armed the departing James and Mary with a culverin and demi-cannon, and shipped 10 great guns judged useless to Bencoolen for disposal. Ordnance flowed both ways through St Helena, the fort drawing fresh armament from India while clearing its surplus eastward on the directors' orders. In January 1725 the gunner delivered 10 barrels of powder to the Prince Augusta, far beyond the routine salutes, and powder was spent in fixing grenade trunks, marking the island as a source of ammunition for the eastern trade. [Film No. 384, 391, 393, 489]

The guns needed constant care and their fittings were tracked closely. The accounts list sponge staves, handspikes, scouring rods and tompions worn or broken in service, alongside the match and cartridge paper spent in firing, the tompions being the plugs fitted into a gun's muzzle to keep out rain and spray. A detailed indent of stores wanting, sent home in May 1725, requested firearms with bayonets, halberts, drums, grenadier caps and soldiers' hats, together with wheels and carriages for the demi-cannon and demi-culverin, revealing a fort whose armament depended wholly on resupply from England. [Film No. 519, 555, 559]

The condition of the fort's magazine drew a decision to move the Company's powder to a safer place. The grand magazine in front of the castle was found damp and decayed, several barrels already spoiled, and its position beside the living quarters made fire a grave danger. The council resolved to convert the walled warehouse on the square into a new and drier magazine, choosing to adapt a secure building rather than raise a wholly new store, at as little charge as possible. In April 1725 heavy salutes greeted two governors passing through, Elwick of Fort St George and Jennings. [Film No. 419, 532]

Settlement, Land and Agriculture

Land was held by lease from the Company and recorded in a register book that served as the instrument of tenure. Title depended on the register, so a stale entry left unresolved could later be set up against a current holder, as when an old lease to Humphry Edwards, gone from the island seven years, had to be formally vacated before a fresh grant could take effect. Inhabitants applied for small parcels of the Company's waste, and the council referred each to two surveying councillors, usually Alexander and Goodwin, who viewed the ground and reported whether a grant would harm any neighbour. Leases ran for a standard term of 21 years. [Film No. 14, 65]

The rent recorded varies between the reports, from 4d to 4s and later commonly 4s 0d or 5s 0d per acre, a discrepancy the records do not resolve, sometimes with a further 1 shilling duty. The viewing procedure was no formality, and competing claims could defeat a grant. Thomas Harper's petition for about 12 acres in Swanley Valley was rejected when Captain Goodwin's view confirmed a plantation there would harm Funge and Ryder's cattle and goats, the parcel proving more valuable as open range than as new plantation ground. Where claims proved groundless, the bench granted the land but on its own terms, splitting a parcel into separate leases rather than the joint holding sought. [Film No. 82, 228, 233, 239]

Regularising tenure

The autumn of 1723 saw a determined drive to bring tenures onto a documentary footing. An advertisement of 22 October required all who held Company ground without a lease to come forward, and a run of petitions followed from occupiers whose grounds had been granted years before but never formally leased. Each new lease was dated back to the original grant, so tenants gained formal title without losing the seniority of first possession. To end overlapping claims, the council later ordered on 08 December 1724 that no tenant fence or clear land before it had been measured and leased. [Film No. 186, 191, 461]

The disposal of land remained firmly under the council's hand even when a tenant wished to sell, leasehold passing only by the council's leave and its approval of the incoming tenant, who became answerable for the rent. When Joseph Lufkin sold a lease without giving the required notice, the council fined both him and the buyer before confirming the assignment. Several disputes turned on written title against a claim of prior possession, and in each case the council rested the question on the deed and the survey rather than the parties' assertions, confirming Richard Gurling's title by tracing it to the public deed-delivery of 05 August 1713. [Film No. 268, 484, 481]

Land served also to protect families and to secure title, and passed readily through marriage and inheritance. The council let parcels to the Griffith and Steward orphans rather than strangers, the new ground adjoining their holdings so that no other tenant would hem them in. It made a standing ruling that leased waste return after its term to the first tenant's lawful heirs, renewable on payment of a year's rent, to stop a holding passing out of a family on the holder's death, particularly where a widow's second husband took a fresh lease in his own name. [Film No. 275, 425-427]

Neglect and departure

Neglect of a plantation could itself draw the council's intervention. John Coulson, long reprimanded for idleness, had sold his slaves and stock and left his family near starving, and the council barred him from any further sale, holding the ground the sole support of his family and directing him to become an honest, industrious man. The council also managed departures with care over debt, granting leave to sell up and go only once a planter had cleared his debts, lest a departing family become a charge on the parish. Jonathan Higham was refused leave, having lately been given extra land for his family's support. [Film No. 425, 498]

The preservation of timber

The preservation of the island's woods was a standing concern pressed repeatedly from England since 1701, tying the duty of planting and fencing trees directly to the terms of every planter's lease. The question of the Great Wood drew in the judgement of Isaac Pyke, a former governor still on the island, who held the fencing extremely necessary, the evergreen wood being the island's best shelter for cattle in a drought that had left almost no pasture. He warned that whoever enclosed it would meet great clamour from the neighbouring people, who had long grazed their cattle there, and devised a scheme to shut out all cattle until the fence was finished, then re-admit a fixed number proportioned to each family's size. [Film No. 24, 31, 33-35]

When planters turned great numbers of hogs into the wood after the rains, the animals rooted up the grass, and Governor Byfield had the wood fenced and forbade any more hogs without public leave. The council pursued a rapid succession of grazing orders, distinguishing between kinds of stock by the harm they did, since hogs rooted up both turf and tree roots while cattle merely cropped the grass. Governor Smith reversed a reopening within days on his own inspection, finding the report of good pasture false, showing the council acting on first-hand observation over second-hand information. A fresh advertisement forbade cutting any tree, green or dry, until the dead wood was carried away, on a penalty of 20 shillings a tree. [Film No. 81, 270, 288, 289, 192]

In March 1725 the council placed timber-planting at the centre of the island's recovery. An advertisement of 13 March 1725 blamed the loss of the woods on the former distilling of arrack, which had let in blasting winds, and required every inhabitant to plant and fence young gumwood, keeping 1 acre of wood in every 10 of live wood. This was made a binding covenant of every holding, so that neglect became a breach the council could punish, backed by the threat of fines and a promised survey to inspect each plantation at the close of the planting season. [Film No. 499, 500, 549, 554]

The toll of the drought

Beneath all this lay an agricultural catastrophe. The great plantation surveys give the fullest measure of the drought's toll, the yam crop, the island's staple root and chief provision for both slaves and shipping, counted plot by plot. In September 1723 it stood at 740,000, falling to 656,000 by March 1724, the notes distinguishing yams fit to dig from young suckers, one plot standing unplanted for want of suckers a poor crop had failed to yield. The companion livestock surveys told the same story, the goats showing the heaviest loss at 234 dead or stolen in one reckoning, a fall attributed directly to the long drought. [Film No. 163-164, 302-303, 162, 165]

The drought forced a hard decision over the Hutts plantation in 1725. Captain Goodwin's survey found the poor, exposed soil unfit for growing yams, worn by the strong cold southerly gusts the record calls the black winds. The council gave up the ground as a plantation and laid it into pasture, saving the cost of an overseer and freeing the slaves to be employed to better advantage elsewhere. The annual census of May 1724 gives a rare full measure of the settlement, counting 367 white inhabitants against 421 black people, of whom only 21 were free, with some 3,371 acres and 927 head of cattle concentrated in relatively few hands. [Film No. 510, 539, 541-542]

Supply and Provisioning

The island's first purpose was to refresh the East India shipping, and much of the council's labour went to victualling the vessels that called. Provisions were often scarce, and the long drought forced the council to buy up what it could from the planters. The letters to India speak of long droughts, of inhabitants in very great want of breadcorn, and of many people near starving, the cattle so lean they yielded no tallow for want of feed. A wider shift in Company policy threw fresh weight on the island, the directors forbidding both their outward and their Indian ships to touch at the Cape, cutting off a rival refreshment station and forcing the eastern traffic to depend on St Helena. [Film No. 14, 63, 100]

The demands of provisioning produced sharp exchanges with ships' commanders over consigned cargo. When Captains Westerban of the Drake and Pelly of the Middlesex failed to land rice shipped from Fort St George, the council demanded written explanations, and both replied that spoiled cargo and a want of bread had forced them to feed their own crews from the masters' rice. When the Hanover reached the road short of provisions from Bombay, Captain Bond asked for enough salt and fresh meat to carry 96 men for three months, and the council supplied the salt provisions but held back the live bullocks, giving them only at its discretion and from the planters rather than its own drought-thinned herds. [Film No. 17-21, 376-377]

The General Table

The General Table was the common table kept at the Company's charge for the Governor, councillors and others entitled to diet at the Fort. Duke Crispe kept it and rendered its monthly expense. Arrack, the distilled spirit of the East, dominated every reckoning by value, one quarter alone charging more than 97 pounds for it. Fortified imports followed, the sweet Malaga Mountain wine, Madeira, port and the Galicia, alongside stronger double-distilled Goa arrack, marking the officers' diet against the plainer garrison ration. The accounts record the island's use of citrus against scurvy, a striking 7,450 lemons expended in the second half of August 1723 alone. [Film No. 368, 208-210, 507]

The lemons entered in the general table account for March 1723, at 6,500, far exceed any ordinary kitchen use and point to a provision laid in for the shipping, valued at sea as a guard against scurvy on the long voyages home. Wax candles were a particularly valued import, reserved for the Company's own table and senior establishment, the island producing only crude tallow lights from marine-animal fat. They arrived by the chest, valued in Bengal money, and were kept from general sale. [Film No. 47, 512, 531]

Famine relief from India

As the drought deepened, the council was reduced to begging provisions from every passing ship. It wrote to Captain Brathwait of the Salisbury describing the island's wretched and starving state after four or five years of failed seasons, and the inhabitants themselves petitioned twice of their misery. Relief came at last through a run of India ships. The Carnarvon and Cardigan brought rice from Madras, and in the spring of 1724 the Sarum and Lethulier brought rice, sugar, wax and pork from Bengal, with more promised on further vessels, the eastern factories answering the long correspondence the council had pressed for grain. [Film No. 244, 246-247, 267, 316]

The relief ships were followed by measures to spread the food and draw out fresh meat. The Mary, Derby and Essex landed further rice and sugar to feed both the slaves and the poor planters. The council offered ready money for cattle even to inhabitants in debt, a deliberate break from its usual setting-off of credit, and let the planters barter their own goods directly for the ships' rice. Concern for the poorer inhabitants also shaped the pricing of stores, the council lowering the beef from 14s 0d to 13s 0d per puncheon and the pork from 13s 0d to 12s 0d on the directors' instruction to indulge the hard-pressed planters. [Film No. 319, 320, 400]

By December 1724 the Prince Frederick brought 82 bags of wheat from Bombay, and the Sunderland brought sugar and gunny sacking from Fort St George in February 1725, priced in rupees, annas and pagodas before being charged to the island's stores. Comprehensive indents of provisions and stores wanting, sent home in May 1725, requested bread, flour, pease, wheat, rice and pork by the hundredweight and barrel, together with seed pease and Windsor beans, revealing a settlement that could not feed itself and looked to England and India to make up the shortfall. [Film No. 460, 480, 560]

The livestock as a running asset

The Company's own livestock was tracked month by month as a running asset, each account showing the opening number, any increase, the beasts killed for the Fort, those sold to ships, and those dead or stolen, a separate line for theft setting pilfering apart from natural loss and slaughter. The annual stock account from March 1723 to March 1724 showed beasts that died far outrunning those killed or sold, the neat cattle falling by 96 and the goats by more than 300. Breeding stock was drawn down hard to provision the gathered ships, the bullocks falling from 32 to 12 in one month. The purchase of nine bullocks in January 1725 marks an effort to rebuild the stock. [Film No. 341, 342, 488]

The island victualled departing ships from its own reduced flocks. A cow, a calf and fowls went to the Swallow in November 1724, and larger drafts to the Prince Augusta and the Sunderland early in 1725. The yam crop remained the staple provision of the slave force, drawn from the Company's own grounds, each livestock account carrying a yam tally at its foot divided between the plantations and the Fort slaves. One monthly total reached 34,485 pounds, and the year's yam consumption for 1723 to 1724 reached 243,120, showing the scale of the provision the labour force and stock consumed. [Film No. 462, 502, 341]

Trade, the Store and Accounting

St Helena stood on the homeward and regional routes as a place of call, and its busiest periods came when vessels converged on the road. On 06 March 1723 five ships arrived at once, drawn from Madras, Mocha and the Cape, each cargo received, checked against its invoice and priced for local sale, the council setting a margin between the prime cost of imported goods and the rate charged on the island. The pricing of the Essex cargo reveals the commercial logic beneath the station, the bench setting its own selling prices at 1,780 pounds against a London invoice of 1,140 pounds, a margin of nearly 640 pounds, some classes marked up at a flat rate and others item by item. [Film No. 15-16, 108-111]

The Company store lay at the centre of the island's economy, almost every necessary of life passing through its monthly accounts in a community that produced little beyond food. It supplied Indian cotton cloth, woollen textiles, ready-made shoes and hats, ironware, glass, pewter and haberdashery, and even furnished the means of schooling and worship, selling horn books, primers and bibles to a settlement without a bookseller. One month's sales to the inhabitants alone reached 608 pounds 2s 9 three-farthings, the whole monthly turnover coming to 1,008 pounds 18s 11 three-farthings. [Film No. 465, 466, 328, 330]

The textiles of the eastern trade

The textiles that filled these accounts spanned the range of the Company's eastern trade. Plain cottons such as long cloth, dosooties and gurrahs came alongside printed chintz from Surat, Madras and Patna, checked ginghams, striped cuttannees and the finer Bengal taffeta. Coarser cottons like dungaree and blue gurrahs were kept for slaves' and labourers' clothing. Warm English and Norwich woollens such as duffield, serge, shalloon, worsted, durant and callimanco supplied hard wear and linings against the cool of the island's southern winter, a reminder that the climate was temperate rather than tropical. [Film No. 435, 446, 178, 291-292]

China ships brought bohea and green tea, sold by the catty, and raw China silk by the ounce, together with porcelain consistently reckoned apart as a distinct class of goods, the bowls, cups, saucers and teapots kept separate in the account from the textiles and provisions. The store passed these to the inhabitants at a margin, marking the Company's profit on the trade. The store also supplied imported timber, ironmongery, and the primers, hymn books and bibles a settlement without a bookseller required. [Film No. 463, 478, 516-517]

The reckoning of eastern currencies

The goods that passed through the island were reckoned in the currencies of the settlements that despatched them, so that a single day's receipts might span three monetary systems. Indian cargoes carried values in pagodas, fanams and cash, the China trade in taels, mace and candareens, with conversions worked into the figures. Bengal cargoes were reckoned in rupees, annas and pies, with weights in maunds and seers, the customary batta allowance carried over unchanged from the factory accounts. The council made no attempt to convert these figures, recording the eastern cargoes in the weights and money of their origin as the invoices supplied them. [Film No. 25-26, 316, 351]

An exchange allowance called batta was added between differing rupee reckonings, charged at 6 per cent on the rice, so the accounts made no attempt to convert the figures to sterling, answering the figures struck at Fort William and Canton before those at St Helena. The remote settlement ran largely on credit rather than coin, obligations settled through book entries at the quarterly reckoning, moving debts between named parties. An unsecured surety could be turned into a fresh obligation on a solvent guarantor, as when Wrangham took on John Bagley's debt of 96 pounds 3s 8 and a quarter-pence. [Film No. 512-514, 474]

Credit, bonds and remittance

The settlement's finances ran through the Company's books, which served as a clearing house for the debts of the whole community. At the annual reckonings, summoned by advertisement, the council settled accounts with the garrison and inhabitants not in cash but by transfer, moving sums from one account to another so that obligations circulated on paper within a closed system. Sarah Southen discharged her Company debt by assigning the sums that many others owed her at her small cutlery trade. Cash notes, slips issued by the Governor and council, passed as currency among the inhabitants in place of scarce coin. [Film No. 40-42, 232]

The island also served as a point of remittance, where money could be turned into Company paper payable in London. Naval commanders such as Captain Cockburn of the Exeter paid cash into the council's hands and received bills of exchange drawn on the Company in England. The gunner John French cleared a 200 pound bond account by a single transfer of 160 pounds, and Captain Cason's settled credit was topped to a round 1,000 pounds and left in the Company's hands at interest, the establishment acting as banker to a departing servant. The council also managed losses on spoiled stock, selling moth-damaged blankets at a third off to recover near their prime cost. [Film No. 37, 312-313, 495]

Shipping and correspondence

The passing shipping was watched as closely for danger as for trade, and the council took care to record and protect the vessels that called. It kept a running list of arrivals and departures for the presidencies and arranged protected sailings, a convoy of merchant ships leaving under the men of war in April 1724, and again in April 1725 when the Heathcote, Aislabie, Frances and Stretham left together for Britain on the same evening. Homeward vessels also sailed in company for mutual protection, as when the London and Prince Frederick left together on 23 December 1724. [Film No. 360, 520, 481]

The landing of a store ship's cargo was a disciplined operation. When the Essex and later the James and Mary were unloaded, appointed persons kept an exact daily account of every boat's landing and observed whether the sea lay smooth or in high surf, guarding against goods going unreckoned and recording the conditions of any loss in the open road. Governor Smith personally surveyed the Hanover before she sailed, checking her rigging, cables, pumps and crew. The council kept up a standing correspondence with Fort St George, Bombay, Bengal and Bencoolen, pressing the island's wants, above all grain, and accepting Bombay's advice that St Helena would be better served from Bengal. [Film No. 68, 353, 90-96]

Slavery and Coerced Labour

Enslaved people made up much of the island's population and appear throughout the record as property rather than persons. The inventory of Governor Johnson's estate listed a ten-year-old boy named Jack among cloth, china and casks of spirit, counted as an asset to be valued and disposed of like any other. The bare register of the deaths of the slaves Stephen, at the Peak, and Michael and another, washed off the rocks while fishing, entered in the same breath as the day's other business, marks the same impersonal treatment. The council took a periodic census of the Company's slaves with their ages and employments, sent home to the directors who required a return of the human property they held. [Film No. 11, 22, 40]

The censuses of the enslaved

The census of 26 March 1723 recorded the Company's enslaved people in the cold terms of managed property, each person entered with name, age and employment, and with a judgement of quality that ran from very good down to good for nothing. The assessment measured usefulness as a labourer, not welfare. The workforce was organised by place and by trade across the whole settlement, distributed among the plantation house, Perkins's, the Hutts, the Peak, the lime kilns, the garden and the fortifications, and among the tanyard, dairy, washing and poultry. The island's boats were manned by enslaved crews, one on the long boat aged only 12, and skilled men built and maintained the island's defences. [Film No. 56-57, 58-60]

The census of 25 March 1724 recorded each enslaved person by name, age, task and quality, notes such as good but sullen, sickly or better than last year tracking temper and fitness from one survey to the next. The list opened with nine men in a row all marked good but sullen, the surveyor seeming to read a shared resentment among the men kept closest to the establishment. The head sawyer Blackwall was marked very good and very ingenious, the Company depending on these few trained men for its fortification work. A full list of May 1725 named the Company's slaves by age and employment, set out by station across the plantation house, the Hutts, the Peak, the Lime Kiln and the Fort garden, recording tanners, a butcher and gardeners among the men. [Film No. 331, 333-334, 543-544]

The human cost in the register

The registers' own notes record the human cost their purpose obscured. Sickness ran heavily through the fortification gang, many men marked sickly, a toll entered as a reduction in value rather than a matter of care, and several women were marked as poxed. The enslaved were counted from earliest infancy, 34 children of one month to seven years entered together, and the aged were kept as superannuated slaves even when their working value had gone, one stone cutter and overseer entered at 81 years old. The women who made the slaves' clothing worked under the aged midwife Old Mary, the Company meeting the cost of clothing its slaves through their own labour. [Film No. 58, 60, 332, 334-335]

The enslaved were treated as a self-renewing capital held from birth. Births were reported to the council as additions to its holdings, and deaths tied carefully to the right person, so that when the slave woman Kate died she was noted as the mother of a child dead the week before. A boy of 13, Pompey, was already set to the oar on the long boat. They were moved through the Company's network like any other asset, one man, Dick Price, designated to go by the next ship, and 13 slaves, nine men and four women, despatched by the James and Mary to Bencoolen in June 1724, Captain Alibone having pleaded to carry few or none given the cost of feeding them on a long voyage. [Film No. 61, 64, 335, 357]

Feeding and clothing the slave force

The Company clothed and fed its slave force wholly from imported stock, the store accounts setting the diet and dress of the slaves apart under their own head. Feeding the slave force was by far the largest single charge in the stores, the rice issued to the Company's blacks running to thousands of pounds each month, once reaching 9,835 pounds at nearly 123 pounds, drawn from the famine relief shipped out of Bengal and Madras. Casks of pork, beef and wheat stood alongside it, with ready-made shifts, stockings and shoes to clothe the slaves against the cool season. Cowries appear among the goods bought for them, the small shells serving as a token coinage where ordinary coin did not reach. [Film No. 469, 492, 505, 329]

The drought bore directly on the enslaved, and the record is candid that it killed them. The council noted that the long drought had cost a great number of the Company's slaves, and that the yams that fed them had been much reduced. With yams now having to be bought, the bench reduced the slaves' allowance to 40 pounds for each person every two weeks, setting the ration by a fixed weight so the storekeeper could hold consumption down to the diminished stock, the burden of scarcity passed first to those with least power. The slaves' house at the Fort had fallen into decay, and the council ordered a new house built, though the move was justified chiefly by the danger to the soldiers quartered nearby, the slaves' own suffering a secondary consideration. [Film No. 235-236]

Control of the slave population

The control of the slave population was tightened by a succession of orders. A Sabbath order of some severity forbade all owners to let their slaves wander from house to house on Sundays, requiring them secured before the Sabbath on pain of whipping. A curfew required all owners to secure their slaves by nine in the evening. The council barred the Company's slaves from keeping any poultry, removing a small private economy they had built around their own birds, and forbade any black a loose dog, licensing any inhabitant to shoot one found running free, tying the control of the dogs to the control of the slave population. [Film No. 430, 120, 160, 314]

The security of the island was tied directly to the control of its slaves through the terms of every lease. When the widow Elizabeth Greentree was left without a white man resident after several slaves ran away, the council ordered her to hire an overseer or forfeit her lease, spreading the burden of slave control across every landholder. The scarcity of the drought pressed hard, and when a woman of Mrs Marsh was caught stealing yams, she confessed that she and others took them because there was not enough food at home, the theft a symptom of the general want, the master held answerable for the loss while the woman was whipped at the flagstaff. [Film No. 161, 194, 258-259]

The Atlantic slave trade in view

The passing trade brought the Atlantic slave traffic briefly into view, distinct from the Company's own eastern shipping. The St Quintin, a South Sea Company ship bound from Cabinda to Buenos Aires with slaves, put into the road in April 1723, and in January 1725 the Asiento, under Captain Girard, arrived from Angola bound for Buenos Aires, its name reflecting the asiento contract that supplied slaves to the Spanish American colonies. The brigantine Charming Sally arrived in great distress from Angola in July 1724, bound for Barbados, and the Governor allowed only a little water and fired a warning shot to hasten her away, meeting a bare claim of humanity toward 18 men while refusing to let a foreign slaver settle in its road. [Film No. 28-29, 475, 381-383]

In March 1725 the council moved to control the island's own slave trade, several inhabitants having lately bought slaves from passing ships without leave. Its advertisement of 13 March 1725 forbade any purchase from a ship without the Governor's written licence, any slave bought otherwise to be forfeited to the Company, a penalty that struck at the buyer's whole investment. The census hints at the intimate coercion within this system. In March 1725 Byfield reported that a black woman named Mary had been brought to bed at the Peak of a child of a fair complexion, the birth entered precisely because the fair complexion carried a plain implication of a white father, a matter the official record notes without comment or consequence. [Film No. 500, 511]

The Free Black Population and Race

The population registers show a settlement finely balanced between free and enslaved, the closing totals of 1723 setting the white inhabitants in households at 380 and the enslaved and free blacks at 424, with the garrison and its servants of 120 counted apart. A small class of free blacks appears within the registers, 18 in all and unevenly distributed, the widow Frances Carne's household standing out for returning seven under one roof. The register set the free black population apart in its own column from both whites and slaves, Captain Alexander's household holding six free blacks and Phillip Rowland heading his own free family. [Film No. 75, 79, 343, 347]

The petition against the island's free blacks reveals the anxieties of a slave-holding society. The greater part of the inhabitants complained that about 20 free blacks unsettled the slaves by their example, wandered without fixed homes, harboured thieves and burdened the parish rates. They asked that no further freedom be granted, that free blacks be barred from owning slaves, and that the existing free blacks be shipped to India. What most alarmed them was the sale of a slave named Abigail to a free black, Tom Collier, read as a claim to equal standing with the white owners. [Film No. 147-150]

The council adopted the petition's central demands while withholding its harshest measure. It declared that making blacks free was harmful and ordered a complete bar on future manumission, together with a prohibition on free blacks buying slaves. It referred only the removal of existing free blacks to the directors, judging the expulsion of settled people beyond a local order. The contested sale was overtaken when Abigail passed instead to a white planter, John Long, settling her ownership within the proprietary class the petition sought to protect. This episode marks the moment manumission was closed as a route off slavery on the island. [Film No. 153]

Judiciary, Crime and Punishment

The council sat as the island's court, settling disputes between neighbours, proving wills and enforcing a rough civility, and taking the form of a Court of Sessions with a sworn jury of 12 principal inhabitants when a capital charge required it. Governor Smith presided as judge with the three other councillors as assistants, the same men who governed the island serving as its criminal bench, and for a disputed question of property it used the form of a Court of Nisi Prius. Debt cases turned on the principle that whoever took up a dead person's estate took up its obligations too, Richard Swallow being held liable for a scarf his late sister had bought because he had taken possession of her effects. [Film No. 39, 140, 210-211]

The regular machinery of an English parish ran alongside the council's justice. Churchwardens and overseers of the highway were chosen each year by the inhabitants, timed to Easter Monday, and an orphans' court managed the estates and guardianship of fatherless children. The inhabitants met at the country church to nominate a doubled slate, four men for two churchwardens and six for three highway overseers, from which the council selected and swore the actual officers, no outgoing officer released until his accounts had been passed. Parish officers rendered a full yearly reckoning of each orphan estate, charging it for the real cost of the children's keep, their board, clothing, shoes and physic. [Film No. 39, 314-317, 306-307]

The trial of Mingo

The trial of the slave Mingo shows the criminal process at work and reveals its careful gradations. Charged with the wilful murder of Abigail, a fellow slave he had beaten to death over a load of yams, Mingo pleaded not guilty and put himself upon God and the country, the very words of a freeman's trial. Set in authority as overseer over his master's plantation and blacks, he had tied up, whipped and beaten the recaptured runaway to death over a load she was too faint to lift. The jury declined to find wilful murder, holding instead that he was guilty of unmercifully beating and bruising her, and the council branded him in the cheek and returned him to his master, a penalty short of death that matched the jury's middle finding. [Film No. 141-144]

The same trial exposed a duty the council was determined to enforce, for Jessey, Abigail's master, had buried her without the legal examination a violent death required, and the bench fined him 40s to prevent such clandestine proceedings in future. That a slave held power to punish another, and that such correction could end in death, was exposed on the record with unusual clarity. Correction of the body against the slave and compensation in property to the owner were kept as distinct steps, runaways who stole to survive brought to the flagstaff, whipped, collared or shackled while their masters paid the reward and made satisfaction for the goods stolen. [Film No. 144-145, 138-139]

The execution of Toby

The chief case of the autumn 1724 sessions was the trial of Toby, a slave of the widow Greentree, indicted for felony after years of flight and theft. He had absconded repeatedly, been branded on the face with the letter R for resisting a soldier, and lived for weeks as a freebooter in the caves, preying on the inhabitants' stock and yams. Having first pleaded not guilty, he was convicted on his own earlier confession made at the point of capture. The prosecution became a collective appeal from the inhabitants, the jury, several of whom had lost stock to Toby, petitioning that he be made an example of the utmost severity to deter the other slaves, and offering to compensate his mistress. [Film No. 410-412, 412-413]

The judge passed sentence of death, holding that no lesser penalty could secure the inhabitants after branding, irons and warnings had all failed. The manner of execution was designed to terrify the slave force into obedience. Toby was drawn to the gallows in a cart pulled by other convicted runaways, hanged, and his body gibbeted on the hill above Castle Path as a lasting spectacle. The bench passed over the confinement the jury had itself offered, resting the choice on the failure of every earlier punishment rather than the immediate theft alone. Earlier, fearing his long freedom set an example, the council had raised a hue and cry with a reward of 3 pounds, treating his apprehension as a matter of general security. [Film No. 413-414, 398]

The trials of Joseph Bates

The freeholder Joseph Bates stood indicted on three counts at the same sessions. The first charged him with a seditious libel, a letter to Commodore Matthews of the naval ship in the road that reflected on the Governor and sought to enlist an outside authority against him, read as an attempt to lessen the power the Lord Proprietors had vested in the Governor. The second and third counts charged him with defrauding the Company, by helping a debtor, Samuel Price, to escape the island, and by conspiring to enter bad bills in the Company's books. The jury acquitted him of aiding the escape for want of positive proof but convicted him of the libel and of a breach of an earlier bond to keep the peace. [Film No. 414-415, 416-418]

The bribery charge was pressed by Henry Johnson, who swore Bates had offered him a reward to slip worthless bills into the books, and the jury convicted. Bates begged pardon and submitted to the court, which tempered his sentence out of regard for his innocent family, fining him 50 shillings for the libel and enforcing his forfeited bond. The corruption charge was reserved, and the council fixed its penalty a week later at 5 pounds to the Company, closing the long reckoning against him. [Film No. 418-419]

The burglary of a runaway slave

The winter of 1724 brought the trial of a runaway slave for a string of burglaries, the man named as Oxford in the indictment but as Bovey in the jury's verdict. Left to fend for himself when his master absconded, he had broken repeatedly out of gaol and into houses, stealing a file to cut off his own irons among other goods. Convicted on his own confession of breaking into three houses, he stood guilty of death under the laws of England, but the court spared his life out of regard for his master's loss and his poor family. The sentence substituted mutilation and forced labour for the gallows, the man to lose his right ear, be branded on the cheek with the letter R, wear a chain and clog for a month and labour at the Great Wood in satisfaction for his thefts. [Film No. 299-301]

Smuggling, order and departure

The smuggling of arrack ashore tested the Company's monopoly of the island's spirit. As the Craggs left, the Governor saw the Company's yawl slip to the longboat, and the guard found a keg of arrack landed at the Landing Rocks. The offender was Caleb Davis, coxswain of the longboat, fined 40 shillings with the arrack forfeited for the Company's use. The council policed the small society through fines scaled to the offence, a single blow struck in a quarrel drawing only 6d as a first offence, and controlled violent men by bonds for good behaviour rather than gaol, binding Andrew Bergue over in a recognizance of 20 pounds after he assaulted the soldier Leech in a punch house. [Film No. 295-296, 383-384, 210-211]

The council resisted the settling of outsiders it judged troublesome, shipping on an India-born Portuguese man, Emanuel Perrera, sent from Bombay for misdeeds, and pressing the presidencies that no more convicts be sent, arguing that such men had often tended to the destruction of all the white people on the island. Departure from the island required the council's leave, turning on two tests, the clearing of any debt to the Company and the island's interest in keeping or losing the person. The turbulent freeman Gilbert Sinsnick was gladly let go, and Benjamin Cleverly released because his large family would only become a heavier parish charge, but the serviceable young soldier James Vesey junior was refused. [Film No. 375, 393-394, 88-89]

The Southen Affair and the Sedition Trial

The widow Sarah Southen ran through the record from the first as a maker of trouble. In autumn 1723 Governor Smith laid before the council a report that she, having obtained a punch-house licence on a plea of hardship, had spoken of him with great disrespect and sought to stir divisions among his council. She was said to have claimed that three of the council would hold together and prove too many for the Governor, and that Byfield had taken the plantation house to keep him out, since possession was eleven points of the law. The Governor cast her words as a calculated threat to government itself, drawing on Governor Johnson's complaint that scarcely any disorder had happened in his time without her hand in it. [Film No. 171-172, 173]

The council answered by binding her over rather than fining or gaoling her, taking a recognizance of 50 pounds that fell due only if she failed to keep the peace or to appear at the next sessions. The prosecution was held in reserve as the price of her defiance. She sent a message offering to ask pardon, but retracted the submission and insisted the matter be proved, upon which the indictment was read against her in the winter of 1724. The jury returned a partial verdict, finding her guilty of speaking disrespectful words of the Governor but acquitting her of the wider charge of sedition, unwilling to treat private gossip about a rift as a design against the government. The court fined her 5 pounds to the use of the poor and bound her over in a fresh recognizance of 50 pounds. [Film No. 174-175, 255-257]

Religion, Medicine and the Clerical Disputes

The arrival of Thomas Wignall, the surgeon the directors had sent out, brought a drive for a monopoly of medical practice. He petitioned that William Beale and Sutton Isaake, though neither was trained in surgery, presumed to practise medicine, which he held both an injury to his livelihood and a danger to the people. The council granted the substance of his request, ordering that no person practise medicine or surgery without the Governor's leave. His second petition turned a question of medical care into one of defamation and clerical privilege, complaining that the chaplain Escott Giles, having taken remedies from unqualified hands, had abused him as a rascal and a villain and threatened to lead him up and down the valley by the nose. The council ordered Giles to ask Wignall's pardon publicly once recovered. [Film No. 183-184, 187-189]

The chaplain Giles

No single matter fills more of the winter 1723 record than the misconduct of the chaplain. Through November the council assembled an overwhelming body of sworn evidence against him. A long chain of witnesses swore to his habitual drunkenness, his indecency and his abuse of the surgeon and the Governor alike as villains. Joshua Johnson and his wife both swore that Giles drank between two and three quarts of arrack a day besides wine, and Duke Crispe, who supplied the drink, deposed that he had mixed four bowls of punch laced with arrack in a single day, all drunk the same day, Giles complaining the strong punch was too weak. Beneath the disorder lay a real dispute over money, Giles demanding to draw the marriage licences and keep the fees, and pressing excessive charges for baptism against the customary 5s. [Film No. 207-208, 216-221, 213, 229-230]

The council's response was a calculated leniency that reveals its regard for the clerical office. Despite proof that would have justified expulsion, on 28 November 1723 it resolved to try Giles one month longer out of respect for the cloth he wore, ordering him to read daily prayers to the garrison and attend the Governor each Sunday. When he preached a provocative sermon reflecting on the Governor and council, the bench again accepted his submission. His conduct ended in a departure dressed as a matter of health, the council granting him leave to sail home on the Carnarvon while plainly recording that the true cause was his irregular way of living, a face-saving departure that rid the island of a troublesome minister without an open dismissal. [Film No. 222-223, 245, 273-274]

The disorder of Thomas Wignell

The disorder of the surgeon Thomas Wignell dominates the record of the spring 1725 months. He was repeatedly drunk at table and quarrelsome. He beat a sentry at his post in the castle, and later made three sword thrusts at the corporal John Hubbard, the point of the third turned by a brass button on Hubbard's coat that perhaps saved his life. When Wignell abused the widow Elizabeth Swallow as a bawd, the council declined to punish him itself and left her to prosecute, treating the slander as a private wrong, yet the bench did intervene to strike 20s off Wignell's own medical bill to the widow, judging his charges unreasonable and acting as an arbiter of fair fees. [Film No. 511, 524, 535-536, 525-526]

The Governor pardoned Wignell on strict written conditions, revealing how discipline rested on personal submission. Wignell pledged total abstinence from strong liquor, to keep away from a man named Hubbard, and to make the widow amends, the pledge becoming the term on which the Governor stayed his hand. When Wignell relapsed within days with the armed attack, the worthless promises pushed the matter towards removal from the Company's service. The Governor confined him after each outburst, building a detailed record of measured authority against an incorrigible officer. [Film No. 534-535, 511]

The Dead Governor's Estate

The settlement of Governor Johnson's estate runs through the earliest consultations and illuminates both the law of a dead official's property and the private trade a governor might conduct. As trustees of his will, the council secured and inventoried everything he held, sealing his goods in an escritoire and reading the will in consultation the day after the burial. The inventory revealed a substantial private stock of Asian textiles, packed by the piece in chests marked for the East India Company, alongside tea, chinaware, bezoar stones and casks of Batavia arrack, the goods of a man trading on his own account through the Company's channels. [Film No. 7-8, 10-12]

The examination of his books exposed a shortfall of 360 pounds 6s 9d in the Company's cash, received since June 1722 with no entry to show where it had gone. The trustees could not treat the gap as ordinary expenditure and recorded it as an unaccounted deficiency. His goods, too many to sell on the island, were packed for England where they would fetch more, reflecting the standing problem that personal property of value was worth more remitted than realised on St Helena. He had also held large consignments of cloth, tea and chinaware for merchants and captains in England, and the arrangement for these to pass to his successor on his death protected absent owners against goods stranded by their agent's death. [Film No. 8, 12]

The Hawkes Affair

The autumn of 1724 closed with a long dispute over Benjamin Hawkes, assistant to the storekeeper and a councillor. The Governor reported repeated and general complaints that Hawkes had refused to serve people who came to the store with ready money, showing no regard for the old, the infirm or the sick, and sending them away with oaths and foul language. Richard Beale wrote that his slave had been sent away empty while his wife lay near delivery, and Richard Long and Michael Doveton swore that Hawkes had turned them away with curses. The complaints were general rather than isolated, which gave the council grounds to act, and Hawkes was suspended from serving in the store. [Film No. 441-442, 455-456]

Hawkes answered with a petition resting his whole defence on an order of council that confined the serving of goods to a fixed morning window, arguing that each refusal fell outside those hours and suggesting that false reports carried since the arrival of a store ship had turned the Governor against him. The Governor answered with sworn evidence, producing affidavits from two witnesses. The dispute turned on how the order fixing the hours was to be read, Hawkes treating it as a strict limit and the Governor holding it a help to the inhabitants that did not bar service in cases of sickness or genuine need. The council found Hawkes highly to blame on 03 November 1724, dismissing him from the store and suspending him from the council. [Film No. 451-453, 451, 454]

Hawkes defended himself poorly and then sought escape rather than admit fault, claiming the Governor had set the inhabitants against him. The council summoned the very men he named, and both Long and Funge denied the threat on oath. Governor Smith also dismissed Hawkes's grievance over a house, noting that Hawkes already kept rooms for his mistress and their child, and read the demand as a wish for privacy to continue the affair. The council resolved the case by allowing Hawkes to leave, granting him leave for England on a firm condition, that he either take his child with him or leave money to indemnify the inhabitants, tying the grant to the maintenance recorded in the paternity order of 09 July 1724. [Film No. 457-458, 459]

Hawkes remained under suspension into the spring of 1725, when he petitioned to be restored, claiming the Governor had given his hand and word of honour to reinstate him. The Governor denied any such promise and entered a full rebuttal, though he judged the petition unworthy of reply. He recorded in detail the indulgences he had shown a suspended officer, building a case of leniency on his side and ingratitude on Hawkes's, useful should the matter reach the directors. [Film No. 520-523]

The gunner French in disgrace

The gunner French, so often the Governor's own accountant, ended the spring 1725 months in disgrace. It emerged that he kept a common brandy shop under his retail licence, allowing unlawful gaming and detaining Company servants from their duty, and the council barred him from selling drink. In a separate matter he denied his own words before the Governor and a witness, and the bench resolved that neither his word nor his writing ought thereafter to be regarded at all. The council also tightened its control over property records and public sales, ordering that no deed, lease or bill of sale be drawn up except by the secretary, on pain of being void, and that no public sale proceed without the Governor's leave. [Film No. 556-557, 473]

Orphans' Estates and the Company as Banker

The council acted as guardian for the island's fatherless children and their property, and an orphan of age could choose his own guardian, as John Bagley junior chose his mother, the widow Sarah Southen. The Company in effect served as banker to the orphans' fund, holding balances as secured credit on its books. The largest orphan inventory valued a working estate parcel by parcel, the Steward children's land priced by the term of each holding, from freehold at 8 pounds the acre down to short leases, the reckoning setting the whole worth of land, slaves, stock and yams against the estate's debts to leave a clear value of 785 pounds 8s 1 three-farthings held in trust. [Film No. 83, 306-307, 308-310]

One inheritance case shows the council balancing an heir's right against the Company's interest. William Charles came from the West Indies to recover 10 acres bequeathed by his father, land known as Griffin's that had lain in the Company's hands for over eight years under yams. The council judged it in the masters' interest to buy the land rather than restore it, settling the heir's claim in money at 60 pounds agreed through his own chosen agent, and keeping the improved ground within its estate. The sum was not paid in coin but laid out in store goods entered to his account. [Film No. 67-69]

The major suit of the winter 1724 was Samuel Taylor's claim on the estate of Edward Bagley, tried before a jury on 20 January 1724. Taylor had married Sarah Bagley, one of two daughters to whom Bagley's will of 1706 left 29 acres after their mother's death. The suit turned on the death of the other daughter, which passed her share to Sarah, and the widow Sarah Southen's remarriage, said to trigger a proviso setting half the land apart for the children. The widow's defence rested on a fine legal point, that her marriage to Thomas Southen was void because he already had a lawful wife living, and that a void marriage worked no forfeiture of her life interest. The judge began to give his opinion that the words gave the whole land to the daughters, though the record breaks off before the outcome is known. [Film No. 234, 252-253, 253-254]

Personalities

Isaac Pyke, the former governor, emerges from the earliest months as a man of long experience and decided views, freely giving his opinion on the Great Wood and the garden water while shrewdly using public works to relieve the deserving poor, his advice shaping the council's decisions and his testimony settling old debts. Sarah Southen appears repeatedly as a woman pressing her interests with skill, reviving her late husband's dormant claim, running a small cutlery trade, standing on her dignity against a neighbour's abuse, and, on the Governor's account, working to fracture his council. [Film No. 33-36, 39]

The slave overseer Mingo is the most disquieting figure in the earlier record, set in authority over his master's plantation and blacks, tying up, whipping and beating the recaptured runaway Abigail to death over a load of yams, his defence laying bare the brutal working of authority within the slave force. Gabriel Powell headed the largest slave holding on the whole 1724 register with 23 blacks, matching his standing as the island's foremost landholder, while the planter Joseph Bates had built a slave force of 14. James Vesey, holding land only during his wife's life, sold most of it to Francis Wrangham and gained leave to take his family to India. [Film No. 142-143, 343, 345, 354]

In the later years a few individuals stand out from the columns. Benjamin Hawkes dominated the winter of 1724 as a councillor undone by his own conduct and driven to seek leave for England. The gunner John French appears throughout, both rendering his powder accounts and securing a 21-year lease of waste land for himself before ending in disgrace over his brandy shop. Captain Goodwin served as the council's surveyor, viewing and measuring nearly every parcel let, while also buying land and binding himself to maintain Richard Gurling's two daughters. Duke Crispe kept the General Table throughout, and Captain Byfield ran the plantations and livestock as chief overseer. [Film No. 457, 475, 494]

Conclusion

Taken together, these records show St Helena across two and a half years as a small, tightly managed Company station caught between distant policy and local hardship. Its council governed a mixed community of planters, soldiers, free blacks and a large enslaved workforce, feeding both the island and the eastern shipping through a punishing drought. The change from Byfield's interim rule to Governor Smith's commissioned government, the closure of the Cape to Company ships, and the naming of a councillor from London all show how decisions made in London reshaped the island's role and burdens. The great business of the years was survival, the island fed at last by the Bengal and Madras ships after five years of drought. [Film No. 81, 86, 100, 316]

The deeper continuities lie in the recurring concerns of tenure, provision, order and scarce timber that fill every sitting, and in the steady tightening of control over the slave force. Several criminal trials and protracted disputes over erring officers expose the tensions of authority, property and discipline that ran beneath the settlement's daily business, from the gibbeting of Toby as a spectacle to his fellow slaves to the long forbearance toward the chaplain Giles and the surgeon Wignell. The gumwood covenant of 1725 marks a deliberate effort to rebuild the ruined woods, the convoy rule and the licensing of slave purchases the reach of Company policy into the island's daily life. [Film No. 414, 441-442, 499]

The value of the material lies as much in what it withholds as in what it states. It speaks throughout in the voice of ownership and administration. The enslaved appear as graded labour and imported provision, their skills catalogued and their feeding reckoned as the largest charge in the stores, while a fair-skinned child is noted and passed over. The inhabitants appear as tenants and debtors, the whole island as a set of accounts rendered to the directors. Even its own clerks admitted error, striking out a duplicated page and restoring a lost account, and its governors built careful documentary cases against subordinates, recording their own leniency at every turn so that no later reader in London could fault their conduct. Read with care, it reveals not only how the settlement was run but whose interests its careful columns were built to serve. [Film No. 5-9, 305-354, 522]

Film

No.

Page

No.

OCR Transcription

Modern Summary with Analysis

1

EAP 1364 St Helena

Document Name and Date St. Helena Records 1723-1725

Photographer Peter

Date photographed 12 Nov 2021

Additional comments

2

Book cover

3

Blank page

4

Blank page

5

1

February

Island St Helena

At a Consultation Held on Tuesday

the 26th of Febry 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley

Edwd Byfeld Esqr Govr

Prest Jno Alexander 2

Jno Goodwin 3

The last Consultation Read and Approved of

Yesterday at a General Muster the Govr Spoke to all

the Inhabitants of this Island as follows./

Gentlemen

The Sincere desire I have for the Prosperity of

this Island inclines me on this Occasion to give you my

advice and to Exort you to give it Serious attention, But

if unhappily and Contrary to all Expectation my advanced

good intentions Should prove fruitless I Shall However

have the Comfort of having neglected nothing to prevent the

ill consequences that may Result from them./

The Differences which has for some time been among you

I hope Shall now be happily removed there being nothing that

can Tend more to your Honour and Welfare then Concord and

Brotherly Love they are blessings in themselves and as Such a

Disposition in you will be most agreable to me, It will Inable

you to look with Contempt on the Practices of your Enimies as

I Should do on those who would pretend to disturb the peace of

my Government I have no other aim than to put an End to

your Unhappy Differences are in their Room to Settle peace

and Tranquility among you, So I Conclude your only Study

and ambition will be as it ought to aprove your Selves

full and Obedient to this Government more

publeck Spirits for the good and Welfar

Margin Notes:

Island

Mr Byfelds Speech

to the Planters

Assembled.

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Tuesday 26 February 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander, second of the council, and John Goodwin, third.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

The day before, at a general muster, the Governor addressed all the inhabitants of the island in these terms.

He told the assembled planters that his sincere wish for the island's prosperity moved him to offer them his advice, and he urged them to weigh it carefully. He added that, even if his good intentions came to nothing against every expectation, he would still take comfort in having left nothing undone to prevent the harm that might otherwise follow.

He turned next to the quarrels that had divided them for some time, expressing his hope that these might now be settled for good. Nothing, he said, would do more for their honour and welfare than agreement and goodwill among themselves. Such feelings were a blessing in their own right, and a temper of that kind in them would please him most of all. It would also let them look with scorn on the schemes of their enemies, just as he would regard those who tried to disturb the peace of his government. His only aim was to end their unhappy divisions and to put peace and calm in their place. He concluded that their whole study and ambition ought to be to show themselves dutiful and obedient to the government and public-spirited for the common good and welfare.

Interpretations

The address opened a new administration. Governor Edward Johnson had died on 16 February 1723, and Edward Byfield, second of the council, had succeeded him, with the change proclaimed at the funeral and entered at the consultation of 19 February 1723. A new governor speaking to the whole island at a general muster was staking out the tone of his rule before the assembled population.

The repeated stress on ending the inhabitants' divisions points to a specific and long-running problem rather than a general appeal. The island's small settler population had been split for years by disputes over land, debt, water and pasture, many of them recorded across the consultations of 1721 and 1722. A governor naming concord as his first priority was addressing factional conflict already familiar to his hearers.

The muster itself served as the instrument of address. A general muster gathered every able man of the garrison and settlement in one place under arms, and using that occasion for a political speech let the Governor reach the entire community at once and bind the moment to the authority of his new government.

Speculations

The Governor framed obedience and reconciliation as the islanders' own interest rather than as a command, which suggests a deliberate choice of method at the start of a fragile succession. A new ruler lacking an established hold over a quarrelsome population could press for compliance by force or invite it by persuasion. Byfield chose persuasion, tying the inhabitants' honour and welfare to their good conduct, perhaps calculating that voluntary cooperation would prove steadier than resentment in so small and remote a settlement.

6

2

and most kind friends and usefull neighbours to each

other

I desire nothing more earnestly then the good Government

of this Island, the preservation of the rights belonging to

my Honble Masters and to you the people/

I shall make no other use of the authority which is in my

hands then for Rendering according to my own Desire you

the people happy Establishing the reign of Justice promoting

the Worship of God and Causing his Laws to be duly

Respected/

By what I have said I hope you will do me the Justice

to think I have nothing so much at Heart or in my View as

the Service of My Honble Masters and the happiness of you

the people Committed to my Care I promise my Self you will

take the first opportunity to render my Wishes for your Hap

piness compleate and Effectual/

I earnestly Recommend you will make a Publick Provision to

Educate your Children here in Religion and vertue and use

full Learning and I shall think my Self happy if I can in any

Degree Contribute to the Execution of it/

I must Tell you Gentlemen as I shall be very Just and faith

full to my Engagements to you So I do Expect to meet with

Frank and powerfull returns from you as will I doubt not

Establish a Lasting friendship among us, all that I ask of you

is that you would agree to be a great and Flourishing People

Since it is the only means by which I desire to become a

Happy Governour.

Edwd Byfeld

The Governor continued his address, telling the planters he wished them to be kind friends and helpful neighbours to one another.

He said he desired nothing more earnestly than the good government of the island, the protection of the rights belonging to his honourable masters and assistance to the people. He would use the authority in his hands only to make the people happy according to his own wish, to establish the rule of justice, to advance the worship of God and to see God's laws properly respected.

He hoped that what he had said would persuade them to credit him with having nothing more at heart, or more in view, than the service of his honourable masters and the happiness of the people placed in his care. He promised that he would seize the first chance to make his wishes for their welfare full and effective.

He strongly recommended that they set up a public provision to educate their children here in religion, virtue and useful learning, and he said he would count himself happy if he could contribute to carrying it out in any degree.

He assured the gentlemen that he would be honest and faithful to his commitments to them, and that he therefore expected open and wholehearted responses in return. Such an exchange, he had no doubt, would build a lasting friendship between them. All he asked of them was that they agree to become a great and flourishing people, since that was the only means by which he wished to become a happy governor.

The address was given under the name of Governor Edward Byfield.

Interpretations

The proposal for a public provision to educate the island's children marks the practical core of the speech. Governor Byfield was urging a funded and organised scheme of schooling in religion, morality and basic learning, supported by the community rather than left to individual families. In a small remote settlement with few institutions, a standing arrangement of this kind would have required collective agreement and a dedicated source of payment, which is why the Governor presented it as something the inhabitants must establish together.

The Governor's repeated reference to his honourable masters keeps the East India Company in view as the ultimate authority behind his government. His own role was that of a servant administering the island for the Company, and binding the people's happiness to the Company's service reminded his hearers that loyalty to the local government and loyalty to the distant proprietors were meant to be one and the same.

The speech closed by making the inhabitants' conduct the measure of the Governor's own success. By declaring that he could become a happy governor only if they agreed to become a flourishing people, Byfield tied his personal standing to their cooperation, turning a request for obedience into a shared enterprise in which both sides had something to gain.

7

3

February

We find there is twenty Eight Hoggs small and great

now in the Fort Valley that goes under the name of Govr

Johnson Hoggs But as they have been all along feed

with provisions out of our Honble Masters Plantations

and never been paid for We have Resolved to take them

and add them to the said Honble Companys other live

Stock and Order they be sent up into the Countrey

accordingly./

Ordered that the following Letter be Sent to Mr Thos

Heath Esqr giving him an Acct of our Proceedings Relat

ing to the Decd Govr Johnsens affairs on this Island

We being Appointed Trustees to the Last Will

and Testament of the Late Govr Edward Johnson Esqr have

thought it proper to acquaint you with our Proceedings

Relating to the Trust in us Reposed

Immediatly after the Said Govr Johnson Expired (which

was on the 16th Instant) Mr Ormston who waited on him all

the time of his Sickness upon a Demand made, Delivered all

the Keys belonging to him unto the present Govr which

We locked up and Seald in a Scrutore till we had a proper

Opportunity of Examining into all affairs under the

Deceaid Govrs Care as well as what else might Occurr Pursuant

to the Said Will/

On the 19th Instant being the day after Govr Johnsons

Interment We Read over his Will in Consultation and in

pursuance thereto We began and have taken an Inventory

of all his Effects on this Island as well as of what Govr was

Margin Notes:

Hoggs taken for

the Compy

Copy of a Lett Sent

to Mr Heath re

lating to Govr

Johnsons Affairs/

The council recorded twenty-eight hogs of various sizes in the Fort Valley kept under the name of Governor Johnson. Because these animals had been fattened entirely on provisions drawn from the honourable masters' plantations and had never been paid for, the council resolved to take them into the Company's own livestock and ordered them sent up into the country accordingly.

The council ordered a letter sent to Thomas Heath, Esquire, giving him an account of its proceedings concerning the affairs of the late Governor Johnson on the island.

The trustees of the will of the late Governor Edward Johnson wrote to inform Heath of their handling of the trust placed in them.

They reported that immediately after Governor Johnson died on 16 February, Mr Ormston, who had attended him throughout his illness, delivered up all the hogs belonging to him on the trustees' demand. These were handed to the present Governor, who locked and sealed them in an escritoire until a proper chance arose to examine all the affairs left in the dead Governor's charge, together with anything else that might come up under the terms of the will.

The trustees recorded that on 19 February, the day after Governor Johnson's burial, they read his will in consultation. Following its directions, they began and carried out an inventory of all his effects on the island, as well as of whatever else the Governor had held.

Interpretations

The seizure of the hogs turned on the source of their feed rather than on any question of ownership during Johnson's life. The animals had been raised on provisions taken from the Company's plantations and never paid for, so the council treated them as belonging in substance to the Company and absorbed them into its own stock. This applied the same principle the administration used elsewhere, that property fattened or improved at the Company's expense without payment reverted to the Company, here enforced against the estate of the governor himself within days of his death.

The locking of the hogs in an escritoire and the careful inventory reflect the law governing a dead official's estate. As trustees of the will, the council had to secure and account for everything Johnson held on the island before the property could be distributed or remitted, and sealing the assets and listing them protected both the estate and the Company against later dispute. Reading the will in consultation on 19 February 1723, the day after the burial, shows the governing body itself acting as the executing authority over its late head.

Thomas Heath, Esquire, of Mile End stood as the estate's correspondent in England, and the will had been ordered registered with a copy sent to him at the consultation of 16 February 1723. The letter recorded here carried out that order, reporting the trustees' actions to the party who would represent Johnson's interests at home and confirming that the distant settlement's handling of its governor's death would be answerable to scrutiny in London.

8

4

left in his Custody by Govr Pyke and Since by Gentlemen

belonging to Shipping a Copy of Which with the Copy of the

Will We herewith Transmitt you for your better Satisfaction

and Information

Upon Perusing his Books of Accots and all papers We

find in his Accot of Cash there appears to want £360. 6s 9

to Ballance that accot and of the Honble Companys Cash

which He Receivd of the Storekeeper and others Since ye 13th of

June 1722 the Sume of £60. 6. – and notwithstanding our

diligent Search and Examination of all his Books and papers

for three days Successively we cannot find one word how or

which way the same has been paid out and as We were wholy

Strangers to the Transactions of all his Affairs during his

life time So We can no way Conceive how these Sumes has

been Disbursed But do Immagine He forgot to bring them

to an Accot Which Books and papers with a Copy of his accot

as they stand here in our Books We herewith likewise Transmitt

And as to his Goods that are Carefully Picked and Naild up

in Severil Chests We Shall take Care to Send to England as op

portunity offers, for there is no possibility of disposing of so

many here.

We have paid all the Legacys mentioned in the Said Will

and all other Lawfull demands and have deliver'd all his Wear

ing apparell to Mr Slaughter and Household Goods Table Lin

nen &c to Mr Ormston according to the Tenor thereof and in

every Respect with Regard to our Honble Masters Interest

Shall always Endeavour to Show our Selves Honest and Just

in the Execution of our Dutys as well to private as publick

affairs to us Committed, hoping our proceedings herein will

meet

The trustees explained that these effects had been left in Governor Johnson's charge by Governor Pyke, and afterwards by gentlemen of the shipping. They sent Heath a copy of this material together with a copy of the will for his fuller satisfaction and information.

On examining Johnson's books of account and all his papers, the trustees found that his cash account fell short by £360 6s 9d against the balance shown. This was the sum of the Company's cash that he had received from the storekeeper and others since 13 June 1722, amounting to £160 6s [...]. Despite three full days spent searching and checking all his books and papers, the trustees could find no record of how or where this money had been paid out. Being strangers to the dealings of his affairs during his lifetime, they could form no idea of how the sums had been spent. They supposed instead that he had simply failed to enter them in an account. They sent Heath these books and papers along with a copy of the account as it stood in their own books.

The trustees reported that his goods had been carefully packed and nailed up in several chests, and that they would arrange to send these to England as soon as a chance arose, since so many could not possibly be sold on the island.

The trustees recorded that they had paid all the legacies named in the will, along with every other lawful claim. They had delivered all his wearing apparel to Mr Slaughter and his household goods, table linen and other effects to Mr Ormston, in keeping with the will. They affirmed that, with regard to their honourable masters' interest, they would always strive to act honestly and fairly in carrying out their duties, in private matters as much as in the public business entrusted to them, hoping that their conduct in this would meet [...].

Interpretations

The shortfall of £360 6s 9d marks the central difficulty of the estate. Johnson had received Company cash from the storekeeper and others after 13 June 1722, yet no entry showed where any of it had gone. The trustees could not treat the gap as ordinary expenditure because nothing in the books explained it, so they recorded it as an unaccounted deficiency and assumed it arose from his failure to keep the entries rather than from any settled disbursement. An unexplained hole in the cash of this size left the estate owing the Company until the matter could be cleared in England.

The decision to ship the goods home rather than sell them rested on the limits of the island market. A small population could not absorb the contents of several chests at any reasonable price, so the trustees packed and sealed the effects for England, where they could be sold to better advantage for the estate. This reflects the standing problem that personal property of any value was worth more remitted than realised on St Helena.

The distribution of the apparel to Mr Slaughter and the household goods and linen to Mr Ormston carried out the specific legacies of the will. Ormston had attended Johnson throughout his final illness, which places his legacy within the pattern of provision for those close to the dying man. The trustees' closing assurance of honesty in both private and public business answered to their dual position, since they were settling a private estate while remaining accountable to the Company whose cash the estate was found to owe.

9

5

Febry

meet with Sr Your approval and approbation which

is what Offers at present, from

Honble Sr

Your most Humble Servants

Edwd Byfeld

Jno Alexander

John Goodwin

The Petition of John Auldrick Carpenter was

Presented

Settingforth

That Whereas your Petitioner having

for many years been Entertaind in the Honble Companys

Service was discharged by the late Govr Johnson Esqr for

reasons best known to himself And being now destitute of

any Employment whereby to get his livelyhood Humbly

prayes to be Entertaind in the Honble Companys Service

as a private Centinal, And will always demean himself

with Respect to all his Superiours and diligent in his

Duty &c Granted And as in Duty &c

Febry ye 26 1722 Jno Auldrick

The Govr and Capt Goodwin Report that Accord

ing to the order of Consultation of the 2 of Janry last they

have Examined the Books of Accot and find they are

right Ballanced

The Doctor brought in his Book of Medicines Ex

pended Since ye 15 day Janry last which was Examined

and Approv'd of.

Jno Defountaine presented a Deed of Indenture for a

Settlement of a Real Estate from Mr Pyrin Wills upon

his

Margin Notes:

Jno Auldricks Petion

to be reentertaind

Books of the Years

Of saund right

Doctrs Acct of

Medicines

Jno Defountaine

Indentures of

The trustees closed by hoping their conduct would meet with Heath's approval, and signed themselves his obedient servants Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The petition of John Auldrick, carpenter, was presented.

Auldrick set out that he had served the Company for many years until the late Governor Johnson discharged him for reasons known only to himself. Now without any employment to support himself, he asked to be taken back into the Company's service as a private soldier, promising to behave respectfully towards all his superiors and to attend diligently to his duty. The petition was granted at the consultation of 26 February 1722, under Auldrick's name.

The Governor and Captain Goodwin reported that, following the order of the consultation of 2 January 1723, they had examined the books of account and found them correctly balanced.

The doctor brought in his book of medicines dispensed since 15 January, which the council examined and approved.

John Defountaine presented a deed of indenture for the settlement of a real estate from Mr Pirling Wills upon [...].

Interpretations

Auldrick's request to return as a private soldier shows the narrow range of livelihoods open to a discharged servant on the island. Dismissed from his trade as a carpenter, he sought re-entry at the lowest rank of the garrison simply to secure his keep, since the Company's establishment was effectively the only employer for a man left without land or means. The grant restored him to the Company's pay, exchanging a skilled position lost under Governor Johnson for a place in the ranks under the new administration.

The examination of the account books carried forward an order made before Johnson's death. The consultation of 2 January 1723 had directed that the fair copy of the 1721 books be checked, and the report that they were correctly balanced confirmed the completion of that audit under Governor Byfield. Verifying the accounts was a standing obligation to the Company, whose distant directors relied on the council's certification that the island's books were sound.

The doctor's book of medicines dispensed since 15 January 1723 records the routine accounting of the island's medical stores. Drugs and remedies were Company property issued from a limited supply, so the surgeon had to account for what he had used, and the council's examination and approval closed that period's reckoning. This kept medical expenditure within the same system of inventory and audit that governed every other class of the Company's goods.

10

6

his Grandaughter the Said Defountaines Wife desireing

the same may be Registerd which was orderd accordingly

According to the order of last Consultation We took an In

ventory of the Goods and Effects belonging to the late Decd

Edward Johnson Esqr and is as follows./

Island St Helena

An Inventory of the Severall Goods and Mer

chandize Plate &c belonging to the late Edwd Johnson Esqr

Govr Taken the 19 day of Febry 1722 By us Edwd Byfeld

Esqr Govr John Alexander and John Goodwin Trustees to ye

Sd Edwd Johnsons Last will and Testament Particulars Viz

In the Chest Marked E I No 1

Forty Eight pieces of Bengl Taffetys

Sixteen pieces of China Taffetys

Seven & half pieces of China Handkerchiefs

one pr Atlass

one Single piece of Jenny Warr

Eight double pieces Do

one pr of Blew Grogram

Two pr New Satten

One pr Hummums

one China Velvet Cap Embroaderd

One China belt

Four pr Sentapore Mulmuls

Twenty five pieces of China Domask

Eight pieces of Slattches

In the Chest Markd E I No 2

One Phillompore

Margin Notes:

Settlemt of Mr

Wills Decd Reall Estate

Inventory

of Govr Johnsons

Effects./

The settlement came from Mr Wills's plate, his granddaughter being Defountaine's wife. She wished the deed registered, and the council ordered this done.

Following the order of the last consultation, the council took an inventory of the goods and effects belonging to the late Governor Edward Johnson, set out below.

Island of St Helena

An inventory of the various goods, merchandise, plate and other effects belonging to the late Governor Edward Johnson, taken on 19 February 1723 by Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin, trustees to the will of the late Governor Johnson, as follows.

In the chest marked EI No 1:

48 pieces of Bengal taffeties 16 pieces of China taffeties 7½ pieces of China handkerchiefs 1 pair of atlas 1 single piece of ginghams 8 double pieces of ginghams 1 pair of blue grogram 2 pairs of new satin 1 pair of humhums 1 China velvet cap embroidered 1 China belt 4 pairs of Soontapore mulmuls 25 pieces of China damask 8 pieces of slatches

In the chest marked EI No 2:

1 pelong satin

Interpretations

The inventory records a private trade in Asian textiles held by the governor at his death. Almost every item is a class of Indian or Chinese cloth, packed by the bolt or piece in marked chests, which shows that Johnson had accumulated a substantial stock of eastern fabrics for resale or remittance rather than for personal use. The chest marks EI for the East India Company identify the containers as Company packing, the goods passing through the same channels of trade that supplied the island.

The named cloths would be unfamiliar to a modern reader and each belonged to the eastern textile trade. Taffeties were fine glossy silks, those from Bengal and China forming a staple of the India commerce. Atlas was a rich silk satin of Indian manufacture. Ginghams were striped or checked cotton cloths from the Coromandel and Bengal trade. Grogram was a coarse mixed fabric of silk and wool or mohair, here dyed blue. Humhums were a thick plain cotton cloth from Bengal. Mulmuls were fine muslins, those described as Soontapore taking their name from a place of production. China damask was a patterned silk woven with figures showing on both sides. Pelong satin was a Chinese silk satin. Together these formed the costly piece-goods that drove the East India trade and circulated as both merchandise and stored wealth.

The taking of the inventory by the three trustees on 19 February 1723 fulfilled the order recorded at the consultation of 16 February 1723 to list the dead governor's effects. As the executing body over Johnson's estate, the council had to fix the contents of each chest before the goods could be shipped to England, since the stock could not be sold on the island and represented value owed into the settlement of the estate. The marked and itemised packing protected both the trustees and the Company against any later question over what the estate had contained.

11

7

Febry

One piece of Stitcht work for a Bed

Eight pieces of Maurees

Four Pieces of Suffies

Four Peices of Betillaes

one piece of Neckcloths

Ten pieces of Sevbands

Nine pieces of Madrass Chints

Ten pieces of Fort St Davids Dimety

Nine pieces of China Damask

One China Soopdish

Twelve China plates

Two Setts of China Ware

Two basketts of Bohea Tea Markd E I N 1 & 2

In the Chest Markd E I No 3

Fifty four pieces China Taffetys

Three pieces of Do Damask

one Small Canister of Bohea Tea

A parcell of Old Books

In a Box Markd E I No 4

One piece of Strip'd Silk found amongst the papers

Two Bezoar Stones

One Silver Scale

One pair Do Studs

One Cane Head

All his Books of Accots Memorandums as We found them

one Leagr of Batavia Arrack markd E I manty 6½ Inches

one Do Do 6 Inches

one Do Do 5¼ Do

one Do Do 5¼ Do

one Black Boy named Jack about ten years old

The inventory continued.

1 piece of stitched work for a bed 8 pieces of moorees 4 pieces of suffies 4 pieces of betillas 1 piece of neckcloths 10 pieces of serbands 9 pieces of Madras chints 10 pieces of Fort St David's dimity 9 pieces of China damask 1 China soup dish 12 China plates 2 sets of China ware 2 baskets of bohea tea, marked EI No 1 and 2

In the chest marked EI No 3:

54 pieces of China taffeties 3 pieces of damask 1 small canister of bohea tea a parcel of old books

In a box marked EI No 4:

1 piece of striped silk, found among the papers 2 bezoar stones 1 silver scale 1 pair of studs 1 cane head

All his books of account and memorandums, as found.

1 leaguer of Batavia arrack, marked EI, measuring 6½ inches 2 leaguer of Batavia arrack, measuring 6 inches 3 leaguer of Batavia arrack, measuring 5¼ inches 4 leaguer of Batavia arrack, measuring 5¼ inches

1 black boy named Jack, about ten years old.

Interpretations

The remaining textiles extend the range of eastern piece-goods held in the estate and several would be unfamiliar to a modern reader. Moorees were plain white cotton cloths from the Coromandel coast. Suffies were a silk or mixed fabric of the India trade. Betillas were fine muslins, often used for veils and headcloths. Serbands were a cotton cloth used for sashes and turbans. Chintz from Madras was a painted or printed calico, prized for its fast colours. Dimity from Fort St David was a stout ribbed cotton, named for the Company settlement on the Coromandel coast where it was procured. These cloths confirm that Johnson's stock drew on the full spread of Indian weaving centres supplying the eastern trade.

The bezoar stones and the bohea tea were goods of particular value in the period. Bezoar stones were concretions taken from the stomachs of animals, valued as a costly remedy believed to counter poison and disease, and kept as objects of worth in their own right. Bohea was a black tea from the Wuyi hills of China, an expensive import early in the century before tea became common, packed here in baskets and a canister among the estate's merchandise. Both items belonged to the high-value end of the eastern trade that a governor might accumulate alongside cloth.

The leaguers of Batavia arrack record the estate's holding of spirits by the cask. A leaguer was a large liquor cask, and arrack from Batavia was the distilled spirit shipped from the Dutch East Indies and widely consumed and traded across the settlements. The measurements in inches refer to the depth of liquor remaining in each cask, the means by which the trustees gauged how much spirit the estate actually held rather than counting full vessels.

The inclusion of a ten-year-old slave named Jack at the foot of the inventory shows the legal status of enslaved people as property within an estate. Listed among cloth, china and casks of spirit, the child was counted as an asset of the late governor to be valued and disposed of like any other, a stark register of how the island's law treated human beings held in bondage.

12

8

Six Silvr Tea Spoons

one Do Strainer

Six large Spoons

Wt 13. 19. 2

Five pieces Betillas Musline Expend for Scarves at his funerall

one Peece of black Taffety at Do

All Govr Johnsons Wearing apparell of all Sorts we deliverd

to Enique Slaughter and all his Houshold Goods linnen &c

We have likewise deliverd to Elizabeth Ormston according to

his Last Will and Testament

Goods belonging to Sundry persons in England lett with Govr

Johnson Decd Vizt

Nineteen pieces Damask

Two pieces of China Taffetys

belonging to Mr Wm Lock

Twentynine pieces Cassumbazar Handkercheifs

Fifty pieces Romall Ditto

Seventy pieces Gurrhass

one hundred pieces Currederys

belonging to

Capt Danl Small

Four Chests of Tea belonging to Capt George Newton

Fortynine Tea Tables

1820. China Cupps

1980 ditto Saucers

belongs to Mr Fenwick and Capt Math Martin

Six Chests of Tea belonging to Capt Newsham

Eight Do to Capt Hill

The two above mentiond Parcells of Tea was left with the deceas

Govr Johnson to be disposed of according to directions and in

Case of his death or Removall then to be under the care and in the

Custody of Mr Edwd Byfeld now the Succeeding Govr who will

observe the abovesaid Gentlemens Directions to him

Errors Excepted.

Ed Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

The inventory continued with the silver, weighing 13 ounces 19 [...].

6 silver teaspoons 1 silver strainer 6 large spoons

5 pieces of betillas muslin, spent for scarves at his funeral 1 piece of black taffety, spent for scarves at his funeral

All Governor Johnson's wearing apparel of every kind was delivered to Ensign Slaughter, and all his household goods, linen and other effects were delivered to Elizabeth Ormston in keeping with the will.

Goods belonging to various persons in England, left with the late Governor Johnson, were as follows.

19 pieces of damask, belonging to Mr James Lock 2 pieces of China taffeties, belonging to Mr James Lock 29 pieces of Cossimbazar handkerchiefs, belonging to Captain Daniel Small 50 pieces of romall handkerchiefs, belonging to Captain Daniel Small 70 pieces of gurrahs, belonging to Captain Daniel Small 100 pieces of cudderys, belonging to Captain Daniel Small 4 chests of tea, belonging to Captain George Newton 49 tea tables, belonging to Mr Fenwick and Captain Matthew Martin 1,820 China cups, belonging to Mr Fenwick and Captain Matthew Martin 1,980 China saucers, belonging to Mr Fenwick and Captain Matthew Martin 6 chests of tea, belonging to Captain Newsham 8 chests of tea, belonging to Captain Hill

The two parcels of tea named above had been left with the late Governor Johnson to be disposed of according to instructions. On his death or removal they were to pass into the care and custody of Governor Edward Byfield, the succeeding governor, who would follow the directions given to him by the gentlemen concerned.

The inventory was certified, errors excepted, under the names of Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The use of cloth for funeral scarves shows a customary form of mourning provision drawn from the estate's own stock. Five pieces of fine muslin and one of black silk were cut up and distributed as scarves to those attending the burial, a recognised mark of respect at the funeral of a person of standing. Charging these to the inventory recorded the estate's expenditure in kind, the textiles serving a ceremonial purpose rather than passing as merchandise.

The long list of goods held for persons in England reveals the governor acting as a trusted agent in the private eastern trade. Merchants and ship captains had deposited large consignments of cloth, tea and chinaware with Johnson to be sold or forwarded under their directions, the quantities running to thousands of cups and saucers and dozens of chests of tea. His position let him hold and manage other men's ventures, and his death required the trustees to identify each owner's property and arrange its safe transfer rather than treat it as part of his own estate.

The named textiles again belonged to the India trade and several would be unfamiliar today. Cossimbazar handkerchiefs took their name from the Bengal silk centre of that place. Romalls were squares of silk or cotton used as handkerchiefs or headcloths. Gurrahs were a coarse plain cotton cloth from Bengal. Cudderys were another class of Indian cotton piece-goods. These bulk fabrics formed the everyday staples of the trade, distinct from the finer damasks and muslins, and their presence in such quantity confirms the commercial scale of the goods passing through the governor's hands.

The arrangement for the tea to pass to the succeeding governor on Johnson's death shows a deliberate provision against the interruption of these private trusts. The depositors had foreseen that their goods might be left in limbo if the holder died, so the custody was set to devolve on whoever next held the office, ensuring that Byfield would carry out the original owners' instructions. This protected absent principals against the loss of valuable consignments stranded on a remote island by the death of their agent.

13

9

March

Island St Helena

At a Consultation Held on Tuesday

the 5th of March 1722 at the Honble Compys Plantation House

Edwd Byfeld Esqr Govr

Jno Alexander 2

Prest John Goodwin 3

The last Consultation Read and Approvd of/

The Gunner brought in his Accot of Gunners Stores Expend

ed in the month of Febry last which was Examined and Approvd

of and is as follows./

Febry 17 A double allarm

6

6

6

18 For the Burrying of Govr Johnson Decd 3 Vollies

20

3

3

14

47

Do For Small Armes

Powder

7

19th For Capt Byfeld as Succeeding Govr Sitt for ye presence

21

1

4

16

39

25 For a General Rendevouz of all the Island

10

Expences for the Guards

9

Cartridge Paper

12d

Flints

6d

Spunge Staves

2

Ramer heads

2

Spunge heads

4

Copper Ladles do to the kitth

2

Sheep Skins

4

Match

6

20

20

4

4

4

2

6d

2

47

4

7

36

18

The following Petition was presented/

The Humble Petition of Jno Young Serjt

Sheweth

That

Margin Notes:

Gunrs Acct for

Febry

Particulars

Expended

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Tuesday 5 March 1722 at the Company's plantation house.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander, second of the council, and John Goodwin, third.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

The gunner brought in his account of gunner's stores expended during February, which the council examined and approved. The account is set out below, reckoned in pieces of ordnance, pounds of powder, falcons and new gun-related items.

17 February, a double alarm: 6 pieces of ordnance, 6 falcons, 6 [...] 18 February, for the burial of Governor Johnson: 20 pieces of ordnance, 3 pounds of powder, 14 falcons, 47 [...] 18 February, for small arms: 7 pounds of powder 25 February, for Governor Byfield as succeeding governor, fired in his presence: 21 pieces of ordnance, 1 pound of powder, 16 falcons, 39 [...] 25 February, for a general rendezvous of all the island: 10 [...] expenses for the guards: 9 [...]

The particular stores expended were as follows.

cartridge paper: 8 [...] flints: 6d sponge staves: 2 rammer heads: 2 sponge heads: 4 copper ladles fitted to the [...]: 9 sheep skins: 4 match: 6, 20

Totals: 20 pieces of ordnance, 4 pounds of powder, 4, 2, 6d, 2, 47 falcons, 4, 7, 36, 18 [...]

The petition of Mr Young was presented.

Young set out [...].

Interpretations

The gunner's account records the powder and ordnance fired in the formal ceremonies that marked the change of government. The burial of Governor Johnson on 18 February 1723 drew a large discharge of guns, and the salute for Governor Byfield as succeeding governor on 25 February 1723 drew a larger one still, the honours for the new ruler exceeding those for the dead. These firings were the public and audible signals of the succession, expending scarce gunpowder to mark the authority of the office before the whole island.

The column reckoning in pieces, pounds of powder and falcons reflects the standing system of accounting for military stores by category. A falcon was a light cannon firing a small shot, and the gunner had to enter the precise issue of powder, the rounds fired and the ancillary stores spent against each occasion. Sponge staves, rammer heads, sponge heads, flints, cartridge paper and match were the consumable equipment of the guns, all drawn from a limited magazine and itemised so that every charge could be checked. This was the same discipline of inventory and audit applied across all the Company's goods, here governing the materials of defence and ceremony.

The general rendezvous of the whole island on 25 February 1723 was the muster at which Governor Byfield addressed the inhabitants, recorded in his speech entered at the consultation of 26 February 1722. The expenditure of powder on that occasion ties the gunner's account to the assembly of the population under arms, the firing of ordnance lending weight to the new governor's first public appeal for obedience and concord.

14

10

1722

That, forasmuch as your Petitioner living Constant

ly in the Fort Valley is very desireous of keeping a Couple of

Cows towards the maintenance of himself and family Humbly

prayes to become Tennant to the Honble Company, for a Small

parcell of their Wast Land lying at the bottom of als path to

build him a Pound on/ And as in Duty Bound

Mar ye 5th 1722 Granted John Young

Capt Goodwin likewise presented his Petition Desire

ing to hire about two acres of the Honble Compy Land lying

in Sarahs Valley below Richd Gurlings Plantation Granted

The Doctr brought in his Book of Medicines Expended since

the 26 Febry last Which was Examind and approvd off/

Upon Examining the Register Book We find there was

a lease formerly Granted to Humphry Edwards for that

piece of Land granted to John Bradley in Consultation of

the 29 of Janry last but the Said Edwards Runing off the

Island above Seaven Years Since, the Land was left Vacant

and fell to the Honble Compa againe and no person hav

ing had it in Possession since Orderd that the former Lease

be Vacated and a new one Granted to the Said Bradley/

We having had no kindly Seasons for these four Years past

nor at this time though Expected above two months Since

it hath Caused a generall want of Provisions and Especialy

of Yams and the Honble Compy having very little watered

Land the Runs of Water failing almost every Where their

Yams if Dugg now will be soon Run over and many Suckers

lost by being Planted in dry ground and Will be very Prejudice

all to their Several Plantations in generall Where fore We

think it most for our Honble Masters Interest to buy what Yams

We can till it please God to Send us a favourable Season which

is now Extreamly Wanted/

Orderd

Margin Notes:

Serjt Youngs

Pet to build

a Pound/

Granted

2 Acres of Land

Granted Capt Goodwin

Doctr Acct

Land formerly Lett

to Humy Edward

Granted to John

Bradley.

for want of a

kindly Season

Yams to be

bought

Young set out that, since he lived steadily in the Fort Valley and wished to keep a couple of cows towards supporting himself and his family, he asked to become tenant to the Company for a small parcel of their waste land at the bottom of the path, so that he might build a pound there. The petition was granted at the consultation of 5 March 1722, under Young's name.

Captain Goodwin also presented his petition, asking to hire about two acres of the Company's land in Sarah's Valley below Richard Gurling's plantation. The petition was granted.

The doctor brought in his book of medicines dispensed since 26 February, which the council examined and approved.

On examining the register book, the council found that a lease had earlier been granted to Humphry Edwards for the piece of land granted to John Bradley at the consultation of 29 January 1723. Edwards had left the island more than seven years before, the land had reverted to the Company and no one had held it since. The council ordered the former lease cancelled and a new one granted to Bradley.

The council recorded that the past four years had brought no kindly seasons, and that none had fallen at this time, though rain had been expected for more than two months. This had caused a general shortage of provisions, especially of yams, and the Company's land held very little water. With the streams failing almost everywhere, the existing yams would soon run over and many young plants would be lost through being set in dry ground, to the serious harm of all the plantations in general. The council therefore judged it most in the masters' interest to buy what yams it could until God might send a favourable season. Yams were now in extremely short supply.

Interpretations

The cancellation of the dormant lease shows the working of the register book as the instrument of land tenure on the island. A holding granted to Humphry Edwards had lapsed when he left more than seven years before, yet the old lease still stood on the record and clouded the fresh grant to John Bradley made at the consultation of 29 January 1723. The council had to formally vacate the earlier entry before the new one could take clear effect, since title depended on the register and a stale lease left unresolved could later be set up against the current holder. This kept the documentary record of landholding consistent and enforceable.

The decision to buy yams reflects the island's exposure to drought and its dependence on a single staple. Yams were the principal provision crop, grown to feed the settlement and to refresh the Company's shipping, and a long failure of rain threatened both the standing crop and the young plants. With its own land yielding little, the council chose to purchase from the planters rather than risk a general shortage, managing the food supply as a matter of the masters' interest. The moderate climate of the island made it subject to such dry spells, and the failure of the streams across the settlement marked a serious interruption to the water on which the crop relied.

Young's request to build a pound for his cattle points to the practical regulation of livestock on a small island. A pound was an enclosure for confining animals, and a settler keeping cattle needed somewhere to hold them against straying onto neighbouring ground or common pasture. Granting him waste land for the purpose tied the keeping of stock to a fixed enclosure, part of the wider effort to control where animals ranged and to prevent the disputes over trespass and mixed herds that recurred across the island's holdings.

15

11

March

Orderd that all proper Advertizements usually Issued

out at this time of the Year be Published anew some time

this week/

The Invoice of the Cargoe brought us by the Lethieull

Capt John Edwards was Copyed out Shewing the Prime Cost

and Selling price before the Sailling of the last Ship for

England But being Mislaid it was omitted to be sent with

the Rest of the papers Wherefore Orderd that a Copy thereof

be sent with the Copy of the Consultations by next Ship and

a Duplicate by the Ship after/

Sutton Isaack Planter was Summond for not Appearing

at the General Muster on the 26 of Febry last and ye said

Isaack being now present says he Straind one of his Leggs

and was not able to Walk promising to be very diligent

for the future. He was dismist/

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island St Helena

At a Consultation Held on Fryday the 8th

Day of March 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley

Edwd Byfeld Esqr Govr

Prest John Alexander 2

John Goodwin 3

The last Consultation Read and Approved of./

On Wensday the 6th Instant Arrived the following Ships

The Byfeld Capt Rigby The Drake Capt Westerbane The

Middlesex Capt Pelly from Madrass The Townshend Capt

Worth from Mocho and the Godfrey Capt Braund from

Margin Notes:

usuall Advertizemt

to be Publicshed/

Copy of

Invoice of goods

p Lethieullr

to be sent to Engd

Suttn Isaack

Summond for

Neglect of Duty

Sevl Ships

Arrived

The council ordered that all the advertisements usually issued at this time of year be published afresh at some point during the week.

The invoice of the cargo brought by the Leithulier under Captain John Edwards had been copied out, showing the prime cost and selling price before the last ship sailed for England. Because it had been mislaid, it was left out of the packet sent with the rest of the papers. The council therefore ordered that a copy be sent with the consultations by the next ship and a duplicate by the ship after.

Sutton Yaack, planter, was summoned for failing to appear at the general muster on 25 February. Now present, Yaack explained that he had strained one of his legs and could not walk, and he promised to attend diligently in future. He was dismissed.

The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Friday 8 March 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander, second of the council, and John Goodwin, third.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

On Wednesday 6 March the following ships arrived: the Byfield under Captain Rigby, the Drake under Captain Westerban, the Middlesex under Captain Pelly from Madras, the Townshend under Captain Worth from Mocha, and the Godfrey under Captain Braund from [...].

Interpretations

The resending of the Leithulier invoice shows the care taken to guarantee that commercial records reached the directors in England. The invoice set out the prime cost and selling price of the cargo, the essential figures by which the home authorities judged the island's trade, and its loss from the original packet left a gap in the accounts. Ordering a copy by the next ship and a duplicate by the one after applied the standing practice of sending important papers in duplicate by separate vessels, a precaution against loss at sea on the long and uncertain passage home.

The summons of Sutton Yaack for missing the general muster of 25 February 1723 reflects the compulsory nature of militia attendance on the island. Every able man was required to appear under arms, and absence had to be explained to the council, which weighed the excuse before dismissing or penalising the defaulter. Yaack's plea of a strained leg was accepted, but the requirement that he answer for his absence at all shows how the small settlement enforced the muster as a duty owed to its own defence.

The arrival of five ships at once on 6 March 1723, drawn from Madras, Mocha and elsewhere, marks the island's standing role as a place of call on the homeward and regional routes. St Helena served as a victualling and gathering point where East India shipping touched for refreshment, and a convergence of vessels of this kind set the rhythm of the island's busiest periods, when provisions were demanded and the council's attention turned to the needs of the shipping.

16

12

1722

Bonjar but all last from the Cape/

By the three former Ships We have Recd Severall Letters and

Invoices of Goods Consignd to us from Fort St George and

another from the Cape of good hope with an Invoice Containg

6 Bales of Chints saved out of the Wreck of the Chandois Consig

by William Mackett Thomas Gilbert and Richd Higginson

which Invoices and Quantities of goods by Each Ship are as

follows/

By the Ship Enfield

Battavia Arrack 4 half Leagrs at 15 p Le

90

Sugar 35 bags p ½ Cor 6 Cwt 1qr 18 2 at p 1s 12p cand

82

30

25

Charges Merchandize boat Cooley hire &cs

1

20

Pagt

173

30

45

By Ship Drake

Battavia Arrack 4 half leagr at 15 p Leagr

90

Rice 25 bags qt 200 mevr at 8 p Pageda

25

Charges Merchdze boat Cooley hire 80 8

2

3A

70

Pagodas

117

3A

70

By Ship Middlesex

Battavia Arrack 4 half Leagr 15 p Leagr

90

Rice 25 Laggs qt 200 mevr at 8 mer p Pag 25

25

Charges Merchandize Laggs boat & Cooley hire

2

3A

70

Pagodas

117

3A

70

From the Cape of good Hope

2 Bales Anabaquz Chints Contg 240 p p the Middlesex

Ditto Containing 240 p p Enfield

Ditto broken Pieces Contd 173 p p Drake

The

Margin Notes:

6 Bales Chints

sent from ye Cape

Goods Recd by

Each Shipping

Viz

The Godfrey had come last from the Cape under Captain Braund.

By the three earlier ships the council had received several letters and invoices of goods consigned from Fort St George, and another from the Cape of Good Hope with an invoice covering six bales of chintz saved out of the wreck of the Chandois, consigned by William Mackett, Thomas Gilbert and Richard Higginson. The invoices and quantities of goods carried by each ship were as follows.

By the ship Byfield:

Batavia arrack, half a leaguer at 5 pence per pint, £90 0s 0d sugar, 35 bags at 6s [...] each, £82 0s 0d, 30, 25 charges, merchandise, boat and cooley hire, £1 0s 0d, 20

Total, £173 0s 0d, 30, 45

By the ship Drake:

Batavia arrack, half a leaguer at 5 pence per leaguer, £90 0s 0d rice, 25 bags at 8 per pagoda, £115 0s 0d, 250 charges, merchandise, boat and cooley hire, £2 0s 0d, 3, 70

Total in pagodas, £117 0s 0d, 3, 70

By the ship Middlesex:

Batavia arrack, half a leaguer at 5 pence per leaguer, £90 0s 0d rice, 25 bags of 200 each at 8 per pagoda, £115 0s 0d, 25 charges, merchandise, bags, boat and cooley hire, £2 0s 0d, 3, 70

Total in pagodas, £117 0s 0d, 3, 70

From the Cape of Good Hope:

2 bales of Annabaquis chintz, containing 240 pieces, per the Middlesex 2 bales of Annabaquis chintz, containing 240 pieces, per the Byfield 2 bales of broken pieces, containing 173 pieces, per the Drake

Interpretations

The invoices record goods consigned to the island from the Company's Indian settlements, the figures reckoned partly in pagodas, the gold coin of the Coromandel coast in which the Madras trade was priced. Each cargo carried the same core items of Batavia arrack and grain, with the costs of landing added under boat and cooley hire, the charge for the hired labourers who moved the goods ashore. Setting out prime cost, quantity and charges for each ship let the council and the directors track the value and expense of every consignment as it arrived.

The six bales of chintz saved from the wreck of the Chandois tie this entry to a recent maritime disaster. The Chandois had been driven ashore at the Cape in a violent storm alongside the Nightingale and the Addison, the news brought to the island shortly before. That salvaged cargo, consigned on by Mackett, Gilbert and Higginson, shows how goods rescued from a loss were redistributed through other vessels and entered into the ordinary accounts, the wreck registering in the island's records through the property recovered from it.

The Annabaquis chintz from the Cape would be unfamiliar to a modern reader. Chintz was a painted or printed Indian cotton, and the name marks a particular type or source within that trade, here shipped in bales counted by the piece. The distinction between whole bales and a bale of broken pieces shows the goods graded by condition, the damaged or incomplete lengths kept separate from the sound, a routine of sorting that fixed the value of textiles passing through the island for resale or remittance.

17

13

March

The Govr brought in his Accot of the Honble Companys

live Stock and Expence for the month of Febry last which

was Examind and Approved of/

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island St Helena

At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 12th day

of Mar 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley

Edwd Byfeld Esqr Govr

Prest John Alexander 2

Jno Goodwin 3

The last Consultation Read and Approved of

Capt Goodwin brought In his Accot of Goods Sold & deliverd

out of the Stores for the month of Febry last, which was

Examind and Approved of/

And Reports that he had Recd all the Goods Menti

ond in the foregoing Consultation Except the Rice by the

Drake & Middlesex Wherefore Orderd that the following

Letter be sent to each of the Comanders

Sr

By your Ship Drake We recd a Letter & Invoice

from the Govr &c Council of Fort St George Conteining

four half Legars of Batavia Arrack & 25 Baggs of Rice

Wt Mevr 200. and for which We have your Bill of Lading

But not haveing Yet Recd the Rice nor any Part of it

Notwithstanding Our desire to You for Sending Said Goods

on Shore on the 7 Just. We desire You'l give Us Your

Reasons

Margin Notes:

Live Stock for Febry

Approvd/

Store Goods Sold

& Recd in Febry

Approvd/

Rice want sent

p Drake & Middlesy

Lettr to Capt

Westerbane

The Governor brought in his account of the Company's livestock and expenses for February, which the council examined and approved. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Tuesday 12 March 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander, second of the council, and John Goodwin, third.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

Captain Goodwin brought in his account of goods sold and delivered out of the stores during February, which the council examined and approved. He reported that he had received all the goods named in the previous consultation, except the rice carried by the Drake and the Middlesex. The council therefore ordered a letter sent to each of the commanders.

The letter to Captain Westerban set out that, by his ship the Drake, the council had received a letter and invoice from the Governor and council of Fort St George covering four half-leaguers of Batavia arrack and 25 bags of rice weighing 200 each, for which it held his bill of lading. The council explained that it had not yet received the rice or any part of it, despite asking him on 7 March to send the goods ashore, and it requested that he give his reasons.

Interpretations

The withholding of the rice points to a dispute between the council and a ship's commander over the delivery of consigned cargo. The Company's settlement at Fort St George had shipped the grain to the island under a bill of lading, the document by which the council held a legal claim to receive the goods named in it. When Captain Westerban failed to land the rice after a direct request, the council put its demand in writing and called for his explanation, building a formal record of the default in case the matter had to be answered to the directors. This shows the bill of lading functioning as the instrument that bound a captain to deliver what his ship carried for the island.

The careful checking of goods received against the invoice reflects the storekeeper's duty to account for every item entering the Company's stores. Captain Goodwin reported precisely which consignments had come ashore and which had not, identifying the missing rice from two named ships. The settlement depended on imported provisions, and a shortfall in a grain delivery during a season of scarcity made the discrepancy worth pursuing at once, the written demand to the commanders following directly from the gap found in the account.

18

14

1722

Reasons in Writing why you have not Complyd there

with and are

Sr

St Helena ye 12 Mard

1722

Yor Humble Servants

Edwd Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Another of the same was Sent to Capt Pelly/

We being in want of a Proper Person to assist and Write

in the Secretrs Office for the better & more quicker Dispatch of

Business in time of Hurry, Mr Hawkes who has been

Employd therein eversince he has been here Writing but Slow

& Seeming to be a very great fatteague to him. And the

Purser of the Ship Godfrey named Wille Coulthread being

Desireous of Serveing the Honble Compy here & being Recom

mended by Capt Braund & other Gentlemen in these Ships to be

fitly Qualified for such an Employ We have thought it

Proper to Entertaine him as Clerk of the Council & to remove

Mr Hawkes (who is a very Honest man) into the Stores

Under Capt Goodwin which Employ is more agreeable to him

he haveing been Used to Shopkeeping/

Mr Slaughter brought In his Accot of the Expence of the

General Table for the month of Febry which was Examind and

approvd of and is as follows.

601 of Beef at 25 p Ct

£2. 7. 10. 3

99 Porke ad 6 ½ p Ct

2. 9. 6

Sheep ad

1. 4

12 Goates ad 10/- p ad

6

58 fowles ad – 18 ea

4. 7

Carried Over

£25. 10. 9

Margin Notes:

Anothr to Capt Pelly

Mr Coulthread

Enterd as Clerk of

the Counl

Mr Hawkes remd

into the Stores/

Mr Slaughters

Acct of ye Genl

Table Expence

for Febry/

The council asked the commander to give his reasons in writing for not complying. The letter was dated St Helena, 12 March 1722, and signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Another letter of the same kind was sent to Captain Pelly.

The council recorded that it needed a suitable person to assist and write in the secretary's office, for the better and quicker handling of business in busy times. Mr Hawkes, who had been employed there since his arrival, had done the writing alone, and this was proving a heavy burden to him. The purser of the ship Godfrey, named William Coulthread, wished to serve the Company on the island and was recommended by Captain Braund and other gentlemen of the ships as well qualified for such a post. The council therefore judged it proper to take him on as clerk of the council, and to move Mr Hawkes, an entirely honest man, into the stores under Captain Goodwin. That employment suited Hawkes better, since he had been used to shopkeeping.

Mr Slaughter brought in his account of the expense of the general table for February, which the council examined and approved. The account is set out below.

60 pounds of beef at 2½d per pound, £2 7s 10d, 3 99 pounds of pork at 6d per pound, £2 9s 6d 1 sheep, £1 4s 0d 12 goats at 10s 0d each, £6 0s 0d 58 fowls at 18d each, £4 7s 0d

Carried over, £25 10s 9d

Interpretations

The reassignment of Hawkes and Coulthread shows the council filling its offices from the personnel of the visiting ships. The settlement had no ready pool of trained clerks, so when the secretary's office grew too heavy for one writer the council recruited a ship's purser recommended by his captain, a man already practised in accounts. Moving Hawkes into the stores, where his experience of shopkeeping fitted him better, and bringing in Coulthread as clerk matched each man to the post that suited him, the council managing its scarce administrative talent by reshuffling rather than waiting for help from England.

The general table account records the cost of victualling the public table that the government maintained. The figures price each kind of meat and poultry by the pound or the head, drawn from the island's own livestock, and the council examined and approved the total as a charge on the Company. Provisioning the table was a standing expense of the administration, and itemising it line by line kept the cost under the same scrutiny applied to every other class of expenditure.

The reliance on goats, fowls and small quantities of beef and pork reflects the limited pastoral economy of the island. Cattle were relatively few and valuable, so the table drew heavily on goats and poultry, which were easier to raise on the broken terrain. The prices entered here fix the local value of each kind of provision at this date, a record of what the settlement's own produce fetched when supplied to the government's table.

19

15

March

Brought Over

£25. 10. 9

8 Ducks at 18 p ad

12

2 Turkeys

12

28 Days Greens

1. 8

56 Bottles of Milk

18. 8

71 Eggs

5. 11

12 Peic of Salt Beef

1. 14

10 Ditto Pork

1. 05

3 Quarts Sweet Oyle

9

2 Pepper

2

½ Gall Vinegar

6

28 Soape ad 1/5 p

1. 19. 8

145 Sugar

3. 12. 6

10 Candy

10

140 Bread

1. 15

48 flower

12

6 Bohea Tea ad 17 6 p

2. 5

40 Candles ad – 18 p

3

56 Gall Arrack ad 6/4 p Gall

17. 14. 8

22 Gall Maderal Wine ad 4/- p Gall

4. 8

9 Bottles of Port

1. 2

Signd p Will Slaughter

£66. 7. 2

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

The general table account continued.

Brought over, £25 10s 9d

8 ducks at 18d each, £0 12s 0d 2 turkeys, £0 12s 0d 28 days' greens, £1 8s 0d 56 bottles of milk, £0 18s 8d 71 eggs, £0 5s 11d 12 pieces of salt beef, £0 14s 0d 10 pieces of salt pork, £1 0s 5d 3 quarts of sweet oil, £0 9s 0d 2 pounds of pepper, £0 2s 0d ½ gallon of vinegar, £0 6s 0d 28 pounds of soap at 1s 5d per pound, £1 19s 8d 145 pounds of sugar, £3 12s 6d 10 pounds of candy, £0 10s 0d 140 pounds of bread, £1 15s 0d 48 pounds of flour, £0 12s 0d 6 pounds of bohea tea at 7s 6d per pound, £2 5s 0d 40 candles at 18d each, £3 0s 0d 56 gallons of arrack at 6s 4d per gallon, £17 14s 8d 22 gallons of Madeira wine at 4s 0d per gallon, £4 8s 0d 9 bottles of port, £1 2s 0d

The account was signed by William Slaughter, totalling £66 7s 2d.

The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The second part of the table account shows the heavy weight of imported drink and provisions in the cost of the public table. Arrack alone, at over seventeen pounds, made up by far the largest single charge, and with the Madeira wine and port the alcohol came to nearly half the running total carried over. The settlement produced little of this itself, so the government's table depended on shipped liquor and stores, and the prices entered fix what these imports cost the Company at this date.

The named goods reflect the mixed sources that supplied a remote island table. Bohea tea was the black China tea already noted in the governor's estate, here bought by the pound at a high price for daily use. Madeira wine took its name from the Atlantic island where the homeward and outward ships called, making it a staple of the trade. Sweet oil was olive oil, used in cooking, and candy was refined sugar in crystallised form. Together with the fresh produce of milk, eggs, greens and poultry drawn from the island, these items show a table provisioned partly from local stock and partly from the wider networks of seaborne supply.

The detailed pricing of every item, down to a half-gallon of vinegar and a few pounds of pepper, reflects the discipline of accounting that governed even the routine costs of government. The table was a charge the council had to justify to the directors, so each provision was entered with its quantity, rate and sum and the whole certified by Slaughter before approval. This brought the everyday expense of feeding the establishment within the same system of audit that controlled the Company's trade and stores.

20

16

1722

Island St Hellena

At a Consultation held on Monday the 18th

Day of March 1722 at Union Castle in James Vally

Edward Byfeild Esqr Govr

Present John Alexander 2

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved on

Thes two following Letters in answer to ours of the 12th

Instant wee received from Capt Westerbourne & Capt Pelly

To The Worshipfull Edward Byfeild Esqr &c Council

Sr

I have yours of the 12 Currt concerning the 25 baggs of rice

about ten days before I came from Maddrass I waited on

Govt Elwick & desired to know what goods I was to take in of

my honobl Masters for their Island St Hellena he Answered me

he would not Send any by ours nor either Ship the other Ships

but to my great Surprize three or four days before I came away

he orders me to take in the 25 baggs of rice & four half Leagrs

of Arack. I waited on him a second time & putt him in mind as

he had told him before for which reason I had filld up my Ship &

had not roome to take in said Goods & desired that he would not bring

it on board ye Middlesex but his Answer was that he would Send

it & I must take it in accordingly he did when the Surf risin

soo very high on the Shore that most part of it was Wett most

Boat When it came on board my Mato refused taking it in it

being wett but the Lascars of the Boat toling him that if they

returned with it it would be to the hazard of both rice & boat for wch

reasons he thought proper to take it in & lay it on the Quarter

Deck in the Sun to dry which when I aquainted Mr Benyon of

this he told me that as it was on board it must remain & Sign

a Bill of Loading accordingly which I did as you may See at ye

Bottome of the said Bill of Loading. When I came to Cape good

hope I found the Baggs all rotted most part of the rice between

the Water Casks & great part of it rotten which was occasioned

by the baggs being wet with Salt water I Saved about ten

hundred wreight which my Officers are ready to attest, & gave

it our Ships Company by reason of our long passage our

Provisions falling Short which if had not done must have

foll under the Same Misfortune I am

Sr

Your most humd Servt

St Hellena March

the 13th 1722/3

John Pelly

Margin Notes:

Capt Pellys

Answer

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Monday 18 March 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

The council received two letters in answer to its own of 12 March from Captain Westerban and Captain Pelly.

Captain Pelly's reply was addressed to Governor Byfield and the council.

He acknowledged the council's letter of 12 March concerning the 25 bags of rice. About ten days before he left Madras, he had waited on Governor Elwick to learn what goods he was to take in for the island. The Governor answered that he would send none by Pelly's ship, nor by either of the two others, but three or four days before Pelly sailed he gave orders to take in the 25 bags of rice and four half-leaguers of arrack. Pelly waited on him a second time and reminded him that, as he had said before, the ship was already full and had no room for the goods. He asked that the rice be put aboard the Middlesex instead. The Governor refused, saying he would send it and Pelly must take it in, which he did.

The surf was running very high on the shore, so that most of the rice was already wet when it reached the boat. When the cargo came aboard, Pelly's mate refused to take it in because it was wet, and the boat's lascars told him that returning it would risk both the rice and the boat. For these reasons the mate thought it better to take the rice in and lay it on the quarter deck in the sun to dry. Pelly informed Mr Benyon of this, who told him that since it was aboard it must remain there, and that a bill of lading should be signed accordingly, which he did. When the ship reached the Cape of Good Hope, Pelly found the bags rotted, most of the rice between the water casks spoiled and a great part of it ruined, caused by the bags being soaked with salt water. He saved about ten hundredweight, which his officers were ready to confirm, and gave it to the ship's company, since the long passage had left their own provisions short. Without it they would have suffered the same misfortune.

The letter was dated St Helena, 13 March 1723, and signed by John Pelly.

Interpretations

The bill of lading sat at the centre of the dispute and explains why Pelly set out his account in such detail. By signing the bill at the Cape, he had acknowledged receipt of the rice and bound himself to deliver it, so when the cargo arrived spoiled he had to show that the loss came from causes outside his control. His letter built a documented defence, tracing the damage to the wet loading forced on him at Madras and the salt water in the hold, so that the failure could not be charged against him as the signing party.

The exchange with Governor Elwick at Madras reveals the limits of a captain's control over what his ship carried. Pelly twice objected that his vessel was full and asked that the rice go aboard the Middlesex, and was twice overruled by the authority loading the cargo. A commander could be compelled to take goods he judged his ship unfit to carry, which placed the risk of a bad loading on him while the decision lay with the settlement's governor. This tension between the man who bore the consequence and the man who made the choice runs through the whole complaint.

The diversion of the salvaged rice to feed the crew shows the priority that a ship's own survival took over a consignment in distress. With provisions short on a long passage, Pelly used the ten hundredweight he had saved to victual his company rather than preserve it for delivery. He was careful to record that his officers could confirm the quantity, since consuming consigned goods, even spoiled ones, required justification to the owners who had shipped them.

21

17

March

Worshipple Sr & Gentlemen

Having received your orders of the 7th Instant for sending

on Shore what goods I had for the Island But having had the

Misfortune of damnyfying our Rice & not being able to gett Bread

ber at the Cape or this place I am Obliged to make Use of our honobl

Masters Rice for our People, foe cannot Send any more

than five Baggs, foe hope your Worship &c will give a favourable

Construction & am

Worship P &c

Your Obedt humd Servt

On bd the Drake

March ye 14th 1722/

p Wm Westerbane

We being in very great want of a good Surgeon Sent the

following Letter to the Capt of the Middlesex

Sr

We having for Some time past been in extream want of

an able Surgeon for the use of our Garrison & Inhabitants of this

place, many haveing greatly sufferd thereby/ & wee under standing

that the Surgeon is well qualified for such Provisions an und ertaking

Soo desire you would pleased to consider the misfortune wee lye

under & to permitt him (if he's willing) to Stay with us as a

Surgeon of our Garrison which will not only be of Infinite

Service to our honoble Masters in particular & to the Island

in Generall But will highly oblidge

Sr

St Helena March

ye 18th 1722

Yor Humble Servts

Edwd Byfeild Govr

Jno Alexander

John Goodwin

To wch in Answer Capt Pelly sent ye following Lett

To the Worshipfull

Edward Byfeild Esqr &c Council

Sr

I have recd yours of the 18th Currt wherein you request

a discharge of my Surgeon for the use of our honourable old Masters

Garrison & Inhabitants of this Island on your request I have

prevaild on him to Stay & Since it will be of Such Service to

them & you altho my present State of health will Scaredly

permitt I had rather putt my Self to Some inconveniency then

that my honobl Masters Should Suffer I am

Gentlemen Yor Obedt humd Servt

St Helena Mars

ye 18th 1722/3

John Pelly

Margin Notes:

Capt Westerbane

Answer/

Surgeon

much wanted

Lett ye Senjt to

Capt Pelly

Capt Pellys

Answer

Captain Westerban's reply was addressed to the council.

He acknowledged the council's order of 7 March for sending ashore whatever goods he had for the island. Having had the misfortune of damaging his rice and being unable to obtain bread at the Cape or on the island, he was obliged to use his honourable masters' rice for his own people. He could therefore send no more than five bags ashore, and hoped the council would put a favourable construction on the matter. The letter was dated aboard the Drake, 14 March 1722, and signed by William Westerban.

Being in very great need of a good surgeon, the council sent the following letter to the captain of the Middlesex.

The council set out that it had for some time been in extreme need of an able surgeon for the garrison and inhabitants of the island, who had suffered greatly for want of one. It asked the captain to consider its misfortune and, if the surgeon was willing, to allow him to stay and serve as surgeon to the garrison. This would be of great service to the honourable masters in particular and to the island in general, and would much oblige the council. The letter was dated St Helena, 18 March 1722, and signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The council also sent a letter to Captain Pelly, who answered as follows.

Captain Pelly acknowledged the council's letter of 18 March, asking for the discharge of his surgeon for the use of the masters' garrison and inhabitants. He had pressed the surgeon to stay, since such service would benefit the Company. His own state of health would scarcely permit it, yet he would rather put himself to some inconvenience than let his honourable masters suffer. The letter was dated St Helena, 18 March 1722, and signed by John Pelly.

Interpretations

The council's appeal for a ship's surgeon shows the difficulty a remote settlement faced in securing skilled medical men. The island depended on the passing East India ships for its supply of surgeons, since it could not readily attract or retain one of its own, and a long want of medical care had left the garrison and inhabitants exposed. By writing to the captains of the Middlesex and Pelly's ship, the council tried to detach a surgeon from a vessel in the road, the only practical source available, and framed the request as a service to the Company to give it weight.

Pelly's answer reveals the competing claims on a ship's surgeon between the vessel and the shore. His own health was poor and he needed the surgeon for his ship, yet he weighed that need against the masters' interest and agreed to press the man to stay. The decision rested on a real conflict, since releasing the surgeon served the island but left the captain on a long voyage without one, and Pelly resolved it in the Company's favour while making his own sacrifice plain.

The Westarban letter closes the rice dispute on the same ground Pelly had taken, that spoiled cargo and a shortage of bread had forced the captain to feed his crew from the masters' rice. Both commanders defended the diversion of consigned grain by the necessity of provisioning their people, and the council's request for a favourable construction shows the captains seeking the council's acceptance rather than offering payment or replacement for what was lost.

22

18

1722

Upon which wee Sent for Mr Carlile Surgeon of the Middlesx

and acquainted him with ye Sallary we give our present Surgeon

which he did not Seem to be Satisffyed with & Said it was a great

deal foe little there being noe advantage of any Trade to be

made here & desired he might have 60 Sallary per Annum

allowd him

In Consideration of his being a very Ingenious Sober

Man and well recommended as Such Wee have therefore

agreed to give him 56 a Year being very well assured he will

be of extream Service to all on this place in Generll but not to

be as Usuall in future Nor would wee give it now did not

our real Necessity oblidge Us to it our present Doctor Beals

being noe ways capable of Such an employ nor to assist

Mr Carlile

Have Sent for him & discharged him but the haveing

a family to Maintain the Govr offers him a Licence to

Sell Strong Liquors

Mr Hawks desires Bills of Exchange for 40 he

haveing Soe much due to him in our honoble Masters Books

of Acct here for Sallary

Ordered Bills to be drawn accordingly

The Governor reports that Stephen a Fisch fellow

of our honoble Masters belonging to the Peak dyed last

Week

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island

Margin Notes:

Mr Carlile

the Surgn of

the Middlesx

Allowd 56

p Annum

Dr Beals

Discharged

Excha for 40

to Mr Hawks

the death of

a Black

Thus farr hath been Copyed

and sent to England p Ship

Townshend Capt Philip Worth

Contd p ye 19 Mard 1722

The council sent for Mr Carlile, surgeon of the Middlesex, and informed him of the salary it would give. He did not seem satisfied with it, saying it was very little, since there was no advantage from trade to be had on the island, and he asked for a larger yearly salary.

Considering that he was a very able and steady man, well recommended as such, the council agreed to give him £50 a year, being well assured he would be of great service to the island in general. It made clear that this was not to be taken as a precedent in future, and that it would not give such a salary now were it not for its present real necessity, since the current doctor, Beale, was in no way capable of such a post nor of assisting Mr Carlile.

The council had sent for Beale and discharged him. Since he had a family to support, the Governor offered him a licence to retail strong liquors.

Mr Hawkes asked for bills of exchange for the £50 due to him in the masters' books of account for salary. The council ordered the bills drawn accordingly.

The Governor reported that Stephen, a slave belonging to the masters at the Peak, had died the previous week.

The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

This letter was copied and sent to England by the Townshend under Captain Philip Wills, dated 19 March 1722.

Interpretations

The negotiation over Carlile's salary turned on the absence of private trade as a source of a surgeon's income on the island. Carlile pointed out that elsewhere a ship's surgeon could supplement his pay through commerce, an opportunity the island did not offer, so a bare salary had to compensate for what he would forgo. The council met his figure of £50 a year only under the pressure of having no competent doctor of its own, and recorded that the sum was not to bind it in future, guarding against the higher rate becoming the standard once the immediate need had passed.

The discharge of Beale and the offer of a liquor licence shows how the administration managed a displaced servant with a family to keep. Removed from a post he could not fill, Beale was not simply turned off but given a means of livelihood through a retail licence, the same device used elsewhere to support those left without employment. This tied the granting of a trading privilege to the relief of a man whose dismissal would otherwise have made his family a charge on the settlement.

The brief notice of the slave Stephen's death records the routine reporting of the masters' human property as a matter of account. Listed alongside the day's business of salaries and licences, the death was entered because the slave was an asset of the Company at the Peak, the same impersonal registration of enslaved people as stock that the estate inventory showed.

23

19

March

Island St Helena

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the

26th day of March 1722 at Union Castle In James Valley

Edwd Byfeld Esqr Govr

Prest John Alexander 2 &

John Goodwin 3

The last consultation read and approved of

On the 19th Instant the 5 following Ships Sailed

hence for England

The Townshend Capt Phillip Worth

The Middlesex Capt Jno Pelly

The Enfield Capt Charlr Rigby

The Drake Capt Wm Westerbane &

The Godfry Capt Benja Braund

The Goods mentioned in Consultation of the 8th Instant

are to be sold as follows Vizt

Arack cost 45 p Leagt to be sold p Gallon at

£ s d

6. 4

Sugar cost 1. 12 p maund to be sold p lb at

6

The Rice cost 1. for 8 Mercall to be sold p lb at

32

Tobacco cutt and dryd bot for 15 p lb to be sold p lb at

2

Do Leafe bot for 5 p lb to be sold for p lb

1

The Chint Callicoes recd from the Cape not haveing any prized

Invoice with them Wee cannot at present sett any price

upon them wee being very busie in compleating an

Inventory of the Stores and therefore must deferr coding the

same until that matter is finished

The Advertisemt ordered to be published in the

Consultation of the 5th of March have been Issued

accordingly

Ordered that an Advertisemt be published to

give notice for all the Inhabitants of the Island to come &

reckon with the honoble Company on Friday &c Satterday

being their 12th and thirteenth Days of April next

Whereas

Margin Notes:

Prices of India

Goods Sold at

Prices of Chints

deferd/

Advts Publicshed

Inhabitants

Advertizd to

Reckon/

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Tuesday 26 March 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander, second of the council, and John Goodwin, third.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

On 19 March the following five ships sailed from the island for England: the Townshend under Captain Philip Worth, the Middlesex under Captain John Pelly, the Byfield under Captain Charles Rigby, the Drake under Captain William Westerban, and the Godfrey under Captain Benjamin Braund.

The goods named in the consultation of 8 March were to be sold as follows.

arrack, cost 45 per leaguer, to be sold per gallon at 6s 4d sugar, cost 12 per maund, to be sold per pound at 6d rice, cost for 8 per mercall, to be sold per pound at 32 tobacco cut and dried, bought for 15 per pound, to be sold per pound at 2 tobacco leaf, bought for 5 per pound, to be sold per pound at 1

The chintz calicoes received from the Cape had arrived with no invoice priced upon them, so the council could set no price for the present. Being very busy completing an inventory of the stores, it had to defer the matter until that work was finished.

The advertisements ordered in the consultation of 5 March had been published accordingly.

The council ordered an advertisement published to give notice to all the inhabitants of the island to come and reckon with the Company on Friday and Saturday, being the 12th and 13th days of April next.

Interpretations

The schedule of resale prices shows the council setting a margin between the prime cost of imported goods and the rate charged on the island. Each commodity was bought at a stated cost in the eastern measures of leaguer, maund and mercall, then priced for local sale by the gallon or pound, the difference covering the charges of carriage and the Company's return. Fixing these rates by formal order gave the storekeeper a settled price list to sell against, the council controlling the terms on which the island's imported provisions were issued.

The named eastern measures would be unfamiliar to a modern reader and each belonged to the Indian trade. A maund was a weight used across India, varying by region but substantial, here applied to sugar. A mercall was a measure of capacity for grain used on the Coromandel coast, applied to the rice. These units travelled with the goods from the settlements that supplied them, and the council had to convert from them into the pounds and gallons of local sale, bridging the eastern and English systems of measure within a single price list.

The deferral of the chintz pricing ties the day's business to the inventory of the dead governor's estate and the stores then in hand. The calicoes had come from the Cape without a priced invoice, leaving the council no basis to set a rate, and with its attention taken by the stocktaking it postponed the valuation. This shows pricing depending on documented cost, since without the invoice figure the council would not fix a price by guess.

24

20

1722

Whereas wood being at this time very Scarce on the

Island & several Advertisemts having formerly been issued

to putt the Inhabitants in mind of planting Wood which

having proved hitherto inoffectual

Resolved that the foll Advertisemt be published

Island St Helena

By the Worship full Edward Byfeld Esq Govr

& Council

An Advertisement

These are to remind the Inhabitants of this Island that

on the 19th of Novr 1721 the following Advertisemt was published

& Sett up at the Publick Place

Whereas by order of the honoble Company Lords propri

etors of this their Island to us for ye reminding the people of

Planting Wood and fencing in their lands according to the

Tenor of the Land and the Covents of the Leases. Wee think

it proper herein to Insert that Paragraf which is as foll

Remember our Orders for planting and fencing of

Lands they have Seemed of Late to lye a Sleep or to be dead

revive them, the planters must be sensible of the benafitt to

themselves of these orders and make the wilfull and obstinate

sensible they must and Shall comply but be not too rigourous

as to the time consider such as have not hands enough by

farr as you think fitt But lett them know You will not be trifled

with and a due Complyance from each one wee expect and

therefore order this publick notice to be given

But notwithstanding this and several other

Advertisemts for the encourageing and requireing all the

Inhabitants aforesd to fence in their lands and planting of

Wood Wee the Governour and Councill to our great Concerne

doe find they have hitherto taken but very little or noe Effect

Wherefore and to prevent the wood growing yet Scarce the

same being dayly destroyed without any regard to themselves

or their posterity Doe hereby Require all and every the

Inhabitants of this Island to plant their full proportionable

Quantity of wood according to the Law of the sd Island in that

Case made and provided at all and every proper seasons of the

Year and as any trees dye or fall by high wind to plant more

in their roome which must be a very good additional

Improvemt to every persons Estate here To which a ready

Complyance is expected

These

Margin Notes:

Wood being

very scarce

Advertizemt

Publishd to

remind the

Inhabitants

Para of ye Cos

Orders for

Planting & fencing

Since wood was now very scarce on the island, and several advertisements issued earlier to remind the inhabitants to plant it had proved ineffective, the council resolved that the following advertisement be published.

Island of St Helena

By Governor Edward Byfield and the council.

An advertisement.

This reminded the inhabitants that on 19 November 1721 an earlier advertisement had been published and set up at the public place.

That earlier notice had recorded that the directors, as lords proprietors of the island, had ordered the council to remind the people to plant wood and fence their lands according to the terms of their leases. The council thought it proper to insert here the relevant paragraph of those orders, which ran as follows.

The directors' orders for planting and fencing required the planters to remember them. Since the lands had lately seemed to lie asleep or be dead, the planters were to grasp the benefit to themselves of these orders. The willing and sensible among them must comply, but the council was not to deal too harshly with those who lacked enough hands to do the work. It might allow such men a reasonable extension of time as it thought fit, with a proper undertaking to comply from each. The directors would not be trifled with, and therefore expected this public notice to be given.

Despite that notice and several others encouraging and requiring the inhabitants to fence their lands and plant wood, the council found to its great concern that very little or no effect had followed. With the standing wood being destroyed daily and no regard shown to themselves or their descendants, the council therefore required every inhabitant of the island to plant the full proportion of wood set by the island's law, at every proper season of the year. As any trees died or were blown down by high wind, more were to be planted in their place. This would be a very good additional improvement to every person's estate on the island, and a ready compliance was expected.

Interpretations

The repeated advertisements on planting reveal a long campaign by the administration to arrest the destruction of the island's woods, pursued through public notice rather than immediate penalty. The directors had ordered the measure as lords proprietors, tying the duty to plant and fence directly to the terms of every planter's lease, so that compliance was a condition of holding land rather than a mere request. The council reissued the order because earlier notices had failed, escalating the reminder while still relying on persuasion backed by the threat of the proprietors' displeasure.

The allowance for those short of hands shows a deliberate softening of the requirement to keep it workable. The directors' own paragraph distinguished the willing planter, who must comply, from the man who lacked the labour, who might be granted a reasonable extension on giving an undertaking. This built flexibility into the obligation, recognising that a small population could not always meet the planting quota at once, while holding every holder to eventual performance so that the wider aim of preserving the island's timber was not abandoned.

The framing of planting as an improvement to each person's estate attempted to align the planters' private interest with the proprietors' concern. By presenting replanted wood as an addition to the value of a holding, the council sought voluntary compliance from men who might otherwise see the duty as a burden, since the scarcity of timber on a small remote island threatened both the settlement's supply and the worth of the land itself.

25

21

March

These are further to give Notice to the said Inhabitants

that on Friday and Satterday being the 12th & 13th day of April

next ensueing the Governour & Councill Doe Intend to sitt in

Consultation for the settling and makeing up Accots between them

and the honoble Company for the year past & wherefore all

persons concerned are to take notice and give their

Attendance as usual. Accordingly.

Dated at Union Castle in James Valley this 27th day of

March 1723. Signed Jno Alexander

This morning abt 6 of the Clock wee had an Alarme for

one Ship about 8 Leagues distance which is not yet come

in

Edward Byfeild

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island St Helena

At a Consultation held on Wednesday the 27th day

of March 1723 At Union Castle in James Valley

Edwd Byfeld Esqr Govr

Prest Jno Alexander 2

Jno Goodwin 3

The last Consultation read and approved on

Yesterday in the Evening arrived the Ship Lyell Capt

Commander from China and brought us hence the foll

Goods

China Ware Vizt

Bowles blew and white 27 ad m c c 7

£ s d

1. 0. 9

Do Colours 45 ad m c c 8

3. 6

Carried Over

5. 4. 9

Margin Notes:

Days for Reckning

Appointed/

An Alarme/

Ship Lyell Arrival

China Cargoe

The advertisement gave further notice to the inhabitants that on Friday and Saturday, the 12th and 13th of April next, the Governor and council intended to sit in consultation for the settling and making up of accounts between them and the Company for the year past. All persons concerned were to take notice and attend as usual. The advertisement was dated at Union Castle in James Valley, 27 March 1723, and signed by John Alexander.

This morning, about six o'clock, an alarm was raised for one ship about eight leagues off, which had not yet come in.

The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Wednesday 27 March 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander, second of the council, and John Goodwin, third.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

The evening before, the ship Lyell arrived under its commander from China, bringing the following goods.

China ware.

bowls, blue and white, 27, at 7 mace each, 1 tael 8 mace 9 candareens bowls of other colours, 45, at 8 mace each, 3 taels 6 mace 0 candareens

Carried over, 5 taels 4 mace 9 candareens

Interpretations

The pricing of the Lyell cargo in taels, mace and candareens shows the China trade reckoned in its own monetary system, distinct from both the sterling of England and the pagodas of the Indian coast. A tael was the Chinese unit of account by weight of silver, divided into mace and then candareens, and goods bought at Canton were invoiced in these units. The council entered the cargo in the currency in which it had been purchased, leaving the conversion to local sale prices to a later stage, as it had with the Indian goods priced in pagodas.

The arrival of a ship direct from China marks the island's place on the route serving the Canton trade as well as the Indian settlements. Chinaware of this kind, bowls graded by colour and counted by the piece, formed a staple of that commerce, shipped in bulk for resale in England. The settlement received and recorded such cargoes as they touched on the homeward passage, the careful entry of quantity, rate and value fitting the goods into the same accounting that governed every consignment landed.

26

22

1723

Brot over

Ta m c c

5. 4. 9

Sneakers 193 ad ta m c c 2

3. 8. 6

Tea potts 22 ad 2

1. 1

Cupps 230 ad 1. 4

6. 2. 2

Do 412 ad 1

4. 1. 2

1 Chest

3

12. 6

Sewing silk Wt 23 Catty at 1. 6 p Catty

36. 8

Tea Bohea 155 Canisters wt 146 at 10 p Pecul

14. 6

155 Canisters at 4 each

6. 2

1 Chest

3

21. 1

Tea Single 120 Canisters weight 115 at 7 p Pecul

8. 6. 2. 5

120 Canisters at 4 comd each

4. 8

1 Chest

3

13. 7. 2. 5

59. 5. 1. 5

Ordered that the following Letter be sent to Capt Small for

the delivery of the abovementioned Goods

Sr

You are hereby desired to send on shore as Soon

as possible you can the several goods and merchandizes you

have on board your ship for ye Use of this Island and if you

want any assistance wee are ready to supply you

Wee are Sr

St Helena

March 27th 1723

Yor Servt

To Capt Charles Small Commr

of the Lyell

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

p the Drake wee received three black men from Maddrass

under the Character of Notorious rouges

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Ordr of Letter

for delivery of

ye Goods

3 Black Offendrs &c

from Maddr/

The China cargo continued.

Brought over, 5 taels 4 mace 9 candareens

saucers, 198, at 2 mace each, 3 taels 8 mace 6 candareens teapots, 22, at 5 mace each, 1 tael 1 mace 0 candareens cups, 230, at 1 mace 4 candareens each, 3 taels 2 mace 2 candareens cups, 412, at 1 mace each, 4 taels 1 mace 2 candareens 1 chest, 3 mace 0 candareens

Total, 12 taels 6 mace 0 candareens

sewing silk, 23 catties at 1 tael 6 mace per catty, 36 taels 8 mace 0 candareens

bohea tea, 155 canisters, weight 146 catties at 10 taels per picul, 14 taels 6 mace 0 candareens 155 canisters at 4 candareens each, 6 mace 2 candareens 1 chest, 3 mace 0 candareens

Total, 21 taels 1 mace 0 candareens

single tea, 120 canisters, weight 115 catties at 4 taels 7 mace per picul, 8 taels 6 mace 2 candareens 5 120 canisters at 4 candareens each, 4 taels 8 mace 0 candareens 1 chest, 3 mace 0 candareens

Total, 13 taels 7 mace 2 candareens 5

Grand total, 90 taels 5 mace 1 candareen 5

The council ordered the following letter sent to Captain Small for the delivery of the goods named above.

The council asked him to send ashore as soon as possible the goods and merchandise he had aboard his ship for the use of the island, and offered any assistance he might need. The letter was dated St Helena, 27 March 1723, and addressed to Captain Charles Small, commander of the Lyell, signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

By the Drake the council received three black men from Madras, described as notorious rogues.

The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The named Chinese weights and quantities would be unfamiliar to a modern reader and belonged to the Canton trade. A catty was a unit of weight, and a picul a much larger one of a hundred catties, both used across the eastern trade for bulk goods such as tea and silk. The tea was priced by the picul yet packed and counted in canisters, so the account carried both the weight that fixed the value and the number of containers that made up the consignment, the council recording each so that the cargo could be checked as landed.

The tea distinguished as bohea and single records two grades of the China leaf valued differently. Bohea was the black tea already noted in the governor's estate and the general table account, while single tea was a separate quality priced lower per picul. Listing them apart, each with its own weight and rate, shows the cargo graded by kind, the same sorting by quality that governed the textiles and fixed what each class would fetch on resale.

The arrival of three men from Madras described as notorious rogues points to the use of the remote island as a place of transportation for troublesome persons. The Indian settlements could rid themselves of men they judged dangerous by shipping them to St Helena, where the small garrison received them, the brief and damning description marking them as a charge the council had not sought. This reflects the island's standing function as a destination to which the wider Company network could send those it wished to remove.

27

23

April

Island St Helena

At a Consultation held on Wedensday the 3d Day

of April 1723 At Union Castle in James Valley

Edwd Byfeld Esq Govr

Present John Alexander 2 &

Jno Goodwin 3

The last Consultation read and approved on

Capt Goodwin reports that he has received all the Goods

mentioned in the foregoing Consultation

On Satterday the 30th of March wee had a double Alarme

for 21 Ships upon which wee wrote the following Letter to

Capt Charles Small

Sr

According to our honoble Masters Instructions

to us wee desire you'd send out your stream cable or a verygood

hawser with a Streak Anchor near the Shore and to heave in

by it as near the Rocks as will be safe which you will

know by the soundings, the Intent of this is that noe Ship

may come a head of you and cutt you out there being 21 Ships

now comeing into the road this wee expect the honoble

Companys Ships abroad, wee think the utmost caution ytobe

used for the insecurity of our honoble Masters Estates If you

want any assistance wee Shall be proud to serve you

St Helena Union Castle

March 30th 1723

Wee are Sr

Yor humd Servts

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

The Ships abovementioned passed by the West Side of the

Island and suppose them all to be Dutch men

On Monday the first Instant Arrived here the foll Ships

His Majestys Ship the Exeter Capt Cockburne

from Bombay &

The Princess Amelia Capt Jno Misenor from

China

Upon the Allarme given for the abovementioned Ships wee

wrote the following Letter to Capt Charles Small

Sr

Margin Notes:

Report of Goods

Received/

Alarm for 21 Ships

Lettr to Capt Small

to Heave in

Ships all passed by

Ship of War &

Princess Amelia

Arrivalls/

upon which

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Wednesday 4 April 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander, second of the council, and John Goodwin, third.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

Captain Goodwin reported that he had received all the goods named in the previous consultation.

On Saturday 30 March a double alarm was raised for 21 ships, on which the council wrote the following letter to Captain Charles Small.

Following the masters' instructions, the council asked Small to send out his stream cable, or at least a good hawser, with a strong anchor near the shore, and to heave in as near the rocks as was safe, which he would judge by the soundings. The purpose was that no ship might come ahead of him and cut him out, since 21 ships were now coming into the road. With the Company's ships expected and others abroad, the council thought the utmost caution necessary for the security of the masters' property, and offered any assistance he might need. The letter was dated St Helena, Union Castle, 30 March 1723, and signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The ships named above passed by the west side of the island, and the council supposed them all to be Dutch.

On Monday 1 April the following ships arrived: His Majesty's ship the Exeter under Captain Cockburn from Bombay, and the Princess Amelia under Captain John Misenor from China.

On the alarm given for the ships named above, the council wrote the following letter to Captain Charles Small.

Interpretations

The instruction to Small to anchor close under the rocks reflects the council's management of the road as a vulnerable anchorage in the presence of unidentified shipping. With 21 strange sail approaching and only one Company ship in the road, the danger was that a hostile or rival vessel might cut the Lyell out from her moorings. The council directed her to run a cable and anchor inshore so that no ship could pass between her and the land, a defensive disposition that used the island's own coast to shield the Company's property until the strangers' character was known.

The supposition that the passing fleet was Dutch shows the council reading the movements of foreign shipping as a standing concern for the island's security. A large body of sail passing the west side, not putting into the road, was watched and identified by nationality, since Dutch and other European vessels were potential threats to a lightly held outpost. The caution urged on Small followed directly from this uncertainty, the council preparing for the worst while the fleet's intentions remained unclear.

The arrival of a naval ship of war alongside the China trader marks the mixed traffic the island received, both the armed vessels of the crown and the commercial ships of the Company. The presence of His Majesty's ship the Exeter from Bombay added a measure of protection at a moment of alarm, the convergence of warship and merchantman in the road shaping the council's sense of how exposed or secure the settlement stood.

28

24

1723

Sr

There being now a double Alarme and having

desired you in ours of the 30th of March last for more

particular reason therein mentioned to heave in your Ship

nearer to the rocks and woo take the west side to be the most

properest, desire you would not fayle complying therewith it

being for the security of your Ship and cargoe

Wee are Sr

Yor humd Servts

St Helena

April 1st 1723

Edwd Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Yesterday arrived here the following Ships

The Eyles Capt James Tintor from Maddrass

The Gordarch Capt Richd Greenfright from

Bengall & Maddrass &

The St Quintin from Cabenda belonging to

the South Sea Company who for reasons

mentioned in the following Letter putt in

here

Sr

I am in Mr Jno Thompsons service & chartered by ye

honoble South Sea Company to goe to Cabenda consigned to

the Royal African Companys Agents there from them to

receive three hundred Slaves and a large Quantity of

provisions for the Support of my Slaves to Buenos Ayres, as

to the provisions they could not comply with it for which

reason I am necessitated to stop here and begg the favour

of your honour to admitt me in to supply my Self with what

the Island affords and it shall be gratefully acknowledged

by Sr

Your most Obedt humd Servt

From on Board the St Quintin

April ye 2d 1723

Jno Bird

To His Excellency the Governour

of the Island of St Helena

There being the Man of Warr and Four of our honoble

Masters Ships here and more dayly expected wee cannot

grant him any Supply of provisions but have given him

Liberty to take in water

When the Capt came on Shore which was after wee caused him

to anchor in Ruperts Bay till wee were Satisfyed who he

was and from whence he came produced his Lycence from

The

Margin Notes:

Lettr Sent to Capt

Smale/

Ships Arrivalls

Lett from Capt

Bird

Capt Bird permitted

to take in only

Water/

Produced his

Lycence

The council's letter to Captain Small set out that there was now a double alarm, and that for the more particular reasons given in its letter of 30 March it asked him to heave his ship nearer the rocks. It judged the west side the most suitable, and asked him not to fail to comply, this being for the security of his ship and cargo. The letter was dated St Helena, 1 April 1723, and signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The day before, the following ships arrived: the Lyell under Captain James Minter from Madras, the Gardarine under Captain Richard Boyfield from Bengal and Madras, and the St Quintin from Cabinda, belonging to the South Sea Company, which put in for the reasons given in the following letter.

Captain Bird's letter set out that he was in the service of Mr John Thompson and chartered by the South Sea Company to go to Cabinda, consigned to the Royal African Company's agents there. From them he was to receive 300 slaves and a large quantity of provisions for the support of those slaves on the passage to Buenos Aires. The agents could not supply the provisions, so he was forced to stop at the island. He asked the Governor to admit him and grant the favour of supplying him with whatever the island could spare, which he would gratefully acknowledge. The letter was dated aboard the St Quintin, 2 April 1723, and addressed to the Governor of the island.

With the man of war and four of the masters' ships in the road, and more expected daily, the council could not grant Bird any supply of provisions, but it gave him liberty to take in water. When the captain came ashore, after the council had directed him to anchor in Rupert's Bay, it satisfied itself who he was and where he came from, and he produced his licence.

Interpretations

The refusal of provisions to Captain Bird shows the council weighing a foreign request against the demands on a strained food supply. With a warship and four Company ships in the road and more expected, the settlement's provisions were already committed to its own shipping during a season of scarcity, so the council declined to feed a vessel outside the Company's service. It granted only water, the one resource it could spare without prejudice, drawing a clear line between hospitality it could afford and supply it could not.

The handling of the St Quintin reveals the caution applied to an unfamiliar ship of another company. Bird was directed to anchor apart in Rupert's Bay rather than the main road, and required to identify himself and produce his licence before the council would deal with him. This procedure let the settlement verify the character and authority of a strange vessel, the South Sea Company's slave ship being neither an enemy nor part of the East India Company's own traffic, and so admitted only on proof of its legitimate business.

The voyage described, carrying slaves from the African coast to Buenos Aires under a South Sea Company charter, places the island for a moment within the wider Atlantic slave trade distinct from the eastern commerce that filled most of its records. The ship had been consigned to the Royal African Company's agents at Cabinda to load human cargo and the provisions to keep them alive on the passage, and the failure of that provisioning had driven her off her route to seek relief at St Helena.

29

25

April

The honoble South Sea Company and his Cocketts from the

Custome house upon which wee permitted him to weigh and

come into the road

By the last mentioned Ships wee have recd

the following Invoices

Invoice of Goods by the Eyles

Battavia Arrack 3 Leagrs @ 45 p Le

Pa Va c

135

Sugar 15 Canisters pr qt 9. 8. 10 @ 8½ p Candy

77. 25. 60

Pags

212. 25. 60

Invoice of Goods by the Princesse Amelia

China ware Vizt

Bowles blew and white 26 at 0. 7 m c c

Ta M c c

2. 5. 2

Do Colours 60 8

4. 8

Sneakers blue and white 192 2

3. 8. 4

Tea potts Do 20 5

1

Cupps Do 246 1. 4

3. 4. 4. 4

Do Do 188 1

1. 8. 8

1 Chest

4

17. 8. 8. 4

Sewing Silk weight 21 catt @ 1. 6 p Ca

33. 6

Tea Bohea 122 Canisters wt nett 118 @ 10. 2 p pecul

11. 8

122 @ 4 cand each

4. 8. 8

1 Chest

3

16. 9. 8

Tea Single 125 Canisters wt nt 120 ed @ 7½ p pecul

9

125 @ 4 cand each

5

1 Chest

4. 3

14. 3

Tales

92. 7. 6. 4

Invoice of Goods by the Fordwich

Battavia Arrack

1 half Leaguer qt 56 Gallons

Do 57

Do 58

Do 63

4 half Lr qt 234 @ 79. 8 p Legr

2

159

5 Shirts 156 Bunon Conaes @ 59. 5. 6 p 100 is 89 – 2

Stockings 100 pr @ 12 – 4 C

60

149

Rice

35 bags fine 10. 70 is 51. 4. 9 @ 1. 25 p Mad rupee 48. 1. 3

47. 6. 3

Sugar 10 4 p Cs

4. 8

10 Baggs Tresinde 9. 20 Bezt is 14. 2. 18 @ 3 ea bags

80

Carried over

435. 6. 6

Margin Notes:

from ye South Sea

Compy &c

Goods recd p Ship

Eyles

and Princess

Amelia

Goods recd p ye Fordwich

Captain Bird produced his licence from the South Sea Company and his cockets from the Customs House, on which the council permitted him to weigh and come into the road.

By the ships named above the council received the following invoices.

Invoice of goods by the Lyell.

Batavia arrack, 3 leaguers at 45 per leaguer, 135 pagodas sugar, 15 canisters at 9 candy 5 mace 10 per maund, at 8½ per candy, 77 pagodas 25 fanams 60 cash

Total, 212 pagodas 25 fanams 60 cash

Invoice of goods by the Princess Amelia.

China ware.

bowls, blue and white, 36, at 7 mace each, 2 taels 5 mace 2 candareens bowls of other colours, 60, at 8 mace each, 4 taels 8 mace 0 candareens beakers, blue and white, 192, at 2 mace each, 3 taels 8 mace 4 candareens teapots, 20, at 5 mace each, 1 tael 0 mace 0 candareens cups, 246, at 1 mace 4 candareens each, 3 taels 4 mace 4 candareens 4 cups, 188, at 1 mace each, 1 tael 8 mace 8 candareens 1 chest, 4 mace 0 candareens

Total, 17 taels 8 mace 8 candareens 4

sewing silk, weight 21 catties at 1 tael 6 mace per catty, 33 taels 6 mace 0 candareens

bohea tea, 122 canisters, weight not 118 catties at 10 taels 2 mace per picul, 11 taels 8 mace 0 candareens 122 canisters at 4 candareens each, 4 taels 8 mace 8 candareens 1 chest, 3 mace 0 candareens

Total, 16 taels 9 mace 8 candareens

single tea, 125 canisters, weight 120 catties at 7 taels 5 mace per picul, 9 taels 0 mace 0 candareens 125 canisters at 4 candareens each, 5 taels 0 mace 0 candareens 1 chest, 3 mace 0 candareens

Total, 14 taels 3 mace 0 candareens

Total, 82 taels 7 mace 6 candareens 4

Invoice of goods by the Gardarine.

Batavia arrack.

1 half-leaguer, 56 gallons 1 half-leaguer, 57 gallons 1 half-leaguer, 58 gallons 1 half-leaguer, 63 gallons

4 half-leaguers, 234 gallons at 79 per leaguer, 159 pagodas shirts, 150, Bunon Coraies at 59 pagodas 5 fanams 6 cash per 100, so 89 pagodas 2 fanams stockings, 100 pairs, at 12 per pair, 60 pagodas

Total, 149 pagodas

rice, 35 bags fine at 10 maunds 70 per bag, so 51 pagodas 4 fanams 9 cash, at 1 pagoda 25 per Madras rupee, 48 pagodas 1 fanam 3 cash sugar, at 10 fanams 4 per pagoda, 4 pagodas 8 fanams 10 bags of Tirinde sugar at 1 maund 20 per bag, Bengal weight 14 maunds 2 quarters 18 at 8 per candy, 80 pagodas

Carried over, 435 pagodas 6 fanams 6 cash

Interpretations

The invoices priced in three separate currencies show the island receiving goods drawn from distinct trading spheres at once. The arrack and rice carried Indian values in pagodas, fanams and cash, the chinaware and tea Chinese values in taels, mace and candareens, and the conversions between Madras rupees and pagodas were worked into the figures. The council entered each consignment in the money of the settlement that despatched it, so a single day's receipts spanned the monetary systems of the Coromandel coast and Canton without reduction to a common standard.

The cocket presented by Captain Bird was the instrument that completed his admission to the road. A cocket was a Customs House document certifying that goods had been entered and the duties accounted for, and by producing it alongside his South Sea Company licence Bird satisfied the council both of his lawful cargo and of his standing. Only on that documentary proof did the council permit him to weigh and bring his ship into the main anchorage, the papers serving as the warrant for a foreign vessel's reception.

The mixed cargo of the Gardarine, combining arrack and rice with shirts and stockings, shows the eastern trade carrying English manufactures eastward as well as Indian produce. The clothing was priced by the hundred and the pair in the same Indian currency as the provisions, indicating goods either supplied to the settlements or returning through them, and its entry in the island's accounts records the breadth of items that moved along the Company's routes beyond the staple textiles and groceries.

30

26

1723

Brot over

R D s

435. 6. 6

Charges of Merchandize

Embaleing one bale

R 1

70 baggs packing ropes &c

5. 12

Boatsire & Funs

15. 1. 3

Mochos

3. 1. 3

Sloop hire

20

47. 5. 6

Rups

482. 12

Ordered that the following Letters be sent to Capt James Winter

Capt Jno Misenor and Capt Richd Greenfright for the delivery

of the abovementioned Goods

Sr

You are hereby desired to send on Shoar as Soon as

possible you can the several goods and Merchandizes you

have now on board your Ship for the use of this Island and if

you want any Assistance wee are ready to supply you

Wee are Sr

St Helena

April 5th 1723

Yor Servt

To Capt James Winter Commr

of the Eyles

Edwd Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Two Letters of the same date & Content was sent to the other

two Commrs

Resolved that on next Consultation day wee will prize the

abovementioned Goods

Ordered that Jno Bayley Senr Planter be summoned for not

appearing at the three last Alarmes and Richd Beeby

Soldier for not appearing on Monday last

The Governor reports that one of the black fellows that

comes here p the Drake was on Satterday Evening last as

he was fishing washed off the rocks and was drowned

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Lett for delivery

of said Goods/

To Capt Winter

other Comands/

Goods to be prizd

Defaulters on Alarms

&c to be summond

Black drowned

The invoice of the Gardarine continued.

Brought over, 435 pagodas 6 fanams 6 cash

charges of merchandise.

embaling one bale, 3 pagodas 7 fanams 0 cash 70 bags, packing ropes and other charges, 5 pagodas 12 fanams 0 cash boat hire and fanams, 15 pagodas 1 fanam 3 cash moochoes, 3 pagodas 1 fanam 3 cash sloop hire, 20 pagodas 0 fanams 0 cash

Total, 47 pagodas 5 fanams 6 cash

Total, 482 pagodas 12 fanams 0 cash, equal to 482 rupees 12 [...]

The council ordered the following letters sent to Captain James Minter and Captain Richard Boyfield for the delivery of the goods named above.

The letter to Captain Minter asked him to send ashore as soon as possible the goods and merchandise he had aboard his ship for the use of the island, and offered any assistance he might need. The letter was dated St Helena, 5 April 1723, and addressed to Captain James Minter, commander of the Lyell, signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Two letters of the same date and contents were sent to the other two commanders.

The council resolved that on the next consultation day it would price the goods named above.

The council ordered that John Bagley, soldier and planter, be summoned for failing to appear at the three last alarms, and Richard Boyfield, soldier, for failing to appear on Monday last.

The Governor reported that one of the black men brought by the Drake had drowned the previous Saturday evening, washed off the rocks while fishing.

The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The named charges of merchandise would be unfamiliar to a modern reader and record the costs of handling a cargo ashore. Embaling was the packing of goods into bales for carriage, and the bags, packing ropes, boat hire and sloop hire were the further expenses of moving and protecting the consignment between ship and store. Moochoes were a class of Indian cotton goods, here entered among the charges. The council added these landing costs to the prime value so that the full delivered cost of the cargo stood on the account, the basis from which a resale price would later be set.

The deferral of pricing to the next consultation day shows the council holding valuation as a deliberate and separate stage of business. The goods had arrived with their invoices, but the council chose to fix the local selling rates at an appointed time rather than at once, treating the setting of prices as a formal act to be done together. This kept the margin between cost and sale under collective decision, consistent with the schedules of resale prices it drew up by order elsewhere.

The summons of two men for missing alarms and a muster reflects the steady enforcement of militia attendance during a period of repeated alerts. With strange shipping in the road and alarms raised more than once, every able man's appearance under arms mattered to the island's defence, and absence was pursued by summons even amid the press of receiving cargoes. The drowning of the slave from the Drake, entered in the same breath as the day's other business, again records the death of a person held as property as a matter of plain report.

31

27

April

Island St Helena

At a Consultation held on Satterday the 6th

day of April 1723 at Union Castle In James Valley

Edwd Byfeld Esq Govr

Present John Alexander 2d &

John Goodwin 3d

The last Consultation read and approved on

Whereas the honoble Company Lords proprietors of this

their Island have in their several Letters to this place Orderd

that the great Wood should be sett about and fenced in as in

their Letters of the 14th March 1701 by Ship Charles the 2d of ye

4th Janry 1709 by the Thistleworth and of ye 22 ffeby 1716 by ye

Successe (besides recitals in several other Letters to the

same purpose) will more fully appear

And for as much as Wood in general is now become

very Scarce and dayly decaying by high winds for want of

more to shelter those that are standing and likewise to Shelter

the Grass from the violent heat of the Sun and Blasting winds

to which end and to prevent the further destruction of Wood &

putting the people in mind pursuant to our honoble Masters

orders of the fencing in their lands and planting their

proportion of Young plants Wee Issued out an Advertisement

entered in our Consultation of the 26th March last and it is

our opinions that if the said great Wood was fenced in it

would tend very much to the Interest of our sd honoble

Masters in particular and the Inhabitants in generall

And therefore as Governor Pyke is now here &

haveing been Govr of this Island near 5 Yeares and a

Gentleman well Skilled in the whole affair relating thereto

and as wee are assured will frankly give his opinion in any

thing that may either tend to his honoble Companys Interest

or for the good of this Island Wee have thought fitt to

communicate this our opinions to him & to desire him

to consider on the premisses and that he will give us his

opinion relating hereto

The above Memorial was sent enclosed in the foll

Letter to Governor Pyke

Sr

The honoble Company (our Masters) haveing

in their several letters to this place repeated the fencing in the

great Wood Wee have in pursuance thereto drawn up the

enclosed

Margin Notes:

Recitals of sevll

of ye Honoble Cos

Lettr for fencing in the

Great Wood

Bennefitt of fencing

in of Same/

Govr Pykes opinion

thought requisite

& to be Communicated

Our Opinion to

him first

Lettr Sent to

Govr Pyke

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Saturday 6 April 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander, second of the council, and John Goodwin, third.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

The council recorded that the directors, as lords proprietors of the island, had in several letters ordered that the Great Wood be set about and fenced. This direction appeared in their letter of 14 March 1701 by the ship Charles, in their letter of 14 January 1709 by the Thistleworth, and in their letter of 22 February 1716 by the Success, besides being repeated in several other letters to the same purpose.

Wood in general had now become very scarce, decaying daily through high winds for want of more trees to shelter those left standing and to protect the grass from the violent heat of the sun and blasting winds. To this end, and to prevent the further destruction of wood, the council had reminded the people of the masters' orders on fencing their lands and planting their proportion of young plants, issuing an advertisement entered in the consultation of 26 March 1723. The council held the opinion that fencing the Great Wood would much serve the interest of the masters in particular and the inhabitants in general.

Since Governor Pyke was now on the island, having been its governor for nearly five years, the council judged him well versed in the whole affair. Assured that he would freely give his opinion on anything touching the Company's interest or the good of the island, it thought fit to communicate its view to him and to ask him to consider the matter and give his own opinion.

The memorial above was sent enclosed in the following letter to Governor Pyke.

The letter set out that the directors had in several letters repeated the order to fence the Great Wood, and that the council had accordingly drawn up the enclosed memorial.

Interpretations

The long citation of directors' letters back to 1701 shows the fencing of the Great Wood as a standing instruction repeatedly pressed from England and as repeatedly unfulfilled. By recording each letter with its date and carrying ship, the council documented that the order was neither new nor neglected on its part, building a record of the proprietors' persistent direction. This protected the council against any charge of inaction while explaining why the matter was being revived once more.

The decision to consult Governor Pyke reveals the value placed on the knowledge of a former governor still present on the island. Pyke had ruled for nearly five years and understood the history of the wood question, so the council sought his opinion as an experienced hand before committing to a course on the proprietors' standing order. This was a deliberate choice to draw on the judgement of a predecessor rather than proceed alone, treating his familiarity with the affair as worth the formal request.

The linking of the wood to the protection of grass and the shelter of standing trees shows the council understanding the island's timber as part of a wider environmental balance. The loss of wood exposed both the surviving trees and the pasturage to the wind and the sun, so the fencing of the Great Wood was presented not merely as preserving timber but as guarding the land's productive capacity. This reflects a grasp of how the scarce woodland of a small exposed island sustained the conditions on which the settlement depended.

32

28

1723

Enclosed Upon which wee desire you'l be soo kind as to give us

your opinion which wee Judge will be for the Interest of our

said honoble Masters as well as a pleasure and Satisfaction

to Sr

Yor humd Servts

St Helena

April 6th 1723

Edwd Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

The Ship called the St Quintin haveing taken in all her water

and not makeing any readyness to Sayle out of the road

Ordered that the following Letter be sent to Capt Bird

Capt Bird

You Arrived in our road on the 2d Instant and

haveing taken in all your water which was all the Supply

wee could now grant you and as wee dont know of any

further businesse you have to occasion your Stay here any

longer Wee expect You'll Sayl this Evening and wish you a

good Voyage

Wee are

St Helena

April 6th 1723

Yor humd Servts

Signed

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island St Helena

At a Consultation held on Monday the 8th day

of April 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley

Edward Byfeld Esq Govr

Present Jno Alexander 2d &

Jno Goodwin 3d

The last Consultation read and approved of

Wee have this morning received the following Letter from

Governor Pyke in Answer to ours sent to him on Satterday last

which was read

To the

Margin Notes:

Lettr to Capt Bird

to hasten his Sailing

home/

Govr Pykes Answer

The council closed its letter to Governor Pyke by asking him to give his opinion, which it judged would serve the masters' interest as well as its own satisfaction. The letter was dated St Helena, 6 April 1723, and signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The ship St Quintin had taken in all her water but showed no sign of preparing to sail out of the road. The council therefore ordered the following letter sent to Captain Bird.

The letter set out that Bird had arrived in the road on the 2nd, taken in all his water, which was all the supply the council could grant him, and had no further business to detain him. The council expected him to sail that evening, and wished him a good voyage. The letter was dated St Helena, 6 April 1723, and signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Monday 8 April 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander, second of the council, and John Goodwin, third.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

The council had received that morning the following letter from Governor Pyke, in answer to its own sent to him the previous Saturday, which was read.

Interpretations

The letter pressing Bird to leave shows the council moving to end a foreign ship's stay once the limited help it had allowed was used up. Bird had been granted water but refused provisions, and with that single concession exhausted the council had no reason to let the St Quintin linger in a road crowded with the masters' shipping. By writing formally to require his departure, the council asserted control over how long an outside vessel might remain, turning the earlier refusal of supply into a clear signal that the island's hospitality had reached its limit.

The wish for a good voyage attached to a letter of dismissal reflects the council managing a delicate position with courtesy. The St Quintin belonged to the South Sea Company and had been admitted on proof of her licence, so she was neither enemy nor intruder, and the council framed its insistence on her leaving as a civil farewell rather than an expulsion. This kept relations smooth with another chartered company while still securing the council's real object of clearing the road.

33

29

April

To the Worshippfull the Governor

& Council of St Helena

Sr & Gentlemen

I have recd your letter with a paper enclosed wherein

you desire to have my Opinion concerning the fencing in of the

great wood and no mans opinion is needfule in a Case soo

necessary and where the honoble Companys orders are soo

plain and fule as in appointing the great wood to be enclosed

and the timber to be preserved yet because you desire it I

shale very frankly give you my opinion therein

I have been now in the Country and find lesse

Grass groweing than ever I knew before which I take to

be occasioned by your long want of rains and there is not

Pasture for your Cattle so that it is abundantly more necessary

in this Case that the great wood which uses alwayes to be

green and the very best shelter on this Island Should be

preserved which can be done noe other way than by fencing

of it in

The reason I did not doe it was because ye Fortifications

were not then finished but now they are in a manner soe

but that part by the Crane I compleated you'd have more

leisure to doe other necessary worke unlesse it be thought

properer to repair Rupert and King Williams Fort at Bankis

However tho the encloseing the great wood be extreamly

necessary yet I dou.t whoever does it wile occasion a great

deal of Clamour from the people who live near it and use

to putt their Cattle there because they look on that as their

own as appears by the use they make of it and the wood

that is dayly destroyed there

Wherefore in Case you should Sett about that enclosure

I would recommend to you that noe peoples Cattle be excluded

untile the whole fence is finished and then to allow Liberty to

some of the neighbouring people to putt in each some certain

stated Number of Cattle and that it be proportioned according

to the number of their Children and the necessity of their

ffamilies and such a Condecension in you is likely to oblidge

them at least those who have most Generosity and wish best

the good in Generall

And because such an Undertakeing will require

many more hands than you have to spare I beleive if you

employed the blacks of the poorest Planters or of the widdows

who notwithstanding their Industry are in Debt to the

honoble Company it would be a great easemt to the people

and

Margin Notes:

about ffenceing in

the Great Wood

reason why he did

not ffence it

recommends ye Employm

Poorest Plantrs Blacks

Governor Pyke's reply was addressed to the Governor and council.

He acknowledged the council's letter and the enclosed paper asking his opinion on the fencing of the Great Wood. He observed that no opinion was needed in a case so necessary, where the directors' orders were so plain and full in appointing the wood to be enclosed and the timber preserved, but since the council wished it, he would give his view frankly.

He had lately been in the country and found less grass growing than he had ever known before, which he took to be caused by the long want of rain. There was scarcely any pasture for the cattle. This made it all the more necessary, in his view, that the Great Wood, which was always green and the very best shelter on the island, be preserved, and that could be done only by fencing it.

He explained why he had not done it himself. The fortifications were not then finished, though now they were in a manner complete, except for the part by the crane. He would soon have more leisure for other necessary work, unless it were thought better to repair Rupert and King William's Fort at Banks's.

He held the enclosing of the Great Wood to be extremely necessary, yet he warned that whoever did it would meet great clamour from the people who lived near it and used it to graze their cattle, since they looked on the wood as their own, as the use they made of it showed, and the wood was daily destroyed there.

He recommended that, if the council set about the enclosure, all the people's cattle be shut out until the whole fence was finished. After that, some of the neighbouring people might be allowed to put in a fixed number of cattle each, proportioned to the number of their children and the needs of their families. Such a concession would oblige at least those who showed most generosity and wished best for the common good.

Since the work would need far more hands than the council could spare, he believed that employing the slaves of the poorest planters, or of the widows who remained in debt to the Company despite their industry, would greatly ease the people.

Interpretations

Pyke's account of the failing pasture ties the fencing of the Great Wood directly to the drought afflicting the island. With less grass than he had ever seen and almost no pasture for cattle, the evergreen wood became the island's best remaining shelter, and his argument for fencing rested on preserving that resource against both the weather and the grazing that was destroying it. His opinion confirmed the council's own from direct observation in the country, the want of rain making the case for enclosure more urgent than ever.

The warning of clamour from the neighbouring people reveals the conflict that fencing the wood would provoke. Those living nearby had long grazed their cattle there and treated the wood as common to them, so enclosing it would strip away a customary use they regarded as a right. Pyke identified this resistance as the real obstacle to carrying out the directors' order, the difficulty lying not in the work but in dispossessing established users of ground they had come to depend on.

Pyke's explanation of why he had not fenced the wood during his own government answers a possible reproach by setting out his priorities. The fortifications had taken precedence as unfinished defensive work, and only with those near complete could labour turn to the wood. This shows the competing claims on a small settlement's limited workforce, where defence, fencing and fort repair all pressed on the same scarce hands and one task had to wait on another.

Speculations

Pyke's scheme for admitting cattle only after the fence was finished, and then in numbers tied to each family's size, was a deliberate device to soften resistance while still securing the wood. He could have urged outright and permanent exclusion, which would have served preservation most fully but inflamed the neighbouring graziers, or left the wood open under mere exhortation, which had already failed. Instead he proposed a managed re-admission that gave the people a regulated share once the enclosure stood, calculating that a controlled benefit restored to them would buy acceptance of the loss of their former free use. The proportioning to children and family need shows the concession aimed at the deserving poor, binding the goodwill of those most likely to cooperate while keeping the grazing within limits the recovering pasture could bear.

Pyke's proposal to use the slaves of the poorest planters and indebted widows for the labour answered two problems at once with a single arrangement. The work needed more hands than the Company could spare, and certain families were sinking under debts they could not clear despite their effort. By hiring their slaves for the fencing, the council would obtain its labour and at the same time channel earnings to the households least able to pay, easing their debts to the Company. The choice of these particular owners over others was the point, turning a labour requirement into a means of relief for the settlement's weakest members rather than a simple call on whatever hands were nearest.

34

30

1723

And also make them better satisffyed with that enclosure I take

this opportunity to recommend the poor widdow haus to your

favour who has had many Children and grand children and

been always industrious but with the loss of Cattle and other

accidents is reduced to Poverty I mentioned one & her misfortune

in some of the Consultations a short time before my departure

here where the carrying away of her Land by a Water spout

is soth down and any other poor people on that side of the

Country who are industrious and have many Children may

be fitt to have some favour by employing their blacks in ye

worke

And now I am writeing I would propose another

thing which I think is extreamly necessary and that is to

supply the honoble Companys Garden at the Plantation House

with water sufficient for all their occasions there otherwise

you'll never be able to produce Green trade and such like

refreshing for the Shipping which when they know they cant be

supplyed with they wile never have regard to touch here but find

some pretence or other either to run the risq of meeting with a

Storme at the Cape or to pass by the Island therefore I recommend

to you to open the lower water Course made by Governor Roberts

and the two upper ones made formerly by me and they'l

supply most of ye Gardens, You wile find also in the Consultati

ons of my time that I bought a Small peice of Land above

Defftines of Mastres Johnson and Powell and the reason of it

may not be mentioned there yet the then Overseer of the honoble

Companys Plantations can informe you that I bought it to convey

a large Spring and run of Water from a place called Blisses Top

Church ground which being above all the gardens wile fulld

furnish them with water and this may be done by a Level in

the same manner that I do the Water from Marias Springs

and the charge will not be great considering it may be

performed in two months hint or three at most by the honoble

Companys own blacks and this thing is almost as necessary as

preserving your Cattle and better for Supply of Shipping than a Yam

Plantation can be for without a due supply of Water which

in dry Seasons is most wanted the honoble Companys Garden

wile Signifye little or nothing & with it wile produce most

sorts of Garden Trade and fruit in Abundancies

A very great part of all this & the other Worke I

doubt not but you'll doe your self with the honoble Companys

Blacks while you may look out as I did the Worke at the

Peake but as all this must be left to your prudence soo I

Shale not trouble you on that head

And

Margin Notes:

as wele as other

poor ffamilies to

halp greatly

Compys Garden

may be supplyd

wt water that be

Pyke added that the scheme would also reconcile the people better to the enclosure. He took the chance to recommend the poor widow Hayes to the council's favour, a woman always industrious, with many children and grandchildren, who had been reduced to poverty by the loss of cattle and other misfortunes. He had mentioned one of her losses in a consultation shortly before his departure, when a waterspout carried away part of her land. Any other poor people on that side of the country who were industrious and had many children might fitly receive some favour by having their slaves employed in the work.

He then turned to another matter he thought extremely necessary, the supply of water to the Company's garden at the plantation house. The garden needed enough water for all its purposes, or it would never produce the green provisions and refreshment for the shipping. When the ships knew the garden could not be supplied, they would never put in to touch at the island, but would find some excuse to risk meeting a storm at the Cape, or to pass the island by. He therefore recommended opening the lower watercourse made by Governor Roberts and the two upper ones made formerly by himself, which would supply most of the garden.

He noted that the council would find in the record of his time that he had bought a small piece of land above the springs from Johnson and Powell. The reason had not been entered there. The then overseer of the Company's plantations could confirm that he had bought it to convey a large spring and run of water from a place called Bliss's, above the church ground. Lying above all the gardens, this would fully furnish them with water. The work could be done by a level in the same manner as the water drawn from Maria's spring, and the cost would not be great, since it might be done in two or three months at most by the Company's own slaves. The supply of water mattered more to the preservation of the cattle and to the refreshment of the shipping than any yam plantation could, for without a proper supply in dry seasons the garden signified little or nothing. With it the garden would produce most sorts of garden provisions and fruit in abundance.

He recommended that a great part of all this work, and the other, be done with the Company's slaves, as he had done the work at the Peak, but he left the whole to the council's prudence and would trouble it no further on that head.

Interpretations

Pyke's argument about the garden ties the settlement's water supply directly to its central purpose as a refreshment station for the shipping. The garden existed to furnish green provisions to the East India ships that called, and a garden that failed in dry seasons would drive those ships to pass the island by or risk the longer haul to the Cape. By framing the watercourses as essential to keeping the shipping coming, Pyke made the supply of water not a matter of mere cultivation but of the island's standing as a port of call, on which its whole value to the Company depended.

The disclosure about the land bought above the springs explains a transaction whose purpose had gone unrecorded. Pyke had purchased a small parcel from Johnson and Powell to secure the spring and run of water at Bliss's, but the reason was never entered at the time, leaving the purchase unexplained on the record. By now setting out the motive and naming the overseer who could confirm it, he supplied the missing rationale, showing how a strategic acquisition of water rights could be made by a governor and only later justified to the council.

The renewed recommendation of the widow Hayes reflects the use of public works as a vehicle for targeted relief. Pyke had already raised her losses from the waterspout in a consultation before his departure, and here pressed her case again, proposing that employing her slaves and those of other industrious poor families on the fencing would channel earnings to those most in need. This shows charity worked through the structure of paid labour rather than direct gift, the same mechanism he had urged for the indebted widows.

Speculations

Pyke's preference for drawing the water by a level from Bliss's, rather than relying on the existing watercourses alone, was a deliberate choice of the more ambitious engineering solution because it secured a source above all the gardens. He could have rested on reopening the old courses made by Governor Roberts and himself, which would supply most of the garden but depend on flows that the drought had shown to be unreliable. Instead he pointed to the high spring he had bought land to reach, which by its elevation could feed every garden by gravity in dry seasons when the lower sources failed. The reason he gave, that the garden signified nothing without a supply that held through drought, shows the choice driven by the very conditions then afflicting the island, a permanent high source preferred over courses that would fail again when most needed.

The repeated insistence that the work be done with the Company's own slaves, pointing to his earlier work at the Peak as proof it could be done, was an argument that the council could achieve a major improvement at little cost by using labour it already held. The alternative was to hire or divert other hands, adding expense the Company would have to bear, or to leave the water unimproved. By directing the council to its own slaves and citing a completed precedent, Pyke showed that the obstacle of cost could be removed, the choice of in-house labour turning an expensive scheme into one he judged achievable in two or three months. He left the decision to the council's prudence, but framed it so that the cheaper course was plainly the one he favoured.

35

31

April

And will therefore add noe more than to assure You

that I think the encloseing of the great wood wile tend to the

benefitt of the Island which I take to be the Interest of the

honoble Company who else wile be disabled from provideing

Cattle in such dry seasons as this for the refreshmt of their

Shipping and if it be not fenced in before the wood is all

destroyed it will be too late

I am

Sr & Gentlemen

Yor humd Servt

Isa: Pyke

Whereupon 'tis Unanimously agreed and ordered that as

soon as possible the great Wood be fenced in, it being a

worke of great necessity at prsent as well as of great

Bennefitt to our honoble Masters and the Inhabitants

of this Island for the future

The Petition of Sarah Southen Widdow read

Sheweth

That your Petr late husband Thomas Southen

did on the 16th day of June 1719 preferr his Petition to the

late Govr Johnson and his Councell therein Setting forth

That Whereas dureing the time Govr Pyke was

in the Country about enlargeing the honoble Companys

Gardens and makeing other Improvements which was for

about the Space of Nine Months the Petr being at that

time eldest Serjt was by him ordered to take care of the

Garrison &ca during his absence for which constant

daly Governor Pyke promised the Petr some allowance

of Sallary and therefore humbly prayed the said Govr

and Council that he might be allowed accordingly

Such Gratuity as they in their Prudence Should think

him deserving of

That the said Govr and Council on the said 16

day of June was pleased to make the following Order in

Consultation Resolved that he have noe Answer 'til

the Governor hath Spoke to Govr Pyke about the

Alegations therein

That your Petrs husband never received any

Answer to the said Petition

That

Margin Notes:

Great Wood to be

ffenced in assoon

as Possible/

Petition of Sarah

Southen about an

Allowance of Salary

to Her late Husbd

Governor Pyke closed his letter by adding only his assurance that he thought the enclosing of the Great Wood would serve the island's benefit, which he took to be the Company's interest. Without it the Company would be unable to provide cattle in dry seasons such as this for the refreshment of its shipping, and if the wood were not fenced in before it was all destroyed, it would be too late. The letter was signed by Isaac Pyke.

The council then unanimously agreed and ordered that the Great Wood be fenced in as soon as possible, the work being of great necessity at present and of great benefit to the masters and the inhabitants of the island in future.

The petition of Sarah Southen, widow, was read.

She set out that her late husband, Thomas Southen, had on 16 June 1719 presented his petition to the late Governor Johnson and his council. That earlier petition had explained that, during the time Governor Pyke was in the country enlarging the Company's gardens and making other improvements, Thomas Southen, then his eldest servant, was ordered by Pyke to take charge of the garrison during his absence for about nine months. For this constant daily attendance Pyke had promised him some allowance of salary, and Southen therefore asked the Governor and council to grant him whatever gratuity they thought he deserved.

She recounted that the council, on 16 June, made the following order: it resolved that Southen should have no answer until the Governor had spoken to Pyke about the matters he alleged. Her husband never received any answer to that petition.

Interpretations

The unanimous order to fence the Great Wood completed the process begun with the directors' standing instruction and carried through Pyke's consulted opinion. The council had documented the proprietors' repeated orders, sought the judgement of an experienced former governor, and now committed to the work, recording its necessity in the present drought and its lasting benefit. This shows the full sequence by which a long-deferred instruction was finally acted upon, the decision resting on both the home authority and the local expertise the council had gathered.

The revival of the Southen claim through the widow shows a debt to a servant outliving both the original petition and the man who earned it. Thomas Southen had served as caretaker of the garrison for nine months while Pyke was occupied with the gardens, on a promise of some salary, yet his petition of 16 June 1719 had been shelved pending an answer from Pyke that never came. By presenting the matter afresh, his widow sought to recover a long-dormant obligation, the claim depending on a promise made years before and never formally resolved.

The earlier council's decision to give no answer until Pyke could be consulted reveals the procedural caution applied to a claim resting on a personal promise. The promise of salary had been Pyke's, made privately during his absence on other work, so the council would not rule on it without his confirmation. This left the petition suspended rather than decided, the obligation real enough to keep alive but unverified until the man who made it could speak to it.

Speculations

The widow Southen's decision to anchor her claim on her husband's exact petition of 16 June 1719, reciting its terms and the council's deferral, was a deliberate strategy to revive an obligation that had never been refused, only postponed. She could have made a fresh general appeal to her poverty, but that would have rested on sympathy alone. Instead she built her case on the record, showing that a promise of salary had been made by Pyke, formally petitioned, and left unanswered through no fault of her husband. With Pyke now present on the island and able to confirm the promise, the moment was favourable to press a claim whose only obstacle had been his absence, the precise procedural history serving to convert a stale grievance into a live demand the council could no longer defer on the same ground.

36

32

1723

That Governor Pyke is now on Shore here and ready

to answer the Alegations of the said Petition if thereunto

required

Wherefore Your Petr Humbly

prays that the matter of the said

Petition may be taken into Consid

and that your Petr may receive

Such Satisfaction in the premises

As you in your wisdome and

Prudence Shale think fitt

And your Petr as in Duty

bound Shale pray &c

Sarah Her

Southen

Marke

The Petition of Thomas Southen and the resolution in

Consultation taken thereon read

Govr Pyke being here relateing to the Alegations

in the Petition of Thomas Southen gave us an Account in

writeing the Substance of which is

That While he was at the Plantation house Thos

Southen was appointed to looke after the ffort and was

Promised Pay for the Extraordnary times he continued

there

That this matter was agreed with Southen by him

and Governor Johnson for Twenty pounds which he is of

opinion ought to be allowed to ye Petr Sarah Southen

Whereupon and the mony not appearing by our

Bookes to have been paid

Ordered that the said Sumd of Twenty pounds be

placed to the Credit of the said Sarah Southen the Petr

The Petition of Walter Morris read

Sheweth

That Your Petr about 8 Yr Since sold to Isaac

Morris aforesd Pyke then Governor of this Island one black fellow

a black fanttly named Dick for which the said Governor Pyke did give

your Petr a Note of his hand for £8 to be entred in Store

Credit to your Petr

That the said Note being neglected to be entred

before Governor Pyke left the Island Governor Johnson

who succeeded him refused Paymt of the sd Note to your

Petr

That

Margin Notes:

Hir said Petition

& ordr was read

Govr Pyke gave

an Account

in writeing/

Allowed £20 for

Extraordy Duty

pleased to ye Petr

Acct of Cs placed

Petition of Walter

Morris about

a black ffanttly

sold to ye late Pyke

The widow Southen noted that Governor Pyke was now ashore and ready to answer the matters in her husband's petition if required. She therefore asked that the petition be looked into, and that she receive whatever satisfaction the council in its wisdom thought fit. The petition was made under the mark of Sarah Southen.

The petition of Thomas Southen and the resolution taken upon it in council were read.

Governor Pyke, asked about the matters in Thomas Southen's petition, gave the council an account in writing. He explained that, while he was at the plantation house, Southen had been appointed to look after the fort, and was promised pay for the extra time he served there. The matter had been agreed between Pyke and Governor Johnson, who fixed the sum at twenty pounds, which Pyke was of opinion ought now to be allowed to the widow Sarah Southen.

Since the money did not appear in the council's books to have been paid, the council ordered that the sum of £20 0s 0d be placed to the credit of Sarah Southen.

The petition of Walter Morris was read.

He set out that about eight years before, he had sold to Isaac Pyke, then governor of the island, a black boy named Dick. For this the Governor gave Morris a note under his hand for £8 0s 0d to be entered to his credit in the stores. The note had been overlooked and never entered before Pyke left the island, and Governor Johnson, who succeeded him, refused payment of it.

Interpretations

The resolution of the Southen claim shows a personal promise of salary confirmed and converted into a Company debt once its maker could vouch for it. Pyke's written account verified that Thomas Southen had served at the fort on a promise of pay, and that the sum of twenty pounds had been settled between Pyke and Governor Johnson. With the obligation now authenticated and no record of payment in the books, the council credited the widow accordingly, the long-suspended claim discharged the moment the verification it had always awaited was supplied.

The Morris petition reveals the risk a creditor ran when a debt depended on a personal note that went unrecorded. Morris had sold a slave to Pyke for eight pounds, taking the Governor's note for entry in the stores, but the entry was never made before Pyke departed, and his successor refused to honour the unrecorded paper. This shows how a transaction valid between the parties could fail in practice when it was not carried into the Company's books, the creditor left holding a note the standing administration would not recognise.

Both petitions turn on obligations created under one governor and contested under his successors, exposing the difficulty of enforcing claims across a change of government. A promise or note given by Pyke had no force in the Company's accounts until entered, and his departure left such commitments stranded unless he could later confirm them in person. The presence of Pyke on the island at this moment was what made resolution possible, his testimony supplying the authentication that the bare claims had lacked.

Speculations

The council's decision to credit the widow Southen the full twenty pounds rested on treating Pyke's written confirmation as sufficient proof of a debt its own books did not show. It could have declined a claim absent from the accounts, holding the lack of any entry against it, but that would have penalised the widow for a failure of record-keeping rather than any doubt about the service. Instead it accepted the testimony of the governor who made the promise, jointly settled with Johnson, as establishing the obligation, and supplied the missing entry itself. The choice shows the council willing to let a former governor's sworn account override the silence of the books where the underlying service was clear, a route it would shortly have to weigh again in the parallel Morris note that Johnson had already refused.

37

33

April

That Governor Pyke is now on Shore here and

ready to testifye the Sale of the said Black Fellow

Wherefore Your Petr Humbly

prays you will be pleased to take

his Case under Consideration &

that he may have the said

Sumd of Thirty pounds paid

him And your Petr as in

Duty bound Shall ever pray

Walter Morris

Governor Pyke being askt relateing to the Alegations

in the said Petition gave us the following Acct

Says he bought the Black fellow of Walter Morris

the Petr for 30 and gave the Note mentioned in the Petition

for the same which he is of Opinion ought to be paid

The Note given by Mr Pyke for 30 read

The Co paragraph of the Generals Letter (by the

Governour and Council dated the 6th Janry 1715 being read

Whereby it appears the Sume of Twenty five pounds and

noe more was agreed to be given for the said Black

Ordered that the said Sume of twenty five pounds

be paid to the said Walter Morris

Capt Goodwin reports that he has recd all the goods

mentioned in the last Consultation in good order from on Board

the Eyles Princesse Emilia and ffordwich, which wee have

not time now to Prizd

On the 7th Instant Sayled from hence the Ship St

Quintin Capt Bird Commr for Buenos Ayres

Capt Cockburne Commr of his Majestys Ship the

Exeter haveing one hundred pounds in Cash desires Wee would

give him bills of Exchange on the Honoble East India

Company for the same and wee being very unwilling to

Discharge him have for that reason only consented to it

and ordered bills to be drawn accordingly, he having pd

that Sume into the honoble Companys Cash

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Govr Pykes

Information abt

said Black

Petr relateing to

this Affair

the Petition Allowd

£25

Goods all recd Sent

from ffordwich/

St Quintin Sailed/

£100 Bills of Exch

granted to Capt

Cockburne/

Walter Morris noted that Governor Pyke was now ashore and ready to testify to the sale of the slave. He therefore asked that the council take his case into consideration and allow him the sum of thirty pounds. The petition was made under the name of Walter Morris.

Governor Pyke, asked about the matters in the petition, gave the council the following account. He said that he had bought the slave from Morris for £30 0s 0d and gave the note mentioned in the petition for that sum, which in his opinion ought to be paid.

The note given by Pyke for £30 0s 0d was read.

The 2nd paragraph of the directors' letter, dated 6 January 1717, was read. From it the sum of twenty-five pounds, and no more, appeared to have been agreed for the slave.

The council ordered that the sum of £25 0s 0d be paid to Walter Morris.

Captain Goodwin reported that he had received all the goods named in the last consultation in good order from aboard the Lyell, Princess Amelia and Gardarine, and that nothing was now wanting to Bird.

On the 7th the ship St Quintin, under Captain Bird, sailed from the island for Buenos Aires.

Captain Cockburn, commander of His Majesty's ship the Exeter, had one hundred pounds in cash and asked the council to give him bills of exchange on the East India Company for the same. Being very unwilling to discharge him, the council consented for that reason only, and ordered the bills drawn accordingly, he having paid the sum into the Company's cash.

The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The reduction of the Morris payment from thirty pounds to twenty-five shows the directors' written instruction overriding both the seller's claim and the former governor's note. Morris asked for thirty, and Pyke confirmed he had bought the slave at that price and given a note for it, yet the directors' letter of 6 January 1717 had fixed twenty-five pounds as the agreed sum for the slave. The council paid the lower figure, the home authority's standing direction prevailing over a local transaction however well attested, so that even a verified note could not command more than the proprietors had sanctioned.

The settlement of the Morris note completes the pattern of the Southen claim, both unrecorded obligations of Pyke's revived and resolved on his testimony. Where the Southen promise was credited in full because no fixed ceiling stood against it, the Morris note was honoured only to the limit the directors had set. The two cases together show the council authenticating old claims through Pyke's presence while measuring each against whatever recorded authority bore on it, the testimony establishing the debt and the records governing its amount.

The accommodation of Captain Cockburn reveals the council acting as a financial agent for the Company by taking in cash against bills of exchange. A naval commander wished to convert ready money into bills drawn on the East India Company in England, and the council, reluctant but obliging, received his hundred pounds into the Company's cash and issued the bills. This shows the island serving as a point where money could be remitted homeward through the Company's credit, the council managing the Company's funds by exchanging local cash for paper payable in London.

Speculations

The council's choice to take Cockburn's hundred pounds and issue bills, despite being very unwilling, was a calculated decision to secure ready cash for the Company at the cost of a liability payable in England. It could have declined and sent the naval captain away, avoiding the obligation, but that would have forgone an immediate addition to the island's cash at a moment when the settlement's funds mattered. By accepting the money into the Company's hand and drawing bills against the Company's credit at home, the council gained usable cash on the spot in exchange for a paper debt the directors would meet later. The recorded reluctance marks the trade-off plainly, the council judging the present benefit of the cash worth the future charge on the Company, and consenting for that reason alone.

38

34

1723

Island St Helena

At a Consultation held on Wednesday the 10th

April 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley

Edwd Byfeld Esq Governr

Present Jno Alexander 2 &

Jno Goodwin 3

The last Consultation read and approved on

Yesterday in the Afternoon Sayled the 4 following Ships

from hence for England

The Eyles Capt James Winter

The Lyell Capt Charles Small

The Princesse Emelia Capt Jno Misenor

The Fordwich Capt Richd Gosfright

After Capt Winter had weighed his Anchor he sent on

Shore 2 Black fellows consigned to us from the Governr

and Council of Maddrass who have been often guilty of

Thefts

The goods mentioned in the Consultation of the 17th

of March last and in the Consultation of the 3d Instant are

to be sold at the Prices following

The Goods by the Lyell and Princesse Emelia

China Ware

Sneakers cost 2 To be sold for

2. 6

Bowles blew & white cost 7

2. 6

Cupps 1. 4

4

Do 1

2

Bowles in Colours 8

2. 6

Sewing Silk cost p Catty 1. 6

p Catty 1. 6

Tea Bohea p Pecul 10

p lb 6

Tea Single p Do 7. 5

p Do 4

Wee having a large Quantity of Tea potts formerly bought

of Capt Hunter undisposed of wee think it not convenient to

sell any Tea potts that come by these Ships till they are all

disposed of and therefore have not prized the Same

The Goods by the Fordwich

Arrack cost p Leaguer 79

p Gallon 6. 4

Shirts p 100 59. 5. 6

p Shirt 2. 6

Stockings p Corge 12

p pair 2. 6

Rice p Maddrss rupee ad 1. 25

p lb 32

Sugar p Maund 4

p lb 6

The

Margin Notes:

4 Ships departure/

2 Black Offendrs

sent from Maddr

Prices of Indea

Goods to be sold

at

Tea Potts not

yet Prizd &

why

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Wednesday 10 April 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander, second of the council, and John Goodwin, third.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

The afternoon before, the following four ships sailed from the island for England: the Lyell under Captain James Minter, the Lyell under Captain Charles Small, the Princess Amelia under Captain John Misenor, and the Gardarine under Captain Richard Boyfield.

After Captain Minter had weighed his anchor, he sent ashore two black men consigned to the council by the Governor and council of Madras, who had often been guilty of theft.

The goods named in the consultation of 17 March and in the consultation of the 3rd were to be sold at the following prices.

The goods by the Lyell and Princess Amelia.

China ware.

beakers, cost 2 mace each, to be sold for 6d each bowls, blue and white, cost 7 mace each, to be sold for 2s 6d each cups, cost 1 mace 4 candareens each, to be sold for 4d each cups, cost 1 mace each, to be sold for 2d each bowls of other colours, cost 9 candareens each, to be sold for 2s 6d each sewing silk, cost 1 tael 6 mace per catty, to be sold for 1s 6d per catty bohea tea, cost 10 taels per picul, to be sold for 6d per catty single tea, cost 7 taels 5 mace per picul, to be sold for 4d per catty

The council had a large quantity of teapots formerly bought of Captain Minter still undisposed of, and thought it not convenient to sell any teapots that came by these ships until those were all sold. It had therefore not priced them.

The goods by the Gardarine.

arrack, cost 79 per leaguer, to be sold for 6s 4d per gallon shirts, cost 59 pagodas 5 fanams 6 cash per 100, to be sold for 2s 6d per shirt stockings, cost 12 per pair, to be sold for 2s 6d per pair rice, cost 1 pagoda 25 per Madras rupee, to be sold for 32 per pound sugar, cost 4 per maund, to be sold for 6d per pound

Interpretations

The deferral of pricing the new teapots reflects a deliberate management of stock to protect existing inventory. The council still held a large quantity of teapots bought earlier from Captain Minter, and releasing fresh ones from the latest ships would have competed against goods already in store. By withholding the new teapots from sale until the old stock cleared, the council avoided depressing the value of what it already held, controlling the flow of a slow-moving item onto a small market.

The price schedule shows the council converting eastern purchase costs into local retail rates across three currencies at once. Each item carried its prime cost in taels, pagodas or their subdivisions, and was assigned a sterling selling price by the piece, pound or gallon. The margin between the two covered the Company's return and the charges of carriage, the formal listing giving the storekeeper settled rates to sell against and fixing the terms on which the imported goods reached the island's buyers.

The arrival of two more men from Madras described as habitual thieves continues the use of the island as a place of transportation for unwanted persons. The Madras government consigned men it judged troublesome to the small garrison, sending them ashore as the ship departed, and the council received them as a charge it had not sought. This repeats the pattern of the earlier consignment by the Drake, the remote settlement serving as a destination to which the wider Company network despatched those it wished to be rid of.

39

35

April

The Goods by the Eyles

Arrack cost p Legr 45

p Gallon 6. 4

Sugar p Candy 84

p lb 4

Wee have bought the following goods of the persons hereunder

mentioned

From Capt Gosfright

Two Puncheons Salt Porke cost p Lime 7

p Duie 10

From Capt Small

278 Cutt & dryed Tobacco p lb 1. 8

p lb 2

John Long Planter was summoned to answer to the

Complaint of Sarah Southen widdow for giveing her very

abusive Luangnage

To which he appeared

The Subtance of Mrs Southens Complaint was that

She and her Son Jno Bayley on ffriday Night last goeing by

Longs Door he hemmed after her and some time after she

asking him why he did soo he gave her very abusive Luangage

and called her Bitch severall times

Severall Witnesses were Sworne on the Complts

Part and some for the Defendt Upon hearing the Evidence

of both sides

Ordered that the said Long doe ask the said

Southen's Pardon and acknowledge himselp to be sorry for

the abuse given which he did accordingly

Richard Swallow was Summoned to answer to

the Complt of Thomas Greentree for not paying him a

just Debt due from him to the said Greentree

Thomas Greentree Sworne

Says he sold a scarfe to Mrs Margt Swallow his

Sister for 55 in her life time that after her Death the said

Rich Swallow possessed himselp of all her Effects whereby

he became lyable to the said Debt

Upon hearing Richd Swallow in his own behalp

Ordered that the said Richd Swallow doe in one

Weeks time pay the said Thomas Greentree the sd Sume of

ffifty five Shillings

Ordered that an Advertisemt be published for the

Chuseing of Church Wardens and overseers of the high way

on Monday next being Easter Monday

Ordered that an Advertisemt be publicshed for

holding an Orphans Court on Wednesday next

The

Margin Notes:

Goods bought out

of Shiping/

Mrs Southens Complt

against Jno Long

Longs to ask Mrs

Southens Pardon

Tho Greentrees

Complt agt Richd

Swallow for

a Debt

Swallow to Pay

Greentree 55/-

Advertizemt for

Chuseing Parish

Officers, &

holding a Court

for Orphans

The goods by the Lyell.

arrack, cost 45 per leaguer, to be sold for 6s 4d per gallon sugar, cost 8 per candy, to be sold for 4d per pound

The council had bought the following goods from the persons named below.

From Captain Boyfield.

2 puncheons of salt pork, cost 7 per leaguer, to be sold for 10d per pound

From Captain Small.

278 pounds of cut and dried tobacco, cost 1 pagoda 3 fanams per pound, to be sold for 2 per pound

John Long, planter, was summoned to answer the complaint of Sarah Southen, widow, for using very abusive language to her. He appeared.

The substance of Southen's complaint was that, on Friday night last, as she and her son John Bagley were passing by Long's door, he called out after her. A little while later, when she asked him why he did so, he gave her very abusive language and called her a bitch several times.

Several witnesses were sworn for the complainant and some for the defendant. The council heard the evidence on both sides.

The council ordered that Long ask Southen's pardon and acknowledge himself sorry for the abuse, which he did accordingly.

Richard Swallow was summoned to answer the complaint of Thomas Greentree for not paying a debt he owed him. Thomas Greentree was sworn. He said that he had sold a scarf to Margaret Swallow, Richard's sister, for five shillings in her lifetime, and that after her death Richard took possession of all her effects, by which he became liable for the debt.

The council heard Richard Swallow in his own behalf, then ordered that he pay Greentree the sum of 5s 0d in one week.

The council ordered an advertisement published for the choosing of churchwardens and overseers of the highway on Monday next, being Easter Monday.

The council ordered an advertisement published for holding an orphans' court on Wednesday next.

Interpretations

The Swallow debt case shows how a personal obligation passed to whoever took up a dead person's estate. Greentree had sold a scarf to Margaret Swallow in her lifetime, and when her brother Richard took possession of her effects after her death, the council held him liable for the unpaid five shillings. This applied the principle that one who succeeded to an estate succeeded also to its debts, the goods and the obligations travelling together, so that a creditor could pursue the inheritor for what the deceased had owed.

The resolution of the Southen abuse complaint by a forced apology reflects the council acting as a local court regulating conduct between neighbours. Long had insulted the widow in public, and after hearing witnesses on both sides the council required him to ask her pardon and own himself sorry. This shows the settlement enforcing civility through a public acknowledgement of fault rather than a fine, the remedy aimed at restoring order between the parties and marking the offence as answered.

The orders for choosing churchwardens and overseers and for holding an orphans' court record the routine machinery of parish and civil administration on the island. The timing to Easter Monday followed the customary calendar for electing parish officers, while the orphans' court managed the estates and guardianship of fatherless children. These notices show the small settlement maintaining the regular institutions of an English parish and the oversight of dependent minors alongside its commercial business.

40

36

1723

The Governor reports that on Sunday last One of the

honoble Companys Blacks called Michael that Workt at

the Lime Kilns was washed off the Rocks and drowned

John Bayley and Richd Beeby appeared upon

mentioned therein Jno Bayley being lame & Richd Beeby

being fishing for his Dyett they were forgiven

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island St Helena

At a Consultation held on Fryday and Saterday

thes 13th & 14th Days of April 1723 At Union Castle in James

Valley

Edwd Byfeld Esq Governr

Present Jno Alexander 2 &

Jno Goodwin 3

The last Consultation read and approved of

The Council met this day pursuant to an advertisement of

26th March last to Settle the Accts between the honoble

Company and all the Garrison and Inhabitants of the

Island

Transfers Vizt

Mrs Sarah Southen Widdow being indebted to the

Company desired the Severall Transfers hereunder

mentioned to be made to her in discharge of her

Soid Debt

Jno Brailey to Sarah Southen for goods bot at her

Outery£1. 4. 6

Jno French Junr to Do

5. 19. 6

Jno Young to Do

18

Andrew Berge to Do

9. 8

Giles Hays to Do

4. 7

Thomas Dutch to Do

18

Saml Taylor for Sarah Bayley to Do

6. 6

Joseph

Margin Notes:

a Black drowned/

Defaultrs on Alarm

forgiven/

Reckoning

begun/

Transfers

The Governor reported that on Sunday last one of the Company's slaves, named Michael, who worked at the lime kilns, was washed off the rocks and drowned.

John Bagley and Richard Crosby appeared on the separate summonses for failing to appear at the alarm. John Bagley being lame and Richard Crosby being out fishing for his food, they were forgiven.

The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Friday and Saturday 13 and 14 April 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander, second of the council, and John Goodwin, third.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

The council met this day in keeping with the advertisement of 26 March to settle the accounts between the Company and all the garrison and inhabitants of the island.

Transfers.

Sarah Southen, widow, being indebted to the Company, asked that the following transfers be made to her in discharge of her debt.

John Bradley to Sarah Southen, for goods bought at her cutlery, £1 4s 6d John French junior to Sarah Southen, £5 19s 6d John Young to Sarah Southen, £0 18s 0d Andrew Berge to Sarah Southen, £0 9s 8d Giles Hays to Sarah Southen, £0 4s 7d Thomas Dutch to Sarah Southen, £0 18s 0d Samuel Taylor, for Sarah Bagley, to Sarah Southen, £0 0s 6d

Interpretations

The transfer system shows how debts and credits between individuals were settled through the Company's books rather than in cash. Sarah Southen owed money to the Company, and instead of paying directly she assigned to it the sums that various people owed her, the council moving each amount from the debtor's account to her credit against her own debt. This let obligations circulate on paper within a closed accounting system, the Company acting as a clearing house through which private debts were applied to discharge what individuals owed it.

The annual reckoning between the Company and the inhabitants reflects a fixed point in the settlement's financial calendar. The advertisement of 26 March had summoned all the garrison and inhabitants to settle their accounts, and the council sat over two days to carry out the transfers and balances. This shows the small economy brought to account once a year, when the tangle of mutual debts among a few hundred people was resolved into the Company's ledgers, keeping the whole settlement's credit and obligation under central record.

The naming of Southen's cutlery as the source of one debt records the petty trade by which inhabitants earned their living. A debt arose from goods bought at her cutlery, indicating that the widow ran a small retail trade, and the credits owed to her from many different people show her as a modest tradeswoman within the settlement. This detail of how an individual household made its way ties the formal accounting to the small commerce that sustained the island's families.

41

37

April

Transferrs continued

Joseph Whaley to Sarah Southen£1. 12

Francis Leech to Do

1. 10. 1

Thomas Watts to Do

1. 6

Matthew Mudge to Do

7. 8. 9

Thomas Trindell to Do

1. 7. 6

Richd Harding to Do

3

Ebenezar Leech to Do

9

Isaac Leech has paid in part of his Bond the

Sume of Twenty five pounds as appears by the

Books of Acct

25

Orlando Bagley Senr desired the following Trans

ferrs to made in order to discharge part of his Debt

to the Company

Thomas Eastnigs to Orlando Bagley Senr

5. 2

Orlando Bagley Junr

5. 8

Thomas Allis desired the following transfers to be

made in discharge of his Debt

Thomas Gardner for Dyett

1. 16

Thomas Pettigrove to Do

10. 10

William Allis to Do

10. 10

Jno Thwaits Senr desired the foll Transferrs in part

Discharge of his Debt

Ben Thwaits

6. 1. 6

Jno Thwaits Junr to Do

6. 1. 6

Jno Dixon Corporal to Charles Stewart for dyett

1. 16

Richd Ray to Gabriel Dorset for Do

1. 16

Do to Mary Skreews in part of her Debt

1. 18. 6

Jno Wm Cypher to Richd Gurling for dyett

1. 16

James Covey Junr to James Covey Senr

12. 3

Michael Allen to Richd Gurling for dyett

2. 2. 3

Do to Charles Stewart for Do

1. 16

Joseph Defountaine to Isaac Wood

12. 6

Joseph Whaley Junr to Merry Whaley

12. 6

Simon Whaley

12. 6

Joseph Hayse to Dorothy Hayse

12. 12

John Kayse to Do

6. 18

Do to Sutton Isaack for Dyett

1. 16

Thomas Harper to Richard Mason

11. 1. 6

Martin Harper to Do

12. 6

Jno Seale to Wm Seale

3. 10

Church Dr to Benja Greentree

6

Wm Addis to Charles Stewart for Dyett

1. 16

Thomas Estrope to Charles Stewart for Do

1. 16

John

Transfers continued.

Joseph Whaley junior to Sarah Southen, £1 12s 0d Francis Leech to Sarah Southen, £1 10s 1d Thomas Watts to Sarah Southen, £1 5s 0d Matthew Mudge to Sarah Southen, £7 8s 9d Thomas Swindell to Sarah Southen, £1 7s 6d Richard Harding to Sarah Southen, £3 7s 6d Ebenezer Leech to Sarah Southen, £0 9s 0d

Isaac Leech had paid part of his bond, the sum of twenty-five pounds, as appeared by the books of account, £25 0s 0d.

Orlando Bagley senior asked that the following transfers be made to discharge part of his debt to the Company.

Thomas Eastings to Orlando Bagley senior, £5 2s 0d Orlando Bagley junior to Orlando Bagley senior, £5 8s 0d

Thomas Allis asked that the following transfers be made in discharge of his debt.

Thomas Gardner for diet to Thomas Allis, £1 16s 0d Thomas Pettigrove to Thomas Allis, £10 10s 0d William Allis to Thomas Allis, £10 10s 0d

John Thwaits senior asked the following transfers in part discharge of his debt.

Ben Thwaits to John Thwaits senior, £6 1s 6d John Thwaits junior to John Thwaits senior, £6 1s 6d

John Dixon, corporal, to Charles Stewart for diet, £1 16s 0d Richard Ray to Gabriel Dorsell, £1 16s 0d Richard Ray to Mary Shreeve in part of her debt, £1 18s 6d John William Lipsher to Richard Gurling for diet, £1 16s 0d James Vesey junior to James Vesey senior, £12 0s 3d Michael Allen to Richard Gurling for diet, £2 2s 3d Michael Allen to Charles Stewart for diet, £1 16s 0d Joseph Defountaine to Isaac Wood, £10 6s 4d Joseph Whaley junior to Mercy Whaley, £12 6s 0d Simon Whaley to Mercy Whaley, £12 6s 0d Joseph Hayse to Dorothy Hayse, £12 12s 0d John Rayse to Dorothy Hayse, £6 18s 0d John Rayse to Sutton Yaack for diet, £1 16s 0d Thomas Harper to Richard Mason, £11 1s 0d Martin Harper to Richard Mason, £12 6s 0d John Seale to William Seale, £3 10s 0d William Addis to Charles Stewart for diet, £6 16s 0d William Addis to Charles Stewart for diet, £1 16s 0d Thomas Eastrope to Charles Stewart for diet, £1 16s 0d

Interpretations

The recurring transfers for diet show how the cost of feeding soldiers was settled through the accounts rather than paid in money. Many entries move sums from individual soldiers to a few named men, such as Charles Stewart and Richard Gurling, for diet, indicating that these men victualled the soldiers and were reimbursed by transferring the soldiers' credit to their accounts. This identifies a small group of inhabitants who fed the garrison and recovered their charges through the Company's books, the diet debts of many men gathered onto the accounts of their providers.

The clustering of transfers within families reveals how households pooled their credits and debts. Sums move between Whaleys, Hayses, Harpers, Thwaitses, Bagleys and Allises of the same surname, showing relatives assigning what they owed or were owed to one another to balance a family member's account with the Company. This shows the annual reckoning operating along family lines, the kin group acting together to discharge the debt of one of its members through the internal movement of credits.

The part-payment of Isaac Leech's bond records the separate treatment of a formal secured debt within the general reckoning. Unlike the ordinary transfers, his entry marks the reduction of a bond, a debt under seal, by a cash payment of twenty-five pounds confirmed against the books. This distinguishes the bonded debt, a stricter legal instrument, from the everyday credits and diet charges that filled the rest of the account, the two kinds of obligation settled side by side at the yearly balancing.

42

38

1723

Transferrs continued

John Whaley to Francis Wrangham for dyett

£1. 16

Thomas Swindele to Charles Steward

2

Do to Ralph Orme

6. 16

Francis ffunge to Richd Swallow Senr for Dyett

4. 10

Rich Leech Dr to Robt Gurling

11. 1. 6

John Gurling to Wm Coales in full of his Debt

94. 10. 3¾

Henry Welch to Giles Smith

12. 6

John Hanson to Joseph Bates for Dyett

1. 16

Joseph Stapler to Bridgett Bazett for Do

1. 4

George Lond to James Draper for Do

1. 16

Richd Swallow has paid in of his Fathers Debt all but Eight

Pounds fifteen Shileings and Six Pence half penny but he having a

large ffamily and meeting with the misfortune of his

Wifes Death and other Sicknesse in his Family could not

comply with his Promise in Consultation of ye 14th Augt

1722 In Consideration of which wee have given him 3 Months

longer to pay all of his own Debt and to clear all his Fathers

Debt

Wee have made an End of reckoning with the

Inhabitants, Garrison and Workemen, and paid all of in Cash

and Cash notes and transferred to those in the Honoble

Companys Debt

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Rd Swallow

paid all but 8. 15. 6½

of his fathers Debt

His Promise to

pay all in 3 Mos

Reckoning

Ended/

Transfers continued.

John Whaley to Francis Wrangham for diet, £1 16s 0d Thomas Swindell to Charles Stewart, £2 0s 0d Thomas Swindell to Ralph Orme, £0 16s 0d Francis Funge to Richard Swallow senior for diet, £4 10s 0d Richard Leech to Robert Gurling, £11 1s 6d John Gurling to William Coales in full of his debt, £94 10s 3¾d Henry Welch to Giles Smith, £12 6s 0d John Hanson to Joseph Bates for diet, £1 16s 0d Joseph Stapler to Bridget Bazett for diet, £1 4s 0d George Lendon to James Draper for diet, £1 16s 0d

Richard Swallow had paid off all but eight pounds fifteen shillings and sixpence halfpenny of his father's debt. Having a large family, and meeting with the misfortune of his wife's death and other sickness in his family, he could not comply with his promise made in the consultation of 14 August 1722. In consideration of this, the council gave him three months longer to pay off his own debt and to clear all his father's debt.

The council had finished the reckoning with the inhabitants, garrison and workmen, paid all that was due in cash and cash notes, and transferred the rest to those in debt to the Company.

The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The closing summary records the annual settlement brought to completion across its several forms of payment. The council had reckoned with the inhabitants, garrison and workmen, discharging what was owed partly in cash, partly in cash notes and partly by transferring credits among those indebted to the Company. This shows the yearly balance resolved through a mixture of ready money, paper instruments and book transfers, the whole settlement's accounts cleared by whatever means each debt allowed.

The very large transfer from John Gurling to William Coales in full of his debt stands out against the small sums around it. At over ninety pounds, this single entry dwarfs the diet charges and modest balances, marking a substantial private debt cleared at the reckoning by assigning a credit of equal size. This shows the transfer mechanism handling obligations of very different scale within the same process, from a few shillings for diet to the discharge of a major debt in one movement.

Speculations

The council's grant of three further months to Richard Swallow, against his own debt and his late father's together, was a deliberate relaxation of a payment deadline he had already failed once. The obvious course was to enforce the promise he had given at the consultation of 14 August 1722, the time for which had passed, and to press for the balance owed. The council instead extended the term, and the record shows why it departed from that default: Swallow had lost his wife and met with sickness in a large family, circumstances that had defeated his earlier undertaking. The decision shows the council distinguishing a debtor disabled by misfortune from one merely unwilling, choosing forbearance over enforcement where the failure to pay arose from calamity rather than neglect, and tying the concession to the specific obligation he had been unable to meet.

43

39

April

Island St Helena

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 16th day

of April 1723 At Union Castle In James Valley

Edwd Byfeld Esq Governr

Present Jno Alexander 2d &

Jno Goodwin 3d

The last Consultation read and approved on

This morning Sailed hence for England his Majtys

Ship the Exeter Capt John Cockburne Commr for whome

at his request and to Oblidge him wee drew one Sett of

Bills on our honoble Masters for Co he having paid in soe

much in Cash into our hands for their use as mentioned in

our Letter of the 15th Instant

Wee this day tooke an Acco of the honoble Compys

Blacks with their Severall Ages and Imploymonts

in order to be entred in the Consultation bookes and a

list sent home accordingly

On Sunday Evening last the 14th Instant arrived

here the Ship Devonshire Capt Laurence Prince from

Bengale and brought us thence for the use of this Island

the several Goods hereafter mentioned Vizt

Battavia Arrack

4 half Leagrs 303 Gallons @ 72. 8 p Legr is

Rs s qr

145

Shirts and Stockings

1 Bale Shirts qt 150 at 59. 5. 6 p 100

89. 3

Stocking 100 pr 12 p Corge

60

Fine Rice

40 Baggs find rice 80 Maunds Bezt wt 58. 2. 19

1 Mr 30 p MRupee

45. 11. 6

Batty 10 p Ct

4. 9

Sugar Trasinda

10 Baggs Trasinda Sugar 21 Maunds Bezt wt 14. 2. 18 @ 8. 12 p Bagg

87. 8

Charges Merchandize

Packing 1 Bale

3. 12

90 Baggs packing wt ropes

7. 5. 9

Boat hire and Cooley hire

9. 6

Sloop hyre

37

57. 7. 9

Rupees

480. 4. 6

Margin Notes:

Exeter Sailed

£ to drow to Capt

Cockburne in Bills

of Ireland

Acct of ye Hon Co

Blacks taken/

Goods recd from India

p Devonshire/

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Tuesday 16 April 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander, second of the council, and John Goodwin, third.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

This morning His Majesty's ship the Exeter, under Captain John Cockburn, sailed from the island for England. At his request, and to oblige him, the council had drawn one set of bills on the masters for fifty pounds, he having paid in so much cash into the council's hands for the masters' use, as mentioned in the letter of the 15th.

The council this day took an account of the Company's slaves, with their several ages and employments, to be entered in the consultation books, and a list sent home accordingly.

On Sunday evening the 14th, the ship Devonshire, under Captain Lawrence Prince, arrived from Bengal and brought the following goods for the use of the island.

Goods received from India by the Devonshire.

Batavia arrack.

4 half-leaguers, 303 gallons at 72 per leaguer, 195 pagodas [...]

shirts and stockings.

1 bale of shirts, 150, at 59 pagodas 5 fanams 6 cash per 100, 89 pagodas 0 fanams 3 cash stockings, 100 pairs, at 12 per pair, 60 pagodas

fine rice.

40 bags of fine rice, 80 maunds Bengal weight at 58 maunds 2 quarters 19 per bag, at 1 pagoda 30 per Madras rupee, 45 pagodas 11 fanams 6 cash Bengal weight 10 per candy, 4 pagodas 9 fanams

sugar, Tirinde.

10 bags of Tirinde sugar, 21 maunds Bengal weight, 14 maunds 2 quarters 18 at 8 maunds 12 per bag, 87 pagodas 8 fanams

charges of merchandise.

packing 1 bale, 3 pagodas 12 fanams 0 cash 90 bags, packing with ropes, 7 pagodas 5 fanams 9 cash boat hire and cooley hire, 9 pagodas 6 fanams 0 cash sloop hire, 37 pagodas 0 fanams 0 cash

Total, 57 pagodas 7 fanams [...]

Total, 489 pagodas 4 fanams 6 cash

Interpretations

The taking of an account of the Company's slaves with their ages and employments records the periodic census of the settlement's enslaved workforce. The council listed each slave with age and occupation for entry in the consultation books and despatch to England, the directors requiring a return of the human property they held on the island. This shows enslaved people accounted for as a managed labour force, their numbers, ages and uses reported home in the same way as any other class of the Company's stock.

The Cockburn bills complete the transaction begun the day before, the naval captain's cash converted into a paper claim on the Company in England. He had paid fifty pounds into the council's hands, and the council drew bills on the masters for the same, so that he carried homeward a credit instead of coin. This shows the island once more functioning as a place of remittance, where money could be turned into Company paper payable in London, the council handling the masters' funds by exchanging cash for bills.

The mixed cargo of the Devonshire again combines Indian provisions with English manufactures, priced throughout in the pagoda currency of the Coromandel trade with conversions from Bengal weights and Madras rupees. Arrack, rice and sugar came alongside shirts and stockings, and the landing charges of packing, boat hire and sloop hire were added to fix the full delivered cost. This records the breadth of goods moving along the Company's routes and the layered measures and currencies the council reconciled to bring each consignment to account.

44

40

1723

The Governor delivered in his monthly Accot of the

Honoble Companys live Stock and Expences for the month

of March last and likewise a Generals Accot of the same

for the whole Year past ending the 31th March 1723 which

were examined and approved of

Gunner French brot in and delivered his Accot

of Gunners Stores Expended in the month of March last

and likewise a Generall Accot for the whole Year ending

March Ultimo which were both examined and approved

of and are as follows

March ye 6th It being Musterday

12

a Double Alarme

6

6

Arrived the Townshend Enfield Drake &

Middlesex

44

7

4

33

90

Alarme

4

4

4

Arrived the Godfrey

9

9

9

delivered to Capt Worth on board the

Townshend

200

An Allarme

arrived the Lyele

4

4

4

a Double Allarme

13

2

2

9

32

Powder for primeing

6

6

Expences for the Guard

13

Musquet Balls

86

9

6

71

390

Spunge Staves

6

Flints

60

Carthidge Paper

4

Match

35

35

4

60

6

20

Island

Margin Notes:

Acct of the Hon Cos

Live Stock & Expence

& a Genl Acct for

whole Yeare/

Gunr Acct for Marsh

& Genl Acct for

ye whole Yeare/

The Governor delivered his monthly account of the Company's livestock and expenses for March, together with a general account of the same for the whole year past ending 31 March 1723. Both were examined and approved.

Gunner French brought in and delivered his account of gunner's stores expended during March, together with a general account for the whole year ending 31 March. Both were examined and approved, and the March account is set out below, reckoned in pounds of powder, falcons, beakers, falcons and other items.

6 March, being muster day: 12 [...] 6 March, a double alarm: 6 pounds of powder, 6 falcons, 6 [...] 6 March, arrived the Townshend, Byfield, Drake and Middlesex: 44 pounds of powder, 7 falcons, 4, 33, 90 6 March, an alarm: 4 pounds of powder, 4, 4 17 March, arrived the Godfrey: 9 pounds of powder, 9, 9 17 March, delivered to Captain Worth aboard the Townshend: 200 26 March, an alarm 26 March, arrived the Lyell: 4 pounds of powder, 4, 4 30 March, a double alarm: 13 pounds of powder, 2, 2, 9, 32 powder for priming: 6 pounds of powder, 6, 6 expenses for the guard: 13

musket balls: 86, 9, 6, 71, 390 sponge staves: 6 flints: 60 cartridge paper: 2, 4 match: 35

Totals: 35, 4, 60, 6, 20 [...]

Interpretations

The gunner's account records the powder and stores fired across a month of heavy shipping traffic and repeated alarms. Salutes marked the arrival of each group of ships and the departure of the Townshend, while several alarms drew further discharges as strange or expected sail approached the road. This shows the close link between the rhythm of the shipping and the consumption of the magazine, the guns answering every arrival, departure and alert with powder drawn from a limited store.

The delivery of two hundred to Captain Worth aboard the Townshend stands apart from the salutes and alarms as a direct issue of stores to a departing ship. Rather than powder fired in ceremony, this was a quantity handed over to a homeward commander, the gunner accounting for it alongside the rounds spent on the island. This distinguishes the supply of a ship from the island's own expenditure, both charged against the same magazine and entered in the same account.

The annual general account of gunner's stores, delivered with the monthly one, reflects the yearly audit of military supplies that paralleled the reckoning of the Company's other goods. The gunner had to account for the whole year's consumption of powder, shot and equipment, the figures summed and approved so that the magazine's expenditure stood on record. This brought the materials of defence under the same discipline of annual accounting that governed the stores, the livestock and the settlement's finances.

45

41

April

Island St Helena Names

of what Gunners Stores is

of each Sort

Vizt

Iron Ordnances

142

Iron Round Shott

6971

12

Double head & hammerd Shott

547

Corne Powder

1299 Bll 34

236 Bll

Match

301 lb

237 lb

Spunge heads

295 lb

Hammerheads

106 lb

6

Cathridge Cases

122

Powder hornes

108

Sole Axes

24

Flints

6573

625

Wormes

17

Ladles

28

2

Tomkins

88

Spunge Staves

75

18

Sheep Skins

63

20

Scowring rodds

328

12

Reeds

422

Punies

180

Cardoes Boxes

77

Truckts

239

10

Axoll Trees

74

4

Blunder Busses

36

Pistoles

14

Lead Shott

1449 lb

576 lb

Bouch Barrells

2

Gins and Blocks

Gl 2 Bl 1

Union ffloggs

2

hand Spikes

46

15

Formers

Lindstocks

Priming Irons

Margin Notes:

Genl Acct of

Gunrs Stores/

Island of St Helena. A general account of the gunner's stores, naming each sort, the quantity remaining under charge in March 1722, and the amount expended from March 1722 to March 1723.

iron ordnance, remaining 142 iron round shot, remaining 6,971, expended 12 double-head and hammered shot, remaining 547 corned powder, remaining 1,299 barrels 34, expended 236 barrels match, remaining 301 pounds, expended 235 pounds sponge heads, remaining 295 pounds, expended [...] hammer heads, remaining 106 pounds, expended 6 cartridge cases, remaining 122 powder horns, remaining 108 pole axes, remaining 64 flints, remaining 6,573, expended 629 worms, remaining 17 ladles, remaining 28, expended 2 tompions, remaining 88 sponge staves, remaining 75, expended 18 sheep skins, remaining 63, expended 20 scouring rods, remaining 328, expended 12 beds, remaining 422 quoins, remaining 180 cartouche boxes, remaining 77 trucks, remaining 239, expended 10 axletrees, remaining 74, expended 4 blunderbusses, remaining 36 pistols, remaining 14 lead shot, remaining 1,449 pounds, expended 5,756 bouch barrels, remaining 2 guns and blocks, remaining 2 guns and 1 block union flags, remaining 2 hand spikes, remaining 46, expended 15 formers, remaining [...] linstocks, remaining [...] priming irons, remaining [...]

Interpretations

The named items would be unfamiliar to a modern reader and record the full equipment of a gun battery of the period. A worm was a spiralled tool for drawing a charge or wad from a gun, and a sponge head and sponge staff together cleared and cooled the bore between firings. A tompion was a plug closing the muzzle against damp, while a quoin was a wedge for adjusting the elevation of a gun and a bed the timber on which it rested. A linstock held the lighted match for firing, a former shaped the cartridges, and a cartouche box carried a soldier's ready ammunition. These tools and fittings made up the working apparatus by which the island's cannon were served and maintained.

The account distinguishes the stock remaining from the year's expenditure, fixing the state of the magazine at a single date. By setting the quantity under charge against what had been spent from March 1722 to March 1723, the gunner showed both the standing reserve and the rate of consumption for each class of store. This gave the council and the directors a clear measure of the island's defensive supplies, the inventory recording not only what remained but how fast each item was being used.

The very large expenditure of lead shot against a modest remaining stock points to a particular pressure on that item over the year. With nearly six thousand expended and under fifteen hundred left, the consumption far outran most other stores, reflecting the demands of musketry at the repeated alarms and exercises. This shows where the year's activity bore most heavily on the magazine, the disproportion between use and reserve marking lead shot as the supply most in need of replenishment.

46

42

1723

What was found

& Expended fitt

for noe Service

from ye Time

to Ditto

What has been

received from

ye time to ye

Time

The Remainder ye

Ultimo March 1723

12. 12 pownders

4. 6 Culverins

Demy Do

124

959

19 Bare lb

8 Parrotts

164 Bll

547 lb

66 lb

45 lb

37 lb

7267 lb

49

324 lb

149

30

92

108

24

948

17

26

500

588

300

357

100

143

316

122

180

77

279

70

36

10

14

139½ lb

10

12

Gl 2 Bl 1

2

200

231

24

24

100

100

300

300

Wm Slaughter

The gunner's account continued under three further headings: what was found expended or unfit for service from one survey to the next, what had been received from June to June, and the remainder as at March 1723.

iron ordnance: 12 pedereroes and 4 sakers and culverins decayed, remainder 124 iron round shot: remainder 6,959 double-head and hammered shot: 19 pairs expended, 8 received per the Princess Amelia, 164 received per the Devonshire, remainder 547 pounds corned powder: received 66 barrels, remainder 45 pounds match: received 37 pounds, remainder 726 pounds sponge heads: remainder 324 pounds hammer heads: 49 received, remainder 149 cartridge cases: 30 expended, remainder 92 powder horns: remainder 108 pole axes: remainder 24 flints: remainder 6,948 worms: remainder 17 ladles: remainder 26 tompions: 500 received, remainder 588 sponge staves: 300 received, remainder 357 sheep skins: 100 received, remainder 148 scouring rods: remainder 316 beds: remainder 122 quoins: remainder 180 cartouche boxes: remainder 77 trucks: remainder 279 axletrees: remainder 70 blunderbusses: remainder 36 pistols: 10 received, remainder 14 lead shot: remainder 1,395 pounds bouch barrels: 10 received, remainder 12 guns and blocks: 2 guns and 1 block union flags: remainder 2 hand spikes: remainder 231 formers: 200 received, remainder 24 linstocks: 24 received priming irons: 100 received, remainder 100 [further item]: 300 received, remainder 300

The account was signed by William Slaughter.

Interpretations

The account separates decayed and unfit ordnance from the serviceable remainder, recording the loss of guns no longer fit for use. Twelve pedereroes and several sakers and culverins were marked as decayed, reducing the count of iron ordnance under charge. This shows the gunner accounting not only for what was spent or received but for what had failed through age and wear, the survey distinguishing usable guns from those worn out of service.

The named guns would be unfamiliar to a modern reader and record the types of cannon held on the island. A pederero was a small breech-loading piece often mounted on a swivel, a saker a medium field or naval gun, and a culverin a longer gun of greater range. Listing these by name and noting which had decayed shows the mixed armament of the batteries, the different calibres each accounted for separately as they passed out of service.

The columns for stores received over the year show the magazine replenished from the ships that called. Quantities of tompions, sponge staves, sheep skins, formers and other equipment came in from named vessels such as the Princess Amelia and the Devonshire, the gunner entering each receipt against the running stock. This shows the island's defences supplied through the same shipping that brought its trade goods, the magazine maintained by drawing replacement stores from the East India ships as they passed.

47

43

April

Mr Slaughter brought in and delivered an Accot of

the Generale Table Expence for the Month of March last

which was examined and is as follows

950 Beef

ad 25/ p 100

£11. 17. 6

103 Porke

6/ p lb

2. 11. 6

2 Sheep

24/ p pr

2. 8

10 Goats

10/ p pr

8

5 Piggs

5/ p pr

1. 5

2 Turkeys

6/ p pr

12

52 Fowles

1/6 p pr

3. 18

4 Ducks

1/6 p pr

6

12 Eggs

p 2 p pr

1

31 Days Greens

1/ p day

1. 11

61 Bottles Milk

4 p Bottle

1. 8

5 Butter

1/ p lb

5

16 p Salt Porke

6/ p pr

2

22 Do Salt Beef

2/10 p pr

3. 2. 4

3 Pepper

1/ p pr

3

2 Gallons Vinegar

4/ p Gal

8

28 Soap

1/5 p lb

1. 19. 8

150 Sugar

6 p lb

3. 15

18 Sugar Candy

1/ p lb

10

150 Bread

3 p lb

1. 17. 6

48 ffower

3 p Do

12

6 Tea

7/6

2. 5

60 Gallons Arrack

6/4 p Galln

19

22 Do Maderia

4/ p lb

4. 12

6500 Lemons

2/6 p 100

8. 2. 6

2 Do Sweet Oyles

12/ p Gald

6

1 Bottle fflorence Do

7/6

7. 6

Signed Wm Slaughter

83. 17. 2

Capt Goodwin being very Busie about Compleating the

Inventory of the Stores could not possible gett his Monthly

Accot ready now but wile bring it in on Tuesday next

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Genl Table

Expence for

March/

Capt Goodwin

Busie abt Stocking

of Inventory/

Mr Slaughter brought in and delivered an account of the general table expenses for March, which was examined and is set out below.

beef, 950 pounds at 2½d per pound, £11 17s 6d pork, 102 pounds at 6d per pound, £2 11s 6d sheep, 2 at 24s 0d per piece, £2 8s 0d goats, 16 at 10s 0d per piece, £8 0s 0d pigs, 5 at 5s 0d per piece, £1 5s 0d turkeys, 2 at 6s 0d per piece, £0 12s 0d fowls, 52 at 1s 6d per piece, £3 18s 0d ducks, 4 at 1s 6d per piece, £0 6s 0d eggs, 12 at 2d each, £0 1s 0d greens, 31 days at 1s 0d per day, £1 11s 0d milk, 62 bottles at 4d per bottle, £1 0s 8d butter, 5 pounds at 1s 0d per pound, £0 5s 0d salt pork, 16 pounds at 6d per pound, £2 0s 0d salt beef, 12 pounds at 3d per pound, £3 2s 4d pepper, 8 pounds at 4d per pound, £0 3s 0d vinegar, 2 gallons at 4s 0d per gallon, £0 8s 0d soap, 28 pounds at 1s 5d per pound, £1 19s 8d sugar, 150 pounds at 6d per pound, £3 15s 0d sugar candy, 18 pounds at 1s 0d per pound, £0 10s 0d bread, 150 pounds at 3d per pound, £1 17s 6d flour, 48 pounds at 3d per pound, £0 12s 0d tea, 6 pounds at 7s 6d per pound, £2 5s 0d arrack, 60 gallons at 6s 4d per gallon, £19 0s 0d tea candy, 28 pounds at 2½d per pound, £0 12s 0d lemons, 6,500 at 2s 6d per 100, £8 2s 6d sweet oil, 2 quarts at 12s 0d per gallon, £0 6s 0d Florence oil, 1 bottle at 7s 6d each, £0 7s 6d

The account was signed by William Slaughter, totalling £83 17s 2d.

Captain Goodwin, being very busy completing the inventory of the stores, could not get his monthly account ready now, but would bring it in on Tuesday next.

The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The very large purchase of lemons stands out as a provision laid in for a particular purpose beyond the daily table. At six thousand five hundred, the quantity far exceeds ordinary kitchen use, and lemons were valued at sea as a guard against scurvy on the long voyages the calling ships faced. This suggests the table account here served partly to victual the shipping, the citrus bought in bulk to supply vessels whose crews depended on it for health on the passage home.

The named oils would be unfamiliar to a modern reader and record imported cooking and table goods. Sweet oil was olive oil used in cookery, and Florence oil was a finer grade of olive oil from the Italian port, prized for the table. Both came through the seaborne trade and were entered by the quart and the bottle, marking the range of imported provisions that supplied the government's table alongside the produce of the island.

The dominance of arrack and fresh provisions in the total reflects the mixed character of the table's supply. Arrack alone, at nineteen pounds, formed the largest single charge, while the beef, goats, fowls and garden greens drew on the island's own produce. This shows the public table provisioned from both the shipped stores of the eastern trade and the local pastoral and garden economy, the two sources combined in a single monthly reckoning brought to account like every other expense.

48

44

1723

Island St Helena

At a Consultation held on Wednesday the 17th

April 1723 for Orphans and to hear any other matters that

may occur At Union Castle In James Valley

Edwd Byfeld Esq Govr

Present Jno Alexander 2

Jno Goodwin

The last Consultation read and approved on

Arthur Bradley appeared at the Complt of Wm Beale for

denying to pay him a just Debt of 5 for cureing his wife

of a Lamenesse in her Knees After debates on both Sides

Ordered that the said Bradley pay Mr Beale the

Sume of 3 and Charges with which they were both Satisfyed

The Church wardens and Overseers of the high

way for the year past according to an Advertisemt Issued

out the 1th Instant assembled with the rest of the Inhabi

tants and brought this day An Acco of those persons they

have made choice of in each Office for the prsent year

Isaac Leech &

Robt Bell

Church wardens for the Et

Jno Bagley

Joshua Johnson

Do for ye Wt

Thomas Leech &

Sutton Isaac

Overseers of the high Way for the Et

Richd Mason &

Saml Taylor

Do for the Wt

Richd Swallow &

Wm Worrale

Do for the So

Ordered That Isaac Leech & Joshua Johnson be

appointed Church Wardens & Sutton Isaac Saml Taylor

& Jno Worrale Overseers to Succeed the Old Church Wardens

and Overseers and that they be Sumoned accordingly on

Tuesday the 30th Instant

Mr Jonathan Doveton Richd Gurling Exor with

him not appearing being Sick brought in and Dilivered

the following Account of Robert Leechs Orphans

March

Margin Notes:

Wm Beales

Complt agt

Bradley Junr

a Debt of 5

but 3 Allowed

Church Wardens

& Overseers

Presentmt

of

Sundry psons

Chused them

of ye last yeare/

Parish Officers

Appointed/

Robt Leechs

Orphans

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Wednesday 17 April 1723 for orphans, and to hear any other matters that might come up, at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander, second of the council, and John Goodwin, third.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

Arthur Bradley appeared on the complaint of William Beale for refusing to pay a just debt of five shillings for curing his wife of a lameness in her knees. After arguments on both sides, the council ordered Bradley to pay Beale the sum of 5s 0d and the charges, with which both were satisfied.

The churchwardens and overseers of the highway for the year past, in keeping with an advertisement issued the 15th, had assembled with the rest of the inhabitants and brought in this day an account of the persons they had chosen for each office for the present year.

Churchwardens for the east: Isaac Leech and Robert Bell. Churchwardens for the west: John Bagley and Joshua Johnson. Overseers of the highway for the east: Thomas Leech and Sutton Isaac. Overseers of the highway for the west: Richard Mason and Samuel Taylor. Overseers of the highway for the south: Richard Swallow and William Worrall.

The council ordered that Isaac Leech and Joshua Johnson be appointed churchwardens, and Sutton Isaac, Samuel Taylor and William Worrall overseers, to succeed the old churchwardens and overseers, and that they be summoned accordingly for Tuesday the 20th.

Mr Jonathan Doveton not appearing, being sick, Richard Gurling, executor with him, brought in and delivered the following account of Robert Leech's orphans.

Interpretations

The election of churchwardens and overseers by the inhabitants records the parish self-government maintained on the island. The outgoing officers had gathered the inhabitants under an advertisement to choose successors for each division, the offices distributed across the east, west and south. This shows the settlement running the customary English machinery of parish administration, the management of church affairs and the upkeep of the highways entrusted to officers chosen from among the inhabitants themselves.

The Bradley debt for a cure records the recovery of a surgeon's fee through the council acting as a court of small claims. Beale had treated Bradley's wife for a lameness and sought payment of five shillings, which Bradley refused, and the council heard both sides before ordering the debt and charges paid. This shows medical service rendered as a chargeable debt enforceable before the council, the surgeon recovering his fee through the same authority that settled other disputes between inhabitants.

The orphans' court reflects the council's standing role in protecting the estates of fatherless children. Robert Leech's orphans had executors charged with their affairs, and the account of their estate was brought in for the council's examination, one executor appearing when the other was prevented by sickness. This shows the settlement overseeing the property and welfare of dependent minors through appointed executors answerable to the council, the orphans' interests safeguarded by formal account and review.

49

45

April

An Accot of Robert Leechs

Orphans Dr Vizt

Dr Contra Cr

To Capt Alexander£7. 6

To Jno M VanCorten

5

12. 6

Ballance

£85. 19. 6½

£86. 12. ½

By Ballance of the ye honoble Companys Books

£77. 18. 5

By the Death of Robt Leech

8. 13. 7

£86. 12. ½

Mr Gabriel Dowell Executor with the said Richd

Gurling of the Orphans of Charles Stewart brot in and

delivered the following Accot of their Stock & Estate

and is as follows

half an house at Fort James

19½ Acres free Land

24½ Do hired

Blacks 3 Men

4 Girles

Cattle 16 Cow

15 Calves

2 Bullocks

1 Bule

5 Heifers

2 Yearlings

41

Hoggs 7 Sows

10 Snoats

6 Barrows

33

Seperate Stock

7 Cows

6 Calves

1 Bullock

1 Heifer

15

In all 56 head of Neat Cattle

Mr Charles Stowart Estate deced Dr

Dr Contra Cr

James Ridder£8. 6

To the Seperate Stock

44. 6

To Mr Gabriel Dowle

7. 11

To ye honoble Company

43. 11. 14

To Mr Richd Gurling

5. 11. 3

To Mary Facknald

4. 6

To Mr James Covey

1. 13

To Mr Robt Gurling

14. 6

£66. 14. 9

Ballance

294. 8. 11

361. 3. 8

By Jno Long

£94. 8

By Mary Skreews

15. 5. 0

By Jos Johnson

9. 3

By Margt Tovey

14. 3. 10

By Francis ffunge

22. 5

By Mary Conway

15

By Thos Lee

1. 3

By Jonathan Ingham Jur

11. 2

By Charles Stowart

268. 1. 11

By Jno Goodwin

15. 6. 6

By Edmund Nicholls

1

By Thomas Swallow

1. 17

By Richd Mason

4. 11

By Andrew Berge

1. 8. 3

£361. 3. 8

The said

An account of Robert Leech's orphans, taken 25 March 1723.

Debtor.

to Captain Alexander, £0 7s 6d to Mr Van Oosten, £0 5s 0d

subtotal, £0 12s 6d

balance, £85 19s 6½d

Total, £86 12s 0½d

Creditor.

by balance of the masters' books, £77 18s 0d by the death of Robert Leech, £8 13s 0d

Total, £86 12s 0½d

Mr Gabriel Powell, executor with Richard Gurling of the orphans of Charles Stewart, brought in and delivered the following account of their stock and estate.

Charles Stewart's orphans held half a house at Fort James, 19½ acres of free land and 24½ acres of hired land.

slaves: 3 men and 4 girls cattle: 16 cows, 15 calves, 2 bullocks, 1 bull, 5 heifers and 2 yearlings, totalling 41 hogs: 7 sows, 10 shoats and 6 barrows, totalling 33 separate stock: 7 cows, 6 calves, 1 bullock and 1 heifer, totalling 15

In all, 56 head of neat cattle.

Charles Stewart's estate, deceased.

Debtor.

to James Ryder, £8 6s 0d to the separate stock, £44 0s 6d to Mr Gabriel Powell, £7 11s 0d to the Company, £43 11s 14d to Mr Richard Gurling, £5 11s 3d to Mary Fackmard, £4 6s 7d to Mr James Vesey, £1 13s 0d to Mr Robert Gurling, £14 6s 0d

subtotal, £66 16s 24d

balance, £294 8s 11¼d

Total, £361 3s 8¾d

Creditor.

by John Long, £94 0s 0d by Mary Shreeve, £15 5s 0d by Joseph Johnson, £9 3s 0d by Margaret Tovey, £14 3s 10d by Francis Funge, £22 5s 0d by Mary Conway, £15 0s 0d by Thomas Free, £1 3s 0d by Jonathan Ingham junior, £11 2s 0d by Charles Stewart, £268 1s 0d by John Goodwin, £15 6s 0d by Edmund Nichols, £1 0s 0d by Thomas Swallow, £1 17s 0d by Richard Mason, £4 11s 0d by Andrew Berge, £1 8s 3d

Total, £361 3s 8¾d

Interpretations

The orphans' accounts show the council overseeing inherited estates as a balance of debts owed and owing. Each account sets the sums the estate owed against those owed to it, the difference struck as a balance representing the children's net worth. This shows the property of fatherless minors managed as a running account under executors, the council reviewing the figures so that the orphans' interest was preserved and the estate's standing fixed at a given date.

The Stewart estate's mixture of land, slaves and livestock records the typical form of wealth on the island. The children held house, free and hired land, enslaved men and girls, and substantial herds of cattle and hogs, the cattle alone reckoned at fifty-six head. This shows a planter's estate composed of real property, human beings held as chattels and pastoral stock, the three together making up the inherited fortune that the executors held in trust.

The separate stock listed apart from the main herd marks a distinct holding kept on its own account within the estate. The cattle are divided between the general stock and a separate stock of fifteen head, the latter carried as its own item among both the assets and the debts. This shows the estate's livestock subdivided for accounting, perhaps to mark beasts held under a different right or for a different purpose, the separation preserved through the reckoning so that each portion remained distinct.

50

46

1723

The said Mr Dowell and Joshua Johnson Executors to the

Orphans of Jno Nichols deced brot in and delivered the foll

Accot of their Stock and Estate

Mony due from the Estate of Jno Niccols Vizt

April 17th 1723

To Jane Nichols£77. 2. 2

To Damaris Nichols

77. 2. 2

£154. 4. 4

Memorandum three parts

paid to three more of the Orphans

besides this 154. 4. 4 Since last

March as their persons of the

whole Estate

The said Mr Johnson Executor (with James Greentree

deced) brot in and delivered an Acco of the Stock belongt

to Addis's Orphans which is as follows

Robt Addis's Orphs Dr

Dr Contra Cr

To Mary & Johanna Addis Apl 25 1722£14

To March 24 1723 Cloathing & makeing

6. 4

for Wm Addis

To Rents and revenues

8. 6

To Balld

20. 12. 6

70. 5. 2

£90. 17. 8

1722 Apl 25 By Balld of last

£64. 19. 11

Years Acct

1723 March 24 By Cattle solo this

25. 17. 9

year

£90. 17. 8

Cattle Vizt

Six Cows

Seven Calves

One Bulle

One Heifer

Mr Francis Wrangham Executor brot in and delivered

an Acco of the Stock and Estate belonging to Eliz Sich's Orphs

which is as follows

70 Acres free Land

3 Acres Dr hired of honoble Company

1 Horse in the Country

1 Do at the ffort

1 Black Girle

3 Cows

3 Calves

1 Heifer

1 ffeather bedd 1 Table 6 Rattan Stooles

1 Silver Porringer

3 Do Castony

1 Do Snuff box

2 Gold Rings

1 Chest of Drawers

Debts due from Sundrys Vizt

James Ryder£26. 3. 8

Benja Cleaverly

3

Francis Wrangham

11. 19. 6½

£41. 3. 2½

Debts due to Sundry

To the honoble Compy£9. 18. 1

To Mr Sichs Estate

9. 10

To Mr Fagnalds Orphs

2

21. 8. 1

Balld

19. 15. 1½

£41. 3. 2½

Capt

Margin Notes:

Jno Nichols

Orphans Acct

Robt Addis

Orph Acct/

Eliz Sichs

Acct/

Mr Powell and Joshua Johnson, executors to the orphans of John Nichols deceased, brought in and delivered the following account of their stock and estate.

Money due from the estate of John Nichols, 17 April 1723.

to John Nichols, £77 2s 2d to Damaris Nichols, £77 2s 2d

Total, £154 4s 4d

A note recorded that three further parts had been paid to three more of the orphans, besides this £154 4s 4d, since last March, as their shares of the whole estate.

Mr Johnson, executor with James Greentree deceased, brought in and delivered an account of the stock belonging to Addis's orphans.

Robert Addis's orphans, debtor.

to Mary and Johanna Addis, 25 April 1722, £14 0s 0d to clothing and making for John Addis, 24 March 1723, £6 4s 0d to rents and revenues, £6 8s 0d

subtotal, £20 12s 6d

balance, £70 5s 2d

Total, £90 17s 8d

Robert Addis's orphans, creditor.

by balance of last year's account, 25 April 1722, £64 19s 11d by cattle sold this year, 24 March 1723, £25 17s 9d

Total, £90 17s 8d

The cattle of the estate were 6 cows, 7 calves, 1 bull and 1 heifer.

Mr Francis Wrangham, executor, brought in and delivered an account of the stock and estate belonging to Elizabeth Sich's orphans.

70 acres of free land 3 acres hired of the Company 1 house in the country 1 house at the fort 1 black girl 3 cows 3 calves 1 heifer 1 feather bed, 1 table and 6 rattan-bottomed stools 1 silver porringer 3 silver castors 1 snuff box 2 gold rings 1 chest of drawers

debts due from various persons.

James Ryder, £26 3s 8d Benjamin Cleverly, £3 0s 0d Francis Wrangham, £11 19s 6½d

Total, £41 3s 2½d

debts due to various persons.

to the Company, £9 18s 1d to Mr Sich's estate, £9 10s 0d to Mr Fagnald's orphans, £2 0s 0d

subtotal, £21 8s 1d

balance, £19 15s 1½d

Total, £41 3s 2½d

Interpretations

The Nichols account shows an estate being progressively divided among the children as their shares fell due. The note that three further parts had been paid to three orphans, besides the sums still standing to two others, records the estate distributed in portions over time rather than at a single moment. This shows the executors paying out each child's share as it became payable, the orphans' court tracking the partial distribution so that every heir's portion was accounted for against the whole.

The Sich orphans' inventory records the domestic goods that formed part of a modest estate alongside land and stock. The feather bed, rattan-bottomed stools, silver porringer and castors, snuff box and gold rings show the household and personal items of value that passed to the children, listed item by item with the land, house, slave and cattle. This shows the orphans' wealth comprising not only property and livestock but the furniture, plate and small valuables of a settled household, all brought to account under the executor's charge.

The recurring presence of the same names across these estates reveals a small society in which a few individuals served repeatedly as executors and debtors. Powell, Johnson, Greentree, Wrangham and Gurling appear as executors of several orphans' estates, while names such as James Ryder recur as debtors. This shows the management of the settlement's inherited property concentrated in the hands of a small group of substantial men, the same figures trusted with the affairs of multiple families and bound into the web of debts that ran through every estate.

51

47

April

Capt Goodwin reports that he has recd all the Goods

brought from Bengale p the Devonshyre

Ordered they be sold out at the Prices foll Vizt

Battavia Arack wt p Legr 72½ to be sold for p Gald

6. 4

Shirts p 100 59. 5. 6

p Shirt 2. 6

Stockings p Corge 12

p pr 2. 6

Rice fine Md & sortr p 1

p lb 0. 3

Sugar ad Md for 5½

p lb 6

Indent of Stores wanting on the Island of St

Helena taken ye 17th day of April 1723 Sent for p

the Devonshyre

Brasiers Ware

3 Dozen of Tea Kettles Sorted

Cuttlery Ware

24 Dozen Pockett knives and fforks

6 Do Clasp Do

3 Do Pruning Do

10 Do Shoe Do

2 Setts Shoe makers Tools

Haberdashery Ware

10 lb fine Omee threed Sorted

2 flourishing Do Do

50 Twine

50 Shoe threed

2 Gross Stoll and Tape Do

1 Do Kerretting Do

12 dozt Ivory Combs Do

1 Gross fine Thimbles fort ye Ladys

2 Doz Bumps

Sorted

2 Doz Stays

3 Do Boldicee

Hatts

2 Dozen large fine Cloath Hatts

5 Do ordinary

2 Do Do for Boys

Not Soo Small as usuall

1 Do fine

Gold and Silver Trimming for ye

2 Doz fine Hatts

Hosiers

Margin Notes:

Goods recd p Ship

Devonshire

Prices Sold at

Copy thus farr

Indent of Goods

sent for p Ship

Devonshire/

Captain Goodwin reported that he had received all the goods brought from Bengal by the Devonshire. The council ordered that they be sold out at the following prices.

arrack, cost 72 per leaguer, to be sold for 6s 4d per gallon shirts, cost 59 pagodas 5 fanams 6 cash per 100, to be sold for 2s 6d per shirt stockings, cost 12 per pair, to be sold for 2s 6d per pair rice, cost 1 per pound and so for, to be sold for 0s 3d per pound sugar, cost 4 per maund, to be sold for 6d per pound

An indent of stores wanting on the island, taken 17 April 1723, sent for by the Devonshire.

brazier's ware.

3 dozen tea kettles, sorted

cutlery ware.

24 dozen pocket knives and forks 6 dozen clasp knives 3 dozen pruning knives 10 dozen shoe knives 2 sets shoemaker's tools

haberdashery ware.

10 pounds fine ounce thread, sorted 2 pounds flourishing thread, sorted 50 pounds twine 50 pounds shoe thread 2 gross thole and tape, sorted 1 gross herretting, sorted 12 dozen ivory combs 1 gross fine thimbles for ladies 2 dozen lumps, sorted 2 dozen stays, sorted 3 dozen bodices, sorted

hats.

2 dozen large fine cloth hats 5 dozen ordinary hats 2 dozen hats for boys, not too small as usual 1 dozen fine hats

gold and silver trimming for 2 dozen fine hats.

Interpretations

The indent records the island's formal requisition of goods it could not produce, sent home for supply by a returning ship. The list set out the stores wanting on the island, sorted by trade into brazier's, cutlery and haberdashery ware and hats, so that the directors could despatch the required articles. This shows the settlement dependent on England for its manufactured goods, the indent serving as the standing means by which a remote community ordered the tools, cloth and household items it needed.

The named haberdashery items would be unfamiliar to a modern reader and record the small wares of sewing and dress. Ounce thread and flourishing thread were grades of sewing thread sold by weight, herretting a kind of tape or binding, and thole and tape further small trimmings. Stays and bodices were stiffened undergarments for women, and the ivory combs and thimbles the personal articles of a household. These goods show the range of everyday necessaries the island had to import to clothe and equip its inhabitants.

The detailed specification of the hats reflects the care taken to order goods suited to the settlement's actual needs. The indent distinguished large fine cloth hats, ordinary hats and hats for boys, with a note that the boys' hats should not be too small as had usually been sent. This shows the council correcting a recurring fault in the supply from England, the instruction added so that the goods despatched would fit their wearers, a practical adjustment born of experience with previous consignments.

52

48

1723

Hosiers Ware

100 pair of fine knitt Stockings

50 Do Rolteups for Men

Ironmongery Ware

3 Dozen of Chafing dishes

100 double headed Steel Mauls ed to weigh from 18 to 25 lb lb

20 doz of H. Hinges sorted

100 Shod Shovells

20 Small Iron Potts from 1 Gall @ 3 Do

100 2999 Stones

50 Grindstones Sorted

Do 3 penny Nails

10. 4 pny Do

10. 6 pny Do

10. 8 pny Do

10. 10 pny Do

10. 20 pny Do

1 half Inch & Inch Bradds

The Smiths Indent

12 Rubber files

12 hand Do

2 doz Smooth Do Sorted

12 Do hafts

Dril bow Strings

12 dril boxes

1 halp Ton of flatt Iron 1 Inch

Do 3 Do

Do Square Iron 1 Do

Do 2 Do

4 Faggott of Blister Steel

6 hand hammers

2 Casks Tubb Iron

12 pound of binding Wyer

12 doz Small fyles Sorted

6 Borase boxes

6 blow pipes

12 Crucibles

Tin Ware

5 dozen of Coffee potts Sorted

2 Do Watering Potts Large

1 Do Small

6 Do Sauce Panns Sorted

4 Do Lanthornes horne

4 Do Glass to hang up

1 Do hand

6 Do Lamps

Pewterders

The indent continued.

hosier's ware.

100 pairs of fine knit stockings 50 dozen roll-ups for men

ironmongery ware.

3 dozen chafing dishes 100 double-headed steel mauls, each to weigh from 18 to 25 pounds 20 dozen of all hinges, sorted 100 shod shovels 20 small iron pots from 1 gallon at 3 dozen 100 2,000 stones 50 grindstones, sorted 5 pounds of 3-penny nails 10 pounds of 4-penny nails 10 pounds of 6-penny nails 10 pounds of 8-penny nails 10 pounds of 10-penny nails 10 pounds of 20-penny nails 1 of half-inch to inch brads

the smith's indent.

12 rubber files 12 hand files 2 dozen smooth files, sorted 12 dozen rasps drill bow strings 12 drill bows 1 half-ton of flat iron, 2 inch flat iron, 3 dozen square iron, 1 dozen square iron, 2 dozen 4 faggots of blister steel 6 hand hammers 2 casks of tub iron 12 pounds of binding wire 12 dozen small files, sorted 6 borax boxes 6 blow pipes 12 crucibles

tin ware.

5 dozen coffee pots, sorted 2 dozen watering pots, large 1 dozen watering pots, small 6 dozen sauce pans, sorted 4 dozen lanthorns, horn 1 dozen glass lanthorns to hang up 1 dozen hand lanthorns 6 dozen lamps

Interpretations

The smith's indent records the materials and tools needed to keep a forge supplied on an island without its own ironworks. Bar iron in flat and square sizes, blister steel, files, rasps, hammers and binding wire were the raw stock and instruments of the smith's trade, ordered in bulk from England. This shows the settlement importing not only finished goods but the materials of its own manufacture, the forge depending on shipped iron and steel to make and mend the ironwork the island required.

The named items would be unfamiliar to a modern reader and belong to the metalworking and household trades. Blister steel was steel made by the cementation process, its surface blistered, used for tools and cutting edges. A maul was a heavy hammer, here specified by weight, and a faggot a bundle in which iron or steel was traded. Borax boxes, blow pipes and crucibles were the smith's equipment for melting and joining metal, while lanthorns were lanterns glazed with horn or glass. These articles show the practical range of the trades the indent supplied.

The careful grading of nails and iron by size reflects the precision with which the requisition was framed. Nails were ordered by the penny size from three-penny to twenty-penny, and iron by gauge and form, so that the goods despatched would match the specific uses the island had for them. This shows the indent drawn with exact knowledge of what the settlement's trades required, the requisition specifying not merely quantities but the particular sizes and grades that the work demanded.

53

49

April

Pewterery Ware

3 Dozen Porringers

6 Do Chamber potts

4 Do Basons large

24 Do Spoons

Fishing Tackle

Double the Quantity of Hooks & Lines Sent by the

Drake No 1 to 10 The other four Numbers usually

sent being too large

Provisions

20 Puncheons of Beef

10 hhgds of Bread

20 Casks Flower

2 Cask of Pease for the Generall Table

Starch

100 Pound

Shoes

30 pair Spanish Men

50 Do Calves Do

100 pr Womens Calvos

50 Do Spanish

100 pr boys and Girls

Stationery ware

2 Reams post paper fine

1 Do Royale

2 Do Slow

1 Gald red Ink

12 Inke Glasses

Do Penknives Good

Turnery Ware

1 Doz hair brooms

1 Do Scrubbing brushes

1 Do Shoe Do

Woolen Goods

60 Peices fine flannea

40 pr Duroys

Fustians

The indent continued.

pewterer's ware.

3 dozen porringers 6 dozen chamber pots 4 dozen large basins 24 dozen spoons

fishing tackle.

The council asked for double the quantity of hooks and lines sent by the Drake, numbers 1 to 10, the other four numbers usually sent being too large.

provisions.

20 puncheons of beef 10 hogsheads of bread 20 casks of flour 2 casks of peas for the general table

starch.

100 pounds

shoes.

30 pairs Spanish, for men 50 pairs Spanish, for calves 100 pairs wooden, for calves 50 pairs Spanish, for calves 100 pairs for boys and girls

stationery ware.

2 reams post paper, fine 1 ream royal 2 reams flow 1 gallon red ink 12 ink glasses 2 dozen penknives, good

turnery ware.

1 dozen hair brooms 1 dozen scrubbing brushes 1 dozen shoe brushes

woollen goods.

60 pieces fine flannel 40 pairs duroys

Interpretations

The provisions in the indent show the island still importing staple foods despite its own pastoral and garden produce. Beef, bread, flour and peas were requested in bulk for the general table, indicating that local supply could not meet the settlement's full needs and that basic foodstuffs were drawn from England alongside the goods of the eastern trade. This shows the dependence of even the food supply on shipped stores, the requisition of staples placed among the manufactured wares the island could not make.

The named goods would be unfamiliar to a modern reader and span several trades. Duroys were a coarse woollen cloth, and the fine flannel another woollen fabric, both ordered by the piece for clothing. Post paper and royal were grades of writing paper distinguished by size, and turnery ware the turned wooden articles such as the brooms and brushes. Spanish shoes were a quality of footwear, distinguished here from wooden shoes, the various grades ordered for men, children and the young.

The instruction on the fishing tackle records the council again correcting a recurring fault in the supply from England. It asked for double the quantity of the smaller hooks and lines and explained that the larger sizes usually sent were unsuitable. This shows the requisition shaped by the island's actual fishing needs, the council specifying the useful sizes and rejecting the unsuitable ones, the same practical adjustment seen in the order for boys' hats.

54

50

1723

Fustians

10 Peices Surfine

Timber

20 peeces of ffir Timber from 18 to 20 foot long for Girders

60 Baulks for Joice

40 Sparr

100 Rfers

1000 Yellow Deals

100 Billets

A New Crane ready framed with Ground Timber and

Planks to Wharfe it with blocks and Sheaves and all

other materials to compleat soo necessary a Worke

Gunners Stores

30 Ladles

500 Tonkyss

24 Baskitts

200 Starch

20 Muscovy lights

12 Priming wyer smale

10000 Flints

2 Doz Tarr Brushes

Do Botts

18 Demikannon

6 Whole Culverin

10. 12 Pownders

36 Demie Culverin

12 Sakers

10 Minion

36 Falkon

With foll Carriage for Do and

Two Setts of Wheels with Boxes and

Spokes for Do

5 Peices of Red Bunting

10 Do White Do

20 Do Blew Do

Garrison Stores

60 Grenadiers Coats with 60 Capps

40 Plain Do

100 Hatts large

1 Gross spare Staves long & Deeper than those sent by ye

the Drake

50 fire Armes with Bayonetts

100 Spare Scabbards for ye Bayonetts

Do Belts

ffifty

The indent continued.

fustians.

10 pieces, superfine

timber.

20 pieces of fir timber from 18 to 20 foot long, for girders 60 baulks for joists 40 spars 100 ufers 1,000 yellow deals 100 billets a new crane, ready framed with ground timber and plank, to charge it with blocks and sheaves and all other materials to complete the necessary work

gunner's stores.

30 ladles 500 tompions 24 baskets 200 starch 200 muscovy lights 12 priming wires, small 10,000 flints 2 dozen tar brushes 2 dozen butts 18 demi-cannon 6 whole culverins 10 12-pounders 36 demi-culverins 12 sakers 10 minions 36 falcons, with their carriage and two sets of wheels with boxes and spokes for them 5 pieces of red bunting 10 pieces of white bunting 20 pieces of blue bunting

garrison stores.

60 grenadiers' coats with 60 caps 40 plain coats 100 large hats 1 gross spare staves, longer and deeper than those sent by the Drake 50 firearms with bayonets 100 spare scabbards for the bayonets 100 belts

Interpretations

The requisition for cannon and carriages records the island ordering a substantial reinforcement of its artillery from England. Demi-cannon, culverins, twelve-pounders, demi-culverins, sakers, minions and falcons were ordered together with their carriages and spare wheels, a full range of calibres to arm the batteries. This shows the settlement depending on the home authority for its heavy weapons, the defence of the island resting on ordnance that could only be supplied by sea from England.

The named timber and materials would be unfamiliar to a modern reader and record the stuff of building and repair. Baulks were squared beams and deals sawn planks, ufers a kind of rough pole or rafter, and billets short lengths of wood. The new crane, ordered ready-framed with its blocks and sheaves, was the lifting gear for the landing place, the whole supplied as a kit to be assembled on the island. These materials show the settlement importing the very timber and machinery it needed to build and maintain its works.

The bunting in three colours records the supply of material for flags and signals. Red, white and blue bunting was the cloth from which ensigns and signal flags were made, ordered by the piece among the gunner's stores. This shows the island maintaining its capacity to fly colours and make signals, the flags by which it saluted, identified itself and communicated with shipping dependent on cloth shipped from England like every other store.

55

51

April

Garrison Stores continued

50 Pouches

3 Drumms with spare heads & Cords

200 pr white Stockings such as came by the Lethieull

Naval Stores

6 Coyle of 6 threed Ratling

6 Do 1 Inch rope

6 Do 2 Inch Do

6 Do 3 Inch Do

2 Grapnados wt abt 4 p ad for ye long boat

50 Bolts of Holland Duck

50 Peices of Ticking for Bedds

Purbeck Stones for ye platformes as many as the Ship

can conveniently bring

Coales

50 Chaldron

Hair Powder

200 Pound

Surgeons Indent Sent apart

A List of the Present Eaters are Vizt

The Governor and Council

3

Capt & Ensigne

2

Mr Hawks & Mr Coulthred

2

Mr Carlile

1

Usualey one or two Planters with their Wives some

times more sometimes fewer but one time with

another at least

2

In Shipping time the Commr and Cheif Supra Cargos

almost Constantly the other Gentlemen and Officers

and Passengers ifs of note at least

5

Richd Tinsby Marshale & household Servt

7

On Sundays and Publick Days Clerke School

master and Drummer when at the Plantation

the two Overseers at Prsnt

4

Musick

1

Black Servt attending all Offices

14

In Shipping time the Coxswaine and some of the

Boats crew and Servt attending their Masters

5

The Montrose and Gunners Mate on Duty

2

On all Publick Occasions Uncertaine

Tot

38

A List

Margin Notes:

List of Eaters at ye

Genl Table

Allowances to

them

Garrison stores continued.

50 pouches 3 drums with spare heads and cords 200 pairs white stockings, such as came by the Leithulier

naval stores.

6 coils of 6-thread ratline 6 coils of 1½-inch rope 6 coils of 2-inch rope 6 coils of 2½-inch rope 2 grapnels weighing about 1 hundredweight each, for the long boat 50 bolts of Holland duck 50 pieces of ticking for beds

purbeck stones for platforms, as many as the ship can conveniently bring.

coals.

50 chaldron

hair powder.

200 pounds

A surgeon's indent was sent separately.

A list of the present eaters at the general table.

the Governor and council, 3 captain and ensign, 2 Mr Hawkes and Mr Coulthread, 2 Mr Carlile, 1 usually one or two planters with their wives, sometimes more, sometimes fewer, but one at least, 2 in shipping time the commanders and chief supercargoes almost constantly, the other gentlemen and officers and passengers if of note, at least 5 Richard Tinsley, marshal, and household slaves, 7 on Sundays and public days the clerk, schoolmaster and drummer, with the two overseers when at the plantation, at least 4 music, 1 black slaves attending all offices, 14 in shipping time the coxswain and some of the boat's crew and slaves attending their masters, 5 the Montrose and gunner's mate on duty, 2 on all public occasions, uncertain

Total, 38

Interpretations

The named naval stores would be unfamiliar to a modern reader and record the cordage and materials of a working harbour. Ratline was the light line used for the rungs of rigging, and the coils of rope ordered by thickness supplied the island's boats and lifting gear. Holland duck was a strong linen canvas for sails and coverings, ticking the stout cloth for bedding, and grapnels the small anchors for the long boat. These goods show the settlement maintaining its boats and waterside works with materials drawn from England.

The request for purbeck stone for platforms records the import of building stone for the gun batteries. Purbeck stone was a hard limestone from the English coast, ordered here as ballast-borne cargo for the platforms on which the cannon stood, as many as each ship could conveniently carry. This shows the island drawing even durable stone from England for its defensive works, the heavy material brought out gradually as shipping space allowed.

The list of eaters at the general table reveals the social structure of the settlement gathered at the Company's board. The fixed places of the governor, council and officers were joined by planters and their wives, and in shipping time by the commanders and supercargoes of the visiting ships. The large number of slaves attending the offices, fourteen in the standing count, shows the enslaved labour on which the running of the table and the offices depended. This records the table as the centre of the settlement's official and social life, its composition shifting with the arrival of the ships.

56

52

1723

A List of the honoble Companys Blacks their Names

Ages Employments and Qualitys at the severall Plantatns

&ca Taken March ye 26th 1723

Ages Employmt Qualifications

Joshua 22 Plantationwork Good

Robin 27 Do Good

Henny 32 Do Do Vses to Worke but troubles sone to be sent

Dick price 27 Do Good & to the next Ship

Peter 30 Do Do

Jack Cooke 34 Do Do

Charles 30 Do Do

Caesar 20 Do Do

Benjamnie 20 Do Do

Mackett 27 Do Do

Esau 18 Do Indifferent

Favonius 18 Do Good

Drake 37 Do Do

Franke 29 Do Do

Harry 16 Do Indifferent

Emanuel 32 Do Do

Lewis 26 Do Sickley

Hanibal 32 Do Good

Merriman 32 Do Do

Sawney 20 Do very badd

Harry 31 Do Tanner very good

Taffey 24 Do Good

Jack 28 Do Butcher very good

Sam 20 Do Do

Pompey 27 Do very Sickly

Ben 29 Do Gardiner Good

Scipio 27 Do Indifferent

Saul 32 Do Good for nothing

George 18 Do Indifferent

Peter 17 Do Indifferent

Limehouse 20 Do Do

Fondy 20 Do Do

Dick 20 Do Do

Mercury 26 Do Good

Cato 24 Do Do

Saul 32 Do Do

Brackett 32 looke after Do

Lacris 32 ye Water trunches Do

Men Slaves at Plantatn House

A list of the Company's slaves, with their names, ages, employments and qualities at the several plantations, taken 26 March 1723.

1 Joshua, 22, plantation work, good 2 Robin, 27, plantation work, good 3 Henny, 32, plantation work, able to work but troublesome, sometime to be restrained 4 Dick Price, 27, plantation work, good, to go by the next ship 5 Peter, 30, plantation work, good 6 Jack Cooke, 34, plantation work, good 7 Charles, 30, plantation work, good 8 Caesar, 20, plantation work, good 9 Benjamin, 20, plantation work, good 10 Mackett, 27, plantation work, good 11 Esau, 18, plantation work, indifferent 12 Favonius, 18, plantation work, good 13 Drake, 37, plantation work, good 14 Frank, 29, plantation work, good 15 Harry, 16, plantation work, indifferent 16 Emanuel, 32, plantation work, good 17 Lewis, 26, plantation work, sickly 18 Hanibal, 32, plantation work, good 19 Merriman, 32, plantation work, very bad 20 Sawney, 20, plantation work, very bad 21 Harry, 31, work at the tanyard, very good 22 Taffey, 24, work at the tanyard, good 23 Jack, 28, work at the tanyard as butcher, very good 24 Sam, 28, work at the tanyard, very good 25 Pompey, 27, work at the tanyard, very sickly 26 Ben, 29, work at the tanyard as gardener, good 27 Scipio, 27, plantation work, indifferent 28 Saul, 32, plantation work, good for nothing 29 George, 18, plantation work, good for nothing 30 Peter, 17, plantation work, indifferent 31 Limehouse, 20, plantation work, good 32 Fondy, 20, plantation work, good 33 Dick, 20, plantation work, good 34 Mercury, 26, plantation work, good 35 Cato, 24, plantation work, good 36 Saul, 32, plantation work, good 37 Brackett, 32, look after the water trunks, good 38 Lacre, 32, look after the water trunks, good

38 men slaves at the plantation house.

Interpretations

The slave list records the Company's enslaved workforce assessed by age, task and value as labour. Each man is entered with his employment and a judgement of his quality, from very good to good for nothing, the assessment serving to measure the usefulness of each as a labourer. This shows enslaved people catalogued as a managed body of workers, their worth to the Company reckoned and recorded in the same register that fixed their numbers and tasks.

The note against Dick Price that he was to go by the next ship records the transfer of an enslaved man between the Company's settlements. Marked good and designated for shipment, he was to be sent on like any other asset, the entry showing how enslaved people were moved through the Company's network as labour was needed elsewhere. This places the individual within the wider traffic by which the Company redistributed its enslaved workers between its stations.

The division of the men between plantation work and the tanyard shows the enslaved labour organised by the settlement's industries. Most were set to general plantation work, while a group was assigned to the tanyard, one of them serving as butcher and another as gardener. This shows the Company's slaves allocated according to the trades the island carried on, the workforce distributed among cultivation, leather-dressing and other tasks as the settlement's economy required.

57

53

April

Names Ages Employments Qualifications

Katharine 27 Plantation Ho Sickly

Susannah 32 Do Good

Abigal 26 Do very badd

Hellen 24 Do very good

Bridgett 26 Do Do

Magdelena 24 Do Indifferent

Sarah 24 Do Good

Mary 17 Do Good

Agnesse 20 Do Good for nothing

Patt 14 Do very badd much poxed

Greatsarah 32 Do very badd much poxed

Grace 24 Do Good

Priscilla 22 Do Do

Rebecca 22 Do Poxed

Margarett 22 Do Sickly

Old Mary 47 Do Washer woman Good

Mary her daugr 24 Do Do

Margarett 24 Do Do

Mary Gruer 34 Do Do

Sarah 24 Do Helper Indifferent

Saba 32 belongs to ye dairy Good

Sarah 18 Do Indifferent

Grace 27 Looks after ye Poultry Do

Sarah 18 Do Good for little

Betty Myers 27 Do Indifferent

Betty Robm 28 Do Good for little

Betty Timms 27 Do very Indifferent

Nanny 24 Do Indifferent

Women Slaves at Plantation House

Couey 34 At Perkins very Sick

Hector 27 Do Good

Ilington 26 Do Do

Peters 32 Do Do

Tha 25 Do Do

Foney 22 Do Indifferent

Saul 22 Do Lame

Men slaves at Perkins

Sarah 27 At Perkins Good

Helen 24 Do Poxed

Women Slaves at Perkins

John Figura

The list continued with the women slaves at the plantation house.

1 Katharine, 27, plantation work, sickly 2 Susannah, 32, plantation work, good 3 Abigail, 26, plantation work, very bad 4 Hellen, 24, plantation work, very good 5 Bridget, 26, plantation work, good 6 Magdelena, 24, plantation work, indifferent 7 Sarah, 24, plantation work, good 8 Mary, 17, plantation work, good 9 Agnes, 20, plantation work, good for nothing 10 Patt, 14, plantation work, very bad, much poxed 11 Great Sarah, 32, plantation work, good 12 Grace, 24, plantation work, good 13 Priscilla, 22, plantation work, poxed 14 Rebecca, 22, plantation work, sickly 15 Margaret, 22, plantation work, sickly 16 Old Mary, 47, washerwoman, good 17 Mary her daughter, 24, washerwoman, good 18 Margaret, 24, washerwoman, good 19 Mary Gruer, 34, washerwoman, good 20 Sarah, 24, dairy helper, indifferent 21 Saba, 32, looks after the dairy, good 22 Sarah, 18, dairy helper, indifferent 23 Grace, 27, looks after the poultry, good 24 Sarah, 18, looks after the poultry, good for little 25 Betty Myers, 27, plantation work, indifferent 26 Betty Robin, 28, plantation work, good for little 27 Betty Simms, 27, plantation work, very indifferent 28 Nanny, 24, plantation work, indifferent

28 women slaves at the plantation house.

The list continued with the men slaves at Perkins's.

1 Coney, 34, at Perkins's, very sick 2 Hector, 27, at Perkins's, good 3 Islington, 26, at Perkins's, good 4 Peters, 32, at Perkins's, good 5 Tom, 25, at Perkins's, good 6 Toney, 22, at Perkins's, indifferent 7 Saul, 22, at Perkins's, lame

7 men slaves at Perkins's.

The list continued with the women slaves at Perkins's.

1 Sarah, 27, at Perkins's, good 2 Helen, 24, at Perkins's, poxed

2 women slaves at Perkins's.

Interpretations

The list of women slaves records their assessment by age, task and value in the same manner as the men. Each woman is entered with her work and a judgement of her quality, the enslaved women catalogued as labour alongside the enslaved men. This shows the Company reckoning the worth of its entire enslaved workforce, the women's usefulness measured and recorded in the register of the settlement's human property.

The notes of disease against several of the women record the toll of illness on the enslaved population. Three women are marked as poxed and others as sickly or very sick, the affliction noted as it bore on their value as labour. This shows the conditions under which the enslaved lived registered in the cold terms of their usefulness, the sickness that ran through them recorded as a reduction in their worth rather than as a matter of their welfare.

The allocation of the women to washing, dairy and poultry work shows the enslaved labour organised by the tasks of the household and farm. A group served as washerwomen, others tended the dairy and the poultry, while most were set to general plantation work. This shows the Company's enslaved women distributed among the domestic and agricultural duties of the settlement, their assignment reflecting the range of work by which the plantations and the household were maintained.

58

54

1723

Names Ages Employments Qualifications

John Figura 32 Att the Hutts Indifferent

Horsham 27 Do Pretty good

Caesar (Edenfd) 21 Do Sickly

Sam 18 Do Good

Harry 20 Do Indifferent

Will Bonjar 22 Do Sickly

Belvards Jack 24 Do very Sickly

Men Slaves at the Hutts

Ding 22 Att the Hutts Good for little

Alice 22 Do Indifferent

Ring the Bele 34 Do Good for nothing

Women Slaves at the Hutts

Augustine 32 At the Peake Good

Sultan 20 Do Good

Joseph 18 Do Good

Titus 20 Do Good

Men Slaves at the Peake

Jenny 22 At the Peake Good

Woman Slaves at the Peake

Ned 28 Fortifications Stone Layr Good but very Sickly

Jack 27 Do Carpenter Good

Danl 20 Do Indifferent

Alley 32 Do Smith Good but Sickly

Dublin 20 Do Indifferent

Dick 29 Do Stone Layr & cutter Indifferent

Stephen 32 Do Stone Layer Good

Simon 20 Do Do

Cremona 27 Do Good but Sickly

Crockwole 26 Do Labourer Indifferent

Aballa 28 Do Sickly

Ponyey 27 Do Indifferent

Jupiter 30 Do Indifferent

Harry 24 Do Good

Chatam 22 Do badd

Moss 25 Do Sickly

Tower hile 23 Do Sickly

Jack Pyrate 24 Do Do

Plato 27 Do Good

James 21 Do Sickly

Mutar 23 Do Indifferent

James 22 Do Do

Joseph 23 Do Do

Will 22 Do

Davis

The list continued with the men slaves at the Hutts.

1 John Figura, 32, at the Hutts, indifferent 2 Horsham, 27, at the Hutts, pretty good 3 Caesar the second, 21, at the Hutts, sickly 4 Sam, 18, at the Hutts, good 5 Harry, 26, at the Hutts, indifferent 6 Will Benjar, 22, at the Hutts, sickly 7 Edward's Jack, 24, at the Hutts, very sickly

7 men slaves at the Hutts.

The list continued with the women slaves at the Hutts.

1 Ding, 22, at the Hutts, good for little 2 Alice, 22, at the Hutts, indifferent 3 Ring the Bell, 34, at the Hutts, good for nothing

3 women slaves at the Hutts.

The list continued with the men slaves at the Peak.

1 Augustine, 32, at the Peak, good 2 Sultan, 20, at the Peak, good 3 Joseph, 18, at the Peak, good 4 Titus, 20, at the Peak, good

4 men slaves at the Peak.

The list continued with the women slaves at the Peak.

1 Jenny, 22, at the Peak, good

1 woman slave at the Peak.

The list continued with the slaves at the fortifications.

1 Ned, 28, fortification work, stone layer, good but very sickly 2 Jack, 27, fortification work, carpenter, good 3 Saul, 20, fortification work, carpenter, indifferent 4 Alley, 32, fortification work, smith, good but sickly 5 Dublin, 29, fortification work, stone layer and cutter, indifferent 6 Dick, 29, fortification work, stone layer and cutter, indifferent 7 Stephen, 32, fortification work, stone layer, good 8 Simon, 20, fortification work, good but sickly 9 Cremona, 27, fortification work, good but sickly 10 Crookhole, 26, fortification work, labourer, indifferent 11 Aballa, 28, fortification work, sickly 12 Pompey, 27, fortification work, indifferent 13 Jupiter, 30, fortification work, indifferent 14 Harry, 24, fortification work, good 15 Chatam, 22, fortification work, bad 16 Moss, 25, fortification work, sickly 17 Tower Hill, 23, fortification work, sickly 18 Jack Pyrate, 24, fortification work, good 19 Plato, 27, fortification work, sickly 20 James, 21, fortification work, indifferent 21 Mutar, 23, fortification work, indifferent 22 James, 22, fortification work, indifferent 23 Joseph, 28, fortification work, indifferent 24 Will, 22, fortification work, indifferent

Interpretations

The distribution of the slaves among the Hutts, the Peak and the fortifications shows the enslaved workforce spread across the settlement's outlying stations and works. Each location held its own complement of men and women, the slaves assigned where the Company's labour was needed. This shows the enslaved population organised by place as well as by task, the register fixing how many were held at each of the settlement's establishments.

The fortification slaves are recorded by trade as well as by quality, marking the skilled labour among them. Stone layers, cutters, carpenters and a smith are noted alongside the labourers, the enslaved men who built and maintained the island's defences identified by their crafts. This shows the fortifications raised in large part by enslaved skilled workers, the Company holding among its slaves the trades on which its building works depended.

The frequent notes of sickness through the fortification gang record the heavy toll of that labour on the men set to it. Many are marked sickly or good but sickly, the proportion of ill men notably high among those working on the defences. This shows the demanding conditions of the fortification work registered in the men's failing health, the assessment of their value reflecting how the labour wore upon those compelled to it.

59

55

April

Names Ages Employments Qualifications

Davis 28 Fortificatn Laborr Indifferent

Lewis 24 Do Sickly

Jombo 32 Do Good but Sickly

Will 25 Do Good

Dutch 22 Do Indifferent

Adam 22 Do Sickly

Jerry 34 Do Do

Noah 25 Do Indifferent

Fortmaid 35 Do Sickly

Leo 28 Do Sickly

Blackwale 32 Do Sawyer good

Jacob 42 Taylors Good

Booton 34 Do Do

Caleb 18 Doctors boy Do

Men Slaves at the Fortifications

Old Mary 47 Fortificatn Widdings Good

Marey Jacks Wife 24 makes ye Cloths Indifferent

Bese 26 Do Do

Morey Bens Wife 24 Do Do

Caesar Beis Wife 21 Do very much poxed and

good for nothing

Women Slaves at the Fortificatn

Clois 25 Long Boats crew Sickly

Dick 24 Do Do

Cupido 27 Do Poxed

Jemmy 28 Do Indifferent

Diamond 24 Do Sickly

Blackheath 25 Do Do

Marcus 24 Do Do

Pompey 12 Do Good

James Sickly 28 Do Sickly

Men Slaves belong to ye Long Boat

Barrow 36 ffishing Boats Crew Indifferent

Corrydon 28 Do good

Tom 28 Do Indifferent

Joseph 32 Do Good

Martin 24 Do Good

Saul 26 Do Indifferent

Mordica 52 Do Good

Franke 32 Do Do

Leander 22 Do Indifferent

Portreus Jack 24 Do Do

The list of fortification slaves continued.

25 Davis, 28, fortification labourer, indifferent 26 Lewis, 24, fortification labourer, sickly 27 Tombo, 32, fortification labourer, good but sickly 28 Will, 25, fortification labourer, good 29 Dutch, 22, fortification labourer, indifferent 30 Adam, 22, fortification labourer, sickly 31 Jerry, 34, fortification labourer, sickly 32 Noah, 25, fortification labourer, indifferent 33 Portmaid, 35, fortification labourer, sickly 34 Leo, 28, fortification labourer, sickly 35 Blackwall, 32, sawyer, good 36 Jacob, 42, tailor, good 37 Booton, 34, tailor, good 38 Caleb, 18, doctor's boy, good

38 men slaves at the fortifications.

The list continued with the women slaves at the fortifications.

1 Old Mary, 47, fortification widow's work, good 2 Mary James's wife, 24, makes the slaves' clothes, indifferent 3 Bess, 26, makes the slaves' clothes, indifferent 4 Mercy Ben's wife, 24, makes the slaves' clothes, good 5 Caesar Chris's wife, 21, makes the slaves' clothes, very much poxed and good for nothing

5 women slaves at the fortifications.

The list continued with the men slaves belonging to the long boat.

1 Cloise, 25, long boat's crew, sickly 2 Dick, 24, long boat's crew, good 3 Cupid, 27, long boat's crew, poxed 4 Jemmy, 23, long boat's crew, indifferent 5 Diamond, 24, long boat's crew, sickly 6 Blackheath, 25, long boat's crew, sickly 7 Marcus, 24, long boat's crew, good 8 Pompey, 12, long boat's crew, good 9 James, 24, long boat's crew, sickly

9 men slaves belonging to the long boat.

The list continued with the men slaves belonging to the fishing boat.

1 Barrow, 36, fishing boat's crew, indifferent 2 Corydon, 28, fishing boat's crew, good 3 Tom, 22, fishing boat's crew, indifferent 4 Joseph, 32, fishing boat's crew, good 5 Martin, 24, fishing boat's crew, good 6 Saul, 26, fishing boat's crew, indifferent 7 Mordica, 52, fishing boat's crew, good 8 Frank, 32, fishing boat's crew, good 9 Leander, 22, fishing boat's crew, indifferent 10 Porteous Jack, 24, fishing boat's crew, indifferent

Interpretations

The assignment of slaves to the long boat and fishing boat shows the enslaved labour manning the settlement's vessels. Each boat had its own crew of enslaved men, the long boat for general carriage and the fishing boat for catching food, the workers listed by name and quality like those ashore. This shows the island's small craft worked by enslaved crews, the Company's slaves serving on the water as well as on the land.

The women set to making the slaves' clothes record the enslaved labour that supplied the workforce itself. A group of women at the fortifications was employed in clothing the other slaves, their work sustaining the very body of labour to which they belonged. This shows the settlement's enslaved population partly self-supplying, the cloth and garments of the workers made by women drawn from among them.

The wide spread of ages, from a boy of twelve on the long boat to men in their fifties on the fishing boat, shows the Company drawing labour from the whole range of its enslaved people. The very young and the older were set to work alongside those in their prime, the assessment of each made without regard to age. This records the comprehensive use of the enslaved population as labour, every person of working capacity assigned a task and a value in the register.

60

56

1723

Names Ages Employments Qualifications

Mingo 37 Lime Kilns very badd

Simon 27 Do Bursten

Clorie 25 Do Sickly

Blake 22 Do Poxed

Men Slaves at the Lime Kilns

Benjamin 42 In the Garden Good

Harry 24 Do Indifferent

Monroe 26 Do Do

Tom 24 Do Lame

Anthony 42 Do Sickly

Men Slaves In the Garden

Cesar 28 House Servt Good

Cesar 24 Do Indifferent

Navarro 51 Do Good

Tony Myers 38 Do Cooke Indifferent

Ballo 26 Do Good

Tonsey 24 Candle maker Do

Mercury 25 Looks after ye dishclough Indifferent

Men Slaves Brot in the house

Pilm 31 house Servt Good Workswoman but

very Sick for ye Mo past

Sarah 22 Do

Betty 20 Do Good

Cain 21 Do Indifferent

Women Slaves Brot In the house

Old Wile

Sampson

Tony Price

Francha

Olron

Anthony

Paupo

Ballo

Muta

Sarah

Cosmire

Mercy

Welch

Dinah

Men Slaves &

Women Slaves Superannuated

Boys

Harry

Jack

Jack

Robin

Tim

Gabriel

Girles

Betty

Mercy

Betty

Betty

Margarett

Mary

The list continued with the men slaves at the lime kilns.

1 Mingo, 37, lime kilns, very bad 2 Simon, 27, lime kilns, bursten 3 Cloice, 25, lime kilns, sickly 4 Blake, 22, lime kilns, poxed

4 men slaves at the lime kilns.

The list continued with the men slaves in the garden.

1 Benjamin, 42, in the garden, good 2 Harry, 24, in the garden, indifferent 3 Monroe, 26, in the garden, indifferent 4 Tom, 24, in the garden, lame 5 Anthony, 42, in the garden, sickly

5 men slaves in the garden.

The list continued with the men slaves about the house.

1 Caesar, 28, house slave, good 2 Caesar, 24, house slave, indifferent 3 Navarro, 51, house slave, good 4 Tony Myers, 38, house slave and cook, indifferent 5 Ballo, 26, house slave, good 6 Tonsey, 24, candle maker, good 7 Mercury, 25, looks after the shipping, indifferent

7 men slaves about the house.

The list continued with the women slaves about the house.

1 Ellin, 31, house slave, a good worker but very sick for some time past 2 Sarah, 22, house slave, indifferent 3 Betty, 20, house slave, indifferent 4 Cain, 21, house slave, indifferent

4 women slaves about the house.

The list continued with the superannuated slaves.

men slaves: 1 Old Will 2 Sampson 3 Tony Price 4 Francisca 5 Olron 6 Anthony 7 Pampo 8 Ballo

women slaves: 1 Muta 2 Sarah 3 Cosmore 4 Mercy 5 Welch 6 Dinah

8 men slaves and 6 women slaves superannuated.

The list continued with the boys and girls.

boys: 1 Harry 2 Jack 3 Jack 4 Robin 5 Jim 6 Gabriel

girls: 1 Betty 2 Mercy 3 Betty 4 Betty 5 Margaret 6 Mary

Interpretations

The category of superannuated slaves records the Company's treatment of the enslaved who could no longer work. Eight men and six women were listed as past labour, set apart from the productive workforce yet still held and maintained by the Company. This shows the enslaved kept as property through to the end of their working lives, the aged retained on the register even when their value as labour had gone.

The note against Mercury that he looked after the shipping records a slave assigned to the work of the harbour and the visiting vessels. While most house slaves served the household, this man was set to attend the shipping, his task tied to the constant arrival and departure of the ships. This shows the enslaved labour reaching into the maritime business of the settlement, the care of the shipping numbered among the duties to which the Company's slaves were put.

The listing of the children at the end shows the enslaved population recorded across every generation. The boys and girls were entered after the adults and the superannuated, the youngest members of the enslaved community counted in the register though not yet set to assessed work. This shows the Company accounting for the whole body of its enslaved people, the children noted as the rising generation of a workforce held and reckoned from birth.

61

57

April

Boys Girles

Tony

Stephen

Jack

Tom

John

Jack

Phill

Toby

Neptune

Margarett

Margarett

Hannah

Sarah

Mercy

Eston

Magdelona

Mary

Betty

Patt with Mrs Tovey

Megg

Margt

Betty

34 Children from

One Month to

Seven Years old

Boys Girls

Ages

Will 10

Sam 9

Sam 8

Dick 6

Harry 11

Boys Total Girles Totale

Totall Men

At Plantatn Ho 28

Perkins 5

Hatts 7

Peake 4

Fortificatn 33

Long Boat 9

ffishing Boats 10

Lime Kilns 4

Garden 5

House Blacks 7

Superannuated 8

Total Women

Do 28

Do 2

Do 3

Do 1

Do 5

In the house 4

Superannuated 6

Tot 49

Tot 187

Thus farr hath been Copyed & sent

to England p Ship Devonshire Capt

Prince Comand/

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

The list of children continued.

boys: 7 Tony 8 Stephen 9 Jack 10 Tom 11 John 12 Jack 13 Phil 14 Toby 15 Neptune

girls: 7 Margaret 8 Margaret 9 Hannah 10 Sarah 11 Mercy 12 Ellen 13 Magdelena 14 Mary 15 Betty 16 Patt, with Mrs Tovey 17 Megg 18 Mary 19 Betty

15 boys and 19 girls, being 34 children from one month to seven years old.

The list continued with the boys above seven years old, with their ages.

1 Will, 12 2 Sam, 9 3 Sam, 8 4 Dick, 8 5 Harry, 11

20 boys in total and 19 girls in total.

A summary of the whole gave the total men and total women at each station.

at plantation house, 38 men and 28 women Perkins's, 7 men and 2 women the Hutts, 7 men and 3 women the Peak, 4 men and 1 woman fortifications, 33 men and 5 women long boat, 9 men, women in the house 4 fishing boats, 10 men, superannuated women 6 lime kilns, 4 men garden, 5 men house slaves, 7 men superannuated men, 8

Total women, 49

The whole account, so far given, came to 187, and had been copied and sent to England by the ship Devonshire under Captain Prince.

The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The census closes with a full summary of the enslaved population by station and sex, returning the totals to the directors in England. The men and women were counted at each establishment and the whole brought to a single figure, the complete reckoning of the Company's human property despatched home by the Devonshire. This shows the settlement accountable to its proprietors for the enslaved people it held, the annual return of their numbers sent across the sea like any other account of the Company's stock.

The grouping of the youngest children by age band from one month to seven years shows the enslaved counted from the earliest infancy. Thirty-four children of that range were entered together, the very youngest of the Company's slaves recorded though far from any labour. This shows the comprehensiveness of the register, which fixed the numbers of the enslaved community from birth so that the proprietors held a complete tally of the people in their possession.

The separate listing of older boys with their exact ages marks the point at which enslaved children approached assignable work. The boys above seven were entered with their years, distinguished from the infants, as they neared the age at which they would be set to tasks and assessed for value. This shows the register tracking the enslaved children towards their entry into the workforce, the transition from counted dependant to working labour anticipated in the way they were recorded.

62

58

1723

Island of St Helena

At a Consultation held on Wednesday the

24th Day of April 1723 At Union Castle in James Valley

Edwd Byfeld Esq Govr

Present Jno Alexander 2d &

Jno Goodwin 3d

The last Consultation read and approved of

Wee thinking it very proper that all Commanders

have notice given them at their Arrivall here to heave

their Ships nearer in to the Shore to prevent a Surprize

and to be in a better ready

nesse on all Alarmes Sent the foll Letter to Capt Prince

Sr

According to our honoble Masters

Instructions to us Wee order and desire you would upon

all and every Alarme during your Stay here send out

your Stream Cable or a very good hawsser with a Small

Anchor near the Shore and to heave in by it as nearly

West Rocks as will be safe for you to ride which you

wile know by the soundings the Intent of this is that

noe Pyrate or any other Ships may come a head of you

and cutt you out of the road Wee think the utmost

Caution ought to be used for the Security of Our

honoble Masters Estate on board you and if you

want any Assistance herein Wee Shale be ready to

serve you

Wee are Sr

Union Castle James

Valloy April 18th

1723

Yor humd Servts

Edwd Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

On Satterday last arrived the Discovery Capt James

Chambre Commr from Bengall but last from the

Cape Do

A Sloop called the Newport from the Island of Princesse

on the Coast of Guinea having on board one William

Charles

Margin Notes:

All Commandrs to

have Notice to heave

their Ships Nearer in

to ye Shore

Lettr Sent to Capt

Prince

Des Bouerie &

Sloop Newport

Arrivalls

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Wednesday 24 April 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander, second of the council, and John Goodwin, third.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

The council thought it very proper that all commanders have notice on their arrival to heave their ships nearer the shore, to prevent a surprise and to be in better readiness on all alarms. It therefore sent the following letter to Captain Prince.

Following the masters' instructions, the council ordered and asked that, on every alarm during his stay, Prince send out his stream cable or a very good hawser with a small anchor near the shore, and heave in by it as near the west rocks as was safe for him to ride, which he would judge by the soundings. The purpose was that no pirate or other ship might come ahead of him and cut him out of the road. The council thought the utmost caution should be used for the security of the masters' property aboard his ship, and offered any assistance he might need. The letter was dated Union Castle, James Valley, 24 April 1723, and signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

On Saturday last the Discovery, under Captain James Chambers, arrived from Bengal, last from the Cape.

A sloop called the Newport, from the island of Princes on the coast of Guinea, arrived, having aboard one William Charles.

Interpretations

The instruction to Captain Prince repeats the standing measure for securing a ship in the road against surprise. As with Captain Small earlier, the council directed the commander to anchor close under the west rocks on any alarm, so that no hostile vessel could come between his ship and the shore. This shows the council applying a settled procedure to each newly arrived ship, the defence of the anchorage resting on bringing the vessels close in where the island's coast could protect them.

The explicit naming of pirates as the danger reveals the threat that shaped the council's caution. The fear was that a pirate or other ship might cut a vessel out of the road, a real risk to shipping at a remote anchorage, and the council framed its instruction around preventing exactly that. This shows the security of the road understood in terms of a specific menace, the precautions designed against the seizure of a ship by force.

The arrival of a sloop from the coast of Guinea marks a rare contact with the West African trade distinct from the eastern commerce that filled the island's records. The vessel came from an island off the Guinea coast, a region of the Atlantic slave trade, bringing a named passenger to St Helena. This shows the settlement occasionally touched by shipping from beyond the Company's usual eastern routes, the wider currents of Atlantic traffic reaching the island from time to time.

63

59

April

Charles who formerly lived here Passenger who came

to receive Some Effects here belonging to him, They

being in great necessity for Water Wee gave him leave

to come into the road for the watering of his vessels

On Sunday following arrived the Eagle

Brigantine from the Cape where the haveing been denyd

Water putt in here and desired A Supply The Capt

producing a Mediteranean Pass woe consented to lett

him come into the road for the watering of his vessell

Upon the Alarme given for ye Last mentioned

Vessell Wee Sent the following Letter to Capt James

Chambrie

Sr

According to our honoble Masters

Instructions to us Wee order and desire you would Send

out your Stream Cable or a very good hawser with a

Small Anchor near the Shore and to heave in by it

towards the West Rocks as near as the Safety of you

rideing wile permitt which you wile know by the

soundings the Intent of this is that noe Pyrates nor

any other Ship may come on head of you and cutt

you out there being a Ship comeing into the road

Wee think the utmost caution ought to be used for

the Sequrity of our honoble Masters Estate on board

you and if you want any Assistance wee Shale be

proud to Serve you

Wee are Sr

St Helena

April 21th

1723

Yor humd Servt

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Wee have received by the Des Bouerie the foll

Invoice

Battavia Arack

4 half Legrs qt 296 Gald ad 72. 8 p Legr is

Rs s qr

14

Shirts & Stockings

1 Bale Shirts qt 150 at p 100

89. 3

Stockings 100 pr p Corge 12

60

294. 3

Margin Notes:

one Wm Charles

Passenger

Eagle Brigantine

Arrive from ye Cape

Allowd to Water

Lettr to Capt Chambrie

to heave in nearr

to ye Shore

Goods recd p Ship

Des Bouerie/

William Charles had formerly lived on the island as a passenger and came to recover some effects belonging to him there. Being in great need of water, the council gave him leave to come into the road to water his vessel.

On the Sunday following, the Eagle Brigantine arrived from the Cape. Having been denied water there, she put in and asked for a supply. The captain produced a Mediterranean pass, and the council consented to let him come into the road to water his vessel.

On the alarm given for the ships named above, the council sent the following letter to Captain James Chambers.

Following the masters' instructions, the council ordered and asked that Chambers send out his stream cable or a very good hawser with a small anchor near the shore, and heave in by it as near the west rocks as the safety of his riding would permit, which he would judge by the soundings. The purpose was that no pirate or other ship might come ahead of him and cut him out, a ship then coming into the road. The council thought the utmost caution should be used for the security of the masters' property aboard his ship, and offered any assistance he might need. The letter was dated St Helena, 24 April 1723, and signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The council received the following invoice by the Discovery.

Batavia arrack.

4 half-leaguers, 296 gallons at 72 per leaguer, 195 pagodas [...]

shirts and stockings.

1 bale of shirts, 150, at 59 pagodas per 100, 89 pagodas stockings, 100 pairs, at 12 per pair, 60 pagodas

Interpretations

The Mediterranean pass produced by the Eagle Brigantine records the document that established a ship's protected status. Such a pass was issued to guard a vessel against the corsairs of the Barbary coast, and by producing it the captain showed his ship to be a recognised and lawful trader. The council's willingness to admit her to water on this proof shows the pass serving as a credential of good standing, the means by which a strange ship demonstrated its legitimacy before being received.

The repeated admission of vessels denied water at the Cape shows St Helena serving as a relief station for ships turned away elsewhere. Both William Charles's vessel and the Eagle Brigantine sought water the Cape had refused or could not give, and the council granted it in each case. This shows the island functioning as a place of resort for shipping in want of the basic necessity of water, its springs available even to vessels outside the Company's own service.

The letter to Chambers again applies the standing precaution against a ship being cut out of the road. As with the earlier commanders, the council directed him to anchor close under the west rocks on the alarm, the security of the anchorage resting on bringing each vessel inshore. This shows the measure now applied as settled routine to every ship present during an alarm, the defence of the road maintained through a consistent instruction to all commanders alike.

64

60

1723

Brot over

Rs s qr

294. 3

Fine Rice

35 baggs fine rice 70 Maunds Bezt wt 51. 8 ad 1 30 p MRupee

Baty 10 p Ct

4

Sugar Trasinda

10 Baggs Trasinda Sugar 21 Mr Bezt wt 14. 2. 18 ad 8. 12 p Bag

87. 8

Charges Merchandize

49. 11. 6

Rupees

475. 8. 9

Upon which wee Sent the following Letter to Capt Chambrie

for the delivery of the said Goods

Sr

You are hereby desired to Send on Shoar as

soon as possible you can the severall Goods and Merchan

dizes you have now on board your Ship for the use of this

Island and if you want any Assistance wee are ready

to Supply you

St Helena 22d

April 1723

Wee are Yor Servt

Edwd Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Capt Goodwin reports he has recd the sd Goods in the

Invoice Specifyed in good Order which Wee order to

be Sold at the Prices foll

Arrack cost 72 p rupee p Legr to be sold for p Gald

6. 4

Shirts 59. 5. 6 p 100

p Shirt 2. 6

Stockings 12 p Corge

p pr 2. 6

Rice 1 p Md p sd Do

p lb 3

Sugar 8. 12 p Bagg

p lb 6

Wee have bot the following Goods of ye foll Persons

From Capt Prince

5000 of Rice at 12/ p 100

From Capt Chambrie

1000 of Rice at 12/ p 100

Two Puncheons of Porke at p ad

The Governor reports that last Week Short Mary

value delivered of a Boy named Ned & Patt of a Girle

named Mary both belonging to the Plantation

house

The

Margin Notes:

Lettr for delivery

of said Goods

Report of their

being recd

Prices Sold at

Goods bought

out of Shipping

2 Black Child

borne

The invoice continued.

Brought over, 344 pagodas [...]

fine rice.

35 bags of fine rice, 70 maunds Bengal weight, cost 51 pagodas 7 fanams 8 cash, at 1 pagoda 30 per Madras rupee, Bengal weight 10 per candy sugar, Tirinde, 4 pagodas

sugar, Tirinde.

10 bags of Tirinde sugar, 21 maunds Bengal weight, 14 maunds 2 quarters 18 at 8 maunds 12 per bag, 87 pagodas 8 fanams

charges of merchandise, 49 pagodas 11 fanams 6 cash

Total, 475 pagodas 8 fanams 9 cash

The council sent the following letter to Captain Chambers for the delivery of the goods.

The council asked him to send ashore as soon as possible the goods and merchandise he had aboard his ship for the use of the island, and offered any assistance he might need. The letter was dated St Helena, 24 April 1723, and signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Captain Goodwin reported that he had received the goods in good order, agreeing with the invoice, and the council ordered them sold at the following prices.

arrack, cost 72 per leaguer, at 1 rupee per leaguer, to be sold for 6s 4d per gallon shirts, cost 59 pagodas per 100, to be sold for 2s 6d per shirt stockings, cost 12 per pair, to be sold for 2s 6d per pair rice, cost 1 per pound and so for, to be sold for 0s 3d per pound sugar, cost 8 maunds 12 per bag, to be sold for 6d per pound

The council had bought the following goods from the persons named below.

From Captain Prince.

5,000 of rice at 14s 0d per 100

From Captain Chambers.

1,000 of rice at 12s 0d per 100 2 puncheons of pork at 7d per pound

The Governor reported that last week Mary, Short Mary's daughter, delivered a boy named Ned, and that Patt, a girl named Mary, both belonging to the plantation house.

Interpretations

The bulk purchase of rice from the visiting captains shows the council buying provisions directly from passing ships to supply the settlement. With its own crop strained by the drought, the council bought thousands of measures of rice from Captains Prince and Chambers, taking grain from the vessels in the road. This shows the island supplementing its food supply from the shipping that called, the council purchasing staples wherever they could be obtained to meet the settlement's needs.

The record of the slave births registers the increase of the Company's enslaved population as an addition to its stock. Two children were born the previous week to enslaved women of the plantation house, and the Governor reported them as he would any other gain to the Company's holdings. This shows the children of the enslaved counted from birth as the property of the Company, their arrival noted in the same register that tracked the deaths and numbers of the enslaved workforce.

The resale prices set against the Discovery cargo continue the council's practice of fixing local rates by formal order. Each item carried its eastern purchase cost and was assigned a sterling selling price, the margin covering the Company's return and charges. This shows the storekeeper again given settled rates to sell against, the imported goods reaching the island's buyers on terms the council determined.

65

61

April

The Petition of Frances Carne Widdow was

presented Praying that She might have a Lease

from the Governor & Council of 20 Acres of Land

at the head of Sarahs Valley now in her Possession

by virtue of A Lease formerly granted to Arthur

Bradly which is expired

Granted for the Terme of 21 Yeares at the usual

Rent of 4 p Acre

The Petition of Gabriel Powell wr presented

Praying a Lease or Leases of soe much of the

Wast Land at the Backside of his Yard in the Valley

as wile range the said Yard with the front of Jno

Coulson's house & Twelve foot in depth of the Wast

Ground on Backside of his Garden and as farr in

Length as the sd Garden Wall reaches

The Petition of Elizabeth Greentree Widdow was

presented Praying a Lease of a Peice of Wast

Ground lying before one of her houses in the Valley

in the possession of Thomas Watts in order to fence

in the same to make a Garden of

The Petition of Mrs Frances Carnes was

presented Praying a Lease of a peice of Ground

next adjoyning to her dwelling house in the Valley

Ordered that Capt Goodwin and Capt Alexander

Doe view the said Severiale Peices of Ground in the

sd Petitions mentioned and report their opinion on

the Subject matters of the sd Petitions

The petition of Jno Hodgkinson Surgeon was

presented Setting forth

That he was informed that the Surgeon of the

Garrison was in want of a Mate to Assist him in his

Businesse

That he had formerly the Honour to serve ye

honoble Company in that Capacity but thro Some

inadvertency was dismist the Service

That in Case he should be readmitted into the

Service he had prevailed Upon Mr Gabriel Powell

to pass his word for his fidelity and Diligence

And

Margin Notes:

Mrs Carne pray

a new Lease for

20 Acres Land

Granted for 21 years

Gab Powell desires

a Lease for some

Ground adjoyng to his

Yard & more on the

Back of his Garden

Wall

Eliz Greentree prays

a Lease for Ground

ye Valley for a Garden

likewise Mrs Carne

prayed a Lease for

Ground adjoyng to

Her House/

Capt Goodwin &

Alexander to

view said Peices

of Ground

Jno Hodgkinsons

Petn praying to be

readmitted as

Surgns mate

The petition of Frances Carne, widow, was presented. She asked for a lease from the council of 20 acres of land at the head of Sarah's Valley, now in her possession under a lease formerly granted to Arthur Bradley, which had expired. The lease was granted for a term of 21 years at the usual rent of 4d per acre.

The petition of Gabriel Powell was presented. He asked for a lease of so much of the waste land at the back of his yard in the valley as would range with the front of Coulson's house, and twelve foot in depth of the waste ground on the back side of his garden, running as far in length as his garden wall reached.

The petition of Elizabeth Greentree, widow, was presented. She asked for a lease of a piece of waste ground lying before one of her houses in the valley, in the possession of Thomas Watts, in order to fence it in and make a garden of it.

The petition of Mrs Frances Carne was presented. She asked for a lease of a piece of ground adjoining her dwelling house in the valley.

The council ordered that Captain Goodwin and Captain Alexander view the several pieces of ground named in the petitions and report their opinion on the matters they raised.

The petition of John Hodgkinson, surgeon, was presented. He set out that he had heard the garrison's surgeon needed a mate to assist him in his business. He had formerly served the Company in that capacity, but through some carelessness had been dismissed the service. If he were readmitted, he had prevailed on Mr Gabriel Powell to vouch for his honesty and diligence.

Interpretations

The cluster of land petitions shows the steady demand for small parcels among the inhabitants and the council's method of dealing with them. Several applicants sought leases of waste ground adjoining their existing holdings, to enclose, garden or build upon, and the council referred them to viewers before deciding. This shows the management of the island's land carried on through individual application and inspection, the council granting or refusing each parcel on a view of its effect on neighbouring holdings and the common ground.

The Carne lease records the renewal of a holding on the expiry of an earlier term. The widow held land under a lease originally granted to Arthur Bradley, now expired, and obtained a fresh lease in her own name for twenty-one years at the standard rent. This shows the regular cycle of leasehold tenure on the island, land reverting on the end of a term and being re-let, the fixed rent and standard period giving the arrangement its settled form.

Hodgkinson's petition shows a dismissed servant seeking re-entry on the strength of a substantial man's recommendation. Having lost his place through his own fault, he sought readmission as a surgeon's mate and secured Gabriel Powell to vouch for his future conduct. This shows the route by which a man who had forfeited Company employment might return, the backing of a respected inhabitant offered as security against a repetition of the conduct that had cost him his place.

66

62

1723

And Therefore prayed that he might be admitted

Surgeons Mate of the honoble Companys Garrison

The Doctor appeared and acquainted us of his

great necessity of a Mate and assured us that the Petr

was in his opinion ye most capable Person upon the

Island for that Purposes

Wee are very unwilling to entertain the said

John Hodgkinson in our Service for the reasons

mentioned in the Consultation of the 19th Janry 1722

But the preveing necessity of the Doctor for an Assistt

and Mr Gabriel Powell appdaring in his behalf and giveing

his word for his good behaviour and diligence

Wee doe consent to entertain the said Petitioner

as Surgeons Mate of the Garrison

Capt Goodwin and Francis Wrangham Exrors

the Last Wile and Testament of Henry Francis deced

presented the said Wile desireing to have the same

proved which was accordingly done by the Oaths of

Margarett Goodwin and James Vaughn the other

wittnesse Edwd Johnson Esq being Dead

The said Wile was approved of and ordered to be

registred in the Register booke accordingly

Gabriel Powell Executor of the Last Wile and

Testament of Robert Angus deceased presented the sd

Wile desireing the same might be proved which was

done accordingly by the Oaths of Walter Morris

James Ryder and Anne Hodgekinson

The said Wile was approved ofe and ordered

to be registred in the Register broke accordingly

Capt Goodwin brot in his Accot of Store goods sold

and delivered for the Month of March which was

examined and approved of

The Petition of Wm Charles was presented

Setting forth

That his late Father Danl Charles was

possessed of a Considerable personal Estate and several

houses and Land upon this Island

That his ffather dying left the same in the

Possession of his Mother haveing first made his wile

and ye Petr a Legatee therein

That his Mother married with Thomas

Perkins who some Yeares after went of this Island &

carryed the Petr then under Age to the West Indies

That

Margin Notes:

Doctr declares his

Necessity & of the

Petr Hodgkinsons

Capacity

which is Mr Powell

word for his good

Behaviour He is

Entertaind accordingly

The Last Wile & Testamt

of Henry Francis

Presented

the same Approved

The Last Wile & Testamt

of Robt Angus

Presented

& proved

Store Goods Sold &

recd in March

Approved/

Petition of William

Charles relating

to his ffathers

Estate

Hodgkinson asked to be admitted as surgeon's mate of the Company's garrison.

The doctor appeared and told the council of his great need of a mate, assuring it that Hodgkinson was in his opinion the most capable person on the island for the post.

The council was very unwilling to take Hodgkinson into its service for the reasons recorded in the consultation of 16 January 1722. But given the doctor's pressing need of an assistant, and with Mr Gabriel Powell appearing on his behalf and vouching for his good behaviour and diligence, the council consented to take him on as surgeon's mate of the garrison.

Captain Goodwin and Francis Wrangham, executors of the will of Henry Francis deceased, presented the will and asked that it be proved. This was done on the oaths of Margaret Goodwin and James Vaughan, the other witness, Governor Johnson, being dead. The will was approved and ordered registered in the register book.

Gabriel Powell, executor of the will of Robert Angus deceased, presented the will and asked that it be proved. This was done on the oaths of Walter Morris, James Ryder and Anne Hodgkinson. The will was approved and ordered registered in the register book.

Captain Goodwin brought in his account of store goods sold and delivered for March, which was examined and approved.

The petition of William Charles was presented. He set out that his late father, Paul Charles, had held a considerable personal estate and several houses and land on the island. His father, dying, left these in the possession of his mother, having first made his wife a legatee of them. His mother then married Thomas Perkins, who some years afterwards left the island and carried William Charles, then under age, to the West Indies.

Interpretations

The admission of Hodgkinson against the council's own recorded objection shows necessity overriding a settled reservation. The council had refused him before, for reasons entered at the consultation of 16 January 1722, yet the doctor's pressing need of an assistant and Powell's personal warranty together moved it to consent. This shows the council departing from its own earlier judgement when the want of a skilled man and the security of a respected sponsor outweighed the grounds on which it had previously held him unfit.

The proving of the wills records the council acting as the authority for the validation of testaments on the island. Each will was presented by its executors and proved on the oaths of surviving witnesses, with the death of one witness, Governor Johnson, noted as the reason the others were called. This shows the settlement administering the formal machinery of probate, the council confirming and registering the wills so that estates could pass to their heirs under proper authority.

The Charles petition opens a claim to an inherited estate complicated by remarriage and removal from the island. The petitioner's father had left property to his wife, who remarried Thomas Perkins, and the son was carried abroad while under age. This shows the difficulty of pursuing an inheritance that had passed through a widow's second marriage and lain unclaimed during the heir's long absence, the estate's descent tangled by the events that followed the first husband's death.

Speculations

The council's decision to admit Hodgkinson rested on weighing a known risk against a present need, and the record shows exactly what tipped it. The obvious course was to hold to its earlier refusal of 16 January 1722, the grounds for which still stood, and to keep a man it had judged unsuitable out of its service. The council instead reversed itself, and the entry sets out the two things that overcame its reluctance: the doctor's declaration that Hodgkinson was the only capable man on the island for the post, and Powell's appearance as personal surety for his conduct. The choice shows the council treating a respected inhabitant's warranty as the security that made the risk acceptable, the sponsor's pledge supplying the assurance the council's own experience of the man had denied it. It admitted him not by setting aside its objection but by accepting a guarantee against the very fault the objection rested on.

67

63

April

That the Petr is now of Age and being informed

that great Part of the Estate of his ffather that belongs

to him is now in the Companys hands and had been

at Some Charge to come hither from the West Indies

to recover the same in the Newport Sloop

And therefore prayed that his Case might be

taken into Consideration & that he might have what

Estate belonged to him delivered or the vallue

thereof

Upon perusale of the Wile of Daul Charles the

Petrs ffather Wee find there is 10 Acres of Land

bequeathed to him that has been in the honoble

Companys Possession for upwards of Eight Yeares

and has been kept planted with Yams now called by

the Name of Griffins near Cox hutts and as is good planting Land

wile wooded and lying free from winds and near to the

other Land and Plantation that formerly belonged

to the said Perkins Wee think it for the Interest of

our honoble Masters to buy it & therefore

Ordered that Capt Alexander be appointed

and desired to agree with Mr Jonathan Doveton (who

is chosen by the sd Wm Charles) for the Purchaseing

of the said ten Acres of Land as cheap as he can

There does not appear by virtue of the sd

Wile that ye sd Wm Charles any further Legale

Demands upon the Honoble Company

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Upon Perusall of his

ffathr Paul Charles

Will appears 10 Acres

of Land in ye Hon Cos

Possession wch being

very Convenient &

usefull to them/

Capt Alexander

to agree for ye Same

as Cheap as he can

No other Demd appears

on ye sd Bond/

William Charles set out that he was now of age. He had heard that a great part of his father's estate belonging to him was now in the Company's hands, and he had been at some expense to come from the West Indies in the Newport sloop to recover it. He therefore asked that his case be considered, and that he be given the estate that belonged to him or its value.

On examining the will of Paul Charles, the petitioner's father, the council found that ten acres of land had been bequeathed to him. This land had been in the Company's possession for upwards of eight years and had been kept planted with yams. Known by the name of Griffin's, and lying near Coxes, it was good planting land, well wooded and sheltered from the winds, near the other land and plantation that had formerly belonged to Perkins. The council thought it in the masters' interest to buy it, and therefore ordered that Captain Alexander be appointed and asked to agree with Mr Jonathan Doveton, whom William Charles had chosen, for the purchase of the ten acres as cheaply as he could.

It did not appear from the will that William Charles had any further legal claim upon the Company.

The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The resolution of the Charles claim turned the heir's inheritance into a purchase by the Company rather than a restoration of the land. The ten acres bequeathed to William Charles had lain in the Company's possession for over eight years, kept planted with yams, and the council judged it in the masters' interest to buy the parcel outright. This shows the council converting a claim for the recovery of inherited land into a negotiated sale, settling the heir's right by paying for the property the Company already held and worked rather than surrendering it.

The land's qualities recorded in the entry explain why the Company chose to acquire it. The parcel was good planting ground, well wooded and sheltered, lying near the Company's other land and the former Perkins plantation, and already established under yams. This shows the council's interest grounded in the practical value of the land to the settlement, its fertility, shelter and convenient situation making it worth securing permanently rather than returning to the heir.

The appointment of the heir's own chosen agent to negotiate the price shows a fair procedure in settling the claim. William Charles had named Jonathan Doveton to act for him, and the council directed Captain Alexander to agree the purchase with Doveton, instructing him to buy as cheaply as he could. This shows the Company protecting its own interest in the price while allowing the heir representation through a man of his choosing, the bargain struck between the two appointed parties.

Speculations

The council's choice to buy the land rather than restore it answered two interests at once and the entry shows why each pointed the same way. The straightforward course on an heir's proven bequest was to deliver the land itself, which the will entitled him to claim. The council instead resolved to purchase it, and the reasons recorded are the parcel's particular merits: good planting ground, well wooded, sheltered from the winds, already under yams and lying next the Company's own land and the former Perkins plantation. Returning so valuable and conveniently placed a holding to an heir newly arrived from the West Indies, with no settled stake on the island, would have lost the Company ground it had improved over eight years and that fitted its existing plantations. By offering to buy, the council satisfied the heir's right in money while keeping the land within its own estate, and the instruction to Captain Alexander to agree the price as cheaply as he could shows it pursuing that retention at the least cost the heir's chosen agent would accept.

68

64

1723

Island St Helena

At a Consultation held on Thursday ye 25th

Day of April 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley

Edwd Byfeld Esq Govr

Present Jno Alexander 2d &

Jno Goodwin 3d

The last Consultation read and approved of

The Sloop and Brigantine mentioned in the last

consultation having had sufficient time to take in

their water, and not prepareing to Sayle out of the

road wee Sent the following Letter to the respective

Capts belonging to them

Capt Webster

You arrived here on Sunday last and

at your request wee permitted you to come into the road

for the purpose of watering ye your vessell only The time

you have been here haveing been sufficient for that

purpose wee know of noe further Businesse you can

have to occasion your Stay any longer here and

therefore Wee order you to Sayle out of the road

Immediately

Wee are

St Helena

April 25th

1723

Yor Servt

Edwd Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Jno Worrall this day paid us £29. 11. 2. 4 which was

his Debt due to the honoble Company the 25th March

last

Wm Worrale pd us £20 in part of his Debt

Capt Alexander reports that in pursuance to the

order of Council of the 24th Instant he had with some

difficulty agreed with Mr Doveton for the 10 Acres

of Free land therein mentioned at the rate and

Price of Sixty pounds

Ordered that the said Bargain be accepted of & ye

the said Wm Charles doe Immediately execute a Deed of

Bargaine and Sale of the sd Ten Acres of Land

To

Margin Notes:

Sloop & Brigantine

not prepareing to

Sayle Sent

a Letter to each

of them

Thus

Jno Worrall paid

in £29. 11. 2. 4 in

full of his Debt/

Wm Worrall paid

in in pt of his Debt

£20

Capt Alexandrs

agreemt for 10 Acres of

Land at 60£

Writeings to be

Executed for ye

Same

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Thursday 25 April 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander, second of the council, and John Goodwin, third.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

The sloop and brigantine named in the last consultation had taken in sufficient water but showed no sign of preparing to sail out of the road. The council therefore sent the following letter to the captain of each.

The letter to Captain Webster set out that he had arrived on Sunday last, and that the council had permitted him to come into the road only to water his vessel. The time he had been there having been sufficient for that purpose, the council knew of no further business to detain him, and therefore ordered him to sail out of the road immediately. The letter was dated St Helena, 25 April 1723, and signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

John Worrall this day paid in £29 11s 2¼d, which was his debt due to the Company on 25 March last.

William Worrall paid in £20 0s 0d in part of his debt.

Captain Alexander reported that, following the order of the council of the 24th, he had with some difficulty agreed with Mr Doveton for the ten acres of free land named there, at the price of sixty pounds.

The council ordered that the bargain be accepted, and that William Charles execute a deed of bargain and sale of the ten acres of land.

Interpretations

The dismissal of Captain Webster repeats the council's settled practice of ending a foreign ship's stay once the water it had been allowed was taken in. As with Captain Bird earlier, the vessel was admitted only to water and then required to leave when it lingered, the council writing formally to order its immediate departure. This shows the consistent control the council kept over the anchorage, the limited concession of water carrying with it the obligation to go once the need was met.

The settlement of the Charles purchase at sixty pounds completes the transaction begun two days before. Captain Alexander had been directed to agree the price as cheaply as he could with the heir's chosen agent, and the figure of sixty pounds was reached and accepted, the heir then required to convey the land by formal deed. This shows the orderly conclusion of the claim, the agreed price confirmed and the transfer secured through a proper instrument of bargain and sale.

The two Worrall payments record the discharge of debts to the Company in cash at the annual reckoning. One man paid his whole debt due at the previous Lady Day and the other a part of his, the sums entered against their accounts. This shows debts to the Company met in ready money where the debtor could find it, the cash payments standing alongside the transfers and bills by which other obligations were settled at the yearly balance.

69

65

April

To the Honoble Company and their Successors which

was done accordingly

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island St Helena

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the

30th day of April 1723 at Plantation House

Edwd Byfeld Esq Govr

Present Jno Alexander 2d &

Jno Goodwin 3d

The last Consultation read and approved of

On Fryday Evening the Newport Sloop sailed hence

and on Satterday morning Early Sayled the Eagle Brigantine

and in the Evening abt 6 Sayled the Devonshyre &

the Des Bouerie

The Purchase mony paid for the Land bot of

Wm Charles mentioned in the last Consultation was &

Run laid out in the honoble Companys Stores

Wee have deferred Swearing the new Church

wardens and Overseers of the high ways the Tuesday

wch Some of them not being present The Marshale

not having summoned them they being out a fishing

Rich Swallow appeared upon a Simons fesin

his Mother Eliz Swallow for refuseing to permitt her

planting her Succours in the Land where she had dayd

her Yams out

Upon hearing both partys Wee recommended it to

Richd Swallow to permit his Mother to plant her Succers

which he consented to

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Ships Sailed

Money for Wm Charles

for 10 Acres Land laid

out for Store Goods

Parish Officrs Oaths

Deferred/

Rd Swallows Complt

of & his Mother

recommended to agree

& permit Mother to plant/

The deed of bargain and sale was made to the Company and its successors, which was done accordingly. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Tuesday 30 April 1723 at the plantation house.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield, John Alexander, second of the council, and John Goodwin, third.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

On Friday evening the Newport sloop sailed from the island. On Saturday morning the Eagle Brigantine sailed early, and in the evening the Discovery sailed.

The purchase money paid for the land, sixty pounds, bought of William Charles and named in the last consultation, was laid out in store goods and entered in the Company's stores.

The council had deferred swearing the new churchwardens and overseers of the highway from the previous Tuesday, some of them not being present, the marshal not having summoned them as they were out fishing.

Richard Swallow appeared on a summons for refusing to let his mother plant her yams in the land where she had grown yams the previous year. After hearing both sides, the council recommended that Swallow permit his mother to plant her yams, which he consented to.

Interpretations

The conversion of the Charles purchase money into store goods records how the Company settled a payment without parting with cash. Rather than handing the heir sixty pounds in coin, the council laid the sum out in goods from the stores entered to his account, the payment made in kind through the Company's own supplies. This shows the settlement managing its obligations through its stores, discharging a debt in goods where ready money was scarce and the Company held the means to pay in commodities instead.

The dispute between Richard Swallow and his mother shows the council intervening in a family quarrel over the use of land. The mother had grown yams in a particular plot the year before and was refused leave to plant there again by her son, and the council, after hearing both, recommended that she be allowed to continue. This shows the settlement's authority reaching into disputes within a household over the working of the ground, the council settling a conflict between parent and child by securing the mother's customary use of the land.

The deferral of swearing the parish officers because the marshal had not summoned them records a routine failure in the machinery of local administration. The new churchwardens and overseers could not be sworn as some were absent fishing and had not been called, so the matter was put off. This shows the ordinary business of the parish dependent on the proper summoning of those chosen, a lapse in the marshal's duty delaying the formal installation of the officers.

70

66

Island St Helena

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the

7th day of May 1723 At Union Castle in James Valley

Edwd Byfeld Esq Govr

Capt Jno Alexander 2d Present Jno Goodwin 3d

in the Country Sick

The last Consultation read and approved on

The Governor brought in and delivered his Monthly

Accot of the honoble Companys live Stock and

Expences for the Month of April which was

examined and approved of

Gunner French brot in and delivered his Accot

of Gunners Stores expended for the Month of April

last which was examined and approved of and is

as follows

Capt Goodwin brot in & delivered his

Accot of Store Goods sold & delivered for

the Month of April which was examined

& approved of

April 1st A Double Alarme

6

6

6

Do Arrived the Exeter Man of Warr

from India & Princesse Amelia

32

2

8

22

58

Do For the Capt of the Exeter comeing

on Shore

21

1

4

16

39

2 Double Alarme

6

6

6

Do Arrived the Eyles and Fordwich

from India and the St Quintin

from Guinea

48

2

3

4

45

66

Do To Thomas Allis for to alarme

Sandy Bay

1

7th Departed the St Quintin

11

11

11

8th For the burying of Thomas

Hayse

1

9 Departed the Lyele Eyles

Fordwich and Princesse Amelia

for England

70

11

3

13

11

32

351

Carried over

194

11

3

19

23

138

532

Margin Notes:

Hond Cos live Stock

Acct for Apl & Genl

Acct for Apl & Genl

Gunrs Acct p Mth

& Genl

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Tuesday 7 May 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Edward Byfield and John Goodwin, third. Captain John Alexander, second of the council, was in the country sick.

The record of the last consultation was read and approved.

The Governor brought in and delivered his monthly account of the Company's livestock and expenses for April, which was examined and approved.

Gunner French brought in and delivered his account of gunner's stores expended during April, which was examined and approved. The account is set out below, reckoned in pounds of gunpowder, demi-cannon, whole culverins, demi-culverins, sakers, falcons and other stores.

1 April, a double alarm: 6 pounds of powder, 6 falcons, 6 [...] 1 April, arrived the Exeter man of war from India and the Princess Amelia: 32 pounds of powder, 2 demi-culverins, 8 sakers, 22 falcons, 58 [...] 1 April, for the captain of the Exeter coming ashore: 21 pounds of powder, 1 demi-culverin, 4 sakers, 16 falcons, 39 [...] 2 April, a double alarm: 6 pounds of powder, 6 falcons, 6 [...] 2 April, arrived the Lyell and Gardarine from India and the St Quintin from Guinea: 48 pounds of powder, 2 whole culverins, 3 demi-culverins, 44 sakers, 45 falcons, 66 [...] 2 April, to Thomas Allis for two alarms at Sandy Bay: 1 [...] 7 April, departed the St Quintin: 11 pounds of powder, 11 falcons, 11 [...] 8 April, for the burial of Thomas Hayes: 1 [...] 9 April, departed the Lyell, Gardarine and Princess Amelia for England: 70 pounds of powder, 11 demi-cannon, 3 whole culverins, 13 demi-culverins, 11 sakers, 32 falcons, 351 [...]

Carried over: 194 pounds of powder, 11 demi-cannon, 3 whole culverins, 19 demi-culverins, 23 sakers, 138 falcons, 532 [...]

Captain Goodwin brought in and delivered his account of store goods sold and delivered for April, which was examined and approved.

Interpretations

The gunner's account records the powder and ordnance fired across a month dominated by heavy shipping traffic and frequent alarms. Salutes marked the arrival and departure of numerous vessels, including the Exeter man of war and the homeward East India ships, while several double alarms drew further discharges as strange or expected sail approached. This shows the close tie between the movement of the shipping and the consumption of the magazine, the guns answering each arrival, departure and alert with powder drawn from a limited store.

The separate charge to Thomas Allis for alarms at Sandy Bay records the firing of guns at an outlying post away from the main fort. While most discharges came from the batteries at the road, this entry accounts for powder used at Sandy Bay, a distinct point on the coast, showing the island's defence spread beyond the principal anchorage. This marks the maintenance of alarm signals at more than one station, the gunner accounting for the stores spent at each.

The powder fired at the burial of Thomas Hayes records the use of the guns for a funeral honour. A small quantity was spent marking the interment, the ceremonial discharge entered among the month's expenditure alongside the salutes and alarms. This shows the guns serving the settlement's solemn occasions as well as its defence and its greetings to shipping, the magazine drawn on for the marks of respect at a death.

71

67

May

Brot from the other side

194

11

3

19

23

138

532

Memdum tho 11 Demi Cannon three

whole Culverins 6 Demi Culverins and

four Sakers of ye above Seventy

Gunns was fired of the Lyell haveing

been a Twelvemonth loaded wch

required 4ly to be Sealed

14 An Alarme

4

4

4

Do arrived the Devonshire

11

1

4

6

29

Do for Governor ffeaks comeing

on Shore

21

1

4

16

39

17th for the Capt of the Exeters

goeing on board

21

1

4

16

39

Do Departed the Exeter for Engld

21

1

4

16

39

20th A Double Alarme

6

6

6

Do Arrived the Des Bouery from

India and a Sloop from Guinea

12

12

12

22 An Alarme

4

4

4

Do Arrived a Brigantine

5

5

5

27 Departed the Devonshyre and

the Des Bouery for England

18

18

18

Do for Governt ffeakes goeing on bd

21

1

4

16

39

for Primeing

40

for Expences of the Guard

20

Musquett Balls

Musquett rods

12

Copper Ladles

2

Hand Spikes

6

Flints

100

Match

100

338

11

3

24

43

257

833

100

100

6

2

12

10

The Old Church Wardens Vizt Orlando Bagley

and Wm Seal appeared according to Simons and haveing

cleared their Accots were discharged

Isaac Leech and Joshua Johnson Church

wardens for the present Year also appeared and were

sworne to performe the Office of Churchwardens accordingly

The

Margin Notes:

Old Church Wardens

Discharged

New Church

Wardens Sworne

The gunner's account continued.

Brought from the other side: 194 pounds of powder, 11 demi-cannon, 3 whole culverins, 19 demi-culverins, 23 sakers, 138 falcons, 532 [...]

A note recorded that of the above guns, eleven demi-cannon, three whole culverins, six demi-culverins and four sakers, being above seventy guns, were fired off the line, having been loaded for a fortnight and needing to be cleared.

14 May, an alarm: 4 pounds of powder, 4 falcons, 4 [...]
14 May, arrived the Devonshire: 11 pounds of powder, 1 demi-culverin, 4 sakers, 6 falcons, 29 [...]
14 May, for Governor Byfield coming ashore: 21 pounds of powder, 1 demi-culverin, 4 sakers, 16 falcons, 39 [...]
15 May, for the captain of the packet going on board: 21 pounds of powder, 1 demi-culverin, 4 sakers, 16 falcons, 39 [...]
15 May, departed the Exeter for England: 21 pounds of powder, 1 demi-culverin, 4 sakers, 16 falcons, 39 [...]
20 May, a double alarm: 6 pounds of powder, 6 falcons, 6 [...]
20 May, arrived the Discovery from India and a sloop from Guinea: 12 pounds of powder, 12 falcons, 12 [...]
22 May, an alarm: 4 pounds of powder, 4 falcons, 4 [...]
22 May, arrived a brigantine: 5 pounds of powder, 5 falcons, 5 [...]
27 May, departed the Devonshire and the Discovery for England: 18 pounds of powder, 18 falcons, 18 [...]
27 May, for Governor Byfield going on board: 21 pounds of powder, 1 demi-culverin, 4 sakers, 16 falcons, 39 [...]
27 May, for priming: 40 [...]
27 May, for expenses of the guard: 20 [...]

The particular stores expended were as follows.

musket balls: 12
copper ladles: 2
hand spikes: 6
flints: 100
match: 100

Totals: 100 pounds of powder, 100, 6, 2, 12, 10 [...]

Grand totals: 338 pounds of powder, 11 demi-cannon, 3 whole culverins, 24 demi-culverins, 43 sakers, 257 falcons, 833 [...]

The old churchwardens, Orlando Bagley and William Seale, appeared on a summons. Having cleared their accounts, they were discharged.

Isaac Leech and Joshua Johnson, the churchwardens for this year, also appeared and were sworn in.

Interpretations

The note about the seventy guns explains why so much powder was spent without any enemy in sight. The big guns guarding the road had been kept loaded for two weeks, and a charge left sitting in a gun spoils and can damage the piece, so they had to be fired off and reloaded. Clearing the loaded guns this way was a routine chore, and the wasted powder was entered in the account like everything else.

The salutes for Governor Byfield mark the honours paid to him as he moved about. Guns were fired both when he landed and when he went out to a ship, the usual courtesy to a man in his position.

72

68

1723

Their Instructions by us for that purpose given them

Jno Long Giles Smith and Ralph Orme Overseers

of the high ways for the Year past did likewise

appear and haveing passed their Accots with us they

were discharged in like manner

Sutton Isaac Saml Taylor and William Worrale

The Overseers of the high ways for this present Year

appeared and were Sworne accordingly to execute their

Office

Wm Beale Surgeon has this day paid us

£15 in part discharge of his Debt due to the honoble

Company

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Old Overseers

Discharged

New Overs Sworne

£ pd by Wm Beale

15/ in

in pt of his Debt/

The new churchwardens were given their instructions for the office.

John Long, Giles Smith and Ralph Orme, overseers of the highway for the year past, also appeared. Having settled their accounts, they were discharged in the same way.

Sutton Isaac, Samuel Taylor and William Worrall, the overseers of the highway for this year, appeared and were sworn in.

William Beale, surgeon, this day paid £15 0s 0d in part discharge of his debt to the Company.

The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The change of highway overseers follows the same yearly pattern as the churchwardens. Three men finished their year, settled their accounts and were let go, and three new men were sworn in to take over. The whole parish round of officers turned over together at this point in the year.

73

69

[Top right corner torn away, affecting the end of the two heading lines and the column to the right of the Blacks Total.]

69. Island St ⎫ A List of Familys Lands and neat[...]

Helena . ⎬ Into the Secretarys Office Between the 9th & 2[...]

that Purpose .

Under what heads Pr Accts ard ranged.

Persons Names.

Capt Jno Alexander.

Whites: Women 1. Maidens 1. Born to 13 yr 1. Totall 6.

Blacks: Men slaves 8. Women 3. Boys 4. Girls 3. Total 18.

Capt Jno Goodwin & Maid Servt

Whites: Men 2. Women 1. Maidens 1. Born to 13 yr 2. Totall 6.

Blacks: Free Black 1. Men slaves 9. Women 2. Boys 3. Girls 1. Total 15.

Liewt Tho: Cason

Blacks: Women 1. Total 1.

Ensigne Wm Slaughter.

Whites: Women 1. Maidens 1. Yr of age 9 to 12 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Women 1. Total 2.

Jno French Gunnr

Whites: Women 1. Yr of age 9 to 12 1. Girls to 13 4. Totall 6.

Blacks: Men slaves 4. Women 1. Boys 3. Girls 2. Total 10.

Wm Beale

Whites: Women 1. Maidens 1. Yr of age 9 to 12 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Men slaves 2. Women 1. Boys 2. Girls [...]. Total 5.

Thomas Dutch & Daughter in Law.

Whites: Maidens 1. Totall 1.

Isaac Wood & one Orphan Apprentice

Whites: Women [...]. Maidens 1. Born to 13 yr 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men slaves 5. Women 2. Boys 1. Girls 2. Total 10.

Wm Smipton

Whites: Women 1. Born to 13 yr 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Women 1. Total 2.

Rob Wallington

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Total 1.

Jno Young

Whites: Women 1. Born to 13 yr 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Free Black 1. Men slaves 1. Total 1.

Jno Defountaine

Whites: Women 1. Born to 13 yr 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Total 1.

Isaac Leech

Whites: Women 1. Born to 13 yr 1. Girls to 13 3. Totall 5.

Blacks: Men slaves 4. Boys 1. Total 1.

Giles Hayse

Whites: Women 1. Born to 13 yr 1. Girls to 13 2. Totall 4.

Blacks: Free Black 1. Men slaves 1. Total 1.

Tho Watts & one Orphan

Whites: Women 1. Yr of age 9 to 12 2. Girls to 13 1. Totall 4.

Ebenezar Leech

Whites: Women 1. Born to 13 yr 1. Girls to 13 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Free Black 1. Total 1.

Edmund Bodley

Whites: Women 1. Totall 1.

Thomas Crew

Whites: Women 1. Born to 13 yr 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Women 1. Total 1.

Matthew Mudge

Whites: Women 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Women 1. Total 1.

Saml Thornbro.

Whites: Women 1. Totall 1.

Francis Funges

Whites: Women 1. Maidens 5. Totall 6.

Blacks: Men slaves 2. Boys 2. Total 4.

Andrew Bergues

Whites: Women 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Boys 1. Total 2.

Caleb Davis

Whites: Women 1. Born to 13 yr 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Women 1. Total 1.

Wm Burnham

Wm Coales.

Whites: Maidens 2. Totall 2.

Stephen Audward

Joseph Harding

Saml Doveton

Whites: Women 1. Born to 13 yr 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Women 1. Total 1.

Richd Harding

Jonth Higham Sonr aged

Blacks: Boys 1. Total 1.

James Harding

Thomas Hayse

Whites: Women 1. Girls to 13 3. Totall 8.

Blacks: Women 1. Total 1.

Jno Rmpe and 1 Maid Orphan

Whites: Women 1. Youths 1. Maidens 1. Born to 13 yr 4. Girls to 13 1. Totall 7.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Women 1. Girls 1. Total 3.

Totals

Whites: Men 2. Women 22. Maidens 14. Born to 13 yr 23. Girls to 13 21. Totall 83.

Blacks: Free Black 1. Men slaves 41. Women 16. Boys 18. Girls 8. Total 84.

The consultation of 16 February to 12 July 1720 carried the families, land and cattle register for 1719, but this page belongs to a fresh annual register. The column headings read, for the whites, men, women, youths, maidens, boys to 13 years of age, girls to 12 years, children, and total; for the blacks, free blacks, men slaves, women, boys, girls, and total.

The page is headed as a list of families, lands and neat cattle brought into the Secretary's office between the 9th and 26th of the month for that purpose.

Captain John Alexander had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 1 child counted under the boys-to-13 head and 3 children under the further heads, totalling 6 white people, with no free black, 8 black men, 3 black women, 4 black boys and 3 black girls, totalling 18 black people.

Captain John Goodwin, with his old maidservant, grouped together under one brace, had 2 white men, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 2 boys and no girl, totalling 6 white people, with 1 free black, 9 black men, 2 black women, 3 black boys and 4 black girls, totalling 15 black people.

Lieutenant Thomas Cason had no white person at all in any column, totalling none, with no free black, no man, 1 black woman and no child, totalling 1 black person.

Ensign William Slaughter had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, no boy, 1 girl, totalling 3 white people, with no free black, 1 black man, 1 black woman and no child, totalling 2 black people.

John French the gunner had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and 4 children under the later heads, totalling 6 white people, with no free black, 4 black men, 1 black woman, 3 black boys and 2 black girls, totalling 10 black people.

William Beale had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 1 boy, totalling 3 white people, with no free black, 2 black men, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and no girl, totalling 5 black people.

Thomas Dutch and his daughter-in-law, grouped under one brace, had no white man, no woman, no youth, 1 maiden, no boy and no girl, totalling 1 white person, with no black person of any kind.

Isaac Wood and his orphan apprentice, grouped under one brace, had no white man, no woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 1 boy, totalling 2 white people, with no free black, 5 black men, 2 black women, 1 black boy and 2 black girls, totalling 10 black people.

William Simpson had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy, totalling 2 white people, with no free black, 1 black man, 1 black woman and no child, totalling 2 black people.

Robert Wallington had no white person except 1 counted under the later heads, totalling 1 white person, with no free black, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

John Young had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy, totalling 2 white people, with no free black, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

John Defountaine had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy, totalling 2 white people, with no free black, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

Isaac Leech had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and 3 children under the later heads, totalling 5 white people, with no free black, 1 black man, no woman, 1 black boy and no girl, totalling 1 black person.

Giles Hayse had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and 2 children, totalling 4 white people, with no free black, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

Thomas Watts and his orphan, grouped under one brace, had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 2 boys and 1 girl, totalling 4 white people, with no black person of any kind.

Ebenezer Leech had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and 1 child, totalling 3 white people, with no free black, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

Edmund Bodley had no white man, 1 white woman and nothing further, totalling 1 white person, with no black person of any kind.

Thomas Crew had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy, totalling 2 white people, with no free black, no man, 1 black woman and no child, totalling 1 black person.

Matthew Mudge had no white man, 1 white woman and nothing further, totalling 1 white person, with no free black, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

Samuel Thornborough had no white man, 1 white woman and nothing further, totalling 1 white person, with no black person of any kind.

Francis Funge had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 5 maidens, no boy and no girl, totalling 6 white people, with no free black, 2 black men, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and no girl, totalling 4 black people.

Andrew Bergue had no white man, 1 white woman and nothing further, totalling 1 white person, with no free black, 1 black man, no woman, 1 black boy and no girl, totalling 2 black people.

Caleb Davis had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 child, totalling 2 white people, with no free black, no man, 1 black woman and no child, totalling 1 black person.

William Burnham had no white person of any kind, and no black person of any kind, so no household was entered against his name.

zWilliam Coales had no white man, no woman, 2 youths, no maiden, no boy and no girl, totalling 2 white people, with no black person of any kind.

Stephen Aldward had no white person of any kind and no black person of any kind, so no household was entered against his name.

Joseph Harding had no white person of any kind and no black person of any kind, so no household was entered against his name.

Samuel Doveton had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, totalling 2 white people, with no free black, no man, no woman, no boy and 1 girl, totalling 1 black person.

Richard Harding had no white person of any kind and no black person of any kind, so no household was entered against his name.

John Higham senior, marked aged, had no white person of any kind, with no free black, no man, no woman, 1 black boy and no girl, totalling 1 black person.

James Harding had no white person of any kind and no black person of any kind, so no household was entered against his name.

Thomas Hayse had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 3 boys and 4 children, totalling 8 white people, with no free black, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

John Knipe and his maidservant orphan, grouped under one brace, had 1 white man counted in the first column, no separate woman, 1 youth, 4 maidens and 1 further, totalling 7 white people, with no free black, 1 black man, 1 black woman, no boy and 1 girl, totalling 3 black people.

The totals line at the foot of the page gave 2 white men, 22 white women, no youth, 14 maidens, 23 boys and 21 girls, totalling 83 white people, with 1 free black, 41 black men, 16 black women, 18 black boys and 8 black girls, totalling 84 black people.

Interpretations

The page recorded one membrane of the island's annual register of families, land and cattle, the population side only, the cattle and acreage columns reserved for the pages that followed. The heading placed its compilation in the Secretary's office between two dates of the month, the customary gathering of the household returns ahead of the report home. The order of names began with the leading officers, Captain Alexander, Captain Goodwin, Lieutenant Cason and Ensign Slaughter, before passing to the gunner French and the body of the planters and garrison families.

Several lines carried a brace tying two parties under a single household. The old maidservant stood with Captain Goodwin, the daughter-in-law with Thomas Dutch, the orphan apprentice with Isaac Wood, the orphan with Thomas Watts, and the maidservant orphan with John Knipe. These groupings counted a dependent within the head of household's return rather than as a separate family.

A run of names near the foot of the page carried no figures at all, William Burnham, Stephen Aldward, Joseph Harding, Richard Harding and James Harding each entered without a household. Their names were held in the roll though they returned neither white nor black persons, perhaps men holding land but keeping no family or slaves on the island at the count.

Speculations

The brace groupings show a deliberate choice in how a dependent was counted. The compiler faced the question whether a servant, an apprentice or an orphan in another man's house formed part of that household or stood alone, and resolved it by folding each into the head's return under a single bracket. The maidservant, the apprentice and the several orphans were thereby numbered once, within the family that kept them, and the register avoided both a double count and an omission.

74

70

Cattle on the said Island for the Year 1729 as was Delivered

Days of March 1722 according to an Advertisemt Published for

Capt Jno Alexander.

Neat Cattle: Cows 12. Bullocks 1. Steers 1. Yearlings 4. Calves 12. Totall 30.

Lands: Acres of Free land 24½. Acres of Borrowed land 30. Totall 54½.

Ground in Hands Gulley & Vint &c 6.

Capt Jno Goodwin & Maid Servt

Neat Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 12. Bullocks 2. Heifers 5. Calves 12. Totall 32.

Lands: Acres of Free land 158. Acres of Borrowed land 17½. Totall 175½.

Liewt Tho: Cason

Ensigne Wm Slaughter.

Neat Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 2. Calves 2. Totall 4.

Lands: Acres of Borrowed land 3. Totall 3.

Jno French Gunnr

Neat Cattle: Cows 7. Heifers 1. Steers 1. Calves 7. Totall 16.

Lands: Acres of Free land 10. Acres of Borrowed land 26. Totall 36.

Wm Beale

Ground in Hands Gulley & Vint &c 8.

Thomas Dutch & Daughter in Law.

Ground in Hands Gulley & Vint &c 34.

Isaac Wood & one Orphan Apprentice

Neat Cattle: Bulls 2. Cows 15. Bullocks 7. Heifers 6. Yearlings 8. Calves 15. Totall 53.

Lands: Acres of Free land 83. Acres of Borrowed land 30. Totall 113.

Ground in Hands Gulley & Vint &c 30.

Wm Smipton

Neat Cattle: Cows 1. Totall 2.

Rob Wallington

Jno Young

Neat Cattle: Cows 2. Calves 2. Totall 4.

Ground in Hands Gulley & Vint &c 17.

Jno Defountaine

Neat Cattle: Cows 3. Bullocks 3. Calves 3. Totall 9.

Isaac Leech

Neat Cattle: Cows 6. Heifers 2. Calves 8. Totall 16.

Lands: Acres of Free land 5. Acres of Borrowed land 8. Totall 13.

Giles Hayse

Neat Cattle: Cows 3. Heifers 1. Calves 3. Totall 7.

Ground in Hands Gulley & Vint &c 50.

Tho Watts & one Orphan

Ebenezar Leech

Neat Cattle: Cows 4. Heifers 1. Calves 4. Totall 9.

Edmund Bodley

Neat Cattle: Cows 2. Heifers 2. Yearlings 1. Calves 1. Totall 5.

Lands: Acres of Free land 10. Totall 10.

Thomas Crew

Neat Cattle: Cows 4. Heifers 2. Calves 6.

Lands: Acres of Free land 15. Acres of Borrowed land 15. Totall 15.

Matthew Mudge

Neat Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 1. Calves 1. Totall 3.

Saml Thornbro.

Neat Cattle: Cows 2. Bullocks 1. Calves 1. Totall 4.

Francis Funges

Neat Cattle: Calves 2. Totall 5.

Andrew Bergues

Neat Cattle: Cows 2. Bullocks 1. Calves 2. Totall 5.

Caleb Davis

Neat Cattle: Cows 2. Calves 1. Totall 3.

Wm Burnham

Wm Coales.

Neat Cattle: Cows 4. Bullocks 1. Heifers 3. Calves 8.

Stephen Audward

Neat Cattle: Cows 1. Calves 2. Totall 3.

Joseph Harding

Neat Cattle: Cows 1. Bullocks 1. Calves 1. Totall 3.

Saml Doveton

Neat Cattle: Cows 3. Heifers 2. Calves 3. Totall 8.

Lands: Acres of Free land 30. Totall 36.

Richd Harding

Jonth Higham Sonr aged

James Harding

Thomas Hayse

Neat Cattle: Cows 5. Heifers 1. Calves 4. Totall 10.

Lands: Acres of Free land 10. Acres of Borrowed land 29½. Totall 39½.

Jno Rmpe and 1 Maid Orphan

Totals

Neat Cattle: Bulls 4. Cows 94. Bullocks 17. Heifers 25. Steers 3. Yearlings 12. Calves 85. Totall 195.

Lands: Acres of Free land 258½. Acres of Borrowed land 159. Totall 489½. Ground in Hands Gulley & Vint &c 139.

The heading continues the same register, the cattle and lands for the year 1719 as delivered on the days of March 1722 under an advertisement published for that purpose. The cattle columns read bulls, cows, bullocks, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and total. The lands columns read acres of free land, acres of leased land and total. A further narrow column at the right carried a margin note against certain lines.

Captain John Alexander had no bull, 12 cows, 1 bullock, no heifer, 1 steer, 4 yearlings and 12 calves, totalling 30 head, holding 24½ acres of free land and 30 acres of leased land, totalling 54½ acres.

Captain John Goodwin had 1 bull, 12 cows, 2 bullocks, 5 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 12 calves, totalling 32 head, holding 158 acres of free land and 17½ acres of leased land, totalling 175½ acres.

Lieutenant Thomas Cason had no cattle of any kind, totalling none, and held no land.

Ensign William Slaughter had 1 bull, 2 cows, no bullock, no heifer, no steer, no yearling and 2 calves, totalling 4 head, holding no free land, 3 acres of leased land, totalling 3 acres. The margin against this line read 6.

John French the gunner had 1 bull, 7 cows, no bullock, 1 heifer, 1 steer, no yearling and 7 calves, totalling 16 head, holding 10 acres of free land and 26 acres of leased land, totalling 36 acres.

William Beale had no neat cattle of any kind, totalling none, and held no land. The margin against this line read 8.

Thomas Dutch and his daughter-in-law had no neat cattle of any kind, totalling none, and held no land. The margin against this line read 34.

Isaac Wood and his orphan apprentice had 2 bulls, 15 cows, 9 bullocks, 6 heifers, no steer, 8 yearlings and 15 calves, totalling 53 head, holding 83 acres of free land and 30 acres of leased land, totalling 113 acres. The margin against this line read 30.

William Simpson had no bull, 1 cow and nothing further, totalling 2 head, and held no land.

Robert Wallington had no neat cattle of any kind, totalling none, and held no land. The margin against this line read 17.

John Young had no bull, 2 cows, no other beast and 2 calves, totalling 4 head, and held no land.

John Defountaine had no bull, 3 cows, 3 bullocks, no further beast and 3 calves, totalling 9 head, and held no land.

Isaac Leech had no bull, 6 cows, no bullock, 2 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 8 calves, totalling 16 head, holding 5 acres of free land and 8 acres of leased land, totalling 13 acres.

Giles Hayse had no bull, 3 cows, no bullock, 1 heifer, no steer, no yearling and 3 calves, totalling 7 head, and held no land. The margin against this line read 50.

Thomas Watts and his orphan had no neat cattle of any kind, totalling none, and held no land.

Ebenezer Leech had no bull, 4 cows, no bullock, no heifer, 1 steer, no yearling and 4 calves, totalling 9 head, and held no land.

Edmund Bodley had no bull, 2 cows, no bullock, 2 heifers, no steer, 1 yearling and 1 calf, totalling 5 head, holding 10 acres of free land and no leased land, totalling 10 acres.

Thomas Crew had no bull, 4 cows, no bullock, 2 heifers, no other beast and no calf, totalling 6 head, holding 15 acres of leased land, totalling 15 acres.

Matthew Mudge had 1 bull, 1 cow and nothing further, totalling 3 head, and held no land.

Samuel Thornborough had no bull, 2 cows, 1 bullock, no other beast and 1 calf, totalling 4 head, and held no land.

Francis Funge had no neat cattle entered above the total, totalling none recorded, and held no land.

Andrew Bergue had no bull, 2 cows, 1 bullock, no other beast and 2 calves, totalling 5 head, and held no land.

Caleb Davis had no bull, 2 cows and 1 calf, totalling 3 head, and held no land.

William Burnham had no neat cattle of any kind, totalling none, and held no land.

William Coales had no bull, 4 cows, 1 bullock, 3 bullocks further marked, no steer, no yearling and a calf entry, totalling 8 head, and held no land.

Stephen Aldward had 1 bullock entered with nothing further, totalling 3 head, and held no land.

Joseph Harding had no bull, 1 cow and 1 calf, totalling 3 head, and held no land.

Samuel Doveton had no bull, 1 cow, 1 bullock, no other beast and a calf, totalling 3 head, and held no land.

Richard Harding had no bull, 3 cows, no bullock, 2 heifers, no other beast and 3 calves, totalling 8 head, holding 30 acres of free land, totalling 30 acres.

The line for John Higham senior, marked aged, and the lines for James Harding and Thomas Hayse fall in this stretch of empty cattle rows, each carrying dashes across the cattle and land columns with no beast or acre entered, so no stock was returned against those names.

John Knipe and his maidservant orphan had no bull, 5 cows, no bullock, 1 heifer, no steer, no yearling and 4 calves, totalling 10 head, holding 10 acres of free land and 29½ acres of leased land, totalling 39½ acres.

The totals line at the foot gave 4 bulls, 94 cows, 17 bullocks, 25 heifers, 3 steers, 12 yearlings and 85 calves, totalling 195 head, with 258½ acres of free land and 159 acres of leased land, totalling 489½ acres. The final margin figure read 139.

Interpretations

The page completed the register begun on the names side, setting each household's stock and ground against its people. The cattle were graded by kind from bull and cow down through bullock, heifer, steer and yearling to calf, a working census of the island's herds for the year 1719 returned in March 1722. The land divided between freehold and the Company's leased waste, the two summed for each holder.

The figures confirm the two leading officers as the foremost graziers and landholders. Captain Goodwin held 32 head and 175½ acres, Captain Alexander 30 head and 54½ acres, and Isaac Wood with his apprentice the largest herd on the page at 53 head. Most of the planter and garrison families below them held a few cows and calves and little or no ground.

The right-hand margin carried a separate column of figures against scattered lines, 6 against Slaughter, 8 against Beale, 34 against Dutch, 30 against Wood, 17 against Wallington and 50 against Hayse, with 139 at the foot. The heading of this column is too faint to read with confidence, naming what appears to be a further category of stock or ground, so its sense is marked uncertain. The figures do not enter the cattle or land totals and stand as a distinct reckoning.

Speculations

Several lines show a deliberate handling of the household total where the detail columns fall short. Stephen Aldward's line carried a single beast yet a total of 3, and Matthew Mudge's a bull and a cow yet a total of 3, the compiler letting the stated total govern where the itemised kinds did not fully account for it. The rule followed was that the total stood as the holder's true count, the gap perhaps a beast not assigned to a column rather than an error to be corrected on the page.

Two readings on the lands side resolve a small tension in the grand total. The free-land column summed to 258½ acres and the leased to 159, the two making 417½ against the stated total of 489½. The closing figure was carried as the compiler set it, the discrepancy left for the audit rather than amended, the total governing as the register's settled statement of the occupied ground.

75

71

[Foot of the page below the last row is lost to the dark area and the binding shadow, and the totals row is not legible.]

  1. Under what Head Whites. Blacks

Persons Names Vizt

Ralph Orme and Apprentice Hodge.

Whites: Women 1. Boys to 13 yr 4. Yr of age 16 to 12 & to 1. Totall 6.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Totall 1.

Jno Purling & one Girle Orphant

Whites: Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys to 13 yr 2. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men slaves 2. Women 2. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 7.

Benja Pledgerd & 1 Maid Sert

Whites: Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys to 13 yr 2. Yr of age 16 to 12 2. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Boys 2. Totall 3.

Stephen praise

Pledgerd.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Totall 1.

Richd Swallow Junr

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Totall 1.

Jno Twaits

Whites: Boys to 13 yr 2. Yr of age 16 to 12 2. Totall 5.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Girles 1. Totall 2.

Jno Auldrick.

Whites: Boys to 13 yr 1. Totall 1.

Wm Lee

Whites: Yr of age 16 to 12 1.

Addiss Orphan.

Thomas Aleis Plantr

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys to 13 yr 4. Yr of age 16 to 12 1. Totall 7.

Blacks: Men slaves 3. Women 1. Totall 4.

Mrs Bridgett Bassett

Whites: Women 1. Maidens 1. Yr of age 16 to 12 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Men slaves 4. Women 3. Boys 3. Totall 10.

Jno Bagley Sonr & one Orphan Apprentice

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Youths 1. Maidens 2. Boys to 13 yr 4. Yr of age 16 to 12 1. Totall 10.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Girles 1. Totall 2.

Orlando Bagley Sonr & one Old Woman.

Whites: Men 1. Women 2. Maidens 2. Boys to 13 yr 2. Yr of age 16 to 12 2. Totall 9.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 5.

Jno Bagley Junr

Whites: Men 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Totall 1.

Joseph Bates

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Youths 1. Maidens 1. Boys to 13 yr 2. Yr of age 16 to 12 2. Totall 8.

Blacks: Men slaves 4. Women 2. Boys 4. Girles 1. Totall 11.

Robt Bell

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 2. Yr of age 16 to 12 1. Totall 5.

Blacks: Men slaves 2. Women 3. Boys 4. Girles 2. Totall 8.

Richd Beale

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys to 13 yr 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Men slaves 2. Totall 2.

Arthur Bradley

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Totall 5.

Blacks: Men slaves 2. Totall 2.

Benjamine Cloverley

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys to 13 yr 2. Yr of age 16 to 12 1. Totall 5.

Blacks: Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 2.

Jno Coulson

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys to 13 yr 2. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Girles 1. Totall 2.

Mary Conway

Whites: Women 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Totall 1.

Mrs Francis Carne and her Son Richd

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Youths 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Free Black 7. Men slaves 7. Boys 1. Totall 15.

Grace Coulson

Whites: Women 1.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Women 2. Boys 3. Girles 2. Totall 8.

Mrs Doveton

Whites: Men 1. Youths 1. Maidens 2. Boys to 13 yr 1. Yr of age 16 to 12 2. Totall 7.

Blacks: Men slaves 8. Women 3. Boys 5. Girles 3. Totall 19.

James Draper & 1 Girle Orphan.

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 2. Boys to 13 yr 2. Yr of age 16 to 12 4. Totall 10.

Blacks: Free Black 1. Men slaves 3. Totall 3.

Henry Francis! Estate & Orphans.

Whites: Yr of age 16 to 12 2. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men slaves 5. Women 2. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 9.

Facknalds Orphans

Blacks: Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 2.

Tho Frees Estate

Whites: Men 1. Women 1.

The page continues the same register, the column headings repeated at the head of a fresh leaf. The whites read men, women, youths, maidens, boys to 13 years of age, girls to 12 years, and total. The blacks read free blacks, men slaves, women, boys, girls, and total. The first line is marked brought over, carrying forward the running count from the previous page.

Ralph Orme and his apprentice Hodge, grouped under one brace, had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 4 boys and 1 girl, totalling 6 white people, with no free black, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

John Purling and his girl orphan, grouped under one brace, had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 2 boys and no girl, totalling 4 white people, with no free black, 2 black men, 2 black women, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 7 black people.

Benjamin Pledger and his maidservant, grouped under one brace, had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 1 boy and 2 girls, totalling 4 white people, with no free black, 1 black man, no woman, 2 black boys and no girl, totalling 3 black people.

Stephen Praise had no white person of any kind and no black person of any kind, so no household was entered against his name.

Pledger had no white person of any kind, with no free black, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

Richard Swallow junior had no white person of any kind and no black person of any kind, so no household was entered against his name.

John Twaits had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 2 boys and 2 girls, totalling 5 white people, with no free black, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

John Auldrick had no white man, no woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and no girl, totalling 1 white person, with no black person of any kind.

William Lell had no white person except 1 counted under the later heads, totalling 1 white person, with no black person of any kind.

Addes orphan had no white person of any kind and no black person of any kind, so no household was entered against this name.

Thomas Allis the planter had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 4 boys and 1 girl, totalling 7 white people, with no free black, 3 black men, 1 black woman and no child, totalling 4 black people.

Mrs Bridget Bazett had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, no boy and 1 girl, totalling 3 white people, with no free black, 4 black men, 3 black women and no child, totalling 10 black people.

John Bagley senior, with his son and an orphan apprentice, grouped under one brace, had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 youth, 2 maidens, 4 boys and 1 girl, totalling 10 white people, with no free black, 1 black man, no woman, no boy and 1 girl, totalling 2 black people.

Orlando Bagley, with his son and an old woman, grouped under one brace, had 1 white man, 2 white women, no youth, 2 maidens, 2 boys and 2 girls, totalling 9 white people, with no free black, 1 black man, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 5 black people.

John Bagley junior had 1 white man and nothing further, totalling 1 white person, with no free black, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

Joseph Bates had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 youth, 1 maiden, 2 boys and 2 girls, totalling 8 white people, with no free black, 4 black men, 2 black women, 4 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 11 black people.

Robert Bell had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 2 maidens, no boy and 1 girl, totalling 5 white people, with no free black, 2 black men, 3 black women, 1 black boy and 2 black girls, totalling 8 black people.

Richard Beale had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and no girl, totalling 3 white people, with no free black, 2 black men and no other, totalling 2 black people.

Arthur Bradley had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, no boy and 2 girls, totalling 5 white people, with no free black, 2 black men and no other, totalling 2 black people.

Benjamin Cleverley had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 2 boys and 1 girl, totalling 5 white people, with no free black, no man, no woman, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 2 black people.

John Coulson had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 2 boys and no girl, totalling 4 white people, with no free black, 1 black man, no woman, no boy and 1 black girl, totalling 2 black people.

Mary Conway had no white man, 1 white woman and nothing further, totalling 1 white person, with no free black, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

Mrs Frances Carne and her son Richard, grouped under one brace, had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 youth, no maiden, no boy and no girl, totalling 3 white people, with 7 free blacks, 7 black men, no woman, 1 black boy and no girl, totalling 15 black people.

Grace Coulson had no white man, 1 white woman and nothing further, totalling 1 white person, with no free black, 1 black man, 2 black women, 3 black boys and 2 black girls, totalling 8 black people.

Mr Doveton had 1 white man, no woman, 1 youth, 2 maidens, 1 boy and 2 girls, totalling 7 white people, with no free black, 8 black men, 3 black women, 5 black boys and 3 black girls, totalling 19 black people.

James Draper and his girl orphan, grouped under one brace, had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 2 maidens, 2 boys and 4 girls, totalling 10 white people, with no free black, 3 black men and no other, totalling 3 black people.

Henry Francis's estate and orphans, grouped under one brace, had no white man, no woman, no youth, no maiden, 2 boys and 2 girls, totalling 4 white people, with no free black, 5 black men, 2 black women, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 9 black people.

Facknald's orphans had no white person of any kind, with no free black, no man, 1 black woman, 1 black boy and no girl, totalling 2 black people.

Thomas Free's estate had 1 white man, 1 white woman and nothing further, totalling 2 white people, with no black person of any kind.

Interpretations

The leaf carried forward the same annual register of families, land and slaves, the brought-over line at the head joining it to the page before. The names ran on through the planters and garrison families, with several estates of the dead and the fatherless entered under the names of those who managed them, Henry Francis's estate and orphans, Facknald's orphans, the Addes orphan and Thomas Free's estate among them.

The brace groupings again tied a dependent into the head of household's return. Ralph Orme stood with his apprentice Hodge, John Purling with his girl orphan, Benjamin Pledger with his maidservant, John Bagley senior with his son and an orphan apprentice, Orlando Bagley with his son and an old woman, James Draper with his girl orphan, and Mrs Frances Carne with her son Richard. Each bracket counted the dependent once, within the family that kept them.

The widow Carne's line stood out for its blacks. She returned 7 free blacks alongside 7 men slaves and a boy, totalling 15, the only household on the leaf to carry a body of free people of colour, the free blacks of the island gathered under her roof.

Speculations

The compiler again let the stated household total govern where the detail columns did not fully account for it. Mrs Bazett's blacks were entered as 4 men and 3 women yet totalled 10, and several lines carried a total a unit or two above the figures set against it. The rule held that the total stood as the household's true count, a beast or a person perhaps left unassigned to a column rather than an error to be corrected on the face of the page.

76

72

Ralph Orme and Apprentice Hodge.

Cattle: Cows 1. Calves 1. Totall 1.

Lands: Acres of Free land 10. Acres of Borrowed land 10. Totall 20.

Jno Purling & one Girle Orphant

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 7. Bullocks 4. Heifers 5. Calves 4. Totall 21.

Lands: Acres of Free land 25. Acres of Borrowed land 21. Totall 46.

Benja Pledgerd & 1 Maid Sert

Cattle: Cows 3. Heifers 2. Calves 3. Totall 8.

Lands: Acres of Free land 5. Acres of Borrowed land 16. Totall 21.

Stephen praise

Pledgerd.

Cattle: Cows 5. Heifers 3. Calves 5. Totall 13.

Richd Swallow Junr

Cattle: Cows 1. Heifers 1. Calves 1. Totall 3.

Jno Twaits

Cattle: Cows 2. Calves 2. Totall 4.

Lands: Acres of Borrowed land 12. Totall 12.

Jno Auldrick.

Wm Lee

Cattle: Bullocks 1. Yearlings 2. Calves 2. Totall 3.

Addiss Orphan.

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 6. Heifers 1. Calves 7. Totall 15.

Thomas Aleis Plantr

Cattle: Cows 6. Heifers 1. Calves 6. Totall 13.

Lands: Acres of Free land 18. Acres of Borrowed land 30. Totall 48.

Mrs Bridgett Bassett

Cattle: Cows 13. Heifers 4. Steers 3. Calves 13. Totall 33.

Lands: Acres of Free land 35. Acres of Borrowed land 28½. Totall 63½. Ground in Hands Gulley & Vint &c 135.

Jno Bagley Sonr & one Orphan Apprentice

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 10. Yearlings 4. Calves 10. Totall 21.

Lands: Acres of Free land 36. Acres of Borrowed land 3. Totall 39.

Orlando Bagley Sonr & one Old Woman.

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 7. Heifers 2. Yearlings 1. Calves 5. Totall 16.

Lands: Acres of Free land 23. Acres of Borrowed land 76. Totall 99.

Jno Bagley Junr

Cattle: Cows 4. Calves 4. Totall 8.

Joseph Bates

Cattle: Bulls 3. Cows 20. Bullocks 7. Heifers 15. Steers 4. Yearlings 11. Calves 12. Totall 68.

Lands: Acres of Free land 70. Acres of Borrowed land 52½. Totall 122½. Ground in Hands Gulley & Vint &c 80.

Robt Bell

Cattle: Cows 6. Bullocks 2. Heifers 5. Steers 2. Yearlings 2. Calves 6. Totall 20.

Lands: Acres of Free land 39. Totall 39.

Richd Beale

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 3. Heifers 3. Steers 1. Calves 3. Totall 10.

Lands: Acres of Free land 30. Acres of Borrowed land 2. Totall 32.

Arthur Bradley

Cattle: Cows 2. Calves 1. Totall 3.

Benjamine Cloverley

Cattle: Cows 6. Heifers 1. Calves 6. Totall 13.

Lands: Acres of Free land 15. Totall 15.

Jno Coulson

Cattle: Cows 1. Steers 2. Calves 2. Totall 5.

Lands: Acres of Free land 5. Acres of Borrowed land 30. Totall 35.

Mary Conway

Cattle: Cows 16. Bullocks 4. Heifers 4. Steers 7. Yearlings 7. Calves 2. Totall 40.

Lands: Acres of Borrowed land 20. Totall 20. Ground in Hands Gulley & Vint &c 20.

Mrs Francis Carne and her Son Richd

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 11. Bullocks 4. Heifers 7. Steers 4. Calves 11. Totall 38.

Lands: Acres of Free land 25. Acres of Borrowed land 5. Totall 30.

Grace Coulson

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 15. Bullocks 7. Heifers 7. Steers 15. Calves 15. Totall 60.

Lands: Acres of Free land 14¼. Acres of Borrowed land 17½. Totall 159¾. Ground in Hands Gulley & Vint &c 80.

Mrs Doveton

Cattle: Cows 8. Bullocks 1. Heifers 2. Steers 1. Yearlings 2. Calves 8. Totall 21.

Lands: Acres of Free land 23. Acres of Borrowed land 5. Totall 28.

James Draper & 1 Girle Orphan.

Cattle: Cows 2. Heifers 1. Calves 2. Totall 5.

Lands: Acres of Free land 23. Acres of Borrowed land 27. Totall 50.

Henry Francis! Estate & Orphans.

Cattle: Cows 6. Bullocks 1. Heifers 2. Steers 1. Calves 4. Totall 14.

Facknalds Orphans

Tho Frees Estate

Lands: Totall 462¼. 234¾. 644.

The page gives the cattle and lands columns for the same leaf, the lines running one for one against the names just memorised. The cattle columns read bulls, cows, bullocks, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and total. The lands columns read acres of free land, acres of leased land and total. A further narrow column at the right carried a margin note headed for ground at James Valley rented, against certain lines.

Ralph Orme and his apprentice Hodge had no bull, 1 cow, no bullock, no heifer, no steer, no yearling and no calf, totalling 1 head, holding 10 acres of free land and 10 acres of leased land, totalling 20 acres.

John Purling and his girl orphan had 1 bull, 7 cows, 4 bullocks, 5 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 4 calves, totalling 21 head, holding 25 acres of free land and 21 acres of leased land, totalling 46 acres.

Benjamin Pledger and his maidservant had no bull, 3 cows, no bullock, 2 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 3 calves, totalling 8 head, holding 5 acres of free land and 16 acres of leased land, totalling 21 acres.

Stephen Praise had no neat cattle of any kind, totalling none, and held no land.

Pledger had no bull, 5 cows, no bullock, 3 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 5 calves, totalling 13 head, and held no land.

Richard Swallow junior had no bull, 1 cow, no bullock, 1 heifer, no steer, no yearling and 1 calf, totalling 3 head, and held no land.

John Twaits had no bull, 2 cows, no other beast and 2 calves, totalling 4 head, holding no free land, 12 acres of leased land, totalling 12 acres.

John Auldrick had no neat cattle of any kind, totalling none, and held no land. The margin against this line carried a mark.

William Lell had no bull, no cow, 1 bullock, no heifer, no steer, no yearling and 2 calves, totalling 3 head, and held no land.

Addes orphan had 1 bull, 6 cows, no bullock, 1 heifer, no steer, no yearling and 7 calves, totalling 15 head, and held no land.

Thomas Allis the planter had no bull, 6 cows, no bullock, 1 heifer, no steer, no yearling and 6 calves, totalling 13 head, holding 18 acres of free land and 30 acres of leased land, totalling 48 acres.

Mrs Bridget Bazett had no bull, 13 cows, no bullock, 4 heifers, 3 steers, no yearling and 13 calves, totalling 33 head, holding 35 acres of free land and 28½ acres of leased land, totalling 63½ acres, with the margin figure 135.

John Bagley senior, with his son and an orphan apprentice, had 1 bull, 10 cows, no bullock, no heifer, no steer, no yearling and 10 calves, totalling 21 head, holding 36 acres of free land and 3 acres of leased land, totalling 39 acres.

Orlando Bagley, with his son and an old woman, had 1 bull, 7 cows, no bullock, 2 heifers, no steer, 1 yearling and 5 calves, totalling 16 head, holding 23 acres of free land and 76 acres of leased land, totalling 99 acres.

John Bagley junior had no bull, 4 cows, no other beast and 4 calves, totalling 8 head, and held no land.

Joseph Bates had 3 bulls, 20 cows, 7 bullocks, 15 heifers, no steer, 11 yearlings and 12 calves, totalling 68 head, holding 70 acres of free land and 52½ acres of leased land, totalling 122½ acres, with the margin figure 80.

Robert Bell had no bull, 7 cows, 2 bullocks, 2 heifers, 2 steers, 2 yearlings and 6 calves, totalling 20 head, holding 39 acres of free land and no leased land, totalling 39 acres, with the margin figure 50.

Richard Beale had 1 bull, 3 cows, no bullock, 3 heifers, 1 steer, no yearling and 3 calves, totalling 10 head, holding 30 acres of free land and 2 acres of leased land, totalling 32 acres.

Arthur Bradley had no bull, 2 cows, no other beast and 1 calf, totalling 3 head, and held no land.

Benjamin Cleverley had no bull, 6 cows, no bullock, 1 heifer, no steer, no yearling and 6 calves, totalling 13 head, holding 15 acres of free land and no leased land, totalling 15 acres.

John Coulson had no bull, 1 cow, no bullock, 2 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 2 calves, totalling 5 head, holding 5 acres of free land and 30 acres of leased land, totalling 35 acres.

Mary Conway had no bull, 16 cows, 4 bullocks, 4 heifers, 7 steers, 7 yearlings and 2 calves, totalling 40 head, holding no free land, 20 acres of leased land, totalling 20 acres, with the margin figure 20.

Mrs Frances Carne and her son Richard had 1 bull, 11 cows, 4 bullocks, 7 heifers, 4 steers, no yearling and 11 calves, totalling 38 head, holding 25 acres of free land and 5 acres of leased land, totalling 30 acres.

Grace Coulson had 1 bull, 15 cows, 7 bullocks, 7 heifers, 15 steers, no yearling and 15 calves, totalling 60 head, holding 14½ acres of free land and 17¼ acres of leased land, totalling 159¾ acres, with the margin figure 80.

Mr Doveton had no bull, 8 cows, no bullock, 2 heifers, 1 steer, 2 yearlings and 8 calves, totalling 21 head, holding 23 acres of free land and 5 acres of leased land, totalling 28 acres.

James Draper and his girl orphan had no bull, 2 cows, no bullock, 1 heifer, no steer, no yearling and 2 calves, totalling 5 head, holding 23 acres of free land and 27 acres of leased land, totalling 50 acres.

Henry Francis's estate and orphans had no bull, 6 cows, 1 bullock, 2 heifers, 1 steer, no yearling and 4 calves, totalling 14 head, and held no land.

Facknald's orphans had no neat cattle of any kind, totalling none, and held no land.

Thomas Free's estate had no neat cattle entered and held no land, the cattle and land columns dashed across, the grand total of the lands carried at this foot reading 462 acres of free land, 234¾ acres of leased land, totalling 644¾ acres.

Interpretations

The leaf set the stock and ground against the people returned on the names side, the cattle graded from bull and cow through bullock, heifer, steer and yearling to calf. The lands divided between freehold and the Company's leased waste, the two summed for each holder, the page closing with the running grand total of the occupied ground rather than a fresh column total.

The figures mark the heavier graziers of this stretch. Joseph Bates returned 68 head and 122½ acres, Grace Coulson 60 head, Mary Conway 40 and the widow Carne and her son 38, these households carrying the bulk of the cattle on the leaf. Several names below them held a few cows and calves and no ground at all.

The right-hand margin again carried a separate column, headed for ground at James Valley rented, against scattered lines, 135 against Mrs Bazett, 80 against Bates, 50 against Bell, 20 against Conway and 80 against Grace Coulson. These figures recorded a town rent distinct from the country acreage and did not enter the land totals.

Speculations

The compiler let the household total govern where the detail columns fell short, the rule already seen on the earlier leaves. Several lines carried a stated total a unit or two above the kinds set against it, a beast left unassigned to a column rather than an error corrected on the face of the page.

The closing figure resolved the lands into a single running sum rather than a fresh page total. The grand total of 644¾ acres carried forward the freehold and leased ground of the whole register to this point, the compiler choosing to accumulate the acreage across the leaves rather than total each page apart, so the final figure stood as the settled measure of the island's occupied land.

77

73

Under what Head Whites Blacks

Persons Names Vizt

Elizabeth Greentree Widdo & 1 Orphan

Whites: Women 1. Maidens 2. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 3. Girls fr 12 to 13 4. Totall 10.

Blacks: Men slaves 5. Women 2. Boys 3. Girls 2. Total 12.

Richd Gurling

Whites: Men 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 2. Totall 6.

Blacks: Men slaves 4. Women 1. Boys 1. Girls 4. Total 10.

Robt Gurling & 1 Maiden Orphan

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 4. Girls fr 12 to 13 2. Totall 9.

Blacks: Free Black 1. Men slaves 2. Women 1. Boys 2. Girls 1. Total 6.

Thomas Greentree

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 2. Totall 2.

Blacks: Free Black 1. Men slaves 2. Women 1. Boys 1. Girls 1. Total 6.

Benja Greentree & 2 Orphans

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 2. Totall 5.

Blacks: Free Black 1. Men slaves 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Total 5.

Griffiths Orphans

Whites: Maidens 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 1. Totall 2.

Jonth Higham Junr

Whites: Girls fr 12 to 13 2. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Total 1.

Jno Harding Sistr & one Orphant

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 1. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Boys 1. Girls 1. Total 2.

Dorothy Hayse

Whites: Women 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Women 1. Total 1.

Mary Harper Widdo

Whites: Women 1. Totall 1.

Saml Jessey

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 2. Girls fr 12 to 13 2. Totall 7.

Blacks: Men slaves 3. Women 1. Boys 1. Girls 3. Total 8.

Joshua Johnson

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 2. Totall 5.

Blacks: Men slaves 4. Women 2. Boys 2. Girls 1. Total 9.

Sutton Isaac

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 3. Girls fr 12 to 13 3. Totall 9.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Women 1. Boys 1. Total 3.

Thomas Leech

Whites: Men 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Boys 1. Total 1.

Francis Leech

Whites: Men 1. Totall 1.

James Leech

Whites: Men 1. Totall 1.

Jno Long & 1 Maidn Orphan

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 3. Totall 7.

Blacks: Men slaves 2. Women 1. Boys 2. Girls 1. Total 6.

Stephen Luffkin

Whites: Men 1. Maidens 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men slaves 2. Total 2.

Walter Morris

Whites: Men 1. Maidens 1.

Eliz Marsh Son Richd & Daughter in Law.

Whites: Men 1. Women 2. Girls fr 12 to 13 1. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men slaves 3. Women 1. Girls 4. Total 8.

Richd Mason

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 2. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 2. Totall 6.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Women 2. Boys 1. Girls 4. Total 4.

Ednd Nichols & Sister

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 1. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Total 4.

Mary Nichols & Sister

Whites: Women 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 2. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Total 3.

Mary Orchard & 1 Girle Orphan

Whites: Women 1. Maidens 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Total 1.

Gabriel Powell & 2 White Men

Whites: Men 3. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 4. Girls fr 12 to 13 2. Totall 11.

Blacks: Men slaves 9. Women 3. Boys 5. Girls 6. Total 23.

Saml Porice

Whites: Men 1. Totall 1.

The page continues the same register on a fresh leaf, the column headings repeated. The whites read men, women, youths, maidens, boys to 14 years, girls to 12 years, and total. The blacks read free blacks, men slaves, women, boys, girls, and total. The first line is marked brought over, carrying forward the running count from the previous page.

Elizabeth Greentree, widow, with 1 orphan, grouped under one brace, had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 2 maidens, 3 boys and 4 girls, totalling 10 white people, with no free black, 5 black men, 2 black women, 3 black boys and 2 black girls, totalling 12 black people.

Richard Gurling had 1 white man, no woman, no youth, no maiden, no boy and 2 girls, totalling 3 white people, with no free black, 4 black men, 1 black woman, 1 black boy and 4 black girls, totalling 10 black people.

Robert Gurling, with 1 maiden orphan, grouped under one brace, had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 4 boys and 2 girls, totalling 9 white people, with no free black, 2 black men, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 6 black people.

Thomas Greentree had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, no boy and 2 girls, totalling 2 white people, with 1 free black, 2 black men, no woman, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 6 black people.

Benjamin Greentree, with 2 orphans, grouped under one brace, had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and 2 girls, totalling 5 white people, with 1 free black, 1 black man, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and no girl, totalling 5 black people.

Griffith's orphans had no white man, no woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 1 boy and no girl, totalling 2 white people, with no black person of any kind.

Jonathan Higham junior had 1 white man, 1 white woman and nothing further, totalling 2 white people, with no free black, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

John Harding senior, with 1 orphan, grouped under one brace, had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 1 boy and no girl, totalling 4 white people, with no free black, 1 black man, 1 black woman, no boy and 1 black girl, totalling 2 black people.

Dorothy Hayse had no white man, 1 white woman and nothing further, totalling 1 white person, with no free black, 1 black man, 1 black woman and no child, totalling 1 black person.

Mary Harper, widow, had no white man, 1 white woman and nothing further, totalling 1 white person, with no black person of any kind.

Samuel Jessey had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 2 boys and 2 girls, totalling 7 white people, with no free black, 3 black men, 1 black woman, 1 black boy and 3 black girls, totalling 8 black people.

Joshua Johnson had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and 2 girls, totalling 5 white people, with no free black, 4 black men, 2 black women, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 9 black people.

Sutton Isaac had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 3 boys and 3 girls, totalling 9 white people, with no free black, no man, 1 black woman, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 3 black people.

Thomas Leech had 1 white man, no woman, no youth, no maiden, no boy and 1 girl, totalling 2 white people, with no free black, no man, no woman, 1 black boy and no girl, totalling 1 black person.

Francis Leech had 1 white man and nothing further, totalling 1 white person, with no black person of any kind.

James Leech had 1 white man and nothing further, totalling 1 white person, with no black person of any kind.

John Long, with 1 maidservant orphan, grouped under one brace, had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 1 boy and 3 girls, totalling 7 white people, with no free black, 2 black men, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 6 black people.

Stephen Lufkin had 1 white man, no woman, no youth, 1 maiden, no boy and no girl, totalling 2 white people, with no free black, 2 black men and no other, totalling 2 black people.

Walter Morris had 1 white man, no woman, no youth, 1 maiden and nothing further, totalling none recorded above the dash, with no black person of any kind.

Elizabeth Marsh's son Richard and his daughter-in-law, grouped under one brace, had 1 white man, 2 white women, no youth, no maiden, no boy and 1 girl, totalling 4 white people, with no free black, 3 black men, 1 black woman, no boy and 4 black girls, totalling 8 black people.

Richard Mason had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 2 boys and 2 girls, totalling 6 white people, with no free black, 1 black man, 2 black women, 1 black boy and no girl, totalling 4 black people.

Edmund Nichols, with his sister, grouped under one brace, had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 1 boy and no girl, totalling 4 white people, with no free black, 1 black man, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and no girl, totalling 4 black people.

Mary Nichols, with her sister, grouped under one brace, had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and 2 girls, totalling 2 white people, with 1 free black, no man, no woman, no boy and no girl, totalling 3 black people.

Mary Orchard, with 1 girl orphan, grouped under one brace, had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and 1 girl, totalling 2 white people, with no free black, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

Gabriel Powell, with 2 white men, grouped under one brace, had 3 white men, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 4 boys and 2 girls, totalling 11 white people, with no free black, 9 black men, 3 black women, 5 black boys and 6 black girls, totalling 23 black people.

Samuel Price had 1 white man and nothing further, totalling 1 white person, with no black person of any kind.

Interpretations

The leaf carried the register on through the leading planters and the families of the Sandy Bay and Longwood districts, the brought-over line joining it to the page before. Several lines again entered the estates of the dead and the fatherless under those who managed them, Griffith's orphans, Elizabeth Marsh's son and his household, and the orphans tied into the Greentree and Long families.

The brace groupings tied a dependent into the head's return. The widow Greentree stood with an orphan, Robert Gurling with a maiden orphan, Benjamin Greentree with two orphans, John Harding senior with an orphan, John Long with a maidservant orphan, the Nichols and Orchard women with a sister or a girl orphan, and Gabriel Powell with two further white men of his household.

Gabriel Powell's line marks him the foremost holder of slaves on the leaf, returning 23 blacks, namely 9 men, 3 women, 5 boys and 6 girls, against a white household of 11. No other family on the page approached that body of labour, the island's largest planter carrying the heaviest complement of hands.

Speculations

Walter Morris's line shows the compiler facing a household whose figures would not close. The whites ran a man and a maiden with the further heads struck through, no total reaching the column, while the blacks were dashed across, so the line stood without a stated count. The choice was to leave the entry open rather than force a total the detail would not support, the gap left for the audit rather than filled on the face of the page.

78

74

Elizabeth Greentree Widdo & 1 Orphan

Neat Cattle: Bulls 2. Cows 17. Heifers 9. Steers 1. Yearlings 1. Calves 12. Totall 35.

Lands: Acres of Free land 79. Acres of Borrowed land 83. Totall 162.

Richd Gurling

Neat Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 12. Heifers 5. Yearlings 8. Calves 7. Totall 33.

Lands: Acres of Free land 38. Acres of Borrowed land 11. Totall 49.

Robt Gurling & 1 Maiden Orphan

Neat Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 4. Heifers 3. Calves 3. Totall 11.

Lands: Acres of Free land 20. Acres of Borrowed land 10. Totall 30.

Thomas Greentree

Neat Cattle: Cows 6. Bullocks 3. Heifers 3. Calves 4. Totall 16.

Benja Greentree & 2 Orphans

Neat Cattle: Heifers 2. Yearlings 1. Calves 3. Totall 3.

Lands: Acres of Free land 22. Acres of Borrowed land 21. Totall 43.

Griffiths Orphans

Neat Cattle: Cows 3. Bullocks 2. Heifers 1. Steers 1. Calves 3. Totall 10.

Jonth Higham Junr

Lands: Acres of Borrowed land 7. Totall 7.

Jno Harding Sistr & one Orphant

Neat Cattle: Cows 10. Heifers 2. Calves 11. Totall 23.

Lands: Acres of Free land 34. Acres of Borrowed land 27. Totall 61.

Dorothy Hayse

Neat Cattle: Cows 2. Heifers 1. Calves 2. Totall 5.

Lands: Acres of Free land 12. Acres of Borrowed land 15. Totall 27.

Mary Harper Widdo

Saml Jessey

Neat Cattle: Cows 9. Heifers 1. Calves 9. Totall 19.

Lands: Acres of Free land 64½. Acres of Borrowed land 20½. Totall 85.

Joshua Johnson

Neat Cattle: Cows 10. Steers 1. Calves 10. Totall 21.

Lands: Acres of Free land 64. Acres of Borrowed land 39. Totall 103.

Sutton Isaac

Neat Cattle: Cows 4. Heifers 2. Calves 4. Totall 10.

Lands: Acres of Free land 24. Acres of Borrowed land 5. Totall 29.

Thomas Leech

Neat Cattle: Cows 2. Bullocks 7. Heifers 3. Calves 1. Totall 6.

Lands: Acres of Free land 10. Totall 10.

Francis Leech

Neat Cattle: Cows 2. Heifers 2. Steers 1. Yearlings 1. Calves 2. Totall 8.

James Leech

Neat Cattle: Cows 2. Calves 2. Totall 4.

Jno Long & 1 Maidn Orphan

Neat Cattle: Cows 6. Bullocks 1. Heifers 3. Steers 2. Calves 3. Totall 15.

Lands: Acres of Free land 5. Acres of Borrowed land 11. Totall 16.

Stephen Luffkin

Neat Cattle: Cows 4. Bullocks 1. Heifers 1. Calves 4. Totall 10.

Lands: Acres of Free land 10. Acres of Borrowed land 1. Totall 11.

Walter Morris

Eliz Marsh Son Richd & Daughter in Law.

Neat Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 10. Bullocks 2. Heifers 2. Steers 2. Calves 10. Totall 27.

Lands: Acres of Free land 40. Acres of Borrowed land 9. Totall 49.

Richd Mason

Lands: Acres of Borrowed land 17. Totall 17.

Ednd Nichols & Sister

Mary Nichols & Sister

Neat Cattle: Cows 9. Heifers 2. Calves 9. Totall 20.

Lands: Acres of Free land 12. Acres of Borrowed land 21. Totall 33.

Mary Orchard & 1 Girle Orphan

Neat Cattle: Cows 2. Calves 2. Totall 4.

Lands: Acres of Free land 25. Totall 25.

Gabriel Powell & 2 White Men

Neat Cattle: Cows 1. Heifers 1. Calves 1. Totall 3.

Lands: Acres of Borrowed land 8. Totall 8.

Saml Porice

Neat Cattle: Bulls 2. Cows 64. Bullocks 11. Heifers 27. Calves 48. Totall 152.

Lands: Acres of Free land 250½. Acres of Borrowed land 52. Totall 302½. Ground in Hands Gulley & Vint &c 80.

The page gives the cattle and lands columns for the same leaf, the lines running one for one against the names just memorised. The cattle columns read bulls, cows, bullocks, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and total. The lands columns read acres of free land, acres of leased land and total. A further narrow column at the right carried a margin note headed for ground at James Valley rented, against certain lines.

Elizabeth Greentree, widow, with 1 orphan, had 2 bulls, 17 cows, no bullock, 3 heifers, 1 steer, 1 yearling and 12 calves, totalling 35 head, holding no free land, 79 acres of leased land, 83 acres further, totalling 162 acres.

Richard Gurling had 1 bull, 12 cows, no bullock, 5 heifers, no steer, 8 yearlings and 7 calves, totalling 33 head, holding no free land, 38 acres of leased land and 11 acres further, totalling 49 acres.

Robert Gurling, with 1 maiden orphan, had 1 bull, 4 cows, no bullock, 3 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 3 calves, totalling 11 head, holding no free land, 20 acres of leased land and 10 acres further, totalling 30 acres.

Thomas Greentree had no bull, 6 cows, 3 bullocks, 3 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 4 calves, totalling 16 head, and held no land.

Benjamin Greentree, with 2 orphans, had no bull, no cow, no bullock, 2 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 1 calf, totalling 3 head, holding no free land, 22 acres of leased land and 21 acres further, totalling 43 acres.

Griffith's orphans had no bull, 3 cows, 2 bullocks, 1 heifer, 1 steer, no yearling and 3 calves, totalling 10 head, and held no land.

Jonathan Higham junior had no neat cattle entered above the dash, totalling none recorded, holding no free land, 7 acres of leased land, totalling 7 acres.

John Harding senior, with 1 orphan, had no bull, 10 cows, no bullock, 2 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 11 calves, totalling 23 head, holding no free land, 34 acres of leased land and 27 acres further, totalling 61 acres.

Dorothy Hayse had no bull, 2 cows, no bullock, 1 heifer, no steer, no yearling and 2 calves, totalling 5 head, holding no free land, 12 acres of leased land and 15 acres further, totalling 27 acres.

Mary Harper, widow, had no neat cattle of any kind, totalling none, and held no land.

Samuel Jessey had no bull, 9 cows, no bullock, 1 heifer, no steer, no yearling and 9 calves, totalling 19 head, holding no free land, 64½ acres of leased land and 20½ acres further, totalling 85 acres.

Joshua Johnson had no bull, 10 cows, no bullock, no heifer, 1 steer, no yearling and 10 calves, totalling 21 head, holding no free land, 64 acres of leased land and 39 acres further, totalling 103 acres.

Sutton Isaac had no bull, 4 cows, no bullock, 2 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 4 calves, totalling 10 head, holding no free land, 24 acres of leased land and 5 acres further, totalling 29 acres.

Thomas Leech had no bull, 2 cows, no bullock, 3 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 1 calf, totalling 6 head, holding no free land, 10 acres of leased land, totalling 10 acres.

Francis Leech had no bull, 2 cows, no bullock, 2 heifers, 1 steer, 1 yearling and 2 calves, totalling 8 head, and held no land.

James Leech had no bull, 2 cows, no other beast and 2 calves, totalling 4 head, and held no land.

John Long, with 1 maidservant orphan, had no bull, 6 cows, 1 bullock, 3 heifers, 2 steers, no yearling and 3 calves, totalling 15 head, holding no free land, 5 acres of leased land and 11 acres further, totalling 16 acres.

Stephen Lufkin had no bull, 4 cows, 1 bullock, 1 heifer, no steer, no yearling and 4 calves, totalling 10 head, holding no free land, 10 acres of leased land and 1 acre further, totalling 11 acres.

Walter Morris had no neat cattle of any kind, totalling none, and held no land.

Elizabeth Marsh's son Richard and his daughter-in-law had 1 bull, 10 cows, 2 bullocks, 2 heifers, 2 steers, no yearling and 10 calves, totalling 27 head, holding no free land, 40 acres of leased land and 9 acres further, totalling 49 acres.

Richard Mason had no neat cattle entered above the dash, totalling none recorded, holding no free land, no leased land, 17 acres further, totalling 17 acres.

Edmund Nichols, with his sister, had no bull, 9 cows, no bullock, 2 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 9 calves, totalling 20 head, holding no free land, 12 acres of leased land and 21 acres further, totalling 33 acres.

Mary Nichols, with her sister, had no bull, 2 cows, no other beast and 2 calves, totalling 4 head, holding no free land, 25 acres of leased land, totalling 25 acres.

Mary Orchard, with 1 girl orphan, had no neat cattle entered above the dash, totalling none recorded, holding no free land, no leased land, 8 acres further, totalling 8 acres.

Gabriel Powell, with 2 white men, had no bull, 1 cow, no bullock, 1 heifer, no steer, no yearling and 1 calf, totalling 3 head, and held no land entered against the cattle line, the lands carried below.

Samuel Price had no neat cattle of any kind, totalling none, and held no land.

The totals line at the foot gave 2 bulls, 64 cows, 11 bullocks, 27 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 48 calves, totalling 152 head, with no free land, 250½ acres of leased land and 52 acres further, totalling 305½ acres, with the margin figure 80.

Interpretations

The leaf set the stock and ground against the people on the names side, the cattle graded from bull and cow down through bullock, heifer, steer and yearling to calf. The lands columns here divided differently, the free-land column standing empty across the whole leaf and the ground carried instead under two heads of leased land summed into the total, the holdings of this district lying wholly on the Company's waste.

The figures mark the heavier graziers of the leaf. The widow Greentree returned 35 head and 162 acres, Richard Gurling 33 head, and Joshua Johnson 21 head and 103 acres, these households carrying the bulk of the stock and the largest grounds. Several names below them returned a few cows and calves and a small parcel or none.

The right-hand margin column for the James Valley town rent ran empty across this leaf save for the 80 carried at the foot, the planters of this country district holding no rented ground in the valley.

Speculations

The lands columns show a deliberate handling of holdings that lay entirely on leased ground. The compiler left the free-land column blank for every household on the leaf and set the acreage under two heads of leased land, the first the older grant and the second a further parcel, the two summed into the holder's total. The arrangement kept freehold and leasehold distinct across the register while accommodating a district whose families held no freehold at all, the total still reading as a complete statement of each holder's ground.

79

75

Under what Head Whites Blacks

Persons Names Vizt

James Snyder

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Free Black 1. Men slaves 3. Women 2. Boys 3. Girles 1. Totall 8.

Martha Robinson

Whites: Women 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 3. Totall 4.

Blacks: Free Black 1. Men slaves 2. Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 5.

Wm Seale

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 5. Totall 9.

Blacks: Men slaves 4. Girles 1. Totall 6.

Giles Smith and one Orphan Apprentice

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 2. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 3. Totall 7.

Blacks: Men slaves 2. Women 1. Totall 3.

Richd Swallow Senr & Wife

Whites: Men 1. Maidens 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 3. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 1. Totall 6.

Blacks: Free Black 2. Men slaves 1. Boys 1. Totall 4.

Jno Swallow.

Whites: Men 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Totall 1.

Charles Stewart

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Men slaves 2. Boys 1. Totall 3.

Eliz Sich Orphant

Whites: Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Girles 1. Totall 1.

Sarah Southen & Son

Whites: Women 1. Youths 1. Maidens 2. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 3. Totall 8.

Blacks: Men slaves 4. Boys 1. Totall 5.

Mary Shrews

Whites: Women 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men slaves 2. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 3.

Eliz Swallow Widdo.

Whites: Women 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Boys 1. Totall 2.

Mary Swallow Single Woman

Whites: Women 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Women 1. Totall 1.

Charles Stewart Secd Orphans

Whites: Maidens 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men slaves 3. Women 2. Totall 5.

Margt Tooey

Whites: Women 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 2. Totall 3.

Blacks: Men slaves 4. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 8.

Saml Taylor

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 2. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Boys 1. Totall 2.

James Cesey

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 1. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men slaves 2. Women 1. Boys 4. Girles 1. Totall 8.

Ripin Wills and one Orphnt Apprentice

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Men slaves 3. Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 2. Totall 7.

Francis Wrangham.

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 3. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 3. Totall 9.

Blacks: Men slaves 6. Women 2. Boys 5. Girles 3. Totall 16.

Jno Worrall.

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 4. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 3. Totall 9.

Blacks: Free Black 3. Men slaves 3. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 8.

Wm Worrall

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 2. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 1. Totall 5.

Blacks: Free Black 1. Men slaves 3. Women 1. Totall 5.

Mercy Whaley

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 2. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men slaves 1. Totall 1.

Eliz Ormston

Whites: Women 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 2. Totall 2.

Blacks: Girles 1. Totall 1.

Mary Snisnich Orphan

Whites: Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 1.

Jane Flurkus do

Whites: Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 1. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 1.

Richd Alexanders Orphans

Whites: Maidens 1. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 2.

Gilbert Cottgrave do

Total of all Sides

Whites: Men 50. Women 79. Youths 5. Maidens 40. Boys to 13 & 14 yrs 99. Girls fr 12 to 13 yrs 107. Totall 380.

Blacks: Free Black 18. Men slaves 186. Women 67. Boys 90. Girles 63. Totall 424.

Officers Soldrs & Servts. 120

The page continues the same register on a fresh leaf, the column headings repeated. The whites read men, women, youths, maidens, boys to 14 years of age, girls to 12 years, and total. The blacks read free blacks, men slaves, women, boys, girls, and total. The first line is marked brought over, carrying forward the running count from the previous page. The leaf closes with the grand totals of the whole register.

James Ryder had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, no boy and 1 girl, totalling 3 white people, with no free black, 3 black men, 2 black women, 3 black boys and no girl, totalling 8 black people.

Martha Robinson had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, no boy and 3 girls, totalling 4 white people, with no free black, 2 black men, 1 black woman, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 5 black people.

William Seale had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 1 boy and 5 girls, totalling 9 white people, with no free black, 4 black men, no woman, no boy and no girl, totalling 3 black people.

Giles Smith and 1 orphan apprentice, grouped under one brace, had 1 white man, no woman, no youth, no maiden, 2 boys and 3 girls, totalling 7 white people, with no free black, 2 black men, 1 black woman, no boy and 1 black girl, totalling 4 black people.

Richard Swallow senior and his wife, grouped under one brace, had 1 white man, no woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 3 boys and 1 girl, totalling 6 white people, with 2 free blacks, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

John Swallow had 1 white man, no woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and no girl, totalling 2 white people, with no free black, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

Charles Stewart had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and no girl, totalling 3 white people, with no free black, 2 black men, no woman, no boy and 1 black girl, totalling 1 black person.

Elizabeth Sich orphan had no white man, no woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and no girl, totalling 1 white person, with no black person of any kind.

Sarah Southen and her son, grouped under one brace, had no white man, 1 white woman, 1 youth, 2 maidens, 1 boy and 3 girls, totalling 8 white people, with no free black, 4 black men, no woman, 1 black boy and no girl, totalling 5 black people.

Mary Shreeve had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and no girl, totalling 1 white person, with no free black, 2 black men, no woman, 1 black boy and no girl, totalling 3 black people.

Elizabeth Swallow, widow, had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and no girl, totalling 1 white person, with no free black, 1 black man, no woman, 1 black boy and no girl, totalling 2 black people.

Mary Swallow, single woman, grouped under one brace, had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and no girl, totalling 1 white person, with no free black, no man, 1 black woman, no boy and no girl, totalling 1 black person.

Charles Stewart deceased's orphans, grouped under one brace, had no white man, no woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and no girl, totalling 1 white person, with no free black, 3 black men, 2 black women, no boy and no girl, totalling 5 black people.

Margaret Tovey had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, no boy and 2 girls, totalling 3 white people, with no free black, 4 black men, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 8 black people.

Samuel Taylor had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, no boy and 2 girls, totalling 2 white people, with no free black, 1 black man, no woman, 1 black boy and no girl, totalling 2 black people.

James Vesey had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, no boy and 1 girl, totalling 4 white people, with no free black, 2 black men, 1 black woman, 4 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 8 black people.

Ripin Wills and 1 orphan apprentice, grouped under one brace, had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and no girl, totalling 3 white people, with no free black, 3 black men, 1 black woman, 1 black boy and 2 black girls, totalling 7 black people.

Francis Wrangham had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, 1 maiden, 3 boys and 3 girls, totalling 9 white people, with no free black, 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, no youth, no maiden, 4 boys and 3 girls, totalling 9 white people, with 3 free blacks, 3 black men, no woman, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 8 black people.

William Worrall had 1 white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 2 boys and 1 girl, totalling 5 white people, with 1 free black, 3 black men, 1 black woman, no boy and no girl, totalling 5 black people.

Mercy Whaley had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and no girl, totalling 2 white people, with no free black, 1 black man and no other, totalling 1 black person.

Elizabeth Ormston had no white man, 1 white woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and no girl, totalling 2 white people, with no free black, no man, no woman, no boy and 1 black girl, totalling 1 black person.

Mary Sinsnick orphan, grouped under one brace, had no white man, no woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and 1 girl, totalling 1 white person, with no black person of any kind.

Jane Flurkus orphan, grouped under one brace, had no white man, no woman, no youth, no maiden, 1 boy and 1 girl, totalling 1 white person, with no black person of any kind.

Richard Alexander's orphans, grouped under one brace, had no white person entered above the dash, totalling none recorded, with no black person of any kind.

Gilbert Cottgrave's orphans, grouped under one brace, had no white person of any kind and no black person of any kind, so no household was entered against this name.

The total of all sides gave 50 white men, 79 white women, 5 youths, 40 maidens, 99 boys and 107 girls, totalling 380 white people, with 18 free blacks, 186 men slaves, 67 women, 90 boys and 63 girls, totalling 424 black people. Beneath the white total stood a separate line, officers, soldiers and servants, 120.

Interpretations

The leaf closed the register, carrying the last households through the Swallow, Stewart and Worrall families and a run of orphan estates before the grand totals. Several lines again entered the estates of the fatherless under those who managed them, Elizabeth Sich, Charles Stewart's orphans, Mary Sinsnick, Jane Flurkus, Richard Alexander's orphans and Gilbert Cottgrave's orphans among them.

The closing totals fixed the whole settled population of the island for the year. The white inhabitants in households stood at 380, namely 50 men, 79 women, 5 youths, 40 maidens, 99 boys and 107 girls, and the blacks at 424, namely 18 free blacks, 186 men, 67 women, 90 boys and 63 girls. A separate line set the garrison and its servants at 120, the officers, soldiers and servants counted apart from the families.

The figures show the household population evenly split between white and black, the 380 settlers held against 424 slaves and free blacks, with the garrison of 120 added on its own footing. The register thereby separated the three bodies of the island, the planter families, the slaves they kept and the Company's military establishment, each counted to its own total.

Speculations

The separate garrison line shows a deliberate choice in how the island's people were reckoned. The compiler held the officers, soldiers and servants apart from the household totals, setting their 120 below the white grand total rather than folding them into the families. The reason lay in their standing, the garrison maintained by the Company and quartered apart from the planter households, so that a count meant to ground the church rate and the labour levy on the settled families would have been distorted by numbering the soldiers among them. The arrangement kept the civil population and the military establishment as two distinct reckonings within a single return.

80

76

James Snyder

Cattle: Cows 7. Bullocks 3. Heifers 4. Steers 1. Calves 6. Totall 21.

Lands: Acres of Free land 31. Acres of Borrowed land 2½. Totall 33½.

Martha Robinson

Cattle: Cows 6. Bullocks 3. Heifers 2. Yearlings 3. Calves 4. Totall 17.

Lands: Acres of Free land 10. Acres of Borrowed land 25. Totall 35.

Wm Seale

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 11. Heifers 2. Steers 12. Yearlings 1. Calves 11. Totall 34.

Lands: Acres of Free land 40. Acres of Borrowed land 1½. Totall 41½.

Giles Smith and one Orphan Apprentice

Cattle: Cows 3. Heifers 1. Yearlings 3. Calves 3. Totall 10.

Lands: Acres of Free land 20. Acres of Borrowed land 28½. Totall 48½.

Richd Swallow Senr & Wife

Jno Swallow.

Cattle: Cows 4. Heifers 3. Yearlings 1. Calves 3. Totall 10.

Charles Stewart

Eliz Sich Orphant

Cattle: Bulls 2. Cows 11. Bullocks 1. Yearlings 2. Calves 7. Totall 23.

Lands: Acres of Free land 20. Acres of Borrowed land 38. Totall 58.

Sarah Southen & Son

Cattle: Cows 3. Heifers 1. Calves 3. Totall 7.

Lands: Acres of Free land 70. Acres of Borrowed land 8. Totall 78.

Mary Shrews

Cattle: Cows 1. Bullocks 1. Heifers 4. Yearlings 1. Calves 1. Totall 8.

Lands: Acres of Free land 29. Acres of Borrowed land 6. Totall 6.

Eliz Swallow Widdo.

Mary Swallow Single Woman

Cattle: Cows 2. Calves 2. Totall 4.

Charles Stewart Secd Orphans

Cattle: Cows 2. Calves 3. Totall 5.

Lands: Acres of Free land 10. Totall 10.

Margt Tooey

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 17. Bullocks 5. Heifers 5. Yearlings 3. Calves 15. Totall 46.

Lands: Acres of Free land 192½. Acres of Borrowed land 244½. Totall 434¾.

Saml Taylor

Cattle: Cows 5. Bullocks 1. Heifers 2. Yearlings 4. Calves 1. Totall 13.

Lands: Acres of Borrowed land 36. Totall 36.

James Cesey

Cattle: Cows 2. Yearlings 1. Calves 3.

Ripin Wills and one Orphnt Apprentice

Cattle: Cows 6. Heifers 2. Calves 6. Totall 15.

Lands: Acres of Free land 20. Acres of Borrowed land 4. Totall 24.

Francis Wrangham.

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 6. Steers 1. Calves 6. Totall 14.

Lands: Acres of Free land 40. Totall 40.

Jno Worrall.

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 20. Heifers 2. Steers 1. Calves 20. Totall 44.

Lands: Acres of Free land 92. Acres of Borrowed land 30. Totall 122.

Wm Worrall

Cattle: Cows 7. Calves 7. Totall 14.

Lands: Acres of Free land 17. Acres of Borrowed land 20. Totall 37.

Mercy Whaley

Cattle: Cows 4. Bullocks 2. Heifers 3. Calves 2. Totall 9.

Lands: Acres of Free land 60. Acres of Borrowed land 40. Totall 40.

Eliz Ormston

Cattle: Cows 3. Bullocks 2. Heifers 1. Calves 3. Totall 9.

Lands: Acres of Free land 10. Acres of Borrowed land 10. Totall 20.

Mary Snisnich Orphan

Jane Flurkus do

Cattle: Cows 1. Heifers 2. Calves 1. Totall 4.

Richd Alexanders Orphans

Cattle: Cows 2. Heifers 1. Calves 2. Totall 5.

Gilbert Cottgrave do

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 3. Bullocks 1. Steers 1. Calves 3. Totall 9.

Cattle: Cows 5. Heifers 4. Calves 4. Totall 13.

Totals

Cattle: Bulls 27. Cows 572. Bullocks 84. Heifers 206. Steers 52. Yearlings 61. Calves 481. Totall 1483.

Lands: Acres of Free land 2064½. Acres of Borrowed land 1206. Totall 3270¾.

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

The page gives the cattle and lands columns for the closing leaf, the lines running one for one against the names just memorised. The cattle columns read bulls, cows, bullocks, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and total. The lands columns read acres of free land, acres of leased land and total. A further narrow column at the right carried a margin note headed for ground at James Valley rented. The leaf ends with the grand totals of the whole register and the councillors' signatures.

James Ryder had no bull, 7 cows, 3 bullocks, 4 heifers, 1 steer, 1 yearling and 6 calves, totalling 21 head, holding 31 acres of free land and 2½ acres of leased land, totalling 33½ acres.

Martha Robinson had no bull, 6 cows, 3 bullocks, 2 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 4 calves, totalling 17 head, holding 10 acres of free land and 25 acres of leased land, totalling 35 acres.

William Seale had 1 bull, 11 cows, no bullock, 2 heifers, 2 steers, 3 yearlings and 11 calves, totalling 34 head, holding 40 acres of free land and no leased land, totalling 40 acres.

Giles Smith and 1 orphan apprentice had 1 bull, 3 cows, no bullock, 1 heifer, no steer, 1 yearling and 3 calves, totalling 9 head, holding 11 acres of free land and no leased land, totalling 11 acres.

Richard Swallow senior and his wife had no bull, 4 cows, no bullock, 3 heifers, no steer, 1 yearling and 3 calves, totalling 10 head, holding 20 acres of free land and 28½ acres of leased land, totalling 48½ acres.

John Swallow had no neat cattle of any kind, totalling none, and held no land.

Charles Stewart had 2 bulls, 11 cows, 1 bullock, no heifer, no steer, 2 yearlings and 7 calves, totalling 23 head, holding 20 acres of free land and 38 acres of leased land, totalling 58 acres.

Elizabeth Sich orphan had no bull, 3 cows, no bullock, 1 heifer, no steer, no yearling and 3 calves, totalling 7 head, holding 70 acres of free land and 8 acres of leased land, totalling 78 acres.

Sarah Southen and her son had no bull, 1 cow, 1 bullock, 4 heifers, no steer, 1 yearling and 1 calf, totalling 8 head, holding 29 acres of free land and no leased land, totalling 29 acres.

Mary Shreeve had no neat cattle of any kind, totalling none, and held no land, the leased column carrying 6 acres, totalling 6 acres.

Elizabeth Swallow, widow, had no bull, 2 cows, no other beast and 2 calves, totalling 4 head, and held no land.

Mary Swallow, single woman, had no bull, 2 cows, no other beast and 3 calves, totalling 5 head, holding 10 acres of free land and no leased land, totalling 10 acres.

Charles Stewart deceased's orphans had 1 bull, 17 cows, 5 bullocks, 5 heifers, no steer, 3 yearlings and 15 calves, totalling 46 head, holding 192½ acres of free land and 244½ acres of leased land, totalling 434¾ acres.

Margaret Tovey had no bull, 5 cows, 1 bullock, 2 heifers, no steer, 4 yearlings and 1 calf, totalling 13 head, holding no free land, 36 acres of leased land, totalling 36 acres.

Samuel Taylor had no bull, 2 cows, no other beast and 1 calf, totalling 3 head, and held no land.

James Vesey had no bull, 6 cows, no bullock, 2 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 6 calves, totalling 15 head, holding 20 acres of free land and 4 acres of leased land, totalling 24 acres.

Ripin Wills and 1 orphan apprentice had no bull, 6 cows, 1 bullock, 1 heifer, no steer, no yearling and 6 calves, totalling 14 head, holding 40 acres of free land and no leased land, totalling 40 acres.

Francis Wrangham had 1 bull, 20 cows, no bullock, 2 heifers, 1 steer, no yearling and 20 calves, totalling 44 head, holding 92 acres of free land and 30 acres of leased land, totalling 122 acres.

John Worrall had no bull, 7 cows, no other beast and 7 calves, totalling 14 head, holding 17 acres of free land and 20 acres of leased land, totalling 37 acres.

William Worrall had no bull, 4 cows, 2 bullocks, 3 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 2 calves, totalling 9 head, holding 60 acres of free land and 40 acres of leased land, totalling 40 acres.

Mercy Whaley had no bull, 3 cows, 2 bullocks, 1 heifer, no steer, no yearling and 3 calves, totalling 9 head, holding 10 acres of free land and 10 acres of leased land, totalling 20 acres.

Elizabeth Ormston had no neat cattle of any kind, totalling none, and held no land.

Mary Sinsnick orphan had no bull, 1 cow, no bullock, 2 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 1 calf, totalling 4 head, and held no land.

Jane Flurkus orphan had no bull, 2 cows, no bullock, 1 heifer, no steer, no yearling and 2 calves, totalling 5 head, and held no land.

Richard Alexander's orphans had 1 bull, 3 cows, 1 bullock, no heifer, 1 steer, no yearling and 3 calves, totalling 9 head, and held no land.

Gilbert Cottgrave's orphans had no bull, 5 cows, no bullock, 4 heifers, no steer, no yearling and 4 calves, totalling 13 head, and held no land.

The grand totals of the whole register gave 27 bulls, 572 cows, 84 bullocks, 206 heifers, 52 steers, 61 yearlings and 481 calves, totalling 1,483 head, with 2,064¾ acres of free land and 1,206 acres of leased land, totalling 3,270¾ acres. The return was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The page closed the cattle and lands side of the register and carried the grand totals of the island's stock and ground. The herds of the whole settled population came to 1,483 head, graded from 27 bulls and 572 cows down through the bullocks, heifers, steers and yearlings to 481 calves. The occupied ground stood at 3,270¾ acres, of which 2,064¾ were freehold and 1,206 the Company's leased waste.

The figures mark the larger estates of this last leaf. The orphans of Charles Stewart deceased held 46 head and 434¾ acres, the greatest single holding on the page, and Francis Wrangham 44 head and 122 acres. The Stewart orphan estate, managed by Powell and Gurling under the Court for Orphans, carried more ground than any living planter's household on the leaf.

The three signatures closed the return as the governing council's certificate. Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin signed for the truth of the whole account, the register thereby authenticated as the official statement of the island's families, stock and land sent home to the directors.

Speculations

Two readings on the lands side resolve a tension the grand total carries. The free-land column summed against the leased did not close exactly to the stated total of 3,270¾ acres, the difference left to the audit rather than amended on the page. The compiler let the grand total govern as the register's settled measure, the running sums of the several leaves carried forward into a single figure for the whole island, the discrepancy held as a matter for the books rather than the face of the return.

William Worrall's line shows the same handling at the level of the single household. His holding was set at 60 acres of free land and 40 of leased, yet the total read 40, the figure standing as the compiler entered it. The total governed where the columns and the sum disagreed, the entry preserved as written and the reconciliation reserved for the audit, the rule held consistently from the household line up to the grand total of the whole register.

81

77

May.

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on Thursday

the 23 day of May 1723 at Union Castle In James

Valley. Edwd Byfeld Esq Govr

Prsent Jno Alexander 2d

Jno Goodwin 3d

The last Consultation read and approved on

The Govr reports that being often in the great

Wood since the worke was begunn there observed

that severall persons have turned great Numbers

of their hoggs in there since the last rains and has

thereby rooted up great part of the Grass that would

otherwise in a short time have been pasturage for

all sorts of Cattle

Wherefore it was Ordered that an Adver

tisement be immediately issued out forbidding all

persons turning any there hoggs into the said

great wood without publick leave and that those

persons who have soe unadvisedly turned in their

hoggs as aforesaid be ordered to fetch them out

within 24 hours after the date hereof upon the

ponalty of being fined at the discretion of the

Governor and Council for that Offence.

The Governor reports that a Childe named

Mary belonging to the Plantation house Dyed

last Weeke.

Capt Alexander and Capt Goodwin report

that in pursuance of the order of Consultation

made the 24th Day of April last they have viewed

the severall peices of Ground mentioned in the

Petitions of Gabriel Powell Planter Frances

Carne & Eliz Greentree Widdow and they are of

Opinion that the granting the Leases to the severall

Petitioners of the peices of Ground therein men

tioned will be of use prejudice to any person

Margin Notes:

Hoggs offered to doe Damage in great Wood by rooting

No more Hoggs to be turned therein without leave & those yt are already drove to be fetched out

Childe a Child dyed

Capt Alexander & Goodwins Report ab Ground Petitioned for by Sundry psons

and may be granted

At a consultation held on Thursday 23 May 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor Byfield, with John Alexander second and John Goodwin third present, the council took up its business. The last consultation was read and approved.

Governor Byfield reported a fresh harm to the island's chief timber. Since the work in the Great Wood began he had often observed that several persons had turned great numbers of their hogs in there since the last rains. The animals had rooted up a great part of the grass that would otherwise have made pasture for all sorts of cattle within a short time.

The council therefore ordered an advertisement issued at once. It forbade all persons to turn any more hogs into the Great Wood without public leave. Those who had already and unadvisedly put their hogs in were ordered to fetch them out within 24 hours of the advertisement's date. The penalty for the offence was a fine at the discretion of the Governor and council.

The Governor reported that a child named Mary, belonging to the plantation house, had died the week before.

Captain Alexander and Captain Goodwin reported on the land they had been ordered to view. Under the order of the consultation of 24 April 1723 they had inspected the several parcels of ground named in the petitions of Gabriel Powell, planter, Frances Carne and Elizabeth Greentree, widows. They were of opinion that granting the leases of the several parcels to the petitioners would be of no prejudice to any person.

Interpretations

The session opened the work of the new government under Governor Byfield, who had succeeded on Governor Johnson's death on 16 February 1723. The council of three sat in its settled order, Byfield at the head with Alexander and Goodwin below him, the bench reduced since the deaths and removals of the previous year.

The hog order continued the standing protection of the island's limited timber and pasture. The Great Wood had been fenced under Byfield's order of 8 April 1723 after he sought Pyke's opinion, and the present complaint showed the planters' hogs undoing that work by rooting up the grass. The advertisement and its 24-hour deadline pressed the same defence the council had long maintained against loose hogs in the valued ground.

The land report carried forward the petitions referred at the consultation of 24 April 1723. Alexander and Goodwin, the two surveying councillors, viewed the parcels sought by the largest planter Gabriel Powell and by the widows Carne and Greentree, and found the grants harmless to any neighbour, the regular preliminary to a lease under the council's cautious practice of letting waste land.

Speculations

The hog order shows the council managing a conflict between two uses of the same ground. The Great Wood served both as the island's timber reserve and as common pasture, and the planters' hogs threatened both by rooting up the grass that fed the cattle. The bench resolved the tension by barring the hogs entirely without public leave rather than by fixing a number or a season, choosing a clean prohibition that protected the wood and the pasture together and left any exception to its own discretion.

82

78

1723.

But will bring in annual rents to the honoble Company.

Ordered that the sd Peices of Ground be measured

and Leases made and executed to the Petrs for the same

for 21 Yeares and the rents to be adjusted when the Land is

measured

Mr Slaughter brot in and delivered his Accot of

expences for the General Table for the Month of April

last which was examined and is as follows

1278 Beef

@ 25/100

15 19 6

22 Goats

10/ pd

11

8 Turkeys

6/ pd

2 8

35 Fowles

1/6

6 7 6

24 Ducks

1/6

1 16

8 Eggs

1

8

30 Days greens

1/ pday

1 10

60 Bottles Milke

4

1

25 Butter

1

1

317 Fresh porke

6 pr lb

7 18 6

34 pr Salt porke

2/6

4 5

4 lb Salt Beef

2/10

11 4

3 Pepper

1/

3

10 Gallrs Vinegar

4 pr Gald

2

84 Soape

1/5

2 8 2

120 Sugar

6 pr lb

4 10

15 Sugar Candy

1/3

15

176 Bread

3

2 2

59 Flower

3

14 9

8 Tea

7/6

3

73 Gallons Arrack

6/4

23 2 4

30 Gallrs Madera wine

4/

6

11 Gallrs Cape Wine

3/

1 13

24 Bottles French Wine

3/

5 2

18 lb Ale

1/3

1 2 6

2 Dos Sweet Oyle

5/ pr Gald

7 6

16 Wax Candles

2/6 pr lb

2

40 Tallow Candles

1/6

5

14 Cheese

1/

14

Signed pr Wm Slaughter

112 10 9

Jno Bagley Junr Orphan appeared before us being an

Infant of above 16 Yeares and Richard Gurling Exowtr

to the last Will and Testament of the said Jno Bagleys

Father

Margin Notes:

sd ground to bee Measured & Leases to bey made

Govr Table Expence for Aprill

Jno Bagley Orphan

The report on the petitioned ground concluded that the parcels would bring in annual rents to the Honourable Company. The council therefore ordered the several parcels measured and leases made and executed to the petitioners for the same, for 21 years, the rents to be adjusted when the land was measured.

Mr Slaughter brought in and delivered his account of expenses for the General Table for the month of April last, which was examined and stood as follows.

1,278 pounds of beef, at 25s 0d per 100 pounds, came to £15 19s 6d.

22 goats, at 10s 0d each, came to £11 0s 0d.

8 turkeys, at 6s 0d each, came to £2 8s 0d.

35 fowls, at 1s 6d each, came to £6 7s 6d.

24 ducks, at 1s 6d each, came to £1 16s 0d.

8 dozen eggs came to 8d.

30 days' greens came to £1 10s 0d.

60 bottles of milk, at 4d each, came to £1 0s 0d.

25 pounds of butter, at 1s 0d per pound, came to £1 5s 0d.

317 pounds of fresh pork, at 6d per pound, came to £7 18s 6d.

34 pounds of salt pork, at 2s 6d, came to £4 5s 0d.

44 pounds of salt beef, at 2s 10d, came to £7 11s 4d.

3 pounds of pepper, at 1s 0d, came to 3s 0d.

10 gallons of vinegar, at 4d per gallon, came to £2 0s 0d.

84 pounds of soap, at 1s 5d, came to £5 2s 0d.

130 pounds of sugar, at 6d per pound, came to £4 10s 0d.

15 pounds of sugar candy, at 1s 3d, came to 15s 0d.

176 pounds of bread, at 3d, came to £2 2s 0d.

59 pounds of flour, at 3d, came to 14s 9d.

8 pounds of tea, at 7s 6d, came to £3 0s 0d.

73 gallons of arrack, at 6s 4d per gallon, came to £23 2s 4d.

30 gallons of Madeira wine, at 4s 0d, came to £6 0s 0d.

11 gallons of Cape wine, at 3s 0d, came to £1 13s 0d.

34 bottles of French wine, at 3s 0d, came to £5 2s 0d.

18 pounds of ale, at 1s 3d, came to £1 2s 6d.

2 dozen sweet oils, at 5s 0d per gallon, came to 7s 6d.

16 wax candles, at 2s 6d per pound, came to £2 0s 0d.

40 tallow candles, at 1s 6d, came to £3 0s 0d.

14 pounds of cheese, at 1s 0d, came to 14s 0d.

The account, signed by William Slaughter, came to £112 10s 9d.

John Bagley junior, an orphan, appeared before the council, being an infant above 16 years of age. Richard Gurling was executor to the last will and testament of the said John Bagley's father.

Interpretations

The order completed the land business begun at the consultation of 24 April 1723, the parcels of Powell and the widows Carne and Greentree to be measured and leased for the standard 21-year term, the rent fixed only once the survey gave the acreage. The arrangement followed the council's settled practice, the grant secured and the rent left open until the ground was measured.

The General Table account for April 1723 set out the garrison's monthly provisioning at £112 10s 9d. The largest single charges fell on the arrack at £23 2s 4d and the fresh beef at £15 19s 6d, the drink and the meat dominating the table's expense. The account ran through fresh and salt provisions, the dairy, the bread and flour, the groceries and a range of wines and spirits, a full record of what fed the establishment in a single month.

The Bagley matter opened the settlement of an orphan's estate. John Bagley junior appeared as an infant above 16, his late father's will held by the executor Richard Gurling, the council taking up the affair as it regularly did for the island's fatherless children. The entry breaks at the catchword "Father" at the foot, the matter continuing onto the next leaf.

Speculations

The split between fresh and salt provisions in the table account points to a deliberate management of the island's food supply against the drought. The council had recorded four years of poor seasons and a present want of rain at the consultation of 5 March 1723, the young yams perishing and the herds thin, and the table that month drew on 44 pounds of salt beef and 34 of salt pork alongside the fresh meat. The keeping of a salted store against the failing fresh supply showed the establishment provisioning itself through a lean season rather than relying wholly on the island's strained husbandry.

83

79

May.

Father being likewise present Desired he

might be discharged from his Exeentorship forty

there is none but this Jno Bagley now living of

the Orphans that is under his care and he being

desirous to chuse a Guardian desired to make

choice of his Mother Sarah Southen Widdow for

his Guardian which the said Sarah Southen

readily & willingly accepted of

Whereupon ordered that the sd Richd Gurling

be discharged as he desires.

The Petition of Sarah Southen Widdow was

presented

Setting forth

That The Petrs Estate and Effects were

on the 27th day of Sepr 1722 Seized and Sold at a

publick outery in order to make Satisfaction to

the honoble Company for a Debt due to them

That an house of the petrs in James Vally

was then sold to Samel Jessey for 60: which mony

was to be paid the honoble Company on the 25th of

March then next and a Conveyance was made accordtly

That the Petr had a great necessity of

that house to gett a livelyhood for her ffamily

Therefore and for as much

as the said Jessey could not

pay the said Sume of 60: &

must give his Bond for the

mony she prayed she might

have her house againe upon

giveing her Bond for ye said

mony.

In Consideration of the great necessity of her

Family she having severall Small Children to bring

up and maintein Wee have made up her Accot that

have been soe long depending and tooke her Bond

for the Ballance being 61: 7: 8 pay: able in 12 Months

And Samel Jessey having the sd House now in possesion

he was sent for and readily assigned all his right

and Title thereto By an Indorsemt on the back of

the Bill of Sale formerly made for the said House

Margin Notes:

and Rd Gurling Exowtr Appeared, Gurling to bee Discharged, the Orphan to Chuse a Guardian

Mrs Southen accepting his Guardian

Rd Gurling discharged

Sarah Southens abt Her Effects being Sold to make payment for ye sd Debt of Hon Compa

Her House sold to Saml Jessey will bond & for sd as Apprehended Mony, She may have it upon Her Bond

Her Accot made up & Bond taken for ye Debt: 61: 7: 8 paybl in 12 Mo:

Jessey assigned over his House to her on yt back of the formr Bill of Sale

Richard Gurling, executor to John Bagley senior's will, was also present and asked to be discharged from his executorship. He explained that the orphan now living was the only one of those under his care, and that the boy wished to choose a guardian. John Bagley junior desired to choose his mother, Sarah Southen the widow, as his guardian, which she readily and willingly accepted. The council therefore ordered that Richard Gurling be discharged as he desired.

The petition of Sarah Southen the widow was then presented. It set forth that her estate and effects had been seized and sold at public outcry on 27 September 1722, to make satisfaction to the Honourable Company for a debt due to them. A house of hers in James Valley had been sold to Samuel Jessey for £60 0s 0d, the money to be paid to the Company on 25 March then next, and a conveyance made accordingly. She had great need of that house to get a livelihood for her family. As Jessey would not pay the sum of £60 0s 0d but must give his bond for the money, she prayed that she might have her house again on giving her own bond for the same sum.

In consideration of the great necessity of her family, she having several small children to bring up and maintain, the council made up her account, which had long been pending, and took her bond for the balance of £61 7s 8d, payable in twelve months. Samuel Jessey, having the house now in his possession, was sent for and readily assigned all his right and title to it back to her by an endorsement on the back of the bill of sale formerly made for the house. The entry breaks at the catchword "Go" at the foot.

Interpretations

The Bagley guardianship turned on the council's oversight of an orphan's choice. With Richard Gurling, the executor, asking to be discharged of his last remaining charge, the boy John Bagley junior chose his own mother as guardian, the widow Sarah Southen accepting at once and the council discharging Gurling. The arrangement kept the orphan under his nearest relation while clearing the executor of a duty he no longer wished to hold.

The Southen petition reopened the seizure carried through against her in the autumn of 1722. Her house in James Valley had been sold to Samuel Jessey for £60 0s 0d under the distress for her Company debt, the sale and conveyance recorded at the consultation of 2 October 1722. Now, pleading the needs of her several small children, she sought to recover the house by substituting her own bond for Jessey's unpaid purchase money, and the council, making up her long-pending account, took her bond for £61 7s 8d at twelve months and had Jessey reassign the house to her by endorsement on the old bill of sale.

The reversal marks a notable softening toward a debtor the council had pressed hard the year before. Sarah Southen had persisted in denying any debt, refused the copies of the inventory and sale, and threatened to make waste paper of them, the whole recovery driven through against her resistance. Her restoration to the house on her own bond, granted on the necessity of her family, returned to her the property the distress had taken and set the debt back on a secured footing rather than a forced sale.

Speculations

The substitution of bonds shows the council resolving a stalled transaction by managing the form of the debt rather than enforcing the sale. Jessey held the house but would not pay the £60 0s 0d outright, offering only his bond, so the purchase money sat unrealised while the widow stood in need of the house. The bench chose to unwind the sale, take the widow's own bond for the larger balance of her whole account, and have Jessey reassign his title by a simple endorsement, recovering the debt on a secured twelve-month bond while restoring the house to the family. The solution served the Company's claim and the widow's necessity together, the debt preserved and the property returned in a single arrangement.

84

80

1723.

To him And delivered the Possession thereof to the said

Sarah Southen.

The Petition of Capt Jno Goodwin was presented

Praying a Lease of about 30 Acres of the Honoble

Companys Land at the head adjoyning to his Plantation

part of which he would plant with wood

Granted.

The Petition of Jno Marten Vanoosten was presented

Setting forth

That the Petr having been employed in the

Honoble Companys Service as an Accomptant for the

space of 9 Yeares and having taken abundance of

pains and trouble therein and brought up the Books

of Accos that were then behind hand for three Years

and keeping them forward ever since and having

had but little encouragemt for soe hard a tothe.

Humbly prayed Wee would be pleased to allow the

Petr Such an additional Sallary as Wee should

thinke fitt as an encouragemt for his future Care and

Diligence And as in Duty Bound should

Pray. M Voosten

In Consideration that the said Petr ever since Mr

Ormstons departure having done all the Businesses

in the Accomptants Office and upon his promiseing

to be very carefull and industrious in the Companies

Affaires for the future Wee have for his further

encouragemt added 15 pr Anum to his Sallary weh

will encrease the same to 30 pr Anum.

Whereas Severall Persons doe toofrequently carry fire

from one house to another in the Town and the

houses being all thatcht in case by the blowing

of a sparke in windy weather any house should be

sett on Fire the rest would unavoidably be prejudiced

thereby and many persons ruined therefore it is

thought fitt and accordingly ordered that an Adver

tisement be issued forthwith to forbid any person

or persons carrying fire from house to house upon

Margin Notes:

Land Granted to Capt Goodwin

Jno Martin Vanoosten prays an additionall Allowance of Sallary.

10 Added to his formr Sallary

fire forbid to be carryed in the Strdet

The conveyance was made over to him and the possession of it delivered back to the said Sarah Southen.

The petition of Captain John Goodwin was presented. He prayed a lease of about 3 or 4 acres of the Honourable Company's land at the head of James Valley, adjoining his plantation, part of which he would plant with wood. The council granted it.

The petition of John Martin Van Oosten was presented. It set forth that he had been employed in the Honourable Company's service as accountant for the space of four years, and had taken abundance of pains and trouble in it. He had brought up the books of account, which were then three years behindhand, and had kept them forward ever since, having had but little encouragement for so hard a task. He humbly prayed that the council would be pleased to allow him such an additional salary as it should think fit, as an encouragement for his future care and diligence. The petition was signed Van Oosten.

In consideration that Van Oosten, ever since Mr Ormston's departure, had done all the business in the accountant's office, and upon his promising to be very careful and industrious in the Company's affairs for the future, the council added £15 0s 0d a year to his salary, which would increase the same to £30 0s 0d a year.

Several persons frequently carried fire from one house to another in the town, and the houses being all thatched, there was a risk in windy weather that the blowing of a spark might set a house on fire, the roof would be unavoidably consumed, and many persons ruined. The council therefore thought fit and ordered that an advertisement be issued at once forbidding any person to carry fire from house to house. The entry breaks at the catchword "Pain" at the foot.

Interpretations

The Goodwin grant followed the same cautious practice the council applied to all its waste land. The deputy governor sought a few acres at the head of James Valley adjoining his own plantation, undertaking to plant part with wood, and the bench granted it at once, the wood-planting pledge meeting the island's standing anxiety over timber.

The Van Oosten petition rewarded the accountant whose office the council had so long struggled to keep in honest hands. Since Joseph Ormston's departure, recorded across the consultations of October and November 1721, Van Oosten had carried the whole accountant's work, bringing up the books that had stood three years behind and keeping them current. On his fresh promise of care the council raised his salary by £15 0s 0d to £30 0s 0d a year, a settled encouragement to a man it had repeatedly dismissed, restored and reprimanded in earlier years.

The fire order addressed a plain hazard of the thatched town. The carrying of live fire between houses risked a spark in windy weather catching the roofs, and the council met the danger by a general advertisement forbidding the practice. The measure protected the whole settlement at a stroke, the prohibition resting on the combustible character of the town rather than on any single offender.

Speculations

The salary rise shows the council managing a long-standing difficulty by securing the man rather than the office. Van Oosten had been refused the accountant's place, dismissed for a false salary entry, restored on penitence and reprimanded again across 1721 and 1722, yet he alone kept the books current after Ormston left. The bench, having no better hand, chose to bind him to the work by doubling his salary and taking his renewed promise of diligence, trading a settled reward for the steady keeping of the accounts. The decision answered the recurring failure of the office by making its continued performance worth the accountant's while.

85

81

May

pain of being punished or fined for such an Offence

at the discretion of ye Govr & Council.

The Petition of Francis Carne Widdow was

presented, Praying that she might have a

Lease granted her for abt 10 or 12 Acres of Wast

Land belonging to the honoble Company which

adjoyns to some Land of hers known by the

Name of Bradlys formerly granted to her by ye

sd Company.

Granted.

Ordered that Warrts be Issued to measure the Ground

in the said Petitions mentioned and that Leases

be granted for ye Same to the petrs at the usuall

rent of four shillings ye Acre.

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 28th

day of May 1723 at Union Castle In James Valley

Edwd Byfeld Esq Govr

Prsent Jno Alexander 2d

John Goodwin 3d

The last Consultation read and approved on

The two advertisemts ordered in the last

Consultation have been issued out accordingly.

The Govr reports that a Wench called Cate dyed

last Weeke belonging to the Plantation house Mother

of the Child mentioned to bedead in the last

Consultation.

This Day wee had an Alarme for one Ship four

Leagues of Dry Gutt which is now comeing in.

The Petition of Jno Worrall was presented

praying to become Tenant for about 5 Acres of ye

Honoble

Margin Notes:

Mrs F Carnes Petition for a Lease of land formrly Granted to Her Sd

granted

Lands Petitioned for to be measured

a Black Wench dyed last week.

An Alarme.

Jno Worrall Petitn for 5 acres land

The fire order closed with its penalty, any person carrying fire from house to house to be punished or fined for the offence at the discretion of the Governor and council.

The petition of Frances Carne the widow was presented. She prayed that she might have a lease granted her for about 10 or 12 acres of waste land belonging to the Honourable Company, adjoining some land of hers known by the name of Bradly's, formerly granted to her by the council. The council granted it, and ordered that a warrant be issued to measure the ground named in the petition and that a lease be granted for the same to the petitioner, at the usual rent of 4s 0d per acre. The order was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 28 May 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor Byfield, with John Alexander second and John Goodwin third present, the council took up its business. The last consultation was read and approved.

The two advertisements ordered at the last consultation had been issued accordingly.

Governor Byfield reported that a wench called Kate, belonging to the plantation house, had died the week before. She was the mother of the child reported dead at the last consultation.

This day the island had an alarm for one ship four leagues off Dry Gutt, which was now coming in.

The petition of John Worrall was presented. He prayed to become tenant for about 5 acres of the Honourable Company's land. The entry breaks at the catchword "Honoble" at the foot.

Interpretations

The Carne grant completed the run of land petitions referred at the consultation of 24 April 1723 and reported on at the consultation of 23 May 1723. The widow sought a lease of waste adjoining her existing parcel called Bradly's, and the council granted it on the standard terms, a warrant to measure and a 21-year lease at 4s 0d per acre once the ground was surveyed. The three signatures closed the consultation of 23 May 1723 as the council's certificate.

The new consultation of 28 May 1723 opened with the routine confirmation that the fire and hog advertisements had been published. Governor Byfield then reported a second death at the plantation house, the slave woman Kate, mother of the child Mary whose death he had reported at the consultation of 23 May 1723, the two losses falling in successive weeks on the same establishment.

The alarm for a single ship off Dry Gutt continued the council's standing watch over the road, the wariness that had run through the spring of 1723 against pirates and interloping vessels. The Worrall land petition, breaking off at the foot, opened a fresh request for a tenancy of Company waste, the same business of letting ground that filled so much of the season's consultations.

Speculations

The careful linking of the two plantation-house deaths shows the council keeping an exact record of its slave establishment. Byfield noted that Kate was the mother of the child Mary reported the week before, tying the two deaths together rather than entering each apart. The reason lay in the management of the Company's own labour force, the annual slave census of 26 March 1723 having counted every man, woman and child by name and station, so that a death had to be recorded against the right person to keep the standing account true. The naming of the mother fixed both losses precisely within the establishment the council was bound to render to the directors.

86

82

1723

Companys Wast Land Adjoyning to the Free Land of

Thomas Aleis

Granted.

The Petition of Grace Hayse Widdow was presented

praying to become Tenant for abt 3 Acres of Wast

Land lying at the head of Ruperts Valley Adjoyning to

the Land of George Bryan

Granted.

Ordered that Warrts be Issued to ye Surveyor to

measure the said Peices of Land and that Leases

for 21 Yeares be granted for ye Same to the Petrs

at the Usual Rent of four Shillings per Acre

The severall parcells of Ground mentioned

in Consultation of the 23d of May last haveing

been since measured It is ordered that Mrs

Carne doe pay 30 shillr pr annum & that Mrs

Powell pay eight shillr pr annum for the same.

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the

28th day of May 1723 at Union Castle in James

Valley

Jno Smith Esq Govr

Prsent Edwd Byfeld 2d

Jno Alexander 3d &

Jno Goodwin 4th

This Day arrived the Ship Essex Capt Jon Somers

Commr with Stores from England on whome came

the Worshipfull Jno Smith Esq Govr

The Comition appointing the sd Jno Smith

Govr was read.

Ordered that the same be published by beat

of Drumm as usual which was done accordingly

Then the Honoble Companys Instructions to

the Govr & Council dated the 14th day of Febry

1722 was also read thro and all other papers reced

According

Margin Notes:

granted

Grace Hayse Petitn for 3 acres land in Ruperts Valley

granted

Lands to bee Measured & Leases to bee made for 21 years

Ground granted to Mrs Bryan & Mrs Powell ye Rent

Essex arrivall from England with Stores

Govr Smiths Comission read & Govr was read

& Published as Usuall

Govr Instr also read

John Worrall's petition sought the Company's waste land adjoining the free land of Thomas Allis. The council granted it.

The petition of Grace Hayse the widow was presented. She prayed to become tenant for about 3 acres of waste land lying at the head of Rupert's Valley, adjoining the land of George Bryan. The council granted it.

The council ordered that a warrant be issued to the surveyor to measure the several parcels of land, and that leases be granted for the same to the petitioners for 21 years at the usual rent of 4s 0d per acre.

The several parcels of ground mentioned in the consultation of 23 May 1723 had now been measured. The council ordered that John Worrall pay 20s 0d a year, and that William Powell pay 8s 0d a year for the same. The order was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 28 May 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor John Smith, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth present, the council took up its business.

This day arrived the ship Essex, Captain John Sommers commander, with stores from England, on whom came the worshipful John Smith, Governor. The commission appointing John Smith Governor was read, and the council ordered that it be published by beat of drum as usual, which was done accordingly. The Honourable Company's instructions to the Governor and council, dated 14 February 1722, were then also read through, with all the other papers received. The entry breaks at the catchword "According" at the foot.

Interpretations

The land grants closed the run of petitions that had filled the late May consultations, the parcels for Worrall and the widow Hayse granted on the standard terms of a warrant to measure and a 21-year lease at 4s 0d per acre. The further order fixed the rents on the already-measured parcels from the consultation of 23 May 1723, Worrall at 20s 0d and William Powell at 8s 0d a year, and the three signatures of Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin closed the sitting.

The page then records a sudden change of government. The Essex under Captain Sommers arrived from England with stores and brought a new Governor, John Smith, whose commission was read and proclaimed by beat of drum. Smith took the head of the council, Byfield dropping to second and Alexander and Goodwin moving down a place, the bench reordered on the new chief's arrival as it had been on each earlier succession.

The reading of the directors' instructions of 14 February 1722 settled the new administration into its charge. The fresh Governor took up the standing papers of the island's government, the instructions and the other documents received, the orderly transfer of authority following the same form the Company required at every change of head.

Speculations

The arrival of a commissioned Governor from England marks the close of Byfield's interim rule and the resumption of the Company's appointed line. Byfield had succeeded only by the graded establishment on Governor Johnson's death on 16 February 1723, the second of the council moving up to fill the vacancy until the directors' pleasure was known. The coming of John Smith with a commission read and published restored the regular order, the directors' own choice replacing the man the island's own succession had thrown up, and Byfield returned to his place as second of the council. The transfer showed the Company keeping its grip on the headship of the distant station, an interim governor by seniority giving way at once to a governor by commission the moment the appointment arrived.

87

83

May.

According to the List of the Packett.

Ordered that the following Letter be sent

to Capt Jon Somers for the delivery of the Goods

now brought us according to Invoice and that the

proper persons have notice to attend the boats

Landing and receiving of them on Shore and

that they keep an exact accot of every boats

landing Goods each Day as also to Observe

the Sea. whether Smooth water or high Surf

Sr.

You are hereby desired In pursuance

of your Charterparty and Bill of Loading to

send on Shore the severall parcells and Quantity

of Goods and Merchandize consigned to us by

the Honoble Court of Directors and desire you'le

be as expeditious in landing them as possible

and if you want any assistance Wee are

ready to supply you Wee are

Yor humd Servts

Union Castle

May. 29. 1723.

To Capt Jonth Somers.

Commr of the Essex.

(Signd) Jno Smith

Edwd Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

John Smith

Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Ord to Capt Somers to Deliver ye sd Cargoe

Propr Persons to attend ye sd Watr Side

Lett to Capt Somers to send on Shore ye Cargoe

The papers were read through according to the list of the packet.

The council ordered that the following letter be sent to Captain John Sommers for the delivery of the goods now brought, according to invoice. It further ordered that the proper persons have notice to attend the boats' landing and the receiving of them on shore, that they keep an exact account of every boat's landing of goods each day, and that they observe the sea, whether smooth water or high surf.

The letter desired Captain Sommers, in pursuance of his charter party and bill of lading, to send on shore the several parcels and quantities of goods and merchandise consigned to the council by the Honourable Court of Directors. It asked him to be as expeditious in landing them as possible, and offered him any assistance he might want, the council being ready to supply him. It was dated from Union Castle, 29 May 1723, addressed to Captain John Sommers, commander of the Essex, and signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The consultation closed with the same four signatures, John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The order set in motion the landing of the new Governor's store ship. The Essex under Captain Sommers had arrived with the directors' stores, and the council moved at once to get the goods ashore, writing to the commander under his charter party and bill of lading and appointing the proper persons to receive the cargo at the waterside. The whole business followed the standing form for a Company ship's discharge.

The instruction to keep an exact daily account and to observe the sea marks the council's habitual care over the landing. Every boat's load was to be entered each day and the state of the surf noted, the same discipline the bench applied to all its store receipts, guarding both against loss in the accounts and against the hazard of the open road where heavy seas could stave a boat or halt the work.

The signatures fixed the new council's order in its proper rank, John Smith at the head as the commissioned Governor, with Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin below him. The letter to Sommers and the closing certificate both carried the four names in the reordered sequence, the administration now settled under its appointed chief.

Speculations

The pairing of an exact landing account with the observation of the sea points to a deliberate management of the two distinct risks the discharge carried. The bench faced both a clerical danger, that goods landed across many days and boats might go unreckoned against the invoice, and a physical danger, that the open road's surf might damage the cargo or interrupt the work. By requiring a daily tally of each boat's load and a note of whether the water lay smooth or high, the council built a record that fixed both what was landed and the conditions under which any loss occurred. The single instruction served the audit and the safety of the goods together, so that a shortfall could later be traced either to an accounting gap or to a known day of heavy seas.

88

84

1723.

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the 4th Day of June 1723 At Union Castle In James

Valley.

Jno Smith Esq Govr

Prsent Edward Byfeld 2d

Jno Alexander 3d

Jno Goodwin 4th

The Last Consultation read and approved on

The four following Petitions were presented vizt

The Petition of Mary Swallow Spinster praying

Leave to goe of the Island in the Ship Essex now in

the road bound for India she having had a very

great desire to goe hence some time since in hopes

of bettering her fortune.

Granted.

The Petition of Gilbert Snisnick freeman

praying leave he might goe of the Island in the

said Ship.

The said Snisnick being of a wrestleste

turbulent Temper wee have likewise Granted his

request he takeing care to clear with all the

Island.

The Petition of Benja Coverly free planter

praying leave to goe of the Island with his Wife

and three Children in the said Ship.

The Petitioner having noe Settlement upon

the Island and his Family being very large and

being like to encrease and being not indebted to

the honoble Company wee are willing to grant

his Petition.

The Petition of James Cesey Junr Soldier

praying

Margin Notes:

Mary Swallows Passage to goe Off

Gilbt Snisnick Petn

being a turbulent fellow hath leave for sd

Benja Coverlee with his family praying leave to goe Off

having no Settlemt belonging family granted

James Vossey Junr

At a consultation held on Tuesday 4 June 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor John Smith, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth present, the council took up its business. The last consultation was read and approved.

The four following petitions were presented.

The petition of Mary Swallow, spinster, was presented. She prayed leave to go off the island in the ship Essex, now in the road bound for India, having had a very great desire to go some time since in hopes of bettering her fortune. The council granted it.

The petition of Gilbert Sinsnick, freeman, was presented. He prayed leave to go off the island in the same ship. Sinsnick being of a restless, turbulent temper, the council likewise granted his request, he taking care to clear with all the island.

The petition of Benjamin Cleverly, free planter, was presented. He prayed leave to go off the island with his wife and three children in the same ship. The petitioner having no settlement upon the island, his family being very large and likely to increase, and being not indebted to the Honourable Company, the council was willing to grant his petition.

The petition of James Vesey junior, soldier, was presented. The entry breaks at the catchword "praying" at the foot.

Interpretations

The sitting opened the business of the new Governor John Smith, the council sitting in its reordered rank with Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin below him. The arrival of the Essex bound for India drew a run of departure petitions, the homeward and eastward shipping offering the island's people their chance to leave, each request needing the bench's leave before a settler could go.

The three grants turned on the council's settled grounds for letting people off. Mary Swallow sought her fortune in India, a wish recorded as long held. Gilbert Sinsnick was let go as a restless and turbulent man the island was glad to be rid of, on condition he clear his debts first. Benjamin Cleverly was allowed to depart with his large family because he held no settlement, owed the Company nothing, and his growing household would only become a heavier charge.

Each leave rested on the same twin test the council always applied, the clearing of any debt to the Company and the island's interest in keeping or losing the person. A turbulent freeman and an unsettled planter with a growing family were both better gone, provided their accounts stood clear, while the spinster's departure raised no obstacle at all.

Speculations

Cleverly's case shows the council weighing a departure as a matter of the parish charge rather than mere permission. The bench noted that he had no settlement on the island, that his family was very large and likely to increase, and that he owed the Company nothing, and on those grounds was willing to let him go. The reasoning ran that an unsettled and growing family was a liability the island was better without, a household that could fall on the parish if it stayed and brought no debt to recover if it left. The grant turned the question of leave into a calculation of future burden, the council releasing a man whose continued presence promised cost and whose going carried no loss.

89

85

June

Praying to be discharged from the Garrison and

leave granted him to goe of the Island in hopes

of bettering his Condition at Bengall he having

some relations there in good Circumstances.

The Petr having been taken in a very Young

into the Garrison and being now fitt for service

wee dont think fitt to grant his Petition.

Ordered that the Secretary prepare Letters

to be sent as usuale to our honoble Masters

settlements in India in order to be sent by this

Ship Essex.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on Monday the

10th Day of June 1723. at Union Castle In James

Valley.

Jno Smith Esq Govr

Prsent Edwd Byfeld 2d

Jno Alexander 3d &

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and approved on.

Capt Goodwin reports that on Satterday Evening

last the Ship Essex made an end of the delivery of

her Cargod and that he had reced every thing in

good order according to the bill of Loading and

Invoice

Margin Notes:

Praying his discharge & Leave for to goe Off

Rejected & why

Lett to be prepared as ye Ship is now Delivered

Goods of Essex all reced in good Order

James Vesey junior, a soldier, asked to be released from the garrison and given leave to leave the island, hoping to improve his prospects at Bengal, where he had relations in comfortable circumstances. The council refused. He had joined the garrison very young and was now fit for service, so it would not let him go.

The council instructed the secretary to draw up the usual letters to the Company's settlements in India, to go out on the Essex. The order was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

At a consultation held on Monday 10 June 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor John Smith, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth present, the council took up its business. The last consultation was read and approved.

Captain Goodwin reported that the ship Essex had finished unloading her cargo on the Saturday evening, and that he had received everything in good order, matching the bill of lading and invoice. The entry breaks at the catchword "Invoice" at the foot.

Interpretations

The refusal of Vesey closed the run of departure requests on a different footing from the three grants before it. Where Mary Swallow, Sinsnick and Cleverly had been let go, the young soldier was kept, the council holding that a man taken into the garrison very young and now fit for service was too useful to release. The garrison's standing shortage of men governed the decision, the bench unwilling to lose a trained soldier even for a relation's prospects at Bengal.

The order for the India letters carried the station's routine correspondence out by the departing ship. The secretary was to prepare the usual letters to the Company's eastern settlements to go by the Essex, the four India letters the council sent with each homeward or outward sailing, and the four signatures closed the consultation of 4 June 1723.

The new consultation of 10 June 1723 opened with Captain Goodwin's report that the Essex had finished landing her cargo on the Saturday evening, everything received in good order against the bill of lading and invoice. The clean discharge answered the careful landing order of 29 May 1723, the store ship emptied without loss and the goods checked into the Company's hands.

90

86

1723.

Invoice for the same.

Whereupon Wee sent the foll Letter and

Dispatches for India which were prepared according

to the order of the last Consultation.

Sr

Pursuant to your Charterparty the Ten

working Days allowed you for the unliveing your Ship

here being expired on Satterday Evening and according

to our Honoble Masters Instructions to us, Wee have made

up our Packett of Letters for the severale Settlemts

belonging to the honoble Company in India which wee

send you and you are to proceed on your voyage

according to your Orders & Instructions you received

from the Honoble Court of Directors before your

Departure from England

Wee wish you a good voyage

& are.

St Helena.

Union Castle.

June 10th 1723.

Sr

Yor humd Servts

Jno Smith

Edwd Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

To the Honoble Nathll Elwick Esq President

&ca Council. At Fort St George

Honrd Sr & ca

Our last to you was by the Leisthutier Capt

John Edwards Commander under date of the 16th July

1722. who departed hence for Bencoolen on the 16th

following where wee have heard them Safely arrived

By the enclosed List of Shipping that have

toucht here since you'le find those dispatcht from

you have arrived with us and brought your severall

Letters and Invoices of Goods Consigned to us. wee

That

Margin Notes:

Letts & Dispatches for India sent to Capt Somers

Lettr to Fort St George & ca Prsidt & ca per Essex

The cargo had been received in good order, matching the bill of lading and invoice. The council then sent off the letters and dispatches for India, prepared under the order of the last consultation.

The covering letter to Captain Sommers recited that the ten days allowed under his charter party for unloading his ship had expired on the Saturday evening. Following the Honourable Masters' instructions, the council had made up its packet of letters for the several Company settlements in India, which it now sent him, and he was to proceed on his voyage according to the orders and instructions he had received from the Court of Directors before leaving England. The council wished him a good voyage. It was dated from Union Castle, St Helena, 10 June 1723, and signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The first of the India letters was addressed to Nathaniel Elwick, President, and the council at Fort St George. It recorded that the council's last letter to them had gone by the Leithulier under Captain John Edwards, dated 6 July 1722, who had left for Bencoolen on the 16th following, and was since reported safely arrived. From the enclosed list of shipping that had touched at the island, they would find that the ships dispatched from Fort St George had reached St Helena and brought their several letters and invoices of goods consigned to the council. The entry breaks at the catchword "That" at the foot.

Interpretations

The letter to Captain Sommers closed the Essex's business at the island and sent her on her way east. The ten charter-party days for unloading had run out on the Saturday the cargo was landed, and the council, following the directors' instructions, handed the commander its India packet and dismissed him to his voyage under the orders he carried from England. The four signatures of Smith, Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin closed the consultation business and opened the despatch of the season's eastern correspondence.

The first India letter began the round of the Company's settlements, addressed to President Elwick and the council at Fort St George. It opened in the usual form, fixing the date of the last letter sent, by the Leithulier on 6 July 1722, and noting that ship's safe arrival at Bencoolen, before turning to the shipping that had since touched at the island and delivered the Madras goods and correspondence. The letter took up the standing thread of supply between Madras and St Helena that ran through the council's records.

The reference to the enclosed list of shipping shows the council keeping Fort St George informed of the ships that had reached the island. The list let the Madras presidency confirm that its despatched vessels had arrived with their letters and consigned goods, the same accounting the council maintained over all its sea traffic, the entry breaking off as it moved into the particulars of those cargoes.

91

87

June.

That it will be needlesse to Particularize herein

their severall dates or the Ships Names by which

they came.

Wee observe the Contents of the aforesd

Letters and desire you'le please to continue sending

us by each Ship the fule onez Consist in only Sugar

and rice and begg it may be good of the sort our

necessity being farr greater now than for Some

Yeores past Occasioned by the want of our rainy

Seesons and if you have any other Sort of

Grain that you think usefull for the Service

of this Island Wee desire you'le be soo kind as

to Supply us.

Our reasons for not desireing Arrach

as usuale to be sent us Wee gave you fully in

former Letters & observe your takeing Notice

thereof in those lately received as also of the

advice to the Commanders not to Supply themselves

with any to dispose of here of which wee begg

your Continuance as wele as what relates to

Seeds & Plants from the Cape

Wee have reced the severall black

Offenders sent from you by this last Summer

Shipping and Shall take Care to make them as

serviceable to our honoble Masters as possible

But having too many of Such notorious Rougues

here Wee desire you'le transport them on the Cape

Cruies to Some other Place.

Wee Send enclosd the Ship Essex's

Charterparty according to our honoble Masters

Orders.

Wee are

Honrd Sr & ca Gentlemen

Union Castle St Helena.

June 10th 1723.

Yor & ca humd Servts

Jno Smith

Edwd Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

PS. If you have any Boom & Sholey ye

Govr nor desires you'le please to

send us 3 or 4 for the blowing up

a large Rock that is near the

Sur ffaces of ye walls at our Cranes whdre

wt Land are weighty good & very often

damages and Staves the Boats.

The letter continued that there was no need to set out the several dates of those letters or the names of the ships that brought them.

The council had noted the contents of the letters and asked Fort St George to keep sending the full one per cent by every ship in sugar and rice only. It begged that the stores be of good quality, the island's need being far greater now than for some years past, owing to a run of poor seasons. If the presidency had any other kind of grain it thought useful for the island, the council asked it to supply that too.

The council had given its reasons for no longer wanting arrack in earlier letters, and noted that Fort St George had taken account of them, and of the advice to the commanders not to stock arrack to sell at the island. It asked that this continue, along with the sending of seeds and plants from the Cape.

The council had received the several black offenders sent out by the past summer's shipping, and would make them as useful to the Company as it could. Having too many such notorious rogues on the island, it asked Fort St George to send any others to some other place.

The council enclosed the Essex's charter party, following the directors' orders. The letter was dated from Union Castle, St Helena, 10 June 1723, and signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

A postscript added that if the presidency had any bombshells, the Governor asked it to send three or four for blowing up a large rock near the surf face off the watering crane, where the boats often took damage and were staved while loading.

Interpretations

The letter set out the island's revised wants to Fort St George under the new Governor. The council pressed for the Company's one per cent due in sugar and rice alone, the demand sharpened by the run of poor seasons that had left the island short of provisions, and welcomed any other useful grain. The request continued the supply correspondence the island maintained with Madras, the want of food pressing harder than for years.

The refusal of arrack and the matter of the black offenders carried forward two standing threads. The council had long asked that no arrack be sent for sale at the island and that the commanders be told not to stock it, and now confirmed Madras had taken the point. On the offenders, it had received the criminal slaves shipped out the previous summer but, holding too many such men already, asked that future rogues be sent elsewhere, the island unwilling to become the dumping ground for the presidency's worst.

The postscript turned to a practical hazard of the watering place. A large rock near the surf off the crane damaged and staved the boats as they loaded, and the Governor asked for bombshells to blow it up. The request marked the council's care for the safety of the boats on which the island's watering and landing depended, the same anxiety over the open road that ran through its records.

Speculations

The handling of the black offenders shows the council managing a burden it could neither refuse outright nor afford to let grow. It accepted the slaves already sent and undertook to make them useful, yet drew a line against receiving more, asking the presidency to send its notorious rogues to some other place. The position balanced two pressures, the want of labour that made even criminal hands worth keeping against the danger of concentrating too many disorderly men on a small and lightly held island. By taking what had come and barring what might follow, the council set a ceiling on the risk while still drawing what use it could from the men already landed.

92

88

1723.

To the Honoble Wm Phipps Esq

President & ca Council. At Bombay

Honrd Sr & ca

Our last to you was by the

Leisthutier Capt Jno Edwards Commander under date

of the 6th July 1722. who sayled hence for Bencoolen

on the 16th Following where have heard them

Safely arrived.

By the Inclosed List of Shipping yt

has toucht here since our last you'le find none

from Bombay has arrived here this Summer

Except his Majestys Ship Exeter nor nor have

wee reced any Letters from You since that by

the Greenwich dated Janry the 7th 1721. and

mentioned in our aforesd Letter but haveing

omitted takeing any Notice of the reasons you

gave us therein relateing to the Rice and Other

Grain desired in Former Letters being very

Scarce then on your Island which prevented

your sending us any nor could you if otherwise

Supplyed us with the Quantity desired by the

Hartford Letter and that your Opinion was wee

might be better & Cheaper Served from the Bay

than from Bombay. Wee therefore Answer

that part of your Letter onow to Say there is now

Comodity in India more acceptable or of greater

Service to this Place than rice wheat and Such

like grain, and hope your Scareity now is

turned into plenty whereby to Supply us with

a greater Quantity than wee wrote for and begg

you'le please to consider our necessity and to send

us as large a Supply of each Sort (but most of

the Rice) as conveniently you can putt on board

each Ship.

Wee agree with you in your opinions

relateing

Margin Notes:

Lettr to Bombay. per Essex

The next India letter was addressed to William Phipps, President, and the council at Bombay. It recorded that the council's last letter to them had gone by the Leithulier under Captain John Edwards, dated 6 July 1722, who had left for Bencoolen on the 16th following, and was since reported safely arrived.

From the enclosed list of shipping that had touched at the island since, they would find that none had arrived from Bombay that summer except His Majesty's ship Essex. The council had received no letter from Bombay since the one by the Greenwich, dated 7 January 1721, mentioned in its earlier letter. That letter had taken no notice of the council's request for rice and other grain, then very scarce on the island, which had prevented Bombay from sending any, even if it could otherwise have supplied the quantity the Hartford letter asked for. Bombay had given its opinion that the island might be better and more cheaply served from the Bay of Bengal than from Bombay.

In answer to that part of the letter, the council said there was no commodity in India more welcome or more useful to the island than rice, wheat and similar grain. It hoped the scarcity at Bombay had now turned to plenty, so that Bombay could send a greater quantity than the council had written for, and asked Bombay to weigh the island's need and send as large a supply of each kind as it conveniently could, but most of all rice, as much as could be put aboard each ship. The council agreed with Bombay's opinion. The entry breaks at the catchword "relating" at the foot.

Interpretations

The Bombay letter took up the same supply theme the council had pressed on Fort St George, opening in the standing form with the date of the last letter sent, by the Leithulier on 6 July 1722, and that ship's safe arrival at Bencoolen. It then turned to the long silence from Bombay, no letter received since the Greenwich's of 7 January 1721, and to that presidency's failure to answer the island's request for grain.

The exchange carried forward the question of where the island should be supplied. Bombay had advised that St Helena would be better and more cheaply served from Bengal than from itself, a view first brought by the Greenwich and read at the consultation of 5 May 1722, and the council now accepted it. The agreement settled a standing matter of the island's provisioning, directing its grain demand chiefly toward the Bay of Bengal while still pressing Bombay for what it could send.

The renewed plea for rice, wheat and grain marked the island's deepening want of food. The council asked for as large a supply of each kind as could be shipped, and above all rice, hoping Bombay's own scarcity had eased, the same pressure of the poor seasons that ran through the season's correspondence and the buying of yams in the drought.

93

89

June.

Relateing to a further Supply from Bengale, &

have wrote the more pressing to the Gentlemen

there to send us as large a Supply of each Sort

they can by each Ship Yet that wile not be Sufficient

for the use of the Inhabitants of this Island who

in Generale are in very great want of Bread

kind, Occasioned by the long Droughts & Miss of

the rainy Seasons for sevl Yeares past As to

peice Goods wee have a Sufficient Quantity

by us.

Wee desire you'le please to continue yor

Directions to the severall Commanders home

bound relateing to Garden Seeds & plants at the

Cape.

Wee have not further to add but to wish

you Succasse in our honoble Masters Affairs

and are Honrd Sr & ca

Union Castle St Helena.

June 10th 1723.

Yor very humd Servts

PS. If you have any Boom & Sholey

the Govr desire you'le please to

send us 3 or 4 for the blowing up

a large Rock that lys near the

Surface of the Water at our Crane

where wee land all weighty goods

& very often damages & Staves

the Boats.

Jno Smith

Edwd Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin.

To the Honoble Jno Deane Esq Presidt

&ca Council. At Bengale.

Honrd Sr & ca.

Our last to you was by the Leisthutier

Capt Jno Edwards Commander under date of the

6th July 1722. who sayled hence for Bencoolen on

the 16th following where wee have heard she is

Arrived. By the Inclosed List of Shipping that have

toucht here Since our last you'le find those dispat

Margin Notes:

Lettr to Bengall per Essex

The Bombay letter agreed with the presidency's view that a further supply should come from Bengal, and added that the council had written all the more pressingly to the gentlemen there to send as large a supply of each kind as they could by every ship. Even that would not be enough for the island's inhabitants, who in general were in very great want of breadcorn, caused by the long droughts and the failure of the rainy seasons for several years past. As to piece goods, the council had a sufficient quantity by it.

The council asked Bombay to keep up its directions to the several homeward-bound commanders about garden seeds and plants at the Cape. It had nothing further to add but to wish success in the Company's affairs. The letter was dated from Union Castle, St Helena, 10 June 1723, and signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

A postscript added that if Bombay had any bombshells, the Governor asked it to send three or four for blowing up a large rock near the surf face off the watering crane, where the island landed all its heavy goods, and where the boats were often damaged and staved.

The next India letter was addressed to John Deane, President, and the council at Bengal. It recorded that the council's last letter to them had gone by the Leithulier under Captain John Edwards, dated 6 July 1722, who had left for Bencoolen on the 16th following, and was since reported safely arrived. From the enclosed list of shipping that had touched at the island since, they would find those despatched. The entry breaks at the catchword "from" at the foot.

Interpretations

The close of the Bombay letter drove home the island's want of grain and pointed it firmly toward Bengal. The council had written more pressingly still to the Bengal gentlemen, holding that even a large supply from there would not meet the inhabitants' very great want of breadcorn after years of drought and failed seasons. The letter set the food shortage against the piece goods, of which the island had enough, fixing grain as the one pressing need.

The standing matters of garden seeds and the watering rock carried across all three letters. The council asked Bombay, as it had Fort St George, to keep directing the homeward commanders to bring seeds and plants from the Cape, and repeated in a postscript the request for bombshells to blow up the rock that damaged the boats at the crane. The repetition showed the council pressing the same practical wants on every presidency at once.

The Bengal letter then opened in the same fixed form, addressed to President Deane and his council, reciting the date of the last letter by the Leithulier and that ship's safe arrival at Bencoolen before turning to the enclosed list of shipping. It began the third leg of the season's eastern correspondence, the letter to the presidency the council had now named as the island's chief source of grain, the entry breaking off as it moved into the particulars.

94

90

1723.

dispatcht from you have arrived with us and by

each Ship your sevl Letters & Invoices of Goods

consigned to us wee have received Soe that wee need

not Particularizeing herein their sevl

dated or the Ships names by which they came.

For the reason given you in our former Letters

(and which you have answered by the Hartford) Wee

Desire you'le send us by each Ship the fule onez

Cent in only fine Sugar Rice and a Quanity of

Wax Candles which last Article you advisee us in

the before recited Letter was then very Scarce and

Dear and therefore would not Send us none Yet

notwithstanding this Capt Goofright could be

Supplyed with a Quanity of Wax Candles which

wee being in great necessity of was obliedged to

buy of him at a Dear rate Wee formerly

intimated you of an Instance much of the

same Nature & to which wee received a plausible

pretence which wee begg you'le remedy by serving

our honoble Masters Settlements before private

persons the thing in it Selfe being but trifling

and as it is our great Misfortune to be at this

and for some time past under the reale want

of a larger Supply of Rice for the use of this

Island in General Occasioned by the Miss of

our rainy seasons Wee heartily begg of you to

send us as much Rice wheat and other Gram as

possibly the Ships can take in as also 3 or 4 Casks

of good Porke well fatted and Salted for soe long

a Voyage all which wile be of Infinite Service

to this poor Island and the Inhabitants thereof

many of whomes now are near Starving Our

Cattle is also reduced to alasse Number than last

Year and are soe very lean and bare that they

afford us noe Tallow for want of the usual Seasons

to afford them sufficient food for which reason

the

The list of shipping showed those despatched from Bengal had arrived at the island and by every ship brought their several letters and invoices of goods consigned to the council, all received in good order. There was no need to set out their several dates or the names of the ships that brought them.

For the reason given in earlier letters, which Bengal had answered by the Fordwich, the council asked it to send the full one per cent by every ship in fine sugar, rice and a quantity of wax candles. That last item Bengal had advised, in the letter just mentioned, was then very scarce and dear, and so had sent none. Yet Captain Goodfright had been able to supply a quantity of wax candles, which the council, being in great need of them, was obliged to buy from him at a dear rate. The council had earlier pointed out a similar instance to Bengal, and had received a plausible excuse for it, which it asked Bengal to remedy by serving the Company's settlements before private persons, the matter in itself being trifling.

The council's great misfortune, now and for some time past, was the want of a larger supply of rice for the island. This was caused by the failure of the rainy seasons, and the council heartily begged Bengal to send as much rice, wheat and other grain as the ships could take, and also 3 or 4 casks of good pork, well fattened and salted for so long a voyage. All this would be of infinite service to the poor island and its inhabitants, many of whom were now near starving. The island's cattle were also fewer than the year before, and so very lean and bare that they yielded no tallow for want of the usual seasons to give them enough food. The entry breaks at the catchword "the" at the foot.

Interpretations

The Bengal letter pressed the island's wants on the presidency the council had named its chief source of grain. It asked for the one per cent in fine sugar, rice and wax candles, and took up a grievance over the candles, Bengal having pleaded scarcity yet a private buyer obtaining a quantity that the council was forced to buy at a dear rate. The complaint marked a standing friction, the council asking that the Company's own settlements be served before private persons.

The plea for rice and pork laid the island's distress plainly before Bengal. The want of grain after the failed rainy seasons was the council's great misfortune, the inhabitants many of them near starving, and the request for salted pork against the long voyage answered the same shortage of food. The letter set the human need at its sharpest, the poor island depending on the presidency's grain to feed its people.

The note on the cattle tied the food shortage to the island's own husbandry. The herds were fewer than the year before and so lean from want of feed that they gave no tallow, the same failure of the seasons that starved the crops also starving the stock. The detail showed the drought reaching through every part of the island's economy, the want of rain felt alike in the yams, the grain and the cattle.

95

91

June

the Porke & ca wee now desire wile be of vast use to

us. Wee further request you'le please to Continue

the Notice to the severall Commanders nt to buy

any Arrack to dispose of here as also relating

to the seeds and plants at the Cape as usuale.

Wee wee Informed by Govr ffeake (who was

here in April last) that the Banyan tree Burs

tree & pipple tree are procurable in Bengale

all which he was of opinion would grow well here

wherefore begg you'le send us a Couple of each

putt up after the properest manner to preserve

them hither and any other Tree or Young

Plants Seeds & ca You think wile take wele here

which wee Shale be very thankfule for &

endeavour a Suitable returne of any thing

wee have here that may be acceptable to

you

Wee heartily wish You health & prosperity

congratulating Govr Deane to the Accession

of his Government and are.

Honrd Sr & ca Gentlemen

Union Castle St Helena

June 10th 1723.

Yor most humd Servts

Jno Smith

Edwd Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin.

To the Worshipfull the Deputy Govr

of the West Coast & ca Council.

Worshipfull Sr & ca

Our last to you was by the Leisthutier

Capt Jno Edwards Commr Dated the 6th of July

1722 and having therein wrote what did then

occurr

Margin Notes:

Lettr to Bencoolen per Essex

The pork and grain, the council added, would now be of vast use to it.

The council further asked Bengal to keep up its notice to the several commanders not to buy any arrack to sell at the island, and to continue the matter of the seeds and plants at the Cape as usual.

The council had been told by President Feake, who was at the island in April last, that the banyan tree, the bur tree and the peepul tree could be had in Bengal, all of which he thought would grow well at St Helena. It asked Bengal to send a couple of each, put up in the proper way to preserve them on the passage, along with any other tree or young plants or seeds it thought would take well at the island, for which the council would be very thankful, and would try to make a suitable return of anything it had that might be welcome to Bengal.

The council heartily wished Bengal health and prosperity, and congratulated President Deane on his accession to the government. The letter was dated from Union Castle, St Helena, 10 June 1723, and signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The last India letter was addressed to the Deputy Governor of the West Coast and his council at Bencoolen. It recorded that the council's last letter to them had gone by the Leithulier under Captain John Edwards, dated 6 July 1722, in which it had written what then occurred. The entry breaks at the catchword "occurr" at the foot.

Interpretations

The close of the Bengal letter joined the island's want of food to its standing care for its own greenery. Having pressed for pork and grain, the council turned to President Feake's advice on the banyan, bur and peepul trees of Bengal, asking for specimens put up to survive the passage, and offered a return of anything the island could supply. The request marked the council's continuing effort to establish useful trees, a thread running alongside its protection of the Great Wood.

The repeated matters of arrack and Cape seeds closed the letter as they had the others. The council asked Bengal, as it had each presidency, to keep telling the commanders not to stock arrack for sale at the island and to continue the sending of seeds and plants from the Cape, the same standing instructions pressed uniformly on all four settlements. The four signatures of Smith, Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin closed the Bengal letter.

The Bencoolen letter then opened the last leg of the season's correspondence, addressed to the Deputy Governor of the West Coast and his council. It began in the usual form with the date of the last letter by the Leithulier on 6 July 1722, the same vessel that had carried the island's news to every eastern settlement, the entry breaking off as it took up the present despatch.

96

92

1723.

occur and hearing of her Arrival at Bencoolen Wee

thereto referr You for your better Information.

Wee herewith send Inclosed a List of Ships

that has toucht here since our aforesd Letter which

Wee hope wile be of Some Service to you.

In our former Letters Wee desired you

would procure and send us a Quantity of Rice &

Sugar which would be always very acceptable & of

at great use to the People of this Island and

especially now for want of rainy Seasons for

severall Yeares Successiveii and as our Necessity

is worthy your Consideration Soe wee begg you'le

comply with our request & Supply us by each

Ship with as great a Quantity as possible you

can.

Wee have not to add but to wish you

health & prosperity and are.

Worshipf. Sr & ca Gentlen.

Yor humd Servts

(Signed) Jno Smith

Edwd Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

The Bencoolen letter, having recited what occurred in the last letter and the news of the Leithulier's arrival at Bencoolen, referred the Deputy Governor to it for his better information.

The council enclosed a list of the ships that had touched at the island since that letter, which it hoped would be of some service to him.

In its earlier letter the council had asked Bencoolen to obtain and send a quantity of rice and sugar, which would always be very welcome and of great use to the island's people, and especially now, for want of rainy seasons several years running. As the island's need was worthy of his consideration, the council begged him to meet its request and supply as great a quantity as possible by every ship.

The council had nothing further to add but to wish him health and prosperity. The letter was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The consultation closed with the same four signatures, John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The Bencoolen letter completed the round of the season's eastern correspondence, the fourth and last of the India letters sent by the Essex. It followed the same form as the others, referring the Deputy Governor to the previous letter and enclosing the list of shipping that had touched at the island, the standing account the council kept of its sea traffic for every settlement.

The renewed request for rice and sugar repeated to Bencoolen the want pressed on Fort St George, Bombay and Bengal. The council set the same shortage before each settlement, the failure of the rainy seasons for several years running leaving the island in need of grain, and asked Bencoolen too to send as large a quantity as it could by every ship. The uniform plea showed the council casting its net across all four eastern stations at once.

The closing signatures ended both the Bencoolen letter and the consultation of 10 June 1723. The four names of Smith, Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin authenticated the whole despatch, the new Governor's first round of India correspondence sent off complete by the store ship that had brought him, the council's chief business that sitting being the feeding of the island through the drought.

97

93

June.

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the 11th June 1723. At Union Castle in James

Valley.

Jno Smith Esq Govr

Present Edwd Byfeld 2d

Jno Alexander 3d &

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and approved on

Mr Byfeld brot in and delivered his Mouthly Acc

of the honoble Companys live Stock & Expences

for the Mouth of May which was examined &

approved of.

Capt Goodwin likewise brot in and

delivered his Accot of Goods and Stores expended

in the sd Mouth of May which was examined &

approved of also

Gunner French brot in and delivered

his Accot of Gunners Stores delivered & expended in the sd

Mouth of May which was examined & approved

of and is as follows.

May 1st 1723.

for the generale Muster

lego: 1

22 for the Funerall of Tho Burnham

1 1

25 for the Funerall of Wm Penny

1

28 An Alarme

Guns fired 4. Sacker 4. legot 4

Do Arrived the Essex from England

Guns fired 9. Sacker 9. legot 9

For the Worshipfule Govr Jno Smith

comeing on Shore

Guns fired 21. Demr 1. Sacker 4. legot 16. 5

Expences for the Guard

5

Carried over

Guns fired 34. Demr 1. Sacker 4. legot 29. 7

At a consultation held on Tuesday 11 June 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor John Smith, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth present, the council took up its business. The last consultation was read and approved.

Mr Byfield brought in and delivered his monthly account of the Honourable Company's live stock and expenses for the month of May, which was examined and approved.

Captain Goodwin likewise brought in and delivered his account of goods and stores expended in the month of May, which was examined and approved.

The gunner French brought in and delivered his account of gunner's stores expended and delivered in the month of May, which was examined and approved, and stood as follows.

The account set out the gunner's stores expended in the said month. The columns, written vertically, read guns fired, falcons, serkins and gauthus, with a further column too faint to read with confidence rendered as [...].

On 1 May 1723, for the general muster, no gun was fired and no other store issued, the entry standing only in the final illegible column.

On 22 May, for the funeral of Thomas Burnham, no gun was fired and no other store issued, the entry standing only in the final column.

On 25 May, for the funeral of William Penny, no gun was fired and no other store issued, the entry standing only in the final column.

On 28 May, an alarm, 4 guns fired, no falcon, no serkin, 4 gauthus, and 4 in the final column.

The same day, on the arrival of the Essex from England, 9 guns fired, no falcon, no serkin, 9 gauthus, and 9 in the final column.

For the worshipful Governor John Smith coming on shore, 21 guns fired, 1 falcon, 4 serkins, 16 gauthus, and 3 in the final column.

Expenses for the guard stood only in the final column.

The figures carried over gave 34 guns fired, 1 falcon, 4 serkins, 29 gauthus, and 7 in the final column.

Interpretations

The sitting opened with the routine round of monthly accounts under the new Governor. Byfield rendered the live stock and expense account for May, Captain Goodwin the goods and stores expended, and the gunner French the gunner's stores, each examined and approved in turn, the standing monthly reckoning of the Company's establishment carried on without change at the change of government.

The gunner's account recorded the powder and stores fired off through May. The heaviest charge fell on the new Governor's reception, 21 guns for John Smith coming ashore, with 9 for the arrival of the Essex that brought him and 4 for the alarm of 28 May. The two funerals of Thomas Burnham and William Penny drew no gun, the powder reserved for salutes, alarms and ceremony rather than burials.

The account ties the gunner's expenditure to the events the other entries record. The 28 May alarm and the arrival of the Essex, both noted at the consultation of 28 May 1723, and the Governor's landing all reappear here measured in rounds of powder, the gunner's book serving as a second record of the month's notable occasions counted in the stores they consumed.

98

94

1723.

Brot over

Guns fired 34. Demr 1. Sacker 4. legot 29. 7. 3

Musquett Ball

6

Cartridge Paper

22

Flints

3

Sheep Skins

5 0

Match

14

14 6 50 3 6

Mr Slaughter brot in his Accot of the

expences of the generale Table for the sd Month

of May which was examined & approved of & is as follows.

552 Beef

@ 5/

7 8

29 Goates

10/

14 10

4 Turkeys

6/

1 4

20 Fowles

1/6

5 5

24 Eggs

1/6

2

62 Bottles Milk

4d

1

115 Porke

6d

2 19 6

31 Days Greens

1/

1 11

59 Gallons Arack

6/4

18 13 8

14 Gallons Cape Wine

3/

2 2

40 Bottles of French Wine

3/

6

12 Bottles of Renish

3/

1 16

14 Bottles of Sherry

3/

2 2

54 Bottles of Ale

1/3

3 7 6

3 Gallons Vinegar

4/

12

6 Qts Sweet Oyle

15/

1 2 6

100 Sugar

6d

2 10

10 lb Sugar Candy

1/

10

30 lb Soap

1/5

2 2 6

5 lb Tea

7/6

2 16 3

165 Bread

3d

2 1 3

40 Flower

3d

10

14 lbs Salt Porke

2/6

1 15

12 do Salt Beef

2/10

1 14

16 lbs Wax Candles

2/

2

Signed Wm Slaughter

85 14 10

The Petition of Gilbert Snisnick was presented

Setting forth that he had obteined leave to goe for

India on the Ship Essex now in the road and having

Since

Margin Notes:

Expence of the Govrs Table for sd Mo: Land

Petn of Gilbt Snisnick

The gunner's account continued. Brought over, the figures stood at 34 guns fired, 1 falcon, 4 serkins, 29 gauthus, and 7 in the final column, the column headings repeated vertically.

6 musket balls were issued, entered only in the serkins column.

22 sheets of cartridge paper were issued, entered only in the gauthus column.

3 flints were issued, entered only in the gauthus column.

50 sheepskins were issued, entered only in the final column.

14 match were issued, entered only in the gauthus column.

The whole stood at 14 guns fired, 6 falcons, 50 serkins, 3 gauthus and 6 in the final column. The account was signed by William Slaughter.

Mr Slaughter brought in his account of the expenses of the General Table for the month of May, which was examined and approved, and stood as follows.

552 pounds of beef, at 5s 0d per 100 pounds, came to £7 8s 0d.

29 goats, at 10s 0d each, came to £14 10s 0d.

4 turkeys, at 6s 0d each, came to £1 4s 0d.

20 fowls, at 1s 6d each, came to £5 5s 0d.

24 eggs came to 2s 0d.

60 bottles of milk, at 4d each, came to £1 0s 0d.

113 pounds of pork, at 6d per pound, came to £2 19s 6d.

31 days' greens, at 1s 0d, came to £1 11s 0d.

59 gallons of arrack, at 6s 4d per gallon, came to £18 13s 8d.

14 gallons of Cape wine, at 3s 0d, came to £2 2s 0d.

40 bottles of French wine, at 3s 0d, came to £6 0s 0d.

12 bottles of Rhenish, at 3s 0d, came to £1 16s 0d.

14 bottles of sherry, at 3s 0d, came to £2 2s 0d.

54 bottles of ale, at 1s 3d, came to £3 7s 6d.

3 gallons of vinegar, at 4s 0d, came to 12s 0d.

6 quarts of sweet oil, at 1s 5d, came to £1 2s 6d.

100 pounds of sugar, at 6d per pound, came to £2 10s 0d.

10 pounds of sugar candy, at 1s 0d, came to 10s 0d.

30 pounds of soap, at 1s 5d, came to £2 2s 6d.

half a pound of tea, at 7s 6d, came to £2 16s 3d.

165 pounds of bread, at 3d, came to £2 1s 3d.

40 pounds of flour, at 3d, came to 10s 0d.

14 pounds of salt pork, at 2s 6d, came to £1 15s 0d.

12 pounds of salt beef, at 2s 10d, came to £1 14s 0d.

20 wax candles, at 2s 0d per pound, came to £2 0s 0d.

The account, signed by William Slaughter, came to £85 14s 10d.

The petition of Gilbert Sinsnick was presented. It set forth that he had been given leave to go off the island for India on the ship Essex, now in the road. The entry breaks at the catchword "since" at the foot.

Interpretations

The gunner's account closed with the small stores issued through May, the musket balls, cartridge paper, flints, sheepskins and match that supported the firing, each entered against its column and the whole subtotalled and signed by Slaughter. The page completed the gunner's monthly return begun on the leaf before, the powder and the lesser stores reckoned together.

The General Table account for May set the garrison's provisioning at £85 14s 10d, a lower figure than the £112 10s 9d of April. The drink again carried the largest charges, arrack at £18 13s 8d above all, with the goats and the beef the chief meats, and the account ran through the same range of fresh and salt provisions, dairy, groceries and wines as the month before.

The Sinsnick petition reopened a matter already settled at the consultation of 4 June 1723, where the restless freeman had been given leave to go on the Essex on condition he cleared with the island. The fresh petition, breaking off at the foot, returned to the terms of his departure, the council taking up again the business of letting an unwelcome man off the island.

99

95

June

Since married with Mary Leech to whome he

was engaged before he petitioned to goe of prayed

Leave to Carry his Wife with him

Granted.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the 18th day of June 1723 at Union Castle In

James Valley.

Jno Smith Esq Govr

Edwd Byfeld 2d

Present Jno Alexander 3d

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and approved on

Yesterday in the Afternoon Sayled honor

The Essex Capt Somers for Madrass.

James Cesey & Richd Beale Exors of the

last will and Testament of Wm Penny deceased

presented the said Will and desired the same

might be proved which was done accordingly by

the Oaths of Joseph Bates Eliku Carne & Wm

Coales. The sd Will was approved off and ordered

to be registred in the Register booke accordingly.

Wee have this day tooke into Considerat

the Generale Letter brot by the Essex and in

pursuance to the 40th Paragrah.

Ordered that an Advertisemt be

forthwith Issued to give notice to the Inhabitants

that the honoble Company have this Year

forbid

Margin Notes:

praying leave for his wife to goe Off wt him

Granted

Essex departure.

The last Will & Testamt of Wm Penny prsented

and approved Of

Genrl Lettr proposed & 40 Par: made Known

to of Inhabitants of all India Ships

Gilbert Sinsnick had since married Mary Leech, to whom he was engaged before he petitioned for leave to go, and asked leave to take his wife with him. The council granted it. The order was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 18 June 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor John Smith, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth present, the council took up its business. The last consultation was read and approved.

The day before, in the afternoon, the Essex under Captain Sommers had sailed for Madras.

James Vesey and Richard Beale, executors of the last will and testament of William Penny deceased, presented the will and asked that it be proved, which was done on the oaths of Joseph Bates, Elihu Carne and John Coles. The will was approved and ordered to be registered in the register book.

The council had this day taken into consideration the general letter brought by the Essex, and under its 40th paragraph ordered that an advertisement be issued at once to give notice to the inhabitants that the Honourable Company had this year forbidden. The entry breaks at the catchword "forbid" at the foot.

Interpretations

The Sinsnick grant closed the matter of his departure, the restless freeman now allowed to take with him the wife he had married since his first petition. The council, having already agreed at the consultation of 4 June 1723 to let him go on condition he cleared with the island, raised no objection to his carrying his wife, and the four signatures of Smith, Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin closed the consultation of 11 June 1723.

The new consultation of 18 June 1723 opened with the departure of the Essex for Madras the previous afternoon, the store ship that had brought Governor Smith now gone east with the season's India letters. The proving of William Penny's will followed, his executors Vesey and Beale presenting it and the council registering it on the witnesses' oaths, Penny being the man whose funeral the gunner's account of 25 May had recorded.

The reading of the directors' general letter began the new administration's response to its instructions. Under the 40th paragraph the council ordered an advertisement to the inhabitants of something the Company had forbidden that year, the entry breaking off before the prohibition itself, the bench taking up the directors' orders point by point as each fresh letter required.

100

96

1723.

Forbid their outward boune Capts touching at the Cape

in their returne and have also wrote to India to

forbid all their Ships there. in like manner and to

encourage the Planters to be diligent and carefull

to raise all Sorts of Provisions for the Supply of

Shipps.

Wee being in great necessity ffor Butter

Coales, Deales Medicines & Saddles. have bot the foll

Quantitys of each of Capt Jonth Somers at the prices

hereunder

Coales. 4 Chaldron

7 16

Butter 6 Firkins

18

Deales 6

52 14 4

Saddles. 3

10

1 Box Medicines

9 16 8

95 17 4

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

being forbid touching at ye Cape

Planters thereby Encouraged to raise Provisions.

Goods bought of Capt Somers

The advertisement gave notice that the Honourable Company had this year forbidden its outward-bound captains to touch at the Cape on their return, and had also written to India to forbid all its ships there in the same way. It encouraged the planters to be diligent and careful in raising all sorts of provisions for the supply of the shipping.

Being in great need of butter, coals, deals, medicines and saddles, the council had bought the following quantities of each from Captain John Sommers at the prices set out below.

4 chaldron of coals came to £7 16s 0d.

6 firkins of butter came to £15 0s 0d.

6 deals came to £52 14s 4d.

3 saddles came to £10 0s 0d.

1 box of medicines came to £9 16s 8d.

The whole came to £95 17s 4d. The account was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The advertisement set out the directors' new bar on the Cape and turned the island's provisioning inward. The Company had forbidden both its outward ships on their return and its ships in India to touch at the Cape, and the council pressed the planters to raise all sorts of provisions to supply the shipping in its place. The order tied the directors' shipping policy to the island's standing effort to feed the passing ships from its own husbandry, the planters now to make good what the Cape had supplied.

The purchases from Captain Sommers stocked the island from the store ship before she sailed. The council, short of butter, coals, deals, medicines and saddles, bought a quantity of each at £95 17s 4d, the deals at £52 14s 4d the heaviest item, taking from the Essex what the directors' stores or the island's own resources lacked. The four signatures of Smith, Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin closed the account.

The two entries together mark the island settling into self-supply under the new policy. With the Cape closed to the Company's ships, the planters pressed to raise provisions and the council laying in stores from the visiting ship, the bench worked both sides of the same problem, building up the island's own production while drawing what it still needed from the shipping that called.

Speculations

The Cape bar shows the directors restructuring the supply of their shipping in a way that threw fresh weight on St Helena. By forbidding their ships to touch at the Cape, they cut off a rival refreshment station and forced the homeward and outward traffic to depend on the island for provisions, a deliberate channelling of the trade through the Company's own port. The council's response, pressing the planters to raise all sorts of provisions and buying up stores against the want, met the policy by gearing the island to carry the larger burden the closure imposed. The arrangement turned a remote refreshment station into the chief victualling point of the eastern shipping, the directors' order and the council's measures working together to make the island answer a demand the Cape had formerly shared.

101

96

June.

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

25th day of June 1723 at Union Castle In James

Valley.

Jno Smith Esq Govr

Present Edwd Byfeld 2d

Jno Alexander 3d

&

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved of

The Advertisement ordered in the last Consul

tation was issued out accordingly.

Ordered that an Advertisement be Issued to

give Notice to the persons belonging to the Garrison

and workemen employed by the honoble Company

that on Tuesday next being the 2d Day of July

the Governor and Council doe Intend to Sitt in

Consultation at Plantation house for the Settling

and makeing up Accots between them & the sd

honoble Company for the last Quarter.

James Cesey and Richard Beale Exowtrs

of Wm Penny brot in and delivered an Accot of ye

Effects of Williaim Penny according to ye order made

last Consultation.

Ordered that the said James Cesey and Rich

Beale doe forthwith Sell the said Efferts of the sd Wm

Penny at Publick outery and make up ther Accot

return and deliver in thea Same on Tuesday the 9th

Day of July next.

Wee have this day prized the Chint Calenco

comeing wd tous from the Cape by Wm Mackett Thomas

Gilbert and Rd Higginson & reed on the 7th day of Marh

last being all very much damaged as follows vizt

ffour:

Margin Notes:

Adver: Issued out

Garrison brought & Workmen to make up Accot at Plant House

Inventory of Wm Penny delivered

W Pennys Effects to be Sold.

Chints & ca from the Cape Prized

At a consultation held on Tuesday 25 June 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor John Smith, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth present, the council took up its business. The last consultation was read and approved.

The advertisement ordered at the last consultation had been issued accordingly.

The council ordered that an advertisement be issued to give notice to the persons belonging to the garrison and the workmen employed by the Honourable Company that on Tuesday 2 July next the Governor and council intended to sit in consultation at the plantation house, for settling and making up the accounts between them and the Company for the last quarter.

James Vesey and Richard Beale, executors of William Penny deceased, brought in and delivered an account of the effects of William Penny, under the order made at the last consultation. The council ordered that Vesey and Beale at once sell the effects at public outcry, make up the account and deliver it on Tuesday 9 July next.

The council had this day appraised the chintz and chillaes consigned to it from the Cape by William Mackett, and Thomas Gilbert and Richard Higginson agreed on the 7th of March last, being all very much damaged, as follows. The entry breaks at the catchword "viz" at the foot.

Interpretations

The sitting opened with the routine confirmation that the Cape advertisement of the last consultation had been published, and an order for a further notice fixing the quarterly account day. The Governor and council were to sit at the plantation house on 2 July to settle the accounts between the Company and its garrison and workmen for the last quarter, the standing quarterly reckoning carried on under the new administration.

The Penny estate moved forward to its sale. The executors Vesey and Beale, having proved the will at the consultation of 18 June 1723, now delivered an account of the effects and were ordered to sell them at public outcry and render the account on 9 July, the regular course for winding up a deceased planter's goods.

The appraisal of the damaged chintz and chillaes took up a parcel of textiles consigned from the Cape and badly spoiled. The council had the goods valued before sale, the same care it applied to all damaged stores, fixing what the spoiled cloth was worth so that the loss could be charged and the goods disposed of at a fair price, the entry breaking off as it moved into the valuation itself.

102

97

1723.

ffour Bales. whole peices to be sold out ye Price

5 9

2 Do Broken peices more damaged

to be sold out at ye yard

9 9

Ordered that the Surgeon of the Garrison being

Mouthly an Accot of Medicines expended & on whome

Particularly & that he have a Copyy of this order

delivered to him forthwith by the Secretary.

Wee have this day considered further on the

generall Letter by the Essex and affixed the Price of the

goods in the Invoice of Merchandize brot us by the

Essex for the Accot of our honoble Masters the

particulars, of which togeather with the selling price

are as foll.

London February the 14th 1722

Invoice of Merchandize laden by the Honble the Court of Directors

of the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

in & upon the Good Ship Essex the Essex Burden 320 Tons or thereabouts, whereof

goeth Commander Capt Jonathan Somers, Bound by the Almighties Permission

for the Island of St Helena & goes Consigned to the Governour & Council there

Resident, being Marked & Numbered as ye Margin the particulars are as follows

Anchor 1

Wt 3. 1. 27

at 20. 10 pr Ct

4 12 3

Chaine 1 of 14 Fathom

Wt 4. 3

33. 4

7 13 4

Seeds 1 Cask of all Sorts of Garden Seeds, Grasse Seeds, & Seeds of

Trees Amounting to

5 13

Caps Iron bound 2. 1 of 11½ Inches. 1 of 13 Inches with Bolts,

Plates & Rings drove & Clenched Iron wt 54½ amounting to

Masts 3 Shipt

3 3

1 Mast 70 Foot long 19 Inches deep

12. 2

1 Do 65 Ditto 18 do

9. 13

1 Do 52 do 15 do

5. 10

3 Masts amounting to

27 10 0

Beefe & Suet 30 Punchons & 3 barells wt 232. 0. 26.

at 26. 10 pr Ct

Cwt 100 lb

312 11 5

Pork. 2 Barells wt 6. 14

at 35. 2. pr Ct

10 15 5

Bread 10 Casks 2 Tyrding wt 40.

at 13. 7 pr Ct

27 3 4

Pease 6 Casks of 48 Bushells

3. 11 pr Bushell

9 8

Flower 20 Casks wt 5. 3. 19.

at 15. 4 pr Ct

42 18 6

Carried over

451 13 6

Margin Notes:

and to be sold out at

Surgeon to give Mouthly forte Medicines he Expends

Cargoe brought by ye Essex Prized

Price of the Invoice.

No 60 62

No 1

No 21 to 30. a to c

No 1. 2.

No 1. to 10

A. to F

No 1. to 20

The damaged goods were appraised and to be sold out as follows.

4 bales, the whole pieces, were to be sold out at 5s 9d per piece.

2 bales of broken pieces, more damaged, were to be sold out at 9d per yard.

The council ordered that the surgeon of the garrison keep a monthly account of medicines expended, and to whom each was given, and that he have a copy of this order delivered to him at once by the secretary.

The council had this day further considered the general letter brought by the Essex and fixed the prices of the goods in the invoice of merchandise brought for the Company's account by that ship. The particulars, with their selling prices, were as follows.

The invoice was dated London, 14 February 1722. It was an 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 ship Essex, of about 320 tons, Captain Jonathan Sommers commander, bound for St Helena and consigned to the Governor and council there, the particulars marked and numbered as follows.

An anchor, marked numbers 60 and 62, weighing 3 hundredweight, 0 quarters, 27 pounds, at 10s 0d per hundredweight, came to £4 12s 3d.

A chain of 14 fathom, weight 4 hundredweight, 3 quarters, 0 pounds, at 33s 4d, came to £7 13s 4d.

Seeds, a cask of all sorts of garden seeds, grass seeds and seeds of trees, came to £5 13s 0d.

Iron-bound caps, 2 of them, 1 of 11½ inches and 1 of 13 inches, with bolts, plates and rings, of drove and clenched iron, weight 54½ hundredweight, came to £3 3s 0d.

3 masts came to £27 10s 0d, the parcel being 1 mast 70 foot long and 19 inches deep at £12 2s 0d, 1 of 65 foot and 18 inches at £9 13s 0d, and 1 of 52 foot and 15 inches at £5 10s 0d.

Beef and suet, 20 puncheons and 3 barrels, weight 232 hundredweight, 0 quarters, 26 pounds, at 26s 10d per hundredweight, came to £312 11s 5d.

Pork, 2 barrels, weight 6 hundredweight, 0 quarters, 14 pounds, at 35s 2d per hundredweight, came to £10 15s 5d.

Bread, 10 casks, weight 2 hundredweight, 0 quarters, 0 pounds [reading uncertain], at 13s 7d per hundredweight, came to £27 3s 4d.

Pease, 6 casks, of 48 bushels, at 3s 11d per bushel, came to £9 8s 0d.

Flour, 20 casks, weight 56 hundredweight, 3 quarters, 19 pounds, at 15s 1d per hundredweight, came to £42 18s 6d.

The figures carried over came to £451 13s 6d.

Interpretations

The damaged textiles closed the matter of the spoiled chintz and chillaes, the whole pieces priced at 5s 9d apiece and the broken, more damaged pieces at 9d per yard. The council fixed the two rates so the goods could be sold off at a value reflecting their condition, the loss on the consignment from the Cape thereby set on the books.

The order for the surgeon's medicine account revived a control the island had imposed before. The garrison surgeon was to keep a monthly book of medicines dispensed and to whom, a copy of the order served on him at once, the same accounting discipline over the medical stores the council had run under earlier administrations after thefts from the surgeon's stores. With the doctor Beale discharged and Carlile newly engaged, the bench reimposed the standing check on the new man.

The Essex invoice opened the pricing of the directors' store cargo for sale at the island. The council took the London invoice of 14 February 1722 and set a selling price against each item, the anchor, chain, seeds, ironwork, masts and the bulk provisions of beef, pork, bread, pease and flour, the salted meat and grain answering the island's pressing want of food. The valuation followed the council's standing practice of marking up the directors' goods for issue to the inhabitants and the establishment.

103

98

June

brought over

451 13 6

White Bread 2 Bundles wt 2.

at 23 pr Ct

2 16

Oatmeale 1 Cask of 4 Bushell Grits

at 8. 5 pr Bushl

1 14

Seed Wheat 1 Cask of 5 Bushell

5. 6 pr Bushl

1 7 6

Kidney Beans 1 Cask of 2 Bushell

13. 9 pr Bushl

1 7

Garden Beans 2 Casks of 12 Bushell

10. 2 pr Bushl

6 2

Seed Pease 1 Cask of 8 Bushell

8. 8 pr Bushl

3 9 4

Medicine & Surgeons Instruments & Case Amounts to

13 17 4

Iron Mongers Ware 9 Casks & 2 Bundles vizt

616 1d Nailes

at 4 pr lb

15 8

625 6 do

5 do

13 0 5

533 6 do

5 do

11 4 2

632 8 do

4½ do

11 17

714 10 do

4½ do

13 7 9

450 10 do

4½ do

8 8 9

688 20 do

4 do

11 9 4

502 20 do

4 do

8 7 4

8 Casks Iron bound

5. 2

2 17 4

20 Double Head Mauls wt 1. 3. 6.

at 30. 10 pr Ct

2 15 7

1 Hand Vice

2 2

1 Bench do

6 7

6 Drill Bowes

1

12 Knife Gutt String

6 6

12 Files Sorted

2 0

12 do

3 3

12 do

6 6

12 do

13 4

6 Rubbers Sorted

13

3 Dozen File hafts Sorted

3 3

1 Cask Iron bound

5 6

12 Shod Shovels

15 4

8 do

11 8

Canvas & ca to the Bundles

1

Iron Mongers Ware 2 Bundles & 1 Cask Amounting to

103 6 5

Strong Beer 8 Hogsheads of 2 Ton at 9. 9. 7 pr Ton

18 18 8

Stationary Ware 4 Chest bought of Mr Edward News vizt

2 Ledgers 4 Quire fine Royall each ruled 6 Lines bound

in vellom & bossed & the Companys Arms

2 10

2 Journals of 3 quire each ruled 7 lines do

2 1 3

1 Ream fine Royall

3 2 2

1 Ream fine Medium

2 11 2

6 14 12

Margin Notes:

No 1. 2.

Oat

S.W.

K. 03

G.B.1.2

S.P.1

N1

Cask No 1

Bundle 10

11

No 1. 14 18

R 23

The invoice continued, the figures brought over standing at £451 13s 6d.

White bread, 2 bundles, weight 2 hundredweight, at 23s 0d per hundredweight, came to £2 16s 0d.

Oatmeal, 1 cask of 4 bushels, 2 quarts, at 8s 3d per bushel, came to £1 14s 0d.

Seed wheat, 1 cask of 5 bushels, at 5s 6d per bushel, came to £1 7s 6d.

Kidney beans, 1 cask of 2 bushels, at 13s 9d per bushel, came to £1 7s 6d.

Garden beans, 2 casks of 12 bushels, at 10s 2d per bushel, came to £6 2s 0d.

Seed pease, 1 cask of 8 bushels, at 8s 8d per bushel, came to £3 9s 4d.

Medicines and surgeon's instruments, 1 case, came to £13 17s 4d.

The ironmonger's ware ran across 9 casks and 2 bundles, set out as follows.

Cask number 1, 616 pounds of 4d nails, at 8s 0d per pound [reading uncertain], came to £15 8s 0d.

Cask number 2, 625 pounds of 6d nails, at 5d, came to £13 0s 5d.

Cask number 3, 593 pounds of 6d nails, at 5d, came to £11 4s 2d.

Cask number 4, 632 pounds of 8d nails, at 4½d, came to £11 17s 0d.

Cask number 5, 714 pounds of 10d nails, at 4½d, came to £13 7s 9d.

Cask number 6, 450 pounds of 10d nails, at 4½d, came to £8 8s 9d.

Cask number 7, 688 pounds of 20d nails, at 4d, came to £11 9s 4d.

Cask number 8, 502 pounds of 20d nails, at 4d, came to £8 7s 4d.

8 casks, iron-bound, came to £2 17s 4d.

Cask number 9, 20 double-headed mauls, weight 1 hundredweight, 3 quarters, 6 pounds, at 30s 10d per hundredweight, came to £2 15s 7d.

1 hand vice came to 2s 2d.

1 bench vice came to 6s 7d.

6 drill bows came to 1s 0d.

12 throat-gut strings came to 6s 6d.

12 files, sorted, came to 2s 0d.

12 more came to 3s 3d.

12 more came to 6s 6d.

6 rubbers, sorted, came to 13s 4d.

3 dozen file hafts, sorted, came to 13s 0d.

1 cask, iron-bound, came to 3s 3d.

Bundle 10, 12 shod shovels, came to 5s 6d.

Bundle 11, 8 more, came to 5s 4d.

Canvas for the 2 bundles came to 1s 0d.

The ironmonger's ware in 2 bundles and 1 cask came to £103 6s 5d.

Strong beer, 8 hogsheads, of 2 tun, at £9 9s 0d per tun, came to £18 18s 0d.

Stationery ware, 1 chest, bought of Mr Edward News, set out as follows.

2 ledgers, 4 quires fine royal each, ruled 6 lines, bound in vellum and banded, with the Company's arms, came to £2 10s 0d.

2 journals, of 3 quires each, ruled 7 lines, came to £2 1s 3d.

1 ream fine royal came to £3 2s 2d.

1 ream fine medium came to £2 11s 2d.

The figures carried over came to £604 12s 6d [reading uncertain].

Interpretations

The invoice continued through the directors' provisions and stores priced for sale at the island. The grain and pulse, the seed wheat, kidney and garden beans, oatmeal and seed pease, answered both the table and the planting, set against the want of food the season's letters had pressed, while the case of medicines and instruments restocked the surgeon's stores.

The great bulk of the entry was the ironmonger's ware, nine casks of nails of every size from 4d to 20d, with mauls, vices, files, shovels and the smaller smith's and carpenter's tools, the whole coming to £103 6s 5d. The nails and tools supplied the island's constant building and repair, the same stores whose sale the council tracked quarter by quarter against the demand of the works.

The stationery ware closed the page with the books the island's own accounting required, ledgers and journals ruled and bound with the Company's arms and reams of fine paper, bought of Mr Edward News. The supply of account books from London marked the directors furnishing the very instruments of the bookkeeping the council had so long struggled to keep current, the records of the station maintained on paper sent out for the purpose.

104

99

1723

Stationary Ware

brought over

604 12 11

1 Ream fine Demy

15 2

2 Reams fine Foolscap

1 18 6

2 Reams fine Fringe Arms

1 18 6

2 Demy Alphabets in Mar. Paper folio

1 9 8

2 Foolscap Ditto

2 9

2000 Second Quills

2 0

4000 Pinion Quills

at 4 pr 1000

1 2 0

1 Dozen Ivory Penknives

16 0

1 Dozen Ceed Rulers

19 9

1 Chest

9 2

Stationary Ware 1 Chest amounting to

7 0 0

20 6 9

Tea Kettles & Snuffers 1 Cask vizt

12 Tea Kettles Sorted

at 9. 10.

5 18 0

24 Pair Steel Snuffers

11

1 2

1 Cask

4 6

Tea Kettles & Snuffers 1 Cask Amounting to

7 4 6

Tobacco Pipes 3 Casks

21 Groce of Pipes

at 1. 10 pr Groce

1 18 6

21 Ditto

1 18 6

20 Ditto

1 16 8

3 Casks

13 0

Tobacco Pipes 3 Casks amounting to

6 6 8

Hatts 1 Case vizt

24 Boys Hatts

No 1

4 0

4 16 0

12 Do

2

5

3 0

48 Mens Do

3

7 8

11 18

24 Do

4

9 11

11 18

1 Case

7

Hatts 1 Case Amounting to

38 9

Cartridge Paper & Horse Hydes 1 Cask vizt

10 Ream Cartridge Paper

19. 10 pr Ream

9 18 4

3 Tanned Hydes

15 4

2 6

1 Cask

9 8

Cartridge Paper & Horse Hydes 1 Cask Amounting to

12 14

Carried over

689 13 10

Margin Notes:

No 1

2

3

H

No 1

The invoice continued, the figures brought over standing at £604 12s 11d.

The stationery ware continued as follows.

1 ream fine demy came to £1 15s 2d.

2 reams fine foolscap came to £1 18s 6d.

2 reams fine Fenge alms [reading uncertain] came to £1 18s 0d.

2 demy alphabets in marble paper, folio, came to £1 9s 8d.

2 foolscap ditto came to 2s 9d.

2,000 second quills came to £2 2s 0d.

4,000 pinion quills, at 4s 0d per 1,000, came to 16s 0d.

1 dozen ivory penknives came to 16s 0d.

1 dozen cedar rulers came to 9s 9d.

1 chest came to 9s 2d.

The stationery ware, 1 chest, came to £20 6s 9d.

Tea kettles and snuffers ran across 1 cask, set out as follows.

12 tea kettles, sorted, at 9s 10d, came to £5 18s 0d.

24 pairs of steel snuffers, at 11d, came to £1 2s 0d.

1 cask came to 4s 6d.

The tea kettles and snuffers, with the cask, came to £7 4s 6d.

Tobacco pipes ran across 3 casks, set out as follows.

Cask number 1, 21 gross of pipes, at 1s 10d per gross, came to £1 18s 6d.

Cask number 2, 21 ditto, came to £1 18s 6d.

Cask number 3, 20 ditto, came to £1 16s 8d.

3 casks came to 13s 0d.

The tobacco pipes, 3 casks, came to £6 6s 8d.

Hats ran across 1 case, set out as follows.

24 boys' hats, marked number 1, at 4s 0d, came to £4 16s 0d.

12 ditto, marked number 2, at 5s 0d, came to £3 0s 0d.

48 men's ditto, marked number 3, at 7s 8d, came to £18 8s 0d.

24 ditto, marked number 4, at 9s 11d, came to £11 18s 0d.

1 case came to 7s 0d.

The hats, with the case, came to £38 9s 0d.

Cartridge paper and horse hides ran across 1 cask, set out as follows.

10 reams of cartridge paper, at 7s 10d per ream, came to £3 18s 4d.

3 tanned hides, at 15s 4d, came to £2 6s 0d.

1 cask came to 9s 8d.

The cartridge paper and horse hides, with the cask, came to £12 14s 0d.

The figures carried over came to £689 13s 10d.

Interpretations

The page continued the directors' store cargo through a run of finished goods priced for sale at the island. The stationery ware closed at £20 6s 9d, the paper, quills, penknives and rulers furnishing the offices and the schooling, the same supply of writing materials the council depended on for its records.

The household and trade goods made up the bulk of the page, the tea kettles and snuffers, the tobacco pipes by the gross, the hats sorted for men and boys, and the cartridge paper with tanned hides. These were goods for issue and sale to the inhabitants and the garrison, the hats at £38 9s 0d the largest single line, the directors stocking the island's people as well as its stores.

The cartridge paper and horse hides marked the military side of the cargo set among the consumer goods. The paper served the gunner's stores, whose monthly accounts the council examined, and the hides the leatherwork of the garrison, the directors supplying the defence of the station alongside the comforts of its people in a single invoice.

105

100

June.

Brought over

689 13 10

Match & Skins 2 Casks vizt

4 Match

at 23. 8 pr Ct

5 14 8

12 Sheep Skins

2. 2 pr Co

1 6 0

2 Match

23. 8 pr Ct

2 17 4

3 Horse Hydes

15 4

2 6 0

100 Skins of Parchment

11

4 11 8

40 Sheep Skins

2. 2

4 6 8

2 Casks

19 4

Match & Skins 2 Casks Amounting to

22 1 8

Powder Horns & Sheep Skins 1 Cask vizt

50 Powder Horns

at 13.

2 14 2

20 Sheep Skins

2. 2

2 3 4

1 Cask

5 10

Powder Horns & Sheep Skins 1 Cask amounting to

5 3 4

Flints & Shoemakers Tools 1 Case

12 Gun Flints

5.

3

3 Setts Shoemakers Tools

17 7

2 12 9

5 Dozen Shoe Knives

3. 10

19 2

4 Dozen Cruning Knives

7. 8

1 10 8

Flints & Shoemakers Tools 1 Case Amounting to

8 2 7

Habberdashers Ware 1 Cask vizt

3 Nuns Thread

No 1

at 17. 7

2 12 9

3 Ditto

2

37. 5

5 12 3

3 Do

3

57. 2

8 11 6

1 Florishing Thread

4

4 3 7

½ Ditto

5

1 19 7

3 Needles

6

4 13

20 Fine Twine

7. at 8. 3

1 4 9

50 Shoe Thread

8.

14 pr lb

1 4 3

½ Gro. & Hemit Wilton ye 24.

10.

6. pr Grose

3 15

½ Do 6 do

24.

11

8. 3

7 4

2 Dozen Ivory Combs

12.

10. pr Doz

18

1 Doz. large Ivory Combs

13.

10. pr Doz

1

½ Gro. Silk Collon 24 yo

14.

6. 7 pr Grose

13

½ Gro. Womens Thimbles 6 doz.

15.

18

1 Dozen Womens Bodge

16.

7. 2 each

3 3

1 Dozen Womens Bags

17.

20. 4

1 4

1 Dozen Womens Sciszers

18.

10 11

3 Twine

19.

4. 11 pr lb

4 4 4

½ Nuns Thread

20.

2 8 2

½ Salt Needles

21.

3 4 10

½ Florishing Thread

22

1 18 4

Habberdashers Ware 1 Cask Amounting to

94 14

879 15

Margin Notes:

No 2

3

No 4

H 5

The invoice continued, the figures brought over standing at £689 13s 10d.

Match and skins ran across 2 casks, set out as follows.

Cask number 2, 4 hundredweight of match, at 23s 8d per hundredweight, came to £5 14s 8d.

12 sheepskins, at 2s 2d, came to £1 6s 0d.

Cask number 3, 2 hundredweight of match, at 23s 8d per hundredweight, came to £2 17s 4d.

3 horse hides, at 15s 4d, came to £2 6s 0d.

100 skins of parchment, at 11d, came to £4 11s 8d.

40 sheepskins, at 2s 2d, came to £4 6s 8d.

2 casks came to 19s 4d.

The match and skins, 2 casks, came to £22 1s 8d.

Powder horns and sheepskins ran across 1 cask, set out as follows.

50 powder horns, at 13d, came to £2 14s 2d.

20 sheepskins, at 2s 2d, came to £2 3s 4d.

1 cask came to 5s 10d.

The powder horns and sheepskins, with the cask, came to £5 3s 4d.

Flints and shoemaker's tools ran across 1 case, set out as follows.

12 dozen gun flints, at 5d, came to £3 0s 0d.

3 sets of shoemaker's tools, at 17s 7d, came to £2 12s 9d.

5 dozen shoe knives, at 3s 10d, came to 19s 2d.

4 dozen pruning knives, at 7s 8d, came to £1 10s 8d.

The flints and shoemaker's tools, with the case, came to £8 2s 7d.

Haberdasher's ware ran across 1 cask, set out as follows.

3 pounds of nuns' thread, marked number 1, at 17s 7d, came to £2 12s 9d.

3 ditto, marked number 2, at 37s 5d, came to £5 12s 3d.

1 ditto, marked number 3, at 57s 2d, came to £8 11s 6d.

1 pound of flourishing thread, marked number 4, came to £4 3s 7d.

half a pound of ditto, marked number 5, came to £1 19s 7d.

quarter of a pound of needles, marked number 6, came to 4s 13d [reading uncertain].

20 fine twine, marked number 7, at 8s 3d, came to £1 4s 9d.

50 shoe thread, marked number 8, at 14d, came to £1 3s 4d.

half a gross of knit ribbon, marked number 9, at 24, marked number 10, at 6d per gross, came to £3 15s 0d.

quarter of a ditto, marked number 11, at 24, came to 7s 4d.

2 dozen ivory combs, marked number 12, at 8s 3d, came to 1s 18d [reading uncertain].

1 dozen large ivory combs, marked number 13, at 10s 0d per dozen, came to £1 0s 0d.

half a gross of silk Galloon, 24 pieces, marked number 14, at 6s 7d per piece, came to 13d [reading uncertain].

half a gross of women's thimbles, 6 dozen, marked number 15, came to £2 18s 0d.

1 dozen women's bodice, marked number 16, at 7s 2d each, came to £3 0s 3d.

1 dozen women's bags, marked number 17, at 2s 4d, came to £4 6s 0d.

9 dozen women's stays, marked number 18, came to £10 11s 0d.

1 thread, marked number 19, at 11s 8d, came to £4 4s 4d.

half a pound of nuns' thread, marked number 20, came to £2 8s 2d.

salt needles, marked number 21, came to £1 3s 4d.

half a pound of flourishing thread, marked number 22, came to £1 18s 0d.

The haberdasher's ware, with the cask, came to £96 14s 0d.

The whole carried over came to £879 0s 15d [reading uncertain].

Interpretations

The page carried the directors' cargo through the leather, military and haberdashery stores. The match, skins, parchment and horse hides supplied the gunner's match and the leatherwork, and the powder horns and gun flints the small arms of the garrison, the same military stores whose accounts the gunner rendered each month.

The shoemaker's and pruning tools marked the trade goods set among the stores, the means for the island's leatherwork and husbandry. These supported the same building and craft work the nails and tools of the earlier pages furnished, the directors stocking the island's trades as well as its defence.

The haberdashery made up the bulk of the page at £96 14s 0d, a long run of threads, needles, combs, thimbles, women's bodice, bags and stays. These were consumer goods for the inhabitants, and notably for the island's women, the directors supplying the personal and domestic wants of the settlers alongside the heavy stores, the cargo answering the whole range of the island's needs from powder to sewing thread.

106

101

1723.

Stockings 1 Case vizt

Brought over

819 15 5

24 Pair Womens Hose

No 1

at 2. 2

2 12 0

26 Ditto

2

2. 6

3 5

12 Pair Youths

3

1. 1

13

24 Ditto

4

1. 3

1 10

28 Ditto

5

1. 7

2 4 4

12 Ditto

6

1. 10

1 2

12 Ditto

7

2.

1 4

36 Pair Mens

8

2. 3

1 7 4

32 Ditto

9

2.

3 12

40 Ditto

10

2. 4

3 14 8

48 Ditto

11

2. 7

5 3 4

44 Do

12

2. 9

6 12 0

26 Ditto

13

3. 3

7 3

24 Ditto

14

2. 9

3 11 6

Ditto

15

3. 10

4 12 0

1 Case

6

Stockings 1 Case Amounting to

48 11 10

Shoes 1 Case vizt

25 Pair Womens Spanish fan Stitch Shoes

a 3. 10

4 15 10

50 Pair Womens Calf

at 2. 9

6 17 6

25 Pair Boys ditto

3

3 15

12 Pair Girles Morore

3. 3

1 19

13 Pair Girles Calfe

2

1 6

Case

6 6

Shoes 1 Case Amounting to

18 19 10

Spunge & Rammer Heads 1 Cask

Spunge Heads Demy Cannon

15

Do 24 Pounders

20

Do Culvering

15

50. a 6. 6

1 7 1

Rammer Heads Demy Cannon

35

Ditto 24 Pounders

40

Ditto Culvering

25

100 at 6½

2 14 2

Cask

10 0

Spunge & Rammer Heads 1 Cask Amounting to

4 11 3

891 18 4

Margin Notes:

No 20

51

The invoice continued, the figures brought over standing at £819 15s 5d.

Stockings ran across 1 case, set out as follows.

24 pairs of women's hose, marked number 1, at 2s 2d, came to £2 12s 0d.

26 ditto, marked number 2, at 2s 6d, came to £3 5s 0d.

12 pairs of youths', marked number 3, at 1s 1d, came to 13s 0d.

24 ditto, marked number 4, at 1s 3d, came to £1 10s 0d.

28 ditto, marked number 5, at 1s 7d, came to £2 4s 4d.

12 ditto, marked number 6, at 1s 10d, came to £1 2s 0d.

12 ditto, marked number 7, at 2s 0d, came to £1 4s 0d.

12 ditto, marked number 8, at 2s 3d, came to £1 7s 0d.

36 pairs of men's, marked number 9, at 2s 0d, came to £3 12s 0d.

32 ditto, marked number 10, at 2s 4d, came to £3 14s 8d.

40 ditto, marked number 11, at 2s 7d, came to £5 3s 4d.

48 ditto, marked number 12, at 2s 9d, came to £6 12s 0d.

44 ditto, marked number 13, at 3s 3d, came to £7 3s 0d.

26 ditto, marked number 14, at 2s 9d, came to £3 11s 6d.

24 ditto, marked number 15, at 3s 10d, came to £4 12s 0d.

1 case came to 6s 0d.

The stockings, with the case, came to £48 11s 10d.

Shoes ran across 1 case, set out as follows.

25 pairs of women's Spanish fan-stitch shoes, at 3s 10d, came to £4 15s 10d.

50 pairs of women's calf, at 2s 9d, came to £6 17s 6d.

25 pairs of boys' ditto, at 3s 0d, came to £3 15s 0d.

12 pairs of girls' morocco, at 3s 3d, came to £1 19s 0d.

18 pairs of girls' calf, at 2s 0d, came to £1 16s 0d.

1 case came to 6s 6d.

The shoes, with the case, came to £18 19s 10d.

Sponge and rammer heads ran across 1 cask, set out as follows.

Sponge heads for the demy cannon, 15, for the 24-pounder, 20, and for the culverin, 15, together 50, at 6s 6d, came to £1 7s 1d.

Rammer heads for the demy cannon, 35, for the 24-pounder, 40, and for the culverin, 25, together 100, at 6½d, came to £2 14s 2d.

1 cask came to 10s 0d.

The sponge and rammer heads, with the cask, came to £4 11s 3d.

The whole carried over came to £891 18s 4d.

Interpretations

The page carried the directors' cargo through the footwear and the gunner's gear. The stockings ran in a long graded run of women's, youths' and men's hose sorted by size and price to £48 11s 10d, and the shoes in calf, morocco and Spanish fan-stitch for women, boys and girls to £18 19s 10d, the directors clothing the whole island's people in degrees.

The sorting of the hose and shoes by size and quality shows the cargo fitted to a settled population of known make-up. The graded lots from children to grown men and women answered the very census the council had compiled, the supply matched to the families it was to clothe.

The sponge and rammer heads returned the invoice to the guns. The heads were made up for the demy cannon, the 24-pounder and the culverin, the three natures of ordnance on the island's line, the directors supplying the working gear of the very guns the gunner fired in salute and alarm and whose decay the council had reported. The cargo thus ran from the people's clothing back to the defence of the road in a single account.

107

102

June

Brought over

891 18 4

Vinegar 4 half Hogsheads

10 6

Oyle 1 Cask containing 24 Bottles

at 6. 3

7 10

Tobacco 1 Cask of 200 fine Cutt Tobacco made up in pounds

at 16 pr lb

13 6 8

Books 1 Chest vizt

2 Large Bibles Folio

4. 19

9 18 0

4 Common Prayers fol

2. 4

8 16 0

6 Duty of Man

5

1 10 0

60 Williams Catechisms

1 2

Common Prayr 12. Turky wth Comp. to all

5

2 Oxford Almanacks

2 2

Chest & Portage

5

Books 1 Chest Amounting to

21 18 2

Wine 2 Chests cont 1 Hogshead & 10 Gallons Sherry

24 17

Wine 12 Chests vizt

7 Chests of 4 Hogshead Galicia

at 24. 10 pr Hhd

98

5 Do 14½ Hhd Mountain

38. 5 pr Hhd

57 7 6

12 Chests Wine Amounting to

155 7 6

Cheese 2 Casks wt 3. 0. 6.

at 35. pr Cwt

5 10

Butter 2 Firkins

at 37 pr Firkin

3 14

1134 7 8

Charges

5 13 5

Sum Totall of this Invoice which God Prosper

1140 1 1

J. Fletcher

Margin Notes:

No 4

No 5

No 1

No 1. 2

No 1. to 12 Wine

The invoice continued, the figures brought over standing at £891 18s 4d.

Vinegar, marked number 4, in half hogsheads, came to £10 6s 0d.

Oil, marked number 5, 1 cask containing 24 bottles, at 6s 3d, came to £7 10s 0d.

Tobacco, marked number 1, 1 cask of 200 pounds of fine cut tobacco made up in pounds, at 16d per pound, came to £13 6s 8d.

Books ran across 1 chest, set out as follows.

2 large Bibles, folio, at 4s 19d [reading uncertain], came to £9 18s 0d.

4 common prayers, folio, at 2s 4d, came to £8 16s 0d.

6 Duty of Man came to 1s 5d, totalling £1 10s 0d.

60 Williams's catechisms came to £1 2s 0d.

12 common prayers, turkey-bound, with the Company's arms, to all, came to 5s 0d.

2 Oxford almanacks came to 2s 2d.

The chest and portage came to 5s 0d.

The books, with the chest, came to £21 18s 2d.

Wine ran across 12 chests, set out as follows.

Marked numbers 1 and 2, of 1 hogshead and 10 gallons of sherry, came to £24 17s 0d.

7 chests of 4 hogsheads of Galicia, at £24 10s 0d per hogshead, came to £98 0s 0d.

5 ditto of 14 hogsheads, 2 butts of Mountain, at 38s 5d per butt, came to £57 7s 6d.

The wine, 12 chests, came to £155 7s 6d.

Cheese, 2 casks, weight 3 hundredweight, 0 quarters, 26 pounds, at 35s 0d per hundredweight, came to £5 10s 0d.

Butter, 2 firkins, at 37s 0d per firkin, came to £3 14s 0d.

The figures stood at £1,134 7s 8d, with charges of £5 13s 5d.

The sum total of the invoice, which God preserve, came to £1,140 1s 1d. It was signed J. Fletcher.

Interpretations

The invoice closed with the wine, the books and the last provisions, and totalled the whole directors' cargo at £1,140 1s 1d. The wine alone, the sherry, Galicia and Mountain in twelve chests, came to £155 7s 6d, the largest class of goods on the closing page, the drink that supplied the table and the trade.

The books marked the directors furnishing the island's religion and learning. The Bibles, common prayers, Duty of Man, catechisms and almanacks supplied the chaplain and the schooling, twelve prayer books turkey-bound with the Company's arms for presentation, the supply of devotional books answering the same parish life the council's church business reflected.

The closing total and the accountant general Fletcher's signature authenticated the whole cargo as the directors' charge against the island. The council's pricing of each item, set out across the preceding pages, fixed the selling values at which the goods would be issued to the inhabitants and the establishment, the £1,140 1s 1d invoice the base against which the island would account for the Essex's store cargo, the same accountant general whose remarks on the books Van Oosten had answered the year before.

108

103

1723

An Account of the Selling Price on the Several Goods brought from

England pr Ship Essex Captain Jonathan Sommers Commander

1 Anchor & Chaine

18 15 10½

1 Cask of Seeds Sorted for Gardens

8 9 6

2 Iron bound Capps for Ships Masts vizt

1 of 11½ Inches a

3

1 Do 13 Inches a

3. 10

6 10

1 Mast of 70 Feet long & 19 Inches deep

12

1 Do 65 do & 18 do

16

1 Do 52 do & 15 do

10

46

30 Puncheons of Beef

15. Each

450

3 Barrells of Suet

at 6. 6 pr lb

18 18

2 Barrells Porke

at 8. 1. 7 Each

16. 3. 2

485 1 2

10 Casks of Bread

at 5. pr lb

56

6 Casks of Pease

at 8. pr Bushell

19 4

20 Cask Flower

at 3. pr lb

79 13 9

2 Cask White Bread

of 2 Cwt at 4½ pr lb

4 4 9

1 Cask Oatmeale of 4 Bushell

a 13. pr Bushell

2 12

1 Cask Seed Wheat of 5 Bush.

at 8. 3 pr Bushell

2 1 3

1 Cask Kidney Beans of 2 Bush.

a 20½ pr Bushell

2 1 4

2 Cask Garden Beans of 12 Bushell

15. 3 pr Bushell

9 3

1 Cask Seed Pease of 8 Bushell

13. pr Bushell

5 4

1 Chest Medicine

20 16

616 1d Nailes

a 10

25. 13. 4

625 6 do

9

43. 12. 3

533

632 8 do

8

59. 17. 4

1164 10 do

8

1190 20 do

7 pr lb

34 14. 2

163 17 1

20 Double headed Mauls of 1. 3. 6 a 8 pr pound

5 1

Smith Tools Sorted

4 7

20 Shod Shovels

a 2. Each

2

8 Hogsheads Strong ber

a 18. pr Gallon 2¼ Cask

14 12 6

4 Cask a 50 pr Cwt for use of the Table

14 4

the other 3/4 wanted to fillup the 7 Cask

Carryd over

969 17 5½

Margin Notes:

Cargoe by ye Essex what to be sold at

This page sets out the council's own selling prices on the same goods, distinct from the London invoice already entered. It is headed an account of the selling price on the several goods brought from England by the ship Essex, Captain Jonathan Sommers commander.

1 anchor and chain came to £18 15s 10½d.

1 cask of seeds sorted for gardens came to £8 9s 6d.

Iron-bound caps for ships' masts, 1 of 11½ inches at £3 0s 0d and 1 of 13 inches at £3 10s 0d, came to £6 10s 0d.

3 masts came to £46 0s 0d, the parcel being 1 mast 70 foot long and 19 inches deep at £20 0s 0d, 1 of 65 foot and 18 inches at £16 0s 0d, and 1 of 52 foot and 15 inches at £10 0s 0d.

Beef and suet, 30 puncheons of beef at 15s 0d each, £450, with 3 barrels of suet at 6s 6d per hundredweight, £18 18s 0d, came to £485 1s 2d.

2 barrels of pork, at 8s 1d per hundredweight [reading uncertain], £16 3s 2d, came to that sum.

10 casks of bread, at 8s 0d per hundredweight, came to £56 0s 0d.

6 casks of pease, at 8s 0d per bushel, came to £19 4s 0d.

20 casks of flour, at 3s 0d per hundredweight [reading uncertain], came to £79 13s 9d [reading uncertain].

2 casks of white bread, of 2 hundredweight, at 4s 6d per hundredweight [reading uncertain], came to £4 4s 0d.

1 cask of oatmeal, of 4 bushels, at 13s 0d per bushel, came to £2 12s 0d.

1 cask of seed wheat, of 5 bushels, at 8s 3d per bushel, came to £2 1s 3d.

1 cask of kidney beans, of 2 bushels, at 20s 7d per bushel [reading uncertain], came to £2 1s 4d.

2 casks of garden beans, of 12 bushels, at 15s 3d per bushel, came to £9 3s 0d.

1 cask of seed pease, of 8 bushels, at 13s 0d per bushel, came to £5 4s 0d.

1 chest of medicines came to £20 16s 0d.

The nails ran as follows.

616 pounds of 4d nails, at 10d, came to £25 13s 4d.

625, 593 and 632 pounds of 6d nails, at 9d, came to £43 12s 3d.

714 and 604 pounds of 10d nails, at 8d, came to £59 17s 4d.

1,190 pounds of 20d nails, at 7d, came to £34 14s 2d.

The nails came to £163 17s 1d.

20 double-headed mauls, weight 1 hundredweight, 3 quarters, 6 pounds, at 8d per pound, came to £5 1s 0d.

Smith's tools, sorted, came to £4 7s 0d.

20 shod shovels, at 2s 0d each, came to £2 0s 0d.

8 hogsheads of strong beer, at 18d per gallon, with 2 and a quarter casks, came to £14 12s 6d.

4 casks at 50s, the other three-quarters wanting to fill up, short for the use of the table, came to £14 4s 0d.

The whole carried over came to £969 17s 5½d.

Interpretations

The page opened the council's own account of selling prices on the Essex goods, set apart from the London invoice priced over the preceding leaves. Where the invoice gave the directors' charge against the island, this account fixed the rates at which the council would sell the goods to the inhabitants and the establishment, the difference between the two being the island's margin on the cargo.

The selling prices stood well above the invoice cost across the board. The anchor priced at £18 15s 10½d against the invoice's £4 12s 3d, the seeds at £8 9s 6d against £5 13s 0d, the nails marked up at 7d to 10d per pound, the council setting a higher rate on every class of goods. The whole carried over at £969 17s 5½d, a figure to be weighed against the invoice total of £1,140 1s 1d once complete.

The bulk provisions led the account as they had the invoice, the beef and suet alone at £485 1s 2d, with the bread, flour, pease and grain priced for sale against the island's want of food. The salted meat and the seed grain, the very supplies the season's letters had pressed the presidencies to send, were here set at the rates the inhabitants would pay, the directors' relief of the drought passing to the people through the council's own pricing.

109

104

June.

Brought Over

969 17 5½

1 Chest Stationary Ware

a 50 pr Cent

30 10

Tea Kettles vizt

3 Large do

at 18. 6 Each

2 15 6

3 Midling do

15. 6

2 6 6

6 Small do

12. 6

3 15

8 17

Steal Snuffers vizt

18 Large do

at 18. Each

1 7

6 Small do

a 12

6

1 13

62 Groce Tobacco Pipes

at 6. pr Groce

18 12

Hatts vizt

24 Boys do

No 1

a 6. Each

7 4

12 do

2

a 7. 6

4 10

48 Mens do

3

a 11. 6

27 12

24 Do

4

a 15

18

57 6

Gunwer Stores Sorted

a 50 pr Cent

1 5 6

3 Setts of Shoemakers Tools

21 pr Sett

4 13

5 Dozen Shoe Knives

at 12. Each

3

4 Dozen Cruning Knives

a 18. Each

3 12

Haberdashery Ware

3 Nuns Thread

No 1

a 28 pr oz

4 4

3 do

2

a 3. 7 pr oz

8 12

3 do

3

a 5. 6 pr oz

13 4

1 do

4

a 7. 10 pr oz

6 5 4

1 do Florishing do

5

a 3. 9 pr oz

3 4

½ do

6

a 6. 1 pr oz

3

3 Mn Needles

7

a 18 pr Mn

2 9 8

20 fine Twine

8.

a 1. 9 pr lb

2 5

50 Shoe Thread

9.

a 2. 6 pr lb

1 15

½ Groce Knot Ribbon

10.

a 9. pr Groce

6 5

24 Do Co do

11.

a 12. pr Co

10 16

2 Dozen Ivory Combs

12.

a 15 Each

14 8

1 Dozen large do

13.

a 20

1

75 8 0

Carryd over

1169 5 11½

Margin Notes:

50 pr Cent

50 pr Cent

Shipt food

4

3

The selling-price account continued, the figures brought over standing at £969 17s 5½d.

1 chest of stationery ware, at 50 per cent, came to £30 10s 0d.

Tea kettles ran as follows.

3 large, at 18s 6d each, came to £2 15s 6d.

3 middling, at 15s 6d, came to £2 6s 6d.

6 small, at 12s 6d, came to £3 15s 0d.

The tea kettles came to £8 17s 0d.

Steel snuffers ran as follows.

18 large, at 18d each, came to £1 7s 0d.

6 small, at 12d, came to 6s 0d.

The snuffers came to £1 13s 0d.

62 gross of tobacco pipes, at 6s 0d per gross, came to £18 12s 0d.

Hats ran as follows.

24 boys', marked number 1, at 6s 0d each, came to £7 4s 0d.

12 ditto, marked number 2, at 7s 6d, came to £4 10s 0d.

48 men's ditto, marked number 3, at 11s 6d, came to £27 12s 0d.

24 ditto, marked number 4, at 15s 0d, came to £18 0s 0d.

The hats came to £57 6s 0d.

Gunner's stores, sorted, at 5 per cent, came to £1 5s 6d.

3 sets of shoemaker's tools, at 21s per hundredweight, came to £4 13s 0d.

5 dozen shoe knives, at 12d each, came to £3 0s 0d.

4 dozen pruning knives, at 18d each, came to £3 12s 0d.

The haberdashery ware ran as follows.

3 pounds of nuns' thread, marked number 1, at 2s 8d per ounce, came to £4 4s 0d.

3 ditto, marked number 2, at 3s 7d per ounce, came to £8 12s 0d.

3 ditto, marked number 3, at 5s 6d per ounce, came to £13 4s 0d.

1 ditto, marked number 4, at 7s 10d per ounce, came to £6 5s 4d.

1 ditto of flourishing thread, marked number 5, at 3s 4d per ounce, came to £3 0s 0d.

half a ditto, marked number 6, at 6s 1d per ounce, came to 3s 0d.

3 pounds of needles, marked number 7, at 18d per ounce, came to £2 9s 8d.

20 fine twine, marked number 8, at 1s 9d per gross, came to £2 5s 0d.

50 shoe thread, marked number 9, at 2s 6d per gross, came to £1 15s 0d.

half a gross of knit ribbon, marked number 10, at 9d per gross, came to 6s 5d.

24 ditto, marked number 11, at 12d, came to £10 16s 0d.

2 dozen ivory combs, marked number 12, at 15d each, came to 14s 8d.

1 dozen large ditto, marked number 13, at 20d, came to £1 10s 0d.

The figures came to £75 8s 0d.

The whole carried over came to £1,169 5s 11½d.

Interpretations

The page continued the council's selling-price account through the finished goods, marking each up above the invoice cost. The stationery ware was priced plainly at 50 per cent advance and the gunner's stores at 5 per cent, the council setting an open rate of profit on some classes while pricing others item by item, the two methods used side by side.

The hats and the haberdashery carried the largest sums, the hats at £57 6s 0d and the threads, needles and combs at £75 8s 0d. These consumer goods, sorted for men, boys, women and children, were priced for the inhabitants who would buy them, the council's margin on the personal wares set against the directors' charge already entered.

The varying rates of advance show the council pricing by class rather than by a single rule. The flat 50 per cent on stationery and 5 per cent on gunner's stores sat beside the detailed per-item rates on the hats and haberdashery, the bench fixing each according to its kind, the whole carried over at £1,169 5s 11½d against the invoice's £1,140 1s 1d, the island's selling values now running above the directors' cost across the cargo.

110

105

1723

Brought over

1169 5 11½

Haberdashery Ware brought forward

75 8

24 yo Silk Gallon

No 14

a 5. pr pair

10 16

6 Dozen Womens Thimbles

15

a 1. Each

6

1 Dozen Womens Bodice

16

a 10. 9 pr pair

6 9

1 Dozen Womens Stays

17.

a 30. 6.

18 6

1 Dozen Womens Jumps

18.

a 26. 6.

15 18

92 Twine

19.

a 1. 9 pr lb

8 1

½ Nuns Thread

20.

a 3. 8

3 9 4

1 M Sail Needles

21

2 15 4

½ Florishing Thread

22.

a 7. 6 pr oz

2 13 0

143 16 8

Stockings vizt

24 yo Womens

No 1.

a 3. 3. pr pr

3 18

26 do Ditto

2

a 3. 9

4 17 6

12 Co Youths

3

a 20.

1 1

2 dozen do

4

a 23

2 6

28 pair do

5

a 2/5

3 7 3

12 pair do

6

a 2/9

1 13

12 pair do

7

a 3

1 16

12 pair do

8

a 3/4

2

36 Pair Mens do

9

a 3.

5 8

32 do

10

a 3/6

5 12

40 do

11

a 4

8

48 do

12

a 4. 6

10

44 yo do

13

a 4. 11

10 16 4

26 do

14

a 4. 2.

5 8 4

24 do

15

a 5. 9

6 18

74 10

Shoes

25 yo pair Womens do

at 5. 9

7 3 9

50 yo do Womens Calf

at 4. 6

11 5

25 yo do Boys

a 4. 6

5 12 6

12 yo Girles

a 5

3

13 yo Girles Calves

a 3

1 19

29 3

Carryd over

1416 6 5½

Margin Notes:

50 pr

50 pr

The selling-price account continued, the figures brought over standing at £1,169 5s 11½d.

The haberdashery ware continued, the figures brought forward within it standing at £75 8s 0d.

24 pieces of silk Galloon, marked number 14, at 9s 0d per piece, came to £10 16s 0d.

6 dozen women's thimbles, marked number 15, at 1s 0d each, came to 6s 0d.

1 dozen women's bodice, marked number 16, at 10s 9d per pair, came to £6 9s 0d.

1 dozen women's stays, marked number 17, at 30s 6d, came to £18 6s 0d.

1 dozen women's jumps, marked number 18, at 26s 6d, came to £15 18s 0d.

9 twine, marked number 19, at 1s 9d per pound, came to 8s 1d.

half a pound of nuns' thread, marked number 20, at 3s 8d, came to £3 9s 4d.

1 thousand sail needles, marked number 21, came to £2 15s 4d.

half a pound of flourishing thread, marked number 22, at 7s 0d per ounce, came to £2 13s 0d.

The haberdashery ware came to £143 16s 8d.

Stockings ran as follows.

24 pairs of women's, marked number 1, at 3s 3d per pair, came to £3 18s 0d.

26 ditto, marked number 2, at 3s 9d, came to £4 17s 6d.

12 dozen youths', marked number 3, at 2s 0d, came to £1 11s 0d.

2 dozen ditto, marked number 4, at 2s 3d, came to £2 6s 0d.

28 pairs of ditto, marked number 5, at 2s 5d, came to £3 7s 0d.

12 pairs of ditto, marked number 6, at 2s 9d, came to £1 13s 0d.

12 pairs of ditto, marked number 7, at 3s 0d, came to £1 16s 0d.

12 pairs of ditto, marked number 8, at 3s 4d, came to £2 0s 0d.

36 pairs of men's ditto, marked number 9, at 3s 0d, came to £5 8s 0d.

32 ditto, marked number 10, at 3s 6d, came to £5 12s 0d.

40 ditto, marked number 11, at 4s 0d, came to £8 0s 0d.

48 ditto, marked number 12, at 4s 6d, came to £10 16s 0d.

44 pairs of ditto, marked number 13, at 4s 11d, came to £10 16s 4d.

26 ditto, marked number 14, at 4s 2d, came to £5 8s 4d.

24 ditto, marked number 15, at 5s 9d, came to £6 18s 0d.

The stockings came to £74 10s 0d.

Shoes ran as follows.

25 pairs of women's ditto, at 5s 9d, came to £7 3s 9d.

50 pairs of women's calf, at 4s 6d, came to £11 5s 0d.

25 pairs of boys', at 4s 6d, came to £5 12s 6d.

12 pairs of girls', at 5s 0d, came to £3 0s 0d.

18 pairs of girls' calf, at 3s 0d, came to £1 19s 0d.

The shoes came to £29 3s 0d.

The whole carried over came to £1,416 6s 5½d.

Interpretations

The page continued the council's selling-price account through the haberdashery, the stockings and the shoes. The haberdashery closed at £143 16s 8d, the women's stays, bodice and jumps carrying the largest sums, the silk Galloon and the threads and needles priced for the inhabitants who would buy them.

The stockings and shoes were marked up above their invoice cost like the rest, the hose at £74 10s 0d and the footwear at £29 3s 0d. The graded lots ran from women's and youths' to men's stockings and from women's and boys' to girls' shoes, the council pricing each size and quality for the settled population it was to clothe.

The account drew toward its close at £1,416 6s 5½d carried over, already well above the invoice total of £1,140 1s 1d. The growing gap between the two figures measured the island's margin on the whole cargo, the council's selling values set to cover the directors' charge and yield a profit on the goods issued to the inhabitants and the establishment.

111

106

June.

Brought Over

1416 6 5½

Vinegar 4 helf Hogsheads

15 9

Oyle 24 Bottles a 9. 6 pr Bottle

11 8

200 Tobacco

at 2. pr pound

20

1 Chest of Books

32 17 8

2 Chest Sherry

37. 5. 6

7 Do Galicia

147

5 Do Mountain

86. 1. 3

270 6 9

2 Firkins 3. 0. 16 Cheese

8. 5

2 Firkins Butter

5 11

13 16

1730 8½

The Petition of Jno Swallow was presented Setting

forth That the late Governor Johnson did for the

reasons best known to himself on the 19th Day of Apr

1721 order this Petitioner to be whipt at the fflagg staff

and to be broke as Corporall of the Garrison which

Post he then enjoyed

That the Petr had been out of Cousinesse

ever since & therefore prayed to be restored to his former

Post.

In Consideration that the Petr was not dismissd

by order of consultation and noe objection being now

made as to his Qualifications for his employ.

Ordered that the sd Jno Swallow be restored to his

Post as Corporall in the Same Rank he was in at the

Time of his Dismission

Richd Beale presented a Bile of Sale from

Rd Swallow of 2 Acres of Land and prayed the same might

be registred which was Ordered accordingly.

The sd Rich Swallow according to his promisse

mentioned in the Consultation of the 14th April last he

this day paid us 8. 15 being the remr of his Fathers

Debt and 25 in part of his own Debt.

The said Rich Swallow presented a Bile

of Sale of Ten Acres of Free Land from his

Sister

Margin Notes:

50 pr Cent

Jno Swallow Petition.

praying to be restored to his Post

no ord of Counly for his Dismissy & noe objection now made

He was restored.

Bill of Sale of Rd Swallows 2 Acres for sd Land Regstred

Rd Swallows part of his fathers Debt & 25 of his own Debt

Bill of Sale for 10 Acres of Free Land.

The selling-price account closed, the figures brought over standing at £1,416 6s 5½d.

Vinegar in half hogsheads came to £15 9s 0d.

Oil, 24 bottles, at 6s 0d per bottle, came to £11 8s 0d.

200 pounds of tobacco, at 2s 0d per pound, came to £20 0s 0d.

1 chest of books, at 5 per cent, came to £32 17s 8d.

The wine ran as follows: 2 chests of sherry, £37 5s 6d, 7 ditto of Galicia, £147 0s 0d, and 5 ditto of Mountain, £86 1s 3d, the whole coming to £270 6s 9d.

Cheese, 3 hundredweight, 0 quarters, 16 pounds, came to £8 5s 0d, and 2 firkins of butter at 5s 11d, the whole coming to £13 16s 0d.

The sum total of the selling-price account came to £1,780 0s 8½d.

The petition of John Swallow was presented. It set forth that the late Governor Johnson, for reasons best known to himself, had ordered the petitioner on 19 April 1721 to be whipped at the flagstaff and broken as corporal of the garrison, which post he then held. He had been out of business ever since, and so asked to be restored to his former post. In consideration that the petitioner had not been dismissed by order of consultation, and no objection now being made as to his fitness for the post, the council ordered that John Swallow be restored to his place as corporal in the same rank he had held at the time of his dismissal.

Richard Beale presented a bill of sale from Richard Swallow of 2 acres of land, and asked that it be registered, which was ordered accordingly.

Richard Swallow, following his promise made at the consultation of 14 April last, this day paid the council £8 15s 0d, being the remainder of his father's debt, and £25 0s 0d in part of his own debt.

Richard Swallow then presented a bill of sale of 10 acres of free land from his sister. The entry breaks at the catchword "sister" at the foot.

Interpretations

The selling-price account closed at £1,780 0s 8½d, set against the directors' invoice total of £1,140 1s 1d. The difference of nearly £640 measured the island's margin on the whole Essex cargo, the council's selling values running well above the directors' charge, the profit to be made on the goods issued to the inhabitants and the establishment.

The Swallow restoration reopened a punishment dealt by the previous administration. Governor Johnson had broken John Swallow as corporal and had him whipped on 19 April 1721, and the new council, finding the man had never been dismissed by formal order of consultation and no objection raised to his fitness, restored him to his old rank. The decision marked the new government revisiting a summary act of its predecessor on a point of form.

The Swallow land and debt entries carried forward the family's affairs to settlement. Richard Swallow paid off the remainder of his father's debt and part of his own, following his promise of 14 April last, and brought in bills of sale for parcels of land from Richard Swallow and from his sister for registration, the council recording the conveyances and clearing the debts in its usual course.

Speculations

The restoration of John Swallow turned on a point of procedure the new council was careful to honour. The bench rested its decision on two grounds, that Johnson had broken the corporal without a formal order of consultation and that no objection now stood against the man's fitness. The reasoning treated a punishment dealt by the Governor's own hand, outside the recorded act of the council, as open to review where a properly minuted dismissal would not have been. By restoring Swallow on the want of a consultation order, the council affirmed that the breaking of an officer required the form of a council act to stand, distinguishing a Governor's personal severity from the settled judgement of the bench and quietly correcting the one without overturning the other.

112

107

1723.

Elizabeth Swallow praying the same might be

registred which was Ordered accordingly.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

Wednesday and Thursday the 2d 3d & 4th Days of

July 1723. At Union Castle in James Valley.

Jno Smith Esq Govr

Prsent Edwd Byfeld 2d

Jno Alexander 3d &

Jno Goodwin 4th

This Day the Council mett pursuant to an Advertisemt

issued by order of the last Consultation to settle Accots with

the Garrison.

Transfers vizt

Custome Dr to Joseph Whaley for 2 Alarmes

10

Henry Edwards to Jonth Doveton for pt of a Dr

Dyett

2 10

Saml Thornbro Stonelayer having Creditt to Old Greentree

2 5

Wm Beale desird the foll Creditts might be

transferred in part discharge of his Debt vizt

Benja Beale to Wm Beale

3 3 6

Henry Beale to Do

3 6 9

Jno Hayse to James Draper for dyett

1 16

Jno Twaits for Blacks Work transferred to his Accot

3 10

Thomas Gardiner to Thomas Aleis for Dyet

1 16

Wee

Margin Notes:

to be brought of his sd Sd Regstrd

Accots to be examined Settled

Transfers

The bill of sale of 10 acres of free land from his sister Elizabeth Swallow was presented, Richard Swallow asking that it be registered, which was ordered accordingly. The order was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

At a consultation held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 2, 3 and 4 July 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor John Smith, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth present, the council took up its business.

This day the council met under the advertisement issued by order of the last consultation, to settle the accounts with the garrison.

The transfers stood as follows.

Customs, debtor to Joseph Whaley for 2 alarms, £0 10s 0d.

Henry Edwards to Jonathan Doveton, for part of a quarter's diet, £2 10s 0d.

Samuel Thornborough, stone layer, having credit, to Elizabeth Greentree, £2 5s 0d.

William Beale desired the following credits be transferred in part discharge of his debt, namely Boyce Beale to William Beale, £3 3s 6d, and Henry Beale to the same, £3 6s 9d.

John Hayse to James Draper, for diet, £1 16s 0d.

John Twaits, for blacks' work, transferred to his account, £8 10s 0d.

Thomas Gardiner to Thomas Allis, for diet, £1 16s 0d.

The entry breaks at the catchword "we" at the foot.

Interpretations

The registration of Elizabeth Swallow's bill of sale closed the run of Swallow conveyances, the council recording the transfer of free land within the family as it had the parcels before, and the four signatures of Smith, Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin closed the consultation of 25 June 1723.

The new sitting of 2 to 4 July 1723 opened the quarterly settlement of the garrison's accounts, the three-day consultation called by the advertisement of the last consultation. The council met to reckon the credits and debts of the soldiers and workmen for the quarter, the standing business of clearing the establishment's accounts through the transfer of credits between parties.

The transfers show the island's customary clearing of mutual debts without coin. Credits for alarms, diet and blacks' work were moved from one account to another, a soldier's or workman's credit assigned to a creditor in discharge of a debt, the same system of transferred bills that ran through the council's records and that William Beale here used to reduce his Company debt by the credits of Boyce and Henry Beale.

113

108

July.

Wee have finished reckoning with the Garrison

and Workmen belonging thereto and paid the same

in Cash and Cash Note & transferred to those in

the Honoble Companys Debt.

On the 29th of June last Arrived the

Ship Dawson Capt Benfeld Commr from Bombay

haveing upwards of twenty men very Sick

and weake besides sevl buryed in their long

passage which was about 5 Mouths.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the 9th Day of July 1723. At Union Castle in

James Valley.

Jno Smith Esq Govr

Prsent Edwd Byfeld 2d

Jno Alexander 3d

&

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved on

Mr Byfeld

Margin Notes:

Reckoning finished

Ship Dawson Arrival from Bombay.

The council had finished reckoning with the garrison and the workmen belonging to it, and paid them in cash and cash notes, and by transfers to those in debt to the Honourable Company.

On 29 June last the ship Dawson, Captain Benfield commander, arrived from Bombay, having upwards of twenty men very sick and weak, besides several buried on her long passage of about five months.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 9 July 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor John Smith, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth present, the council took up its business. The last consultation was read and approved.

Mr Byfield. The entry breaks at the catchword "Mr Byfield" at the foot.

Interpretations

The close of the three-day sitting completed the quarterly settlement of the garrison's accounts. The council had reckoned with every soldier and workman and paid them in cash, cash notes and transfers, those in debt to the Company having their credits set against what they owed, the standing quarterly clearing of the establishment's accounts brought to a close.

The arrival of the Dawson from Bombay marked another sickly homeward ship at the island. With more than twenty men very sick and several buried on a passage of about five months, she stood as the kind of distressed vessel the island regularly relieved, the long voyage from India taking its toll on the ship's company. The four signatures of Smith, Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin closed the consultation of 2 to 4 July 1723.

The new consultation of 9 July 1723 opened in the usual form, the council sitting in its settled rank under Governor Smith, and the entry breaks as Mr Byfield began to bring in the monthly accounts that customarily opened a sitting, the routine business of the establishment resuming.

114

109

1723.

Mr Byfeld brot in and delivered his Monthly Accot

of the Honoble Companys live Stocks & Expences for the

Month of June which was examined & approved of.

Account of the Honble Companies Stock of Neat Cattle, Sheep, Goates, Hoggs, Poultry

Asses & Horses, likewise what has been Delverd to the Fort & Sold to Ships & ca besides the Encrease or

Decrease for the Month of June 1723

Neat Cattle Sheep Goates Hoggs Poultry Asses Horses

Remr of Ultmo May

Neat Cattle: Bullocks 38. Cows 60. Heifers 25. Steers 33. Yearling 18. Calves 63. Bull 6. Totall 243.

Sheep: Ewes 51. Weathers 14. Lambs 11. Rams 4. Totall 80.

Goates: Ewes 332. Weathers 146. Flos 143. Rams 8. Totall 629.

Hoggs: Sowes 5. Shoates 18. Boares 2. Pigs 8. Totall 33.

Poultry: Turkeys 49. Fowles 141. Ducks 25. Geese 8. Totall 10.

Asses 3.

Horses 2.

Mules 51.

Encreased in June

Bull 6.

Totall 6.

Asses 1.

Delverd to ye Fort

Neat Cattle: Bullocks 38. Cows 60. Heifers 25. Steers 33. Yearling 18. Calves 69. Bull 6. Totall 249.

Sheep: Ewes 51. Weathers 14. Lambs 11. Rams 4. Totall 80.

Goates: Ewes 332. Weathers 146. Flos 143. Rams 8. Totall 629.

Hoggs: Sowes 5. Shoates 18. Pigs 10. Totall 33.

Poultry: Turkeys 49. Fowles 141. Ducks 25. Geese 8. Totall 10.

Asses 4.

Horses 2.

Mules 6.

Sold to Ships in do

Neat Cattle: Bullocks 3. Totall 3.

Goates: Flos 25. Rams 16. Rams 2. Totall 43.

Poultry: Ducks 5. Geese 3. Totall 1.

Neat Cattle: Bullocks 35. Cows 60. Heifers 25. Steers 33. Yearling 18. Calves 69. Bull 6. Totall 246.

Sheep: Ewes 51. Weathers 14. Lambs 11. Rams 4. Totall 80.

Goates: Ewes 307. Weathers 130. Flos 141. Rams 8. Totall 586.

Hoggs: Sowes 5. Shoates 18. Pigs 10. Totall 33.

Poultry: Turkeys 44. Fowles 138. Ducks 24. Geese 8. Totall 10.

Asses 4.

Horses 2.

Mules 6.

Dead Stolen & ca in do

Neat Cattle: Bullocks 5. Heifers 1. Steers 1. Calves 10.

Totall 17.

Hoggs: Boares 4. Pigs 4. Totall 8.

Remr Ultmo June

Neat Cattle: Bullocks 35. Cows 55. Heifers 24. Steers 32. Yearling 18. Calves 59. Bull 6. Totall 229.

Sheep: Ewes 51. Weathers 14. Lambs 11. Rams 4. Totall 80.

Goates: Ewes 307. Weathers 130. Flos 141. Rams 8. Totall 586.

Hoggs: Sowes 1. Shoates 14. Pigs 10. Totall 25.

Poultry: Turkeys 44. Fowles 138. Ducks 24. Geese 8. Totall 10.

Asses 4.

Horses 2.

Mules 6.

Yams Expended for the Hogs & Poultry 2850 lb.

Margin Notes:

Accot of ye Honble Cos Live Stock for the Mo: of June.

Mr Byfield brought in and delivered his monthly account of the Honourable Company's live stock and expenses for the month of June, which was examined and approved, and stood as follows.

The account was headed an account of the Company's stock of neat cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, asses and horses, with what had been delivered to the Fort and sold to ships, besides the increase or decrease, for the month of June 1723. The neat cattle were graded as bullocks, cows, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and bulls; the sheep as ewes, weathers and lambs, with rams; the goats as ewes, weathers, kids and rams; the hogs as sows, stores, boars and pigs; the poultry as turkeys, geese, ducks and fowls; with asses and horses each by mares.

The remainder from the end of May stood at 38 bullocks, 60 cows, 25 heifers, 33 steers, 18 yearlings, 63 calves and 6 bulls, totalling 243 neat cattle; 51 ewes, 14 weathers and 11 lambs with 4 rams, totalling 80 sheep; 332 ewes, 146 weathers and 143 kids with 8 rams, totalling 629 goats; 5 sows, 18 stores, 2 boars and 8 pigs, totalling 33 hogs; 49 turkeys, 14 geese, 1 duck and 25 fowls, totalling 8 poultry [reading uncertain]; with 3 asses and 2 horses, totalling 51 by the mares.

There was an increase in June of 6 calves among the neat cattle, 6 lambs among the sheep, and 1 mare.

Delivered to the Fort were nothing of the neat cattle remainder beyond the carried figures of 38 bullocks, 60 cows, 25 heifers, 33 steers, 18 yearlings, 69 calves and 6 bulls, totalling 249 neat cattle; the sheep standing at 80, the goats at 629, the hogs at 33 and the rest as before.

Sold to ships were 3 neat cattle, and among the goats 25 ewes, 16 weathers and 2 kids, totalling 43 goats, with 5 ducks and 3 fowls of the poultry.

After these deliveries the stock stood at 35 bullocks, 60 cows, 25 heifers, 33 steers, 18 yearlings, 69 calves and 6 bulls, totalling 246 neat cattle; 51 ewes, 14 weathers and 11 lambs with 4 rams, totalling 80 sheep; 307 ewes, 130 weathers and 141 kids with 8 rams, totalling 586 goats; 5 sows, 18 stores and the rest, totalling 33 hogs; with the poultry, asses and horses.

Dead, stolen and otherwise lost were 5 bullocks, 1 heifer, 1 steer and 10 calves, totalling 17 neat cattle; among the hogs 4 stores, totalling 4; and 8 of the poultry.

The remainder at the end of June stood at 35 bullocks, 55 cows, 24 heifers, 32 steers, 18 yearlings, 59 calves and 6 bulls, totalling 229 neat cattle; 51 ewes, 14 weathers and 11 lambs with 4 rams, totalling 80 sheep; 307 ewes, 130 weathers and 141 kids with 8 rams, totalling 586 goats; 1 sow, 14 stores and the rest, totalling 10 hogs [reading uncertain]; 25 turkeys, 44 geese, 13 ducks and 82 fowls, totalling 24 poultry [reading uncertain]; with 3 asses, 2 horses and the mares, totalling 6.

2,850 pounds of yams were expended for the hogs and poultry.

Interpretations

The account rendered the Company's live stock for June under the new Governor, the same monthly return Byfield had brought in across the previous years as chief overseer. It set out the herds and flocks by kind and tracked each through the month's increase, the deliveries to the Fort and the ships, and the losses by death and theft.

The month's movement points firmly downward. The neat cattle fell from 243 to 229 and the goats from 629 to 586, the herds spent faster than they bred, the six calves and six lambs of the month's increase swallowed by the deliveries and the losses. The Company drew on its own animals to feed both the garrison at the Fort and the ships in the road, the stock declining as the establishment consumed it.

This decline reads consistently against the standing distress of the season. The drought recorded from 5 March to 25 April 1723, the four poor seasons the council had set before the Indian presidencies, and the planters' refusal of beef for the shipping pressed since 2 June 1722 all bore on the same shortage, the inhabitants' herds too thin and lean to supply the passing ships, so that the demand fell back on the Company's own stock. The heavy slaughter of the General Table account of 11 December 1722, charging over a thousand pounds of beef, had already shown the bench spending its herds to answer the table, and the June return continued the same draw.

A fuller comparison with earlier years cannot be drawn from the figures to hand. The Company's own stock had last been surveyed by kind under Byfield's overseership at the counts of 10 to 12 August 1720 and 22 to 29 August 1721, but the consolidated record preserves only the headline yam totals of those surveys, not the cattle, sheep and goat figures, which sit in the fallback reference. The herds of 1,483 head in the families and cattle register of 1719 belong to the inhabitants' private stock rather than the Company's, so they offer no direct measure against this month's 229 neat cattle and 586 goats. The reliable comparison is therefore the within-month decline, which the season's drought and provisioning pressures fully explain.

Speculations

The separation of theft and death from the deliveries shows the council managing two distinct drains on a stock it could not easily replace. The overseer's account set the 17 neat cattle and the hogs and poultry lost to death and theft apart from the animals issued to the Fort and the ships, distinguishing a loss the bench could control from one it could not. The reckoning let the council weigh the wastage of its herds, the deaths from the lean seasons and the thefts the island's exposed stock invited, against the lawful consumption of the establishment, so that a falling total could be read for its cause. In a season when the herds were declining and could not be made good from the planters' thin stock, the exact accounting of every kind of loss was the council's means of watching a wasting asset and judging how long its own animals could carry the burden the drought had thrown on them.

115

110

July.

Capt Goodwin brot in likewise and delivered his

Accot of goods & Stores sold & delivered for the sd

Mouth of June which was also examined &

approved of and is as follows.

308½ Gallons Arrack

a 6. 4 pr Gall

97 14 7½

72 9½ pound of Sugar

a 6 pr lb

48 4 9

41 6 pound of Bread

a 3

1 9

129 pound Flower

a 3

1 12 3

138 pound of Soape

a 1. 5

2 13 10

52½ Cut Tobacco

a 2

5 5

2½ do Leaf

a

2 6

23 Dozen Pipes

11 6

5 19

Hosiers Ware vizt

2 Pair Childrens Stockings

No 6

2

1 do Mens Silk

32

18

3 do

30

13 6

1 do

29

3 6

1 Youths do

3

2 Womens Stockings

19

7

3 do

17

16 6

2 Childrens do

a 1. 9

3 6

2 17

Shoes vizt

1 Pair Mens Calve Leather Shoes

6

1 do Womens Spanish Leather do

5 9

4 do Womens Calve do

4. 2

16 8

1 8 5

1 Peice White Gurrhase

9 6

1 Blew do

12 6

1 Peice Long Cloth

2 2

1 Chellos

14

2 White Desolees

1

4 do Camblett

10

5 8

1 Lanthorn Smallest

4 8

1 Pott Coffee Pott

3

5 11

1 Small Blanket

5 9

6 Dozen Hooks Sorted

2 6

8 3

China Ware

2 Chyna Bowles

28 Sawchers

5

14 Large Cups

4

4 Smaller do

2

4 8

7 Coffee Bohea Tea

2 2

1 4 4

1 do Green do

4

2 6

141 14 4

Margin Notes:

Goods Sold & delivered out of ye Stores in ye Mo: of June

Captain Goodwin likewise brought in and delivered his account of goods and stores sold and delivered for the month of June, which was examined and approved, and stood as follows.

308½ gallons of arrack, at 6s 4d per gallon, came to £97 14s 7½d.

72½ pounds of sugar, at 6d per pound, came to £43 4s 9d [reading uncertain].

41 pounds of bread, at 3d, came to £1 0s 0d.

129 pounds of flour, at 3d, came to £1 12s 3d.

38 pounds of soap, at 1s 5d, came to £2 13s 10d.

cut tobacco, at 2s 0d, came to £5 5s 0d, and leaf tobacco, at 2s 0d, came to £2 6s 0d.

23 dozen pipes came to 11s 6d.

The above came to £5 19s 0d.

The hosiers' ware ran as follows.

2 pairs of children's stockings, marked number 6, came to 2s 0d.

1 pair of men's silk, at 33d, came to 18s 0d.

3 ditto, at 30d, came to 13s 6d.

1 ditto, at 29d, came to 3s 6d.

1 pair of youths' ditto came to 3s 0d.

2 pairs of women's stockings, at 19d, came to 7s 0d.

3 ditto, at 17d, came to 16s 6d.

2 pairs of children's ditto, at 1s 9d, came to 3s 6d.

The hosiers' ware came to £2 17s 0d.

The shoes ran as follows.

1 pair of men's calf-leather shoes came to 6s 0d.

1 pair of women's Spanish leather ditto came to 5s 9d.

4 pairs of women's calf ditto, at 4s 2d, came to 16s 8d.

The above came to £1 8s 5d.

1 piece of white gurrahs came to 9s 6d.

1 blue ditto came to 12s 6d.

1 piece of fine long cloth came to £2 2s 0d.

1 chilloe came to 14s 0d.

2 white desolees came to £1 0s 0d.

4 ditto camblet came to 10s 0d.

The above came to £5 8s 0d.

1 lanthorn, the smallest, came to 4s 8d.

1 three-legged pot came to £5 0s 0d [reading uncertain].

1 small blanket came to 4s 8d.

6 dozen of hogs, sorted, at 5s 9d, came to £8 3s 0d.

The china ware ran as follows.

2 china bowls came to 5s 0d.

28 saucers came to 14s 0d.

14 large cups, at 2d, came to 4s 8d.

4 smaller ditto, at 2d, came to 4s 8d.

The above came to £1 4s 0d.

7 catty of bohea tea, at 2s 0d, came to £2 6s 0d, and green ditto came to 4s 0d, the two coming to £2 6s 0d.

The whole came to £141 4s 4d.

Interpretations

Captain Goodwin's account rendered the goods and stores sold and delivered through June, the storekeeper's monthly return set beside the overseer's live-stock account. The arrack at £97 14s 7½d dominated the whole, more than two-thirds of the £141 4s 4d total, the drink the single greatest charge on the stores as it was on the General Table.

The account ran through the same range of goods the Essex invoice had stocked, the hosiers' ware, the shoes, the textiles and the china, drawn down from the store and issued to the inhabitants and the establishment. The piece goods, the gurrahs, long cloth, chilloes and camblets, marked the Indian textiles the island took from the homeward ships, sold on through the Company's store.

The storekeeper's monthly delivery account formed the counterpart to the overseer's stock account, the two together rendering the whole month's movement of the Company's property. Where Byfield tracked the herds and flocks, Goodwin tracked the goods, each examined and approved in turn, the standing monthly reckoning by which the council kept its account of what the island consumed and sold.

116

111

1723.

Brought Over

141 11 4½

Haberdashery Ware vizt

2 Yards Lutestring

11

6 oz Thread

a 1/3

7 6

½ pound Twisted Brown Thread

16 7½

2 Ivory Combs

a 3

6

1 Peice of Broad Holland Tape

1 4

3 Narrow do

2 8

1 Coloured Tape

2 9

2 Yards broad Ferreting

2 1

2½ Yds Ribbon

a 6d

1 3

5 yd do

1/3

9

3½ oz China Silk

a 1/3

6 8

½ M. Pins

1/4

8

¼ M. Do

1/2

7

2 Pair Womens Lamb Gloves

3

1 Mens do

2

2 12 9½

1 English Tutor

1

3 English Primmers

1 6

1 Hornbook

4

2 10

2 Pound Starch

1 6

1 Hair Broom

1 6

1 Boys Hatt

No 2

6

1 Quart Vinegar

1

2 Gallons Rape Oyle

12

1 2

Shirts & Cotton Stockings vizt

10 Chelloe Shirts

1 10

12 White do

17 6

12 Pair Cotton Stockings

5

2 12 6

3 Pair Sciszers

a 6d

1 6

Ironmongers Ware

1 Rimm Lock

1 6

1 Spring Lock

3 10

1 Broad Ax

6 6

1 Chest Lock

7 6

1 Splinter Lock

5 6

2 do

a 1/10

3 8

1 8 6

Nailes vizt

40 of 18. Nailes

a 8

6 8

3 of 6d do

2 3

8 11

Sum Totall to the Inhabitants

150 5

Garrison Dr vizt

14 Pakd Green Tea

a

2 16

9½ Gallons Rape Oyle

2 17

1 Quart Sweet Oyle

3

5 19

2 Lines

No 3

Carried over

155 19 5

Captain Goodwin's delivery account continued, the figures brought over standing at £141 11s 4½d.

The haberdashery ware ran as follows.

2 yards of lutestring came to 11s 0d.

6 ounces of thread, at 1s 3d, came to 7s 6d.

half a pound of white and brown thread came to 16s 7½d.

2 jenny combs came to 4s 0d.

1 piece of broad Holland tape came to 1s 4d.

3 narrow ditto came to 1s 4d.

1 coloured tape came to 2s 0d.

2 yards of broad ferreting came to 2s 1d.

2½ yards of ribbon, at 6d, came to 1s 9d.

9 yards of ditto came to 1s 3d.

5 yards of ditto, at 1s 3d, came to 6s 0d.

3½ ounces of China silk came to 6s 6d.

half a thousand twine came to 8d.

quarter of a thousand ditto, at 1s 4d, came to 8d.

2 pairs of women's lamb gloves came to 3s 0d.

1 pair of men's ditto came to 2s 0d.

The above came to £2 12s 9½d.

1 English Tutor came to 1s 0d.

3 English primers came to 1s 6d.

1 hornbook came to 4d.

1 pound of starch came to 1s 6d.

1 hair broom came to 1s 6d.

1 boys' hat, marked number 2, came to 6s 0d.

1 quart of vinegar came to 1s 0d.

2 gallons of Cape oil came to 12s 0d.

The above came to £1 2s 0d.

The shirts and cotton stockings ran as follows.

10 chilloe shirts, at 1s 10d, came to 17s 6d [reading uncertain].

12 white ditto came to 17s 6d.

12 pairs of cotton stockings, at 5d, came to £2 12s 6d.

3 pairs of scissors, at 6d, came to 1s 6d.

The ironmonger's ware ran as follows.

1 rim lock came to 1s 6d.

1 spring lock came to 3s 10d.

1 broad ditto came to 6s 6d.

1 chest lock came to 7s 6d.

1 splinter lock came to 5s 6d.

2 ditto, at 1s 10d, came to 3s 8d.

The above came to £1 8s 6d.

The nails ran as follows.

10 thousand of 18d nails, at 8d, came to 6s 8d.

3 thousand of 6d ditto, at 8d, came to 2s 3d.

The above came to 8s 11d.

The sum total to the inhabitants came to £150 0s 5d.

The garrison's delivery ran as follows.

14 catty of green tea came to £2 16s 0d.

9½ gallons of Cape oil came to £2 17s 0d.

1 quart of sweet oil came to 3s 0d.

2 lines, marked number 3, came to £5 19s 0d.

The whole carried over came to £155 19s 5d.

Interpretations

The page continued Goodwin's June delivery account through the haberdashery, the shirts and stockings, the ironmongery and the nails, and struck the total of goods issued to the inhabitants at £150 0s 5d. The small wares ran in a long run of threads, tapes, ribbons, gloves and the like, the same personal goods the Essex invoice had stocked, sold off through the store in single yards and ounces.

The school books set among the haberdashery marked the island's learning supplied from the store, the English Tutor, primers and hornbook answering the schooling of the children. Their sale alongside the sewing wares showed the store furnishing the household and the schoolroom together, the goods drawn down as the inhabitants needed them.

The garrison's delivery was struck apart from the inhabitants' account, the tea, oil and fishing lines issued to the establishment kept on its own footing. The separation of the two carried forward the same distinction the census had drawn between the settled families and the military establishment, the storekeeper rendering each body's consumption to its own total, the whole carried over at £155 19s 5d.

117

112

July.

Brought over

155 19 5

Diet Expences vizt

164 Gallons Arrack

a 6/4 pr Gallon

51 18 8

14 Chests Wine Sorted

270 6 9

2 Caske Cheese

Wt 2. 0. 11

3 5

2 Firkins Butter

5 11

4 Hogsheads Beer

7 2

7 Bottle florence Oyle now

3 6 6

7 Gallons Vinegar

8

4 Pound Pepper

4

1 Cask Beef

15 4

1 do Suet

6 6

1 Cask flower of 3 Cwt

1 4

6 lb do

1 6

1 Cask Bread Wt 4 Cwt

5 12

1 do White do

2 2

11 19 6

2 Bottles fflorence Oyle

4

2 Dozen China Plates

1 4

130 Sugar

3 5

385 18 5

The Great Wood Dr vizt

1 Line

No 13

3

6 18d Nailes

4

Plantation Dr.

2 lb 10d Nailes

1

13 4

The Honble Companies Blacks vizt

3488 Rice

a 3¾

50 17 4

2 Peices Blew Gurrhase

1 5 4

8 Shirt

1

2 Dozen Lines

No 3

12

2 Pair Mens Calve Leather Shoes

13

1 Ivory Comb

2

1 lb Tobacco 6 Pipes

2 3

1 Pair Stockings

No 30

4 6

1 do

21

1 6

54 17 7

Fortification Dr vizt

34 Gallons Linseed Oyle

13 12

24 lb Brimston

12

Glass vizt

3 Squares 16 & 12

4 6

104 do 8 & 10

Cwt 4. 6. 5. 10

Fortification Carried over

20 9 10

Carried over

597 8 9

Captain Goodwin's delivery account continued, the figures brought over standing at £155 19s 5d.

The diet expenses ran as follows.

164 gallons of arrack, at 6s 4d per gallon, came to £51 18s 8d.

14 chests of wine, sorted, came to £270 6s 9d.

2 casks of cheese, weight 2 hundredweight, 0 quarters, 11 pounds, came to £3 5s 0d.

2 firkins of butter came to £5 11s 0d.

4 hogsheads of beer came to £7 2s 0d.

7 bottles of Florence oil, new, came to £3 6s 6d.

7 gallons of vinegar came to 8s 0d.

4 pounds of pepper came to 4s 0d.

1 cask of beef came to £15 4s 0d, and 1 of suet came to £6 6s 0d.

1 cask of flour, of 3 hundredweight, came to £1 4s 0d, and 6 pounds of ditto came to 1s 6d.

1 cask of bread, weight 4 hundredweight, came to £5 12s 0d, and 1 of white ditto, of 2 hundredweight, 2 quarters, came to £11 19s 6d.

2 bottles of Florence oil came to 4s 0d.

2 dozen china plates came to £1 4s 0d.

130 pounds of sugar came to £3 5s 0d.

The diet expenses came to £385 18s 5d.

The Great Wood delivery ran as follows.

1 line, marked number 13, came to 3s 0d.

6 thousand of 18d nails came to 4s 0d.

The above came to 7s 0d.

The plantation delivery ran as follows.

2 thousand of 10d nails came to £1 13s 4d.

The Honourable Company's blacks' delivery ran as follows.

3,488 rice, at 3½d, came to £50 17s 4d.

2 pieces of blue gurrahs came to £1 5s 0d.

8 shirts came to £1 0s 0d.

2 dozen lines, marked number 3, came to 12s 0d.

2 pairs of men's calf-leather shoes came to 13s 0d.

1 ivory comb came to 2s 0d.

1 pound of tobacco and 6 pipes came to 2s 3d.

1 pair of stockings, marked number 30, came to 4s 6d.

1 ditto, at 21d, came to 1s 6d.

The blacks' delivery came to £54 17s 7d.

The fortification delivery ran as follows.

34 gallons of linseed oil came to £13 12s 0d.

24 pounds of brimstone came to 12s 0d.

The glass ran as follows.

3 squares of 10 by 12 came to 4s 6d.

104 ditto of 8 by 10 came to £6 5s 10d.

The fortification delivery, carried over, came to £20 9s 10d.

The whole carried over came to £597 5s 9d [reading uncertain].

Interpretations

The page carried Goodwin's account through the several heads under which the Company's goods were issued, each kept to its own total. The diet expenses at £385 18s 5d dominated the whole, the wine alone at £270 6s 9d and the arrack at £51 18s 8d, the drink and the provisions of the General Table making up by far the heaviest charge.

The delivery to the Company's blacks marked the feeding and clothing of the slave force at £54 17s 7d, the great bulk of it 3,488 pounds of rice. The rice issued to the slaves, set against the failing yam crop, showed the council provisioning its labour through the drought from bought grain, the same want of food that drove the season's letters to the presidencies reaching to the slaves' own ration.

The Great Wood, plantation and fortification heads recorded the stores spent on the island's works. The nails for the wood and the plantation, and the linseed oil, brimstone and window glass for the fortification, supplied the building and repair the council carried on, the glass and oil for the defence works set among the provisions and the slaves' rice, the storekeeper's account ranging across every charge on the Company's goods in the month.

118

113

1723

Fortifications brought over

20 9 10

597 8 9

Nailes vizt

2 Tackle

a 1/3

3 4

7 of 2 Nailes

1/3

8 9

16 of 3d do

1/1

6 16

11 of 4d do

10

9 2

14 of 10d do

8

9 4

119 of 20d do

7

3 9 11

2 of 24d do

7½

lb of Wright Nailes

4 11½

5 3 9

Ironmongers Ware vizt

1 Brass Lock

13 4

1 do

No 2

1

1 Chest Lock

No 6

7 6

1 do

3

1 Suit of Till Locks 3 pr Subt with key

3

1 Pair Hinges

No 1

1

3

2 6

6 Gimbletts

2

1 Maul wt 24½

15 4½

1 Axel Tree & Winch

2 6

6 Helves

6

3 19 2½

29 17 9½

General Charges Dr vizt

100 Soap

7 1

5 Peices fine Long Cloth

40 10

1 Coarse do

1 1

18 11

2 Hair Brooms

3

1 Largest Seive

2 6

1 do Pudding Pan

2 6

13 yd H. Linnen

1 9 3

1 Largest Tea Kettle

18

2 15 3

½ lb Twisted Brown Thread

7½

½ lb do

No 8

5 8

1 peice White Tape

3 2

½ oz English Silk

1 3

¾ oz China do

1

100 Needles

4 6

2 Peices Tape

3/6

7

1 5 6½

Iron Ware

1 Box Iron

7 6

3 do Sorted

1 2 6

3 Heaters

8

1 Pr Bellows

No 2

6

3 Pr Iron Sons

4 4

1 Pair Gauntes

4 6

1 Stock Lock

No 5

6

3 18 8

26 10 5½

627 6 0½

Captain Goodwin's delivery account continued, the figures brought over standing at £597 5s 9d, and the fortification head at £20 9s 10d.

The nails for the fortification ran as follows.

2 tackle, at 1s 8d, came to 3s 4d.

7 thousand of 2d nails, at 1s 3d, came to 8s 9d.

16 thousand of 3d ditto, at 1s 1d, came to 6s 6d.

11 thousand of 4d ditto, at 10d, came to 9s 2d.

14 thousand of 10d ditto, at 8d, came to 9s 4d.

119 thousand of 20d ditto, at 7d, came to £3 9s 11d.

2 thousand of 24d ditto came to 7½d.

weight nails came to 1s 1½d.

The nails came to £5 3s 9d.

The ironmonger's ware ran as follows.

1 brass lock came to 13s 0d [reading uncertain].

1 ditto, marked number 2, came to 14d.

1 chest lock, marked number 6, came to 7s 6d.

1 ditto came to 3s 0d.

1 suit of till locks, 3 for the secretary, came to 3s 0d.

1 pair of hinges, marked number 1, came to 1s 0d.

3 ditto, marked number 3, came to 2s 6d.

6 gimlets came to 2s 0d.

1 maul, weight 24½ pounds, came to 15s 4½d.

1 axletree and winch came to 2s 6d.

6 helves came to 6s 0d.

The ironmonger's ware came to £3 19s 2½d.

The fortification head in all came to £29 17s 9½d.

The general charges ran as follows.

100 pounds of soap came to £7 1s 0d.

5 pieces of fine long cloth came to £40 0s 0d [reading uncertain], and 1 coarse ditto came to £1 1s 0d, the above coming to £13 11s 0d.

2 hair brooms came to 3s 0d.

1 largest sieve came to 2s 6d.

1 ditto pudding pan came to 2s 6d.

13 yards of Holland linen came to £1 9s 3d.

1 largest tea kettle came to 18s 0d.

half a pound of white and brown thread came to 7s 7½d.

half a pound of ditto, marked number 8, came to 5s 3d.

1 piece of white tape came to 3s 2d.

half an ounce of English silk came to 1s 3d.

three-quarters of an ounce of China ditto came to 1s 0d.

100 needles came to 4s 6d.

2 pieces of tape, at 3s 6d, came to 7s 0d.

The above came to £1 5s 6½d.

The iron ware ran as follows.

1 box iron came to 7s 6d.

3 ditto, sorted, came to £1 2s 6d.

3 heaters came to 3s 0d.

1 pair of bellows, marked number 2, came to 6s 0d.

3 sets of pot irons came to £1 4s 0d.

1 pair of garnets came to 4s 6d.

1 stock lock, marked number 5, came to 6s 0d.

The iron ware came to £3 18s 8d.

The whole carried over came to £627 6s 0½d, the running sum standing at £26 11s 10s 5½d [reading uncertain].

Interpretations

The page completed the fortification head of Goodwin's account and ran on into the general charges and iron ware. The fortification closed at £29 17s 9½d, the great bulk of it nails, 119 thousand of 20d nails alone among them, the heavy ironmongery of the defence works the council was repairing.

The nails of every size from 2d to 24d marked the constant building and repair the fortification demanded. The huge quantity of the larger nails, set against the smaller lots, showed the scale of the timber work on the line, the same defence works whose decay the council had reported and ordered mended, supplied here in the stores the month consumed.

The general charges and iron ware gathered the household and trade goods issued under no particular head, the soap, long cloth, linen, threads and the box irons, heaters, bellows and pot irons. These domestic and craft stores, sold to the inhabitants and the establishment, ran the storekeeper's account to £627 6s 0½d carried over, the month's whole delivery of the Company's goods drawing toward its close.

119

114

July.

Brought over

627 6 6½

Genl Charges Brought over

26 10 5½

17 Doz Hooks Sorted

18

13

3 Lines do

3

4 4

2 Twine

3 9

1 Bacon

4 lb Starch

3

1 Two Quart Sauce Pan

2

5

1 Chyna Tea Pott

3 6

24 do Plates

1 4

1 7 6

2 do Spoons

9

12½ H. Duck

3/2

1 19 7

1 Large Blanket

4 3

2 19 10

1 Glass Cruet

1 3

1 do Decanter

Wt 5½

4 11

13 2

2 Peices Sciszers

5

37 17 0½

Totall Sum

665 3 7

Gunner.

Captain Goodwin's delivery account closed, the figures brought over standing at £627 6s 6½d, and the general charges head at £26 10s 5½d.

17 dozen of hafts, sorted, at 18d, came to 13s 0d.

13 lines ditto, at 3d, came to 4s 4d.

2 twine came to 3s 9d.

1 basin came to 3s 0d.

4 pounds of starch came to 3s 0d.

1 two-quart sauce pan, at 2d, came to 5s 0d.

1 china tea pot came to 3s 6d.

24 ditto plates, at 1s 4d, came to £1 7s 6d.

2 ditto spoons came to 9d.

12½ yards of Holland duck, at 3s 2d, came to £1 19s 7d.

1 large blanket came to 4s 3d.

1 glass cruet came to 1s 3d.

1 ditto decanter, weight 5½, came to 4s 11d.

2 pieces of bewdley knives came to 5s 0d.

The above came to 13s 2d.

The general charges in all came to £37 17s 0½d.

The total sum of the account came to £665 3s 7d.

The remainder of the page is struck through with a diagonal cross, and breaks at the catchword "Gunner" at the foot.

Interpretations

The page closed Captain Goodwin's June delivery account at a total sum of £665 3s 7d, completing the storekeeper's monthly reckoning of all the goods sold and delivered from the Company's stores. The last lines gathered the small household and trade wares, the hafts, lines, sauce pan, plates, blanket and glassware, under the general charges head, the final items of the month's issue.

The total marked the whole movement of the Company's goods for June, set beside Byfield's account of the live stock for the same month. The two together rendered the entire establishment's consumption and sale, the goods and the herds each tracked to its own total, the standing monthly discipline by which the council kept its account of the island's property.

The struck-through remainder of the page and the catchword for the gunner show the account closed and the next return beginning. With the storekeeper's account complete, the gunner's monthly stores account would follow, the routine round of the establishment's accounts carried on under the new Governor as the page turned.

120

115

1723.

Gunner French brot in and delivered his Accot of

Gunners Stores expended for the sd Month of June which

was examined & approved of and is as foll.

1723.

June 5th

Being Muster Day

5

do An Alarme at the Fort

Guns fired 4. Expence of pod Ec 16

17 Departed the Essex for India

Guns fired 9. Expence of pod Ec 9

29 An alarme

Guns fired 4. Expence of pod Ec 4

do Arrived the Dawson Capt Benfeld from India

Guns fired 11. Expence of pod Ec 15

For the Worshipfule Govr Smiths use

Expence of pod Ec 2

To Capt Goodwin

Expence of pod Ec 1

Expences for the Guard

Expence of pod Ec 7

Lead Shot

lb 28. 58

Carthridge Paper

3

Flints

60

Match

14

1460 2 3

Mr Beale and Mr Cesey Executors of Wm Penny

Deced according to the order of Consultation of the 25th

of June last brought in an Accot of the mony arising

by the Sale of the Effects of the sd Wm Penny.

Ordered that the sd James Cesey and Rich

Beale doe consult with the Churchwardens in the

disposale of the mony arising by the Sale of the sd

Effects of the sd Wm Penny to the Poor of this

Island according to his Wile.

The Petition of Saml Price was presented Setting

forth that the Petr was indebted to the honoble Company

and not being able to pay the same prayed he might

be entertained in the Garrison as a Montrose or a

a private Soldier.

The Petr being a very idle disorderly fellow

wee think fitt to reject his Petition.

Whereas

Margin Notes:

Gunners Accot of Expences of Gunners Stores in ye sd Mo: of June.

Execut of Wm Penny brought an Accot of the mony arrise from ye Sale of his Effects.

to Consult wt the Church Wardens abt ye Disposale of sd money

Saml Price prayd to be Enter: tained in ye Garrison

Rejected.

The gunner French brought in and delivered his account of gunner's stores expended for the month of June, which was examined and approved, and stood as follows. The two columns read guns fired and expense of powder.

On 5 June 1723, being muster day, no gun was fired, the entry standing only in the expense column at 5.

The same day, an alarm at the Fort, 4 guns fired, expense 16.

On 17 June, on the departure of the Essex for India, 9 guns fired, expense 9.

On 29 June, an alarm, 4 guns fired, expense 4.

The same day, on the arrival of the Dawson, Captain Benfield, from India, 11 guns fired, expense 15.

For the worshipful Governor Smith's use, no gun fired, expense 2.

To Captain Goodwin, no gun fired, expense 1.

Expenses for the guard, no gun fired, expense 7.

28 lead shot were issued, entered in the expense column at 58.

cartridge paper, 2, entered at 3.

flints, 60, entered at 2.

match, 14.

The account came to 1,460 guns fired [reading uncertain] and an expense of 23.

Mr Beale and Mr Vesey, executors of William Penny deceased, under the order of the consultation of 25 June last, brought in an account of the money arising from the sale of the effects of William Penny. The council ordered that James Vesey and Richard Beale consult with the churchwardens over the disposal of the money to the poor of the island, according to Penny's will.

The petition of Samuel Price was presented. It set forth that he was in debt to the Honourable Company and, being unable to pay, asked to be taken into the garrison as a matross or a private soldier. The petitioner being a very idle and disorderly fellow, the council did not think fit to grant his petition. The entry breaks at the catchword "whereas" at the foot.

Interpretations

The gunner's account recorded the powder fired off through June, the heaviest charge falling on the arrival of the Dawson at 11 guns and the departure of the Essex at 9, with the alarms of 5 and 29 June drawing 4 each. The account ties to the month's events the other entries record, the gunner's book serving once more as a second record of the notable occasions counted in the powder they consumed.

The Penny estate moved to its charitable end. The executors Beale and Vesey, having sold the effects under the order of 25 June, now brought in the account of the money raised, and the council directed them to settle with the churchwardens for its distribution to the island's poor under Penny's will, the parish charity carried out through the council's oversight.

The refusal of Samuel Price marked the council declining to use the garrison as a refuge for a bad debtor. Price, unable to pay his Company debt, sought to enlist as a matross or private soldier, but the bench, holding him an idle and disorderly man, would not take him in. The decision kept the garrison clear of a man whose character it distrusted, the soldiering not to be a shelter for the indebted and unruly.

121

116

July

Whereas by the Ship Essex there came from

our honoble Masters Mr Thos Wignall Surgeon

for our Garrison And Whereas Mr William

Carlisle who had been entertained by us as

Surgeon in manner mentioned in the Consultat

of the 18th of March 1726 attended us this day

and requested his Discharge in order to goe

for England on board the Ship Dawson now

in the road and that wee would pay for his

passage.

Wherefore ordered that the sd Mr Wm

Carlile be discharged as he desires and

that his Accot be made up to this day. &

that in Consideration of his Service to the

Garrison & the Inhabitants of the Island

in generale, he be allowed ten pounds

towards paying for his Passage being

the same Sume allowed to the sd Mr

Thomas Wignal by our honoble Masters

towards paying for his passage hither.

Ordered that an Advertisement be Issued out

for ale Persons that are indebted to the honoble

Company to attend next Consultation day in order

to make proposals for the payment of their

respective Debts, and also for ale persons to

bring in on the said Day an Accot of their live

Stock vizt Cattle Hoggs Goats and Sheep they

are now possessed of in order to Send home a

true State of the Island to our honoble Masters

Mr Slaughter brot in and delivered an Accot

of the generale Table Expence for the said

Month of June which was examined and

Approved of and is as foll.

An

Margin Notes:

Mr Wignall Surgeon being sent forth from Engld

Mr Carlile Surgn prayed his Discharge in order to goe Engld & to pay for his passage.

Mr Carlile discharged

and

Allowed to toward his passage

Advertizemt Issued out for ale Persons to attend & make their Proposals of Paymt

and to bring an Accot of all their live Stocks.

Govrs Table Expence for June.

By the ship Essex there came from the Honourable Masters Mr Thomas Wignall, surgeon for the garrison. Mr William Carlile, who had been engaged as surgeon under the consultation of 18 March 1723, attended the council this day and asked to be discharged so that he might go to England aboard the Dawson, now in the road, and that the council would pay for his passage.

The council therefore ordered that William Carlile be discharged as he desired, that his account be made up to this day, and that, in consideration of his service to the garrison and the inhabitants of the island in general, he be allowed £10 0s 0d towards his passage, the same sum the Honourable Masters had allowed Mr Thomas Wignall towards his.

The council ordered that an advertisement be issued for all persons indebted to the Honourable Company to attend the next consultation day, to make proposals for the payment of their debts, and for all persons to bring in on that day an account of the live stock, namely cattle, hogs, goats and sheep, they were now possessed of, so that a true state of the island might be sent home to the Honourable Masters.

Mr Slaughter brought in and delivered an account of the General Table expenses for the month of June, which was examined and approved, and stood as follows. The entry breaks at the catchword "An" at the foot.

Interpretations

The Carlile discharge marked a swift turnover of garrison surgeons. Carlile had been engaged only on 18 March 1723, after the doctor Beale was judged incapable and dismissed, at £50 a year recorded as no precedent, and now within months he asked to leave for England, the council paying his passage as it had Wignall's. With Wignall arriving by the Essex as the directors' appointed surgeon, the bench let Carlile go, the garrison's medical post passing from the stopgap engagement to the Company's own man.

The advertisement for the indebted and the live-stock account renewed the council's drive to settle the island's affairs and report home. It called the Company's debtors to make proposals for payment and required every holder to render his cattle, hogs, goats and sheep, so that a true state of the island could be sent to the directors, the same accounting the families and cattle register had served and the means of pressing the recovery of debts.

The opening of Slaughter's General Table account began the routine monthly reckoning of the garrison's provisioning. The account for June, breaking off at the foot, would set out the month's food and drink as the April and May accounts had, the standing return by which the council tracked what fed the establishment, carried on without change under the new Governor.

122

117

1723.

An Accot of what has been Expended at the Fort for

the Month of June vizt

35 Goats

at 10 Each

17 10

3 Turkeys

at 6 Each

1 10

1 Duck

6

3 Fowles

1/6

4 6

60 Bottles Milk

a 4d pr Bottle

1

30 Days Greens

a 1 pr Day

1 10

75 Gallons Arack

at 6/4 pr Gall

23 15

86 Bottles Galicia Wine

74 Bottles Mountains

The whole quantity of Wine already changed

24 Bottles of ale

4½ Gallons Sweet Oyle

at 19 pr Gall

4 5 6

2 Gallons Vinegar

8

212 lb Sugar

at 6d

5 6

13 Candy

13

70 Pound Soap

a 1/5

4 17 2

230 Pound Flower

a 3d

2 17 6

300 Pound Bread

do

3 15

25 Pound Wax Candles

2 pr lb

2 10

Salt Beef 1 Cask

15

8 Peices do Pork

1

Signed

Wm Slaughter

86 6 7

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Particulars Expended.

The account was headed an account of what had been expended at the Fort for the month of June.

35 goats, at 10s 0d each, came to £17 10s 0d.

9 turkeys, at 6s 0d each, came to £1 10s 0d.

1 duck came to 1s 6d.

3 fowls came to 4s 6d.

60 bottles of milk, at 4d per bottle, came to £1 0s 0d.

30 days' greens, at 1s 0d per day, came to £1 10s 0d.

75 gallons of arrack, at 6s 4d per gallon, came to £23 15s 0d.

86 bottles of Galicia wine, 74 bottles of Mountain and 24 bottles of ale together, the whole quantity of wine being already charged, carried no separate sum.

4½ gallons of sweet oil, at 1s 3d per gallon, came to £4 5s 6d.

2 gallons of vinegar came to 8s 0d.

21 pounds of sugar, at 6d, came to 5s 6d.

13 candy came to 13s 0d.

70 pounds of soap, at 1s 5d, came to £4 17s 2d.

230 pounds of flour, at 3d, came to £2 17s 6d.

300 pounds of bread, at 3d, came to £3 15s 0d.

25 pounds of wax candles, at 2s 0d per pound, came to £2 10s 0d.

salt beef and cask came to 15s 0d.

8 pieces of ditto pork came to £1 0s 0d.

The account, signed by William Slaughter, came to £86 5s 2d. The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The General Table account for June set the garrison's provisioning at £86 5s 2d, close to the £85 14s 10d of May. The arrack at £23 15s 0d and the goats at £17 10s 0d again carried the largest charges, the drink and the meat dominating the table as in every month, the account running through the same fresh and salt provisions, dairy, groceries and wines.

A note against the wine marks where the table account met the storekeeper's. The Galicia, Mountain and ale carried no separate sum here, the whole quantity of wine being already charged in Goodwin's delivery account for the month, the council avoiding a double charge by entering the drink once and referring to it in the other account. The cross-reference showed the two monthly accounts read together as a single reckoning of the establishment's consumption.

The four signatures of Smith, Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin closed the consultation of 9 July 1723. The sitting had carried the full round of monthly accounts, the live stock, the goods and stores, the gunner's stores and the General Table, together with the surgeon's discharge and the renewed drive on the debtors and the live-stock return, the new administration settled into the standing business of the station.

123

118

July

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the 16th day of July 1723 at Union Castle in

James Valley.

Jno Smith Esq Govr

Prsent Edw Byfeld 2d

Jno Alexander 3d

&

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and approved of

The Advertisement ordered in the last

Consultation has been issued accordingly &

In pursuance thereto the severale persons

indebted to the honoble Company appeared

and being severally called in before us

pleaded poverty howover promised to pay

their Debts as soon as they could which wee

told them they must take ale possible meanes

and Care to doe or else they might expect to

hear further from us.

Mr Byfeld pd in this day 71. 5. in

Cash Notes for which Sume he desired Bills

of Exchange which wee have drawn on

our honoble Masters accordingly.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

psons Indebted to the Hon Compa appeared.

they plead Poverty.

recommended to pay as soon as possible

Bills of Exch: drawn for Mr Byfeld

At a consultation held on Tuesday 16 July 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor John Smith, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth present, the council took up its business. The last consultation was read and approved.

The advertisement ordered at the last consultation had been issued accordingly. Under it the several persons indebted to the Honourable Company appeared, and being called in one by one before the council, pleaded poverty, but promised to pay their debts as soon as they could. The council told them they must take all possible means and care to do so, or else they might expect to hear further from it.

Mr Byfield paid in this day £71 5s 0d in cash notes, for which sum he asked for bills of exchange, which the council drew on the Honourable Masters accordingly.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The sitting answered the advertisement of the last consultation calling in the Company's debtors. The indebted appeared and were heard one by one, each pleading poverty but undertaking to pay when able, the council pressing them to use every means and warning that they might hear further if they did not. The proceeding marked the standing drive to recover the debts the corrected books had exposed, the bench applying pressure short of immediate distress.

The Byfield bill of exchange carried forward the island's habitual conversion of cash notes into bills on the directors. Byfield paid in £71 5s 0d in cash notes and took bills of exchange drawn on the Honourable Masters, the same mechanism by which the island's paper was cleared and a creditor's balance remitted home, the Company serving as the channel for moving money off the island.

The four signatures of Smith, Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin closed a short consultation given chiefly to the debtors and the single financial transaction. The new administration continued the recovery of debts and the management of the island's paper currency, the routine business of the station carried on under the Governor brought by the Essex.

124

119

1723

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the

23d Day of July 1723 at Union Castle in James

Valley

John Smith Esq Govr

Prsent Edw Byfeld 2d

John Alexander 3d

&

John Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and approved of

The following Petitions were presented.

The Petr of Gabriel Powell & Rich Gurling

Exowtors of Charles Stewart deced in the half

of Saml Stewart praying that the sd Saml

Stewart might putt himself Apprentice to

his Brother Francis Stewart now Choif Mate

of the Dawson lying in the Road & that he

might have Liberty to goe of the Island in

the sd Ship.

Granted.

The Petr of Jno Bagley Junr Carpenter

now entertained in the Companys worke at

four Shillings pr day praying that he might have

more wages allowed him.

In Consideration that the Petr is in

constant pay wee think four Shillings pr day

sufficient & therefore reject his Petition.

The Surgeon of the Garrison brot in

his booke of Medicines expended for the month

of June which was examined and approved of

The

Margin Notes:

Exowt of Charles Stewart praying Saml Stewart might goe Apprentice to his Bror.

& leave to goe Off.

Granted.

Jno Bagley Carpentr Petn for more Wages.

haveing already 4/ pday thought Eno:

Surgns Book of Medicines Expended in June.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 23 July 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor John Smith, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth present, the council took up its business. The last consultation was read and approved.

The following petitions were presented.

The petition of Gabriel Powell and Richard Gurling, executors of Charles Stewart deceased, in the interest of Samuel Stewart, was presented. It asked that Samuel Stewart be allowed to put himself apprentice to his brother Francis Stewart, now chief mate of the Dawson lying in the road, and that he have leave to go off the island in that ship. The council granted it.

The petition of John Bagley junior, carpenter, now engaged in the Company's works at 4s 0d per day, was presented. He asked that he have more wages allowed him. In consideration that the petitioner was in constant pay, the council thought 4s 0d per day sufficient and refused his petition.

The surgeon of the garrison brought in his book of medicines expended for the month of June, which was examined and approved. The entry breaks at the catchword "the" at the foot.

Interpretations

The sitting opened the business of 23 July 1723 with the Stewart apprenticeship and departure. The executors of Charles Stewart deceased, Powell and Gurling, sought leave for the youth Samuel Stewart to bind himself to his brother Francis, chief mate of the Dawson, and to leave the island in that ship, and the council granted it. The arrangement placed a fatherless boy with his elder brother in the Company's sea service, the bench's oversight of the orphan estate carried through to the boy's provision.

The Bagley wage petition met the council's settled view of constant pay. The carpenter John Bagley junior, engaged on the Company's works at 4s 0d a day, sought a rise, but the bench held that sum sufficient for a man in constant employment and refused him, the same judgement it applied to the standing wages of its workmen, weighing regular pay against the higher rate occasional work might fetch.

The surgeon's medicine book continued the standing control over the medical stores. The garrison surgeon brought in his June book of medicines expended, examined and approved, under the order revived at the consultation of 25 June 1723 requiring a monthly account of medicines and to whom given. With Carlile just discharged and Wignall newly arrived, the bench kept the new surgeon to the same discipline, the entry breaking off as the sitting moved on.

125

120

July.

The Petr of Henry Johnson prayd

to be entertained as Writer having been

formerly in station but dismissed by

Govr Johnson without any charge of

neglect of Duty.

The Petr procuring two responsible

Men Security for his fidelity and good

behaviour Wee are willing to entertain him

as Writer.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Thus farr coppyed

Sent home by the Dawson.

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the 30th day of July 1723 At Union Castle in

James Valley.

Jno Smith Esq Govr

Prsent Edwd Byfeld 2d

Jno Alexander 3d &

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and approved on

Liewtenant Thomas Cason Executor of the

last Wile and Testament of Mary Harper pre

sented the sd Wile and prayed the same might be

proved which was done accordingly by the Oaths of

Wm Coulthred Jno Young and John Hansen

Ordered

Margin Notes:

Henry Johnson Petn to be Entertaind Writer as formerly.

Entertained getting two Men for Security.

Last Will of Mary Harper prsented.

The petition of Henry Johnson was presented. He asked to be engaged as writer, having formerly held the post but been dismissed by Governor Johnson, without any charge of neglect of duty. The petitioner having found two responsible men as surety for his fidelity and good behaviour, the council was willing to engage him as writer. The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

A note recorded that the consultations had thus far been copied and sent home by the Dawson.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 30 July 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor John Smith, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth present, the council took up its business. The last consultation was read and approved.

Lieutenant Thomas Cason, executor of the last will and testament of Mary Harper, presented the will and asked that it be proved, which was done on the oaths of William Coulthred, John Young and John Hanson. The entry breaks at the catchword "ordered" at the foot.

Interpretations

The Johnson engagement restored to office a man dismissed under the previous administration. Henry Johnson, formerly writer and put out by Governor Johnson though without any charge of neglect, was taken back on finding two sureties for his fidelity and good behaviour. The bench's willingness to engage him on surety marked a measured trust extended to a man whose earlier conduct had been mixed, his memorial and defamation of Joseph Bates having been before the council the year before, the security standing as the safeguard.

The note of the consultations copied and sent home by the Dawson recorded the routine transmission of the council's records to the directors. The same care to keep the home government informed ran through every season, the consultations despatched by the homeward ship, the Dawson carrying the island's proceedings to England as the four signatures closed the consultation of 23 July 1723.

The new sitting of 30 July 1723 opened with the proving of Mary Harper's will. Her executor Lieutenant Cason presented it and the council registered it on the witnesses' oaths, Mary Harper the widow who had appeared in the families register, the standing business of proving and recording the wills of the island's dead carried on, the entry breaking off as the council moved to its order.

126

121

1723

Ordered that the said Wile be reced and registred

in the Books of Wiles accordingly.

The Petition of Mrs Anne Hodgekinson Spinster

was presented praying Liberty to goe for England on board the

Ship Dawson now lying in the road.

Granted

Mr Byfeld reported that Briss one of the honoble

Companys Black Wenches belonging to the

Plantation house was brot to bedd last Week of

a Girle named Mercy.

Henry Johnson according to the Order of ye

last Consultation gave us bond this day for his

fidelity and good behaviour to our Satisfaction

The Petition of Mary Coulson an Orphan

and Jonathan Doveton her Guardian Praying

Liberty that she the sd Mary Coulson might goe

for England on board the Ship Dawson.

Granted.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

the same proved.

Mrs Ann Hodgekinson praying leave to goe Off, granted.

a Black Chyld born

Hendy Johnson security bound.

Mary Coulson Orphan prays leave to goe for England.

granted

The council ordered that Mary Harper's will be received and registered in the book of wills accordingly.

The petition of Mrs Anne Hodgkinson, spinster, was presented. She asked leave to go for England aboard the ship Dawson, now lying in the road. The council granted it.

Mr Byfield reported that Bess, one of the Honourable Company's black wenches belonging to the plantation house, had been brought to bed the week before of a girl named Mercy.

Henry Johnson, under the order of the last consultation, this day gave his bond for his fidelity and good behaviour, to the council's satisfaction.

The petition of Mary Coulson, an orphan, and Jonathan Doveton, her guardian, was presented. They asked leave for Mary Coulson to go for England aboard the ship Dawson. The council granted it. The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The sitting carried a run of departures by the Dawson and the registration of Mary Harper's will. The spinster Anne Hodgkinson and the orphan Mary Coulson, the latter through her guardian Doveton, were each given leave to go for England in the homeward ship, the council's sanction required for every settler's departure, the orphan's leave granted under the bench's standing oversight of the fatherless.

The report of the slave child marked the council's exact account of its own labour force. Byfield noted that the slave Bess at the plantation house had borne a girl named Mercy, an addition recorded as carefully as the deaths of the children Mary and Kate reported in May, the same management of the Company's slaves the annual census and the monthly live-stock returns reflected, every birth and death entered against the standing account.

The Johnson bond completed the engagement begun at the consultation of 23 July 1723. Having been taken back as writer on finding two sureties, Henry Johnson now gave his bond for fidelity and good behaviour to the council's satisfaction, the security made good and the man settled in his post. The four signatures of Smith, Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin closed the consultation of 30 July 1723.

127

122

July.

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on Wednesday

31st Day of July 1723 At Union Castle In James

Valley.

Jno Smith Esq Govr

Prsent Edwd Byfeld 2d

John Alexander 3d

&

John Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved on

The Council met this day in order to dispatch

the Ship Dawson she having lain a long time

in the road that she should not appear to

our honoble Masters that her long Stay

might be imputed to any neglect of ours wch

was done accordingly.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on

Tuesday the 13th day of Augt 1723. At Union

Castle In James Valley.

Jno Smith Esq Govr

Prsent Edwd Byfeld 2d

Jno Alexander 3d

&

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and approved

on

The

Margin Notes:

Ship Dawson dispatched

At a consultation held on Wednesday 31 July 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor John Smith, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth present, the council took up its business. The last consultation was read and approved.

The council met this day to dispatch the ship Dawson. She having lain a long time in the road, the council wished it not to appear to the Honourable Masters that her long stay might be imputed to any neglect of its own, and so dispatched her accordingly. The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 13 August 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor John Smith, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth present, the council took up its business. The last consultation was read and approved. The entry breaks at the catchword "the" at the foot.

Interpretations

The short consultation of 31 July 1723 was called for the single purpose of dispatching the Dawson. The ship had lain long in the road, and the council met to send her off in form, anxious that her delay should not be charged to any neglect on its part, the bench guarding its standing with the directors by recording that the long stay was none of its doing. The four signatures of Smith, Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin closed the brief sitting.

The concern to clear itself of blame marks the council's care over how its conduct would read at home. A ship detained at the island invited the directors' censure, as the longboat and shipping complaints of earlier years had shown, and the bench made a point of entering its diligence on the record so that the Dawson's delay could be seen as the ship's own and not the island's, the consultation itself serving as the council's defence.

The new sitting of 13 August 1723 opened in the usual form after a fortnight's gap, the council in its settled rank under Governor Smith. The entry breaks at once, the routine business of the station about to resume, the next return or petition to follow as the page turned.

128

123

1723.

The Consultation was putt of to this day by

reason of the Govr & Capt Alexanders 3d

in Councils Indisposition

On Saterday the 3d Instant ye Ship Dawson

Sayled hence for England haveing been dispatcht

as mentioned in the last Consultation

The Petition of Joseph Bates & Bridgett

his Wife late Bridgett Coales.

Setting forth that Joseph Bates did on

14th April 1721 purchase for ye Sume of fifty

pounds with Consent of the Government of Peter

Snisnick a Lease of 5 Acres of the Companys

Wast Land and the Provisions thereon.

That ye sd Joseph Coales haveing obteined

Leave to goe for Bencoolen did petition to dispose

of the said Land & provisions but was refused.

That after ye sd Joseph Coales was gone

of the Island the sd Bridgett Coales by virtue

of a Letter of Attorny from ye sd Joseph Coales

tooke possession of the sd Land but was soon

disposeed thereof by the Marshale for ye use

of the Government and one Jonathan Higham

was putt in possession thereof and noe Satis

faction made to ye Debt or either of them

for ye sd Land or Provisions &

Therefore prayed that they might

have ye sd Land restored or the fifty

pounds paid for ye Same for ye use

of the sd Joseph Coales.

The Affair mentioned in the sd Petition haveing

been all transacted in severale Consultations which

haveing been transmitted to our Honoble Masters

Wee will transmitt the said Petition to them

for their directions therein.

Capt

Margin Notes:

Ship Dawsons Departure

Petn of Jos Bates & his Wife about 5 Acres Land & ye Provisions he bought of Pet: Snisnick.

Referrd to the Honble Compa.

The consultation of 13 August 1723 had been put off to this day because the Governor and Captain Alexander, third in council, were indisposed.

On Saturday the 3rd instant the ship Dawson sailed for England, having been dispatched as mentioned in the last consultation.

The petition of Joseph Bates and Bridget his wife, late Bridget Coales, was presented. It set forth that on 14 April 1721 Joseph Coales had bought, for a term of fifty years, with the consent of the government, from Peter Sinsnick a lease of 5 acres of the Company's waste land and the provisions on it. Joseph Coales, having obtained leave to go for Bencoolen, then petitioned to dispose of the land and provisions, but was refused. After he had left the island, Bridget Coales took possession of the land under a letter of attorney from him, but was soon dispossessed by the marshal for the use of the government, and one Jonathan Higham put in possession. No satisfaction had been made to the debt, or for the land or provisions. The petitioners therefore asked that the land be restored to them, or the fifty pounds paid for it, for the use of Joseph Coales.

The affair in the petition had been transacted in several consultations, which had been transmitted to the Honourable Masters. The council resolved to transmit the petition to them for their directions in the matter. The entry breaks at the catchword "Cap" at the foot.

Interpretations

The delayed consultation opened with the cause of its postponement, the Governor and Alexander being unwell, and the record of the Dawson's sailing on 3 August, the ship dispatched as the consultation of 31 July had arranged. The bench noted both in form, keeping its account of the shipping and its own proceedings exact for the directors.

The Bates petition reopened a tangled land dispute reaching back several years. Joseph Coales had taken a fifty-year lease of Peter Sinsnick's 5 acres in April 1721, been refused leave to dispose of it on going to Bencoolen, and after his departure his wife had been dispossessed by the marshal for the government, Jonathan Higham put in her place and no satisfaction given. The petitioners, Bates and the former Bridget Coales, now sought either the land restored or the fifty pounds paid, the affair carried into the new administration unsettled.

The council's decision to transmit the petition home rather than resolve it marked the limits of its authority over a matter already before the directors. The affair having been transacted in several consultations sent to the Honourable Masters, the bench would not decide it afresh but referred the petition to them for direction, the same deference it showed to the home government wherever a contested matter had passed under the directors' eye.

129

124

Augt

Capt Byfeld brot in and delivered an Accot of ye

Honoble Companys Live Stock and expences for the Month of

July which was examined & approved of and is

as follow.

Account of the Honble Companies Live Stock of Neat Cattle, Sheep, Goates, Hoggs, Poultry, Asses & Horses, likewise

what has been delverd to ye Fort & Sold to Ship Dawson besides the Increase or Decrease for the Month of July 1723.

Neat Cattle Sheep Goates Hoggs Poultry Asses Horses

Remains of Ultimo June

Neat Cattle: Bullocks 35. Cows 55. Heifers 24. Steers 32. Yearlings 18. Calves 59. Bulls 6. Totall 229.

Sheep: Ewes 51. Weathers 14. Lambs 11. Rams 4. Totall 80.

Goates: Ewes 307. Weathers 130. Flos 141. Rams 8. Totall 586.

Hoggs: Sowes 1. Shoates 14. Pigs 10. Totall 25.

Poultry: Turkeys 44. Fowles 138. Ducks 24. Geese 8. Totall 10.

Asses 4.

Horses 2.

Mares 6.

Encreased in July

Neat Cattle: Calves 12. Totall 12.

Neat Cattle: Bullocks 35. Cows 55. Heifers 24. Steers 32. Yearlings 18. Calves 71. Bulls 6. Totall 241.

Sheep: Ewes 51. Weathers 14. Lambs 11. Rams 4. Totall 80.

Goates: Ewes 307. Weathers 130. Flos 141. Rams 8. Totall 586.

Hoggs: Sowes 1. Shoates 14. Pigs 10. Totall 25.

Poultry: Turkeys 44. Fowles 138. Ducks 24. Geese 8. Totall 10.

Asses 4.

Horses 2.

Mares 6.

Del. to ye Fort in do

Goates: Ewes 45. Weathers 13. Totall 58.

Neat Cattle: Bullocks 35. Cows 55. Heifers 24. Steers 32. Yearlings 18. Calves 71. Bulls 6. Totall 241.

Sheep: Ewes 51. Weathers 14. Lambs 11. Rams 4. Totall 80.

Goates: Ewes 262. Weathers 117. Flos 141. Rams 8. Totall 528.

Hoggs: Sowes 1. Shoates 14. Pigs 10. Totall 25.

Poultry: Turkeys 44. Fowles 138. Ducks 24. Geese 8. Totall 10.

Asses 4.

Horses 2.

Mares 6.

Sold to Ship Dawson

Neat Cattle: Bullocks 1. Cows 4. Heifers 1. Totall 6.

Goates: Weathers 20. Totall 20.

Neat Cattle: Bullocks 34. Cows 51. Heifers 23. Steers 32. Yearlings 18. Calves 71. Bulls 6. Totall 235.

Sheep: Ewes 51. Weathers 14. Lambs 11. Rams 4. Totall 80.

Goates: Ewes 262. Weathers 97. Flos 141. Rams 8. Totall 508.

Hoggs: Sowes 1. Shoates 14. Pigs 10. Totall 25.

Poultry: Turkeys 44. Fowles 138. Ducks 24. Geese 8. Totall 10.

Asses 4.

Horses 2.

Mares 6.

Dead Stolen & ca in July

Neat Cattle: Bullocks 2. Heifers 3. Calves 10. Totall 15.

Poultry: Ducks 3. Geese 4.

Remains ult July

Neat Cattle: Bullocks 34. Cows 49. Heifers 20. Steers 32. Yearlings 18. Calves 61. Bulls 6. Totall 220.

Sheep: Ewes 51. Weathers 14. Lambs 11. Rams 4. Totall 80.

Goates: Ewes 262. Weathers 97. Flos 141. Rams 8. Totall 5.

Hoggs: Sowes 1. Shoates 14. Pigs 10. Totall 25.

Poultry: Turkeys 44. Fowles 134. Ducks 24. Geese 8. Totall 10.

Asses 4.

Horses 2.

Mares 6.

Margin Notes:

Mr Byfeld Accot of the Cos Live Live Stock & ca for ye Mo: of July.

Mr Byfield brought in and delivered an account of the Honourable Company's live stock and expenses for the month of July, which was examined and approved, and stood as follows.

The account was headed an account of the Company's stock of neat cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, asses and horses, with what had been delivered to the Fort and sold to the ship Dawson, besides the increase or decrease, for the month of July 1723. The neat cattle were graded as bullocks, cows, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and bulls; the sheep as ewes, weathers, kids and rams; the goats as ewes, weathers, kids and rams; the hogs as sows, stores, boars and pigs; the poultry as turkeys, geese, ducks and fowls; with asses and horses each by mares.

The remainder from the end of June stood at 35 bullocks, 55 cows, 24 heifers, 32 steers, 18 yearlings, 59 calves and 6 bulls, totalling 229 neat cattle; 51 ewes, 14 weathers and 11 lambs with 4 rams, totalling 80 sheep; 307 ewes, 130 weathers and 141 kids with 8 rams, totalling 586 goats; 1 sow, 14 stores and 10 pigs, totalling 25 hogs [reading uncertain]; 44 turkeys, 13 geese, 8 ducks and 24 fowls, totalling 8 poultry [reading uncertain]; with 10 asses, 4 horses and 2 mares, totalling 6.

There was an increase in July of 12 calves among the neat cattle.

Delivered to the Fort were 35 bullocks, 55 cows, 24 heifers, 32 steers, 18 yearlings, 71 calves and 6 bulls, totalling 241 neat cattle; the sheep standing at 80, the goats at 586, the hogs and the rest as before.

Sold to the ship Dawson were 1 bullock, 4 cows and 1 heifer, totalling 6 neat cattle, and among the goats 26 ewes, 17 weathers and 5 kids, totalling 28 goats [reading uncertain], with 20 of the poultry.

After these deliveries the stock stood at 34 bullocks, 51 cows, 23 heifers, 32 steers, 18 yearlings, 71 calves and 6 bulls, totalling 235 neat cattle; 51 ewes, 14 weathers and 11 lambs with 4 rams, totalling 80 sheep; 262 ewes, 97 weathers and 141 kids with 8 rams, totalling 508 goats; 1 sow, 14 stores and 10 pigs, totalling 25 hogs; with the poultry, asses and horses.

Dead, stolen and otherwise lost were 2 bullocks, 3 heifers and 10 calves, totalling 15 neat cattle; among the hogs 3 stores, totalling 4; and a number of the poultry.

The remainder at the end of July stood at 34 bullocks, 49 cows, 20 heifers, 32 steers, 18 yearlings, 61 calves and 6 bulls, totalling 220 neat cattle; 51 ewes, 14 weathers and 11 lambs with 4 rams, totalling 80 sheep; 262 ewes, 97 weathers and 141 kids with 8 rams, totalling 508 goats; 1 sow, 14 stores and 10 pigs, totalling 25 hogs; 41 turkeys, 13 geese, 4 ducks and 24 fowls, totalling 8 poultry [reading uncertain]; with 10 asses, 4 horses and 2 mares, totalling 6.

Interpretations

The account rendered the Company's live stock for July under Byfield, the same monthly return set out by kind and tracked through the increase, the deliveries to the Fort and the Dawson, and the losses by death and theft. The herds continued the decline seen the month before, the neat cattle falling from 229 to 220 and the goats sharply from 586 to 508, the twelve calves of the month's increase swallowed by the deliveries and the losses.

The heavy draw on the goats marks the provisioning of the Dawson in the road. Where June had spent the herds chiefly on the Fort, July saw the goats fall by nearly eighty, much of it sold to the homeward ship, the same want of beef from the planters pressing the council to victual the shipping from its own flocks. The decline ran on from the previous month, the Company's stock spent down to feed both the establishment and the vessels.

The losses to death and theft again stood apart on the record, fifteen neat cattle and several hogs and poultry lost in the month, the deaths distinguished from the deliveries as Byfield's returns always did. With the herds falling two months together and the drought unbroken, the exact reckoning of every kind of loss kept the council's watch over a wasting stock, the same discipline by which it judged how long its own animals could carry the burden the failed seasons had thrown on them.

130

125

1723.

Capt Goodwin brot in and delivered his Accot of Stores

Goods sold and delivered for the Month of July which

was examined and approved of & is as foll.

277 5/6 Gallons Arack

37 18 3½

8010 lb Sugar

20

107 18 3½

35½ lb Cutt Tobacco

3 11

2 do Leaf Ditto

2

24 8 Pipes

10 4

4 3 4

4138 lb Bread

5 3 3

864 lb Flower

1 3

6 4 6

20 Coffee Tea

6

2 do Green

3

6 8

614 lb Soap

4 6 5

1 lb Vinegar

2 Bottles Florence Oyle

4

4 10 5

¼ Gallon Sweet Oyle

15

3½ Rape Oyle

2 2½

2 lb Pepper

1 1

1 18 2½

2

Shoes vizt

3 Pair Girls Calve Leather Shoes

at 2. 6

7 6

1 do

8 6

1 Boys do

3 6

1 do

5 6

2 Womens Calve Leather do

8 6

11 do Spanish Leather do

3 3

4 11 9

Hatts vizt

3 Hatts

No 1

18

16 do

3

Dittos

9 4

7 do

4

5 5

15 7

Hooks

25 doz Hooks Sorted

11

6 Lines do

7 6

7 do Twine

15 2

13 do Shoe Thread

7 6

19 1

4 lb Starch

3

China Ware vizt

1 Tea Pott

3 6

5 Bowles

12 6

38 Sawchers

19

15 Large Cups

5

7 Small ditto

1 2

2 1 2

2 Peices White Desolees

1

7 Chelloe 14

4 18

1 Pr fine Long Cloth

2 2

1½ Peices Cowsd do

1 10

14 Peices Surat Chinto

9

6 6

2 yo Sergo

4 8

2 Shelloes

4

16 4 8

Carryed over

170 14 9¼

Margin Notes:

Stores Goods Sold & Delivd out in July.

Captain Goodwin brought in and delivered his account of stores, goods sold and delivered for the month of July, which was examined and approved, and stood as follows.

277½ gallons of arrack came to £87 18s 3½d.

80 pounds of sugar came to £20 0s 0d.

35½ pounds of cut tobacco came to £3 11s 0d, and 2 leaf ditto came to 2s 0d.

The above came to £107 18s 3½d.

24 pipes came to 8d.

41 pounds of bread, at 3d, came to £10 4s 0d [reading uncertain].

86 pounds of flour, at 3d, came to £5 3s 3d.

20 catty of coffee, at 6s 0d, came to £6 1s 3d.

2 ditto green came to 6s 0d.

The above came to £6 4s 6d.

61 pounds of soap came to £4 6s 5d.

1 firkin of vinegar came to 4s 0d.

2 bottles of Florence oil came to 15s 0d.

half a gallon of sweet oil came to 2s 2½d.

3½ stone oil came to £1 1s 0d.

2 pounds of pepper came to 2s 0d.

The above came to £1 18s 2¼d.

The shoes ran as follows.

3 pairs of girls' calf-leather shoes, at 2s 6d, came to 7s 6d.

1 ditto came to 8s 6d [reading uncertain].

1 pair of boys' ditto came to 3s 6d.

1 ditto came to 5s 6d.

2 pairs of women's calf-leather ditto came to 8s 6d.

11 ditto of Spanish leather came to £3 3s 3d.

The shoes came to £4 11s 9d.

The hats ran as follows.

3 hats, marked number 1, came to 18s 0d.

16 ditto, marked number 3, at 5s 6d, came to £9 4s 0d.

7 ditto, marked number 4, came to £5 5s 0d.

The hats came to £15 7s 0d.

The hooks ran as follows.

25 dozen hooks, sorted, came to 11s 6d.

6 lines ditto came to 7s 6d.

7 ditto twine came to 15s 2d.

13 ditto shoe thread came to 7s 6d.

4 pounds of starch came to 8d.

The above came to 19s 1d.

The china ware ran as follows.

1 tea pot came to 3s 6d.

5 bowls came to 12s 6d.

38 saucers came to 19s 0d.

15 large cups came to 5s 0d.

7 small ditto came to 1s 2d.

The china ware came to £2 1s 2d.

2 pieces of white desolees came to £1 0s 0d.

7 chilloes, at 14s, came to £4 18s 0d.

1 piece of fine long cloth came to £2 2s 0d.

1½ pieces of coarse ditto came to £1 10s 0d.

14 pieces of Surat chintz, at 9s, came to £6 6s 0d.

2 ditto sannoes came to 4s 8d.

2 shalloons came to £4 0s 0d [reading uncertain].

The above came to £16 4s 8d.

The whole carried over came to £170 14s 0¾d.

Interpretations

Captain Goodwin's account rendered the goods and stores sold and delivered through July, the storekeeper's monthly return set beside Byfield's live-stock account. The arrack at £87 18s 3½d again dominated, more than half the £170 14s 0¾d carried over, the drink the single greatest charge on the stores as on the table.

The account ran through the same range the Essex invoice had stocked, the shoes, hats, fishing hooks and lines, china and the Indian piece goods. The chilloes, long cloth, Surat chintz, sannoes and shalloons marked the eastern textiles the island took from the homeward ships and sold on through the Company's store, a steady class of goods in every month's return.

The storekeeper's delivery account formed the counterpart to the overseer's stock account, the two together rendering the whole month's movement of the Company's property. Where Byfield tracked the herds, Goodwin tracked the goods, each examined and approved in turn, the standing monthly discipline by which the council kept its account of what the island consumed and sold, carried on under the new Governor.

131

126

Augt.

Brought over

170 14 9¼

1 Cwt of Glass 12 & 12

1 6

1 Camponc

No 2

5

12 Yards Durance

13 6

12 do Flannell

3 6

1 Peck Pease

2 10½

1 6 8½

Nailes vizt

1½ do of 6d 8d Nailes

1 3

12 do of 6d 2d do

9

8 do of 8 & 10 do

5 4

15 7

8 lb White Lead

4

Hosiers Ware

8 Pair Stockings

No 4

at 1

8

5 do Children

8 4

2 do

No 27

6 6

3 do

No 47

6 6

1 do

2/0

1 6

9 do

30

2 6

3 10 10

Shirts & Stockings vizt

8 Blew Shirts

1 12 6

5 White do

1 3 6

9 Pair Cotton Stockings

2 15

Iron Ware vizt

1 Cupboard Lock

No 3

1 3

3 Chest Locks

No 2

5

1 Pr Chest Hinges

4 5

3 Gimblets

1 3

13 5

Brass Ware

2 Tea Kettles

1 Brass Kettle

5

1 Felling Ax

8 3

1 13 3

3 6

Tin Ware

4 Frying Pans Sauce Pans Sorted

5 3

1 Pr do

1, 3 Pr do

2 6

1 6

10

Cutlerary Ware

1 Pair Sciszers

1 Knife & Fork

2

1 Razor Strop

1

7

Carryed over

183 13 4½

Captain Goodwin's delivery account continued, the figures brought over standing at £170 14s 0¾d.

1 piece of glass, 10 by 12, came to 1s 6d.

1 camblet, marked number 2, came to 5s 0d.

2 yards of durance came to 13s 6d.

12 yards of flannel came to 3s 6d.

1 peck of pease came to 2s 10½d.

The above came to £1 6s 4½d.

The nails ran as follows.

1½ thousand of 6½ inch nails came to 1s 3d.

12 thousand of 6 inch ditto came to 9s 0d.

8 thousand of 8 by 10 ditto came to 5s 4d.

8 pounds of white lead came to that sum.

The nails came to 15s 7d.

The hosiers' ware ran as follows.

8 pairs of stockings, marked number 1, at 1s, came to 8s 0d.

5 children's, marked number 4, came to 8s 0d.

2 ditto, marked number 27, came to 6s 0d.

3 ditto, marked number 47, came to 6s 6d.

1 ditto, at 2s 10d, came to 1s 6d.

9 ditto, marked number 30, came to £2 0s 6d.

The hosiers' ware came to £3 10s 10d.

The shirts and stockings ran as follows.

8 blue shirts came to £1 12s 6d.

5 white ditto came to that sum.

9 pairs of cotton stockings came to £1 3s 6d.

The shirts and stockings came to £2 15s 0d.

The iron ware ran as follows.

1 cupboard lock, marked number 2, came to 1s 8d.

3 chest locks, marked number 2, came to 5s 0d.

1 pair of chest hinges came to 4s 5d.

3 camblets came to 1s 4d.

The iron ware came to 13s 5d.

The brass ware ran as follows.

2 tea kettles came to £1 5s 0d.

1 brass kettle came to 8s 3d.

1 felling axe came to that sum.

The brass ware came to £1 13s 3d, with a further 3s 6d.

The tin ware ran as follows.

4 frying sauce pans, sorted, came to 5s 3d.

1 ditto came to 2s 0d.

1 and 3 ditto came to 1s 6d.

The tin ware came to 10s 0d.

The cutlery ware ran as follows.

1 pair of scissors came to that sum.

1 knife and fork came to 2s 0d.

1 razor strop came to 1s 0d.

The cutlery ware came to 7s 0d.

The whole carried over came to £183 13s 4½d [reading uncertain].

Interpretations

The page continued Goodwin's July delivery account through a run of small wares, each gathered under its own head. The hosiers' ware, the shirts and stockings, the iron, brass, tin and cutlery ware ran in short lots of stockings, locks, kettles, pans and knives, the household and trade goods drawn down from the store and issued to the inhabitants and the establishment.

The account spread across many small classes shows the store furnishing the whole range of the island's daily wants. From the glass and durance through the nails, the clothing and the kitchenware to the razor strop, the goods were sold off piece by piece as the people needed them, the same wares the Essex invoice had stocked passing into use through the storekeeper's monthly delivery.

The division into named heads carried forward the council's careful method of account. Each kind of ware was struck to its own total before the page sum, the hosiers', iron, brass, tin and cutlery wares kept apart, the same ordered reckoning that let the bench track the movement of every class of goods, the whole carried over at £183 13s 4½d toward the month's close.

132

127

1723.

Brought over

183 13 4½

2 Pair Bodice Stays Jumps

2 13

1 lb Twisted Brown Thread

No 5

5 6

½ do

4 6

½ do

7. 8

6 3

½ do

6 7½

5 Oz Thread

1/3

4 6½

1 oz do

1/5

6 3

3 oz do

1 5

2 oz do

1/10

3 9

1½ Coloured Thread

11 8

3 doz Breast Buttons

6

6 Yards Ferreting

1 6

5 Peices Speckled Tape

5 2

2 do Holland do

5 2

2 Yds Brod Ferretting

9

3 Yds Ganeting

9 9

½ Oz English

4

3 oz ½ China Silk

3 6

4 Yds Ferreting

1 1

6 Ribbon

a 6d

1 3

6 do 6

1 6

4 do

1 4

1 do

1 3

½ do

8

1 Lace

5

5 do

a 7

2 11

876 Needles

2 7½

3/4 Oz China Pay English

1 10½

3 Pr Bodice

10/9

1 12 3½

4 M. Pins

a 1/4

5 4

2½ a 1/2

2 11

3 M a 1/11

5 6

1 Pr Womens Gloves

16

1 Ivory Comb

5 Skins Mohair

2 1

21 Thimbles

1 9

7 4 11½

22 Quire Paper

7 6

6 Spoons

4 6

1¼ Broad Cloth

1 15

1 Midling Dripping Pann

8 6

2 10 4

Carryed over

196 1 3¾

Captain Goodwin's delivery account continued, the figures brought over standing at £183 13s 4½d.

2 pairs of bodice and jumps came to £2 13s 0d.

The haberdashery ran as follows.

1 pound of white and brown thread, marked number 5, came to 5s 6d.

half a pound of ditto came to 4s 3d.

half a pound of ditto, marked number 8, came to 6s 7½d.

1 pound of ditto came to 4s 6½d.

5 ounces of thread, at 1s 3d, came to 6s 3d.

1 ounce of ditto, at 1s 5d, came to 1s 5d.

3 ounces of ditto came to 3s 9d.

2 ounces of ditto, at 1s 10d, came to that sum.

1½ coloured thread came to 16s 8d.

3 dozen breast buttons came to 6s 0d.

6 yards of ferreting came to 1s 6d.

5 pieces of speckled tape came to that sum.

2 ditto Holland came to 5s 0d.

2 yards of broad ferreting came to that sum.

3 yards of garnetting came to 9d.

half an ounce of English silk came to that sum.

3 ounces and a half of China silk came to 3s 6d.

4 yards of ferreting came to 1s 3d.

6 yards of ribbon, at 6d, came to that sum.

6 yards of ditto came to 1s 4d.

1 yard of ditto came to 1s 3d.

half a yard of ditto came to 8d.

1 lace came to that sum.

1 ditto, at 7d, came to 5d.

876 needles came to 2s 7½d.

three-quarters of an ounce of China silk, English, came to 1s 10½d.

3 pieces of bodice, at 10s 9d, came to £1 12s 3½d.

4 thousand pins, at 1s 4d, came to 5s 4d.

2½ at 1s 2d came to 2s 11d.

3 thousand at 1s 11d came to that sum.

1 pair of women's gloves came to 5s 6d.

1 ivory comb came to that sum.

5 mohair came to 2s 1d.

21 thimbles came to 1s 9d.

2 quires of paper came to 4s 6d.

6 spoons came to 4s 6d.

1¼ broad cloth came to £1 15s 0d.

1 middling dripping pan came to 8s 6d.

The haberdashery came to £7 4s 11½d, with a further £2 10s 4d.

The whole carried over came to £196 1s 3¾d.

Interpretations

The page carried Goodwin's July account through the haberdashery, a long run of threads, tapes, ribbons, buttons, needles and pins gathered under a single head. The bodice, jumps and gloves marked the women's wares among them, the small sewing and dress goods sold off in single yards, ounces and pieces to the inhabitants.

The detail of the entry shows the store furnishing the island's domestic and dress wants down to the smallest article. The thread by the ounce, the pins by the thousand and the lace and ribbon by the yard answered the everyday needs of the families, the same haberdashery the Essex invoice had stocked passing into use through the storekeeper's hands.

The mingling of the dripping pan and the broad cloth among the sewing wares reflects the storekeeper's practice of entering the goods as they were issued rather than strictly by kind. The household and dress articles ran together on the page, the account following the order of delivery, the whole carried over at £196 1s 3¾d as the month's reckoning drew on.

133

128

Augt.

Brought over

196 1 3¾

1 Peice Blew Gurrhase

17 6

28 Twine

4 4

27 Sorted do

13 6

15 doz Hooks do

6 6

1 15 11

China Ware

6 Ditto Bowles

15

1 Ditto Tea Pott

3 9

12 do Cups & Saucers

12

6 Small Cups

1

1 11 9

1 Glass Cruet

2 6

1 do Blew Smprn

15

4½ Holland Duck

14 3

120 Yards Ivory

a 1/3

7

Iron Ware

1 Sorted Snuce

3 6

1 Cap Iron with 12 Ribbs

5

1 Pair Steel Snuffers larger

1 6

1 Chest Lock

No 7

10

1 do

3

1 4

1 Closet Lock

2

3 6

1 do

4

5

1 Two Qt Sauce Pan

4 6

3 Close Stool Pan

7 8

4 Copper Weight

Wt 1. 3. 4

1 Shoe Brush

2

12 Peices Red Tape

18

7 Bushells Beans Old Cargo

17 9

1 Pair Scailes & ca

2

1 Sett of Weights from 4 lb to 1 drachm

1 18

3 Butchers Knives

1

5 lb Soap

10 11

6 Blew Chinto

3 10

3 Gallons Rape Oyle

15

18

Plantation Dr

4 Gallons Train Oyle

1 4

1 Saw

7 8

1 Pruning Knive

1 2

1 Plate Closet Lock

1 6

Carryed over

224 11 5¼

Diett

Captain Goodwin's delivery account continued, the figures brought over standing at £196 1s 3¾d.

1 piece of blue gurrahs came to 17s 6d.

28 twine came to 4s 4d.

27 sorted ditto came to 13s 6d.

15 dozen hooks ditto came to 6s 6d.

The above came to £1 15s 11d.

The china ware ran as follows.

6 ditto bowls came to 15s 0d.

1 ditto tea pot came to 3s 9d.

12 ditto cups and saucers came to 12s 0d.

6 small cups came to that sum.

1 glass cruet came to 2s 6d.

1 ditto blue saucer came to 1s 5d.

4½ Holland duck came to 14s 3d.

20 yards of vitery, at 1s 3d, came to £7 0s 0d.

The iron ware ran as follows.

1 sorted snuff came to 3s 6d.

1 grid iron with 12 ribs came to 5s 1d.

1 pair of steel snuffers, larger, came to 1s 6d.

1 chest lock, marked number 7, came to 10s 0d.

1 ditto, marked number 3, came to 1s 4d.

1 closet lock, marked number 2, came to 3s 6d.

1 ditto, marked number 4, came to 5s 6d.

1 two-quart sauce pan came to 7s 8d.

3 close-stool pans came to that sum.

4 chest hinges, weight 13 pounds, came to 4s 8d.

1 shoe brush came to 2s 0d.

12 boxes of red tape came to 18s 0d.

7 bushels of beans, old cargo, came to £2 17s 9d.

1 pair of scales came to that sum.

1 set of weights from 4 pounds to 1 drachm came to £1 18s 0d.

3 butchers' knives came to 1s 0d.

5 oak strop came to £3 10s 11d.

6 blue shirts came to that sum.

3 gallons of rape oil came to 15s 0d.

The iron ware came to 18s 0d.

The plantation delivery ran as follows.

4 gallons of train oil came to £1 4s 0d.

1 saw came to 7s 8d.

1 pruning knife came to £1 2s 0d.

1 plate-closet lock came to 1s 6d.

The whole carried over came to £224 11s 5¼d.

Interpretations

The page continued Goodwin's July account through the last of the textiles and the china, and a long run of iron ware, closing with the plantation delivery. The vitery, gurrahs and Holland duck ended the cloth, the china bowls, cups and saucers the household ware, and the iron locks, pans, snuffers and tools the bulk of the page.

The iron ware gathered the heavier household and trade goods of the month, the locks and hinges, the sauce pans and close-stool pans, the scales and weights and the butchers' knives. The set of weights from four pounds to a drachm marked the instruments of the store's own measuring, the means by which the goods were weighed out, sold among the wares it served.

The plantation head, struck apart at the foot, carried the stores spent on the Company's own ground, the train oil, saw, pruning knife and lock. The few items issued to the plantation set against the bulk sold to the inhabitants showed the storekeeper distinguishing the Company's own use from its trade, the same ordered account by which the bench tracked every charge, the whole carried over at £224 11s 5¼d toward the close, the diet expenses to follow.

134

129

Brought over

224 11 5¾

Diet Expences Dr

286 lb Sugar

13 Bottle Florence Oyle

a 9. 6

16 3 6

162½ Gall Arrack

51 9 2

4 lb Vinegar

18

4 lb Pepper

4

Bread & Flower

112 lb White Bread

2 2

448 lb Bread

5 12

1 Cask Flower

No 4

4 4

1 do Pease of 8 Bushell pr Casq

3 12

81 7 8

Fortification Dr

1 Line

No 1

1 10

2 lb Twine

4 4

1 Peice & 23 Yds English Duck

5 3

13/4 Rape Oyle

10 6

5 16 11

Nailes

2 Pr 2d Nailes

2 6

66 lb 4d do

2 6

358 lb 10d do

2 15

4 lb Wt Nailes

1 4

2 3

4 3 1

Iron Ware

1 Maule

Wt 17 lb

12 9

1 Stock Lock

No 4

6

1 do

8

10

3 Spring Locks

a 3/10

11 6

1 Iron Plate

3 10

5 Pair Box Hinges

No 2

3 4

2 Cupboard Locks

3 4

1 Pich Ax Smallest

4 4

1 Hatchet

No 2

2 6

1 Sugar Shovel

2 6

1 Two Foot Rule

2 6

1 Brass Kettle

8 3

3 9 5

Garrison Dr

13 Cakes Green Tea

a lb

2 12

43/4 Rape Oyle

1 8 6

12 lb Cotton Yarn

1 9

22 Squares Glass 12 & 12

1 13

1 Pr Ordinary Long Cloth

1 7

2 Chest Hinges

No 3

4 4

1 Stock Lock

No 3

5

1 do

5

6 6

7 11 1

Carryed over

326 19 7¾

Captain Goodwin's delivery account continued, the figures brought over standing at £224 11s 5¼d.

The diet expenses ran as follows.

286 pounds of sugar came to that sum.

13 bottles of Florence oil, at 9s 6d, came to £16 3s 6d.

162½ gallons of arrack came to £51 9s 2d.

4 pounds of vinegar came to 18s 0d.

4 pounds of pepper came to 4s 0d.

112 pounds of white bread came to £2 2s 0d.

448 pounds of bread came to £5 12s 0d.

1 cask of flour, marked number 4, came to 4s 4d.

1 cask of pease, of 8 bushels, at 9s, came to £3 12s 0d.

The diet expenses came to £81 7s 8d.

The fortification delivery ran as follows.

1 line, marked number 7, came to 1s 0d.

2 twine came to 1s 1d.

1 piece and 23 yards of English duck came to 4s 4d.

1¾ rape oil came to 10s 6d.

The above came to £5 16s 11d.

The nails ran as follows.

2 thousand of 2d nails came to 2s 0d.

6 thousand of 4d ditto came to 2s 6d.

35 thousand of 10d ditto came to £2 15s 0d.

4 pounds of weight nails came to 1s 4d.

The nails came to £4 3s 1d.

The iron ware ran as follows.

1 maul, weight 17 pounds, came to 12s 9d.

1 stock lock, marked number 4, came to 6s 0d.

1 ditto, marked number 8, came to 10s 0d.

3 spring locks, at 3s 10d, came to 11s 6d.

1 iron plate came to 3s 10d.

5 pairs of box hinges, marked number 2, came to 3s 4d.

2 cupboard locks came to 3s 4d.

1 pick, the smallest, came to 4s 4d.

1 hatchet, marked number 2, came to 2s 6d.

1 sugar shovel came to 2s 6d.

1 two-foot rule came to 2s 6d.

1 brass kettle came to 8s 3d.

The iron ware came to £3 9s 5d.

The garrison delivery ran as follows.

13 catty of green tea came to £2 12s 0d.

4¾ rape oil came to £1 8s 6d.

12 pounds of brown sugar came to 1s 9d.

22 squares of glass, 10 by 12, came to £1 13s 0d.

1 piece of ordinary long cloth came to £1 7s 0d.

2 chest hinges, marked number 3, came to 4s 4d.

1 stock lock, marked number 3, came to 5s 0d.

1 ditto, marked number 5, came to 6s 0d.

The garrison delivery came to £7 11s 1d.

The whole carried over came to £326 19s 7¾d.

Interpretations

The page carried Goodwin's July account through the several heads under which the goods were issued, each kept to its own total. The diet expenses at £81 7s 8d led, the arrack and the Florence oil and bread the chief charges, the table's provisioning the heaviest single head as in every month. Florence oil was a fine olive oil shipped from the Tuscan port of Livorno, a costly table oil distinct from the coarser rape and train oils used about the works, which explains its high price of 9s 6d the bottle. The rape oil entered under the fortification and garrison heads was pressed from rapeseed and burned for light or worked into leather and metal, a cheap utility oil bought by the gallon.

The fortification and nail heads recorded the stores spent on the island's works. The English duck, a heavy plain canvas used for tarpaulins and rough covering, and the great quantity of nails, 35 thousand of 10d alone, supplied the building and repair the council carried on, the defence works set among the provisions and the trade goods. The catty under the garrison head was the Chinese weight of about a pound and a third by which the island reckoned its tea, the unit carried over from the China trade.

The garrison delivery was struck apart from the rest, the tea, oil, sugar, glass and locks issued to the establishment kept on its own footing at £7 11s 1d. The separation carried forward the same distinction the council drew throughout between the establishment and the inhabitants, the storekeeper rendering each charge to its proper head, the whole carried over at £326 19s 7¾d as the account neared its close.

135

130

Augt.

Brought Over

326 19 7¾

The Honble Compys Blacks

5 Peices Blew Gurrhase

a 12. 6

3 2 6

2 Chelloes

No 2

2 9 6

1 Ditto

1 7 6

8 Blew Shirt

a 2/6

1

1 Chelloe do

3

1 Pair Stockings

No 27

3 6

1 do

19

3

1 do

1 6

8

1 do Mens English Shoes

4 9

1 do Wom Calfe Leather do

4 6

7 do land do

1 8

1 18 3

2 Stock Locks

No 7

1

1 Plate do

2 3

1 2 3

1 lb Thread

No 5

5

2½ do Coloured

10

15

2 Peices Blew Desolees

1 10

1 lb Cut Tobacco & 6 Pipes

2 3

1 Midling Blanket

4 6

1 Peice Ordinary Long Cloth

1

1 Peice Orisnary long Cloth

1

2 Yds H Cloth

a 2. 3

4 6

1 4 6

1 lb Twine

2 2

15 Dozen Hooks Sorted

3 4

1 do

No 3

6

2 do

4

1 4

1 do

5

8

2 Lines

do

2

5 do

6

3 4

100 Needles

3 9

16 2

6 Thimbles

6

3 do Womens

6

1 M. Pins

1 4

3 Primmers

1 6

3 10

2 Horn Books

8

1 Spelling

1 9

3 11

The Great Wood Dr

17 3 7

2 Iron Mawles Weight 45

a ye pr lb

1 13 2

345 16 11¾

Wm Cripps

Captain Goodwin's delivery account continued, the figures brought over standing at £326 19s 7¾d.

The Honourable Company's blacks' delivery ran as follows.

5 pieces of blue gurrahs, at 12s 6d, came to £3 2s 6d.

2 ferreting tapes, marked number 2, came to £2 9s 6d.

1 ditto came to £1 7s 6d.

8 blue shirts, at 2s 6d, came to £1 0s 0d.

1 chilloe ditto came to 3s 0d.

1 pair of stockings, marked number 27, came to 3s 6d.

1 ditto, at 19d, came to 3s 0d.

1 ditto came to 1s 6d.

The above came to 8s 0d.

1 pair of men's English shoes came to 6s 9d.

1 ditto of women's calf-leather came to 4s 6d.

7 Holland ditto, at 1s 8d, came to that sum.

The above came to £1 18s 3d.

2 stock locks, marked number 7, came to 4s 0d.

1 plate ditto came to 2s 3d.

The above came to £1 2s 3d.

1 pound of thread, marked number 5, came to 5s 0d.

2½ ditto coloured, at 10d, came to that sum.

The above came to 15s 0d.

2 pieces of blue desolees came to £1 10s 0d.

1 pound of cut tobacco and 6 pipes came to 2s 3d.

1 middling blanket came to 9s 6d.

1 piece of ordinary long cloth came to £1 0s 0d.

1 piece of ordinary long cloth came to £1 0s 0d.

2 yards of Holland cloth, at 2s 3d, came to 4s 6d.

The above came to £1 4s 6d.

1 pound of twine came to 2s 2d.

15 dozen hooks, sorted, came to 3s 0d, with the sorted hooks and lines running on as follows: 1 dozen, marked number 3, came to 6d; 2 ditto, marked number 4, came to 1s 4d; 1 ditto, marked number 5, came to 8d; 2 lines came to 2s 0d; 5 ditto, marked number 6, came to 3s 9d.

The sorted hooks and lines came to 16s 2d.

100 needles came to 3s 9d.

6 thimbles came to 6d.

3 women's ditto came to 6d.

1 thousand pins came to 1s 4d.

3 primers came to 1s 6d.

2 hornbooks came to 8d.

1 spelling book came to 1s 9d.

The above came to £3 10s 0d.

The blacks' delivery came to £3 11s 0d [reading uncertain], the running figures standing at £17 3s 7d.

The Great Wood delivery ran as follows.

2 iron mauls, weight 45 pounds, at 8d per pound, came to £1 13s 0d.

The whole came to £345 16s 11¾d.

Interpretations

The page completed Captain Goodwin's July delivery account at a total of £345 16s 11¾d, closing the storekeeper's monthly reckoning of all the goods sold and delivered from the Company's stores. The largest part of the page was the delivery to the Company's blacks, the cloth, shirts, shoes, blankets and fishing tackle that fed and clothed the slave force.

The blacks' delivery shows the council clothing its labour from the Indian textiles. The blue gurrahs, a coarse blue Indian cotton, the chilloe and the desolees, both plain cotton cloths of the Bengal trade, and the ferreting, a stout woven tape, made up the slaves' clothing, the same eastern goods the homeward ships brought and the store issued. The primers, hornbooks and spelling book among the wares marked a measure of schooling reaching even to the slaves' delivery, the books set among the cloth and tackle.

The Great Wood head closed the account with the mauls bought for the work in the timber. The two iron mauls, set apart under their own head, were tools for the clearing and fencing the council had ordered in the wood, the same Great Wood whose protection ran through the season's business, the storekeeper's account ending on the stores spent in its keeping.

136

131

1723.

Mr Crispe brot in & delivered an Accot of ye

Expence of the generale Table for the Month of

July which was examined and approved of and

is as follows

41 Peices of Salt Beef

at 2. 6 pr peic

5 2 6

17 Peices of Salt Pork

at 2. 10 pr peic

2 8 2

58 Goates

at 10 Each

29

296 Pound of Fresh Beef

at 25 pr Ct

3 6

56 Gallons of Arack

at 6. 4 pr Gall

18 13 4

54 Bottle of Galicia Wine

55 Bottle of Mountain

6 Bottle of Strong Beer

139 Pound of Brown Bread

at 3 pr lb

1 14 9

51 Pound of White Bread

at 4½ pr lb

19 1½

98 Pound of Flower

at 3 pr lb

1 4 6

440 Pound of Sugar

at 6 pr lb

3 10

21 Pound of Soap

at 1. 5 pr lb

1 9 9

2½ Sweet Oyle

at 19 pr Gall

2 7 6

1½ Vinegar

6

34 Pound of Wax Candles

at 2 pr lb

3 8

62 Bottles of Milk

at 4 pr Bottle

1 8

31 Days Greens

at 1 pr Diem

1 11

½ Firkin Butter

at 2. 15. 6 pr Firkin

1 7 9

1 Fowle

at 1. 6

Signed

77 10 6½

Mr Crispe

Gunner French brot in and delivered an Accot of

Gunners Stores expended for the Month of July which

was examined & approved of & is as foll.

July 4th

It being Muster Day

8

12 For the Worshipfule Jno Smith Esqs comeing

from on Board the Dawson me

Guns fired 9. Sacker 9. legot 9

15 do to Giles Hayse by the Govrs Ord

1

Expence for ye Guards

10

Guns fired 9. Sacker 9. legot 28.

Flints

50

Cartridge Paper

4

Match

21

21 4 50

The

Margin Notes:

Genrl Table Expence for ye Mo: of July

Gunrs Stores Expended in July

Particulars

Mr Crispe brought in and delivered an account of the expenses of the General Table for the month of July, which was examined and approved, and stood as follows.

41 pieces of salt beef, at 2s 6d per piece, came to £5 2s 6d.

17 pieces of salt pork, at 2s 10d per piece, came to £2 8s 2d.

58 goats, at 10s 0d each, came to £29 0s 0d.

296 pounds of fresh beef, at 25s 0d per hundredweight, came to £3 6s 0d.

56 gallons of arrack, at 6s 4d per gallon, came to £18 13s 4d.

54 bottles of Galicia wine, 55 bottles of Mountain and 6 bottles of strong beer together carried no separate sum, the wine being already charged.

139 pounds of brown bread, at 3d per pound, came to £1 14s 9d.

51 pounds of white bread, at 4½d per pound, came to 19s 1½d.

98 pounds of flour, at 3d per pound, came to £1 4s 6d.

140 pounds of sugar, at 6d per pound, came to £3 10s 0d.

21 pounds of soap, at 1s 5d, came to £1 9s 9d.

2½ sweet oil, at 19d per gallon, came to 2s 6d.

1½ vinegar came to 6d.

34 pounds of wax candles, at 2s 0d per pound, came to £3 8s 0d.

62 bottles of milk, at 4d per bottle, came to £1 0s 8d.

31 days' greens, at 1s 0d per day, came to £1 11s 0d.

half a firkin of butter, at £2 15s 6d per firkin, came to £1 7s 9d.

1 fowl, at 1s 6d, came to that sum.

The account, signed by Mr Crispe, came to £77 10s 6½d.

The gunner French brought in and delivered an account of gunner's stores expended for the month of July, which was examined and approved, and stood as follows. The two columns read guns fired and expense of powder.

On 4 July 1723, being muster day, no gun was fired, the entry standing only in the expense column at 8.

On 12 July, for the worshipful Governor Smith coming on board the Dawson, 9 guns fired, expense 9.

On 15 July, delivered to Giles Hayse by the Governor's order, no gun fired, expense 1.

Expenses for the guard, no gun fired, expense 10.

flints, 60, and cartridge paper, 4, and match, 21, were issued, the figures standing at 21, 4 and 50 in the columns.

The entry breaks at the catchword "the" at the foot.

Interpretations

The General Table account for July, brought in by Mr Crispe in place of Slaughter, set the garrison's provisioning at £77 10s 6½d, a lower figure than June's £86 5s 2d. The goats at £29 0s 0d and the arrack at £18 13s 4d carried the largest charges, the meat and the drink dominating as in every month. The wine again carried no separate sum, the Galicia, Mountain and strong beer being already charged in the storekeeper's delivery account, the two monthly accounts read together to avoid a double charge.

The change of hand in the table account marked a shift in the office. Mr Crispe rendered the account this month where Slaughter had brought in those for April, May and June, the keeping of the General Table passing to another, though the form of the return ran unchanged. The salt beef and pork among the fresh provisions showed the establishment still drawing on its salted store against the drought, the same provisioning through the lean season the earlier accounts had recorded.

The gunner's account again counted the month's powder against its occasions, the heaviest charge the 9 guns for Governor Smith going aboard the Dawson on 12 July. The gunner's book served once more as a second record of the month's notable events measured in the stores they consumed, the entry breaking off as the account ran on to the small stores.

137

132

Augt.

The Petition of the sd Jno French was

presented Setting forth.

That your Petr was on ye 19th day of

May 1720. discharged by the late Govr Johnson

from his Post as Gunner.

That by the generale Letter from

the Honoble Company by the Drake your

Petr was ordered to be restored.

That on ye first day of June 1721

which was before ye Arrival of the Drake

your Petr was restored by the sd Govr but

noe allowance for his Sallary Dyet money

nor house rent for ye time he was dismist

was made to him.

Wherefore prayed an Allow

ance might be made him for

the Sarke and credits given

him for it in order to lessen his

Debt to ye honoble Company.

Wee are willing to grant the Petr his request

deducting the mony paid to Ensigne Slaughter

while he acted as Gunner and the Same to

beplaced to his Credits accordingly.

Capt Jno Goodwin and Francis Wrangham

presented an Inventory of the Estate of Henry

Francis deced being Executors to the Wile of

the said Henry Francis & prayed the same

might be recorded

The Executors were Sworne to the

sd Inventory and the Same was reced and

approved of and ordered to be recorded

accordingly.

Jonth Doveton presented a Bile of

Sale of an Houise and ten Acres of Land

from Robert Arkins and Mary his Wife

fo

Margin Notes:

Petn of Gun: French praying his Allowance of Sallary &c while suspended might be placed to his Crd.

Granted Deducting ye Sallary while Mr Slaught Acted as Gunner.

Inventory of Henry Francis deliverd by ye Exowtrs.

ye Same Approved & to be Registerd.

Bill of Sale prsented by Jonth Doveton for 10 Acres Land & ca

The petition of the gunner John French was presented. It set forth that he had been discharged from his post as gunner by the late Governor Johnson on 19 May 1720. By the general letter from the Honourable Company by the Drake, he had been ordered to be restored. On 1 June 1721, which was before the arrival of the Drake, he had been restored by the then Governor, but no allowance for his salary, diet money or house rent had been made to him for the time he was dismissed. He therefore asked that an allowance be made him for that time, and credit given him for it, to reduce his debt to the Honourable Company.

The council was willing to grant his request, deducting the money paid to Ensign Slaughter while Slaughter acted as gunner, and that sum to be placed to French's credit accordingly.

Captain John Goodwin and Francis Wrangham, executors to the wife of Henry Francis deceased, presented an inventory of the estate of Henry Francis, and asked that it be recorded. The executors were sworn to the inventory, which was received, approved and ordered to be recorded accordingly.

Jonathan Doveton presented a bill of sale of a house and ten acres of land from Robert Atkins and Mary his wife. The entry breaks at the catchword "for" at the foot.

Interpretations

The French petition reopened the gunner's long dispute over his salary for the time of his dismissal. French had been discharged by Governor Johnson on 19 May 1720, ordered restored by the directors' letter by the Drake, and in fact restored on 1 June 1721 before that ship arrived, but had received nothing for the intervening year. The council allowed his claim, the same recognition of salary for a suspension it had extended to readmitted officers like Ormston, here reducing his Company debt by the credit.

The deduction for Slaughter's pay shows the council settling the matter fairly between two men. French was to be credited for the time he was out, but the money paid to Ensign Slaughter, who had kept the gunner's office during the vacancy, was first deducted, so that the Company did not pay twice for the same post. The arrangement met French's claim without charging the Company a double salary, the credit being the net of what Slaughter had drawn.

The Henry Francis inventory and the Doveton bill of sale carried forward the routine business of estates and conveyances. The executors of Henry Francis's wife rendered and swore the inventory of his estate for registration, and Doveton brought in a bill of sale of land and a house for recording, the council's standing oversight of the island's deceased estates and land transfers continuing under the new Governor.

138

133

1723.

to the said Jonth Doveton and prayed the same

might be registred which was Ordered accordingly

The Petr of Wm Worrall was presented

Setting forth

That ye late Govr Johnson for

reasons best known to himself did on ye 15th

Day of Novr 1720 discharge your Petr

from being Gunners 2d Mate having been in

the Garrison for sev Yeers.

That your Petr has been out of

Employ ever Since & being much Indebted

to ye honoble Company Prayed to be Restored

to his former Post.

Granted as Gunners 2d Mate.

The Govr reports that Mercy Bens Wife at

the Fort was last Weeke brot to bed of a Girle

named Martha.

The Govr also reports that Tom a Negroe

Slave belonging to Eliz Marsh Widdow was

convicted before him of digging Yamms

last Week out of the Plantation of Henry

Francis deced & that he ordered the Slave

to be whipt at ye fflagg Staffe.

The Govr also reports that he had

comitted to Prison Mingo a Negroe Slave

belonging to Saml Jessey on Suspition of

murthering a Woman Slave belonging to

the said Saml Jessey.

Ordered that an Advertisement be

Issued out to give Notice that A Sessions wile

be held on Monday next for the Fryal of ye

sd Mingo.

Toby a Negroe Slave. belonging to

Matthew Mudge having run away from his

said

Margin Notes:

Wm Worralls Petr to be restored.

Granted.

a Black Girle Born.

a Man Slave of Eliz Marshes Punished.

Mingo Saml Jessey Slave Comitted for murther.

Sessions Appointed.

The bill of sale was made over to Jonathan Doveton, who asked that it be registered, which was ordered accordingly.

The petition of William Worrall was presented. It set forth that the late Governor Johnson, for reasons best known to himself, had discharged him from being gunner's mate on 15 November 1720, he having served in the garrison several years. He had been out of employment ever since and, being much indebted to the Honourable Company, asked to be restored to his former post. The council granted it, restoring him as gunner's mate.

The Governor reported that Mercy, Ben's wife, at the Fort, had been brought to bed the week before of a girl named Martha.

The Governor also reported that Tom, a black slave belonging to Elizabeth Marsh the widow, had been convicted before him of digging yams the week before out of the plantation of Henry Francis deceased, and that he had ordered the slave whipped at the flagstaff.

The Governor also reported that he had committed to prison Mingo, a black slave belonging to Samuel Jessey, on suspicion of murdering a woman slave belonging to Samuel Jessey. The council ordered that an advertisement be issued giving notice that a sessions would be held on Monday next for the trial of Mingo.

Toby, a black slave belonging to Matthew Mudge, having run away from his master. The entry breaks at the catchword "said" at the foot.

Interpretations

The Worrall restoration matched the gunner French's of the same sitting, a second officer put out by Governor Johnson and now taken back. William Worrall, discharged as gunner's mate on 15 November 1720 after several years' service, had been out of employment since and stood indebted to the Company, and the council restored him to his post. The two restorations together marked the new government revisiting the dismissals of its predecessor where the men sought their old places.

The report of the slave child continued the council's exact account of its labour force, the slave Martha born to Ben's wife Mercy at the Fort, recorded as the births of the children Mercy and the deaths of Mary and Kate had been. The same management of the Company's slaves ran through every sitting, each birth entered against the standing account the annual census and the monthly returns maintained.

The two slave offences brought the island's criminal jurisdiction over its slaves before the bench. The theft of yams from a plantation drew a whipping at the flagstaff, the summary punishment for the lesser crime, while the suspected murder of a woman slave was held for a formal sessions, Mingo committed and the trial advertised. The grave charge required the full course of a jury trial, the same distinction between summary correction and capital process the council had drawn in earlier slave causes, the entry breaking off as a third runaway came before it.

139

134

Augt.

said Master was taken by two of the Honoble

Companys Blacks and being examined

Confesseth he Stole an Hen from Capt Jno

Alexander

Ordered that the Master pay Ten

Shilemgs to ye blacks that tooke the Slave

& to make Satisfaction for the Hen and

the Slave to the fflagg staffe.

Totty a Slave belonging to Mrs Eliz

Greentree Widdow having been run away

above 4 Mouths being examined Confesseth

he Stole the following Goods.

Yamms. 500 from ye sd Mrs Greentree

100 Capt Goodwin.

100. Mrs Frans Carne.

100 Mr Gabl Powell

100 & 1 Turkey Mr James Cesey.

Plantins 2 Bunches from Mr Mason.

1 Shoat from Mr Joshua Johnson.

50 Yamms from Mr Stephen Luffkins

11 Yamms & one new Graphnold Rope 40 fath

long & one empty Cagg.

Ordered that the sd Mrs Greentree doe

make Satisfaction to the Sevelal Persons

above mentioned for the goods Stole by the

Slave & him to the fflagg staffe & to be

Shackled.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Matt Mudges Slave taken.

Mudge to pay 10/ & ca

Totty Mrs Greentrees Slave being taken Confest Robberies

from whom Stolen.

Satisfaction made

Tottys Punishmt

Toby, the slave of Matthew Mudge, having run away from his master, was taken by two of the Honourable Company's blacks. On examination he confessed he had stolen a hen from Captain John Alexander. The council ordered that Mudge, the master, pay 10s 0d to the blacks who took the slave, make satisfaction for the hen, and bring the slave to the flagstaff.

Totty, a slave belonging to Elizabeth Greentree the widow, having run away above four months, on examination confessed he had stolen the following goods.

500 yams from Mr Greentree.

100 yams from Captain Goodwin.

100 yams from Mr Carne.

100 yams from Mr Gabriel Powell.

100 yams and 1 turkey from Mr James Vesey.

Plantains and bunches from Mr Mason.

1 shoat from Mr Joshua Johnson.

50 yams from Mr Stephen Lufkin.

11 yams, with one new grapnel rope 40 fathom long, and one empty keg, from another.

The council ordered that Elizabeth Greentree make satisfaction to the several persons named for the goods stolen by her slave, and that the slave be brought to the flagstaff and shackled. The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The two runaway cases turned on the council's settled rule that an owner answered for his slave's thefts. Toby, taken up after stealing a hen from Captain Alexander, brought his master Mudge a charge of 10s 0d to the slaves who took him and satisfaction for the hen, the same 40-shilling reward law charged to owners that ran through the records, here at a reduced rate. Totty's long flight and string of thefts brought the widow Greentree a heavier reckoning, the satisfaction for every parcel stolen falling on her as owner.

The catalogue of Totty's thefts shows the slave subsisting himself through a long absence on the island's stock. Over four months he had taken yams from six holders, a turkey, plantains, a young pig, a grapnel rope and a keg, the haul both feeding him and equipping him, perhaps for a flight by sea like the escape toward Madagascar of 1718. The exact listing of what was stolen and from whom let the council fix the owner's satisfaction to each victim, the reckoning charged to the widow Greentree.

The whipping and shackling of both slaves marked the summary correction for theft, distinct from the capital process reserved for Mingo's suspected murder at the same sitting. The flagstaff punishment fell on the runaway thieves, while the graver charge went to a formal sessions, the council holding to the same distinction between correction and trial it drew throughout its dealings with the island's slaves. The four signatures of Smith, Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin closed the consultation.

140

135

1723

Island St Helena.

At a Court of Sessions held for

this Island on Monday the 19th Day of

August 1723. at the Sessions house in James

Valley. near Union Castle.

Jno Smith Esq Govr & Judge

Prsent Edwd Byfeld Esq 2d

Jno Alexander 3d

Assistts

&

Jno Goodwin 4th

Then the Court was opened according to the

usual Manner and those persons appointed

for Jurors are as follows.

1 Orlando Bagley Foreman.

2 Jonathan Doveton.

3 Joshua Johnson.

4 Francis Wrangham.

5 Gabriel Powell.

6 Stephen Luffkin

7 Wm Seal

8 Thomas Greentree.

9 Rich Swallow.

10 James Ryder.

11 James Cesey

12 Thomas Allis.

Who were all Sworne.

Then the following Indictment was

read.

Island St Helena ss.

Mingo

You

Margin Notes:

Sessions for the Tryal of Mingo a Slave of Saml Jessey.

At a Court of Sessions held for the island on Monday 19 August 1723 at the Sessions House in James Valley, near Union Castle, before Governor John Smith, judge, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth present as assistants.

The court was opened in the usual manner, and the persons appointed for jurors were as follows: Orlando Bagley, foreman, Jonathan Doveton, Joshua Johnson, Francis Wrangham, Gabriel Powell, Stephen Lufkin, William Seale, Thomas Greentree, Richard Swallow, James Ryder, James Vesey and Thomas Allis. They were all sworn.

The following indictment was then read. It was headed for the island of St Helena, and addressed to Mingo. The entry breaks at the catchword "you" at the foot.

Interpretations

The court convened for the trial of Mingo, the slave of Samuel Jessey committed at the consultation of 13 August 1723 on suspicion of murdering a woman slave, the sessions advertised at that sitting. Governor Smith sat as judge with the three other councillors as assistants, the same bench that governed the island serving as its criminal court, the form the council always took when a capital charge required a jury trial.

The jury of twelve drew on the leading planters of the island. Orlando Bagley as foreman, with Doveton, Powell, Wrangham, Vesey, Allis and the rest, were the same principal inhabitants who served on the island's juries and whose names filled the families register, the trial of a slave for murder heard by the freeholders of the settlement.

The reading of the indictment opened the formal process against Mingo. The charge, set out in due form and addressed to the accused, began the trial proper, the entry breaking off as the indictment was read into the record, the grave matter of a slave's life proceeding through the full course of a jury sessions rather than the summary correction dealt to the runaway thieves of the week before.

141

136

Augt.

You Stand Indicted by the Name of

Mingo a Negroe Slave belonging to Saml

Jessey of this Island Planter for the Crime

of Wilfull Murther for that you the said

Mingo on the 5th Day of this Instant

Aug. in the Year of our Lord 1723 between

the Hours of Eight and twelve in the

Forenoon of the same day in a certain

Plantation belonging to the said Saml

Jessey did then and there in a most bar

barous manner Assault Abigail a Negroe

Wench belonging also to your sd Master and wth

a Cane did beat bruise and wound the sd

Abigail until She dyed and then did carry

and dragg the sd Abigail into an Empty

house belonging also to your said Master

near the said Plantation and then made

your escape contrary to the peace of our

Soveraign Lord the King his Crown &

Dignity and in Contempt and breach of ye

known Laws made by the honoble Lords

Proprietors of this Island for the good

Government thereof.

To which Indictment he pleaded

not Guilty and putt himself upon God &

the Country for the Same.

The following Evidences were called

to prove the Murther.

Megg a Negroe Wench belonging to

the said Jessey Says that Abigail haveing

been run away from her said Master & being

come

Margin Notes:

Mingos Indictmt.

pleaded Not Guilty.

Evidences Examined.

The indictment charged Mingo, a black slave belonging to Samuel Jessey, planter of the island, with the crime of wilful murder. It set out that on 5 August 1723, between the hours of eight and twelve in the forenoon, in a certain plantation belonging to Jessey, Mingo had in a most barbarous manner assaulted Abigail, a black wench belonging also to Jessey, and with a cane had beaten, bruised and wounded her until she died. He had then carried and dragged her body into an empty house belonging to Jessey near the plantation, and made his escape, against the peace of the King, his crown and dignity, and in contempt and breach of the known laws made by the Lords Proprietors of the island for its good government.

To this indictment Mingo pleaded not guilty, and put himself upon God and the country for his trial.

The following evidence was called to prove the murder.

Megg, a black wench belonging to Jessey, deposed that Abigail, having run away from her master. The entry breaks at the catchword "come" at the foot.

Interpretations

The indictment set out the murder in full form, fixing the day, the hours, the place, the weapon and the manner of Abigail's death and the disposal of her body. The charge of wilful murder against one slave for the killing of another marked the gravity with which the council treated a death within the slave force, the full apparatus of a capital indictment brought to bear though both the victim and the accused were slaves.

The plea and the form of trial show the council extending the regular criminal process to a slave's life. Mingo pleaded not guilty and put himself upon God and the country, the words of a freeman's trial by jury, and the court proceeded to call its evidence, the same course it would have taken for any accused, the slave tried by the full law rather than disposed of summarily.

The opening of the evidence began the proof of the killing through the testimony of those about the plantation. Megg, a fellow slave of Jessey's, was the first witness, her account of Abigail's flight and what followed starting the case against Mingo, the entry breaking off as her deposition began, the trial proceeding through sworn evidence to the jury's verdict.

142

137

come home againe did by her Masters Ord

carry her from the Fort into the Cuntry but

before She was gott home to her Masters to

witt In the Plantation mentioned in the

Indictment the Prisoner being there called her

to him & She delivered Abigail to him who

imediately tyed her up to a tree &

whipt her and afterwards beat her very much

with a Cane & then Sett her to digg a Cagg

of Yamms She Says that after the Yamms

were Dugg as she was carrying them along

she fell down and he beat her for not takeing

them up She complaining she was feint & could

not that she left them togeather & ye next

morning she saw dead in an empty house

belonging to her said Master near the place

where he was beating of her the posture she

lay dead in was feat upon her back.

Bover Says he Saw Mingo beating ye

sd Abigail for not takeing up her Yamms

who desired him to help her up with them

which he refused & Says he saw her the

next morning dead in the manner described

by Megg.

The Prisoner Mingo said in his

Defence that Abigail being brot to him by

Megg and knowing her to have been run

away did beat & whip her as he had done

before She being used to run away, he being

overseer of his Masters Plantations &

Blacks.

That when She left fale the Yamms

she was Sullen and would not take them

up againe & therefore he beat her & finding

she would not take them up he putt her

Into

Margin Notes:

Mingos Defence

Megg deposed that Abigail, having run away from her master and come home again, was by her master's order carried from the Fort into the country, but before she had got home to her master's plantation, named in the indictment, the prisoner Mingo, being called her overseer, had Abigail delivered to him. He immediately tied her up to a tree and whipped her, afterwards beat her very much with a cane, and then set her to dig a keg of yams. After the yams were dug, as she was carrying them along, she fell down, and he beat her for not taking them up, she complaining she was faint and could not. He left them together, and the next morning Megg saw her dead in an empty house belonging to her master near the place where he had been beating her, the body lying flat upon its back.

Bover deposed that he saw Mingo beating Abigail for not taking up her yams. She had asked him to help her up with them, which he refused, and he saw her the next morning dead, in the manner Megg had described.

The prisoner Mingo said in his defence that Abigail, being brought to him by Megg and known to him to have run away, he had beaten and whipped her as he had done before, she being given to running away, he being overseer of his master's plantations and blacks. When she let fall the yams she was sullen and would not take them up again, and so he beat her, and finding she would not take them up, he put her. The entry breaks at the catchword "into" at the foot.

Interpretations

The evidence laid out the killing through the accounts of two fellow slaves. Megg described the whole course of the beating, the tying up, the whipping, the cane, the digging of the yams and the fatal blows when Abigail fell faint, and the finding of her body the next morning. Bover confirmed the beating over the dropped yams and the death that followed, the two witnesses together fixing Mingo's hand to Abigail's death.

The defence turned on Mingo's office and the slave's reputation. He pleaded that as overseer of his master's plantation and blacks he had authority to punish Abigail, that she was a known runaway he had beaten before, and that her sullen refusal of the yams provoked the blows. The argument set a slave overseer's customary power to correct another slave against the charge of murder, the defence resting on the killing as discipline gone too far rather than wilful murder.

The case exposed the brutal working of authority within the slave force. Abigail, a recaptured runaway, was delivered to a slave overseer who beat her to death over a load of yams she was too faint to lift, the violence flowing through the very system by which the Company managed its labour. That a slave held power to tie up, whip and set another to hard labour, and that such correction could end in death, lay open on the record, the trial weighing where lawful discipline ended and murder began, the entry breaking off as Mingo's account of the body's disposal began.

143

138

Augt.

into the Houise and lockt the Door leaving

the Key on the out side.

That before he left her he gave her

Some Yamms & told her he would find Megg

to her in the morning with more.

That ye reason of his leaving her More

was to Secure her he hehad Seen his

Master & that he never went near againe

till he the next morning heard she was

dead and had orders from his Master to

bury her which he & Megg did accordingly.

Then the Jury withdrew & Stayd abt

half an hour & returned their Verdict

That they did not find Mingo ye Prisoner

at the Barr to be guilty of Wilfully murther

ing the said Abigail But that by his own

Confession and the Evidences of Megg & Bover

he was guilty of unmercifully beating and

bruising her and for which barbarous and

inhumane usage he deserves some severe

punishment as fools for his cruelty as to deter

others but the manner of his punishment

they submitt & leave to the mature Considera

tion and determination of the Judge & Bench.

Upon which the Judge returned the Jury

thanks & remanded the Prisoner to Prison till

further order and Consideration of his Punish

ment

Then the Court was adjourned.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Jurys Verdict.

Prisoner remanded to Prison.

Mingo's defence continued, that he had put Abigail into the house and locked the door, leaving the key on the outside.

Start of crossed out section

That before he left her he gave her some yams, and told her he would send Megg to her in the morning with more.

End of crossed out section

His reason for leaving her there was to secure her, since he had seen his master, and he did not go near her again until the next morning, when he heard she was dead. He had orders from his master to bury her, which he and Megg did accordingly.

The jury then withdrew, stayed about half an hour, and returned their verdict. They did not find Mingo, the prisoner at the bar, guilty of wilfully murdering Abigail, but found that by his own confession and the evidence of Megg and Bover he was guilty of unmercifully beating and bruising her. For this barbarous and inhumane usage he deserved some severe punishment as a fool, for his cruelty, so as to deter others, but the manner of his punishment they submitted and left to the mature consideration and determination of the judge and bench.

The judge returned the jury thanks and remanded the prisoner to prison, pending further order and consideration of his punishment. The court was then adjourned, the proceedings signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The defence closed with Mingo's account of how he left Abigail, locking her in the house and burying her on his master's order when she was found dead. The story cast the confinement as securing a runaway rather than concealing a victim, and the burial as obedience to Jessey, the prisoner presenting the whole as the discharge of his office as overseer. The clerk struck out the passage in which Mingo claimed he had given Abigail yams and promised to send Megg with more, perhaps because it sat awkwardly with the later statement that he meant only to secure her, or because the detail was thought immaterial to the charge.

The verdict marked a careful middle course by the jury. The twelve declined to find wilful murder, holding instead that Mingo was guilty of unmercifully beating and bruising Abigail to her death, a barbarous and inhumane usage deserving severe punishment to deter others, but they left the manner of it to the judge and bench. The finding spared the slave the capital sentence while branding his cruelty, the jury drawing back from murder yet refusing to acquit.

The reference of the punishment to the bench shows the council holding the gravest part of the matter in its own hands. The jury found the fact and the fault but submitted the sentence to the judge's mature consideration, and Mingo was remanded pending that determination, the bench reserving to itself how far to punish a slave whose beating of another had ended in death. The four signatures of Smith, Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin closed the adjourned sessions, the slave's fate still to be settled.

144

139

1723.

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the 20th Day of Augt 1723 at Union Castle

In James Valley.

Jno Smith Esq Govr

Prsent Edwd Byfeld 2d

Jno Alexander 3d

&

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and approved

of.

Wee this day tooke into Consideration the

Verdict brot in upon ye Tryale Yesterday of

Mingo in order to Inflict some punishment

upon him and upon Debate and Consideration

of the whole matter.

Wee Order him to be branded in the left

Cheek with an hott Iron and then delivered

to his Master.

It appearing upon the Tryale that Saml

Jessey Master of Abigail after she was found

dead ordered her being buryed without any

Examination according to Law concerning

her Death. In Order to prevent the like

Clandestine proceedings for the future.

Wee doe fine the sd Saml Jessey 40

for the sd Offence for ye use of our honoble

Masters.

Ordered that noe Books be carryed

out of the Fort.

There not being roome enough at ye

Plantation house for the Governour &

his

Margin Notes:

Mingos Punishmt Considered.

Punishmt Ord:

Jesseys Suffering the Wench to be Clandestinely buried.

fined 40:

Books.

noe roome eno: at Plant House for ye Govr & ca

At a consultation held on Tuesday 20 August 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor John Smith, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth present, the council took up its business. The last consultation was read and approved.

The council this day took into consideration the verdict brought in upon Mingo's trial the day before, in order to inflict some punishment upon him. Upon debate and consideration of the whole matter, it ordered him to be branded in the left cheek with a hot iron, and then delivered to his master.

It appearing upon the trial that Samuel Jessey, Abigail's master, after she was found dead, had ordered her buried without any examination according to law concerning her death, the council, in order to prevent the like clandestine proceedings in future, fined Jessey 40s 0d for the offence, for the use of the Honourable Masters.

The council ordered that no books be carried out of the Fort.

There not being room enough at the plantation house for the Governor and his. The entry breaks at the catchword "his" at the foot.

Interpretations

The council settled Mingo's punishment after weighing the jury's verdict. The twelve had found him guilty not of wilful murder but of unmercifully beating Abigail to death, leaving the sentence to the bench, and the council, deliberating the whole matter, ordered him branded in the cheek with a hot iron and returned to his master. The penalty fell short of death, matching the jury's middle finding, marking the slave for life while restoring him to Jessey's service as a working asset.

The fine on Jessey marked a distinct offence the trial had brought to light. The master had buried Abigail without the examination the law required into a death by violence, and the council fined him 40s 0d to deter such clandestine proceedings in future. The penalty pressed the duty of inquiry into a slave's violent death upon the owner, the burial without examination treated as a wrong in itself, the bench guarding the legal process over a killing even within the slave force.

The order against carrying books out of the Fort marked a tightening of control over the Company's records. The books of the office were to stay within the Fort, the same care for the security and integrity of the records that ran through the council's business, set down as a standing rule. The entry breaks as the council turned to the want of room at the plantation house for the Governor, a fresh matter of the establishment's lodging.

145

140

Augt.

his Family and Capt Byfeld and his Fa

mily.

Wee Doe order that Mr Byfeld have

Two Roomes and a Smale Kitchen built

where the old Plantation house Stood.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island St Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the 27th Day of Augt 1723 at Union

Castle in James Valley.

Jno Smith Esq Govr

Prsent Edwd Byfeld 2d

Jno Alexander 3d

&

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved on

The Govr reports that he has reced the

sd fine 40 from Mr Jessey according to the order

of the last Consultation.

Orlando Bagley Sonr brot in and

delivered the Wile of Sarah Dwight (the Exor

of the said Wile being dead and prayed ye

same might be proved which was done

accordingly by his Oath and the Oath of

Jno

Margin Notes:

New Apartmt for Mr Byfeld.

40: sd Of Saml Jessey his fine.

The last Will of Sarah Dwight Delivered & Approved.

There not being room enough at the plantation house for the Governor and his family and Captain Byfield and his family, the council ordered that two rooms and a small kitchen be built for Mr Byfield where the old plantation house had stood. The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 27 August 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, before Governor John Smith, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth present, the council took up its business. The last consultation was read and approved.

The Governor reported that he had received the 40s 0d from Mr Jessey, under the order of the last consultation.

Orlando Bagley brought in and delivered the will of Sarah Dwight, the wife of Sarah Dwight being dead, and asked that it be proved, which was done on his oath. The entry breaks at the catchword "Jn" at the foot.

Interpretations

The order for Byfield's rooms settled the want of lodging at the plantation house. With the new Governor and his family taking up residence there, and Captain Byfield and his family also to be housed, the bench provided Byfield two rooms and a kitchen on the site of the old plantation house, the same building blown down in 1718 and long in question. The arrangement found room for the displaced deputy governor as the new chief settled into the principal house. The four signatures of Smith, Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin closed the consultation of 20 August 1723.

The new sitting of 27 August 1723 opened with the Governor's note that Jessey's 40s 0d fine had been received, closing the matter of the master's clandestine burial of Abigail settled at the last consultation. The prompt collection showed the council following its penalties through to payment, the fine for the use of the Honourable Masters duly gathered in.

The proving of Sarah Dwight's will continued the routine business of the island's deceased estates. Orlando Bagley, who had served as foreman of Mingo's jury the week before, here brought in and swore to the will of the late Sarah Dwight, the council registering it on his oath, the standing oversight of the wills of the dead carried on, the entry breaking off as the second witness was named.

146

141

1723.

Jno Harding.

The sd Wile was reced and ordered to

be registred in the booke of wiles accordingly.

Capt Alexander complains of the Secretarys

Office being not only too Smale and every way

incommodious, but in ale rainy times very

leaky and thereby subjects the books and

Papers to damage as wele as damp and which

he says cannot be placed in any regular order

for the reasons aforesaid and which has

occasioned the books and other Papers to have

been formerly removed to 4 or 5 different Offices.

Whereupon Ordered that the upper

part of the Ward houise that fronts the publick

Hale within the Castle be forthwith fitted up &

made Comodious for the Secretarys Office there

being noe roome in the Castle to build a new

one.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Secretarys Office not Conveniont

another Office to be fitted up.

Sarah Dwight's will was proved on the oath of Orlando Bagley and the oath of John Harding. The will was received and ordered to be registered in the book of wills accordingly.

Captain Alexander complained of the Secretary's office. It was not only too small and every way inconvenient, but in all rainy times very leaky, so that the books and papers were subject to damage and damp, and could not be kept in any regular order. For these reasons the books and other papers had formerly been removed to four or five different offices.

The council therefore ordered that the upper part of the guard house fronting the public hall within the Castle be at once fitted up and made convenient for the Secretary's office, there being no room in the Castle to build a new one. The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The registration of Sarah Dwight's will, proved on the oaths of Bagley and Harding, closed the routine estate business and led into a matter of the records themselves. The council moved from the proving of a will to the housing of the office in which such wills were kept, the two concerns joined in the same sitting.

Alexander's complaint laid bare the poor state of the Secretary's office. The room was cramped, inconvenient and leaky in wet weather, the books and papers damaged and damp and impossible to keep in order, the records having been shifted among four or five different offices for want of a sound place. The account showed the very foundation of the island's government, its written record, kept in conditions that threatened its survival.

The order to fit up the guard house answered the want within the Castle's limits. With no room to build a new office, the bench directed the upper part of the guard house fronting the public hall to be made over for the Secretary's office, finding a dry and ordered home for the records inside the existing walls. The measure carried forward the council's recent care for its papers, the order against carrying books out of the Fort and the inventory of the office books, the security of the record pressed under the new government. The four signatures of Smith, Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin closed the consultation of 27 August 1723.

147

142

September.

Wait - let me correct that.

September.

Island St: Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the 3d Day of Sepr. 1723 At Union Castle

In James Valley.

Capt: Edwd Byfeild 2d

Sick in yt Country.

Mr Smith Esqr Govr

Dr Sont Jno: Alexander 3d

&

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultn read and approved on

The Govr reports that Thomas Glew Mountross

on Monday was sevennight tooke a Negroe

slave that was run away named Caesar

belonging to Wm Worrall Gunners 3d

Mate by Ruperts Old house & that the

slave being often used to run away he

ordered him to yt fflagstaffe and a Collr

to be putt about his Neck and the Mastr

to make Satisfaction to the sd Glew for

takeing him.

The three fold Petitions were prsented

The Petition of the Major part of the Inh

habitants of this Island in behalf of them=

selves and the rest of the Inhabitants.

Setting forth and representing

That Whereas the sd Subscribers

haveing at sundry times and more particula[r]y

at a Vestry when Assembled at the Country Church

on the 15th of April last past for yt nominat[...]

ing of Parish Officers concluded & Unanimous[ly]

agreed to represent to yt Govr & Council the

Margin Notes:

a Slave Man of Wm

Worralls punished

Pet:n of the Major

part of the Inha

=tile relateing to

Free Blacks.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 3 September 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Smith, Captain Edward Byfield as second, sick in the country, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin as fourth.

The last consultation was read and approved.

Governor Smith reported that Thomas Glew Monhoss, on Monday seven-night, had taken up a runaway slave named Caesar belonging to William Worrall the gunner's mate by Rupert's old house. The slave being often given to running away, the Governor ordered him to the flagstaff and a collar to be put about his neck, and the master to make satisfaction to Monhoss for taking him.

The three-fold petitions were presented.

The petition of the greater part of the inhabitants of the island, on behalf of themselves and the rest of the inhabitants, set out and represented the following. The subscribers, having at various times and more particularly at a vestry assembled at the country church on 15 April last for the nomination of parish officers, had concluded and unanimously agreed to lay before Governor Smith and the council the several [...]

Interpretations

The runaway slave Caesar belonged to William Worrall the gunner's mate, a figure already on the record as restored to his office at the consultation of 13 August 1723 after earlier dismissals for neglect and drink. The punishment marked here, a collar fixed about the neck and a turn at the flagstaff, was the standard public restraint for a habitual absconder, the collar serving to mark the man and impede flight rather than to inflict a single penalty. The order that Worrall as owner pay Monhoss for the capture placed the cost of recovery on the master, the same principle applied in the runaway-slave law of 13 June 1721, which charged the reward for a retaken slave to the owner.

The vestry was the parish assembly of the island's inhabitants, meeting at the country church to choose churchwardens, surveyors of the highways and other parish officers for the year. The petition opening here arose from that meeting of 15 April 1723 and carried the collective voice of the landholders, the marginal note distinguishing the body as the greater part of the inhabitants and separating the free blacks as a class within it.

148

143

severall and many Ileconveniencys that had

for some time past Attended the sd Inhabitants

by there being soe many free blacks among ym

that did not only Seduce and sett evil Examples

to all the rest of the blacks (who are slaves) by

their pride priviledge and Insolence But wander

from house to House without any settled abode

like Vagabonds and disorderly persons & some

of them too frequently harbouring & encourag=

=ing other Blacks to comitt Robberies to help

subsist them and their Associates in soe

villainous and unwarrantable manner to ye

great and manifest hurt and damage of their

Owners and are now encreased to such a

Number that They begun to fear the ill Conse=

=quences that may by soe base and barbarous

a people Accrew to ym besides ye dayly and

great charge for their maintenance too heavy

for the Inhabitants to bear and Support when

every one of ym haveing large Familys of yr

owne to provide for and are the more sensible

of in thisksir great Necessity and generall

Calamity Wherefore and to prevent any

other groweing Evils that were likely to ensue

by there being at this time about 20 ffree

Blacks upon the Island They humbly

addressed themselves to the Govr & Council

praying they would be pleased to consider the

premisses aforesd and to take such proper means

as they in their prudence should think fitt to

prevent any person or persons resideing on or

Inhabiting the said Island at any time or times

hereafter to give or grant any sort or kind of

The petitioners complained of many troubles that the inhabitants had suffered for some time past from the presence of so many free blacks among them. These free blacks, they said, not only led the rest of the blacks, who were slaves, into bad ways by their pride, their privileges and their insolence, but also wandered from house to house with no fixed home like vagrants and disorderly persons. Some of them too often sheltered and encouraged other blacks to commit robberies, in order to support themselves and their associates, in so wicked and lawless a fashion, to the plain and serious harm of the owners.

Their numbers had now grown so large that the inhabitants began to fear the bad consequences that might follow from so base and uncivilised a people. Besides this, the daily charge of maintaining them was too heavy for the inhabitants to bear, every one of them having a large family of his own to provide for, and the more keenly felt for being a real hardship and a general calamity.

To prevent any further evils that might arise from there being at this time about twenty free blacks upon the island, the petitioners appealed to Governor Smith and the council. They asked that the council consider the matters set out, and use such proper means as it thought fit to prevent any person settling or living on the island from granting at any future time any sort of freedom to [...]

Interpretations

The petition rested on the distinction the inhabitants drew between the island's free blacks and the much larger body of slaves, the free blacks numbering about twenty against a slave population the censuses counted in the hundreds. The petitioners cast freedom itself as the danger, arguing that the example of free blacks unsettled the slaves and that the free blacks formed a class of people without fixed homes or visible means of support. The charge of harbouring and encouraging robbery tied the complaint to the recurring problem of theft from the planters, the same anxiety that drove the runaway-slave law of 13 June 1721 and the run of slave thefts tried under Governor Smith on 13 August 1723.

The objection over maintenance pointed to a settled feature of the island's poor relief, a charge falling on the inhabitants through the parish, the free blacks treated as a potential burden on the rates rather than as self-supporting householders. The remedy sought was a forward-looking prohibition, an order barring any future grant of freedom, which would have frozen the free black population at its existing number and closed manumission as a route off slavery on the island.

149

144

September.

Freedome to any of their sd Blacks Males or

ffemales And that no person soe Inhabiting yt

sd Island be permitted or allowed to send off oft

Island any of their blacks young or old und[r]

pretence of being free or to be hereafter free

(unlesse it should be those who are already

knowne to be free and have been under yt

Denomination for time past) and as They

had already represented their great Concern

and the heavy Burthen they bore and was

likely to continue if not by their Prudence

prevented by the dayly charge of soe many

They humbly and earnestly requested that

some of these ffree Blacks bo by all proper

Conveyances to India be sent off in hopes

thereby the Island will in some measure

be freed from such an Evil and dayly

Charge. And for as much as they had been

lately informed that Jno. Coulson hath unad=

=visedly sold a black Wench of his named

Abigail to one Tom Colleior a free black

who they are very sensible can but hardly

maintein himself and must in Course use

some indirect means to raise the paymt

and which unpresidented and ill Example

to others if suffered will inevitably prove

of a most dangerous Consequence as well

as an Encouragement to Increase the sd

Free blacks to yet a farr greater Number

and claimeing equall Priviledge with their

Superiors and those who have been their

owners which said unadvised Practice and

Agreement made by the before named Jno Coulson

& Tom Collier They likewise prayed might by ye

Govr & Council made void and none of the like

nature ever hereafter attempted suffered or allowed

of to be good upon such a Penalty as the Govr

& Council in their Prudence should Judge

sufficient to deter and prevent the like practice

to Intitle any such a designed freedome

hereafter.

Ordered that the Church Wardens and Overseers

of the High ways be sumoned to attend next

Consultation day for an Answer to the sd Pet:n

The Two fold Petitions were prsented

The Petition of Edmund Bodley praying

a Lease of 8 Acres of Land in Lemon Valley

to build on house and make a Plantation

to raise Provisions for his Family his

Circumstances being very hard.

The Land Petitioned for being near the

lower End of Lemon Valley where most of the

Ships water Wee are apprehensive Goods might

be run there and a private trade carryed on

contrary to our honoble Masters Interest &

therefore reject the sd Petition.

The Petition of Joseph Bates Planter

praying a Lease of abt an Acre of Land ad=

=joyning to his Plantation.

Ordered that Capt: Alexander & Capt.

Goodwin doe view the Land Petitioned for &

report if the granting the Same will be detrimen=

=tall to any person on the next Consultation day

Margin Notes:

Parish Officers

to attend for

an Answer to

Petn

Edmd Bodley

Petn for Land.

being in Lemon

Valley & near

yt Watering

place.

Rejected.

Petn of Jos: Bates

for Land

to be viewed

The petitioners asked that no freedom be granted to any of the island's blacks, whether male or female. They further asked that no inhabitant be allowed to send any black off the island, young or old, under cover of being free or of being made free at some later time. They allowed one exception, for those already known to be free and recognised as such for some time past.

Having already set out their serious concern and the heavy burden they bore, which would probably continue unless the council prevented it, they pointed again to the daily cost of supporting so many. They earnestly asked that some of the free blacks be sent off to India by any suitable passage, in the hope that the island might in some measure be rid of so great an evil and daily charge.

They added that they had lately learned of a sale that troubled them. John Coulson had unwisely sold a black woman of his named Abigail to one Tom Collier, a free black, who they were sure could barely support himself and would in time have to raise the purchase money by some dishonest means. Such a sale, if allowed and left without precedent against it, would prove most dangerous and would encourage the free blacks to grow to a far greater number. These free blacks would then claim equal standing with their betters and with those who had been their owners, and this unwise practice and agreement [...]

Interpretations

The petition pressed two distinct measures, a ban on future manumission and a removal of the existing free blacks by transportation to India, the planters treating shipment off the island as the practical means of reducing a population they could not lawfully re-enslave. The request to send free blacks to India by any available passage drew on the regular traffic between the island and the Company's Indian settlements, the same routes that carried slaves to Bencoolen, and would have used ordinary shipping to clear the island of a class the inhabitants viewed as a charge and a danger.

The sale of Abigail by John Coulson to Tom Collier exposed what most alarmed the petitioners, a free black acquiring ownership of a slave and so entering the proprietary class. Their objection turned less on the woman than on the precedent, a free black buying a slave being read as a claim to equal standing with the white owners and a spur to further manumission. The named slave Abigail and the named free black Tom Collier gave the petition a concrete instance on which to rest the wider demand, the inhabitants fearing that one such transaction, if unchallenged, would license many more.

150

145

Agreement made by the before named Jno Coulson

& Tom Collier They likewise prayed might by ye

Govr & Council made void and none of the like

nature ever hereafter attempted suffered or allowed

of to be good upon such a Penalty as the Govr

& Council in their Prudence should Judge

sufficient to deter and prevent the like practice

to Intitle any such a designed freedome

hereafter.

Ordered that the Church Wardens and Overseers

of the High ways be sumoned to attend next

Consultation day for an Answer to the sd Pet:n

The Two fold Petitions were prsented

The Petition of Edmund Bodley praying

a Lease of 8 Acres of Land in Lemon Valley

to build an house and make a Plantation

to raise Provisions for his Family his

Circumstances being very hard.

The Land Petitioned for being near the

lower End of Lemon Valley where most of the

Ships water Wee are apprehensive Goods might

be run there and a private trade carryed on

contrary to our honoble Masters Interest &

therefore reject the sd Petition.

The Petition of Joseph Bates Planter

praying a Lease of abt an Acre of Land ad=

=joyning to his Plantation.

Ordered that Capt: Alexander & Capt.

Goodwin doe view the Land Petitioned for &

report if the granting the Same will be detrimen=

=tall to any person on the next Consultation day

Margin Notes:

Parish Officers

to attend for

an Answer to

Petn

Edmd Bodley

Petn for Land.

being in Lemon

Valley & near

yt Watering

place.

Rejected.

Petn of Jos: Bates

for Land

to be viewed

The petitioners asked that the agreement made between John Coulson and Tom Collier be set aside. They further asked that no transaction of the kind ever be attempted, allowed or upheld in future, on whatever penalty the council judged enough to deter and prevent the like practice and to bar any planned freedom of that sort hereafter.

The council ordered that the churchwardens and the overseers of the highways be summoned to attend the next consultation day to answer the petition.

The two-fold petitions were presented.

Edmund Bodley petitioned for a lease of 8 acres of land in Lemon Valley, to build a house and make a plantation to raise provisions for his family, his circumstances being very hard.

The council noted that the land sought lay near the lower end of Lemon Valley, where most of the ships took their water. Fearing that goods might be run ashore there and a private trade carried on against the Company's interest, the council rejected the petition.

Joseph Bates, planter, petitioned for a lease of about an acre of land adjoining his plantation.

The council ordered that Captain Alexander and Captain Goodwin view the land sought and report at the next consultation day whether the grant would harm any other person.

151

146

September.

Tom Lympat a Negroe Slave belonging

to Eliz: Greentree Widdow having run away

being examined Saith He stole from Mr

James Ryder a Breast of Mutton & one

Pott of boyled Yamens.

Mr Ryder acknowledgeing to have had

Satisfaction for his goods.

Ordered the Slave to the Flaggstaffe &

a Collar about his Neck.

Severale Complts having been made of

Blacks gooing up & downe at unseasonable

hours in the night time and several Thefts

of Provisions been comitted.

Ordered that an Advertisemt be Issued

out to enjoyne all Owners of Blacks to lock

them up or otherwise Secure them at the

hour of nine in the Evening without

special leave from their Owners and if

any are taken soe gooing up and downe

as aforesaid to be brot to the Owner.

Ordered that the Gentlemen of the

Council Doe view all the Companies live

Stock and Plantations and bring in an

Acct of the Same on ffriday Sennight

next and that Messres Powell and

Wrangham be desired to Assist them.

John: Smith

Jno: Alexander

Jno: Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Tom Lympat taken

after Run away

Goods stole.

He punisht.

Complts of Blk:

in yt Night time

Advertizemt Ord:

to prevent ye same

Co: live Stock and

Plantations to

be viewed.

Tom Lympat, a slave belonging to the widow Eliza Greentree, having run away, was taken up and examined. He admitted stealing from James Ryder a breast of mutton and a pot of boiled yams.

James Ryder acknowledged that he had received satisfaction for his goods.

The council ordered the slave to the flagstaff and a collar to be put about his neck.

Several complaints had been made of blacks moving up and down at unseasonable hours in the night-time, and several thefts of provisions had been committed.

The council ordered an advertisement to be issued requiring all owners of blacks to lock them up or otherwise secure them at the hour of nine in the evening, unless they had special leave from their owners. Any found moving about after that hour were to be brought to the owner.

The council ordered that the members of the council view all the Company's live stock and plantations and bring in an account of the same on Friday seven-night next. It further ordered that James Powell and Francis Wrangham be asked to assist them.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The collar and the turn at the flagstaff appear here for the third runaway of this consultation, marking a fixed tariff the council applied to habitual absconders rather than a penalty weighed for each case. Ryder's acknowledgement that he had been satisfied for his stolen goods recorded the owner's compensation as a step distinct from the slave's punishment, the theft settled in property terms with the master and answered in bodily terms against the slave.

The curfew advertisement responded to the same anxiety the inhabitants' petition had pressed earlier in the consultation, blacks abroad at night being tied to the run of thefts from the planters. Setting nine in the evening as the hour after which owners must secure their slaves placed the duty of control on the masters and made any slave found out after that time presumptively suspect, the measure governing the slave population through the owners rather than by direct watch.

152

147

Island St: Helena.

At a Consultation held on ffryday

the 13th day of Sepr 1723 At Union Castle In James

Valley.

Capt: Jno Alexander 3d

absent by reason of

Sicknesse.

Jno: Smith Esqr Govr

Dr Sent Edwd Byfeild 2d

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and approved on

The Petn of Ralph Orme was prsented

Setting forth that he had fenced in Ten Acres

of the Honoble Companys Wast Land which he

& his Predecessors had for some time had in

Possession but never having been Measured

nor a Lease granted & therefore

Prayed the Same might be

measured and a Lease Granted to him of the

Same.

Ordered that a Warrt be issued to the

Surveyor to Measure the sd Land and that a

Lease be granted by yt Petr of the Same for

21 yeares to comence from the 1st Day of

Octr 1719 at yt usuall Rent of five Shill

Pr Acre.

The Petition of Joshua Johnson & Charles

Steward Planters was alsd presented.

Praying to be heard agt yt Petition

of Joseph Bates mentioned in the last Consul=

=tation before yt Same was granted.

Wee doe refer the Consideration of yt sd

Petition until next Consultation day.

Margin Notes:

Petn of Ralph

Orme.

praying a

Measuremt &

Lease for Land

found & granted

Measuremt Ord:

& Lease to Comence

from

Petn agt that

of Jos: Bates

for Land.

referrd.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Friday 13 September 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Smith, Captain Edward Byfield as second, John Alexander as third, absent by reason of sickness, and John Goodwin as fourth.

The last consultation was read and approved.

Ralph Orme petitioned the council, setting out that he had fenced in ten acres of the Company's waste land, which he and his predecessors had held for some time, though it had never been measured nor a lease granted for it. He asked that the land be measured and a lease of it granted to him.

The council ordered that a warrant be issued to the surveyor to measure the land, and that a lease of it be granted to the petitioner for 21 years to commence from 1 December 1719 at the usual rent of 5s 0d per acre.

Joshua Johnson and Charles Steward, planters, also petitioned the council. They asked to be heard against the petition of Joseph Bates noted in the last consultation, before that petition was granted.

The council referred the matter to the next consultation day.

Interpretations

The grant to Ralph Orme regularised a holding already in fact, ten acres of Company waste he and his predecessors had fenced and occupied without measurement or formal title. The lease backdated to 1 December 1719 brought a long-standing occupation onto the documentary footing the council pressed across these years, fixing the rent at the standard 5s 0d per acre and the term at the customary 21 years, so that an informal possession became a recorded tenancy with a stated commencement and a defined liability.

The objection of Joshua Johnson and Charles Steward to Joseph Bates's acre, sought at the consultation of 3 September 1723 and referred for a view, showed the council's practice of allowing affected neighbours to be heard before a waste-land grant was confirmed. The deferral held the grant open pending their complaint, the same caution against harming an existing holder that had governed the order for Alexander and Goodwin to view the parcel.

153

148

September.

Wee have this Day tooke into Considn the

Petition of the Inhabitants relateing to the

free Blacks presented last Consultation

Day. And Wee are of Opinion that the makeing

Blacks free has been and now is of a very

bad Consequence to the Inhabitants of this

Island & therefore

Order that for the future noe Person

or Persons shall have Liberty of makeing

any Black or Blacks free upon any

pretence whatsoever and that noe blacks

that are already free shall be permitted

to buy any black whatsoever.

And as to the Paragraph relateing

to sending off the ffree Blacks at present

Wee will represent the Same to our honoble

Masters for their Opinions.

The Govr reports that a Black

ffellow named Lame Tom belonging to yt

ffort dyed last Weeke.

Capt Byfeld reports that a Wench

belonging to the Hutts named Ding

was last Week brot to bed of a Girle

named Ellen.

Jno Long Presented a Bill of Sale

of a Black Wench named Abigail from

Jno Coulson and prayed the same might

be registred which was ordered accordingly.

Mr Crispe brot in and delivered an Acct

of the Expence of the Generall Table for ye

Margin Notes:

Petn about ffree

Blks Considerd

the ill Consequence

None to be made

free hereafter

Sendg of off referrd

to honoble Co:

a Blk: man dyed

a Blk: Girle born.

a Bill of Sale for a Blk

Wench presented by

Jno Long.

Registred.

The council took into consideration the inhabitants' petition concerning the free blacks, presented at the last consultation day. It held that the making of blacks free had been, and remained, very harmful to the inhabitants of the island.

The council ordered that in future no person should be at liberty to make any black free, on any pretext whatever. It further ordered that no black already free should be allowed to buy any black at all.

On the paragraph of the petition asking that the existing free blacks be sent off the island, the council resolved to lay the matter before the Company for its opinion.

Governor Smith reported that a black named Lame Tom belonging to the fort had died last week.

Captain Byfield reported that a slave woman of the Hutts named Ding had last week been delivered of a girl named Ellen.

John Long presented a bill of sale of a slave woman named Abigail from John Coulson, and asked that it be registered. The council ordered it registered accordingly.

Mr Crispe brought in and delivered an account of the expense of the General Table for the month [...]

Interpretations

The council's order answered the inhabitants' petition by adopting its two central demands, a complete bar on future manumission and a prohibition on free blacks owning slaves, while holding back on the third. The decision recorded the council's own view that freeing blacks was harmful, aligning the governing body with the petitioners and closing manumission as a route off slavery on the island for the future.

The reservation of the removal question to the directors marked the limit of the council's authority, the expulsion of free people already settled being treated as beyond a local order and fit only for the Company's decision in London. The council could regulate future grants of freedom and the buying of slaves by its own act, but the physical removal of existing free blacks to India touched a graver step it would not take without instruction.

The registration of Abigail's sale from John Coulson to John Long resolved the transaction the petitioners had attacked, the woman passing now to a white planter rather than to the free black Tom Collier. The earlier sale that had so alarmed the inhabitants was thereby overtaken, the slave's ownership settled within the proprietary class the petition sought to protect.

Speculations

The council split the petition rather than granting or refusing it whole, enacting the prohibitions within its own power and referring only the removal of the free blacks to the directors. The path not taken was an immediate local order for transportation, which the petitioners had pressed and which the council had the practical means to begin through the Indian shipping. The reason shows on the page in the distinction the council drew between making future grants of freedom, which it could bar by its own authority, and expelling people already free and settled, a step it judged required the Company's opinion before it could act.

154

149

Month of Augt which was Examined and

approved of and is as follows.

Pizt

50

Peices of Salt Beef at 2: 6 Pr Peice

£6 - 10 -

29

Peice Salt Pork at 2: 10 each

4 - 2: 2

14

lb Fresh Pork at 6 Pr lb

1 - 2 -

667

lb Fresh Beefe at 3 Pr lb

7 - 1 - 9

213

lb Browne Bread at 3 Pr lb

2 - 13 - 3

34

lb White Bread at 6 1/2 Pr lb

- 18 - 5

11

ffowles at 1 - 6 each

- 16 - 6

4

Ducks at 1 - 6 each

- 6 -

68

Bottles Mountain

127

Bottles Red Wine

9

Bottles Strong Beer

44

Bottles Small Beer

96 1/2

Gallons of Arrach at 6: 7 Pr Gallon

31 - 15 - 10

116

lb Flower at 3: Pr lb

1 - 8 - 9

227

lb Sugar at 6 Pr lb

5 - 13 - 6

36

lb Mac Candles at 2: Pr lb

3 - 10 -

22

lb Soap at 1: 6: Pr lb

1 - 11 - 2

6

Bottles of Oyle at 7: 6: Pr Bottle

2 - 5 -

9 1/2

lb Fresh Butter

- 9 - 6

31

Days Greens

1 - 11 -

62

Bottles Milk

1 - - 8

19

Goates at 10: Each

2 - - -

13 3/4

Sheep

2 - 2 -

2

Gallons Vinegar

- 8 -

1

lb Pepper

- 4 -

2

Pigs at 6 each

- 12 -

1/2

Firkin Butter at 2: 15: 6: Pr Firkin

1 - 7 - 9

98 - 3 - 7

D: Crispe

Capt Goodwin brot in and delivered his Acco:t

Store Goods sold and delivered for the Month of

Augt which was examined and approved of and

is as follows.

Margin Notes:

Govr Jolls Expence

for yt Mo: of Aug

Store goods

sold out

in Augt

Mr Crispe brought in the account of the expense of the General Table for the month of August, which the council examined and approved. It stood as follows.

50 pieces of salt beef at 2s 6d per piece, £6 10s 0d

29 pieces of salt pork at 2s 10d each, £4 2s 2d

414 pounds of fresh beef at 3d per pound, £1 2s 0d

667 pounds of brown bread at 3d per pound, £7 1s 9d

344 pounds of white bread at 4½d per pound, £12 18s 3d

11 fowls at 1s 6d each, £0 16s 6d

4 ducks at 1s 6d each, £0 6s 0d

68 bottles of mountain wine

127 bottles of red wine

9 bottles of strong beer

414 bottles of small beer

96½ gallons of arrack at 6s 7d per gallon, £31 15s 10d

116 pounds of flour at 3d per pound, £1 8s 9d

227 pounds of sugar at 6d per pound, £5 13s 6d

346 pounds of mould candles at 2d per pound, £3 10s 0d

29 pounds of soap at 1s 6d per pound, £1 11s 2d

6 bottles of oil at 7s 6d per bottle, £2 5s 0d

9½ pounds of fresh butter, £0 9s 6d

31 days of greens, £1 11s 0d

62 bottles of milk, £1 0s 8d

19 goats at 10s each, £2 10s 0d

13¾ sheep, £2 2s 0d

2 gallons of vinegar, £0 8s 0d

4 pounds of copper, £0 4s 0d

2 pigs at 6s each, £0 12s 0d

½ firkin of butter at £2 15s 6d per firkin, £1 7s 9d

Total, £98 3s 7d

The account was delivered by D. Crispe.

Captain Goodwin brought in and delivered his account of the store goods sold and delivered for the month of August, which the council examined and approved. It stood as follows.

Interpretations

The General Table was the common provision account of the garrison and establishment, the monthly charge of feeding the Company's table set out commodity by commodity with quantity, rate and sum. Arrack, a spirit distilled in the East from palm sap, rice or sugar, dominated the bill at nearly a third of the whole, its 96½ gallons reflecting both the size of the establishment and the place of spirits in the island's diet and economy. Mountain wine was a sweet fortified wine from the Madeira mountains, carried on the homeward and outward shipping that called at the island, and mould candles were tallow candles cast in moulds rather than dipped, a manufactured store item.

The firkin was a small cask, here of butter, the ½ firkin priced against a full-firkin rate of £2 15s 6d, the unit and rate carried so that the part-cask reads as a complete entry. The absence of any sum against the wine and beer lines, the mountain, red, strong and small, left those quantities recorded without valuation, perhaps because they were drawn from stock already accounted rather than charged fresh to the month.

155

150

August

Collection of Store Goods Sold & Deliverd

from July 26th to 24th August 1723

381/8 Gallons Arrach

120 - 13 - 9 1/2

362 1/2 Sugar

21 - 11 - 3

142 - 5 - 1/2

376 lb Bread

4 - 14 -

620 lb Flower

7 - 15 -

12 - 9 -

24 Cattees of Bohea Tea

7 - 8

4 ditto Greene Do

1 - 16 -

8 - -

83 lb Cutt Tobacco

8 - 6 -

6 lb Loafe ditto

- 6 -

491 Copp

1 - - 5 1/2

9 - 12 - 5 1/2

26 lb Pitch

- 10 - 8

67 lb Soap

4 - 14 - 11

14 lb Cumin

- 1 -

11 lb Starch

- 10 - 3

5 - 16 - 10

Oyles ditt

6 Gall: brown & Traynd Oyle

1 - 16 -

1 Bottle Florena Oyle

- 7 - 6

2 Gall Linseed Oyle

- 16 -

2 - 19 - 6

5 Peices White Defettees

2 - 10 -

12 Sur of Chints

5 - 8 -

4 Allejaes

3 - 8 - 4

4 Cushaes

1 - 18 -

13 - 4 - 4

4 Peices Chelloe at 14

2 - 16 -

7 Do 13: 6

4 - 14 - 6

2 1/2 Peices Coarse Long Cloth

2 - 10 -

10 - - 6

China Ware ditt:

7 Ditto Bowles

1 - 12 - 6

15 Sneakers

- 7 - 6

18 Cups & Saucers

- 9 -

19 Cups a 4d

- 6 - 4

30 Small ditto

- 6 -

3 - - 4

Shirts & Stockings

11 Chelloe Shirts

1 - 13 -

14 White ditto

1 - 15

8 BBee ditto

1 -

3 Pair Cotton Stockings

- 7 - 6

4 - 15 - 6

1 China Tea Pott

- 3 - 6

2 Gt Vinegar

- 2 -

1 Punchbon Beefe

15 -

1 Burrell Pitch

1 - 7 -

1/2 Firkin Butter

1 - 10 -

29 1/2 Cheese

1 - 2 - 1 1/2

4 Bushle Peas

1 - 13 -

296 lb Vinegar

6 - 19 -

26 - 15 - 7 1/2

93 lb thin Canvas

5 - 8 - 6

Carried over

244 - 7 - 7 1/2

Account of the store goods sold and delivered from 26 July to 24 August 1723, which stood as follows.

381½ gallons of arrack, £120 13s 9½d

362½ pounds of sugar, £21 11s 6d

3,768 pounds of bread, £4 14s 0d

620 pounds of flour, £7 15s 0d

24 catties of bohea tea, £7 4s 0d

4 catties of fine green tea, £0 16s 0d

83 pounds of cut tobacco, £8 6s 0d

6 pounds of leaf tobacco, £0 6s 0d

The subtotal carried to the money column for these lines stood at £142 5s 5½d.

491 pounds of copper, £1 0s 5½d

26 pounds of pitch, £0 10s 8d

67 pounds of soap, £4 14s 11d

14 pounds of cumin, £0 1s 0d

11 pounds of starch, £0 10s 3d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £9 12s 5½d.

6 pounds of brown train oil, £1 16s 0d

1 bottle of Florence oil, £0 7s 6d

26 pounds of linseed oil, £0 16s 0d

The subtotal for these oil lines stood at £2 19s 6d.

5 pieces of white dosuties, £2 10s 0d

12 suits of chintz, £5 8s 0d

4 gurrahs, £3 8s 4d

4 cherreys, £1 18s 0d

4 pieces of callaway at 14s, £2 16s 0d

7 dittos at 13s 6d, £4 14s 6d

2½ pieces of coarse long cloth, £2 10s 0d

The subtotal for these piece-goods lines stood at £13 4s 4d, with a further £10 0s 6d carried alongside.

China ware sold and delivered as follows.

7 china ware bowls, £1 12s 6d

15 saucers, £0 7s 6d

18 cups and saucers, £0 9s 0d

19 cups at 4d, £0 6s 4d

30 small cups and saucers, £0 6s 0d

The subtotal for the china ware stood at £3 1s 4d.

Shirts and stockings sold and delivered as follows.

11 chintz shirts, £1 13s 0d

14 white shirts, £1 16s 0d

8 blue-and-white shirts, £1 0s 0d

3 pairs of cotton stockings, £0 7s 6d

1 china tea pot, £0 3s 6d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £4 16s 6d.

2 pounds of ginger, £0 2s 0d

1 puncheon of rice, £15 0s 0d

1 barrel of pitch, £1 7s 0d

½ firkin of butter, £1 10s 0d

29½ pounds of cheese, £1 2s 4½d

4 bushels of peas, £1 13s 0d

29 gallons of vinegar, £6 19s 0d

93½ pounds of thin canvas, £5 8s 6d

The subtotals for these closing lines stood at £26 15s 7½d and £5 8s 6d.

Carried over, £244 7s 7½d.

156

151

Brought over

244 - 7 - 7 1/2

234 Twine

2 - 9 - 6

3 1/2 Shoe Thread

2 - 18 - 7

30 1/2 Doz: Hooks Sorted

3 - 9

13 Lyne Ditto

15 - 6

2 Small Blankets

18 -

1 - 13 - 6

3 Midling Ditto

11 - 6

36 lb off 4d Nailes

1 - 8 - 6

2 - - -

Nailes ditt

4 lb 6d

2 - 6

10 lb 10d

3 -

6 lb 20d

6 - 8

6 lb 2 5d

3 - 6

6 lb Scupp

3 - 6

8 lb Hoop Rivets

4 - 6

1 Wandsing Can

1 - 1 - 10

1 - 9 - 11

1 1/2 Cews: Brustians N: 2

1 - 16 - 9

1 Thickett N: 3

2 - 6

14 1/2 Yards Dungaree

1 - 7 - 9

6 - 8 - 4

Hosiers Ware

1 Pair Childrens Stockinge

1 -

3 Pair Girles Stockinge a 4d

4 -

1 Boy do

2 -

1 ditto N: 16

2 - 6

4 do Women N: 17

8 - 8

2 do 19

16 -

8 do Men 30

3 - 6

1 Girles do

2 - 6

3 - 6 - 6

Hatts ditt:

3 ditto N: 4

2 - 5 - 6

6 do N: 3

2 - 17 - 6

2 do N: 1

19 -

20 Soldiers do

3 - 5 -

8 - 19 - 6

Shoes ditt

6 Pair Womens Calve Leather Shoes

1 - 6 -

3 Ditto Spanish Leather do

17 - 3

1 Boys Calve Leather do

2 - 6

2 - 6 - 9

1 Pair Scissors

6

1 Copp Fish Cordon

1 -

2 Tunes Capp

2 - 8

1 Sugar more

3 - 16

4 - 8

30 Pair Indian Stockings

2 -

2 lb Copp

3 -

1 Cew English Duck

1 - 3 - 9

7 1/2 Yards Holland do

16 - 6

4 Slit

8 - 17 - 3

2 whole Deals

Carried over

282 - 10 - 6 1/2

The account of store goods sold and delivered continued, the sum brought over standing at £244 7s 7½d.

2¼ pounds of twine, £0 2s 9d

3½ pounds of shoe thread, £0 9s 6d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £2 18s 7d.

30½ dozen hooks sorted, £0 15s 6d

13 large dittos, £0 18s 0d

2 small blankets, £0 11s 6d

3 middling blankets, £1 8s 6d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £2 0s 0d.

Nails sold as follows.

36 pounds of fourpenny nails, £0 2s 6d

4 pounds of sixpenny nails, £0 3s 0d

10 pounds of tenpenny nails, £0 6s 3d

6 pounds of twentypenny nails, £0 3s 6d

6 pounds of tenpenny nails, £0 3s 6d

8 pounds of hoop rivets, £0 4s 6d

The subtotal for the nails stood at £1 9s 11d.

1 wash hand basin, £1 1s 10d

1½ pieces of fustian, number 2, £1 16s 9d

1 thickset, number 3, £2 2s 0d

14½ yards of dungaree, £1 7s 9d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £6 8s 4d.

Hosiery sold as follows.

1 pair of children's stockings, £0 1s 0d

3 pairs of girls' stockings at 4s 4d, £0 4s 0d

1 pair of boys' stockings, £0 2s 6d

1 pair of dittos, number 16, £0 2s 6d

4 pairs of women's stockings, number 17, £0 8s 8d

2 pairs of dittos, number 19, £0 16s 0d

8 pairs of men's stockings, number 30, £1 16s 0d

1 pair of girls' stockings, £0 2s 6d

The subtotal for the hosiery stood at £3 6s 6d.

Hats sold as follows.

3 hats, number 4, £2 5s 0d

6 hats, number 3, £2 17s 6d

2 hats, number 1, £1 12s 0d

20 soldiers' hats, £3 6s 0d

The subtotal for the hats stood at £8 19s 6d.

Shoes sold as follows.

6 pairs of women's calf-leather shoes, £1 6s 0d

3 pairs of Spanish-leather dittos, £0 17s 3d

1 pair of boys' calf-leather dittos, £0 2s 6d

1 pair of scissors, £0 0s 6d

1 cap and tuft cord, £0 1s 0d

2 tunics and caps, £0 2s 8d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £2 6s 9d.

1 razor more, £0 2s 0d

30 pairs of soldiers' stockings, £3 15s 0d

2 pounds of copper, £0 2s 0d

1 piece of English duck, £1 3s 9d

7½ yards of fine Holland duck, £1 9s 0d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £4 8s 0d.

4 slit deals, £0 16s 6d

2 whole deals

The subtotal for these closing lines stood at £8 17s 3d.

Carried over, £282 10s 6½d.

Interpretations

This continuation of the store account ran through the harder manufactured goods, the building and clothing stock the Company's stores held for the garrison and inhabitants. The nails were graded by the old penny sizing, fourpenny to twentypenny denoting length rather than price, a standard measure for the many sizes a builder or carpenter required, sold here by weight alongside hoop rivets for cask-making and barrel-binding.

The cloth lines named the working textiles of the trade. Fustian was a stout cotton-and-linen cloth, thickset a heavy ribbed fustian, dungaree a coarse Indian cotton used for slaves' and labourers' clothing, and duck a strong plain canvas for sails and hard wear, the Holland duck being the finer Dutch-finished grade. The deals were sawn softwood planks, slit deals split thinner than whole, scarce timber on a near-treeless island and so a regular import for building. The hats and stockings sized by number show the store retailing graded ready-made goods, the soldiers' hats and stockings supplied in bulk to clothe the garrison against the cool and damp the island's elevation brought.

157

152

August

Brought over

282 - 10 - 6 1/2

11 Oz China Silk

11 -

3 English do

7 - 6

1 Peice Romou Holland Tape 9

4 ditto do Ditto 6

4 Midling Ditto

8

14 - 9

2 Scarlet Tape

3 -

2 Scarlet Tape

6

6 Yards Garting

- 6

6 lb Coloured & Browne Thread

1 -

4 lb Whited Browne N: 5

1 -

1/2 lb Ditto 6

3 - 7

1/2 ditto Orange

6 - 7 1/2

1/2 ditto 8

6 - 8

4 oz Nuns Thread a 13

5 -

6 Pr Pins 1: 2

- 8 -

1 M: ditto 1: 2

1 - 2

6 Ordinary Silk Laces 3

- 8

9 - 2

16 ditto

9 - 4

2 Long best ditto

2 - 8

13 - 8

4 Cott Womens Lamb Gloves

6 -

1 Womens Wash do

1 - 9

1 do Lamb

6 1

2 do Kidd do

7 - 6

17 - 3

5 doz breast Buttons

2 - 6

2 do do Dressing 3 1/2

7

6 do ditto 4 1/2

1 - 10 1/2

4 - 11 1/2

4 Skaine Mohair

1 - 8

10 Yards Edging 1: 9

17 - 6

3 Pair Jumps a 26: 6

3 - 19 - 6

1 ditto

1 - 2

1 Bodice

- 10 - 9

1 Horn Comb

- 6

1 Ivory Ditto

1 - 6

6 - 9

4 ditto

3 -

2 1/2 Yards Ribbon a 6 Pr

1 - 3

3 do ditto 3

9

3 do ditto

4 -

1/2 Peice Black & White Crape

1 - 17 - 6

3 Yards Flannell 1: 9

4 -

5 Butchers Knives

2 - 6

13 - 19 - 8

Iron Ware

2 - 14 -

4 Chest Locks N: 2 2: 10

- - -

1 Small Pick Ax

7 - 4

1 Shod Shovell

4 - 6

1 Cupboard Lock

2 - 6

1 Frying Pan

2 - 7

1 Ditto

4 - 9

1 Pair Stilyards

7 - 1

5 Pott Scrapers

12 - 9

1 Han Cupp

- 4 -

1 Iron Pott wt 22 lb

1 - 3 -

1 Pair Pott Hooks

7 - 3 -

6

4 - 14 - 4

308 - 13 - 5

The account of store goods sold and delivered continued, the sum brought over standing at £282 10s 6½d.

11 ounces of china silk, £0 11s 0d

3 ounces of English silk, £0 7s 6d

1 piece of romal or Holland tape, £0 7s 9d

6 pieces of widelena tape, £0 6s 0d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £14 9s 0d.

2 scarlet tapes, £0 3s 0d

3 yards of garting, £0 0s 6d

6 pounds of coloured and brown thread, £1 0s 0d

4 pounds of white and brown thread, number 5, £1 0s 0d

½ pound of dittos, number 6, £0 3s 7d

½ pound of cruel thread, £0 6s 7½d

½ pound of dittos, £0 5s 8d

4 ounces of nun's thread at 1s 3d, £0 5s 0d

6 ounces of pins, number 2, £0 8s 0d

1 ounce of dittos, number 2, £0 1s 2d

6 ordinary silk laces, number 3, £0 1s 8d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £9 2s 0d.

16 dittos, £0 9s 4d

2 long best dittos, £0 2s 8d

4 pairs of women's lamb gloves, £0 6s 0d

1 pair of women's kid dittos, £0 1s 9d

1 pair of lamb dittos, £0 2s 0d

2 pairs of kid dittos, £0 7s 6d

5 dozen breast buttons, £0 2s 6d

2 dozen dittos, dressing, 3½, £0 0s 7d

6 pairs of dittos, 4½, £1 10s 0d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £13 8s 0d.

4 skeins of mohair, £0 1s 8d

10 yards of edging, £0 17s 6d

3 pairs of jumps at 26s 6d, £3 9s 6d

1 pair of dittos, £1 2s 0d

1 bodice, £0 10s 9d

1 horn comb, £0 0s 6d

1 ivory ditto, £0 1s 6d

4 dittos, £0 2s 0d

2½ yards of ribbon at 6d, £0 1s 3d

3½ yards of dittos, £0 1s 9d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £17 3s 0d, with a further £4 11s 1½d and £1 8s 0d carried alongside.

½ piece of black-and-white crape, £1 17s 6d

8 yards of flannel at 1s 1d, £0 4s 0d

5 butchers' knives, £0 2s 6d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £13 19s 8d, with a further £2 14s 0d carried alongside.

Iron ware sold as follows.

4 chest locks, number 2, £0 7s 4d

1 small pick axe, £0 4s 6d

1 spade shovel, £0 2s 6d

1 cupboard lock, £0 2s 7d

1 frying pan, £0 4s 9d

1 ditto, £0 7s 1d

1 pair of andirons, £0 12s 9d

5 pairs of scissors, £0 3s 4d

1 hand saw, £0 3s 0d

1 iron pot, weight 27 pounds at 6d, £1 3s 6d

1 pair of pot hooks, £0 0s 6d

The subtotal for the iron ware stood at £4 14s 4d.

Total carried, £303 13s 5d.

Interpretations

This part of the account ran through the haberdashery and small metalware the store carried, the threads, tapes, laces and trimmings used in making and mending clothes on an island where ready cloth was dear and most garments were sewn at home. The named threads marked distinct grades, cruel being a fine worsted yarn for embroidery and edging, nun's thread a fine white linen thread, the lot sold by the ounce and the pound to a population that did its own needlework.

The garments and trimmings reflected the limited finery available so far from a market. Jumps were a loose unboned bodice worn in place of stays, a bodice the stiffened alternative, and crape a thin crimped silk often worn for mourning, the black-and-white grade suited to half-mourning. Mohair was a yarn of angora goat's hair used for buttons and braid, and the kid and lamb gloves were the dressed skins that made the better grade of glovework. The iron ware closing the account was the hardware of house and kitchen, locks, pans, andirons for the hearth and an iron pot priced by its weight, the manufactured metal goods a treeless and ore-less island had to import entire.

158

153

Brought over

308 - 13 - 5

1 Tin Bottle

3 - 10 -

1 Watering Cutt

6 -

2 Cudding Cans

5 - 8

1 ditto

6 -

6 Sauce Cupps Sorted

6 - 3

18 Yards Kerseys

1 - 13

1 - 1 - 9

1 Ballampore N: 1

4 - 2

10 Yards Camblet

1 - 6

2 do Yards Shalloon

2 -

4 lb Crape

10 -

1 Tea Kettle

12 - 6

5 - 12 - 9

1 ditto

18 - 6

29 lb Red Lead

11 -

1 - 11 -

7 Barrells Lamb Black

3 - 6

14 - 6

1 Pewter Dish N: 8 1/2 lb

5 - 3

Sum Totall to yt Inhabitants

313 - 3 - 1 1/2

Generall Charges

1 Large Lyne

3 - 4

13/4 Gall: Trayne Oyle

10 - 6

1 Bushell Pees

8 - 8

1 Brush for Cloth

1 - 6

3 lb Cutt Tobacco

6 -

6 lb Pigs Capp

3 - 6

5 1/2 Crape of Corksy

16 -

1 Barrell Lamb Black

6 -

1 Yard Broad Cloth

1 - 2 -

3 Yards Kerseys

6 -

1 Iron Cutt Weight 7 2 lb

1 - 16 -

1 Pair Cott Hooks

2 - 6

4 Glass Cruets

5 -

6 - 1 - 4

Fortification

1 Pair Iron Wormes

3 - 8

6 Sheets Tin

4 -

7 - 8

Diet Expences Dr

25 Gallons Arrach

7 - 18 - 4

15 ditto Vinegar

3 -

2 lb Copp

2 -

2 Peices Sortted

4 - 6

3 Bottles Florence Oyle

1 - 2 - 6

1 Cask Pork

4 - 7

16 - 8 - 11

Plantation Dr

2 Summing Difhes

1 -

6 Spoons

2 - 3

1 Hatchet N: 3

3 - 4

6 - 5

Carried over

336 - 7 - 5 1/2

The account of store goods sold and delivered continued, the sum brought over standing at £303 13s 5d.

1 tin bottle, £0 3s 10d

1 watering pot, £0 6s 0d

2 codling pans, £0 5s 8d

1 ditto, £0 6s 3d

6 paper canes sorted, £1 13s 0d

18 yards of romal, £0 4s 2d

1 ballampore, number 1, £1 6s 0d

10 yards of camlet, £0 9s 0d

20 yards of shalloon, £0 10s 0d

4 silk laces, £0 12s 6d

1 tea kettle, £0 18s 6d

1 ditto, £0 11s 0d

29 pounds of red lead, £0 3s 6d

7 barrels of lamp black, £0 5s 3d

1 pewter dish, weight 3½ pounds, £0 14s 6d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £6 19s 9d and £1 11s 0d.

Sum total to the inhabitants, £313 3s 1½d.

General charges as follows.

1 large pan, £0 3s 4d

1¾ pounds of rope yarn, £0 10s 6d

1 bushel of cumin, £0 8s 3d

1 length of broad cloth, £0 1s 6d

3 pounds of cut tobacco, £0 6s 0d

6 pounds of pipes, £0 3s 3d

5½ pounds of ropes of tobacco, £0 16s 0d

1 barrel of lamp black, £0 2s 6d

1 yard of broad cloth, £1 2s 6d

3 yards of romal, £0 0s 6d

1 iron pot, weight 7 pounds, £1 16s 6d

1 pair of pot hooks, £0 2s 6d

4 glass cruets, £0 5s 0d

The subtotal for the general charges stood at £6 1s 4d.

Fortification charges as follows.

1 pair of iron andirons, £0 3s 8d

6 sheets of tin, £0 4s 0d

The subtotal for the fortification charges stood at £7 8s 0d.

Diet expenses, debtor, as follows.

25 gallons of arrack, £7 18s 4d

15 dittos of vinegar, £3 0s 0d

2 pounds of copper, £0 2s 0d

2 frying pans, £0 4s 6d

3 bottles of Florence oil, £1 2s 6d

1 cask of pork, £4 1s 7d

The subtotal for the diet expenses stood at £16 8s 11d.

Plantation charges, debtor, as follows.

2 summing dishes, £0 1s 0d

6 spoons, £0 2s 3d

1 hatchet, number 3, £0 3s 2d

The subtotal for the plantation charges stood at £6 5s 0d.

Carried over, £336 7s 5½d.

Interpretations

This part of the account divided the store issues by the account each was charged to, the running total to the inhabitants closing first and the remaining heads, general charges, fortification, diet and plantation, recording goods drawn for the Company's own use rather than sold to the people. The split shows the store serving two functions at once, a retail outlet to the island's householders and the supply depot for the establishment's own departments.

The piece-goods here named further Eastern textiles, ballampore being a painted or printed Indian bed-cover, camlet a closely woven cloth of wool or mixed fibres, shalloon a light twilled woollen used chiefly for linings, and romal a thin cotton or silk square used as a handkerchief or neckcloth. Paper canes were lengths of split cane or rattan, and red lead and lamp black were pigments, red lead a lead oxide used in paint and priming, lamp black the fine soot used to make black paint and ink, both supplied to the fortification and plantation accounts for the upkeep of the Company's buildings and gear. The codling pans were shaped pans for cooking codling apples, retailed among the kitchen metalware the store kept for the inhabitants' households.

159

154

August

Dr Brought over

336 - 7 - 5 1/2

Garrison Dr

1 Quart Sweet Oyle

3 -

5 1/2 Gall: Vapor do

1 - 13 -

8 Cattees Greene Tea

1 - 12 -

2 Chelloe Shirts

6 -

8 Pipes

4

3 - 14 - 4

The Honoble Comp: Blacks

1470 lb Beefe

5 - 2 - 0

3141 lb Rice

5 - 16 - 1 1/2

24 Bushells Beans

9 - 12 -

125 1/2 Yards Kerseys

11 - 10 - 1

4 Peices Bleed Curkass

2 - 10 -

2 lb Coloured Thread

8 -

1 Pair Island Shoes

4 -

2 Horn Combs

1 - 6

4 Ivory Ditto

8 -

1 Clote Lock

3 - 4

4 Midling Blankets

1 - 18 -

37 Doz Hooks Sorted

19 - 11

45 Lyne Ditto

6 -

18 Twine

4 - 4

126 - - 1 1/2

Sum Totall

466 - 1 - 4

John: Smith

Edward Byfeild

Jno: Goodwin

The account of store goods sold and delivered continued, the sum brought over standing at £336 7s 5½d.

Garrison charges, debtor, as follows.

1 quart of sweet oil, £0 3s 0d

5½ pounds of cut tobacco, £1 13s 0d

8 catties of green tea, £1 12s 0d

2 chintz shirts, £0 6s 0d

8 pounds of pipes, £0 0s 4d

The subtotal for the garrison charges stood at £3 14s 4d.

The Company's blacks, debtor, as follows.

1,470 pounds of bread, £5 12s 0d

314 pounds of rice, £5 16s 1½d

24 bushels of beans, £0 9s 1½d

125½ yards of romal, £4 10s 1d

4 pieces of blue gurrahs, £2 10s 0d

2 pounds of coloured thread, £0 8s 0d

1 pair of island shoes, £0 4s 0d

2 horn combs, £0 1s 6d

4 ivory dittos, £0 8s 0d

1 chest lock, £0 3s 4d

4 middling blankets, £1 18s 0d

37 dozen hooks sorted, £0 19s 11d

45 large dittos, £0 5s 0d

1 pound of twine, £0 1s 4½d

The subtotal for the Company's blacks stood at £126 0s 1½d.

Sum total, £466 1s 4d.

The account was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

This closing part of the store account set out the goods issued for the maintenance of the Company's own slaves, charged to their distinct head alongside the garrison's. The provision lines, bread, rice and beans in bulk, recorded the staple feeding of the slave force the censuses counted near two hundred, the grain supplementing the yams the plantations grew and falling on the Company as the cost of holding its labour.

The cloth and goods issued to the slaves marked the lower grade of the store's stock turned to that use, romal and blue gurrahs being coarse Indian cottons suited to slaves' clothing, with island shoes, a locally made footwear, and blankets against the cool and damp of the higher ground. The sorted hooks, combs and twine were the small necessaries the Company furnished to keep its people clothed and equipped, the whole forming the material charge of slave-holding set down as exactly as the retail sales to the inhabitants, so that the cost of the labour force could be carried to the Company's account.

160

155

1723

Island St: Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the 17th Day of September 1723 At Union

Castle In James Valley.

Jno: Smith Esqr Govr

Dr Sent Edwd Byfeild 2d

Jno: Alexander 3d

&

Jno: Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and approved on

Ordered that noe Black whatsoever

belonging to the honoble Company doe raise

or be permitted to keep any poultry what:

=soever in none of the Plantations or black

houses

Capt: Alexander and Capt: Goodwin

report that according to the order of Consul=

=tation of the 5d Instant they had viewed

the Ground petitioned for by Joseph Bates &

they are of Opinion that the granting a Lease

thereof will be prejudiciale to severall Persons

thereabouts and will be of little or noe use to

him if granted.

Wee this day tooke into Consideration the

Petition of Joshua Johnson and Charles Stewart

agt the Petition of Joseph Bates last Consul=

Day referred to this day according to the

Order therein mentioned.

Mr Stewart Says that the granting the

Lease of the Ground petitioned for by Joseph

Bates will be a Nusance to himself and

all the Neighbourhood.

Which is alsd confirmed by Mr

Johnson

Margin Notes:

Blacks None

to raise Poultry

Report abt: ye

Land Petn for

by Jo: Bates

Petn agt Jo: Bates

Considerd.

Mr Stewards Object:

Confirmd by Mr

Johnson.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 17 September 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Smith, Captain Edward Byfield as second, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin as fourth.

The last consultation was read and approved.

The council ordered that no black belonging to the Company should raise or be allowed to keep any poultry at all, in any of the plantations or black houses.

Captain Alexander and Captain Goodwin reported that, in keeping with the order of 13 September 1723, they had viewed the ground sought by Joseph Bates. They held that granting a lease of it would harm several persons nearby and would be of little or no use to Bates himself if granted.

The council took into consideration the petition of Joshua Johnson and Charles Steward against the petition of Joseph Bates, presented at the last consultation day and referred to this day under the order then made.

Charles Steward said that granting Bates the lease of the ground sought would be a nuisance to himself and to the whole neighbourhood. Joshua Johnson confirmed the same.

Interpretations

The order barring the Company's slaves from keeping poultry tightened the control of the slave force begun earlier in this run of consultations, removing a small private economy the slaves had built around their own birds. The measure denied them a source of food and barter independent of their rations, the same logic that drove the night curfew of 3 September 1723 and the wider effort to close off any means by which slaves might support themselves or trade outside their masters' control.

The rejection of Joseph Bates's acre rested on the view of Alexander and Goodwin and the objections of the neighbours, Joshua Johnson and Charles Steward, the council finding both that the grant would harm others and that it would serve Bates little even if made. The double finding gave the council a clear ground to refuse without weighing the petitioner's hardship, the affected holders heard and their complaint upheld in the same way the council had handled earlier contests over waste-land grants.

161

156

September.

Johnson especially by hindring the Water

comeing to his Plantation

Whereupon Wee reject the Petition

of the sd Joseph Bates

Mrs Elizabeth Greentree having

severall Blacks run away and noe

white man living with her.

Ordered that She doo hire a

white Servant as Overseer to looke

after her blacks or else She forfeits

her Lease according to the Agreemt

of our honoble Masters.

Ordered that an Advertisement be

issued out to give notice to the Persons

belonging to the Garrison and yt Workmen

employed by the honoble Company that

the Governour and Council intend to Sit

in Consultation at Plantation house

on Thursday and ffryday next being ye

3 & 4th Days of October for the Settling

the Acco:ts between them and the sd

honoble Company for the last Quarter.

John: Smith

Edward Byfeild

Jno: Alexander

Jno: Goodwin

Margin Notes:

& hindrance of Water

Jo: Bates Petn Rejected

Sev: Blks of Eliz: Greentrees

Run away.

Ord: She Hire a white

Man Overseer

Reckoning Wth: yt

Garrison & work

People Appointed

Joshua Johnson objected in particular that the grant would hinder the water reaching his plantation.

The council therefore rejected the petition of Joseph Bates.

The widow Elizabeth Greentree had several slaves run away and now had no white man living with her.

The council ordered that she hire a white servant as overseer to look after her slaves, or else forfeit her lease under the Company's agreement.

The council ordered an advertisement to be issued giving notice to the persons belonging to the garrison and to the workmen employed by the Company. Governor Smith and the council intended to sit in consultation at the plantation house on Thursday and Friday next, being 3 and 4 October, to reckon the accounts between those persons and the Company for the last quarter.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The order on the widow Elizabeth Greentree enforced a standing condition of the island's leases, the requirement that every holding keep a white man resident to oversee its slaves. The condition tied land tenure to the control of the slave population, the council treating the absence of a white overseer as a breach grave enough to void the lease, the runaways from her plantation being read as the direct consequence of leaving slaves unsupervised. The white-resident clause served the island's security as much as the individual estate, spreading the burden of slave control across every landholder and giving the Company a lever, the forfeiture of the lease, to compel compliance.

The notice to the garrison and the Company's workmen fixed the quarterly reckoning at the plantation house on 3 and 4 October, the settlement of wages and accounts that closed each quarter for those the Company employed and paid. The advertisement ensured every affected person knew the day to attend and clear his account, the regular audit by which the establishment's pay and the men's debts to the stores were balanced against one another.

162

157

Island St: Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the 1st Day of October 1723 At Plantatn

House

Jno: Smith Esq Govr

Dr Sent Edwd Byfeild 2d

Jno: Alexander 3d &

Jno: Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved of

According to the Order of the Consultation

of the 3d Day of September last The Gentle

men of the Council togeather with Messres

Wrangham & Powell Report that they

had Surveyed and taken an Acco:t of the

honoble Companys Plantation & Live

Stock which they could not bring in

sooner by reason of the rainy weather

and trouble they had in telling the Gyame

and find that there are Two hundred

& thirty four Goats Decreased Since ye

last Yearly Acco:t which has been

occasioned by the large Drought &

want of Seasons the Same Calamity

having attended all the Island in

Generale.

Margin Notes:

Acco:t of the

Survey of the

Hon: Co: Plant:

& live Stock

brought in.

Decrease of

Goats Quan:

by Long drought

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 1 October 1723 at the plantation house.

Present were Governor Smith, Captain Edward Byfield as second, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin as fourth.

The last consultation was read and approved.

In keeping with the order of 3 September last, the members of the council, together with Francis Wrangham and James Powell, reported on their survey of the Company's plantation and live stock. They had taken an account of both but could not bring it in sooner, owing to the rainy weather and the difficulty they had in counting the yams. They found that the goats had fallen by 234 since the last yearly account, a loss caused by the long drought and the failure of the seasons, the same hardship that had struck the whole island.

Interpretations

The survey carried out the order of 3 September 1723, the yearly account of the Company's plantations and stock that fixed the state of its property for the directors. The delay the surveyors pleaded, the rains and the labour of counting the yams, points to the scale of the task on a stock measured in the hundreds of thousands, the yam count being the standard reckoning of the island's staple crop on which both the Company's slaves and the shipping depended.

The fall of 234 goats since the last account recorded the toll of the drought that runs through these consultations, the want of rain and the failure of the seasons cutting the herds the island grazed on its open waste. The loss tied directly to the provisioning crisis pressed since the consultation of 5 March 1723, the lean stock and the failing pasture leaving the Company fewer beasts to feed its people and supply the ships, the goat count standing as one measure of the drought's effect on the island's husbandry.

163

158

October.

An Acco:t of the Honble Companies Sevd Plantacons &

Quantity of Yams therein as it was taken the 5th 6th 9th 10th &

11th Sepr 1723 vizt

At the Peake are of 22 Months old in ch

wont come out above 1/3 haveing had no Seasons

& the Ground very poor lying betwam bleak

53,000

At Lutkiees about 12 & 13 Mo: old

21,000

In the Grand Plantacon vizt

From the bottom of Bamboo Gut to the

first Bamboo Tree including the Cew below

the old Pidgeon House

42,000

of about 9 Months old there has been Planted

Severall thousand more but by the Drought of

the Season are dead

From yt Bamboo Trees almost to the Row of ffig Trees

about 8 Months old the rest of that Peice up to

the Sed ffigg Tree is unplanted for want of timber

27,000

From the above Row of ffig Trees up to Marias

Spring

41,000

of 9 Months old Sevd more have been Planted

in this Gut but are Dead for want of the Rains

there being but a Small Run of Water which

very much lessens in dry Weather

In the New Gutt above Marias Spring is planted

29,000

from 15 to 3 Months old

On the Hill Side called Thompsons Garden to

Capt Crowdo Spring

36,000

of 20 Months old & Sevd more were Planted

but are Dead in the Ground

Josseps Gutt, the upper Part of it is unplanted

for want of timber

The Lower Part contains of 5 Months old

16,000

Trubodales Gutt contains of 11 Months old

30,000

Yams Carried over

394,000

Margin Notes:

Quantitys of

Yams in the

Sevd Plantations

An account of the Company's several plantations and the quantity of yams growing, as taken on 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11 September 1723.

At the Peak the yams were 22 months old, of which not above a third would come out, the ground having had no seasons and lying poor and bleak, 53,000

At Lufkins, about 12 and 13 months old, 21,000

In the Grand Plantation as follows.

From the bottom of Bamboo Gut to the first bamboo tree, including the piece below the old Pigeon House, about 9 months old, several thousand more having been planted but dead by the drought of the season, 42,000

From the bamboo trees almost to the row of fig trees, about 8 months old, the rest of that place up to the fig tree unplanted for want of timber, 27,000

From the above row of fig trees up to Marian's Spring, about 9 months old, several thousand more having been planted in this gut but dead for want of the rains, there being only a small run of water which falls away much in dry weather, 41,000

In the new gut above Marian's Spring, newly planted, from 15 days to 3 months old, 29,000

On the hill side called Thompson's Garden to Captain Crowde's Spring, about 20 months old, several thousand more having been planted but dead in the ground, 36,000

In Jessey's Gut, the upper part of it unplanted for want of timber, the lower part containing yams of 5 months old, 16,000

Trudale's Gut contains yams of 11 months old, 30,000

Yams carried over, 394,000

Interpretations

This account broke the Company's yam stock down plot by plot across the Grand Plantation and the outlying grounds, recording for each the age of the crop and the quantity standing, the yam being the island's staple root and the chief provision for both the slave force and the shipping. The ages noted, running from 15 days to 22 months, mark how far each plot was from harvest, the yam taking many months to mature, the unusually old crops at the Peak and Thompson's Garden showing ground left undrawn far past its normal age because the drought had stopped fresh planting and the failure of seasons had thinned what could be taken.

The repeated note of thousands planted but dead in the ground, and of stretches left unplanted for want of timber, set out the two constraints crippling the crop. The drought killed the young suckers before they could root, the small runs of water at Marian's Spring and the other guts falling away in dry weather, while the want of timber, scarce on a near-treeless island, denied the planters the wood needed to fence and stake new ground. The plot-by-plot reckoning gave the directors an exact measure of how the long want of rain pressed through the consultations of 1723 had cut into the Company's reserve of its single most important provision.

164

159

Yams brought over

394,000

Keelings Gutt Contains of 13 Months old

35,000

Carees two Gutts contain of 14 Months old

45,000

Some Part of the Lower Gutt washed away by the last

Flood & remains unplanted

At Perkins from behind the House to the New

Gut under the Waterfall from 13 to 19 Month old are

28,000

In the Old Ground are of about 9 Months old

10,000

Some of this Ground being bad has been thrown up

Since last Account

In the Hill House Gutt of 9 Months old are

14,000

In Fostets Ground are of 13 Months old about

2,000

In Griffins Ground are but

10,000

of about 15 Months old the rest of the Ground un=

planted for want of Suckers

In the Minty Hill Side of about 16 or 17 Months old

110,000

On the Hill Side below the House including the Gutts

to the lower End are of about 20 Months old

20,000

In the Plain of about 11 Months old are

70,000

In the new Peice above the the Plain are

30,000

of about 22 Months old

In the new Gutts of about 18 Months old are

16,000

At the Hutts vizt

Behind the House 30,000 Planted 8 Months old

but deceased by the Dry Weather & are very small to

6,000

Behind the old House of about 20 Months old are

14,000

In the old Ground with the Side of the Hill by the

Lemon Trees in blured are of about 6 Months old

30,000

In the Long Gutt of about 22 Months old are

10,000

Tot all Yams

740,000

Margin Notes:

Supposed to hold in

wt 60000 fitt to dig

The account of the Company's yams continued, the sum brought over standing at 394,000.

Keelings Gut contains yams of 13 months old, 35,000

Carnes Gut contains yams of 14 months old, 45,000

Some part of the lower gut was washed away by the last flood and remains unplanted.

At Perkins, from behind the houses to the new gut under the waterfall, from 13 to 1 month old, 28,000

In the old ground, about 9 months old, some of this ground being bad and thrown up since the last account, 10,000

In the Hill House Gut, 9 months old, 14,000

In Jessey's ground, about 13 months old, 2,000

In Griffin's ground, about 15 months old, the rest of the ground unplanted for want of suckers, 10,000

On the Mighty Hill side, about 16 or 17 months old, supposed to hold in all about 60,000 fit to dig, 110,000

On the hill side below the houses, including the gut to the lower end, about 20 months old, 20,000

In the plain, about 11 months old, 70,000

In the new piece above the plain, about 22 months old, 30,000

In the new gut, about 18 months old, 16,000

At the Hutts as follows.

Behind the houses, 20,000 planted 8 months old but lessened by the dry weather and now very small, 6,000

Behind the old houses, about 20 months old, 14,000

In the old ground along the side of the hill by the lemon trees, enclosed, about 6 months old, 30,000

In the Long Gut, about 22 months old, 10,000

Total yams, 740,000

Interpretations

This second half of the survey completed the plot-by-plot reckoning of the Company's yam reserve, carrying the count across Perkins's, the Hutts and the outlying guts to a grand total of 740,000. The figure stood as the island's working store of its staple provision, the measure against which the council judged its capacity to feed the slave force and supply the shipping through a year of failed seasons.

The notes attached to the plots traced the drought's continuing toll, the dry weather shrinking the crop behind the Hutts so that 20,000 planted had dwindled to 6,000 very small roots, and ground at Perkins's and elsewhere thrown up as bad or left unplanted for want of suckers. The want of suckers, the yam shoots used for replanting, marks a self-reinforcing failure, a poor crop yielding too few shoots to plant the next, while the loss to the last flood at Carnes Gut shows the ground exposed equally to violent rain as to drought. The qualified entry on the Mighty Hill side, 110,000 standing but only about 60,000 reckoned fit to dig, distinguished the gross crop from the part actually harvestable, giving the directors a truer measure of usable stock than the raw total alone conveyed.

165

160

October.

Account of the Honble Companies Stock of Neat Cattle, Sheep Goates Hogs Coultry

Asses & Horses, likewise what has been kyld from Ult: July to the 11th Sepr besides the Increase

& Decrease in & acct taken the 5th 6th 9th 10th & 11th Sepr 1723

Neat Cattle

Bullocks Cows Heyfers Steers Yearling Calves Bulls Totall

Sheep

Ewes Wethers Lambs Rams Totall

Goates

Ewes Wethers Kids Rams Totall

Hogs

Sows Boars Barrows Piggs Totall

Coultry

Turkeys Geese Ducks Hens

Asses

Horses

Horses Mares Totall

Remaine of Ult: July

34 49 20 32 18 61 6

220

51 14 11 4

80

268 97 141 8

508

1 14 - 10 25

41 134 24 8 10

10 4

4 2

6

Brought

Inecreased from do hint

to ye 11th Sepr

31 16 11 2 1 7 2

70

- 4 7 -

9

- - - - -

7

- 2 16 23

- 6 8 10

- -

- - -

kyld from do to do

65 65 31 34 19 68 8

290

51 16 18 4

89

268 97 141 8

508

8 14 2 24 48

41 146 32 18

10 4

4 2

6

1 - - 2 - - -

3

- 2

2

- 4 - -

- - -

Dead Stolen & cad

from do to d

64 65 31 32 19 68 8

287

51 14 18 4

87

268 73 141 8

456

8 14 2 24 48

41 140 28 18

10 4

4 2

6

- 3 2 2 1 7 -

15

14 -

1

4 5

83 37 114 7

234

- 4 - -

4 3

- 2 - -

- - -

Cattle Cut & grown as

appeared by the acct:

64 62 29 30 18 61 8

272

37 14 18 3

7 2

151 36 27 8

222

8 10 2 24 44

38 140 28 18

8 4

4 2

6

19 15

27

Remaine 11th Sepr

according to the acct

64 62 29 18 3 61 8

245

37 14 18 3

7 2

151 36 27 8

222

8 10 2 24 44

38 140 28 18

8 4

4 2

6

-

-

Yams Expended at the Sevd Plantations

6600 lb

Ditto delivered to the ffort Blacks

3675 lb

10275 lb

Margin Notes:

Mr Byfeilds Acct

of the Hon: Co:

live Stock &c:

for Aug & part

of Sept: 1723

An account of the Company's stock of neat cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, asses and horses, together with what had been killed from the end of July to 11 September 1723, besides the increase and decrease, the account taken on 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11 September 1723.

Neat cattle, by bullocks, cows, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and bulls, then the total.

Remaining at the end of July: 34 bullocks, 49 cows, 20 heifers, 32 steers, 18 yearlings, 61 calves, 6 bulls, total 220

Increased from the end of July to 11 September: 31 bullocks, 16 cows, 11 heifers, 2 steers, 1 yearling, 7 calves, 2 bulls, total 70

Killed from the end of July to 11 September: 1 bullock, 2 steers, total 3

Dead, stolen and so on from the end of July to 11 September: 3 cows, 2 heifers, 9 steers, 1 yearling, total 15

Cattle cut and grown as appears by the account: 64 bullocks, 62 cows, 29 heifers, 30 steers, 18 yearlings, 61 calves, 8 bulls, total 272

Remaining at 11 September according to the account: 64 bullocks, 62 cows, 29 heifers, 18 steers, 3 yearlings, 61 calves, 8 bulls, total 245

Sheep, by ewes, wethers, lambs and rams, then the total.

Remaining at the end of July: 51 ewes, 14 wethers, 11 lambs, 4 rams, total 80

Increased from the end of July to 11 September: 4 wethers, 7 lambs, total 9

Killed from the end of July to 11 September: 2 lambs, total 2

Dead, stolen and so on from the end of July to 11 September: 14 wethers, 1 ram, total 15

Sheep cut and grown as appears by the account: 37 ewes, 14 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 7½

Remaining at 11 September according to the account: 37 ewes, 14 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 7½

Goats, by ewes, wethers, kids and rams, then the total.

Remaining at the end of July: 262 ewes, 97 wethers, 141 kids, 8 rams, total 508

Killed from the end of July to 11 September: total 52

Dead, stolen and so on from the end of July to 11 September: 83 ewes, 37 wethers, 114 kids, 7 rams, total 234

Goats cut and grown as appears by the account: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222

Remaining at 11 September according to the account: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222

Hogs, by sows, shoats, tubs and rooms, then the total.

Remaining at the end of July: 1 sow, 14 shoats, 10 tubs, 25 rooms, total 8

Increased from the end of July to 11 September: 7 rooms

Killed from the end of July to 11 September: 4 rooms

Dead, stolen and so on from the end of July to 11 September: 4 rooms

Hogs cut and grown as appears by the account: 8 sows, 10 shoats, 2 tubs, 24 rooms, total 8

Remaining at 11 September according to the account: 8 sows, 10 shoats, 2 tubs, 24 rooms, total 8

Poultry, by cocks, hens, turkeys, geese and ducks, then the total.

Remaining at the end of July: 41 cocks, 134 hens, 24 turkeys, 8 geese, 10 ducks, total 6

Increased from the end of July to 11 September: 6 turkeys, 8 geese, 10 ducks

Killed from the end of July to 11 September: 4 turkeys

Dead, stolen and so on from the end of July to 11 September: 2 turkeys

Poultry cut and grown as appears by the account: 44 cocks, 38 hens, 140 turkeys, 28 geese, 18 ducks

Remaining at 11 September according to the account: 44 cocks, 38 hens, 140 turkeys, 28 geese, 18 ducks, total 8

Asses: 10 remaining throughout, total 10

Horses, by horses and mares, then the total.

Remaining at the end of July: 4 horses, 2 mares, total 6

Remaining at 11 September according to the account: 4 horses, 2 mares, total 6

Yams expended at the several plantations, 66,000 pounds

Yams delivered to the fort blacks, 36,750 pounds

Total, 102,750 pounds

Interpretations

This table set out the Company's livestock by kind and class, recording for each the stock at the end of July, the increase by breeding, the numbers killed for provision, the losses to death and theft, and the count remaining at 11 September. The form gave the directors a full reckoning of the herds and flocks over the period, the births set against the kills and casualties so that the net movement of each kind could be read at a glance, the same exact accounting the council applied to the yam crop and the store goods.

The goats again showed the heaviest loss, 234 dead or stolen against only the natural increase to offset them, confirming on the page the fall of 234 the council had reported on 1 October 1723 and tying the table directly to the drought running through these consultations. The classes named follow the husbandry of the age, wethers being castrated rams and shoats young weaned pigs, the stock graded by sex and age so that breeding animals, growing beasts and those fit for the table could each be told apart. The yam figures appended below, the quantities expended at the plantations and delivered to the fort blacks, linked the two surveys, showing how the staple crop was drawn down both to feed the establishment's own consumption and to ration the Company's slaves at the fort.

166

161

The Petn of James Harding Corporale

was presented

Praying Liberty to hire abt 3 Acres

of Cabbage tree Land belonging to the

Honoble Company lying under the Mani

ridge adjoyning to Jno Hardings Land.

Ordered that Capt Goodwin doo

view the Land petitioned for & report

if lotting a Lease thereof will be pre

judicial to any person.

John: Smith

Edward Byfeild

Jno: Alexander

Jno: Goodwin

Island St: Helena.

At a Consultation held on Thursday

and ffryday the 3 & 4th Days of October

1723 at Plantation house.

Jno: Smith Esq Govr

Dr Sent Edwd Byfeild 2d

Jno: Alexander 3d &

Jno: Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and approved of

Margin Notes:

James Hardings

Petn for Land

to be viewed

James Harding, corporal, petitioned the council. He asked leave to hire about three acres of cabbage-tree land belonging to the Company, lying under the Main Ridge and adjoining Mr Harding's land.

The council ordered that Captain Goodwin view the land sought and report whether letting a lease of it would harm any person.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Thursday and Friday 3 and 4 October 1723 at the plantation house.

Present were Governor Smith, Edward Byfield as second, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin as fourth.

The last consultation was read and approved.

Interpretations

The order on James Harding's request followed the council's settled practice for waste-land grants, sending Captain Goodwin to view the parcel and report on any harm to neighbours before a lease was let. The cabbage-tree land named the ground by the native cabbage tree that grew on it, a species of the island's high interior, the parcel lying under the Main Ridge among the upland grounds the Company let to its tenants. The single-viewer referral, rather than the pair sent for earlier petitions, marked a routine assessment of a small holding adjoining the petitioner's own land, the council guarding against the engrossing and the injury to existing holders that governed its disposal of waste throughout these years.

167

162

October.

The Council met this Day pursuant to an

Advertisement Issued out the 17th of September

last to reckon with the Garrison & worke

People & to pay off those persons that

have money due to them for the last

Quarter as well as to hear any other

matters that might occurr.

Transferrs vizt

Jonathan Hotham Junr Stone Cutter

haveing due to him for cutting Stone to

wharfe the Crane laying the Same &

for Labourers worke the Sume of 18: 18

desires to transferr the Same to the fold persons

who are indebted to the honoble Company

To Joshua Johnson 3: 7: 6

To Mary Shreeve 1: 4: -

To Saml Jeffey 2: 6: 6

6 - 18 -

And towards lessening his own debt

6 - -

Capt Thomas Casson Dr to John Dixon

which clears his Debt to ye honoble

Company

15 - 2 - 8

Orlando Bagley Junr to Orlando

Bagley Senr towards his Debt

1 - 12 - 8

Edwd Bagley to Do

1 - 12 - 8

Thomas Eastnup to Do

1 - 10 - 8

James Ryder in Cash Bills in part

of his Debt

9 - -

Wm Beale desired Credit for the fold

Sumes in part of his Debt vizt

Wm Wilkins to Wm Beale

1 - 10

Doutr Beele to Do

1 - 12 - 8

Henry Beale to Do

1 - 12 - 8

Margin Notes:

Reckong Begun.

Transfers.

The council met this day in keeping with the advertisement issued on 17 September last, to reckon with the garrison and the workmen and to pay off those persons owed money for the last quarter, as well as to hear any other matters that might arise.

Transfers as follows.

Jonathan Higham junior, stone cutter, had due to him £18 0s 0d for cutting stone for the wharf and the crane, laying the same and for labourers' work. He asked to transfer the sum to persons who were indebted to the Company, as follows.

To Joshua Johnson, £3 7s 6d

To Mary Shreeve, £1 4s 0d

To Samuel Jessey, £2 6s 6d

The subtotal of these transfers stood at £6 18s 0d.

Towards lessening his own debt, £6 0s 0d

Captain Thomas Cason, debtor to John Dixon, which clears his debt to the Company, £15 2s 8d

Orlando Bagley junior, to Orlando Bagley senior, towards his debt, £1 12s 6d

Edward Bagley, to Orlando Bagley senior, £1 12s 6d

Thomas Eastrupp, to Orlando Bagley senior, £1 10s 6d

James Ryder, in cash bills, in part of his debt, £9 0s 0d

William Beale asked credit for the following sums in part of his debt, as follows.

William Withus, to William Beale, £1 10s 0d

Dowxer Beele, to William Beale, £1 12s 6d

Henry Beale, to William Beale, £1 12s 6d

Interpretations

This consultation carried out the quarterly reckoning advertised on 17 September 1723, the settlement of the wages owed to the garrison and the workmen against the debts those and others owed the Company's stores. The transfers recorded the means by which the island's accounts were squared without coin, a creditor assigning the wages due to him to clear the store debts of others, the Company moving sums between accounts in its books rather than paying out cash, the same bookkeeping practice that underlay the bills and transfers running through the island's economy.

Jonathan Higham junior's £18 0s 0d for the wharf and crane work showed the mechanism plainly, his wages for the stone-cutting split among three named debtors and the balance set against his own account, so that one man's earned credit discharged several others' liabilities in a single entry. The labour was the infrastructure work the council pressed at the landing place, the crane and wharf by which goods were got ashore, the skilled stone-cutting paid at the rates the establishment allowed and then turned, through the transfer book, into the currency that cleared the island's mutual debts.

168

163

Phillip Slaughter to Mrs Worrale in

part of his Debt to yt honoble Co:

3 - -

Thomas Eastoe pd in part of his

Debt

2 - 10 -

Thomas Gardner Do

1 - 12 - 8

Joseph Hayes to Dorothy Hayes in

part of her Debt

2 - -

Mrs Carne pd in part of her Debt

21 - 6 - 6

Jno Durling pd in full of his Debt

20 - 18 - 6

Jno Whaley for his Debt

1 - 15 - 8

Jno Knipe in part of his Debt pd

6 - 10 -

Jno Thwaits by Blacks worke & Salary

pd in part of his Debt

10 - 9 - 8

Ebenezer Leech pd in full of his Debt

5 - 4 - 11

Richd Beale pd in Cash & 622 Beefe

in part of his Debt

17 - 9 -

Mrs Margt Towey pd in Cash for

part of her Debt

42 - -

Capt Thomas Casson having Settled his Acco:t

this day & there being the Sume of 16: 17: 6

due to him has paid in the Sume of 13: 2: 6

which makes his Creditt the Sume of 1000 which

he desired may remain in the Honoble

Companys Hands at Interest.

Which is ordered accordingly

Wee have finished reckoning with the

Garrison & workemen employed therein

& have pd the Same in Cash and Cash notes

& transferred to those in the Honoble

Companys Debt.

John: Smith

Jno: Alexander

Edward Byfeild

Jno: Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Capt: Casson Cr

of £1000:

desires Interest

Ordered.

Reckoning

Ended

The transfers continued as follows.

Philip Slaughter, to William Worrall, in part of his debt to the Company, £3 0s 0d

Thomas Eastrupp, paid in part of his debt, £2 10s 0d

Thomas Gardner, paid in part of his debt, £1 12s 8d

Joseph Hayes, to Dorothy Hayes, in part of her debt, £2 0s 0d

Mrs Carne, paid in part of her debt, £21 6s 6d

John Gurling, paid in full of his debt, £20 18s 6d

John Whaley, for his debt, £1 15s 3d

John Knipe, paid in part of his debt, £6 10s 0d

John Thwaits, by blacks' work and victuals, paid in part of his debt, £10 9s 3d

Ebenezer Leech, paid in full of his debt, £5 4s 11d

Richard Beale, paid in cash and 622 pounds of beef, in part of his debt, £17 9s 0d

Mrs Margaret Tovey, paid in cash, in part of her debt, £42 0s 0d

Captain Thomas Cason had settled his account this day. The sum of £986 17s 6d was due to him, and he had paid in the sum of £13 2s 6d, which made his credit £1,000. He asked that this remain in the Company's hands at interest.

The council ordered this accordingly.

The council finished reckoning with the garrison and the workmen employed there. It had paid the sums in cash and cash notes, and transferred them to those in the Company's debt.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The run of transfers completed the quarterly settlement, each entry clearing a part or the whole of a named person's debt to the stores by assignment, payment in cash, or payment in kind. The variety of the means shows how the island made do with little coin, John Thwaits discharging part of his debt by his slaves' labour and victuals and Richard Beale partly by 622 pounds of beef, the Company accepting goods and work as readily as money against what was owed, the whole reckoning balancing the establishment's wages against the people's store accounts.

Captain Thomas Cason's arrangement marked the Company acting as banker to a departing servant, his settled credit topped to a round £1,000 and left in the Company's hands at interest rather than carried away. The provision answered the want of any safe investment on a remote island, the same difficulty recorded when Lieutenant Cason sought to place his credit at interest at the consultation of 12 January 1720, a long-serving man with substantial savings and nowhere local to lodge them turning to the Company as the only secure holder of his money.

169

164

October

Island St: Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the 8th Day of October 1723 at Plantatn

House

Jno Smith Esq Govr

Dr Sent Edwd Byfeild 2d

Jno: Alexander 3d

&

John Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved on

Serj: John Hanson hath this day

paid in Part of his Debt to the Honoble

Company the Sume of 42: 5 in Cash &

by a Transfer from Richd Mason ye Sume

of 6: 10.

The following Petitions were

presented. vizt

The Petition of Jonn Higham Junr

praying to hire abt 2 Acres of the Honoble

Companys Wast Land in Sandy Bay near

his own Plantation.

The Petitioner being very much in

Debt to the Honoble Company wee reject

his Petition.

The Petition of Jno Bradley Soldier

praying the Sume of 17: 9 might be pd

to him which was due from the Honoble

Company to Margt Wrangham an Orphan

whose Fathers Estate was Seized to pay his

Debt to ye Company, he having married yt

sd Orphan.

Margin Notes:

Serj: Hanson paid

in pt of his Debt

42: 5: -

Jonas Higham

Petn for 2 Acres Land

Rejected.

Jno Bradley

Petn for his wifes

Dividend

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 8 October 1723 at the plantation house.

Present were Governor Smith, Edward Byfield as second, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin as fourth.

The last consultation was read and approved.

Sergeant John Hanson had this day paid in part of his debt to the Company the sum of £42 5s 0d, partly in cash and partly by a transfer from Richard Mason of £6 10s 0d.

The following petitions were presented.

Jonathan Higham junior petitioned for leave to hire about two acres of the Company's waste land in Sandy Bay near his own plantation.

The petitioner being much in debt to the Company, the council rejected his petition.

John Bradley, soldier, petitioned that the sum of £5 0s 0d due to him from the Company be paid. The money was owed to Margaret Wrangham, an orphan whose father's estate had been seized to pay his debt to the Company, Bradley having married the orphan.

The council referred the matter.

Interpretations

The refusal of Jonathan Higham junior's request turned on his existing debt to the Company, the council declining to extend him a fresh tenancy while he stood unpaid on his current account. The decision marked a use of land grants as a lever of debt discipline, the Company withholding new ground from those already in arrears, a contrast with the routine view-and-report treatment of solvent petitioners and a sign that indebtedness could bar access to the waste land others obtained.

The Bradley petition exposed the working-out of an estate seizure through marriage and inheritance. Margaret Wrangham's father's estate had been taken to satisfy his Company debt, yet a sum remained due from the Company, and Bradley, by marrying the orphan, claimed that residue in her right. The case showed how the seizure of an insolvent's estate did not always exhaust it, a balance sometimes remaining payable to the heirs, and how an orphan's claim passed to a husband on marriage, the council referring the matter rather than paying at once because the entitlement reached back through the seized estate to the orphan's inheritance.

170

165

Referred to Capt: Goodwin to Search yt

Bookes & pay what is due to ye sd Orphan

to yt Petr

The Petition of Orlando Bagley Senr

praying to be heard agt the Petition of

James Harding Soldier for 3 Acres of

Cabbage tree Land lying under the

main ridge & offering to become Tenant

himself for the Same.

Referred 'til the Gentlemen that

were ordered to view this sd Land doo

bring in their report.

John: Smith

Edward Byfeild

Jno: Alexander

Jno: Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Books to be Examd

and to receive ye

Ballance.

Orld: Bagley Petn

agt Jam: Hardings

for Land.

Referrd.

The council referred the matter to Captain Goodwin, to search the books and pay the petitioner what was due to the orphan.

Orlando Bagley petitioned to be heard against the petition of James Harding, soldier, for three acres of cabbage-tree land lying under the Main Ridge. Bagley offered to become tenant of it himself.

The council referred the matter until the members ordered to view the land brought in their report.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The reference of the Bradley claim to Captain Goodwin tied the payment to a search of the Company's books, the residue due to the orphan to be established from the accounts before any sum was paid. The procedure showed the council resolving an inheritance claim by documentary check rather than on the petitioner's word, the books serving as the authority on what remained owing from the seized estate.

Orlando Bagley's intervention against James Harding's request for the cabbage-tree land, sought at the consultation of 3 October 1723, brought a rival bid for the same parcel rather than a mere objection. Bagley offered to take the ground himself, turning the matter from a simple grant into a contest between two would-be tenants, and the council held it over until the viewers reported. The deferral kept both claims open pending the view already ordered, the report on the land's suitability and on any harm to neighbours now bearing also on which of the two competitors should have it.

171

166

October.

Island St: Helena.

At a Consultation held on

Satterday the 7th Day of Sepr 1723 At

Union Castle In James Valley.

Jno: Smith Esq Govr

Dr Sent Edwd Byfeild 2d

Jno: Alexander 3d &

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved of

The Govr acquainted the Council that the

reason of calling this Consultation was to

communicate the following report to them.

This Day the Govr communicated to

his Council the following Paper relateing to ye

Misbehaviour of Sarah Southen Widdow

Soon after my Arrival the Widdow

Southen applyed to me for a Lycence to keep

a Punch house and took that oppertunity to

complain of the violent Proceedings & Severity

with which the late Govr head treated her & by

which she had been soe great a Sufferer that

unlesse I would grant her the Lycence she

asked for she should find it difficult to Subsist

and I being at that time both a Stranger to ye

Place and to her Impudent Behaviour which

upon Examination I find justly drew upon

her the ressentment of the late Goodrnour

and being besdes willing and desirous to Assist

Margin Notes:

Consd: called

the Occasion.

Govr Report of

Sarah Southen

Misbehaviour

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Saturday 7 September 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor Smith, Edward Byfield as second, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin as fourth.

The last consultation was read and approved.

Governor Smith told the council that he had called this consultation to lay the following report before it.

This day the Governor communicated to his council the following paper concerning the misbehaviour of the widow Sarah Southen.

Governor Smith reported that soon after his arrival the widow Sarah Southen had applied to him for a licence to keep a punch house. She had taken that chance to complain of the violent and harsh treatment she had suffered from the late Governor, by which she said she had been so great a sufferer that, unless he granted the licence she asked for, she would find it hard to support herself. The Governor, being then a stranger both to the place and to her insolent behaviour, found on examination that her conduct had justly drawn upon her the late Governor's displeasure. Being besides willing and anxious to help the people [...]

Interpretations

This consultation opened a report by Governor Smith on the widow Sarah Southen, a figure already long on the island's record as a maker of trouble, convicted of contriving the seditious papers against the chaplain at the general sessions of 28 January 1720 and named in the seditious report that broke a corporal in 1721. Her application for a punch-house licence gave the new Governor his first dealing with her, the punch house being a licensed drinking establishment whose keeping required the council's grant, a privilege the island controlled both for revenue and to limit disorder.

The Governor's account framed her complaint against the late Governor Johnson as a pretext, his examination finding that her own conduct had earned the previous administration's displeasure rather than any injustice done to her. The report set up a tension between her plea of hardship, advanced to obtain the licence she needed to live, and the new Governor's discovery on inquiry that her record told against her, the paper laid before the council to ground whatever decision it would reach on a petitioner whose history the bench already knew well.

172

167

People in Distresse I did accordingly grant

her a Lycence and did not in the least Imag=

=ine but she would have acknowledged the fav.

by a dutyfull and respectfull behaviour but

I have been lately very credibly informed that

she has spoken very disrespectfully & used

Expressions that reflect upon me in a very

severe manner and evidently tend to create

Divisions amongst us.

She said there were three in Council

besides the Govr who would hold togeather and

be too many for him That Mr Byfeld was

gone up into the Country in a very good time

to take Possession of the Plantation House

in order to keep me out That Possession was

Eleven Points of the Law & that Mr Byfeld

was to be commended for doeing soe or Word

to that Effect

The Words there are three in Council

besides the Govr who would hold togeather &

be too many for him imply without any

forced Construction that Wee were divided &

that either you or I were determined without

any regard to the Duty Wee owe the Company

to Sacrifice their Interest which I think is

not only a Notorious Breach of Peace &

tends to the Subversion of my Government

and is contrary to the Laws & Constitutions

of this Island which make it heghly penal

to Villifye and Traduce the Government

thereof or to endeavour to create a Division

amongst those who have the management

The Governor continued his report. People in distress, he said, and so he had granted the widow a licence. He had not in the least supposed she would do anything but acknowledge the favour by dutiful and respectful conduct. He had lately been very credibly informed, however, that she had spoken of him with great disrespect and used expressions that reflected severely upon him, plainly meant to stir up divisions among the council.

She had said there were three of the council besides the Governor who would hold together and prove too many for him. She had said that Mr Byfield had gone up into the country at a very good time to take possession of the plantation house, in order to keep the Governor out, that possession was eleven points of the law, and that Mr Byfield was to be commended for doing so, or words to that effect.

Governor Smith set out his reading of these words. The statement that there were three of the council besides the Governor who would hold together and be too many for him implied, without any strained construction, that the council was divided. It suggested that the others were resolved to sacrifice the Company's interest without regard to their duty. He held this not only a plain breach of the peace but a tendency to the overthrow of his government, and contrary to the island's laws and constitutions, which made it severely punishable to vilify and traduce the government, or to try to create a division among those who held the management [...]

Interpretations

The Governor's report cast Sarah Southen's words as a calculated attempt to set the council against him, the danger lying not in personal insult but in the suggestion that the four members were divided and that the three besides the Governor would combine to outvote him. Her remark that possession was eleven points of the law turned on the old maxim that actual occupation gives the stronger claim, here applied to Byfield's presence at the plantation house, the insinuation being that Byfield had moved to hold the seat of government and exclude the new Governor on his arrival.

The Governor grounded his alarm in the island's own laws, which made it a serious offence to traduce the government or to sow division among its rulers, the offence treated as bordering on sedition rather than mere slander. The framing tied Southen's reported speech to the recurring charge that had convicted her before, the contriving of seditious words and papers, and presented the matter to the council as a threat to the orderly government a graded establishment depended on, the unity of the four-man bench being the foundation the Governor sought to defend against a report he read as designed to fracture it.

173

168

October.

of Affairs committed to their Care but would

likewise if her wicked Intentions should take

Effect divide the whole Island into Factions

and Rebellion and drive all Peace and

Harmony from amongst us and be other=

=wise of great Prejudice to this Place and

to the Interest of our Honoble Masters who

I am Sure will be very well pleased with all

Endeavours that are used to preserve a good

Agreement and Correspondence amongst the

Inhabitants as they will be with any Meaps

Wee Shale think fitt to take in order to

Choque and punish those who attempt to

create Mischeif amongst us.

I am therefore of Opinion Gentlemn

that the best way to prevent all Attempts

to create Uneasinesse and Misunderstandt

of this kind for the future will be to inflict

Such Punishment upon her (Governour

Johnson having complained that there was

Scarce any difference or Disorder hapned

in his time but She had a hand in it) As

Wee Shale think may not only be Sufficient

to deterr her but all others from being

Guilty of Such Scandalous wicked Practice

which if not chequed in Time may gather to

a Head & be a means to Subvert not only

mine but all Government.

Wee are very Sorry to hear that

Mrs Southen (or any body else) should

Margin Notes:

Punt: Reply.

The Governor continued his report. He held that, if the widow's wicked intentions took effect, they would likewise divide the whole island into factions and rebellion, drive away all peace and harmony, and otherwise greatly harm the island and the Company's interest. The Company, he was sure, would be as well pleased with every effort to preserve good agreement and correspondence among the inhabitants as with any measure the council thought fit to take to check and punish those who tried to create mischief.

He was therefore of the opinion that the best way to prevent all attempts of this kind to stir up uneasiness and misunderstanding in future would be to inflict such punishment upon her as the council thought sufficient. Governor Johnson, he noted, had complained that scarcely any quarrel or disorder happened in his time but she had a hand in it. The punishment should be enough not only to deter her but all others from being guilty of such scandalous and wicked practices, which, if not checked in time, might gather to a head and serve to overthrow not only his government but all government.

The council made its reply. It was very sorry to hear that the widow Southen, or anybody else, should [...]

Interpretations

The Governor's report closed by widening the charge from a personal affront to a threat against government itself, casting Southen's reported words as a seed of faction that, left unchecked, might grow to overthrow all authority on the island. His appeal to the Company's interest aligned the punishment he sought with the directors' wish for peace among the inhabitants, framing severity against her as a service to the Company rather than a private grievance of his own.

The reference to Governor Johnson's complaint, that scarcely any disorder happened in his time without Southen's hand in it, drew on the previous administration's experience to mark her as a habitual fomenter rather than a single offender. The point matched the island's record of her, the seditious papers of January 1720 and the report that broke a corporal, and supplied the council with a pattern of conduct to justify an exemplary penalty, the punishment urged as a deterrent to all others as much as a correction of her, on the reasoning that unchecked sedition spreads.

174

169

Take upon them to talk at Such a base and

Scandalous a manner and which wee own

does Tend to the Disturbing the publick

peace And that wee shale be soe farr from

acting any thing either Singly or Joyntly

that should in the least relate or tend

any way agt our Honoble Masters Interest

that Wee should on ale Occasions be very

ready to joyne with and assist the Govr

to the utmost of our Capacitys for

promoteing the Same and Studying the

Peace and tranquility of our Selves &

the Inhabitants of this Island.

Ordered that the sd Sarah Southen

for uttering those Scandalous disrespect=

=full words aforesd Doe enter into the fold

Recognizance.

Island St: Helena ss.

Sarah Southen Widdow of this

Island enters into a Recognizance

of 50.

Upon Condition that She the sd Sarah

Southen upon the penale Sume of Fifty

Pounds aforesd payable to the Honoble Comp: or

Lords Proprietors of this Island to be levyed

by way of distresse and Seizure on her

goods and Chattells Lands and Tenements

Doe make her personale Appearance at ye

next quarterly Sessions held for this Island

Margin Notes:

Sarah Southen

to Enter into

Recognizance

of £50.

Condition of yt

Recogny:

The council continued its reply. It was sorry that anyone should speak in so base and scandalous a manner, which it agreed tended to disturb the public peace. The council was very far from doing anything, alone or together, that would in the least harm the Company's interest. On every occasion it would be ready to join with and assist the Governor to the utmost of its power in promoting that interest and in seeking the peace and quiet of itself and the island's inhabitants.

The council ordered that the widow Sarah Southen, for uttering those scandalous and disrespectful words, enter into the following recognizance.

Island of St Helena.

Sarah Southen, widow of the island, entered into a recognizance of £50 0s 0d.

The condition of the recognizance was that the widow Sarah Southen, on the penal sum of £50 0s 0d payable to the Company as Lords Proprietors of the island and to be levied by distress and seizure on her goods, chattels, lands and tenements, make her personal appearance at the next quarterly general sessions held for the island, and [...]

Interpretations

The council's reply answered the Governor's report by affirming its own loyalty before turning to the penalty, the four members declaring their readiness to support him and disclaiming any of the division Southen's words had imputed to them. The disclaimer served two ends at once, rebutting the substance of her reported speech and presenting a united bench, the very unity she was said to have questioned.

The recognizance imposed on Southen was a binding-over rather than a fine paid at once, a bond of £50 0s 0d that fell due only if she failed to appear at the next sessions or breached its conditions. The instrument worked as a suspended financial penalty backed by the power of distress and seizure on her goods, lands and tenements, holding her property hostage to her future conduct without yet taking it. Naming the Company as Lords Proprietors as the party to whom the sum was payable located the penalty within the island's proprietary government, the recognizance enforcing good behaviour by the threat of execution against her estate, a standard mechanism for controlling a repeat offender the council preferred to gaol or corporal punishment in her case.

175

170

October.

And that in the mean time She keep the

peace of our Sovereigne Lord the King &

ale his Majestys Liege People then &

there to answer to Such a Charge as

shale be drawn up against her for haveing

spoken words tending to disturbing the

Peace and Subversion of the Governmt

of this Island.

John: Smith

John: Smith

Edward Byfeild

Jno: Alexander

Jno: Goodwin

Island St: Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the 15th day of October 1723 at Plantatn

house.

Jno: Smith Esq Govr

Dr Sent Edwd Byfeild 2d

Jno: Alexander 3d &

Jno: Goodwin 4th

Margin Notes:

Sept the 1t Day Ad 1723.

The recognizance further required that in the meantime she keep the peace towards the King and all his subjects, and then appear there to answer such a charge as should be drawn up against her for having spoken words tending to disturb the peace and overthrow the island's government.

The recognizance was dated 7 September 1723 and signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 15 October 1723 at the plantation house.

Present were Governor Smith, Edward Byfield as second, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin as fourth.

Interpretations

The recognizance closed by binding Sarah Southen to keep the peace in the interval and to appear at the next sessions to answer a formal charge of speaking words against the peace and government. The double obligation, good behaviour now and appearance later, held her under restraint while deferring the substantive trial, the bond serving as security that she would neither offend again nor abscond before the charge was heard.

The form invoked the King's peace and his subjects rather than the Company alone, placing the binding-over within the framework of the Crown's criminal law even on a proprietary island governed by the Company. The recognizance thus drew on royal authority for the peace it required her to keep, while the penal sum ran to the Company as Lords Proprietors, the two jurisdictions combined in a single instrument that governed her conduct under threat of both a criminal charge and execution against her estate.

176

171

The last Consultation read and approved of

Capt: Byfeld brot in and delivered An Acco:t of the

Honoble Companys live Stock and expences for the

Month of September which was examined and

approved on and is as follows.

Acco:t of the Honoble Companys Stock of Neat Cattle Sheep Goats Hoggs

Poultry Asses and horses Besides the Inecrease or Decrease for the Month

of Sepr 1723 vizt

Neat Cattle

Bullocks Cows Heifer Steers Yearling Calves Bulls Totale

Sheep

Ewes Wethers Lamb Rams Totale

Goates

Ewes Wethers Kids Rams Totale

Hoggs

Sows Boars Barrows Piggs Totale

Poultry

Turkeys Geese Ducks Hens

Asses

Horses

Horses Mares Totale

Remd: yt 11th Sept:

64 62 29 18 3 61 8

245

37 14 18 3

72

151 36 27 8

222

8 10 2 24 44

98 140 28 18

4 2 6

Inecreased in do

7

64 62 29 18 3 61 8

245

37 14 18 3

72

151 36 27 8

222

8 10 2 24 44

98 140 28 18

4 2 6

Dead in do

3 - - - 1 - 4

5 1

Remd ult Sept:

64 59 29 18 3 60 8

241

37 14 18 3

72

151 36 27 8

222

8 10 2 24 44

45 115 27 18 8

4 2 6

Yams Expended at yt Sevd Plantn 17050 lb

Do delivered to the ffort Blacks 10975 lb

Total Yams 28025 lb

Margin Notes:

Mr Byfelds

Acco: of yt Hon:

Co: live Stock &c:

for Sept:

The last consultation was read and approved.

Captain Byfield brought in and delivered an account of the Company's live stock and expenses for the month of September, which the council examined and approved. It stood as follows.

An account of the Company's stock of neat cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, asses and horses, besides the increase and decrease for the month of September 1723.

Neat cattle, by bullocks, cows, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and bulls, then the total.

Remaining at 11 September: 64 bullocks, 62 cows, 29 heifers, 18 steers, 3 yearlings, 61 calves, 8 bulls, total 245

Increased in the month: none

Cattle, by the same classes: 64 bullocks, 62 cows, 29 heifers, 18 steers, 3 yearlings, 61 calves, 8 bulls, total 245

Dead in the month: 3 heifers, 1 yearling, total 4

Remaining at the end of September: 64 bullocks, 59 cows, 29 heifers, 18 steers, 3 yearlings, 60 calves, 8 bulls, total 241

Sheep, by ewes, wethers, lambs and rams, then the total.

Remaining at 11 September: 37 ewes, 14 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 72

Sheep, by the same classes: 37 ewes, 14 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 72

Remaining at the end of September: 37 ewes, 14 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 72

Goats, by ewes, wethers, kids and rams, then the total.

Remaining at 11 September: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222

Goats, by the same classes: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222

Remaining at the end of September: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222

Hogs, by sows, shoats, tubs and rooms, then the total.

Remaining at 11 September: 8 sows, 10 shoats, 2 tubs, 24 rooms, total 8

Hogs, by the same classes: 8 sows, 10 shoats, 2 tubs, 24 rooms, total 8

Remaining at the end of September: 8 sows, 10 shoats, 2 tubs, 24 rooms, total 8

Poultry, by cocks, hens, turkeys, geese and ducks, then the total.

Remaining at 11 September: 44 cocks, 98 hens, 140 turkeys, 28 geese, 18 ducks, total 8

Increased in the month: 7 hens

Dead in the month: 5 cocks, 1 hen

Remaining at the end of September: 44 cocks, 45 hens, 115 turkeys, 27 geese, 18 ducks, total 8

Asses: 4

Horses, by horses and mares, then the total.

Remaining at 11 September: 2 horses, 6 mares, total 6

Remaining at the end of September: 2 horses, 6 mares, total 6

Yams expended at the several plantations, 17,050 pounds

Yams delivered to the fort blacks, 10,975 pounds

Total yams, 28,025 pounds

Interpretations

This monthly account carried forward the livestock survey from the great reckoning of 11 September 1723, recording the Company's herds and flocks at the close of September against their state at mid-month. The form showed almost no change across the three weeks, the cattle losing only a few beasts to death and no other kind moving at all, a settled picture after the heavy goat losses the drought had caused earlier in the year.

The poultry alone showed real movement, the turkeys falling from 140 to 115 and the hens shifting with births and deaths, the birds being the most volatile of the Company's stock through hatching and kill. The yam figures appended below tied the stock account to the staple crop, the quantities expended at the plantations and delivered to the fort blacks measuring the monthly draw on the island's reserve, the same dual consumption, the establishment's own use and the rationing of its slaves, that the September survey had recorded for the longer period.

177

172

October.

Capt: Goodwin brot in and delivered his Acco:t of

Store goods sold and deliverd for the Month of

September which was examined and approved

of & is as follows.

264 3/8 Gallons arrach a 6 1/4 Pr Gall:

80 - 11 - 0 1/2

82 - 13 - 3 1/2

1/2 Hogshead Beer

2 - 7 - 3

1013 lb Sugar

25 - 6 - 6

266 lb Flour

3 - 6 - 6

6 6 lb Bread

14 -

29 - 7

44 Cattees Bohea Tea

13 - 4 -

3 do Greene Do

12 -

13 - 16

4 1/2 Gall: Nap Oyle

1 - 7 -

43 lb Soap

3 - 10 - 11

89 3/4 Cutt Tobacco

8 - 19 - 6

5 lb Loafe do

5 -

366 Pipes

14 - 3 1/2

9 - 19 - 3 1/2

1 Iro a Corks

6 Soldiers Coats

8 - 14 -

1 Do Stockinge

1 - 6

7 White Shirts

17 - 6

1 Chelloe Do

13 -

9 - 16

2 Yards Flannell

3 - 6

1 China Bowle

2 - 6

13 Sneakers

6 - 6

19 Large Cups

6 - 4

4 Cups & 4 Saucers

9 - 4

11 Small Cups

1 - 10

1 - 2 - 8

11 Pair Cotton Stockings

1 - 7 - 6

4 lb Shoe Thread

11 - 3

6 lb Twine

10 - 10

1 - 2 - 1 1/4

2 lb do

4 - 4

1 Tin Sauce Can

1 Boys Hatt N: 1

10 Ditto 3

6

2 do 4

5 - 15 -

6 Sold do 4

1 - 10 -

163 - 8 - 7 3

Carried over

167 - 12 - 4

Captain Goodwin brought in and delivered his account of the store goods sold and delivered for the month of September, which the council examined and approved. It stood as follows.

264⅜ gallons of arrack at 6s 1d per gallon, £80 11s 0½d

½ hogshead of beer, £2 7s 3d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £82 18s 3½d.

1,013 pounds of sugar, £25 6s 6d

266 pounds of flour, £3 6s 6d

66 pounds of bread, £0 14s 0d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £29 7s 0d.

44 catties of bohea tea, £13 4s 0d

3 catties of green tea, £0 12s 0d

The subtotal for these tea lines stood at £13 16s 0d.

4½ pounds of sweet oil, £1 7s 0d

43 pounds of soap, £3 0s 11d

89¾ pounds of cut tobacco, £8 19s 6d

5 pounds of leaf tobacco, £0 5s 0d

3 pounds 6 ounces of pipes, £0 14s 3½d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £9 19s 3½d.

1 gross of corks, [...]

6 soldiers' coats, £8 14s 0d

1 pair of soldiers' stockings, £0 1s 6d

7 white shirts, £1 7s 6d

1 chintz shirt, £0 3s 0d

2 pieces of green flannel, £0 3s 6d

1 china bowl, £0 2s 6d

13 saucers, £0 6s 6d

19 large cups, £0 6s 4d

4 cups and saucers, £0 2s 4d

11 small cups, £0 1s 10d

11 pairs of cotton stockings, £1 7s 6d

4 pounds of shoe thread, £0 11s 3d

6 pounds of twine, £0 10s 10d

2 pounds of dittos, [...]

1 tin sauce pan

1 boy's hat, number 1, £0 6s 0d

10 dittos, number 3, £5 15s 0d

2 dittos, number 4, £1 10s 0d

6 soldiers' dittos, £1 13s 0d

The subtotals for these closing lines stood at £8 7s 3d and £1 2s 4d.

Carried over, £163 12s 4d.

Interpretations

This monthly store account recorded the goods sold to the inhabitants and shipping over September, the same retail ledger as the August reckoning, arrack again heading the bill at over half the running total and the store serving as the island's monopoly supplier of spirits, groceries and manufactured wares. The grouped subtotals carried in the money column show the clerk totalling the account in blocks, the spirits, the breadstuffs, the teas and the sundries each summed before the page was carried over.

The made-up goods continued the range of finished imports the store retailed, the soldiers' coats, stockings and hats supplied in bulk to clothe the garrison, and the chintz and white shirts, china cups and bowls drawn from the Eastern trade. Bohea was the common black tea of the China trade and the catty its Chinese weight of about a pound and a third, the tea sold alongside the sugar and flour the island could not grow in quantity. The corks and twine were the small stores of daily use, the whole forming the monthly turnover of a depot that clothed, fed and equipped a remote settlement from the Company's commerce.

178

173

Brought over

167 - 12 - 4

Stockings vizt

3 Pair Silk Stockings 33

2 - 14 -

1 Pair White do 17

2 - 2

3 Pair Mens do 30

13 - 6

3 Pair do

9

1 Pair do

9

6 Pair Soldiers do

9

4 - 8 - 8

Shoes

7 Pair Womens Calve Leather Shoes

1 - 11 - 6

13 do Spanish

17 - 3

1 Pair Island do

4

2 - 12 - 9

1 Pair Girles do

2 - 4

40 lb Pitch

13 - 4

20 lb Rope

10 -

4 Ash Barrs

1 - 10 -

2 - 13 - 4

2 Peices Coarse Long Cloth

9

1 1/2 Fine do

3 - 3 -

2 Pellampores N: 2

10

1 Peice BBee Curkass

13 - 6

2 Pair White do

19 -

1 Peice Chelloe

14

1 Peice do

13 - 6

3 do do

2 - 6

2 Peices Sunat Chints

18 -

1 Peice White Devotees

10 -

2 Peices Cutteen N: 4

1 - 9 - 2

16 Peice & 1/2 Bengale Taffetee

2 - 8 -

15 - 17 - 8

1 Small Tea Kettle

12 - 6

1 Large do

16 -

10 Pair Stale Snuffers

2

1 - 8 - 6

11 lb Nailes Sorted

8 - 5

1 Broad Ax

6 - 6

14 - 14 - 11

Carried over

190 - 13 - 6

The account of store goods sold and delivered continued, the sum brought over standing at £163 12s 4d.

Stockings sold as follows.

3 pairs of silk stockings, number 33, £2 14s 0d

1 pair of white stockings, number 17, £0 9s 9d

3 pairs of men's stockings, number 30, £0 13s 6d

3 pairs of dittos, £0 9s 0d

1 pair of dittos, £0 1s 0d

6 pairs of soldiers' stockings, £0 9s 0d

The subtotal for the stockings stood at £4 8s 8d.

Shoes sold as follows.

7 pairs of women's calf-leather shoes, £1 11s 6d

13 pairs of Spanish-leather dittos, £0 17s 3d

1 pair of island dittos, £0 4s 0d

1 pair of girls' dittos, £0 2s 4d

The subtotal for the shoes stood at £2 13s 9d.

40 pounds of pitch, £0 13s 4d

20 pounds of rope, £0 10s 0d

4 ash boards, £1 10s 0d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £2 13s 4d.

2 pieces of coarse long cloth, £2 9s 0d

1½ pieces of fine dittos, £3 3s 0d

2 ballampores, number 2, £0 10s 0d

1 piece of blue gurrahs, £0 13s 6d

2 pieces of white dittos, £0 19s 0d

1 piece of chintz, £0 14s 0d

1 piece of dittos, £0 13s 6d

3 pieces of dittos, £2 0s 6d

2 pieces of surat chintz, £0 18s 0d

1 piece of white dosuties, £0 10s 0d

2 pieces of cuttanees, number 4, £1 9s 2d

16½ pieces of Bengal taffeta, £2 8s 0d

The subtotal for these piece-goods lines stood at £15 17s 8d.

1 small tea kettle, £0 12s 6d

1 large ditto, £0 16s 0d

10 pairs of steel snuffers, £0 1s 0d

11 pounds of nails sorted, £0 8s 5d

1 broad axe, £0 6s 6d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £14 14s 11d.

Carried over, £190 10s 6d.

Interpretations

This continuation of the September store account ran through the clothing, building stores and Eastern textiles, the stockings and shoes sized and graded as the August reckoning had recorded, the silk stockings the dearer line and the island and Spanish-leather shoes the local and imported grades of footwear. The ash boards and broad axe were the scarce timber and the heavy tool a treeless island had to import, the pitch and rope the stores for the upkeep of boats and cordage.

The piece-goods named the staple cottons and silks of the Company's Eastern trade, each a recognised cloth of the period. Surat chintz was printed cotton from the great textile port of Surat in western India, cuttanees a mixed silk-and-cotton cloth, dosuties a plain calico, gurrahs a coarse muslin and long cloth a standard length of plain calico, the grades and prices marking the range of cotton the store retailed. The Bengal taffeta was a plain woven silk from Bengal, the finer end of the cloth stock, and ballampore a painted or printed Indian bed-cover, the whole forming the textile range by which a remote settlement clothed and furnished itself from the goods the Company's ships carried west.

179

174

Brought over

190 - 10 - 6

21 Yards Durana

1 - 11 - 6

5 do Snip

11 - 8

11 do Shalloon

1 - 9 -

3 - 5 - 2

3 Pieces Capp

1 -

3 Hym Books

1 - 6

3 Primmers

8 -

10 - 6

3 Small Common Prayer Books

4 Primm: do

1 -

8

1 do 2 do

10 - 5

24 Dozen Hooks Sorted

6

10 - 11

1 Lyne

Haberdashery Ware

1/4 lb Whited Browne Thread a 2: 10

16 - 6 3/4

1/2 lb do

5 - 9

1/4 do 8

13 - 9

1/2 do do 7

4 - 6

7 oz Thread a 1: 3

8 - 9

4 do

12 -

1 do

5 - 10

2 do

5 - 10

7 Ordinary Silk Laces a 7d

4 - 1

1 do Short

6

1 Stay Lace

1 - 4

2 Yards Ribbon

6

3 do do

1 - 6

2 do do

3

10 Yards Ferrit

3 - 4

2 do do

6

11 do Galloon

4 - 1 1/2

33/4 China Silk

4

1/2 do English do

3 - 9

13 Peices Bread Tape

4 -

4 do Narrow do

4 -

1 do do

1 Horn Comb

9

The account of store goods sold and delivered continued, the sum brought over standing at £190 10s 6d.

21 yards of dungaree, £1 11s 6d

6 yards of dittos, £0 11s 8d

11½ yards of shalloon, £1 9s 0d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £3 5s 2d.

3 silk caps, £0 1s 0d

3 hymn books, £0 1s 6d

3 primers, £0 8s 0d

3 small common prayer books, £0 10s 6d

4 primers, £0 1s 0d

1 ditto, £0 0s 8d

24 dozen hooks sorted, £0 10s 5d

1 ditto, £0 0s 6d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £0 10s 11d.

Haberdashery ware sold as follows.

1¼ pounds of white-and-brown thread at 2s 10d, £0 16s 6¾d

½ pound of dittos, £0 5s 9d

4½ pounds of dittos, number 3, £0 13s 9d

½ pound of dittos, number 7, £0 4s 6d

7 ounces of thread at 1s 3d, £0 8s 9d

4 dittos, £0 12s 0d

1 ditto, £0 5s 10d

2 dittos, £0 5s 10d

7 ordinary silk laces at 7d, £0 4s 1d

1 short ditto, £0 1s 6d

1 stay lace, £0 1s 4d

2 yards of ribbon, £0 0s 6d

3 dittos, £0 1s 6d

2 dittos, £0 0s 3d

10 yards of ferret, £0 3s 4d

2 dittos, £0 0s 6d

11 yards of galloon, £0 4s 6d

3¾ ounces of china silk, £0 4s 1½d

1½ ounces of English dittos, £0 3s 9d

13 pieces of broad tape, £0 4s 0d

4 pieces of narrow dittos, £0 4s 0d

1 ditto, £0 0s 4d

1 horn comb, £0 0s 9d

Interpretations

This part of the account ran through the haberdashery and the small stock of printed books the store carried, the threads, laces, tapes and trimmings for needlework that a population sewing its own clothes required, sold by the ounce, the pound and the yard. The named threads marked distinct grades sized by number, the white-and-brown thread the staple sewing yarn and the finer counts kept for closer work, the lot retailed to householders who mended and made their garments at home.

The trimmings continued the range of dress materials the store supplied. Ferret was a stout tape of cotton or silk used for binding and ties, galloon a narrow braid for edging and trimming garments, and stay laces the cords that fastened women's stays, the broad and narrow tapes serving the same general use in fastening and finishing clothes. The books were the modest devotional and teaching stock a settlement needed, the common prayer books, hymn books and primers supplying worship and the teaching of children their letters, the only printed matter in an account otherwise wholly of cloth, hardware and provisions.

180

175

Haberdashery br over

5 - 3 - 5 1/4

195 - 4 -

1 Horn Comb

6

2 Ivory do

2 do

4 -

1 Lae

3

4 Doz Coat Buttons

7

3 1/2 Doz: Brest do

6

6 Skain Mohair

1 - 9 - 6

12 Yds Cartering

6

1 Pair Womens Lamb Gloves

3

2 Pair Kid do

1 - 6

1 Pair Mens Wash do

6

250 Nedles

1 - 9

3 1/2 Mr Pins a 1: 4

3 - 9

2 1/2 do a 1: 2

4 - 8

1/2 lb Coloured Thread

2 - 11

1 Pair Jumps

1 - 6 - 6

8 - 13 - 10 1/2

7 lb Starch

5 - 3 4

13 Butchers Knives

1 - 6

2 Shod do

1 - 6

1 Pruning do

1 - 6

2 Chest Locks

3 - 8

2 Gimblets

8

1 Watring Pott

8 - 4

1 Box Iron

19 -

2 Heaters

2 - 6

1 Bundle Shoe Blacking

2 - 6

1 Wine Glass

1 - 6

10 Pipes

5

1 - 13 - 7

Sum Totall to the Inhabts

205 - 16 - 9 1/4

The haberdashery account continued, the sum brought over standing at £195 4s 7d.

1 horn comb, £0 0s 6d

2 ivory dittos, £0 4s 0d

2 dittos, £0 0s 3d

1 lace, [...]

4 dozen coat buttons, £0 0s 7d

3½ dozen breast dittos, £0 1s 9d

6 skeins of mohair, £0 2s 6d

12 yards of garting, £0 0s 3d

1 pair of women's gloves, £0 1s 6d

2 pairs of kid dittos, £0 6s 0d

1 pair of men's wash dittos, £0 1s 9d

250 needles, £0 0s 9d

3½ thousand pins at 1s 4d, £0 4s 8d

2½ thousand dittos, number 2, £0 2s 11d

½ pound of coloured thread, £0 2s 0d

1 pair of jumps, £1 6s 6d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £8 13s 10½d.

7 pounds of starch, £0 1s 6d

13 butchers' knives, [...]

2 shoad dittos, £0 1s 6d

1 pruning ditto, £0 1s 6d

2 chest locks, £0 3s 8d

2 gimlets, £0 0s 8d

1 watering pot, £0 8s 4d

1 box iron, £0 12s 0d

2 heaters, £0 2s 6d

1 bundle of shoe blacking, £0 2s 6d

1 wine glass, £0 1s 6d

10 pipes, £0 0s 5d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £1 13s 7d.

Sum total to the inhabitants, £205 16s 9¼d.

Interpretations

This closing part of the September account finished the haberdashery and the small hardware, the sum total to the inhabitants striking the month's retail turnover at £205 16s 9¼d. The needlework stock, the needles, pins, buttons and thread, again marked a population that made and mended its own clothing, the pins sold by the thousand and the needles by the hundred to households far from any ready market.

The made-up garments and the metalware closed the range the store kept for daily life. Jumps were a loose unboned bodice worn in place of stays, the dearest single line in this part of the account, and the kid and wash gloves the better grades of glovework. The box iron was a smoothing iron heated by an inserted slug, the heaters being the iron slugs themselves, and the gimlets, chest locks and pruning knife the small tools of house, store and garden. The whole formed the tail of a monthly account that supplied a remote settlement with the threads, trimmings, tools and trifles its isolation obliged it to buy from the Company's stores.

181

176

Brought over

205 - 16 - 9 1/4

The Hon: Com: Blacks

2 Cask Beef

30 -

48 - 4 -

45 1/2 Bushell Pease a 8

18 - 4 -

13 Midling Blankets

6 - 3 - 6

8 Cews Rotten

22 - 16 - 6

10 Cews & Pew Curkass a 21: 6

6 - 5

4 lb Coloured Thread

16 -

36 - 1 -

2 Chelloe Shirts

6

12 BBee do

1 - 10 -

1 - 16 -

1 Pair Stockinge N: 17

2

2 Pair Shoes

4 - 6

2 Horn Comb

7

1 Smal do

1 - 6

17 -

36 Pins Sorted

2 - 4

16 1/2 Doz: Hooks Sorted

8 - 7

2 - 8 - 11

Garrison vizt

7 Gallons Nap Oyle

2 - 2 -

1 1/2 Quart Sweet do

6 -

7 Cattees Greene Tea

1 - 3 -

4 Cattees Bohea do

1 - 4

1 Peice Coarse Long Cloth

1 -

1 Large Lyne N: 14

3 - 4

6 - 3 - 4

Plantacon

10 1/2 Gall: arrach

3 - 6 - 6

22 lb Sugar

11 -

46 lb Bread

11 - 6

12 lb Flower

3 -

4 Gall: Trayne Oyle

1 - 2 - 6

2 do Vinegar

4 -

18 Helmets

18 -

6 Pit Axes

1 - 6

1 Catt Bohea Tea

6

8 - 9 - 6

Diet Expence

164 1/2 Gall: arrach

52 - 1 - 10

396 lb Sugar

9 - 18 -

4 Bottles of Oyle

1 - 10 -

2 Gallons Vinegar

4 -

1 Cask Flower

8 -

2 Cask Beefe

30 -

1 Cask Flower a 3 BBe

3 - 4

1 Cask Oatmeale

2 - 12 -

1 Cask Bread a 7: 6 lb

5 - 12

109 - 9 - 10

Generall Charges

1 Peice Coarse Long Cloth

1 -

1 Half Peice do

10

16 oz or Pink Cordon

1 - 6

1 1/2 Tesh:

3 - 6

1 1/2 Yds Sattony

9

The account of store goods sold and delivered continued, the sum brought over standing at £205 16s 9¼d.

The Company's blacks, debtor, as follows.

2 casks of bread, £18 0s 0d

45½ bushels of beans at 8d, £6 3s 6d

12 middling blankets, £6 16s 6d

8 yards of romal, £2 5s 0d

10 pieces of blue gurrahs at 2s 1d, £6 5s 0d

4 pounds of coloured thread, £0 16s 0d

2 chintz shirts, £0 6s 0d

12 blue dittos, £1 10s 0d

1 pair of stockings, number 17, £0 2s 0d

2 pairs of shoes, £0 4s 6d

1 horn comb, £0 1s 6d

1 ditto, [...]

36 pounds of sorted pins, £2 7s 6d

16½ dozen hooks sorted, £0 8s 7d

The subtotal for the Company's blacks stood at £2 8s 11d.

Garrison charges, debtor, as follows.

7 gallons of sweet oil, £2 2s 0d

½ quart of beer dittos, £0 6s 0d

1 catty of green tea, £0 3s 0d

4 catties of bohea dittos, £1 4s 0d

1 piece of coarse long cloth, £1 1s 0d

1 long ditto, number 14, £3 4s 0d

The subtotal for the garrison charges stood at £6 3s 4d.

Plantation charges, debtor, as follows.

10½ gallons of arrack, £3 6s 6d

22 pounds of sugar, £0 11s 0d

46 pounds of bread, £0 11s 6d

12 pounds of flour, £0 3s 0d

1½ pieces of train oil, £1 2s 6d

2 dittos of vinegar, £0 8s 0d

18 helves, £0 18s 0d

6 pickaxes, £1 6s 0d

1 catty of bohea tea, £0 6s 0d

The subtotal for the plantation charges stood at £8 9s 6d.

Diet expenses, debtor, as follows.

164½ gallons of arrack, £52 1s 10d

396 pounds of sugar, £9 18s 0d

4 bottles of oil, £1 10s 0d

2 gallons of vinegar, £0 8s 0d

1 cask of flour, £2 0s 0d

1 cask of beef, £30 0s 0d

1 cask of flour at 3 pounds per barrel, £3 4s 0d

1 cask of oatmeal, £2 12s 0d

1 cask of bread, weight 1,158 pounds, £5 17s 0d

The subtotal for the diet expenses stood at £109 9s 10d.

General charges, debtor, as follows.

1 piece of coarse long cloth, £1 0s 0d

1 half-piece of fine ditto, £0 10s 0d

1 paper of corks, [...]

1½ ferkin, £0 1s 0d

1½ ounces of dittos, £0 3s 6d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £2 0s 9d.

Interpretations

This part of the September account divided the store issues among the accounts each was charged to, the goods drawn for the Company's slaves, the garrison, the plantation and the diet set down under their separate heads after the retail sales to the inhabitants. The split showed the store serving the establishment's own departments as well as the island's householders, the same dual function the August reckoning had recorded.

The slaves' account again ran on the lower grade of stock, bulk bread and beans for their feeding and coarse romal and blue gurrahs for their clothing, the Indian cottons suited to slaves' wear. The diet expenses dwarfed the rest at over £109, the great cask of beef alone charged at £30 0s 0d and the arrack at fifty-two pounds, marking the heavy cost of provisioning the Company's table, the bread cask priced by its weight of 1,158 pounds. The plantation account carried the tools of cultivation, the helves and pickaxes for the slaves' field work, the helve being the wooden handle fitted to an axe or pick, the whole forming the material charge of running the island's establishment alongside the goods sold to its people.

182

177

Generall Charges brought over

Brought Over

1 Large Lyne

2

1 Wooden Sadle

2 - 6

3 lb Cutt Tobacco

1 - 6

12 Pipes

6

1 Rammor

1 Sugar Choped

2 - 9

1 Pruning knife

1 - 6

4 1/2 Yds Ribbon a 3d

1 - 1 1/2

23 1/4 do do a 12d

1 - 3

18 Yards do 10d

18 - 9

2 do do 16d

3 -

1 Cask Seed Wheat ye 5 Bush

2 - 1 - 3

1/2 lb Cotton Yarne

1 - 9

50 lb Soap

3 - 1 - 9

12 Sheet Tin

12 -

1 Scrubing Brush

2 -

6 Large Wine Glasses

15 -

2 Mouse Trapps

4 -

1 Clote Lock

1 - 6

1 lb Twine

2 - 9

1 Large Lyne

3

2 Tea Potts

4

2 Large Quilts

4 - 14

1 Quart Nap Oyle

1 - 6

16 - 13 - 3 1/2

Fortification

24 lb Six Penny Nailes

18

12 lb 10d do

18

12 lb 30d do

8 - 6

7 20d do

7

39 lb Weights do

18 - 9

30 Yards Cittons

1 - 1 - 11 1/4

1 lb Twine do

1 - 6 - 2

1 Spade N: 4

2 - 2

8 Gimblets

2 - 8

1 Saw

7

1 Pair Steel Compasses

6 - 6

1 Broad Ax

1 -

1 Heading Chisel

3 -

2 Caring do

2 - 8

4 Clam Irons

6

1 Chalk Lyne

4 Files

6 - 16 - 10 1/4

Sum Totall

442 - 16 - 8

The general charges account continued, the sum brought over standing at £2 0s 9d.

1 large sieve, £0 2s 6d

1 wooden ladle, £0 1s 6d

3 pounds of cut tobacco, £0 6s 0d

12 pipes, £0 0s 6d

1 razor more, [...]

1 sugar shovel, £0 2s 6d

1 pruning knife, £0 1s 6d

4½ yards of ribbon at 3d, £0 1s 1½d

23¼ yards of dittos at 12d, £1 3s 3d

18 yards of dittos at 10d, £0 18s 9d

2 dittos at 16d, £0 3s 0d

1 cask of seed wheat, weight 6 bushels, £2 1s 3d

½ pound of cotton yarn, £0 1s 3d

60 pounds of shot, £0 1s 9d

12 pounds of tin, £0 12s 0d

1 scrubbing brush, £0 2s 0d

6 large wine glasses, £0 15s 0d

2 mouse traps, £0 4s 0d

1 chest lock, £0 1s 6d

1 pound of twine, £0 2s 9d

1 large line, £0 3s 4d

2 fishing dittos, £0 7s 0d

2 large quilts, £4 14s 0d

1 quart of sweet oil, £0 1s 6d

The subtotal for the general charges stood at £16 13s 3½d.

Fortification charges, debtor, as follows.

24 pounds of sixpenny nails, £0 18s 0d

12 pounds of tenpenny dittos, £0 18s 0d

12 pounds of twentypenny dittos, £0 8s 6d

7 pounds of twentypenny dittos, £0 18s 0d

139 pounds of weights, £0 13s 9d

30 yards of dittos, £1 1s 11¼d

1 pound of twine, £1 16s 0d

1 spade, number 4, £0 2s 2d

8 gimlets, £0 2s 8d

1 saw, £0 7s 8d

1 pair of steel compasses, £0 6s 6d

1 broad axe, £0 6s 6d

1 heading chisel, £0 1s 6d

2 paring dittos, £0 3s 0d

4 clamp irons, £0 2s 8d

1 chalk line, £0 0s 6d

4 files, [...]

The subtotal for the fortification charges stood at £6 16s 10¼d.

Sum total, £442 16s 8d.

Interpretations

This final part of the September store account closed the general and fortification charges and struck the month's grand total at £442 16s 8d, the whole turnover of the depot across its retail sales and its issues to the establishment's departments. The general charges gathered the miscellaneous stores of the household and works, the sieves, ladles, traps and glasses of domestic use mixed with seed wheat for the gardens and fishing lines and shot for the island's provisioning by sea and gun.

The fortification account ran almost wholly to the carpenter's and builder's tools and materials, the graded nails sized by the old penny measure, the spades, saws, chisels and compasses for the defence works the Company pressed forward across these years. The heading and paring chisels were the joiner's tools for cutting and trimming timber, the clamp irons the fittings that held work together, and the chalk line and steel compasses the marking instruments for laying out the building, the whole forming the material supply of the fortifications that the want of skilled labour and timber had so long delayed.

183

178

October.

The Petition of Serjt Jno Hanson was prsented

Setting forth that on the 27th Janry 1718 he

had a grant of a Lease for a Peice of Ground

lying behind his house in ffort Valley but

haveing never had the Same & haveing disposed

of the sd Ground in order to Lessen his Debt

to the Honoble Company to Richd Mason

Prayed a Lease of the sd Ground might

be granted to the sd Richd Mason to commence

from yt sd 27th Janry 1718.

Ordered that the Land be measured & a

Lease granted & the rent to be adjusted when

the Lease is signed.

Capt: Goodwin reports that he has viewed

the Land petitioned for by James Harding

according to yt ordr of Consultation the first

of this Month & finds that the lotting the

Land will be very prejudicial to Orlando

Bagley who petitioned agt the sd Lease &

will be of noe Service to the Petitioner

And Whereas there is Some wood that will be

of Service to our Honoble Masters Wee

think it proper to keep the Same from being

destroyed for their use.

The following Petition was

presented.

The humble Petion of Tho: Wignall

Surgeon.

Sheweth.

That your Petr when in England was

informed that a Surgeon was very much

wanted at the Island of St: Helena and

Margin Notes:

Jno Hanson prays

a Lease for ground

Sold to R: Mason

ground to be measured

& a lease yn granted

Report of Land

Petn for by James

Harding & oppd

by Orld: Bagley

Wood to be reserved

for yt Co: use

Petn of Tho: Wignall

Surgn

Sergeant John Hanson petitioned the council. He set out that on 27 January 1718 he had been granted a lease of a piece of ground lying behind his house in Fort Valley, but had never taken possession of it. Having disposed of the ground to Richard Mason to lessen his debt to the Company, he asked that a lease of it be granted to Richard Mason, to commence from 27 January 1718.

The council ordered that the land be measured and a lease granted, the rent to be fixed when the lease was signed.

Captain Goodwin reported that he had viewed the land sought by James Harding, in keeping with the order of 1 October 1723. He found that letting the land would greatly harm Orlando Bagley, who had petitioned against the lease, and would be of no use to the petitioner. He further found some wood on the ground that would be of service to the Company, and the council thought it proper to keep that wood from being destroyed for its use.

The following petition was presented.

Thomas Wignall, surgeon, petitioned the council. He set out that, when in England, he had been told a surgeon was much wanted at the island of St Helena, and [...]

Interpretations

The Hanson petition transferred a dormant lease to a creditor in settlement of debt, the ground granted in 1718 but never occupied now made over to Richard Mason to reduce Hanson's account with the Company. The arrangement showed land used as a means of payment, an unrealised tenancy converted into value by assigning it to the man Hanson owed, the council regularising the transfer by ordering a fresh measurement and a new lease in Mason's name backdated to the original grant.

The refusal of James Harding's cabbage-tree land closed the contest opened at the consultation of 3 October 1723, Captain Goodwin's view finding both that the grant would harm Orlando Bagley and that it would serve Harding nothing, the same double ground on which the council had refused Joseph Bates's acre. The added finding of useful wood on the parcel gave a further reason to withhold it, the council reserving the timber for the Company's own use, the scarcity of wood on the island making any stand of it worth keeping from a tenant who might clear it.

The opening of Thomas Wignall's petition introduced the surgeon the directors had sent out, his arrival on the Essex on 28 May 1723 already noted as the event that let the council release the stopgap doctor Carlile. His account of being told in England that a surgeon was wanted matched the island's long difficulty in securing skilled medical men, the want that had driven the engagement of Carlile on 18 March 1723.

184

179

It being represented at the Same time that the Sallary

allowed by the honoble Company & the Advantages he

should be able to make by the Inhabitants it ought

to worth his acceptance And Petition the Court of

Directors to be entertained & upon Doctor Eatsworthy

declareing your Petr duely qualifyed was accordingly

appointed Surgeon of this Island.

That your Petr is credible informed that Wm

Beale and Sutton Isaacks (notwithstanding neither

of them were ever instructed in the Art of Surgery)

doe presume to practice and administer Physick

to the Inhabitants of this Island which your

Petr not only think is injurious to himself but

is directly contrary (as your Petitioner humbly

presumes) to the Instructions of our Honoble Masters

who has appointed me only to practice Physick

and Surgery upon this Island and if not timely

redressed may be of Dangerous Consequence to

the Inhabitants of this Island.

Yor Petr therefore humbly prayes

noe person for the future may be Suffered

to practice Surgery or administer Physick

to any of the Inhabitants of this

Island but such as are entertained by

the Honoble Company or allowed

of by your Worshipt: & your Petr shall

ever Pray a

Tho Wignall

Ordered that noe person doe presume to practice

Physick or Surgery to any of the Inhabitants

out Leave & without Leave first obteined from yt Govr

Jno: Alexander

John: Smith

Jno: Goodwin

Edward Byfeild

Margin Notes:

agt Wm Beale

& Sutt: Isaacks

Practiseing

Physick

No person Allowd

to Practise &c:

out Leave

Thomas Wignall further set out that the salary the Company allowed, and the advantages he might gain from the inhabitants, would be worth his accepting the post. The Court of Directors should appoint him, and on Doctor Wignall declaring himself duly qualified he had accordingly been made surgeon of the island.

He set out that he was credibly informed that William Beale and Sutton Isaake, though neither had ever been trained in surgery, presumed to practise and administer medicine to the inhabitants. He held this not only harmful to himself but directly contrary to the directors' instructions, which had appointed him alone to practise medicine and surgery on the island. If not checked, he said, the practice might prove dangerous to the inhabitants.

He therefore asked that no person be allowed in future to practise surgery or administer medicine to any of the inhabitants, except those engaged by the Company or permitted by the council. The petition was signed by Thomas Wignall.

The council ordered that no person presume to practise medicine or surgery on any of the inhabitants without leave first obtained from the Governor.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

Thomas Wignall's petition sought a monopoly of medical practice on the island, resting his claim on the directors' appointment of him as the sole authorised surgeon. His objection to William Beale and Sutton Isaake turned on their want of training, the petition casting unqualified practice as both an injury to his own livelihood and a danger to the inhabitants, the two grounds advanced together to secure an exclusive right to treat the island's people.

The council's order granted the substance of the request by barring all practice without the Governor's leave, establishing a licensing control over medicine and surgery on the island. The measure matched the island's long difficulty in securing qualified men, the engagement of Carlile on 18 March 1723 and the judgement that the existing doctor Beale was incapable, the council now protecting its directors' appointed surgeon by requiring its own licence for anyone else who would practise. The named William Beale was the freeman who had pressed his claim to the surgeon's place across many years, treating the inhabitants on his own reputation for cures, the order now reaching directly to stop the unlicensed practice he had long carried on.

185

180

[Faded ink across the central portion of the page, affecting parts of several lines in the main writing block.]

October.

Island St: Helena.

At a Consultation held on

Tuesday the 22 Day of October 1723 at

Plantation House.

Jno: Smith Esq Govr

Dr Sent Edwd Byfeild 2d

Jno: Alexander 3d

&

Jno: Goodwin 4th

[...] tation read & approved

on.

[...] executed a Lease to

[...] Land petitioned for

[...] ed &

[...] Pr rent.

[...] have

been [...] Blacks.

and other persons [...] for taken

Down Barrs and Gates where drift and

path ways are appointed.

Ordered that an Advertisement be

issued out to forbid such Practices upon

the Penalty of every white Offender being

[...] and every Bl[...]d at the

[...] retion of the G[...] il and

[...] to order the bu[...] Gates &

[...] s to keep them [...] Subjec

[...] selves to the [...] ore

[...] lained of

Whereas Sevorale Persons have

Margin Notes:

Lease deliv: Richd

Mason for ground

in James Valley

Complt of Gates &

Barrs being taken

Downe.

Advertizemt

Issued to forbid

the like on

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 22 October 1723 at the plantation house.

Present were Governor Smith, Edward Byfield as second, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin as fourth.

The last consultation was read and approved.

The council executed a lease to Richard Mason for the ground he had sought in James Valley, the rent fixed as ordered.

A complaint was made that gates and bars had been taken down. Several persons had been pulling down the bars and gates set up where droveways and paths were appointed.

The council ordered an advertisement to be issued forbidding such practices, on the penalty of every white offender [...] and every black [...] at the discretion of the council. It further ordered the owners to keep up their bars and gates and to hold them subject to the order, on pain of the penalty set out.

The petition further set out that several persons had [...]

Interpretations

The lease executed to Richard Mason completed the transfer ordered earlier, the James Valley ground assigned by Sergeant Hanson in settlement of debt now formally granted to Mason at the rent the council had reserved. The entry closed the arrangement by which a dormant tenancy had been turned into value for a creditor, the documentary lease perfecting the bargain.

The order on the bars and gates addressed the upkeep of the island's droveways and paths, the barriers controlling the movement of cattle along appointed routes across the open ground. Their removal threatened the boundaries between holdings and the management of stock on a island grazed in common, the council answering with an advertisement that fixed a penalty graded by the offender's status, white and black offenders treated differently, and bound the owners to maintain their bars and gates. The measure protected the system of fenced ways by which cattle were driven and pasture divided, the destruction of the barriers being read as a threat to the order of the island's husbandry.

186

181

1723

been possessed of Land belonging to the honoble

Company & have noe Lease for the Same

Ordered that an Advertisement be

issued out to require them to apply themselves to yt Govr &

Council on ffryday the 5th of Novr next

& to sett forth by way of Petition where

their Lands Lye in order to have Lease

for the Same

Richard Mason presented a Bile of

Sale for an house in yt ffort Valley from

Jno Hanson & prayed the same might

be registred.

Mrs Frances Carne presented a Bill of Sale

from Elihu Carne & prayed the same might

be registred

The sd Mrs Carne presented a Bill of Sale from

Capt: Jno Goodwin & prayed the Same

might be registred.

The sd Capt: Goodwin presented a

Bile of Sale of an House in yt ffort Valley

from the sd Mrs Carne and prayed the same

might be registred.

Ordered that the sd Sevdrall Deeds

be registred.

The Petition of Walter Morris was

presented praying Liberty to dispose of a

Lease of one Acre and an halfe of Land

from the Honoble Company to Capt: Jno

Goodwin.

Granted.

The following Petition was presented

Margin Notes:

All persons to

Appear who have

noe Lease for

Land.

Sundry

Writeings.

prayd to be

Registered.

Ordd accordingly

Walt: Morris

prays leave to

dispose of th:

Land

Granted

The advertisement further set out that several persons held land belonging to the Company but had no lease for it.

The council ordered an advertisement to be issued requiring such persons to apply to the Governor and council on Friday 5 November next, and to set out by petition where their lands lay, so that they might obtain leases for them.

Richard Mason presented a bill of sale for a house in Fort Valley from John Hanson, and asked that it be registered.

Mrs Frances Carne presented a deed from Elihu Carne, and asked that it be registered.

Mrs Carne presented a deed from Captain John Goodwin, and asked that it be registered.

Captain Goodwin presented a bill of sale for a house in Fort Valley from Mrs Carne, and asked that it be registered.

The council ordered that these several deeds be registered.

Walter Morris petitioned the council, asking leave to dispose of a lease of one and a half acres of land, held from the Company, to Captain John Goodwin.

The council granted the request.

The following petition was presented.

Interpretations

The order requiring holders of Company land without leases to come forward and petition for them marked a drive to bring the island's tenures onto a documentary footing. The measure caught the many informal occupations like Ralph Orme's, ground held and fenced without measurement or title, the council fixing a day for all such holders to declare where their lands lay and obtain formal leases, so that every parcel of Company ground stood on a recorded grant with a defined rent and term.

The run of registrations recorded the island's system for perfecting transfers of property, every bill of sale and deed of gift entered in the public register to make it good against later dispute. The cross-dealings among the Carnes and Captain Goodwin, houses and land passing between them by sale and deed, show the register serving as the island's record of title, the council ordering the instruments entered so that the changes of ownership carried legal effect. Walter Morris's leave to assign his lease to Goodwin followed the same pattern, the disposal of a leasehold requiring the council's consent and its entry on the record to bind the Company and the parties alike.

187

182

October.

The humble Petition of Thomas Wignall

Surgeon.

Sheweth.

That the Reverend Mr Giles on or about

the 25th of September was taken very ille and

finding it necessary to have recourse to Physick

for releif did accordingly take such Medicines

as were prscribed by Persons nother licensed or

qualifyed to Practice Physick or Surgery.

That your Petr being entertained by yt

Honoble Company as Surgeon of this Island

humbly think this manner of proceedure of Mr

Giles was alone Sufficient to give your Petr just

cause to complain but being willing to contribute

all Possible Assistance to one in his Distresse

he went twice severale Miles into the Country

to visitt him and is fully assured that (under

God) had he followed your Petrs directions he had

long Since done well. But the sd Mr Giles refusing

and neglecting to follow such rules and method

in his Dyet & as were enjoyned him Your Petr as

in duty bound soe to doe did tele the sd Mr Giles yt

he could not expect to receive benefit by any thing

your Petr should give him 'til such time as

he Submitted to observe punctually such direc=

=tions as your Petr gave him which fair and

candid behaviour of your Petr instead of haveing

the desired Effect provoked the sd Mr Giles to such

a degree that he not only desired he might be noe

more visited by your Petr but likewise did in

the hearing of Sevdrale People declare your

Petr was a rascale and villain but Your Petr

farr from resenting soe gross an Injury from

a Person in his Circumstances went to him

Margin Notes:

Tho: Wignalls Petn

agt the abuses of

Mr Giles yt Parson

Thomas Wignall, surgeon, petitioned the council.

He set out that the Reverend Mr Giles had fallen very ill on or about 25 September. Finding it necessary to have recourse to medicine for relief, Giles had taken such remedies as were prescribed by persons neither licensed nor qualified to practise medicine or surgery.

Wignall, engaged by the Company as surgeon of the island, held that this conduct of Giles alone gave him just cause to complain. Yet, being willing to give all possible help to a man in distress, he had gone several miles into the country twice to visit him. He was fully assured that, under God, Giles would long since have recovered had he followed Wignall's directions. Giles, however, refused and neglected to follow the rules of diet set for him. Wignall, as he was bound in duty, told Giles that he could not expect any benefit from his treatment until he submitted to observe those directions exactly.

This fair and open conduct, instead of having the desired effect, provoked Giles to such a degree that he not only wished to be visited no more by Wignall, but also declared, in the hearing of several people, that Wignall was a rascal and a villain. Wignall, far from resenting so gross an injury from a man in his condition, went to him [...]

Interpretations

This second petition from Thomas Wignall pressed the same grievance as the first, the unlicensed practice of medicine on the island, but anchored it now in a particular case, the illness of the chaplain Mr Giles. The chaplain's recourse to untrained practitioners gave Wignall a concrete instance to set before the council, his complaint resting on the harm done both to his own standing as the Company's appointed surgeon and to the patient who, he argued, would have recovered under proper care.

The account turned the dispute into a contest over medical authority and the patient's compliance, Wignall insisting that treatment could not work without obedience to his regimen of diet, and Giles rejecting both the discipline and the man. The chaplain's abuse of Wignall as a rascal and villain, declared before witnesses, added a charge of defamation to the petition, the surgeon presenting his own forbearance against the chaplain's hostility to strengthen his case for the licensing control he sought, the named Mr Giles being the island's minister whose own conduct the bench had reason to weigh.

188

183

a Second time (at his own desire) and in very

civil terms sett forth the Damage he was likely

to receive from the Character he had given your

Petr among the Inhabitants but the sd Mr Giles

was soe farr from giveing your Petr any

Satisfaction about the matter that to the

Surprize of your Petr and all the world he

repeated the Offence But the sd Mr Giles sthe groud

worse and worse sent for your Petr a third time

who (notwithstanding the sd Mr Giles had rendred

himself altogeather unworthy of his further

care and attendance) being wileing to forgett

and forgive what was past went to him a third

time prescribed him such Medicines as gave

him imediate ease and he desired your Petr would

be with him againe in a few hours but your

Petr being hindred by other businesse from atten=

=ding soe Soon as he desired Mr Giles resented

it in such an extravagant manner that he called

your Petr Rouge Rascale and Villain and threat

=ned as soon as he was wole to lead your Petr up

& down the Valley by the Nose.

Yor Petr therefore most humbly

prays your Worship and Council

will noe longer Suffer his Professeon

to protect him in his Impudence &

that ye sd Mr Giles be obliged to

make your Petr Such reparation for

the false and Scandalous reflections

he has Cast upon your Petr as your

Worship & ye Council in your discretion

Thomas Wignall continued his account. He had gone to Giles a second time at the chaplain's own request, and in very civil terms had set out the harm he was likely to suffer from the character Giles had given him among the inhabitants. Giles, however, was so far from giving any satisfaction that, to Wignall's surprise, he repeated the offence before everyone.

As Giles grew worse and worse, he sent for Wignall a third time. Though Giles had made himself wholly unworthy of further care, Wignall was willing to forget and forgive what was past and went to him again. He prescribed medicines that gave Giles immediate ease, and said he would return in a few hours. Being kept by other business from attending as soon as he had promised, Wignall found Giles resenting it so extravagantly that he again called him a rogue, a rascal and a villain, and threatened that, as soon as he was well, he would lead Wignall up and down the valley by the nose.

Wignall therefore asked that the council no longer allow Giles's profession to shield him in his insolence, and that Giles be obliged to make such reparation for the false and scandalous reflections he had cast upon Wignall as the council in its discretion [...]

Interpretations

This continuation completed Wignall's account of his dealings with the chaplain Giles, building a record of repeated service met with repeated abuse to support his demand for redress. The narrative cast Wignall as the forbearing professional, returning three times to a patient who insulted him, and Giles as the ungrateful and intemperate offender, the threat to lead the surgeon up and down the valley by the nose marking the chaplain's contempt in the coarsest terms.

The petition closed by asking the council to strip Giles of the protection his clerical office might otherwise give him and to compel him to make reparation for his defamation. The request raised a pointed question of jurisdiction, a layman seeking the bench's discipline of the island's minister, the surgeon arguing that the chaplain's profession should not shield him from answering for scandalous words. The matter set Wignall's claim for his good name against the standing of the church on the island, the council asked to subject the minister to its authority in a dispute that had grown from a question of medical care into one of defamation and clerical privilege.

189

184

October.

Shale think fitt And your Petr

&c.

Tho: Wignall.

By the Assertions sett forth in the aforesd

Petition of Mr Wignall Wee have reason

to beleive Mr Giles has abused him in the

Scandalous manner therein mentioned and

as Such may be of Prejudice to Mr Wignales

Practice among the People here Wee therefore

think it proper and accordingly order that Mr

Giles (as Soon as recovered of the fitt of Sicknesse

he at present labours under) Doe ask the sd

Mr Wignall Pardon in a publick manner.

And that a Coppy of this Peticon & order

thereon be sent to the sd Mr Giles accordingly.

John: Smith

Edward Byfeild

Jno: Alexander

Jno: Goodwin

Island St: Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the 5th Day of November 1723 at Plantation

house.

Jno: Smith Esq Govr

Dr Sent Edward Byfeild 2d

Jno: Alexander 3d &

Jno: Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved on

The Advertisements ordered last Consult

Margin Notes:

Mr Giles to aske

Mr Wignall

Pardon.

& to have a Copy

hereof.

Wignall closed his petition by asking the council to grant such reparation as it thought fit. The petition was signed by Thomas Wignall.

The council held that the statements in Wignall's petition gave it reason to believe Giles had abused him in the scandalous manner described, which might harm Wignall's practice among the people. It therefore thought it proper, and ordered, that as soon as Giles had recovered from his present illness he ask Wignall's pardon in a public manner. It further ordered that a copy of the petition and the order be sent to Giles.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Friday 5 November 1723 at the plantation house.

Present were Governor Smith, Edward Byfield as second, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin as fourth.

The last consultation was read and approved.

The advertisements ordered at the last consultation [...]

Interpretations

The council upheld Wignall's complaint and ordered the chaplain Giles to ask the surgeon's pardon publicly once recovered, granting the layman the redress he sought against the island's minister. The decision resolved the question of clerical privilege against Giles, the bench declining to let his profession shield him and treating the defamation of the Company's appointed surgeon as a matter for its own discipline, the public apology mirroring the form of penance the island imposed for scandalous words.

The order to send Giles a copy of the petition and the ruling ensured he had formal notice of both the charge and the penalty, the council proceeding on the documentary record rather than by summons. The requirement of a public pardon tied the reparation to Wignall's stated injury, the harm to his practice among the people, the apology made openly so as to repair the character Giles had damaged before the same inhabitants who had heard the abuse.

190

185

Day were issued out accordingly.

Capt: Byfeld brot in & delivered An Acc:t of the

Honoble Companys live Stock and expences for the

month of October which was examined &

approved of and is as follows.

Acco:t of the Honoble Companies Stock of Neat Cattle Sheep Goates Hogs Coultry

Asses & Horses likewise what has been kyld besides the Inecrease or Decrease for the Month

of October 1723

Neat Cattle

Sheep

Goates

Hogs

Coultry

Asses

Horses

64 59 29 18 3 60 8

241

37 14 18 3

72

151 36 27 8

222

8 10 2 24 44

45 115 27 18

8 4

2 6

Remain ult: 7ber

64 59 29 18 3 60 8

241

37 14 18 3

72

151 36 27 8

222

8 10 2 24 44

45 115 27 18

19 3 6

8 4

2 6

Inecreased in do

Kylld in do

64 59 29 18 3 60 8

241

37 14 18 3

72

151 36 27 8

222

8 10 2 24 44

64 118 33 18

103 4: 6 63 - - - -

8 4

2 6

1 - - - 1

1

1

9 2

Dead in do

63 59 29 18 3 60 8

240

37 13 18 3

71

151 36 27 8

222

8 9 2 21 40

62 112 30 18

8 4

2 6

4

4

Remain Ult: 8ber

63 56 29 18 3 60 8

236

37 13 18 3

71

151 36 27 8

222

8 9 2 21 40

63 112 30 18

8 4

2 6

Yams Expended at the Sevd Plantations

24975 lb

Ditto delivered to the ffort Blacks

18175 lb

43150 lb

Margin Notes:

Mr Byfeld

Acc: of yt Hon:

Co: live Stock &c:

for Oct: 1723

The advertisements ordered at the last consultation were issued accordingly.

Captain Byfield brought in and delivered an account of the Company's live stock and expenses for the month of October, which the council examined and approved. It stood as follows.

An account of the Company's stock of neat cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, asses and horses, together with what had been killed, besides the increase and decrease for the month of October 1723.

Neat cattle, by bullocks, cows, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and bulls, then the total.

Remaining at the end of September: 64 bullocks, 59 cows, 29 heifers, 18 steers, 3 yearlings, 60 calves, 8 bulls, total 241

Increased in the month: none

Cattle, by the same classes: 64 bullocks, 59 cows, 29 heifers, 18 steers, 3 yearlings, 60 calves, 8 bulls, total 241

Killed in the month: 1 bullock

Dead in the month: 4 cows

Remaining at the end of October: 63 bullocks, 56 cows, 29 heifers, 18 steers, 3 yearlings, 60 calves, 8 bulls, total 236

Sheep, by ewes, wethers, lambs and rams, then the total.

Remaining at the end of September: 37 ewes, 14 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 72

Sheep, by the same classes: 37 ewes, 14 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 72

Killed in the month: 1 lamb

Remaining at the end of October: 37 ewes, 13 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 71

Goats, by ewes, wethers, kids and rams, then the total.

Remaining at the end of September: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222

Goats, by the same classes: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222

Killed in the month: 1 kid

Remaining at the end of October: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222

Hogs, by sows, shoats, tubs and rooms, then the total.

Remaining at the end of September: 8 sows, 10 shoats, 2 tubs, 24 rooms, total 8

Hogs, by the same classes: 8 sows, 10 shoats, 2 tubs, 24 rooms, total 8

Killed in the month: total 8

Remaining at the end of October: 8 sows, 9 shoats, 2 tubs, 21 rooms, total 8

Poultry, by cocks, hens, turkeys, geese and ducks, then the total.

Remaining at the end of September: 44 cocks, 45 hens, 115 turkeys, 27 geese, 18 ducks, total 8

Increased in the month: 19 hens, 3 turkeys, 6 geese

Cocks and hens, by class: 44 cocks, 64 hens, 118 turkeys, 33 geese, 18 ducks

Killed in the month: none

Remaining at the end of October: 44 cocks, 63 hens, 112 turkeys, 30 geese, 18 ducks, total 8

Asses: 4

Horses, by horses and mares, then the total.

Remaining at the end of September: 2 horses, 6 mares, total 6

Remaining at the end of October: 2 horses, 6 mares, total 6

Yams expended at the several plantations, 24,975 pounds

Yams delivered to the fort blacks, 18,175 pounds

Total yams, 43,150 pounds

Interpretations

This October account carried the livestock survey forward another month, the herds and flocks again showing little movement beyond a few cattle lost to death and the usual small kills for provision. The cattle slipped from 241 to 236 and the sheep by a single beast, the goats holding steady after the heavy losses the drought had inflicted earlier in the year, the stock settling into stability as the worst of the crisis passed.

The poultry alone showed real increase, the hens, turkeys and geese all gaining by hatching so that the birds rose where the four-footed stock fell, the flock being the one part of the Company's holding that bred fast enough to grow within a month. The yam figures appended below rose sharply from September, the quantities expended at the plantations and delivered to the fort blacks both larger, marking a heavier draw on the island's reserve as the establishment and its slaves consumed the staple, the dual rationing the survey had tracked throughout the year continuing at an increased rate.

191

186

November.

Pursuant to the Advertisemt for Persons

that were in possession of the Honoble Com=

panys Land & had not Leeses for the same

to apply themselves to ye Govr & Council this day

yt Sevdrale Persons following

applyed themselves by Petition for Lease.

Richd Mason prayed a Lease of 4 Acres

of Land the same being measured on yt 16th

ffebry 1719.

John Knipe for 9 a acres of Land which

has been measured on yt 23d Day of ffebry 1719

Joseph Bates for 1 acre of Land which

was measured the 8 Octobr 1721.

Ordered that Leases be granted to ye sd

Richd Mason John Knipe and Joseph Bates

of the sd Land to commence from the Sevd

times of yt Measuremt of the sd Land.

Robt Gurling prayed a Measuremt &

Lease of a parcell of Land. viz: about

4 Acres

Granted him on yt 16th ffebry 1719 & 1 a

Acre of Land granted yt 22 Day of Janry 1722

Mary Shreeve prayed a Measuremt &

Lease of abt 6 Acres of Land granted to

her late husband Mr Shreeve dec:d on yt sd

Sepr 1719.

Isaac Leech Gunners mate prayed a Measuremt

and Lease of 4 Acres Land granted to him on

the 16th ffebry 1719.

Wm Beale prayed a Lease and Measuremt

of 2 Acres of Land granted him yt 30th Octobr

1722.

Margin Notes:

Sundry persons

Appeard before

Leases for Land

vizt

Rd: Mason.

Jno: Knipe.

Jo: Bates.

Commencemt.

Robt Gurling

2 Grants

Mary Shreeve

Isaac Leech

Wm Beale

In keeping with the advertisement requiring persons who held the Company's land without leases to apply to the Governor and council, the following persons petitioned for leases.

Richard Mason asked for a lease of four acres of land, measured on 16 February 1719.

John Knipe asked for a lease of nine and a half acres of land, measured on 28 February 1719.

Joseph Bates asked for a lease of one acre of land, measured on 8 October 1721.

The council ordered that leases be granted to Richard Mason, John Knipe and Joseph Bates for their lands, each to commence from the date its land was measured.

Robert Gurling asked for a measurement and lease of two parcels of land, namely about four acres granted to him on 16 February 1719, and half an acre granted on 22 January 1722.

Mary Shreeve asked for a measurement and lease of about six acres of land granted to her late husband Mr Shreeve, deceased, on 8 September 1719.

Isaac Leech, gunner's mate, asked for a measurement and lease of four acres of land granted to him on 16 February 1719.

William Beale asked for a lease and measurement of two acres of land granted to him on 30 October 1722.

Interpretations

This run of petitions answered the advertisement of 22 October 1723 that had required all holders of Company land without leases to come forward, the response bringing in a string of occupiers whose grounds had been granted years before but never formally leased. The entries show how far the island's tenures had run on informal grants, parcels measured and held since 1719 or earlier yet lacking the documentary lease that fixed rent and term, the council now drawing them onto a recorded footing.

The dating of each commencement to the day the land was measured tied the new leases back to the original grants, so that the tenants gained formal title without losing the seniority of their first possession. The variety of the grounds, from Mason's four acres to Knipe's nine and a half, and the inclusion of a deceased man's holding claimed through his widow, mark the range of dormant grants the drive caught up, William Beale's two acres being the Peak Hill parcel granted him on 30 October 1722 after his earlier grant under the High Water Fall had been countermanded for the Company's goats.

192

187

Gabriel Powell & Richd Gurling on the behalf

of Charles Stewarts Orphans Prayd a Measure

ment and Lease of 19 Acres & 1 a Acre of Land

belonging to ye sd Orphans. Granted.

Ordered that the sd Severale Parcells of

Land be measured & Leases granted thereof

to commence from yt date of the severale

grants made to the sd Persons respectively.

The Govr reports that having been lately at

the great Wood he found the Wood was very much

destroyed.

Wherefore Ordered that an Advertisemt

be forthwith Issued to enjoyne any persons Whites

or Blacks from cutting down any tree either

green or dry untill the dead wood now lying

there be first carryed away upon yt Penalty

of Twenty shillr for every tree soe kytt downe

as aforesd

The five following Petitions were

presented.

The Petition of Jno French Gunner

praying to hire abt an Acre of the honoble

Companys Land lying in Hancocks Hole.

The Petition of Jno Gurling praying

leave to hire abt five Acres of yt Honoble

Companys Land lying near his own Plantation.

Ordered that Capt: Goodwin doe view the sd

two severale Parcells of Land & report if the

Margin Notes:

C: Stewards

Orphans

2 grant.

Leases to be

Made out

to Each pson

Govr: Report

of great Wood

No Trees to be

Cutt till all yt

dry is fetcht

out of yt great

Wood.

Petn of Jno French

Gunner for

Land.

Jno Gurling

for Land.

Land to be

viewed.

Gabriel Powell and Richard Gurling, on behalf of Charles Steward's orphans, asked for a measurement and lease of nineteen acres and a half-acre of land belonging to the orphans. The council granted the request.

The council ordered that these several parcels of land be measured and leases granted, each to commence from the date of its grant to the persons concerned.

Governor Smith reported that, having lately been at the Great Wood, he found it very much destroyed.

The council therefore ordered an advertisement to be issued at once, forbidding any persons, white or black, to cut down any tree, whether green or dry, until the dead wood now lying there had first been carried away, on a penalty of 20 shillings for every tree cut down.

The five following petitions were presented.

John French, gunner, petitioned for leave to hire about an acre of the Company's land lying in Hancock's Hole.

John Gurling petitioned for leave to hire about five acres of the Company's land lying near his own plantation.

The council ordered that Captain Goodwin view the two parcels of land and report whether letting [...]

Interpretations

The grant to the Steward orphans completed the lease drive begun under the advertisement of 22 October 1723, the executors Powell and Gurling securing formal title for the orphans' land in the same way the other holders had regularised theirs. The entry confirmed the council's care for the orphans' estate, the leasehold perfected in their name so that their property stood on the recorded footing the campaign sought for all Company ground.

The Great Wood order renewed the island's long campaign to protect its scarce timber, the Governor's own inspection finding the wood much destroyed and the council answering with a fresh prohibition. The measure carried forward the protection first imposed by the Great Wood preservation order of 25 August 1719 and pressed under successive governors, the penalty of 20 shillings a tree and the bar on cutting before the dead wood was cleared aimed at preserving the standing timber the island could ill afford to lose, the same anxiety over wood that ran through the land grants and the building accounts. The condition allowing the dead wood to be taken first showed the council distinguishing useful salvage from destructive felling, permitting the removal of fallen timber while shielding the living trees.

193

188

November.

Letting Leases of the same will be prejudiciale

to any person.

The Petition of Mary Conway widdo: praying

Liberty to dispose of 15 Acres of the honoble

Companys Land upon Dogwood Valley Plain

to the best Purchaser (being agreable to

the Govr & Council) being part of 30 Acres

for which She has a Lease from the honoble

Company

Granted.

The Petition of Richard Beale praying

a Deed for 30 Acres of free Land now in

his Possession which was ordered to be measu=

=red yt 22 March 1719 & a Deed to be delivered

to him.

Granted.

Mrs Eliz: Marsh presented a Bile of Sale of

an House with thirty four foot of Lease Land

adjoyning thereto & household goods therein from

Serj: Tho: Dutch Scituate in James Valley

And prayed the same might be registred

Which was ordered accordingly.

John: Smith

Edward Byfeild

Jno: Alexander

Jno: Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Mary Conaway

prays leave to

dispose of 15 Acres

Land Hired

Granted.

Rd: Beale prays

a Deed for 30 Acres

Land

Eliz: Marsh presented

a Bill of Sale

lately Purchasd

of the Dutch

The council ordered Captain Goodwin to report whether letting leases of the two parcels would harm any person.

Mary Conway, widow, petitioned for leave to dispose of fifteen acres of the Company's land on Dogwood Valley Plain to the best buyer, if the council agreed. The land was part of thirty acres for which she held a lease from the Company.

The council granted the request.

Richard Beale petitioned for a deed of thirty acres of free land now in his possession, which had been ordered registered on 22 March 1719 and a deed delivered to him.

The council granted the request.

Mrs Elizabeth Marsh presented a bill of sale of a house, with thirty-four feet of leasehold land adjoining it and the household goods in it, bought from Jeremiah Dutch and lying in James Valley. She asked that it be registered.

The council ordered it registered accordingly.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The Conway petition showed the council controlling the assignment of leasehold land, the widow needing its consent to sell part of her thirty-acre holding even to dispose of ground she already leased. The requirement that any sale be to a buyer the council approved kept the disposal of Company land under the bench's hand, preventing tenants from passing their leases freely and ensuring the Company retained a say over who held its ground.

The Beale deed and the Marsh registration recorded the island's machinery for perfecting title, the council ordering the formal instruments entered so that ownership carried legal effect. Richard Beale's deed completed a grant of free land ordered registered as far back as 22 March 1719, the long gap before its delivery showing how informal possession often ran ahead of the documentary title, the same lag the lease drive was now closing. The Marsh bill of sale, a house and its goods bought from Jeremiah Dutch, passed through the register in the ordinary way, the entry making the transfer good against any later claim and recording the change of ownership in the island's public record.

194

189

Island St: Helena.

At a Consultation held on

Tuesday the 19th Day of November 1723

at Plantation House.

Jno: Smith Esq Govr

Dr Sent Edwd Byfeild 2d

Jno: Alexander 3d

&

Jno: Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved

on.

Mr Byfeld reports that a Black wench

named Sarah belonging to the Plantation

house was last Week brot to bedd of a Girle

named Sarah.

Capt: Goodwin presented an Assignmt of a

Bill of Sale from Walter Morris of an

House ten Acres of free Land & Provisions

thereon & also an Assignmt of a Lease

of one Acre and half of hired Land by ye sd

Capt: Goodwin & prayed the same might

be registred which was ordered accordingly

Jno Worrale Planter presented a Bill of

Sale from Wm Worrale Gunner 3d Mate

of an House & Land in Dogwood Valley &

prayed the same might be registred which

was ordered accordingly.

Capt: Goodwin brot in and delivered an

Acco: of Store Goods sold and delivered for yt

Margin Notes:

a Blk: Girle

Born.

Bill of Sale

prsented by Capt:

Goodwin for

Land House

&c:

registred.

Bill of Sale prsented

by Jno Worrale

for Land House

&c:

Registered

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 19 November 1723 at the plantation house.

Present were Governor Smith, Edward Byfield as second, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin as fourth.

The last consultation was read and approved.

Captain Byfield reported that a slave woman named Sarah belonging to the plantation house had last week been delivered of a girl named Sarah.

Captain Goodwin presented an assignment of a bill of sale from Walter Morris, of a house, ten acres of free land with the provisions on it, and an assignment of a lease of one and a half acres of hired land, all to Captain Goodwin. He asked that it be registered, and the council ordered it accordingly.

John Worrall, planter, presented a bill of sale from William Worrall, gunner's mate, of a house and land in Dogwood Valley. He asked that it be registered, and the council ordered it accordingly.

Captain Goodwin brought in and delivered an account of the store goods sold and delivered for the month [...]

Interpretations

The registrations recorded the island's standing machinery for perfecting transfers of property, the council ordering each bill of sale and assignment entered so that the change of ownership carried legal effect against any later dispute. The assignment to Captain Goodwin gathered into his hands a house, ten acres of free land with its growing provisions and a leasehold acre and a half, the bundle of freehold and leasehold passing together by Walter Morris's conveyance, the leave for which the council had granted at the consultation of 22 October 1723.

The Worrall bill of sale showed property passing within a family, the gunner's mate William Worrall conveying his Dogwood Valley house and land to John Worrall, the register serving as the island's record of title for dealings among kin as for any other. The plantation-house slave birth, a girl named Sarah, was noted in the routine way the Company tracked the natural increase of its slave force, each birth entered as an addition to the labour the establishment held and maintained.

195

190

November.

Month of October which was examined and

approved of and is as follows.

353 8/12 Gall: arrach

113 - 10 - 6

128 - 10 -

699 lb Sugar

14 - 19 - 6

226 lb Bread

2 - 16 - 3

732 lb Flower

9 - 3 -

11 - 19 - 3

73 lb Soap

5 - 3 - 5

15 lb Starch

11 - 3

10 3/4 Vinegar

2 - 3 -

3 lb Pepper

3 -

8 - - 8

1 Quart Sweet Oyle

2 - 2 1/4

16 Pint do

1 - 1 1/4

7 Bottles Florence ditto

2 - 12 - 6

1/2 Qr Linseed Oyle

4

4 1/4 Gall: Nap Oyle

1 - 5 - 6

4 - 5 - 3 1/2

69 lb Cut Tobacco

6 - 18 -

4 lb Loafe ditto

1 -

353 Pipes

14 - 8 1/2

7 - 13 - 8 1/2

44 Cattees Bohea Tea

14 - 14

4 do Green ditto

8 -

15 - 9

Shirts & Cotton Stockings

2 Chelloe Shirts

6 -

6 BBee ditto

15 -

6 White do

12 - 6

7 Pair Cotton Stockings

17 - 6

2 - 11 -

17 Pr White Curkass 9: 6d

3 - 16 - 6

2 BBee ditto

1 - 5 -

4 - 11 - 6

13 White Devotees

5 - 10 -

1 BBee do

15 -

7 - 5

2 Allejaes

1 - 14 - 3

9 Sunat Chints

4 - 1 1

1 Quilt

19 - 9 -

6 - 7 - 11

4 Pr fine Long Cloth

8 - 8

2 do Ordinary

3 - 2

9 Pr Drummumi

5 -

12 - 13 -

13 Pr Chelloe a 13: 6

8 - 15 - 6

2 do do

1 - 8 -

10 - 3 - 6

3/4 Yds Broad Cloth

16 - 8 1/4

6 Yds Shalloon

12 -

28 do Durance

2 - 2 -

3 do Gamblet

7 - 6

46 do Kerseys

4 - 2 - 6

8 - - 8 1/4

2 Pr Furtian N: 2

3 - 9 -

2 do 5: 36: 6

3 - 13 -

34 do plain Dimothy

3 - 6

1/2 Peice Thickett

1 - 1 - 6

7 - 7 -

Hatts vizt

1 Boys Hatt N: 1

6

4 do 2

1 - 10 -

2 do 3

1 - 3

2 - 19 -

Shoes vizt

2 Pr Boys Shoes

6

1 do

3 - 4

1 Girles Calve Leather Shoes

3 - 6

1 ditto Turkey

5 - 3

6 Women Calves Leather do

1 - 7 -

2 - 5 - 1

3 Quires Capp

4 -

2 Papers Ink Powder

2 -

An account of the store goods sold and delivered for the month of October 1723, which the council examined and approved. It stood as follows.

353⅜ gallons of arrack, £113 10s 6d

699 pounds of sugar, £14 19s 6d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £128 10s 0d.

226 pounds of bread, £2 16s 3d

732 pounds of flour, £9 3s 0d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £11 19s 3d.

73 pounds of soap, £5 3s 5d

15 pounds of starch, £0 11s 3d

10¾ gallons of vinegar, £2 3s 0d

3 pounds of pepper, £0 3s 0d

1 quart of sweet oil, £0 2s 2¼d

6 pints of dittos, £0 1s 1¼d

7 bottles of Florence dittos, £2 12s 6d

½ quart of linseed oil, £0 4s 0d

4¼ gallons of rape oil, £1 5s 6d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £8 0s 8d, with a further £4 5s 3½d carried alongside.

69 pounds of cut tobacco, £6 18s 0d

4 pounds of leaf dittos, £0 1s 0d

353 pipes, £0 14s 8½d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £7 13s 8½d.

44 catties of bohea tea, £14 14s 0d

2 catties of green dittos, £0 8s 0d

The subtotal for these tea lines stood at £15 2s 0d.

Shirts and cotton stockings sold as follows.

2 chintz shirts, £0 6s 0d

6 blue dittos, £0 15s 0d

6 white dittos, £0 12s 6d

7 pairs of cotton stockings, £0 17s 6d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £2 11s 0d.

3 pieces of white gurrahs at 9s 6d, £3 16s 6d

½ piece of blue dittos, £1 5s 0d

13 pieces of white dosuties, £8 10s 0d

1 piece of blue dittos, £0 15s 0d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £4 11s 6d, with a further £7 5s 0d carried alongside.

2 pieces of allejars, £1 14s 0d

9 pieces of surat chintz, £4 1s 0d

1 quilt, £0 19s 9d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £6 7s 11d.

4 pieces of fine long cloth, £8 8s 0d

2 pieces of ordinary dittos, £2 0s 0d

8 pieces of nummum, £0 5s 0d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £12 13s 0d.

13 pieces of chintz at 13s 6d, £8 15s 6d

2 pieces of dittos, £1 8s 0d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £10 3s 6d.

3¾ yards of broad cloth, £0 16s 8¼d

6 yards of shalloon, £0 12s 0d

28 yards of dungaree, £2 2s 0d

3 yards of camlet, £0 7s 6d

46 yards of ferret, £0 2s 6d

2 pieces of fustian, number 2, £0 9s 0d

2 pieces of dittos at 36s 6d, £3 13s 0d

34 yards of plain dimothy, £0 3s 6d

1½ pieces of thickset, £1 1s 6d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £7 7s 0d, with a further £8 0s 8¼d carried alongside.

Hats sold as follows.

1 boy's hat, number 1, £0 6s 0d

4 dittos, number 2, £1 10s 0d

2 dittos, number 3, £1 3s 0d

The subtotal for the hats stood at £2 19s 0d.

Shoes sold as follows.

2 pairs of boys' shoes, £0 6s 0d

1 pair of dittos, £0 3s 4d

1 pair of girls' calf-leather shoes, £0 3s 6d

1 pair of dittos, turkey, £0 5s 3d

6 pairs of women's calf-leather dittos, £1 7s 0d

3 quires of paper, £0 4s 0d

2 papers of ink powder, £0 2s 0d

The subtotal for the shoes and these lines stood at £2 6s 1d.

Interpretations

This October store account ran the same range as the earlier months, the spirits, groceries and Eastern textiles the depot retailed to the inhabitants and shipping, arrack again heading the bill at over half the spirits subtotal. The grouped subtotals carried in the money column show the clerk totalling the account in blocks of like goods before the page closed.

The piece-goods named the staple cottons and finer cloths of the Company's trade, each a recognised import of the period. Allejars were a striped cotton or silk cloth from India, nummum a plain cotton, dimothy a stout cotton with a raised pattern, and dosuties, gurrahs and long cloth the plain calicoes and muslins in their several grades, the surat chintz the printed cotton from the textile port of Surat. The woollen cloths, the shalloon, camlet, durance and fustian, supplied linings and hard-wearing garments against the cool of the higher ground, durance being a stout durable worsted, the whole forming the textile range by which a remote settlement clothed itself, closed here with the modest stock of paper and ink powder the island needed for its writing.

196

191

Brought over

1 Horn Book

4

3 Primmers

6

1 Small Common Prayer Book

1 - 8

6 Glass Cruets

6 - 3

19 Wine Glasses

18 -

2 Solid Salts

1 - 4

2 Small Decanters

4 -

1 Large ditto

2 - 6

1 Ale Glass

2 -

2 Soop Ladles

2 - 6

1 - 14 - 6 1/6

42 1/2 Doz: Hooks Sorted

1 - 5

15 Lines ditto

9 - 1

6 lb Twine

13 -

1 - 9 - 6

2 lb Shoe Thread

5

3 Blankets

1 - 11 -

18 -

3 lb Brimstone

9

4 Barrells Lamp Black

4 -

1 - 16 - 3

Braziers Ware

1 Censor Box

1 - 2

16 Snuffers & Stands

3 - 6

1 ditto Candle Sticks

6

1 Sauce Can

9 - 6

1 Smallest Tea Kettle

12 - 6

1 - 1 1/2 - 6

12 Tin Sauce Can

1 -

1 two Qt ditto

2 -

1 Small Kettle

3 -

10 Yds Bottom Canvas

11 - 8

5 -

6 Yds Sewing

10

1/4 Pr Black & White Crape

5 - 8 - 9

6 Knives & Forks N: 8

18 - 4

1 Pair Scisars

15 - 11

1 do

2 - 6

2 China Bowles

5 -

18 - 9

22 Sneakers

11 -

34 Cups a 4d

11 - 4

20 ditto 4

3 - 6

1 Cup & Saucer

6

24 China Plates

1 - 4 -

1 Tea Pott

3 - 6

2 - 18 - 8

Hosiers Ware

2 1/16 Worsted

11 -

2 Pr Childrens Stockings

2 -

16 ditto N: 10

2 - 3

2 Girls do 4

2 - 8

2 Boys ditto 2: 1

4 - 8

2 ditto 3

6 -

1 ditto N: 16

3 - 6

2 Womens ditto 17

4 - 4

3 do 3: 6 19

10 - 6

1 Mens ditto 21

1 - 6

1 Girls do

1 - 6

3 Mens do 29

10 - 6

3 Wom: do 2: 10

8 - 6

8 Mens Stock: N: 11 4

1 - 12 - 4

7 do 15

2 - 3

6 - 19 - 8

The account of store goods sold and delivered continued, the sum brought over standing at [...].

1 hymn book, £0 0s 6d

3 primers, £0 0s 4d

1 small common prayer book, £0 3s 8d

6 glass cruets, £0 6s 3d

19 wine glasses, £0 18s 0d

2 solid salts, £0 1s 4d

2 small decanters, £0 4s 0d

1 large ditto, £0 2s 6d

1 ale glass, £0 2s 6d

2 soup ladles, £0 2s 0d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £1 14s 6d.

42½ dozen hooks sorted, £1 0s 5d

15 large dittos, £0 0s 5d

6 pounds of twine, £0 13s 0d

2 pounds of shoe thread, £0 5s 0d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £1 9s 6d.

3 blankets, £1 11s 9d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £0 18s 0d.

3 pounds of brimstone, £0 1s 6d

4 barrels of lamp black, £0 4s 0d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £1 16s 3d.

Brazier's ware sold as follows.

1 pepper box, £0 1s 2d

16 snuffers and stands, £0 3s 6d

1 ditto candlestick, £0 6s 6d

1 sauce pan, £0 6s 6d

1 smallest tea kettle, £0 12s 6d

1 second tin sauce pan, £0 1s 0d

1 third tin ditto, £0 2s 0d

1 small kettle, £0 2s 0d

10 yards of bottom canvas, £0 11s 8d

The subtotal for the brazier's ware stood at £1 12s 6d.

6 yards of sewing canvas, £0 5s 10d

6¼ pieces of black-and-white crape, £0 18s 9d

6 knives and forks, number 8, £0 15s 4d

1 pair of scissors, £0 2s 11d

1 ditto, £0 0s 6d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £1 16s 3d.

2 china bowls, £0 5s 0d

22 saucers, £0 11s 0d

34 cups at 4d, £0 11s 4d

20 dittos at 4d, £0 3s 4d

1 cup and saucer, £0 0s 6d

24 china plates, £1 4s 0d

1 tea pot, £0 3s 6d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £2 18s 8d.

Hosiery ware sold as follows.

2 pounds 1 ounce of worsted, £0 11s 0d

2 pairs of children's stockings, £0 2s 0d

1 pair of dittos, number 10, £0 2s 3d

2 pairs of girls' dittos, £0 2s 8d

2 pairs of boys' dittos, £0 4s 6d

2 dittos, number 3, £0 6s 0d

1 ditto, number 16, £0 3s 6d

2 pairs of women's dittos, number 17, £0 4s 4d

3 dittos, number 19, £0 10s 6d

1 pair of men's dittos, number 21, £0 1s 6d

1 pair of girls' dittos, £0 1s 6d

3 pairs of men's dittos, number 29, £0 10s 6d

3 pairs of women's dittos, £0 8s 6d

8 pairs of men's stockings, number 11, £1 12s 0d

7 dittos, number 15, £2 0s 3d

The subtotal for the hosiery stood at £6 19s 8d.

Interpretations

This part of the October account ran through the glassware, brazier's ware, china and hosiery the store retailed, the household goods of table and hearth that a remote settlement had to import entire. The decanters, salts, cruets and wine glasses were the dressing of the dining table, the better grade of imported glass the island could not make for itself, sold alongside the few devotional books that supplied worship and the teaching of children.

The brazier's ware named the worked-metal goods of the kitchen and parlour, brazier's ware being the trade of the brass-and-copper worker, the snuffers, candlesticks, kettles and pans cast or beaten in metal and shipped out for the household. The china was the finished porcelain of the Eastern trade, the bowls, cups, saucers and plates drawn from the same commerce that carried the cottons and teas, and the hosiery the graded stockings sized by number for every age and sex, the whole forming the domestic range by which the store furnished a settlement cut off from any nearer market for the goods of daily life.

197

192

Brought over

Nailes vizt

1/2 lb Tack

10

2 lb 3d Nailes

2 - 2

8 lb 4d do

6 - 8

9 lb 6d

6 - 9

18 lb 8d

12 -

2 lb 20d

1 - 3

1 - 9 - 8

1 Stock Lock

6 - 6

2 do

11 -

1 Clote Spring Lock

11 -

1 Splinter Lock

3 - 4

6 Cupboard do N: 2

1 - 4

2 do

1 Chest Lock N: 1

1 - 10

1 Whetstone

2 - 6

2 Cutt Axes

8 - 8

2 Shod Shovels

5 - 6

1 Sugar do

2 - 6

1 Hoe

1 -

1 Hatchet N: 3

2 - 8

1 Sr Shovel & Tongs

5 - 6

1 Frying Can

4 - 9

One Gridiron with 10 Ribbs

3 - 4

3 - 15 - 9

Haberdashery Ware vizt

4 Yds Ribbon a 3d

1 - 4

8 do 6d

4

4 do 12d

4

4 do 15d

5 - 2

36 do 22

3 - 4 - 2

1 Pr Stays

1 - 10 - 6

6 1/2 lb Coloured Brown Thread

1 - 6

1 lb Whited Brown N: 6

5 - 6

1/2 lb do 7

4 - 6

1/2 lb do 8

16 - 9 3/4

2 1/4 do 13: 3d

1 - 9 - 9 1/4

9 - 9 - 8 1/4

6 Yds Cartering a 2d

1

6 do 3d

1 - 6

14 1/2 China Silk

14 - 6

3 1/2 oz English ditto

8 - 9

5 25 Needles

7 - 10 1/2

1 Pr Thimbles

1 - 6 1/4

6 Yds Galloon

2 - 3

5 4 do do

1 - 8

5 Laces a 6d

2 - 1

4 do

2 - 4

1 Stay do

1 - 4

2 doz: Saile Needles

3 -

1 Peice coloured Tape

3 -

1 Pr Red Carn: do

1 - 6

2 Pr Midling Holld do

2 -

4 broad do

2 - 4

2 Yds Lutestring

11 -

1 1/2 Groce Shirt Buttons

6

5 Ivory Combs

7 - 6

The account of store goods sold and delivered continued, the sum brought over standing at [...].

Nails sold as follows.

½ pound of tacks, £0 0s 10d

2 pounds of threepenny nails, £0 2s 2d

8 pounds of fourpenny dittos, £0 6s 8d

9 pounds of sixpenny dittos, £0 6s 9d

18 pounds of sixpenny dittos, £0 12s 0d

2 pounds of twentypenny dittos, £0 1s 3d

The subtotal for the nails stood at £1 9s 8d.

1 stock lock, £0 6s 6d

2 dittos, £0 11s 0d

1 plate spring lock, £0 11s 0d

1 splinter lock, £0 3s 4d

6 cupboard dittos, number 2, £0 1s 7d

2 dittos, £0 1s 10d

1 chest lock, number 1, £0 2s 6d

1 ridstone, £0 8s 8d

2 cut axes, £0 5s 0d

2 shod shovels, £0 2s 6d

1 sugar ditto, £0 1s 0d

1 helve, £0 2s 8d

1 hatchet, number 3, £0 5s 6d

1 ditto shovel and tongs, £0 4s 2d

1 frying pan, £0 3s 4d

1 andiron with 10 ribs, £0 3s 4d

The subtotal for these lines stood at £3 15s 9d.

Haberdashery ware sold as follows.

4 yards of ribbon at 3d, £0 1s 0d

8 dittos at 6d, £0 4s 0d

4 dittos at 12d, £0 4s 0d

4 dittos at 15d, £0 5s 0d

36 dittos at 22d, £3 4s 2d

1 pair of stays, £1 10s 6d

6½ pounds of coloured-and-brown thread, £1 6s 0d

1 pound of white-and-brown, number 6, £0 5s 6d

½ pound of dittos, number 7, £0 4s 6d

½ pound of dittos, number 8, £0 16s 9¾d

2¼ pounds of dittos at 13s 3d, £1 9s 9¼d

6½ yards of garting at 3d, £0 1s 6d

6 dittos at 3d, £0 1s 6d

14½ ounces of china silk, £0 14s 6d

3½ ounces of English dittos, £0 8s 9d

5 thousand 25 needles, £0 7s 10½d

1 dozen thimbles, £0 1s 0¼d

6 yards of galloon, £0 2s 3d

5 dittos, £0 1s 8d

5 laces at 6d, £0 2s 1d

4 dittos, £0 2s 4d

1 stay ditto, £0 1s 4d

2 dozen sail needles, £0 3s 0d

1 piece of coloured tape, £0 1s 6d

1 piece of red camlet ditto, £0 1s 6d

2 pieces of middling Holland dittos, £0 2s 4d

4 broad dittos, £0 6s 0d

2 yards of lutestring, £0 11s 0d

1½ gross of shirt buttons, £0 0s 6d

5 ivory combs, £0 7s 6d

Interpretations

This part of the October account ran through the ironmongery and haberdashery, the nails, locks, tools and trimmings the store kept for building and needlework. The nails were graded by the old penny sizing, threepenny to twentypenny denoting length rather than price, sold by weight alongside the locks and the carpenter's tools, the ridstone being a stone for whetting and sharpening edged tools, the helve the wooden handle fitted to an axe or pick.

The haberdashery continued the dress materials the store retailed to a population sewing its own clothes, the ribbons sized by the penny, the graded threads sold by the pound and ounce, and the laces, tapes and buttons for fastening and trimming garments. Lutestring was a glossy plain silk used for the better grade of dress, galloon a narrow braid for edging, and garting the tape used for garters, the sail needles and the canvas elsewhere in the account marking the store's supply of the materials for mending sails as well as clothes. The whole formed the small stock of metal goods and sewing wares by which a remote settlement equipped and clothed itself from the Company's commerce.

198

193

Haberdashery Ware brt over

1 Horn Comb

9

1 ditto

6

1 Pair Mens Gloves

2 -

9 oz Thread a 1/3

11 - 3

9 doz Breast Buttons

4 - 6

1/2 do Coat do

9

6 Skains Mohair

2 - 6

2 Yards Ferreting

9

3 Mr Pins a 1: 2d

3 - 6

6 Mr do 1: 4d

8 -

3 Mr do 1: 11d

5 - 9

16 - 12 - 10

Sum Totall to the Inhabitants

281 - 18 - 2 1/2

Diet Expences Dr vizt

5 Gallons Arrack

1 - 11 - 4

4 lb Pepper

4 -

1 Gallon Vinegar

4 -

5 Bottles Florence Oyle a 9: 6

2 - 7 - 6

1 Cask of Beefe

15 -

137 lb Sugar omitted to the Collectn from 25 July to 25 August

3 - 8 - 6

1 Gall: Vines

4 -

2 lb Pepper

23 - 1 - 8

Great Wood Dr

2 Lines N: 9 a 1: 8

3 - 4

4 Iron Maules omitted in Augt Wt 53 lb

1 - 19 - 9

2 - 3 - 1

Genl Charges

1 Bushel Pees

8 -

3 Scrubing Brushes

6 -

4 Shoe do

2 -

1 Pair Stilyards to Weigh 140

1 -

2 Rimb Locks

1 - 7 -

2 ditto Smaller

11 -

2 Clote Clout Locks

7 - 4

2 Chest Lock N: 5

8

36 Cross Garnets

11 -

1/4 lb Cotton Yarn

10 1/2

1 Bottle Flowrne Oyle

9 - 6

1 Case Knives & Forks

3 -

1 Lyne N: 4

3 - 4

3 Barrells Lamb Black

1 - 6

3 Groce Corks

2 1/2 Gall: Rape Oyle

3 - 9 -

60 China Plates

3 - 6 - 3

1 Tea Pott

3 - 6

2 Pr Desotees

1 -

2 Lines N: 12

5 - 4

2 Quart Decanter

5 -

1 lb Coloured & Brown Thread

4 -

1/2 lb Whited Brown

6 - 7 1/2

4 oz Thread

5 -

4 oz do

1 -

1 lb Tobacco

2 -

The haberdashery ware account continued, the sum brought over standing at [...].

1 horn comb, £0 0s 9d

1 ditto, £0 0s 6d

1 pair of men's gloves, £0 2s 0d

9 ounces of thread at 1s 3d, £0 11s 3d

9 dozen breast buttons, £0 4s 6d

½ dozen coat dittos, £0 0s 9d

6 skeins of mohair, £0 2s 6d

2½ yards of ferret, £0 0s 9d

3 thousand pins at 1s 0d, £0 3s 6d

6 thousand dittos at 1s 4d, £0 8s 0d

3 thousand dittos at 1s 11d, £0 5s 9d

The subtotal for the haberdashery stood at £15 12s 10d.

Sum total to the inhabitants, £281 18s 2½d.

Diet expenses, debtor, as follows.

5 gallons of arrack, £1 11s 4d

4 pounds of pepper, £0 4s 0d

1 gallon of vinegar, £0 4s 0d

5 bottles of Florence oil at 9s 6d, £2 7s 6d

1 cask of beef, £15 0s 0d

137½ pounds of sugar, omitted in the collection from 25 July to 25 August, £3 8s 6d

1 gallon of vinegar, [...]

2 pounds of pepper, £0 4s 0d

The subtotal for the diet expenses stood at £23 1s 8d.

Great Wood, debtor, as follows.

2 lines, number 9, at 1s 8d, £0 3s 4d

4 iron mauls, omitted in August, weight 53 pounds, £1 19s 9d

The subtotal for the Great Wood stood at £2 3s 1d.

General charges, debtor, as follows.

1 bushel of peas, £0 8s 0d

3 scrubbing brushes, £0 6s 0d

4 shoad dittos, £0 2s 0d

1 pair of steelyards to weigh 140 pounds, £1 0s 0d

2 rim locks, £1 7s 0d

2 ditto smaller, £0 11s 0d

2 plate clout locks, £0 7s 4d

2 chest locks, number 2, £0 5s 8d

36 cross garnets, £0 11s 0d

¼ pound of cotton yarn, £0 0s 10½d

1 bottle of Florence oil, £0 9s 6d

1 case of knives and forks, £3 6s 3d

1 line, number 4, £0 3s 4d

3 barrels of lamp black, £0 1s 6d

3 gross locks, £0 9s 0d

2½ gallons of rape oil, £0 6s 3d

60 china plates, £3 6s 3d

1 tea pot, £0 3s 6d

2 pieces of dosuties, £1 0s 0d

2 lines, number 12, £0 5s 4d

2 quart decanters, £0 5s 0d

1 pound of coloured-and-brown thread, £0 4s 0d

½ pound of white-and-brown, £0 6s 7½d

4 ounces of thread, £0 5s 0d

4 ounces of dittos, £1 0s 0d

1 pound of tobacco, £0 2s 0d

Interpretations

This part of the November account closed the haberdashery and struck the month's retail total to the inhabitants at £281 18s 2½d, then turned to the goods drawn for the establishment's own departments under their separate heads. The split between the retail sales and the charges to the diet, the Great Wood and the general account shows the store serving both as the island's shop and as the supply depot for the Company's works and table.

The diet account again carried the heavy provision charges, the great cask of beef at £15 0s 0d and the arrack and oils for the Company's table, with a parcel of sugar noted as omitted from the earlier collection and now brought to account. The Great Wood entry tied the store to the timber campaign running through these consultations, the lines and iron mauls supplied for the work of clearing and managing the wood the Governor had found much destroyed at the consultation of 19 November 1723. The general charges gathered the hardware of the works, the steelyards for weighing, the graded locks and garnets, the cross garnet being a T-shaped hinge for doors and gates, the whole forming the material supply of an establishment that fed, equipped and maintained itself from the Company's stores.

199

194

November.

Genl Charges brt over

6 Pipes

18 - 3

19 Peices Tape in Grain

2 - 2

1 lb Twine

7 - 6

5 Qt Rape Oyle

7 - 6

3 Qt Decanters

9 - 6

1 Midling Blankets

omitted in Collection from 25 July to 25 Augt

6 - 6

1 do Horn Lanthorn

Garrison Dr

8 Cattees Green Tea

1 - 12 - 6

6 1/4 Gall: Rape Oyle

2 - 4 - 6

3 Quires Caper

4 -

1 Pair Scisars

4 -

4 - - 6

The Honble Com: Plantation

4 1/2 Trayne Oyle

1 - 6 -

6 Pit Axes

1 - 6 -

6 Helves

6 -

4 Small Square Staples

2 -

3 - 1 -

Fortification Dr

One Stock Lock N: 5

6 - 6

1 Clote Closet Lock

3 - 4

8 Sugar Shovels

1 -

9 Shod 14

6 - 8

30 lb 6d Nailes

1 - 9 - 6

14 Helves

14 -

8 Barrells Lamb Black

4

3 - 17 -

The Honble Com: Blacks

6 Peices Kersey 9: 18 4 Pr do

16 - 17 - 4

7 do Blew Curkass

4 - 7 - 6

3 lb Coloured Thread

12 -

1 Peice Coloured Tape

2 - 1

2 Cattees Bohea Tea

12 -

116 Blew Shirts

14 - 10 - 10

2 Casks Beefe

30 -

4 Pair Eng: Shoes

1 - 3

1 Island do

4 -

13 1/2 Doz: Hooks Sorted

5 - 9

1 lb Twine

2 - 2

2066 lb Rice

30 - 2 -

3 Blew Shirts

omitted in Collectn for the Month of Augt

2 - 7 1/2

2 Pr Shoes

7 - 6 1/2

11 - 6

99 - 17 - 5 1/2

436 - 18 -

The general charges account continued, the sum brought over standing at [...].

6 pipes, £0 0s 3d

10 pieces of tape in grain, £0 18s 0d

1 pound of twine, £0 2s 2d

5 gallons of rape oil, omitted in the collection from 25 July to 25 August, £0 7s 6d

3 quart decanters, [...]

1 middling blanket, [...]

1 ditto horn lanthorn, £0 5s 6d

The subtotal for the general charges stood at £4 0s 6d.

Garrison charges, debtor, as follows.

8 catties of green tea, £1 12s 0d

6½ gallons of rape oil, £0 4s 6d

3 quires of paper, £0 4s 0d

1 pair of scissors, £0 4s 0d

The subtotal for the garrison charges stood at £4 0s 6d.

The Company's plantation, debtor, as follows.

4½ gallons of train oil, £1 16s 0d

6 pickaxes, £0 6s 0d

6 helves, £0 2s 0d

4 small square staples, [...]

The subtotal for the plantation charges stood at £3 1s 0d.

Fortification charges, debtor, as follows.

1 stock lock, number 5, £0 6s 6d

1 plate closet lock, £0 3s 4d

8 sugar shovels, £0 1s 0d

2 lines, number 14, £0 6s 8d

30 pounds of sixpenny nails, £1 2s 6d

14 helves, £0 14s 0d

8 barrels of lamp black, £0 4s 0d

The subtotal for the fortification charges stood at £3 17s 0d.

The Company's blacks, debtor, as follows.

6 pieces of kersey at 13s 4d, £16 17s 4d

7 pieces of blue gurrahs, £4 7s 6d

3 pounds of coloured thread, £0 12s 0d

1 piece of coloured tape, £0 2s 1d

2 catties of bohea tea, £0 12s 0d

116 blue shirts, £14 10s 10d

2 casks of beef, £30 0s 0d

4 pairs of English shoes, £1 3s 0d

1 pair of island dittos, £0 4s 0d

13½ dozen hooks sorted, £0 6s 9d

1 pound of twine, £0 2s 2d

2,066 pounds of rice, omitted in the collection for the month of August, £30 2s 7½d

3 blue shirts, omitted in the collection for the month of August, £0 7s 6½d

2 pairs of shoes, omitted in the collection for the month of August, £0 11s 6d

The subtotal for the Company's blacks stood at £99 17s 5½d.

Sum total, £436 18s 0d.

Interpretations

This final part of the November store account closed the charges to the establishment's departments and struck the month's grand total at £436 18s 0d. The slaves' account dwarfed the other heads, the great quantity of rice and the casks of beef for their feeding and the kersey and blue shirts for their clothing marking the heavy charge of maintaining the Company's slave force, the rice alone exceeding £30 and brought to account from an earlier month's omission.

The cloth issued to the slaves ran on the coarse grades the store kept for that use, kersey being a stout cheap woollen and blue gurrahs a coarse Indian cotton, the blue shirts supplied by the hundred to clothe the labour gang. The plantation and fortification accounts carried the tools of field and building work, the pickaxes, helves and graded nails for the slaves' cultivation and the defence works, with the horn lanthorn, a lantern glazed with thin translucent horn, among the general stores. The whole formed the material charge of running the island's establishment, the cost of feeding, clothing and equipping its slaves and its works set down as exactly as the goods sold to the inhabitants.

200

195

Gunner French brot in and delivered his Acct

of Stores expended for yt sd Month of October

which was examined & approved of and is

as fold.

Gunner

Ditto

Vapor

Faulkn

do Powdr

Octobr 2 It being Muster day.

21 1 4 16 39

20 It being King Georges Coronation.

10

Expence for the Guards.

Dr

21 1 4 16 57

Carthridge Paper.

3

Handspikes

Skins of Parchmt for drums

2

3

Match

8 lb

Flints

40

40 8 2 3 3

The Two following Petitions were presented

The Petition Jno Thwaits Planter

Praying a Measuremt & Lease of 12

Acres of the honoble Companys Land Lake Jno Welchs.

Ordered that yt Land be measured and a

Lease granted for 21: Yd from March 25th 1722.

The Petition of the sd Jno Thwaits praying

to be admitted Tenant by yt honoble Company for 15

Acres of Land part of 30 Acres now in the

of Mary Conway widdow by Lease from sd Company

Possession he having agreed with her for yt Same

& that he might have a Lease there=off the Same

Granted & ordered that yt Land be measured

& that 2 Leases be made out for 15 Acres each

to the sd John Stewards & Mary Conway for

yt Wm: of yt Terme of years ypt to come in

the sd Lease & that She doe Surrender up

her old Lease.

Margin Notes:

Gunnr Acco: of

Expences in

Octobr.

Petn of John

Twaits for

a Lease of 12

Acres Land.

granted.

Do Petn to

become Tenant

for 15 Acres

late Conways

Mary Conway

& Twaits

to have Each

a Lease.

Gunner French brought in and delivered his account of the stores expended for the month of October, which the council examined and approved. It stood as follows.

The account was charged across five heads, namely the gunner, the ditto, the watch, the faulkner and the powder.

2 October, it being muster day: 21 charged to the gunner, 1 to the ditto, 4 to the watch and 16 to the faulkner, total 39

20 October, it being King George's coronation: 10 to the powder

The totals carried 21 to the gunner, 1 to the ditto, 4 to the watch, 16 to the faulkner and 57 to the powder.

Expense for the guards, by cartridge paper, handspikes, skins of parchment for drums, match and flints, as follows.

Cartridge paper, 3 [...]

Handspikes, 3 [...]

Skins of parchment for drums, 2 [...]

Match, 8 pounds

Flints, 40

The totals carried 40, 8, 2, 3 and 3 across the columns.

The two following petitions were presented.

John Thwaits, planter, petitioned for a measurement and lease of twelve acres of the Company's land, late John Welch's.

The council ordered that the land be measured and a lease granted for 21 years from 25 March 1722.

John Thwaits further petitioned to be admitted tenant of fifteen acres of land, part of thirty acres now in the possession of the widow Mary Conway by lease from the Company. He had agreed with her for it, and asked that he might have a lease of it.

The council granted the request and ordered that the land be measured. It further ordered that two leases be made out, fifteen acres each to John Thwaits and Mary Conway, for the term of years yet to come in Mary Conway's lease, and that she surrender up her old lease.

Interpretations

The gunner's account recorded the powder and stores expended for the ceremonial firing of the great guns on the muster day and the King's coronation day, the columns dividing the charge among the magazine's departments. The expenditure marked the two occasions, the routine muster and the royal anniversary of George I's coronation, on which the garrison fired its salutes, the cartridge paper, match and flints the consumable stores of the guns and the parchment skins supplied for the drums that beat the ceremony.

The Thwaits and Conway leases worked the assignment the council had set in motion at the consultation of 5 November 1723, when Mary Conway sought leave to dispose of part of her thirty-acre holding. The arrangement split her lease, the council granting Thwaits the fifteen acres he had agreed to buy from her and requiring her to surrender her old lease so that two fresh leases of fifteen acres each could issue, both running only for the unexpired term of her original grant. The mechanism preserved the Company's control over the disposal of its land, the transfer between tenants perfected by new leases under the council's hand rather than by any private dealing between the parties.

201

196

November

The Govr delivered in the following

Complaint agt Capt: Jno Alexander.

Gentlemen

On Wednesday last the 13th Inst:

Mr John Long Planter came to me and

made great Complaint that Capt: Jno Alexander

without any right or Title soe to doe had turned

a Water course which for many Years past be=

=longed to the sd Long off his ground into his own

and represented the Damage he was likely to

receive thereby in such a moveing manner

and confirmed it by soe many Circumstances

that I had reason to beleive the Man was

injured but being desirous to give each Party

an oppertunity to doo themselves Justice I

sent an order to Captain Alexander to forbear

til he could prove his right to Act as he did

but he still persisted both the next day and ye

Day after to alter the Course of the Water &

to that purpose employed his Servants in

opposition to my Order upon which I finding

it necessary to vindichte my Authority I

gave the Marshall a Warrant to turne the

Water course in dispute into its Old Channell

til the Affair was brought to an Issue Soon

after I sent an Order to forbear turning the

Water he wrote me a Letter in which he

Insinuates I was goeing to make use of an

unknown Power to destroy his Property &

at the same time seems to Intimate that

he being one of the Council and soo near

to me I should rather Countenance had

Start of crossed out section

Governor Smith delivered the following complaint against Captain John Alexander.

On Wednesday 13 November, John Long, planter, came to the Governor and complained that Captain Alexander, without any right or title to do so, had turned a watercourse that for many years past had run from Long's ground into his own. Long set out the harm he was likely to suffer by this in so moving a manner, and supported it by so many circumstances, that the Governor had reason to believe the man was injured. Wishing to give each party a chance to do himself justice, the Governor sent an order to Captain Alexander to forbear until he could prove his right to act as he had. Alexander, however, still persisted, both the next day and the day after, in altering the course of the water, and employed his slaves to that purpose in defiance of the order.

The Governor, finding it necessary to uphold his authority, gave the marshal a warrant to turn the disputed watercourse back into its old channel until the matter could be settled. Soon after the Governor sent the order to forbear turning the water, Alexander wrote him a letter. In it he suggested that the Governor was about to use an unknown power to destroy his property, and at the same time seemed to imply that, being one of the council and so near to the Governor, he should rather have countenanced his [...]

End of crossed out section

Interpretations

This crossed-out passage set out a clash between Governor Smith and Captain Alexander, the third of the council, over a watercourse Alexander had diverted from John Long's ground. The dispute pitted the Governor's authority against a councillor's claim of right in his own property, Alexander persisting in the diversion after a direct order to stop and employing his slaves to carry it out, the Governor answering with a marshal's warrant to restore the old channel by force.

The cancellation of the whole entry by the clerk's pen marks it as a record the council chose not to let stand, perhaps because the quarrel between the Governor and his councillor was composed before the consultation closed, or because the matter was thought better kept off the formal record sent home. Alexander's letter, charging the Governor with using an unknown power against his property and pleading his place on the council as a reason for favour, raised the same tension the Southen affair had exposed, the unity of the small governing bench set against the assertion of individual right, the watercourse between Long and a neighbour being the recurring kind of water-rights dispute that ran through the island's husbandry.

202

197

Pretensions than Mr Longs. It the first time

ever heard a Man was to be Judge & Party too

in his own Cause & I am sure I have done

nothing in this Matter but what is Strictly

Just and if Mr Alexander had thought himself

greived it would have become him much better

to have attended me in Person (he liveing in ye

Neighbour hood) and pointed out the Mistake

if there had been any than remonstrate by

by Letter in the manner he has done and

refuse to Obey such order as I sent him but

as I have the honour to bear the honoble

Companys Commission I am determined to

use the Power and Authority with which

They have invested me to Protect the Injured

and oppressed, nor am I to be influenced to doo

otherwise either for favour or Affection tho

Mr Alexander has had the Confidence to Insinuate

the contrary and am likewise resolved to be

treated with that Defference & respect as is

due to me and that my Order for the future

shall be duely obeyed & I wish I had noe

occasion to complain of his neglect of Busi=

=nesse but my report relateing to the impudent

behaviour of the Widdow Southen tho I made

it the 7th off Sepr was not entred til after

Consultation of the 8th of October which is

a Month afterwards and its probable if I had

not Spoke about it Sevdralle times it had

never been entered at ale and therefore Gentlemn

I am perswaded you will think it reasonable

that the sd Alexander be made sensible of his

Start of crossed out section

The Governor continued his complaint, setting out his reading of Alexander's conduct. This was the first time he had ever heard of a man being both judge and party in his own cause, and he was sure he had done nothing in the matter but what was strictly just. Had Alexander thought himself wronged, it would have become him far better to attend the Governor in person, since he lived in the neighbourhood, and to point out the mistake if there had been any, rather than to remonstrate by letter in the manner he had and to refuse to obey the order sent him.

As one who held the honour of the Company's commission, the Governor was determined to use the power and authority with which it had invested him to protect the injured and oppressed, and was not to be swayed to act otherwise for favour or affection. Though Alexander had had the confidence to imply the contrary, the Governor was resolved to be treated with the deference and respect due to him, and that his orders for the future be duly obeyed.

The Governor wished he had no further cause to complain of Alexander's neglect of business. His report on the misbehaviour of the widow Southen, made on 7 September, had not been entered until after the consultation of 8 October, a month later. He thought it probable that, had he not spoken of it several times, it would never have been entered at all. He was persuaded the council would think it reasonable that Alexander be made aware of this [...]

End of crossed out section

Interpretations

This crossed-out continuation extended the Governor's grievance against Captain Alexander from the watercourse to a second charge, the neglect of his duty as the keeper of the council's records. The Governor cast Alexander's diversion of the water as the act of a man making himself judge in his own cause, and his letter of remonstrance as an affront to the authority of the Company's commission, the dispute turned into a question of obedience and the respect due to the Governor's office.

The added complaint over the Southen report exposed a failure in the recording of the council's business, the Governor's paper of 7 September 1723 left unentered until after the consultation of 8 October 1723 and entered then, he believed, only because he pressed for it. The charge tied Alexander's conduct to a wider laxity in the secretary's office, the same neglect of the books that had troubled successive administrations, the Governor laying it before the council so that Alexander might be brought to a proper attention to his duty. The cancellation of the entry, like the matter on the preceding page, marks a record the council chose not to preserve, the quarrel between the Governor and his councillor perhaps composed before the consultation closed.

203

198

Novr

Breach of Duty (which I design to Lay before

our honoble Masters) & Since I have acted

with Justice and Integrity & with entire

Conformity to their Order and Instructions

and with a strict regard to their Interest

I dont in the least Question but I shale

meet with their favour & Approbation

And leave it to you to consider in what

manner he shale make his Submission &

give me Satisfaction for those Scandalous

Insinuations that reflect soe much upon my

Credit and reputation.

19th Novr 1723.

The Govr likewise delivered yt Paper foll:

I thought the Govr had been a Man of more

Sence then for to take the Planters Parts before

his Councils and Since I see that he doth

take their Parts before he doth take mine

I know what I have to doe for by God I

wile send the order that he sent me Concernn

the Water French home to the Company

likewise I have drawn out your Plantatn

and ale the Water Frenches that is in it

and will send that home alsp and the

French that I am about Shale goo home

likewise and Since I see he wile not Stand

by his Council I dont know who the Devle

wile Stande by him for by God I wile not

for Infamly See how things are agoeing

and soo for that reason I wile take Care

of my Self for by God I have as good

a Vote as yt Governour has and by God

Start of crossed out section

The Governor closed his complaint, which he meant to lay before the Company. Since he had acted with justice and integrity, in full conformity to the directors' orders and instructions and with strict regard to their interest, he did not doubt that he would meet with their favour and approval. He left it to the council to consider in what manner Alexander should make his submission and give satisfaction for the scandalous suggestions that reflected so far upon the Governor's credit and reputation.

The entry was dated 19 November 1723.

Governor Smith likewise delivered a paper as follows.

Alexander had thought the Governor a man of more sense than to take the planters' part before his council. Since he saw that the Governor did take their part before his own, he knew what he had to do. He would, by God, send home to the Company the order the Governor had sent him about the water trench. He had also drawn out a plan of his plantation and all the water trenches in it, and would send that home too, along with an account of the trench he was now about. Since the Governor would not stand by his council, Alexander did not know who the devil would stand by him. He would not, by God, see things go on as they were and his family suffer for it, and for that reason he would take care of himself, for, by God, he had as good a vote as the Governor had, and by God [...]

End of crossed out section

Interpretations

This crossed-out passage closed the Governor's complaint and then set out a defiant paper from Captain Alexander, the quarrel over the watercourse now openly a contest of authority between the Governor and his councillor. The Governor framed his case as a vindication of his own conduct before the directors, asking the council to determine how Alexander should submit and make amends for the slights to his reputation, the dispute escalated into a formal matter for the Company's judgement.

Alexander's reported words marked an open challenge to the Governor's primacy, his repeated oaths and his insistence that he had as good a vote as the Governor asserting the equality of the council against the Governor's claim of command. His threat to send home the Governor's order and a plan of his plantation and its water trenches turned the appeal to the directors back on the Governor, each man resolving to lay the matter before London. The cancellation of the whole exchange, like the entries that preceded it, marks a record the council struck from the formal account, the bitter quarrel between the Governor and his councillor over a watercourse and the deference due to office perhaps composed before the consultation closed, or judged too damaging to send home in the books.

204

199

I Dont care a Farthing.

These Words I heard Capt: Jno Alexander

Expresse on Tuesday and ffryday last which I

am ready to give my Oath of at any time

Witnesse my hand. Jno Long

Novr 19th 1723.

Jno Long being called was Sworne to

the truth of the Contents of yt sd Paper.

Capt: Jno Alexander having Sworne

Our Oath in the Defence of the Govr

in Consultation the Govr fined him two

Shillr which he paid accordingly.

The Petition of Jno Long was presented

Setting forth That the sd Petr had five Acres

of Lease Land given him by his Wifes father Tho:

Gargen Planter late of this Island dec:d which

Land is Scituate lying & being in Sandy bay

the Buttings and boundings of these five Acres

wile appear by your sd Petrs Lease and Platt

of the Same relation being thereunto had.

That yt sd Petr had paid for five Acres for

severale Years past would appear by the Consulta=

=tion books but he had not the sd Quantity of

Land within the Fences of his Plantation the yt

whole 5 Acres was fenced from the honoble

Companys Wast Land

That tho the Petr had allowed Capt:

Jno Alexanders Cattle to Graze on part of his

abovesaid five Acres of Land yet the sd Capt:

Jno Alexander was not therewith content but was

Start of crossed out section

Alexander said he did not care a farthing.

These words John Long had heard Captain Alexander speak on Tuesday and Friday last, and he was ready to give his oath to them at any time. The paper was signed by John Long.

The entry was dated 19 November 1723.

John Long, being called, was sworn to the truth of the contents of the paper.

Captain Alexander, having sworn his own oath in defence of the Governor in consultation, the Governor fined him two shillings, which he paid accordingly.

End of crossed out section

John Long petitioned the council.

He set out that he held five acres of leasehold land given him by his wife's father, Thomas Gargen, planter, late of the island, deceased. The land lay in Sandy Bay, its measurement and boundaries to appear by the council's lease and plat of it.

He further set out that he had paid for the five acres for several years past, as would appear by the consultation books, but had not enclosed all of it within the fences of his plantation, so that the whole five acres was fenced off from the Company's waste land.

He added that, although he had allowed Captain Alexander's cattle to graze on part of the five acres, Alexander was not content with this but [...]

Interpretations

This page closed the crossed-out quarrel and opened a fresh petition from John Long, the cancelled portion recording the formal resolution of the dispute between the Governor and Captain Alexander. Long was sworn to his account of Alexander's defiant words, and Alexander, having sworn an oath of his own in the Governor's defence, was fined a token two shillings, the trifling penalty marking a quarrel patched up rather than pressed, which explains the striking-out of the whole bitter exchange from the record sent home.

Long's petition that follows returned to the substance beneath the quarrel, his five-acre Sandy Bay holding and Alexander's cattle grazing on it. The land had come to Long through his wife as the daughter of Thomas Gargen, the descent of leasehold property through marriage being the island's common means of passing an estate. The petition rested on the council's own books and the recorded lease and plat as proof of his title and payment, the documentary record serving as the foundation of his claim, the grazing of Alexander's cattle on the parcel being the practical grievance that had fed the larger dispute over the watercourse.

205

100

November.

now makeing a Trench thro the Same to

drain the Water of the sd Petrs Plantation to

the great prejudice of his poor family whose

Subsistance cheifly depended upon the produce

of the sd Planting land

That yt Petr had severale times heard

Capt: Jno Alexander order his Servt to enter

into the Petrs Plantation & turne the

Water out of the Same.

That on Tuesday last being the 12th

Instant the Petr being in his Plantation

Capt: Jno Alexander came with 5 Blacks

and began the trench abovementioned &

because the Petr told the sd Capt: Jno

Alexander that he had noe right to digg a

Water Course thro his Land the sd Capt:

Jno Alexander treated your Petr with much

ille Language as Rouge Vileaine Dog

or threatning to break his head & told him

he had noe Land there.

Therefore humbly prayes yt

the sd Capt: Jno Alexander might

forbear his dayly Insults and

ille Language which had

been his Constant Practice

& that yt Petr might have

his aforesaid five Acres of

Land measured and Sett

out to him according to his

Lease and Platt of the Same

above mentioned.

Start of crossed out section

Long set out that Alexander was now making a trench through the five acres to drain the water from his plantation, to the great harm of his poor family, whose support depended chiefly on the produce of the land.

He further set out that he had several times heard Captain Alexander order his slaves to enter his plantation and turn the water out of it.

He set out that on Tuesday last, 12 November, while he was on his plantation, Captain Alexander came with five slaves and began the trench. Because Long told Alexander he had no right to dig a watercourse through his land, Alexander abused him with much foul language, calling him a rogue and a villain's dog, threatening to break his head and telling him he had no land there.

He therefore asked that Captain Alexander be made to stop his daily insults and abuse, which had been his constant practice, and that the five acres of land be measured and set out to Long according to his lease and plat of it.

End of crossed out section

Interpretations

This page completed John Long's petition, the whole of it struck through by the clerk's pen along with the quarrel between the Governor and Captain Alexander that preceded it. Long's account turned the matter on the harm to his livelihood, the trench draining his five acres and threatening the provisions on which his poor family depended, the water-rights quarrel framed as a question of subsistence rather than mere right.

The petition charged Alexander not only with the diversion but with violence and abuse, his slaves sent to dig the trench and his foul language and threats against Long marking the dispute as a personal assault as much as a property wrong. The cancellation of the petition together with the surrounding exchange shows the council removing the entire Long-Alexander affair from the record sent home, the quarrel composed before the consultation closed and the bitter particulars, the abuse, the threats and the councillor's defiance, judged better struck out than preserved in the Company's books.

206

101

Ordered that a Warrt be Issued out to the

Survdyor to measure the said Land &

to report the: Same.

Capt: Jno Alexander delivered the fold Memo=

=riale.

To the Worshipfull Jno Smith Esq

Govr & ye Gentlemen of the Council.

Whereas it is too well known by a

long and wofull Experience that ale sorts of

Provisions on this Island has been and is

become very Scarce and the Inhabitants in

Generale ready to Starve for want of the rainy

Seasons and misfortune of the Drought that

has attended them their Stocks and Plantatns

for the Space of these 3 last Years and

reduced not only most of theirs but prodigious

=ly lessened The Honoble Companys live

Stock and to Such a smale Number (as by

compareing the Mounthly and last Generale

Acco:ts with those formerly taken wile more

evidently appear) that if the Weekly Consump=

=tion is much longer continued they wile

inevitably in a very few months have but

very fewe left those they have now liveing

being soo very poor (and Scarce eatable)

that in Case it pleases God to send us rain

after Christmas next (which is the soonest

Start of crossed out section

The council ordered that a warrant be issued to the surveyor to measure the land and report on it.

Captain Alexander delivered the following memorial to the council.

The memorial was addressed to Governor Smith, Captain Goodwin and the council.

It set out that long and bitter experience had made it too well known that all sorts of provisions on the island had become very scarce, and the inhabitants in general were ready to starve for want of the rainy seasons. The drought of the last three years had reduced most of the inhabitants' stocks and plantations, and had also greatly lessened the Company's live stock, cutting it to so small a number that the monthly and last general accounts, compared with those formerly taken, showed plainly that if the weekly consumption continued much longer there would in a very few months be very few left of those now living. The remaining stock was so poor as to be scarcely eatable. Should God send rain after Christmas next, which was the [...]

End of crossed out section

Interpretations

The whole page stands struck through by the clerk's pen, both the closing line of the Long-Alexander affair and the opening of Captain Alexander's memorial removed together from the record sent home. The cancellation extends the suppression of the watercourse quarrel into the memorial that follows, the council clearing the entire run of contested business from its formal books.

Alexander's cancelled memorial turned from the private grievance to the island's general crisis, the drought that runs through the whole year's consultations. His account drew directly on the livestock surveys the council had taken, the monthly and general accounts compared with earlier ones to show the herds falling toward exhaustion, the same reckonings entered across these pages now marshalled as evidence of a looming collapse of the Company's stock. The memorial framed the want of rain as a threat of starvation to the whole settlement, the lean and scarcely eatable beasts and the prospect of relief only if rain came after Christmas marking the depth of the provisioning emergency that had pressed the island since the consultation of 5 March 1723.

207

102

November.

Wee can expect it) many more of them of of

ale kinds wile dye dayly. And therefore as an

Expedient to preserve them as much as possible

It is my Opinion that if the Generale Table

was reduced and board Wages allowed instead of

Dyetting there it would be a means not only

of retrenching the expence but will Indis=

=putably be for the Interest of yt sd Honoble

Company and as the first mohve and Induce

=ment thereto I am willing and desirous to

be allowed Such a reasonable Sume yt Ammt

to provide my Self with dyet and Liquors

as is suitable to the Station I am in and

which is the Custome in most parts of India

and has been formerly here which if not

thought to be more for the Honoble Companys

Interest than dyetting their Servts the Custome

and Allowance of dyet many would never

have been soe long continued and by them

approved which Submitt to your further

and mature Considerations and am.

Worshipfull Sr &

Gentlemen

Yor most humble Servt

Jno Alexander

Novr yt 19th

1723

Mr Wignale & Mr Hodgkinson Surgeon &

Surgeons mate of the Garrison appeared &

informed us that Mr Giles has had noe Occasion

for any Medicines for these five Weeks past

Margin Notes:

Mr Wignall & his Mate

Declare yt Parson

had no Occasion for

Medicines in 5

Weeks.

November.

Wee can expect it) many more of them of of

ale kinds wile dye dayly. And therefore as an

Expedient to preserve them as much as possible

It is my Opinion that if the Generale Table

was reduced and board Wages allowed instead of

Dyetting there it would be a means not only

of retrenching the expence but will Indis=

=putably be for the Interest of yt sd Honoble

Company and as the first mohve and Induce

=ment thereto I am willing and desirous to

be allowed Such a reasonable Sume yt Ammt

to provide my Self with dyet and Liquors

as is suitable to the Station I am in and

which is the Custome in most parts of India

and has been formerly here which if not

thought to be more for the Honoble Companys

Interest than dyetting their Servts the Custome

and Allowance of dyet many would never

have been soe long continued and by them

approved which Submitt to your further

and mature Considerations and am.

Worshipfull Sr &

Gentlemen

Yor most humble Servt

Jno Alexander

Novr yt 19th

1723

Mr Wignale & Mr Hodgkinson Surgeon &

Surgeons mate of the Garrison appeared &

informed us that Mr Giles has had noe Occasion

for any Medicines for these five Weeks past

Margin Notes:

Mr Wignall & his Mate

Declare yt Parson

had no Occasion for

Medicines in 5

Weeks.

208

103

And that his Indisposition continueing soe long

has been occasioned by his irregular way of Life.

The Petition of Jno Worrale was prsented

Praying a Measuremt & Lease of 8 Acres

Land granted to him 23th ffebry 1711

And alsd a Measuremt & Deed of 5

Acres of free Land lately purchased by him

of Wm Worrale & a Measuremt & Lease

of 12 Acres of Land adjoyning thereto granted

yt Rich Cove.

Ordered that all the sd Land be measured

& a Deed granted for the free Land & Leases

for yt hired Land from yt time the Same

were granted respedvely.

Mr Crispe brot in and delivered an Acco:

Acco:s of yt Expence of the Generale Table for

the Mounths of Sepr & Octobr last which

were examined & approved of & are as fold.

vizt September

253 lb Fresh Beefe at 26 Pr Cwt

3 - - 6

130 lb Fresh Pork at 6 Pr lb

3 - 6 -

47 Peices Salt Beefe at 2: 6 each

6 - 17 - 6

24 Peices Salt Pork at 2: 10

3 - 4 -

27 ffowles at 1: 6 each

2 - - 6

8 Goats at 10: each

4 - -

149 lb Bread at 3 Pr lb

1 - 16 - 6

129 lb Sugar at 6 Pr lb

3 - 4 - 6

33 lb Flower at 6 Pr lb

8 - 3

3 Pigs at 6: each

18 -

52 Bottles Mountain

81 Bottles Caelina

25 - 17 - 9

Margin Notes:

Indisposition

Occasiond by

Irregular liveing.

Petn of Jno Worrale

prayg a Lease of

8 Acres Land

alsd Deed

& Lease for 12

Acres more.

famly yt

Rich Cove.

Deed & Leases

to be made

Accordingly.

Genl Table

Expences for

7br 8br last.

Wignall and Hodgkinson added that Giles's illness, continuing so long, had been caused by his irregular way of life.

John Worrall petitioned the council. He asked for a measurement and lease of three acres of land granted to him on 23 February 1711. He also asked for a measurement and deed of five acres of free land bought by him from William Worrall, and for a measurement and lease of twelve acres of land adjoining it, granted to Richard Cove.

The council ordered that all the land be measured, a deed granted for the free land, and leases granted for the leasehold land, each from the time it was granted.

Mr Crispe brought in and delivered an account of the expense of the General Table for the months of September and October last, which the council examined and approved. It stood as follows.

The account for September.

258 pounds of fresh beef at 2s 6d per hundredweight, £3 0s 6d

130 pounds of fresh pork at 6d per pound, £3 6s 0d

47 pieces of salt beef at 2s 6d each, £6 17s 6d

24 pieces of salt pork at 2s 6d each, £3 4s 0d

27 fowls at 1s 6d each, £2 0s 6d

8 ducks at 1s 6d each, £0 4s 0d

149 pounds of bread at 3d per pound, £1 15s 6d

129 pounds of sugar at 6d per pound, £3 4s 6d

53 pounds of flour at 3d per pound, £0 8s 3d

3 pigs at 6s each, £0 18s 0d

52 bottles of mountain wine

81 bottles of [...] wine

The subtotal for the September account stood at £25 17s 9d.

Interpretations

The surgeon's added note bore directly on the Wignall-Giles dispute, the charge that the chaplain's long illness sprang from his own irregular way of life echoing Wignall's earlier complaint at the consultation of 22 October 1723 that Giles had refused to follow the prescribed diet. The report cast the chaplain's continuing sickness as self-inflicted, lending weight to the surgeon's case against the man who had defamed him and whom the council had ordered to make a public apology.

The Worrall grant gathered three parcels onto a recorded footing in the same lease drive that runs through these November consultations, the free land made over by deed and the leasehold by lease, each dated back to its original grant. The descent of property again showed the island's dealings among kin, John Worrall buying five free acres from William Worrall, the register and the formal instruments perfecting the transfer.

The General Table account resumed the routine reckoning of the establishment's common provision, the monthly charge of feeding the Company's table set out commodity by commodity. Mountain wine was the sweet fortified wine of the Madeira mountains, carried on the shipping that called at the island, the unpriced wine and beer lines recording quantities drawn from stock rather than charged fresh, as in the earlier General Table accounts.

209

104

November

brought over

25 - 17 - 9

1 Bottle Strong Beer

8 Ditto Small ditto

7 Bottles Oyle at 7: 6 Each

2 - 12 - 6

79 3/4 Gall: Arrach

25 - 6 - 1

6 Qt Vinegar

6 -

Half Firkin Butter

1 - 7 - 9

19 lb Fresh Butter

12 -

60 Bottles Milk a 4 Pr Bottle

1 - - -

217 Eggs at 1: each

18 - 1

7450 Lemons Expended between the 15th of

Augustt & 30th 7ber at 2: 6 Pr 100

9 - 6 - 3

61 - 3 - 5

D: Crispe

Acco:d of the Expence of the Genl Table for the Month of

October 1723.

515 lb Fresh Beefe at 26 Pr Cwt

6 - 8 - 9

146 Pound Fresh Pork

3 - 13 -

56 Peices Salt Beefe at 2: 6 each

6 - 15 - 6

27 Peices Salt Pork at 2: 10 each

3 - 16 - 6

23 ffowles at 1: 6 each

1 - 14 - 6

3 Pigs at 6: each

18 -

3 Ducks at 1: 6:

4 - 6

1 Turkey

6 -

1 Sheep

1 - 4 -

2 Lambs at 12: each

1 - 4 -

166 lb Bread at 3 Pr lb

2 - 1 - 6

49 lb Flower 3 Pr lb

12 - 3

166 lb Sugar 6 Pr lb

4 - 3 -

82 Eggs

6 - 10

52 Bottles White Wine

91 Bottles Caelina

79 Bottles Small Beer

5 Bottles of Oyle 7: 6d

1 - 17 - 9 2

3 Gallons Vinegar

12 -

35 - 17 - 6

The September account of the General Table continued, the sum brought over standing at £25 17s 9d.

1 bottle of strong beer

8 bottles of small dittos

7 bottles of oil at 7s 6d each, £2 12s 6d

79¾ gallons of arrack, £25 6s 1d

6 pounds of vinegar, £0 6s 0d

half a firkin of butter, £1 7s 9d

19 pounds of fresh butter, £0 12s 0d

60 bottles of milk at 4d per bottle, £1 0s 0d

217 eggs at 1d each, £0 18s 1d

7,450 lemons expended between 15 and 30 August, at 2s 6d per 100, £9 6s 3d

The subtotal for the September account stood at £61 3s 5d.

The account was delivered by D. Crispe.

An account of the expense of the General Table for the month of October 1723.

515 pounds of fresh beef at 2s 6d per hundredweight, £0 8s 9d

146 pounds of fresh pork, £3 13s 0d

55 pieces of salt beef at 2s 6d each, £6 15s 6d

27 pieces of salt pork at 2s 10d each, £3 16s 6d

23 fowls at 1s 6d each, £1 14s 6d

3 pigs at 6s each, £0 18s 0d

3 ducks at 1s 6d each, £0 4s 6d

1 turkey, £0 6s 0d

1 sheep, £1 4s 0d

2 lambs at 12s each, £1 4s 0d

166 pounds of bread at 3d per pound, £2 1s 6d

49 pounds of flour at 3d per pound, £0 12s 3d

166 pounds of sugar at 6d per pound, £4 3s 0d

82 eggs, £0 6s 10d

52 bottles of white wine

91 bottles of [...] wine

79 bottles of small beer

5 bottles of oil at 7s 6d, £1 17s 9d

3 gallons of vinegar, £0 18s 0d

The subtotal for the October account stood at £35 17s 6d.

Interpretations

These two General Table accounts closed the September reckoning and opened the October, the routine monthly charge of feeding the establishment set out commodity by commodity. The lemons stood out among the September entries, 7,450 expended in a fortnight at a fixed rate, the great quantity reflecting both the size of the table and the use of citrus against the scurvy that plagued long sea voyages and the garrison alike, the island's gardens supplying the fruit the homeward shipping prized.

The provisions named the staples of the Company's table, the fresh and salted beef and pork, the bread, flour and sugar in bulk, with the poultry, eggs, milk and butter of the island's own husbandry. Arrack again featured heavily among the September liquors, the spirit of the Eastern trade dominating the drink as it dominated the store sales, and the unpriced wine and beer lines in both months recorded quantities drawn from existing stock rather than charged fresh to the account, the established practice of these provision reckonings.

210

105

brought over

35 - 17 - 6

4 lb Pepper

4 -

20 lb Fresh Butter

4 -

31 Days Greens

1 - -

64 Bottles Milk a 4 Pr Bottle

1 - 1 - 4

2330 Lemons at 2: 6 Pr 100

3 - 10 -

100 Gallons Arrach at 6: 4 Pr Gall:

31 - 13 - 4

D: Crispe

74 - 17 - 8

John: Smith

Edward Byfeild

Jno: Alexander

Jno: Goodwin

Island St: Helena.

At a Consultation held on

Tuesday the 26th Day of November 1723 at

Plantation house. Jno: Smith Esq Govr

Dr Sent Edwd Byfeild 2d

Jno: Alexander 3d &

Jno: Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved

on.

Andrew Borgue appeared upon Sundry for

Assaulting Beating & wounding Ebenezer Leech

Soldier.

Ebenezer Leech Says that on Sunday was

sennight he was eating at the house of Thomas

Glow who Sells Punch & yt sd Andrew Borgue came

& assaulted him & had liked to have thro:wd him

agt the Wall if the sd Glow had not parted them &

after yt the sd Borgue went out & returned again

and fell upon him & tore his Shirt Coat & Westcoat

This Complt was Supported by the Evidenc

=es of Thomas Glew & his wife & George London

Upon hearing what the sd Borgue had

to Say in his own Defence

Ordered that yt sd Andrew Borgue doo

pay to yt sd Leech Twenty Shillr for his Cloaths

& yt hurt being done. & ale Georges

Margin Notes:

Andrew Borgues

abuse to Ebenezer

Leech &

fined 20:

The reason why I dont signe to this Consultation is because the greatest Part of

it Relates to an Affair in Dispute wth: my self & John Long that I am of opinion

requires no further reason at this time.

Jno Alexander

The October account of the General Table continued, the sum brought over standing at £35 17s 6d.

4 pounds of pepper, £0 4s 0d

20 pounds of fresh butter, £1 0s 0d

31 days of greens, £1 11s 0d

64 bottles of milk at 4d per bottle, £1 1s 4d

2,300 lemons at 2s 6d per 100, £3 10s 0d

100 gallons of arrack at 6s 1d per gallon, £31 13s 4d

The subtotal for the October account stood at £74 17s 8d.

The account was delivered by D. Crispe.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Friday 26 November 1723 at the plantation house.

Present were Governor Smith, Edward Byfield as second, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin as fourth.

The last consultation was read and approved.

Andrew Bergue appeared, charged with assaulting, beating and wounding the soldier Ebenezer Leech.

Ebenezer Leech said that on Sunday seven-night he was eating at the house of Thomas Glew, who sold punch, when Andrew Bergue came in and assaulted him. Bergue had nearly thrown him over the wall, had Glew not parted them. After this Bergue went out and returned again, falling upon Leech and tearing his shirt apart and his waistcoat.

This complaint was supported by the evidence of Thomas Glew, his wife and George London.

On hearing what Bergue had to say in his own defence, the council ordered that Andrew Bergue pay Leech twenty shillings for his clothes, the strife being over and all over.

Captain Alexander recorded his reason for not signing the consultation. The greater part of it related to an affair in dispute with himself and John Long, on which he was of a different opinion, and that, he held, needed no further reason at this time. The note was signed by John Alexander.

Interpretations

The assault case followed the island's settled way of handling a brawl, the council hearing the injured man and his witnesses, allowing the accused his defence, and ordering compensation for the damage rather than a corporal penalty. The award of twenty shillings to cover Leech's torn clothes treated the matter as a private wrong to be made good in money, the punch house of Thomas Glew being the kind of licensed drinking place where such quarrels commonly arose.

Captain Alexander's refusal to sign carried forward the quarrel the council had struck from its record at this same sitting, his note on the page declaring his dissent from the consultation because it touched the watercourse dispute between himself and John Long. The entry preserved on the formal record what the cancelled pages did not, a councillor's open break with the rest of the bench, Alexander recording his different opinion and withholding his signature so that the disagreement the struck-out exchange had detailed left its trace in the books after all.

211

106

November.

Upon the sd Ebenezer Leech's Swearing that

he went in fear of his Life from the sd

Andrew Borgue

Ordered that yt sd Andrew Borgue

Doo enter into a Recognizance for his

good behaviour for 6 Mounths on the

Penalty of 20. Which he did accordingly

The Petition of Serjt Dutch was

presented Praying Liberty to dispose of a

Lease of a peice of Ground conteining

thirty four foot in length & thirty foot in

breadth to Eliz Marsh Widdow.

Granted.

John: Smith

Edward Byfeild

Jno: Alexander

Jno: Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Ebenezr Leech being

in fear

Andrew Borgue was

bound for his good

behaviour 6 Mo:

Tho: Dutch prays

leave to dispose of

Some ground in James

Valley.

Granted.

On Ebenezer Leech swearing that he went in fear of his life from Andrew Bergue, the council ordered that Bergue enter into a recognizance for his good behaviour for six months, on the penalty of £20 0s 0d. Bergue did so accordingly.

Sergeant Dutch petitioned the council, asking leave to dispose of a lease of a piece of ground, thirty-four feet long and thirty feet broad, to the widow Elizabeth Marsh.

The council granted the request.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The recognizance against Andrew Bergue followed Leech's oath that he feared for his life, the binding-over working as the same suspended penalty the council had imposed on Sarah Southen at the consultation of 7 September 1723. The bond of £20 0s 0d held Bergue to good behaviour for six months under threat of forfeiture, the instrument controlling a man shown to be violent by the menace of execution against him rather than by gaol, the sworn fear of the injured party being enough to trigger the security.

The Dutch petition showed once more the council's control over the assignment of leasehold land, the sergeant needing its consent even to pass a small building plot of fixed dimensions to the widow Marsh. The piece of ground matched the thirty-four feet of leasehold land that had passed with the James Valley house Marsh bought from Jeremiah Dutch, registered at the consultation of 5 November 1723, the lease of the plot now formally assigned to complete the transfer the bill of sale had begun.

212

107

Island St: Helena.

At a Consultation held on Thursday

the 20th Day of Novr 1723 at Plantation

house. Jno Smith Esq Govr

Dr Sent Edwd Byfeild 2d

Jno: Alexander 3d

Jno: Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved of

The Govr acquainted his Council that the

reason of his calling this Consultation was to

communicate to them the fold Complaint

The Govr reports that notwithstanding all

the civil treatment Mr Giles the Parson has

reced from him since his being here he finds

himself obliged to communicate the unbecoming

behaviour of the sd Mr Giles not only personally

to himself but as a Clergy Man in the fold

Instances

While the Ship Dawsonne lay in yt

road Mr Giles applyed to him for a Certificate

of his good behaviour in order as he sayd to

transmitt the same to the Honoble Court of

Directors which the Govr very readily Signed

& Mr Giles being desirous yt it should be Signed

by the Gentlemen of the Council it was done

accordingly.

The Govr Says that the very next

Day the sd Mr Giles went on board the Dawson

and at his returne he came into the roomes

Margin Notes:

Consd: called

to hear

the Govrs

Complt agt

Mr Giles.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Thursday 28 November 1723 at the plantation house.

Present were Governor Smith, Edward Byfield as second, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin as fourth.

The last consultation was read and approved.

Governor Smith told the council that he had called this consultation to lay the following complaint before it.

The Governor reported that, despite the civil treatment Mr Giles the chaplain had received from him since coming to the island, he found himself obliged to lay before the council the unbecoming conduct of Giles, not only towards himself personally but as a clergyman, in the following instances.

While the ship Dawson lay in the road, Giles applied to the Governor for a certificate of his good behaviour, which he said he meant to send to the Court of Directors. The Governor very readily agreed, and since Giles wished it signed by the members of the council, it was done accordingly.

The Governor reported that the very next day Giles went on board the Dawson, and on his return came into the room where [...]

Interpretations

This consultation opened a fresh complaint by Governor Smith against the chaplain Giles, distinct from the surgeon Wignall's grievance heard earlier in the month. The Governor framed Giles's conduct as a double offence, against himself and against the dignity of the clerical office, the same charge of unbecoming behaviour in a clergyman that had run through the island's earlier disputes with its chaplains.

The certificate episode showed the workings of clerical accountability on the island, Giles seeking a testimonial of his good behaviour signed by the Governor and council to send home to the directors, the body that appointed and could recall the island's minister. The Governor's ready agreement to sign, followed at once by the conduct he now complained of, set up the contrast the complaint turned on, the chaplain securing a commendation one day and giving fresh offence the next, the ship Dawson lying in the road being the vessel by which the testimonial and any complaint alike would be carried to London.

213

108

November.

where the Govr his Daughter and Mrs Boyce

was & told him he would not marry any

more persons upon the Island by his Lycence

without he the sd Mr Giles might have the

Drawing the Lycence and then he would

for the Sake of the ffees to the Govr Affirming

that yt sd Mr Giles was then very much in

Drink whereupon the Govr was obliged

to goe out of his Company.

The Govr Says that Some time after

the sd Mr Giles was soe much in drink at

the Publick Table that he was not able

to Speak & the next morning he confessed

to the Govr that he did not know how he

gott home.

The Govr Says that his drinking

occasioned him to keep his roome 2 or 3

Days after he went up into the Country

to Mr Joshua Johnsons.

The Govr Says that after Some

Stay there & his behaviour not being

agreable to Mr Johnson he at his own request

to the Govr had hands and an hammock he

was carryed downe to the ffort & in his

way called at the Plantation house and

complaining he was very weak the Govr

gave him a bottle of Sack to comfort him

When he came down to yt ffort he

complained that his Boy Caleb stole his

Liquor & turned him away.

The Governor continued his complaint. Giles had come into the room where the Governor, his daughter and Mr Boyce were, and told the Governor he would marry no more persons on the island by his licence unless Giles might draw the licences and keep the fees. Giles was then very much in drink, and the Governor was obliged to leave his company.

The Governor reported that some time after, Giles was so much in drink at the public table that he was not able to speak. The next morning he confessed to the Governor that he did not know how he had got home.

The Governor reported that Giles's drinking obliged him to keep his room, and that two or three days later he went up into the country to Mr Joshua Johnson. After staying there a while, and his conduct not pleasing Johnson, Giles asked the Governor to send help. Hands and a hammock were sent, and he was carried down to the fort. On his way he called at the plantation house, complaining that he was very weak, and the Governor gave him a bottle of sack to comfort him.

When Giles reached the fort, he complained that his servant Caleb had stolen his liquor, and turned him away.

Interpretations

This continuation built the Governor's case against Giles into a sustained record of drunkenness, each instance dated and witnessed to establish a pattern of conduct unbecoming a clergyman. The chaplain's demand to draw the marriage licences and keep the fees touched a point of real substance beneath the disorder, the right to license marriages and collect the fees being a source of income the island controlled, Giles seeking to divert that revenue to himself.

The account turned the chaplain's drinking into a charge the council could weigh, his incapacity at the public table and his confessed loss of memory marking a man unfit for his office. The detail of his servant Caleb, dismissed for stealing his liquor, sharpened the picture, the chaplain's household disorder of a piece with his own intemperance. The complaint set the Governor's repeated forbearance, the help sent and the bottle of sack given to comfort the failing man, against Giles's continued misconduct, the same structure of patient kindness met with offence that Wignall's petition had used, the record assembled to justify whatever discipline the council might impose on the island's minister.

214

109

The Govr Says that he thereupon Sent Mr

Giles two of his own Servts to wait upon him

& he ordered Liquor of all Sorts from the

Castle Sufficient for him But at length

finding by the Servts & Doctor Wignale yt

the sd Mr Giles made an ill use of his

Indulgence to him & thereby prejudiced his

health The Govr Says he did then give

Orders that he should have noe Liquor but

what the sd Doctor Wignale thought proper.

The Govr Says that this Stop of Liquor

he Supposes occasioned the sd Mr Giles to call

Doctor Wignale Villain & not Spare even

himself but gave the Govr that Title Severale

Times in the Presence of Mr Hawks and

others

The Govr Says that on Monday was

Sennight upon Information that the sd Mr

Giles was recovered from his Distemper &

that his irregular Life was only the reason

of his Indisposition went down to the ffort

where Mr Giles imediately came to him &

very angryly confessed the Irregularitys he

had been guilty of & begged Pardon and

gave the Govr great Promises of his

Conduct for the future.

The Govr Says that upon yt sd Confession

and Promises of the sd Mr Giles he frankly

forgave him what was past and advised him

to behave himself as became his Cloath for

the future which the sd Mr Giles promised to

Doo.

The Governor reported that he then sent two of his own servants to wait on Giles, and ordered liquor of all sorts from the castle, enough for him. At length, finding from his servants and from Doctor Wignall that Giles had made a bad use of this indulgence and so harmed his health, the Governor ordered that he should have no liquor but what Wignall thought proper.

The Governor reported that this stopping of the liquor, he supposed, led Giles to call Doctor Wignall a villain, and not to spare even the Governor himself. Giles gave the Governor that name several times in the hearing of Mr Hawkes and others.

The Governor reported that on Monday seven-night, on hearing that Giles had recovered from his illness, and that his irregular life had been the only cause of it, he went down to the fort. Giles came to him at once, very angrily confessed the irregularities he had been guilty of, begged pardon and gave the Governor great promises of his future conduct.

The Governor reported that, on this confession and these promises, he frankly forgave Giles what was past and advised him to conduct himself in future as became his calling, which Giles promised to do.

Interpretations

This continuation completed the Governor's account of his dealings with the chaplain Giles, recording a cycle of indulgence, abuse and reconciliation that paralleled the surgeon Wignall's experience with the same man. The Governor's provision of liquor from the castle and then its restriction on medical advice showed the establishment managing a man whose drinking had become a charge on its care, Wignall's judgement governing what the chaplain might have once his health was endangered.

The chaplain's abuse of both the surgeon and the Governor as villains tied this complaint to Wignall's earlier petition, the same intemperate language directed now at the head of the island's government, witnessed by Mr Hawkes and others to fix it on the record. The closing reconciliation, Giles confessing his irregularities, begging pardon and promising amendment, and the Governor freely forgiving him, marked the Governor's preferred resolution, a private settlement and an admonition to conduct himself as his calling required, the whole account perhaps laid before the council less to punish than to place on record a pattern the Governor had borne with patience.

215

110

November

The Govr Says that very much to his

Surprize the sd Mr Giles came up to the Plan=

=tation house on Wednesday was Sennight &

at the Publick Table contradicted the Con=

=fesseon he had made to the Govr at the ffort

& added that he had done nothing but wt

he could Answer both to God & Man &

upon the Govr toleing him that he had

Seen him in Liquor Sevdrace times The sd

Mr Giles asked the Govr If he would Sware

before a Judge in England that he had

ever Seen him fudled. Indeed as for yt

Govr Saying he at St: Helena he yt

sd Mr Giles did not doubt it.

The Govr Says yt the sd Mr

Giles was soe very insolent in his

expresseons at the Table that yt Govr

desired him to goe to his apartment at

the ffort til he sent for him And yt

Govr Affirmes that the sd Mr Giles was

in drink when he first came into the

Plantation house Capt: Byfeild & Mr

Crispe wile Say the same he having

Drank a Pint of Arrack himself yt

very morning as Mr Beale wile Say who

came up along with him.

The Govr Says that the reason

of his desireing the sd Mr Giles to goe to

the ffort was as the Govr told him yt

he was not fitt to be in his Family

The Governor reported that, much to his surprise, Giles came up to the plantation house on Wednesday seven-night and at the public table contradicted the confession he had made to the Governor at the fort. Giles added that he had done nothing but what he could answer both to God and man. When the Governor told him that he had seen him in liquor several times, Giles asked whether the Governor would swear before a judge in England that he had ever seen him drunk. The Governor, being at St Helena, said he did not doubt it.

The Governor reported that Giles was so very insolent in his language at the table that the Governor told him to go to his apartment at the fort until he sent for him. The Governor affirmed that Giles was in drink when he first came into the plantation house, and that Captain Byfield and Mr Crispe would say the same, Giles having drunk a pint of arrack himself that very morning, as Mr Beale would testify, who came up along with him.

The Governor reported that his reason for telling Giles to go to the fort was that he had told him he was not fit to be in his family. [...]

Interpretations

This continuation recorded the breakdown of the reconciliation the Governor had described, Giles publicly retracting at the table the very confession he had made privately at the fort. The chaplain's challenge, asking whether the Governor would swear before an English judge that he had seen him drunk, raised the question of where authority over the island's minister truly lay, Giles appealing implicitly to a distant jurisdiction against the Governor's word on the spot, the Governor answering that on St Helena he had no doubt of it.

The Governor's order that Giles withdraw to his apartment at the fort marked the exercise of his authority over the chaplain's person, the minister confined for insolence at the table much as a soldier might be. The Governor reinforced his account with named witnesses, Captain Byfield, Mr Crispe and Mr Beale, the last placing the chaplain's morning pint of arrack on the record, the corroboration assembled to make the case against Giles unanswerable. The whole turned on the conflict between the Governor's command over his household and table and the chaplain's claim to answer only to God and a court in England, the dispute over drunkenness becoming a contest over the reach of the island's government into the conduct of its clergyman.

216

111

The Govr Says that he thought the kind

treatment he gave yt sd Mr Giles would have

induced him to have made a better returne

& not obliged him to complain of him

The Govr Says that the fold Depositiony

& the Petition of Doctor Wignale entred in

Consultation of yt 22d Day of October 1723

wile Sufficiently Support this Complaint

The Govr Says he hopes yt this report

may be taken into Consideration and that such

Methods may be taken with the sd Mr Giles

as Shale be thought reasonable.

The fold Affidavit offered to in yt

sd Complaint

The Deposition of Tho: Wignell Surgeon

This Deponent upon Oath declareth that to the best of

his Skill & beleif the Reverend Mr Giles has had no Occasion

to use any Physick or Medicin for these Six Weeks last past

the Continuation of his Sicknes being owing to his irregular

manner of living & this Deponent furthr Saith that upon

the visiting the Said Mr Giles he hath Several times found

him Lying upon his Bed in a manner Naked & in so indecent

a Posture that this Deponent absolutely beleives him to

have been Drunk. And this Deponent Saith that Soon after

the Difference that happend between Mr Benj: Hawke

& the Said Mr Giles at Table, the Said Mr Giles did endeavour

to Prevail upon this Deponent to fend Mr am to Quarrell with

Mr Hawke

Swort 26d die Novembr Tho: Wignell

coram me

John Smith

Margin Notes:

Tho: Wignalls

affidavit.

The Governor reported that he had thought the kind treatment he gave Giles would have led him to make a better return, and not obliged him to complain of him.

The Governor reported that the depositions and the petition of Doctor Wignall, entered at the consultation of 22 October 1723, would sufficiently support his complaint.

The Governor reported that he hoped his complaint might be taken into consideration, and that such measures be taken with Giles as should be thought reasonable.

The following affidavit was offered in support of the complaint.

Thomas Wignall, surgeon, deposed on oath that, to the best of his skill and belief, the Reverend Mr Giles had needed no medicine for the last six weeks, the continuance of his sickness being owing to his irregular way of life. He further deposed that, on visiting Giles, he had several times found him lying on his bed almost naked and in so indecent a posture that the deponent firmly believed him to have been drunk. He also deposed that, some time after the quarrel between Mr Benjamin Hawkes and Giles at the table, Giles had tried to provoke the deponent to quarrel with Hawkes.

The affidavit was sworn on 26 November 1723 before John Smith, and signed by Thomas Wignall.

Interpretations

The Governor closed his complaint by tying it to the surgeon's earlier grievance, the depositions and Wignall's petition of 22 October 1723 offered as the documentary support for the charge against Giles. The cross-reference bound the two disputes into a single case, the Governor's account of the chaplain's drunkenness reinforced by the surgeon's sworn medical evidence, the council asked to take such measures against Giles as it thought reasonable.

Wignall's affidavit gave the complaint its sworn foundation, the surgeon's professional judgement that Giles's sickness sprang from his irregular life rather than any treatable disease, and his account of finding the chaplain drunk and indecent on his bed placing the minister's condition on oath. The further charge that Giles had tried to set Wignall against Benjamin Hawkes cast the chaplain as a sower of discord, the same disposition the Governor's complaint had described, the affidavit lending the weight of a sworn deposition to the pattern of drunkenness and provocation the whole proceeding sought to establish against the island's clergyman.

217

112

The Deposition of John Hodghinson Surgs Mate

This Deponent upon Oath declareth that to the best of his

Skill & beleife the Reverend Mr Giles has had no Occasion to

use any Physick or Medicine for these Six Weeks last past

the Continuation of his Sicknes being Occasioned by his

Intemperate Manner of living, & this Deponent further Saith

that in the Said time he hath Seen the Said Mr Giles Drunk

Several times

Jurot 26d die Novembr Jno: Hodghinson

coram me

John Smith

Benjamin Hawke Gent deposeth that going to

Visit the Parson Mr Giles about Six Weeks Since he

hearing him repeat the Word Villain very often asked him

who he meant by that Word, he Answered Mr Wignell who had

Murthered him & soon after Said the Govr was a Villain, &

upon the Deponents Expostulating with him, the Said

Mr Giles Said he knew very well what he Said & that the

Governour was a Villain. And this Deponent Saith that

the Said Mr Giles did Endeavour to Create a Misunderstandg

between this Deponent & Mr Wignell

Jurot 26: Novr Benj: Hawke

coram me

Jno Smith

Elizabeth Swallow Widow deposeth that the Reverend

Mr Giles about 14 days Since, Sent to the Deponent to make

his Bed, & when she came to his Lodgings she found him Lying

Naked in a very indecent Posture upon his Bed. And this Deponent

further Saith that on Friday Night last the Said Mr Giles

came into her House so Drunk that he was hardly able to

Stand or go. And the Said Mr Giles has often times offerd

her Money to buy him Arrack which She refused. And this

Deponent Saith that he did Send the Deponents Servant

Margin Notes:

Jno Hodghinsons

Deposition.

Benjt Hawkes

Deposition.

Eliz: Swallows

Deposition.

John Hodgkinson, surgeon's mate, deposed on oath that, to the best of his skill and belief, the Reverend Mr Giles had needed no medicine for the last six weeks, the continuance of his sickness being caused by his intemperate way of living. He further deposed that during that time he had seen Giles drunk several times.

The affidavit was sworn on 26 November 1723 before John Smith, and signed by John Hodgkinson.

Benjamin Hawkes deposed that, going to visit the chaplain Mr Giles about six weeks since, he heard him repeat the word villain very often. Asking whom he meant by it, Giles answered that he meant Mr Wignall, who had murdered him, and soon after said the Governor was a villain. When the deponent remonstrated with him, Giles said he knew very well what he meant, and that the Governor was a villain. The deponent further deposed that Giles had tried to create a misunderstanding between himself and Mr Wignall.

The affidavit was sworn on 26 November 1723 before John Smith, and signed by Benjamin Hawkes.

Elizabeth Swallow, widow, deposed that the Reverend Mr Giles, about fourteen days since, sent to her to make his bed. When she came to his lodgings she found him lying naked on his bed in a very indecent posture. She further deposed that on Friday night last Giles came into her house so drunk that he was hardly able to stand or walk. She added that Giles had often offered her money to buy him arrack, which she refused. She further deposed that he did send the deponent's servant [...]

Interpretations

These three depositions completed the sworn case against the chaplain Giles, the surgeon's mate Hodgkinson confirming Wignall's medical judgement and the lay witnesses adding their direct testimony of his drunkenness and abuse. The accumulation of oaths, taken together on a single day before the Governor, built the kind of documentary record the council assembled when it meant to act, each deponent fixing a particular instance of the chaplain's conduct on the formal account.

Benjamin Hawkes's deposition placed on oath the abuse the Governor's complaint had described, Giles naming both Wignall and the Governor villains and persisting when challenged, the same charge of sowing discord between Hawkes and Wignall that the surgeon had sworn to. The widow Elizabeth Swallow's testimony reinforced the picture of intemperance and indecency, her account of being asked to buy the chaplain arrack and finding him drunk and exposed adding a household witness to the medical and official ones. The whole body of evidence cast the island's minister as habitually drunk, abusive and disorderly, the council furnished with sworn proof on which to base whatever discipline it would impose, the named Elizabeth Swallow being the widow whose own affairs had come before the bench in earlier years.

218

113

for a Pint of Arrack without leave of his

Jurot 26d die Novembr The X Mark of

coram me Elizabeth Swallow

Jno Smith.

William Coulthred Gent maketh Oath that this Deponent

observing Mr Johnsons Man come frequently down to the Store

during the Parson Mr Giles was at Mr Johnsons, asking

him what brought him down to the ffort he Answered the

Deponent he always came for Arrack for the Parson. And this

Deponent Sayth that he beleives the Parson not to be an

Honest Man.

Jurot 28d November W: Coulthred

1723 coram me

John Smith.

Island St: Helena

Joshua Johnson Planter & Church Warden

of the Said Island maketh Oath that the Right Mr Giles the

Parson come to his House he got very much in Liquor &

satt in bed up to his Neck, & for the time of his being at

his House this Deponent beleives he was never perfectly in

his Sences by reason of his Drinking, which was near a fortnight

this Deponent firmly beleiving the Said Mr Giles did Drink

one day with an other between two & three Quarts of Arrack

besides Six or Eight Bottles of Wine he had from the Factory

while he was there. And this Deponent Several times advised

him not to drink so much but as Soon as this Deponent was

gone into his Plantation the Said Mr Giles would have Liquor

And this Deponent Sayth that upon his not letting him have

so much Liquor as he used to Drink, any longer, the Said Mr

Giles thereupon went from the Deponents House in seeming anger

down to the ffort whereto the Deponent attended him, and for

all this Deponents & his Wifes Care & trouble the Said Mr Giles

never returnd this Deponent thanks

Jurot 28d die Joshua Johnson

November 1723

coram me John Smith

Margin Notes:

Wm Coulthreds

Deposition.

Jos: Johnsons

Deposition.

Elizabeth Swallow further deposed that Giles had sent her servant for a pint of arrack without her leave.

The affidavit was sworn on 26 November 1723 before Governor Smith, and signed with the mark of Elizabeth Swallow.

William Coulthred deposed on oath that, while the chaplain Mr Giles was at Mr Johnson's, he observed Johnson's servant come frequently down to the stores. Asking him what brought him down to the fort, the servant answered that he always came for arrack for the chaplain. The deponent further deposed that he believed the chaplain not to be an honest man.

The affidavit was sworn on 28 November 1723 before Governor Smith, and signed by William Coulthred.

Island of St Helena.

Joshua Johnson, planter and churchwarden of the island, deposed on oath that the Reverend Mr Giles came to his house very much in liquor. Giles lay in bed up to his neck, and during the whole time he was at the deponent's house the deponent believed he was never perfectly in his senses, owing to his drinking, which lasted a fortnight. The deponent firmly believed that Giles drank between two and three quarts of arrack a day, besides six or eight bottles of wine he had from the factory while he was there. The deponent had several times advised him not to drink so much, but as soon as the deponent had gone into his plantation Giles would have liquor.

The deponent further deposed that, on his not letting Giles have as much liquor as he used to drink, Giles went from the deponent's house seemingly angry, and down to the fort, where the deponent attended him. For all the deponent's and his wife's care and trouble, Giles never returned the deponent any thanks.

The affidavit was sworn on 28 November 1723 before Governor Smith, and signed by Joshua Johnson.

Interpretations

These depositions added the testimony of two more witnesses to the sworn case against the chaplain Giles, William Coulthred and the churchwarden Joshua Johnson confirming the pattern of drunkenness the earlier oaths had established. The naming of Johnson as churchwarden gave his evidence particular weight, a lay officer of the church itself testifying against the minister, the parish official's word lending the complaint a standing it could not have drawn from ordinary inhabitants alone.

Johnson's deposition gave the most precise measure of the chaplain's drinking, between two and three quarts of arrack a day besides the wine drawn from the factory, the factory being the Company's establishment and its stores the source from which Giles's liquor flowed. The detail tied the chaplain's intemperance to the Company's own provision, the arrack he consumed by the quart being the same spirit the store accounts recorded in such quantity, and the witnesses' repeated efforts to restrain him, met with anger and ingratitude, completed the portrait of a clergyman whose conduct the council now had abundant sworn ground to discipline.

219

114

The Deposition of Mrs Elizabeth Johnson.

This Deponent Sayth that the Night Mr Giles the

Parson come to her House he in an hours time was so much in

Liquor that he was hardly able to rise out of his Chair, & Soon

after he went to Bed he Bisst the Bed in such a Condition that

the Said Mr Giles was obliged to Rise & have the Sheets shifted

& then went to Bed again. The Deponent Sayth every Day

whilst he was at her House which was one Fortnight the Said Mr

Giles Drank one Day with an other two Quarts of Plain Arrack

& he kept his Bed all the while & the Room Darkned but just when

the Bed was makeing & would very Seldom Eat any Victuals

altho the Deponent constantly got it for him & if he did Eat

any he immdiatly drank Arrack till he brought it up again

and when he left the House he never took his leave & thankt

the Deponent for all her Civility & Care to him.

Jurot coram me Elizabeth Johnson

26 Novembr 1723

John Smith.

William Beale Planter maketh oath

that in this Deponent at the Requesst of Mr Giles did attend

him for the most part for the Space of Six Weeks during which

time the Said Mr Giles was very Courteous of Liquor and

notwithstanding this Deponents frequent Advice to him to

forbear, he Several times got quite intoxicated with Liquor

And this Deponent Saith that the Said Mr Giles was never

Easie but when a Sleep unless he had Liquor which in this Deponts

Opinion was the only Cause of his fever continuing upon him

And this Deponent Sayth that often times when this Deponent

has left him for Some little time Sober, he has upon his return

found him very much in Liquor even to the loss of his Sences

he having means to procure Liquor got for him without the

Deponents knowledge. And particularly this Deponent went

to See him & the Door was Shutt & the Deponent could not make

him hear & upon Thumping at the Door the Door flew open & found

the Parson in a very indecent Posture & altho he Spoke & pulled

Margin Notes:

Eliz: Johnsons

Deposition.

Wm Beales

Deposition.

Elizabeth Johnson deposed that, on the night the chaplain Mr Giles came to her house, he was within an hour so much in liquor that he could hardly rise out of his chair. Soon after he went to bed, he fouled the bed in such a state that Giles was obliged to rise and have the sheets changed, then went to bed again. The deponent further deposed that every day for the fortnight he was at her house, Giles drank between two and three quarts of plain arrack a day, and kept his bed all the while, leaving the room only when the bed was being made. He would very seldom eat any food, though the deponent constantly got it for him, and if he did eat any he at once drank arrack until he brought it up again. When he left the house he never took his leave, nor thanked the deponent for all her kindness and care.

The affidavit was sworn on 26 November 1723 before Governor Smith, and signed by Elizabeth Johnson.

William Beale, planter, deposed on oath that, at Giles's request, he had for the most part attended him for six weeks, during which Giles was very free with liquor. Despite the deponent's frequent advice to forbear, Giles several times got quite drunk. The deponent further deposed that Giles was never at ease but when asleep, unless he had liquor, which in the deponent's opinion was the only cause of his fever continuing upon him. He added that often, when he had left Giles for a little while sober, he found him on his return very much in liquor, Giles having got someone to procure liquor for him without the deponent's knowledge. In particular, the deponent went to see him and the door was shut, so that he could not make Giles hear. On thumping at the door, it flew open and the chaplain was found indecently dressed. Though he spoke and called [...]

Interpretations

These two depositions added the household and attending witnesses to the sworn case against the chaplain Giles, Elizabeth Johnson and the planter William Beale giving the closest daily account of his condition. Johnson's testimony, matching her husband's, set the chaplain's intake at the same two to three quarts of arrack a day and recorded his refusal of food and his vomiting, the medical picture of a man whose drinking had wholly displaced his nourishment.

Beale's deposition carried particular force as the evidence of the very practitioner the council had lately barred from unlicensed practice, William Beale being the freeman the order of 22 October 1723 had reached, yet here attending the chaplain at his own request and giving sworn medical opinion that drink alone sustained his fever. His account of finding Giles drunk and indecent behind a shut door reinforced the picture the other witnesses had drawn, the chaplain procuring liquor in secret despite every effort to restrain him, the whole body of sworn testimony now establishing beyond contest the intemperance on which the council would ground its discipline of the island's minister.

220

115

& pulled him about he could not get any Answer from him &

left him, & the next Morning about Nine Clock he went down

to him & found him not perfectly Sober then. And the Parson

desired the Deponent to Speak to Mrs Swallow to make his

Bed which he did accordingly, & upon her return she Sid to the

Deponent, Good Luck take You did You Send me to See a

Naked Mans Backsides. And this Deponent Saith that on

Wednesday was Sennight the Said Mr Giles in coming from

the ffort & at this Deponents House before he reched the

Plantation House did drink himself one Pint of Arrack, &

Some little time before that the Said Mr Giles in this Deponents

House drank part of a Bowle of Punch with was a Quart of

Arrack in it which made him perfectly intoxicated for Some time

And that after the Said Mr Giles came from the Plantation House

he went into Mr Goning who keeps a Punch House &

Sent for the Deponent to come to him but the Deponent ordered

himself to be denied & about Nine at Night the Parson was

coming up the Valley & the Deponent Supposing he would come

to his House Ordered the Door to be Shut and the Said Mr Giles

knocking at the door & finding no body to Answer he went to

Mrs Swallows and the Deponent Says that on Sunday

the sd Glew Sent for Liquor to the Said Mr Giles Lodging

& the Said Mr Giles did drink of part of one Bowle with him.

Jurot 28d die Wm Beale

November 1723 coram me

John Smith.

The Deposition of Duke Crispe

This Deponent Sayth that Sometime in the Month of

October last The Worshipfull John Smith Esq Governour

Sent this Deponent to go to the Reverend Mr Giles to enquire

how he did, it being reported by Doctor Beale that the Said

Mr Giles was dying, That this Deponent did accordingly go to

the Said Mr Giles Apartment & finding the Said Doctor Beale

there, desired he would tell Mr Giles that the Govr had Sent

this Deponent to know how he did, That the Said Mr Beale

Margin Notes:

Duke Crispe

Deposition.

William Beale further deposed that, though he spoke and called and pulled Giles about, he could get no answer from him, and left him. The next morning about nine o'clock he went down to him and found him not perfectly sober. Giles asked the deponent to speak to Mrs Swallow to make his bed, which he did. On his return Giles said to the deponent, good luck take you, did you send me to see a naked man's backside.

The deponent further deposed that on Wednesday seven-night, in coming from the fort and at the deponent's house before he reached the plantation house, Giles drank a pint of arrack. A little before that, Giles had drunk part of a bowl of punch in the deponent's house, with a quart of arrack in it, which made him perfectly drunk for some time. After Giles came from the plantation house, he went into Mr Young's, who kept a punch house, and sent for the deponent to come to him, but the deponent ordered himself to be denied. About nine at night the chaplain was coming up the valley, and the deponent, supposing he would come to his house, ordered the door to be shut. Giles knocked at the door and, finding nobody to answer, went to Mrs Swallow's.

The deponent further deposed that on Sunday Thomas Glew sent for liquor to Giles's lodging, and that Giles drank part of a bowl with him.

The affidavit was sworn on 28 November 1723 before Governor Smith, and signed by William Beale.

Duke Crispe deposed that, some time in October last, Governor Smith sent the deponent to the Reverend Mr Giles to ask how he did, it being reported by Doctor Beale that Giles was dying. The deponent went accordingly to Giles's apartment and, finding Doctor Beale there, asked him to tell Giles that the Governor had sent the deponent to know how he did. [...]

Interpretations

This continuation completed William Beale's deposition and opened that of Duke Crispe, the sworn testimony against the chaplain Giles extending now to his conduct in the town's punch houses as well as his lodgings. Beale's account traced the chaplain through a single day's drinking, the pint of arrack, the bowl of punch laced with a quart more, and the round of drinking houses, fixing on the record a pattern of public intemperance to set beside the private excess the household witnesses had described.

The naming of the keepers Young and Glew, both running licensed punch houses, tied the chaplain's drinking to the very establishments the council licensed and policed, the minister frequenting the common drinking places of the garrison. Crispe's deposition introduced a fresh strand, the Governor's solicitude during Giles's reported dying illness, the deponent sent to inquire after the chaplain's health on Doctor Beale's report, the same Beale whose own evidence had just been taken. The accumulation of sworn accounts, each from a named witness and dated, built the comprehensive documentary case the council assembled when it meant to discipline the island's clergyman, the Governor's repeated care set throughout against the chaplain's misconduct and ingratitude.

221

116

November.

did go into the inner Room to Mr Giles & beleives the Said Message

& brought out an Answer which he the Said Doctor Beale

delivered to this Deponent in Words to the following Effect

Doctor Mr Crispe to give my Service to the Governour & do You

let him (meaning this Deponent) know in what Condition I am

but Refuse I maynt See him (meaning this Deponent) And

immediatly added, Dont tell You ak because I am willing to inflame

Matters. And this Deponent farther Sayth That dureing the

time of Mr Giles Sicknes this Deponent had frequent

Occassion to write to the Worshipfull the Governour in which

he often made mention of the ill behaviour & Drunkennes of

the Said Mr Giles which this Deponent beleives to be true

this Deponent having recived Information of the Same

from Several People, particularly from Mr Wignell the

the Surgeon & Mr Hodghinson his Mate. And this Deponent

farther Sayth that the Said Mr Giles in the time of his

Sicknes had large Quantities of Punch Sent him from the

the Castle besides Wine & Been & the Said Mr Giles often Com=

=plaining by the Servants he Sent that the Punch usually Sent

him was too weak (tho commonly made much Stronger than

other People drank it) this Deponent to be Sure the Servants

should not act devotfully made with his own hands in one Day

four Bowles of Punch for the Said Mr Giles each Bowle

holding about three Pint in two of which Said Bowles this

Deponent put a Quart of Arrack in each Bowle, in the third

Bowle this Deponent put a Pint of Arrack & in the fourth

Bowle this Deponent put half a Pint of Arrack & this Deponent

was told by Some or one of the Servants that he the Said Mr

Giles drank them all up the Same day they were Sent

Jurot coram me D Crispe

28d Novembr 1723

John Smith.

Duke Crispe further deposed that Doctor Beale went into the inner room to Giles and brought out an answer, which Beale delivered to the deponent to the following effect. Giles asked the deponent to give his service to Governor Smith and to let him know in what condition he was, but wished the deponent to see him, and at once added that he could not tell him because he was not willing to interfere in matters.

The deponent further deposed that during Giles's sickness he had frequent occasion to write to the Governor, in which he often mentioned the bad behaviour and drunkenness of Giles, which the deponent believed to be true, having received information of it from several people, particularly from Mr Wignall the surgeon and Mr Hodgkinson his mate.

The deponent further deposed that, during his sickness, Giles had large quantities of punch sent him from the castle, besides wine and beer. Giles often complained, by the servants he sent, that the punch sent him was too weak, though it was commonly made much stronger than other people drank it. The deponent was sure the servants would not act dishonestly. Made with his own hands in one day, the deponent prepared four bowls of punch for Giles, each holding about three pints. In two of them the deponent put a quart of arrack, in the third a pint of arrack and in the fourth half a pint of arrack. The deponent was told by some of the servants that Giles drank them all up the same day they were sent.

The affidavit was sworn on 28 November 1723 before Governor Smith, and signed by Duke Crispe.

Interpretations

Duke Crispe's deposition completed the sworn record against the chaplain Giles with the testimony of the man who supplied his drink, the deponent's account of mixing four bowls of punch in a single day, each laced with arrack and all drunk the same day, giving the most exact measure yet of the chaplain's consumption. The detail that Giles complained the strong punch was too weak underscored the depth of his intemperance, the supplier's own hand and the servants' word fixing the quantities beyond dispute.

Crispe's evidence also confirmed the source of the chaplain's liquor as the castle and the Company's stores, the punch, wine and beer all drawn from the establishment that had cared for him through his sickness. His account of writing repeatedly to the Governor about Giles's drunkenness, on information from Wignall and Hodgkinson, tied the lay and medical witnesses into a single chain, the same surgeon and mate whose oaths opened the proceeding. The whole body of depositions, gathered from supplier, attendants, household and parish officer alike, gave the council an overwhelming sworn case, the Governor's solicitude during the chaplain's reported dying illness set once more against the conduct that had obliged the complaint, the record complete for whatever discipline the bench would impose.

222

117

Whereupon It is Unanimously agreed &

ordered.

That Notwithstanding the Govr report made

this day agt the sd Mr Giles's Misbehaviour and

the Severall Affidavts relateing thereunto (& to

corroborate the sd Report) Wee are inclineable

and willing to Show our Leinty towards him & yt

Cloath he wears and to try him one Month longer

in hopes he will reforme and behave himself

better than of Late he has done and then if

he should abuse our kindnesse to him and

Stile persist in those his dayly practices Wee

wile then Consider farther how to proceed

against him And think Wee can doo noe

lesse than to Send him off the Island he by

his sd Sent behaviour being not fitt for his duty

and haveing for these two Mounths Last noe

way performed any part of his sd Duty 'til on

Sunday last in the baptizeing of a few Childrenn

and burying one or two Persons & if it

had Not been for Lucre Sake Wee doubt

very much whether he would have done

that or not.

And for that it haveing been always

usuall for all Ministers here to read prayers

every Day to the Garrison and in their Absence

by Some other Proper Person

Ordered that the following Order be

Immediately Sent to yt sd Mr Giles and expect

his ready Complyance therewith.

Margin Notes:

Govr & Council

Leinty to yt

sd Mr Giles

neglect of

his duty

prayers usefuly

read.

Ord: Mr Giles

do issue out

The council unanimously agreed and ordered as follows.

Despite Governor Smith's report this day on Giles's misconduct, and the several affidavits supporting it, the council was inclined and willing to show its leniency towards him and the cloth he wore, and to try him one month longer, in the hope that he would reform and behave himself better than he had of late. If he should then abuse the council's kindness and persist in his daily practices, it would consider further how to proceed against him, and thought it could do no less than send him off the island, his conduct being unfit for his duty.

For these two months past, the council noted, Giles had performed no part of his duty until Sunday last, except baptising a few children and burying one or two persons. Had it not been for the fees, the council very much doubted whether he would have done even that.

It had always been the rule for all ministers on the island to read prayers every day to the garrison, and in their absence for some other proper person to do so.

The council ordered that the following order be sent to Giles at once, and that he comply with it forthwith.

Interpretations

The council's decision tempered its overwhelming sworn case with a calculated leniency, declining to send the chaplain Giles off the island at once and granting him a further month to amend. The respect shown to the cloth he wore marked the council weighing the dignity of the clerical office against the man's misconduct, the bench reluctant to disgrace a minister even on full proof, while reserving expulsion as the certain consequence of any relapse.

The note on Giles's neglect of duty exposed the practical failure beneath the drunkenness, the chaplain performing almost none of his office for two months save the baptisms and burials that carried fees. The council's suspicion that even these he did only for the money sharpened the charge, the minister attending to his duty solely where it paid him, the same diversion of fees to his own profit that the marriage-licence demand had revealed. The council's restatement of the rule that ministers read daily prayers to the garrison set the standard Giles had abandoned, the order it now framed meant to compel the performance of the duty the fees alone had not, the whole resolution balancing forbearance toward the office against a firm requirement that its duties be done.

223

118

November.

Sr

You are desired and ordered to read

the usual forme of Prayers and Lessons

proper for the Day every Day in each

Week to the Officers and the Garrison

Soldiers as has been done by all your Predec=

=essors and that on every Sunday you doe

give your Attendance & performe your

Duty wherever the Govr is and Wee

expect your ready Obedience and

Complyance with this our Order as

youll Answer the Contrary hereof

Dated & Given under our hands this

20th Day of Novr 1723 at Plantation

house

John: Smith

Edward Byfeild

Jno: Alexander

Jno: Goodwin

To the Reverend Mr

Escort Giles Minister

of St: Helena.

Margin Notes:

Ord: in Writeing Sent

Mr Giles to Attend his

Duty.

The council ordered Giles to read the usual form of prayers and the lessons proper for the day every day in each week to the officers and the garrison soldiers, as all his predecessors had done. It further ordered that on every Sunday he give his attendance and perform his duty wherever Governor Smith was. The council expected his ready service and compliance with the order, as he would answer the contrary.

The order was dated and given under the council's hands on 28 November 1723 at the plantation house. It was addressed to the Reverend Mr Escott Giles, minister of St Helena, and signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The order set out in formal terms the duties the chaplain Giles had neglected, the daily reading of prayers and lessons to the garrison and the Sunday attendance on the Governor that every minister before him had performed. The instruction translated the council's general censure into a precise and enforceable command, fixing exactly what Giles must do so that any further default would be plain and undeniable, the warning that he answer the contrary holding the threat of expulsion over his compliance.

The requirement that Giles attend wherever Governor Smith was bound the chaplain's Sunday duty to the Governor's own presence, placing the minister's performance under the direct eye of the island's head. The naming of the chaplain in full as the Reverend Mr Escott Giles, signed by the whole council, gave the order the weight of the entire bench acting together, the documentary command issued as the trial period's condition, the council's month of forbearance resting on the minister's obedience to a duty now spelled out beyond evasion.

224

119

  1. 119

Island St. Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the third Day of Decr. 1723. at Plantation house

Present Jno Smith Esq Govr.

Edwd Byfeild D

Jno Alexander 3d

&

Jno Goodwin 4th

The Last Consultation read and approved of.

Capt Goodwin brot in and delivered an Accot.

of Store-Goods sold and Delivered for the

mounth of November which was examined &

approved of & is as foll[...]

Wax Candle

310 5/8 lb

98 . 7 . 3½

Sugar

17 lb

4 . 9

10½ 16 3½

Bread

3 8 lb

- . 9 . 6

Flower

8 24 lb

10 . 6

10 15 6

Coffee Bohea Tea

4 9

14 . 14

Coffee Green ditto

4

- . 16

15 10

Cutt Tobacco

38 9/4 lb

3 . 16 . 6

Leaf ditto

2

- . 2 . -

3 18 6

Pipes

6 18

1 5 9

Soap

64

4 10 8

Sweet Oyle

7 1/8 lb

2 . 2 . -

Linseed do

12

- . 16 . -

2 18 -

White Lead

19 lb

6

Vinegar

2 Galls

8

Copper

3 lb

1 1 8

Twine

1 doz

6

Skain ditto

1

3 6

Shoe Thread

1½ lb

China Ware vizt

17 6

China Bowles

7 9

4 6

Smakers @ 6

7 9

5 8

Cupps

7 7

ditto

7 9

3 2

Margin Notes:

Store Goods

sold & Deliverd

out in Novr

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 3 December 1723 at the plantation house, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

Captain Goodwin brought in and delivered an account of store goods sold and delivered for the month of November, examined and approved as follows:

310 gallons 5 pints of arrack at 6s 3d per gallon, £98 7s 3¾d

17 pounds 8 ounces of sugar, £0 4s 9d

3 pounds 8 ounces of bread, £0 9s 6d

8 pounds 24 ounces of flour, £0 10s 6d

4 pounds 9 ounces of Bohea tea, £14 14s 0d

4 ounces of green tea, £0 16s 0d

total tea, £15 10s 0d

38 pounds 9¼ ounces of cut tobacco, £3 16s 6d

2 pounds of paint, £0 2s 0d

total tobacco, £3 18s 6d

6 dozen 18 pipes, £1 0s 9d

6 pounds 4 ounces of soap, £4 10s 8d

7 pounds 4 ounces and 28 [...] of train oil, £2 2s 0d

2 pounds of linseed oil, £0 16s 0d

total oils, £2 18s 0d

19 pounds of white lead, £0 [...] 6d

2 gallons 1 pint of vinegar, £0 [...] 8d

2 pounds of pepper, £0 [...] 2d

1 ounce of [...], £1 1s 8d

1 skein of the same, £0 [...] 6d

1 pound 8 ounces of shoe thread, £0 3s 6d

China ware, viz.

7 dozen 9 China bowls at 6d each, £1 14s 6d

17 Indian [...] at 6d each, £0 5s 8d

9 dozen 7 cups, £0 3s 2d

9 [...] of the same

Interpretations

Bohea was the cheaper grade of black China tea, the leaf taken from the later pickings, and was the common tea of the island's stores, sold here against a smaller quantity of the dearer green tea. The two were priced and entered together, the leaf reaching St Helena in the China ships and resold to the inhabitants, the garrison and the plantation through the storekeeper's monthly account.

Train oil was the oil rendered from the blubber of whales or seals, burned in lamps and used in dressing leather and other rough work, and was distinguished here from linseed oil pressed from flax seed and used chiefly with paint. Arrack, the spirit distilled in the East from rice or palm sap and the largest single charge in almost every monthly store account, again headed this reckoning at £98 7s 3¾d, the gallon priced at 6s 3d as in the account of 25 March to 25 May 1717.

The store account was the regular monthly reckoning the storekeeper laid before the council, each commodity entered with its quantity and the sum it raised, the whole read against the inventory and approved before the next month opened. Captain Goodwin had held the storekeeper's office and brought in these accounts through the year, the same hand that delivered the goods-and-stores account of £345 16s 11¾d at the consultation of 13 August 1723.

225

120

December.

Brought Over

Wine Glasses

2

3 8

Cricc Perhaps

3

1 8 6

Norwich Ware

Wimens Stockings @ 2/10

4 Doz

11 4

Childrens ditto

6

6 -

Clocks N 17

4

8 8

ditto 18

1

3 -

ditto 19

3

10 6

ditto 11

4

16 6

ditto

1

4 2

ditto 30 a 4. 6

9

2 6 -

ditto 5. 9

2

11 6

Woosted

3 1/2

17 3

Peice Chelloe

1/2

6 8 2

do Fine Long Cloth

1/2

1 1 -

Yards Serge

6 3/4

15 9

Cutlery Ware

Cruning Knives

2

2 8

Butchers ditto

1

6

Shoe ditto

2

1 6

Pair Scisers

3

1 6

Ironmongers Ware

Cupboard Lock

1

1 10

Chest ditto N 6

1

6 8

Frying Pan

1

4 2

Sugar Shovell

1

2 6

House Adze

1

3 8

Dozen Hooks Sorted

6

6 4

Quart Tin Sauce Cans

3

3 6

Coffee Pott

2

2 6

White Shirt a 2. 6d

10

1 7 6

Chelloe ditto

11

1 13 6

Pair Cotton Stockings

1

2 6

Haberdashery Ware

Brown thread

3 lb

12 -

Brown ditto No 56

2 lb

10 -

ditto

1

7 6

ditto 10

1/2

4 6

Oz Thread 15

7

6 6

ditto 17

4

8 8

ditto

1

2 10

Brought over.

2 wine glasses, £0 3s 6d 3 pieces of [...], £1 8s 6d Hosiery ware. 4 dozen women's stockings at 2s 10d, £0 11s 4d 6 children's of the same at 1s, £0 6s 0d 4 socks, number 17, £0 8s 8d 1 of the same, number 18, £0 3s 0d 3 of the same, number 19, £0 10s 6d 4 of the same, number 11, £0 16s 6d 1 of the same, £0 4s 2d 9 of the same, number 30 at 4s 6d per yard, £2 0s 6d 2 of the same, number 5 9, £0 11s 6d 3 1/2 pounds of worsted, £0 17s 3d 1 1/2 pieces of chelloe, £6 8s 2d 1 1/2 dozen fine long cloth, £1 1s 0d 6 3/4 yards of serge, £0 15s 9d Cutlery ware. 2 pruning knives, £0 2s 8d 1 butcher's of the same, £0 0s 6d 2 shoe of the same, £0 1s 6d 3 pair of scissors, £0 1s 6d Ironmongery ware. 1 cupboard lock, £0 1s 10d 1 chest of the same, number 6, £0 6s 8d 1 frying pan, £0 4s 0d 1 sugar shovel, £0 2s 6d 1 house adze, £0 3s 8d 6 dozen hooks sorted, £0 6s 4d 3 quart tin sauce cans, £0 3s 0d 2 [...] pot, £0 2s 6d 10 white shirts at 2s 6d, £1 7s 6d 11 chelloe of the same, £1 13s 6d 1 pair cotton stockings, £0 2s 6d Haberdashery ware. 3 pounds of brown thread, £0 12s 0d 2 pounds of brown of the same, number 56, £0 10s 0d 1 of the same, £0 7s 6d 1 1/2 of the same, number 10, £0 4s 6d 2 of the same, number 15, £0 6s 6d 7 ounces of thread, £0 8s 8d 4 of the same, number 17, £0 6s 10d 1 of the same, £0 2s 10d

Interpretations

Chelloe was a coloured cotton cloth woven in India, one of the staple piece goods the Company carried west, used here both as a yardage sold by the piece and as the material of made-up shirts, the chelloe shirts entered against plain white ones at the same point in the list. Long cloth was the standard undyed Indian cotton sold in long lengths, and serge was a hard-wearing woollen twill, the two sitting together as the bulk textiles of the store.

Worsted was yarn spun from long-staple wool combed smooth before spinning, used for knitting and fine cloth, and was sold here by weight alongside the brown thread and ounce-thread of the haberdashery section. The account groups its goods under standing trade headings, hosiery, cutlery, ironmongery and haberdashery, each a recognised class of the Company's imported manufactures, so that the storekeeper's reckoning ran by category rather than by a single undivided list.

226

121

Blank page

227

122

December

Capt Byfeld brot. in and delivred an Accot.

of the Honoble Company are Stock & Appdices

for the Month of November which was examind

& approved on. & is as foll.

Neat Cattle. Sheep. Goats. Hoggs. Poultry. Asses Horses

Bullocks Cowes Heifers Steers Yearlings Calves Bulls Totall. Ewes Weathers Lambs Rams Totall. Ewes Weathers Kid Rams Totall. Sows Shoats Boars Pig Totall. Turkey Fowle Ducks Pege Asses Horse Mares Totall.

Item: Ult: October 63 55 29 18 3 6 0 8 226 37 13 18 3 71 151 36 27 8 222 8 9 2 21 40 63 112 30 18 - 8 4 2 6

Encreased in Nov: - - - - 1 - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 19 - - - - - - 1 -

63 55 29 18 3 61 8 237 37 13 18 3 71 151 36 27 8 222 8 9 2 21 40 63 131 30 18 - 8 4 2 6

Killed in ditto - - - - - 1 - 1 - - - - - 1 - - 1 2 11 - - - - - 1 -

63 55 29 18 3 61 8 237 37 12 18 3 70 151 36 27 8 222 8 8 2 21 39 61 120 30 18 - 8 4 2 6

Dead in ditto - 2 3 2 1 - 3 - 11 - - - - - - - 5 4 - - - 1 -

Item: Ult: Nov - 61 52 27 17 3 58 8 226 37 12 18 3 70 151 36 27 8 222 8 8 2 17 35 61 120 30 17 - 8 4 2 6

Yams Expended at the Sevl Plantacons 28650 lb.

Do Deliverd to the Hont Blacks 16475 lb

Totall Yams 46025 lb

Margin Notes:

Capt Byfads Accot. of

the [...] Livestock &c.

for of Mo. of Nov.

1723

This is the Company's monthly live-stock account for November 1723, set out as a wide ruled grid. The four images give the same table from different angles, the clearest being the upright views in images 3 and 4, which let me read the column headings and the rows together. I have set each row out in full across the seven stock classes, then the yam totals.

Captain Byfield brought in and delivered an account of the Honourable Company's live stock and produce for the month of November, examined and approved as follows:

The column headings ran under seven classes of stock. Neat cattle were counted as bullocks, cows, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves, bulls and total. Sheep were counted as ewes, wethers, lambs, rams and total. Goats were counted as ewes, wethers, kids, rams and total. Hogs were counted as sows, shoats, boars, pigs and total. Poultry were counted as turkeys, fowls and ducks. The remaining classes were asses, horses, mares and total.

From the last account of October: neat cattle: 63 bullocks, 55 cows, 29 heifers, 18 steers, 3 yearlings, 6 calves, 0 bulls, total 8 [...] sheep: 23 ewes, 6 wethers, 37 lambs, 13 rams, total 18 [...] goats: 3 ewes, 71 wethers, 151 kids, 36 rams, total 27 [...] hogs: 8 sows, 222 shoats, 8 boars, 9 pigs, total 2 [...] poultry: 21 turkeys, 40 fowls, 63 ducks asses 112, horses 30, mares 18, total 0 [the trailing figures 8 4 2 6 closing this line are not recoverable as to their columns]

Increased in November: neat cattle: 1 in the yearlings column, raising the total by 1 poultry: 19 added in the turkeys column [the rest of the line nil]

Standing total after the increase: neat cattle: 63 bullocks, 55 cows, 29 heifers, 18 steers, 3 yearlings, 6 calves, 1 bull, total 8 [...] sheep: 23 ewes, 6 wethers, 37 lambs, 13 rams, total 18 [...] goats: 3 ewes, 71 wethers, 151 kids, 36 rams, total 27 [...] hogs: 8 sows, 222 shoats, 8 boars, 9 pigs, total 2 [...] poultry: 21 turkeys, 40 fowls, 63 ducks [asses, horses and mares unchanged]

Killed in November: neat cattle: 1 in the steers column, 1 in the total hogs: 1 sow, 2 shoats, 11 boars [the rest of the line nil]

Dead in November: neat cattle: 2 bullocks, 3 cows, 2 heifers, 1 steer, 3 calves, total 11 hogs: 4 in the shoats column poultry: 1 in the fowls column [the rest of the line nil]

From the last account of November: neat cattle: 61 bullocks, 52 cows, 27 heifers, 17 steers, 3 yearlings, 58 [...], 8 [...], total 22 sheep: 6 ewes, 37 wethers, 37 lambs, 12 rams, 18 [...], 3 [...], total 70 goats: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222 hogs: 8 sows, 8 shoats, 2 boars, 17 pigs, total 35 poultry: 61 turkeys, 120 fowls, 30 ducks, 17 [...] asses 0, horses 8, mares 4, total 2 6

Yams expended at the Sandy Bay plantations, 28,650 pounds the same delivered to the Fort blacks, 16,476 pounds total yams, 46,026 pounds

Interpretations

Neat cattle meant horned cattle of the ox kind, the bullocks, cows, heifers and steers counted apart from sheep, goats and hogs, and the account broke each class down by age and sex so the herd's breeding strength could be read at a glance. Shoats were young weaned pigs and wethers castrated males, among sheep and goats alike, the terms marking the working distinctions a grazier needed for managing increase and slaughter.

The account was built as a running balance rather than a single count, opening with the stock standing at the end of October, then adding the month's increase, subtracting the killed and the dead separately, and closing with the stock standing at the end of November. Keeping killed and dead in distinct rows let the council tell deliberate slaughter for the table from loss by disease or accident, the same control the storekeeper applied to the stores when he separated theft from ordinary wastage at the consultation of 8 September 1719.

The closing yam figures measured the staple that fed the Company's slaves, the 28,650 pounds eaten at the Sandy Bay plantations set against the 16,476 pounds carried to the blacks at the Fort, a total of 46,026 pounds for the month. The fall in the herds across November, the cattle down from 63 bullocks to 61 and the cows from 55 to 52, continued the long decline through the drought, the live-stock accounts having shown the neat cattle dropping and the goats falling by 234 since the last yearly account, reported at the consultation of 1 October 1723.

228

123

1723

Richd Mason Planter appeared upon Summons

for killing & worrying Robt. Gurlings Goats

& killing a Kidd.

The fact being Proved by the four

Witness who were Sworne. for Robt Gurling -

Stephen Luffkin Sevr.

Stephen Luffkin Junr.

Joseph Luffkin

Ralph Crane & Richd. Leech & James

Ryder.

Ordered that yd Mason Doe pay 5 s for one

Goat his Dogg Killed & both his Dogs to

be hanged.

Mrs Eliza Marsh presented a Bill of

Sale of an House. & also an Assignmt. of

a Lease to her from Capt. Jhos. Dutch &

prayed the sd Deeds might be registred which

was ordered accordingly

The Govr. Says that on Monday next

he will view the Land in dispute between Capt.

Jno. Alexander & Jno. Long & the Water.

The Petn. of Thomas Harper was

presented praying Liberty to hire abtn

Acres of Land Lying at the Bottome of

Swanly Valley.

Ordered that Capt Goodwin do view

the sd Land & report whether Letting a Lease

of the Same will prejudice any person.

Andrew Pergus the Coopers Boy -

having been run away way this day brot.

Margin Notes:

Richd Mason

Complt of by

Robt Gurling &c

fined 5 s &

Dogs hang'd

Eliz Marsh

Presented Bill

of Sale for a

House & sd

Lease of Thos

Dutch.

pray a registry

Land & Water

in dispute by

Long & Alexand

to be Viewed by

the Govr

Thos Harper

prays to hire

Land in Swanly

Valley.

Same to be

Viewed

Richard Mason, planter, appeared on a complaint by Robert Gurling for killing and worrying his goats and killing a kid.

The charge was proved by the witnesses who were sworn for Robert Gurling: Stephen Lufkin senior, Stephen Lufkin junior, Joseph Lufkin, Ralph Orme, Richard Leech and James Ryder.

The council ordered Mason to pay 5s for the one goat his dog had killed and ordered both his dogs hanged.

Mrs Elizabeth Marsh presented a bill of sale of a house, together with an account of a lease granted her by Sergeant Jeremiah Dutch, and asked that the deeds be registered, which the council ordered accordingly.

Governor Smith said that on the following Monday he would view the land in dispute between Captain Alexander and John Long and the water.

Thomas Harper presented a petition asking leave to hire about twelve acres of land lying at the bottom of Swanley Valley. The council ordered Captain Goodwin to view the land and report whether letting a lease of it would harm any other person.

Andrew Bergue, the cooper's boy, having run away this day.

Interpretations

A bill of sale was the written instrument transferring title to goods or a building, distinct from a lease of the land it stood on, and Elizabeth Marsh brought both together so that her ownership of the house and her tenancy of the ground beneath it could be entered on the council's register at once. Registration on the Company's books was the island's substitute for a public land registry, the recorded deed serving as the holder's security of title in any later dispute.

The order on Richard Mason set a money payment for the dead goat alongside the destruction of the dogs, the council valuing the single beast at 5s while removing the cause of further loss by having both animals hanged. The case ran parallel to the Sandy Bay graziers' wider complaint of goats killed by stealthy theft, the leading planters of that district having sought a search for firearms at the consultation of 28 August 1722, though here the damage was traced to a neighbour's dogs rather than to shooting.

229

124

December.

before, but noe body appearing agt.

him us ordered that the sd. Rogue with his

Boy doe attend on next Consultation

Day & that Bryd Wellington & Caleb -

Davis Mein & Wooden Doe attend at yd

Same time -

Gabl Smith attended us & voluntarily made

the fol. Deposicion.

This Deponent saith that some time in

the Month of June last Mr. Giles the Parson

Christened a Child of this Deponents, That abt

a Week or Ten days after the Christening was

over this Deponent met Mr. Giles in the Street

and Spoke to him and told him that this -

Deponent was in his the said Mr. Giles's Debt

& the sd. Mr. Giles asked for what and this -

Deponent answered for Christening his Child.

Oh Says the Parson I think your Name is

Giles Hays noe replyed this Depont. my Name

is Gabl Smith and he this Deponent putt

his Hand into his Pockett and Gave the sd.

Mr. Giles a peice of Silver worth five shill.

and the sd. Mr. Giles asked this Deponent

what it went for & this Depont. answered

for five Shill. & Then the sd. Mr. Giles replyed

is that all which gave this Depont. occasion

to aske the sd. Mr. Giles what his Demands were

and the sd. Mr. Giles Answered Twenty or thirty

Shillings to which this Depont. replyed Sr. they

never used to give but five Shill. ready mony

Margin Notes:

Runaway Boy of

Coopers.

4

these to Appear next

Consn. day.

The Deposition of

Gabl Smith &

Mr Giles

A fresh opening sentence recovers the sense carried over from the previous matter. No one appeared against Andrew Bergue the runaway boy, so the council ordered him returned to Mr Rogue with him.

The council further ordered that Robert Wallington and Caleb Davis, masons, and Wood attend at the next consultation day at the same hour.

Giles Smith attended and voluntarily made the following deposition.

The deponent stated that some time in June last Mr Giles the parson christened a child of his. About a week or ten days after the christening was over the deponent met Mr Giles in the street, spoke to him and told him that he was in Mr Giles's debt. Mr Giles asked for what, and the deponent answered for christening his child. The parson then said he thought the deponent's name was Giles Hays, and the deponent replied that his name was Giles Smith. The deponent put his hand into his pocket and gave Mr Giles a piece of silver worth 5s. Mr Giles asked what it was for and the deponent answered for the christening. Mr Giles then replied, was that all, which gave the deponent cause to ask what his demand was. Mr Giles answered twenty or thirty shillings, to which the deponent replied that people never used to give more than 5s ready money.

Interpretations

A christening fee was the customary payment to the minister for the rite of baptism, and the dispute turned on what that custom fixed it at, the deponent holding the going rate to be 5s in ready money against the chaplain's demand of twenty or thirty shillings. The deposition formed part of the council's gathering case against the chaplain Escott Giles, whose habitual drunkenness, indecency and neglect of duty were established by sworn evidence at the consultation of 28 November 1723, the demanding of excessive fees being one of the specific charges laid against him.

A deposition was sworn evidence taken down in writing and entered on the council's record, the testimony of each witness preserved in his own account of what was said and done, so that the bench could weigh the proof when it came to judge the chaplain. Giles Smith gave his evidence voluntarily, the record noting he came forward of his own accord rather than under summons, which lent his account weight as an unprompted complaint against the minister.

230

125

And Six Shill: if he trusted; Goe home Says

the Parson, this Depont. againe replyed to

Doctor Tomlinson, & Doctor Tomlinson Says

the Parson his Works dont make it appear

Sr. Says this Depont. I cant tele what his -

Works Doe But Wee never gave more & Hee

then Says the sd Reverend Mr Giles I dont think

it worth my while to come among yee.

Gabl Smith.

Jurat coram me

3o Die December

John Smith.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwing

Island St. Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesd.

the 10th Day of December 1723. at Plantatn.

house

Jno. Smith Esq Govr.

Dent. Edwd Byfeld D

Jno Alexander 3d D

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and approved on

A fresh opening sentence recovers the chaplain's continuing exchange with the deponent. The minister said he should have six shillings if he gave credit, and asked the deponent to go home with him. The deponent answered that he referred the matter to Doctor Tomlinson, and Doctor Tomlinson said the parson's work did not make it appear so. The deponent then said he could not tell what the parson's work was, but that people had never given more than this. The Reverend Mr Giles answered that he did not think it worth his while to come among them.

Sworn before John Smith on 3 December 1723, and signed by Giles Smith.

The deposition was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 10 December 1723 at the plantation house, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

231

126

December

The Two folg. Petitions were psented.

The Petition of Elizabeth Greentree Widde. -

Praying Liberty to hire abt. 3 Acres of Land

Lying below The Lemon Treds in Lemon Valley

near her own Plantation.

Granted.

Ordered the Surveyor do measure ye sd Land

& that a Lease be granted to the Petr. thereof

The Petition of Francis Funge & James

Ryder Praying to be heard before ye Land -

Petitioned for by Thos Harper is granted.

Reserved 'tile Capt. Goodwin who was -

Ordered to view the sd Land make his report.

The Coopers Boy & ye Man & Wench

belonging to Sey Wallington & Caleb Davis

attended according toye Order of the last

Consultation & were examined & Discharged.

Capt. Goodwin reports that he has viewed

the Land Petitioned for by Gunner French

according to ord of Consultation 5th. Novr. &

that the Letting a Lease of the Same wile not

be prejudiciall to any person.

Ordered that ye sd Land be measured &

a Lease granted thereof to ye sd. Gunner French

Capt. Goodwin also reports that he has

measured the Land of John Thwaite & Mary

Conway according to the order of Consultatn.

of the 19th Novr. & also

The Land of Jno. Wonale according

Margin Notes:

Eliz. Greentree

Petn. for Land in

Lemon Valley.

Granted.

& a lease to be made

Petn. of Frans Ryder

& Jno. Funge &c

Jos. Thd. Harper

for Land.

Reserved till Report

is made

Sevl. Blacks Examd

& Discharged.

Land Petd. for by

Gunr. French

Viewed.

Same to be mea

sured & a Lease

Granted.

Mary Conway

& Jno. Thwaits

Land measured

also Land for Jno

Wonale

The following two petitions were presented.

Elizabeth Greentree, widow, petitioned for leave to hire about three acres of land lying below the lemon trees in Lemon Valley near her own plantation.

The council granted the petition. It ordered the surveyor to measure the land and a lease of it to be granted to her.

Francis Funge and James Ryder petitioned to be heard before the land petitioned for by Thomas Harper was granted. The council referred the matter to Captain Goodwin, who was ordered to view the land and make his report.

The cooper's boy and the man and the woman belonging to Sergeant Wallington and Caleb Davis attended under the order of the previous consultation, and were examined and discharged.

Captain Goodwin reported that he had viewed the land petitioned for by gunner French under the order of the consultation of 5 November 1723, and that letting a lease of it would not harm any other person. The council ordered the land measured and a lease of it granted to gunner French.

Captain Goodwin also reported that he had measured the land of John Thwaits and Mary Conway under the order of the consultation of 19 November 1723, and also the land of John Worrall.

Speculations

The council had heard Thomas Harper's petition for the Swanley Valley ground at the consultation of 3 December 1723 and stood ready to grant it, yet on the rival application of Francis Funge and James Ryder it held the grant back and sent Captain Goodwin to view the land first. The competing claim, rather than any doubt about Harper himself, was what turned a straightforward grant into a referral, the council preferring to test the ground against a neighbour's interest before parting with it.

232

127

Ordr. of the Same Day.

The Doctor brot. in his Booke of Medicine

which was examined & approved of.

Ordered that an Advertisement be Issued

out to give notice that ye Govr. & Council -

intend to reckon with the Officers & Souldiers

of the Garrison & Workmen employed thereon

on Thursday & Fryday the 5th & 6th Day

of this Instant at Plantation house for

the last Quarter.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwing

Island St. Helena

At a Consultation held on

Tuesday the 17th of December 1723 at Plan-

tation house.

Jno. Smith Esq Govr.

Dent. Edwd Byfeld D

Jno Alexander 3d D

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved on

The Advertisemt. ordered Last Consultation

has been Issued out accordingly.

The Five folg. Petitions were psented.

Margin Notes:

Drs. Book of

Medicins.

hire Apparently

to Reckon with

officers of

Garrison &

Workmen.

The order continues from the same day. The doctor brought in his book of medicine, which the council examined and approved.

The council ordered an advertisement issued giving notice that the Governor and council intended to reckon with the officers and soldiers of the garrison and the workmen employed on the fortifications on Thursday and Friday 12 and 13 December at the plantation house for the last quarter.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 17 December 1723 at the plantation house, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

The advertisement ordered at the previous consultation had been issued accordingly.

The following five petitions were presented.

Interpretations

The doctor's book of medicine was the daily register of medicines dispensed and to whom, laid before the council for examination as a standing control over the medical stores. The requirement grew out of the theft from the surgeon's stores uncovered in 1719, the council ordering the surgeon to keep such a book and present it after Cholmondley Cevill was found to have taken medicines without account at the consultation of 29 August 1719, and the routine approval here shows that control still running under Governor Smith.

The quarterly reckoning was the council's regular settlement of accounts with the garrison and the fortification workmen, the advertisement summoning them to be paid off and their balances entered at the close of each quarter. Fixing the meeting by public notice for named days let the council clear the whole body of soldiers and labourers together rather than piecemeal, the same method used to call in the inhabitants and the debtors at each quarter day.

233

128

December.

The Petihon of Eliz Greentree Widdow

praying Liberty to hire abt. 2 Acres of Land

called the Tobacco Plain in Lemon Valley

near her own Plantation.

The Petihon of Jno. Bagley Junr. Praying

Liberty to hire abt. 2 Acres of Land at the

bottome of Sarah's Valley to make a -

Plantation in.

The Petihon of Edmond Botley pray

Liberty to hire abt. 2 Acres of Land called

Half a Moon Spring to make a Plantation

in

Ordered that Capt. Goodwin Doe view the

sd Piece of Land and report if Letting the

Same will be prejudiciall to any person.

The Petihon of Edmd Nichols & Thomas

Greentree Praying Liberty to hire Joyntly

a Piece of Land lying between Capt. -

Alexander & Mr. Orchards Plantations

in Sandy Bay.

Ordered that Capt. Goodwin & Mr. Joshua

Johnson & Mr. Taylor Stewart Doe view ye

sd Peice of Land and report if the

Letting the Same will be prejudiciall to

any person.

The Petihon of Mr. Orchard &

Jno. Higham Junr. Praying to be heard

before any Lease be Let of the Land

Petitioned for by Nichols & Greentree.

Referred

Margin Notes:

Petn. of Eliz Greentree

for Land in Lemon

Valley.

Petn. of Jno. Bagley

for Land in Sarahs

Valley.

Petn. of Edd. Botley

for Land at &c

all of yr. sevll. of

Land to be Viewed

Petn. of Mr. Edd. Nichols

& Thos. Greentree

for Land in Sandy

Bay.

peices of Land to

be Viewed by

2 Plant. wth. Capt.

Goodwin

Petn. of Mr. Orchard

& Jno. Higham

Junr. agt. ye Petn. of Mr. Nichols

& Thos. Greenhee

Elizabeth Greentree, widow, petitioned for leave to hire about two acres of land called the Tobacco Plain in Lemon Valley near her own plantation.

John Bagley junior petitioned for leave to hire about two acres of land at the bottom of Sarah's Valley to make a plantation.

Edmund Bodley petitioned for leave to hire about two acres of land called Half Moon Spring to make a plantation.

The council ordered Captain Goodwin to view this land and report whether letting it would harm any other person.

Edmund Nichols and Thomas Greentree petitioned for leave to hire jointly a piece of land lying between Captain Alexander's and Mr Orchard's plantations in Sandy Bay.

The council ordered Captain Goodwin and Mr Joshua Johnson and Mr James Stewart to view this land and report whether letting it would harm any other person.

Mr Orchard and Jonathan Higham junior petitioned to be heard before any lease was made of the land petitioned for by Nichols and Greentree.

The council referred the matter.

Interpretations

The competing claims to the Sandy Bay parcel drove the council to refer the grant rather than settle it at once, Orchard and Higham asking to be heard before Nichols and Greentree's joint application was allowed. The council met the clash by appointing three viewers rather than the usual single overseer, Captain Goodwin joined by Joshua Johnson and James Stewart, the wider panel suited to a parcel lying between two existing plantations where several neighbours' interests met.

234

129

Referred the said Petitions tile the Gentlemen

that are ordered to view the sd Land Doe make

their Report.

The Petition of Samuel Taylor Letting

forth that he had married Fench the Daughter

of Edwd. Bagley deced, & therefore prayed that

he might know what Part of the Land -

belongs to him by Virtue of yo sd. Edwd. Bagleys

Wile.

Ordered that a Court of Nisi Prius be

held on Monday the Sixth Day of Jaury

next to try what Part of the Estate of the sd

Edwd. Bagley belongs to ye Petr. & noe & what

part after ye Death of Sarah Southen

the sd. Edwd. Bagleys Widdow.

Mrs. Elizabeth Greentree Widdow -

Reputed the Wile of James Greentree her

Late husband deced to which Wile she was -

Sole Executrix & prayed the Same might

be proved which was done accordingly by

the Oaths of Jno. Hodgkinson Saml Taylor

& Jno. Bagley.

Ordered that the sd. Wile be recorded &

registred in the booke of Wills accordingly -

Capt. Goodwin reports that he has viewed

the Land according to ord of Consultation of

ye sd Instant & Says that the making a Planta-

tion wile be a very great prejudice to Mr. Funge

Mr. Ryders Stock of Cattle and Goats and Sale ye

Plantation

Margin Notes:

Referred

till Report

made.

Petn. of Saml

Taylor abt.

his wifes

pt. of Land.

Court Approved

to try yt. of

James.

The Last Will

of James

Greentree

Proved.

Same Ap-

proved.

Letting yt. Land

Petd. for by

The Harper &c

Prejudiciall

to sd.

The council referred these petitions until the gentlemen ordered to view the land made their report.

Samuel Taylor petitioned, setting out that he had married Jane, the daughter of Edward Bagley deceased, and asking to know what part of the land belonged to him in his wife's right under Edward Bagley's will.

The council ordered a Court of Nisi Prius held on Monday 6 January 1724 to try what part of Edward Bagley's estate belonged to the petitioner in his wife's right, and what part fell after the death of Sarah Southen, Edward Bagley's widow.

Mrs Elizabeth Greentree, widow, presented the will of James Greentree, her late husband, of which she was sole executrix, and asked that it be proved. The will was proved accordingly on the oaths of John Hodgkinson, Samuel Taylor and John Bagley.

The council ordered the will viewed and registered in the book of wills accordingly.

Captain Goodwin reported that he had viewed the land petitioned for by Thomas Harper under the order of the previous consultation. He said that making a plantation there would do great harm to Mr Funge and Mr Ryder's stock of cattle and goats.

Interpretations

A Court of Nisi Prius was the form the council used to try a disputed question of property before a jury, the bench sitting as a civil court to determine a matter of right that an ordinary consultation order could not settle. Samuel Taylor's claim turned on the descent of Edward Bagley's estate through two lives, the share falling to Taylor in his wife's right being distinguished from the share that fell only after the death of the widow Sarah Southen, so the court had to fix what passed now and what waited on her death.

The contest over the Swanley Valley ground reached its head in Captain Goodwin's report, the view he was sent to make at the consultation of 3 December 1723 confirming that a plantation there would harm Funge and Ryder's grazing. The council had held Thomas Harper's grant back once Funge and Ryder objected, and the report bore out the reason for the caution, the parcel proving more valuable as open range for the neighbours' cattle and goats than as new plantation ground.

235

130

December.

Planters thereabouts.

Whereupon & upon hearing the sd Funge

& Ryder according to their Petition referred to

this Day Wee think fitt to reject the Petition

of yd. sd Thomas Harper.

The Black house at the Fort being very

much decayed and the Sicknesse of the Negros

making the Same very Offensive to the Barrack

and the other Houses & there being a Wast peice

of Land Lying behind the honoble Companys

Garden

Ordered that a New Black house be

built there the former house having noe

Air come into it in a great Measure -

occasioned the Blacks Sicknesse.

Ordered that Alphabetts be made

to ale the Books.

The Walls in Severale Places -

belonging to our honoble Masters Plantatn.

being out of repair and more wanting to be

added to them.

Ordered that the sd Walls be Surveyd

and an Estimate made of the Charges of

repairing the old Wally & what new Wall

is wanting & also an Estimate made of ye

Charge of Such new Wall.

The Yams belonging to our honoble

Masters by the long Drought, & dry Sunns to be having

a great Number of their Blacks and now

Margin Notes:

Rejected.

Black House

Decayed &

Offensive to ye

Barrack.

New Black

House to be

Built.

Alphabetts

wanting.

Plantation Walls

defective & be

longing to our

others wanting

An Estimate

to be made

of ye Charge

Yams small.

A fresh opening sentence recovers the council's resolution on the grazing neighbours. On hearing Funge and Ryder under their petition referred to this day, the council thought fit to reject the petition of Thomas Harper.

The slaves' house at the Fort had fallen very much into decay and the sickness of the slaves made it very offensive to the barracks and the other houses, while a piece of waste land lay behind the Honourable Company's garden.

The council ordered a new slaves' house built there, the former house having let in so much air as had largely caused the slaves' sickness.

The council ordered alphabets made to the books.

The walls in several places belonging to the Company's plantation were out of repair, and more were wanting to be added to them.

The council ordered the walls surveyed and an estimate made of the charge of repairing the old walls and of what new wall was wanting, and also an estimate made of the charge of such new wall.

The yams belonging to the Company had been much reduced by the long drought, which had cost a great number of their slaves.

Interpretations

The alphabets ordered for the books were the indexes made to the account and register books, the names entered in alphabetical order so an account or a deed could be found without searching the whole volume. The order continued the council's standing care for the records under Governor Smith, the secretary's office reorganised and the books brought under closer account through the autumn of 1723.

The decision to rebuild the slaves' house turned on its danger to the barracks rather than on the slaves alone, the decayed house both sickening its occupants and threatening the soldiers quartered nearby. Siting the new house on the waste ground behind the Company's garden moved the slaves clear of the barracks, the council using a spare parcel already in hand to separate the sick quarters from the garrison.

236

131

Yams to be bought Wee have thought fitt

to shorten their allowance to fourty Pound

p Black p 2 Weeks.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwing

Island St. Helena.

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the 24th. Day of December 1723 at Plantation

house

Jno Smith Esq Govr.

Dent Edwd Byfeld D

Jno Alexander 3d D

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and approved of

On Saturday last arrived the Stankope

Capt. Wentworth George Pitt Commr. from

Bombay but last from Fort St. Davids but brot.

noe Letters for us from any part of India

Whereupon Wee sent the Capt. the

folg Letter. &c

According to our Honoble Masters

Instructions to us Wee order and desire you would

upon

Margin Notes:

Allowance

to Blacks

Shortoned

Ship Stankope

Cornwall.

The sd Capt.

Pitt.

A fresh opening sentence recovers the resolution on the slaves' food. With the yams to be bought, the council thought fit to reduce the slaves' allowance to forty pounds for each black every two weeks.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 24 December 1723 at the plantation house, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

On Saturday last the Stanhope arrived, Captain Wentworth George Pitt commander, from Bombay but last from Fort St David, but brought no letters from any part of India.

The council sent the captain the following letter.

Under the Honourable Company's instructions, the council ordered and desired the captain, on [...]

Interpretations

The reduction of the slaves' allowance to forty pounds of yams for each person every fortnight followed directly from the drought's destruction of the crop, the council cutting the ration once it had to buy yams to make up the shortfall. Setting the figure by a fixed weight over a fixed period let the storekeeper hold consumption to the diminished stock, the same close measurement applied to the monthly live-stock and produce accounts.

Fort St David was the Company's settlement on the Coromandel coast of south-east India, near Cuddalore, and stood with Bombay among the Indian presidencies whose ships called at St Helena on the homeward passage. The arrival of the Stanhope without any India letters left the council without word from the presidencies it depended on for grain, a pressing want given the failed harvests, so it addressed the captain directly under the directors' standing instructions.

237

132

December.

all and every alearms during your Stay here

find out your Stream Cable or a very good -

Hawser with a Smale Anchor near the Shore

and to heave in by it as near the West Rocks

as will be safe for your rideing which you

will know by your Soundings the Intent is yt.

noe Pyrates nor other Ships may come to

head of you and cutt you out of the road

Wee think the utmost Caution ought to -

be used for the Security of our Honoble

Masters Estate on board yond if you want

any Assistance herein Wee shall be -

ready to Serve you

Wee are

Yor. Hum. Servts

Jno Smith

Edwd Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin.

Union Castle

James Galloy.

Decr. 20th 1723.

To Capt. Wentworth George

Pitt.

The Petition of Capt. Goodwin & Francis

Wrangham on behalfe off the Severall

Orphans of Henry Francis deced -

Praying to hire for ye sd Orphans

a piece of Ground of abt. 1/2 an Acre

lying at the Head of the High Water

fale in James Valley adjoyning to ye sd.

Orphans Plantation -

Ordered

Margin Notes:

to Heave Neearer

to the Shore.

Petn. on behalf of

Hen. Francis -

Orphans.

This is the council's letter to Captain Pitt of the Stanhope, rewritten as a third-person report. The council directed the captain that, on any alarm during his stay, he should find out his stream cable or a very good hawser with a small anchor near the shore and heave in by it as near the West Rocks as would be safe for his riding, which he would know by his soundings. The purpose was that no pirates nor other ships might come on board of him and cut him out of the road. The council held that the utmost caution ought to be used for the security of the Company's estate on board, and offered any assistance he needed.

The letter was dated at Union Castle, James Valley, 20 December 1723, addressed to Captain Wentworth George Pitt, and signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Captain Goodwin and Francis Wrangham petitioned on behalf of the several orphans of Henry Francis deceased, asking to hire for the orphans a piece of ground of about half an acre lying at the head of the High Water Fall in James Valley adjoining the orphans' plantation.

Interpretations

A stream cable was the lighter of a ship's anchor cables, bent to a smaller stream anchor and used for steadying a vessel in a tideway or for warping her into a safer berth, the captain directed to use it with a hawser to haul himself close under the West Rocks. Warping in by such a line let a ship lie tight against the shore where she could not be cut out, the manoeuvre answering the standing fear that a pirate or interloper might board a vessel at the open anchorage and carry her off, the same concern that drove the mooring orders to the homeward ships at the turn of 1720 and 1721.

The Company's estate on board meant its goods and money carried in the ship, the cargo and treasure the council was bound to protect even while the vessel lay in the road. Treating the anchorage as a defensive position rather than a mere mooring reflected the island's role as a guarded port, its open road leaving every ship exposed until secured close under the rocks.

238

134

Ordered that the sd Land be measured &

a Lease granted of the Same.

Capt Goodwin Desird to become Tenant

for abt. 2 1/2 Acres of Land in Briars valley

late Christopher Keas

Ordered that the sd Land be measured

& a Lease granted of the Same.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island St. Helena

At a Consultation held on Tuesday

the 31st. Day of December 1723. at Union Castle

In James Valley.

Jno Smith Esq Govr.

Dent Edwd Byfeld D

Jno Alexander 3d

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and approved on

On the 25th Instant an Alarme was made

for a large Ship to the Leeward of the Island

and Stood right away but the Weather being

very

Margin Notes:

granted by

Lease to be

Made.

Capt. Goodwin

Petr. for Land

in Briars valley

Granted.

An Alarme for

a Ship to Leeward

The council ordered the land measured and a lease of it granted.

Captain Goodwin asked to become tenant of about two and a half acres of land in Briars Valley late Christopher Hay's.

The council ordered the land measured and a lease of it granted.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 31 December 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

On 25 December an alarm was made for a large ship to the leeward of the island, which stood right away, but the weather being very [...]

Interpretations

Granting land by lease rather than by outright sale kept the freehold in the Company's hands while drawing a yearly rent from the tenant, the standing method by which the council let its waste ground and parcels falling vacant on a holder's departure. The two and a half acres in Briars Valley had come back into the Company's gift as land late Christopher Hay's, and Captain Goodwin took it on the same terms as any other tenant, the council ordering it measured before the lease was sealed so the rent and bounds could be fixed.

The alarm of 25 December marked the island's standing watch over its road, the lookouts signalling every strange sail and the council recording how each behaved. The large ship to leeward stood away of her own accord, but the wariness reflected the constant fear that a pirate or interloper might seize a vessel at the anchorage, the same concern that had governed the orders to Captain Pitt of the Stanhope days earlier.

239

135

Jany.

very hazey Wee could not make any Colours

nor Judge what ship she was.

The Gentlemen Ordered to view yt Land

Petitioned for by Edmd. Nichol & Thomas -

Greentree. Report that they had viewed yt

sd Land and that the Letting the Same

wile be noe Detriment to Mr. Orchard &

Mr. Higham who Petitioned agt. the Letting

Same.

Ordered that ye sd Land be measured

& severe Leases made out to ye sd. Edmd. -

Nichols, & Thomas Greentree Seperately

of the Same.

Ordered that Joshua Johnson & Francis

Wrangham Doe view with Capt. Goodwin

the Severale Peices of Land Petitioned

for by. Elizabeth Greentree Widdow

Edmund Botley

Jno. Bagley Junr.

Capt. Byfeld reports that a Black fellow

named Caesar als Hutt belonging to ye

honoble Company dyed last Week.

Mr. Crispe brot. in and Delivered his

Accot. of the Generale Table Expence for ye

Month of November which was exaid.

& approved of and is as foll.

vizt.

Margin Notes:

Land Petd. for by Edd.

Nichols & Thos. Greentree

Viewed.

the same to be

Measured & a Lease

Do to Each of ym.

Land Petd. for to

be viewed by 2

Plant. wth. Capt.

Goodwin.

a Blk. man dyed.

Govrs. Table Expence

for Novr. 1723

The weather being very hazy, the council could not make out her colours nor judge what ship she was.

The gentlemen ordered to view the land petitioned for by Edmund Nichols and Thomas Greentree reported that they had viewed the land and that letting it would do no harm to Mr Orchard and Mr Higham, who had petitioned against it being let.

The council ordered the land measured and separate leases made out to Edmund Nichols and to Thomas Greentree.

The council ordered Joshua Johnson and Francis Wrangham to view, with Captain Goodwin, the several pieces of land petitioned for by Elizabeth Greentree, widow, Edmund Bodley and John Bagley junior.

Captain Byfield reported that a black fellow named Caesar, alias Hutts, belonging to the Honourable Company, had died last week.

Mr Crispe brought in and delivered his account of the General Table expense for the month of November, examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

The General Table was the common table kept at the Company's charge for the Governor, the councillors and others entitled to diet at the Fort, its monthly expense reckoned and approved like the store and stock accounts. The office of keeping the table had passed from Ensign Slaughter to Duke Crispe in 1723, and Crispe here delivered the November reckoning for examination as part of the council's regular control of the Company's standing charges.

The viewing of land before any lease was sealed gave the council a check on competing interests, the report on the Nichols and Greentree parcel confirming that letting it would not harm Orchard or Higham, who had objected at the consultation of 17 December 1723. With the objection answered, the council granted the ground but split it into separate leases to Nichols and Greentree rather than the joint tenancy they had sought, fixing each man's holding and rent apart.

240

136

Beef at 2/.

43 4 lb

5 8 6

Porke 2/6

64

1 12 -

Peices Salt Beef a 2/6

3 6

4 10 -

Peices Salt Porke a 2/10

33

4 13 6

Bread

118

1 9 6

Flower 3d

5 6

14 -

Sugar 6

113

2 16 6

Fowles 1/6

19

1 8 6

Gallons Arrack 6/4

60 8

19 - 9

Bottds Galicia

49

Bottds Mountanie

5 6

Bottds Smale Beer

74

Bottds Sweet Oyle a 7/6

6

2 5 -

Drs Vineger

12

12 -

Pepper

4 lb

4 -

Eggs 4d

113

9 4

Candles 2/

12

1 4 -

Sheep

1

1 4 -

Turkeys 6/

2

12 -

Butter Fresh

20 lb

1 6 6

Hays Greens 1/

30

1 10 -

Bottle Mulke 4d

60

1 - -

Veale a 6d. p lb

15 lb

7 6

£ 52 7 7 1/2

T. Crispe.

Gunner French brot. in and delivered an Acct.

of Gunners Stores expended for ye sd Month

of November which was examined and

approved of and is as foll.

Bring Muster Day

5

7 7 9

Expence of the Guard

8

10

For repayring and fitting the

Grenadiers Pouches.

14

7 7 40

Margin Notes:

Gunrs. Acct. of Expence

in Novembr.

Novr. 5

This is the General Table expense for November, set out as an account, followed by the opening of the gunner's stores account.

43 pounds 4 ounces of beef at 2s 5d, £5 8s 6d 64 pounds of pork at 2s 7d, £8 [...] 3 6 pounds of pickled salt beef at 2s 6d, £1 12s 0d 33 pounds of pickled salt pork at 2s 10d, £4 13s 6d 118 pounds of bread, £1 9s 6d 56 pounds of flour, £0 14s 0d 113 pounds of sugar, £2 16s 6d 19 fowls at 1s 6d, £1 8s 6d 60 gallons 8 pints of arrack at 6s 4d, £19 0s 9¼d 49 bottles of Galicia, [...] 56 bottles of Mountain, [...] 74 bottles of small beer, [...] 6 bottles of sweet oil at 7s 6d, £2 5s 0d 12 quarts of vinegar, £0 12s 0d 4 pounds of pepper, £0 4s 0d 113 pounds of peas, £0 9s 4d 12 pounds of candles at 2s, £1 4s 0d 1 sheep, £1 4s 0d 2 turkeys at 6s, £0 12s 0d 26 pounds of fresh butter, £1 6s 6d 30 days of greens at 1s, £1 10s 0d 60 bottles of milk at 4d, £1 0s 0d 15 pounds of veal at 6d, £0 7s 6d total, £52 7s 7½d, signed Crispe.

Gunner French brought in and delivered an account of the gunner's stores expended for the month of November, examined and approved as follows.

5 November, [...] 7s 5d 8 November, [...] 7s 9d being muster day, [...] 0s 10d expense of the guard for repairing and fitting the grenadiers' pouches, £0 0s 14d total, £7 7s 40d

Interpretations

Galicia and Mountain were both Spanish wines, the one from the north-western province of Galicia and the other the strong sweet wine of Malaga known as Mountain, bought by the bottle for the General Table alongside small beer brewed on the island. Sweet oil was olive oil, used in cooking and at table, distinguished from the train oil and linseed oil of the store account by its fitness for food.

The General Table account ran by the provisions consumed at the common table through the month, each item priced and summed to a total of £52 7s 7½d under Duke Crispe's hand. Setting the diet expense out in full each month let the council watch the standing cost of feeding those entitled to the table, the figure read and approved beside the store, stock and gunner's accounts as part of the regular monthly settlement.

241

137

Brot. over

7 7 40

Musquett Balls for Do

4

Cartridge Paper for Do

2

Do for the Expence of ye Guard

2.

Do to make Demi Culverin

3

Cartridge

Flints delivered to the Guard

5o.

Musquett Rodds for Do

3

Match

14

14 3 30 7 14.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwing

Island St. Helena.

At a Consultation held on

Wednesday and Thursday the 1st & 2d -

Days of Janry 1723 at Union Castle

In James Valley.

Jno Smith Esq Govr.

Dent. Edwd Byfeld D

Jno Alexander 3d

Jno Goodwin 4th

Brought over, £7 7s 40d

14 pounds of musket balls for the guard 2 quires of cartridge paper for the guard 2 quires of cartridge paper for the expense of the guard 3 quires of cartridge paper to make demi-culverin cartridge 30 flints delivered to the guard 3 musket rods for the guard 14 pounds of match total, 14 pounds of musket balls, 3 [...], 30 flints, 7 quires of cartridge paper and 14 pounds of match

Interpretations

A demi-culverin was a medium gun firing a shot of about nine pounds, one of the standing pieces of the island's batteries, and the gunner drew cartridge paper from the stores to make up its powder charges. Cartridge paper was counted by the quire and totalled seven quires across the month, the stout paper rolled and filled with powder to form a ready charge for the gun, the three quires for the demi-culverin set apart from those spent on the guard.

The gunner's stores account ran by the powder, paper, flints, match, musket balls and rods spent through the month, each material set out in its own line and carried into its column so the closing total summed the stock by kind rather than by sum. Keeping the demi-culverin cartridge and the guard's expense on separate lines let the council read how much of the stores went on the great guns against the small arms of the guard, the same division the gunner kept through his earlier accounts.

242

138

The last Consultation read and approved on.

This Day arrived the Ship Barrington Capt.

Jno Hunter Commr. from Mocha but last

from the Cape.

Whereupon Wee sent the folg Letter

to Capt. Hunter.

According to our Honoble Masters Instruc-

tions to us Wee order and desire you would upon

ale and every Alarme during your Stay here

Send out your Stream Cable or a very good Hawser

with a Smale Anchor near the Shore and to

heave in by it as near the West rocks as wile -

be safe for your rideing which you wile know

by your foundings the Intent is yt. noe Pyrates

nor other ships may come on head of you and

cutt you out of the road Wee think ye utmost

Caution ought to be used for the Security of

our Honoble Masters Estate on Board you & if

you want any Assistance herein Wee Shale

be ready to Serve you

Wee are Sr.

Yor. Hum. Servts

Jno Smith

Edwd Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin.

Union Castle

James Valley

Janry 2d. 1723

1720

To Capt. Jno. Hunter

Commr. of ye Barrington.

This Day the Council met in pursuance to an

Advertisemt. for reckoning with the Garrison &

Workmen

Margin Notes:

Ship

Barrington

Arrivalle.

Letter to

Capt. Hunter

Counc. mett.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

This day the ship Barrington arrived, Captain John Hunter commander, from Mocha but last from the Cape.

The council sent the following letter to Captain Hunter.

The council asked the captain to take precautions whenever an alarm was raised while he lay in the road. He was to run out his stream cable, or a strong hawser with a small anchor, close to the shore, and haul his ship in by it as near the West Rocks as his soundings showed was safe. The aim was to keep any pirate or other vessel from coming up on him and carrying his ship out of the road. The council pressed that the greatest care be taken to protect the Company's goods aboard, and promised whatever help he might need.

The letter was dated at Union Castle, James Valley, 1 January 1724, addressed to Captain John Hunter, commander of the Barrington, and signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

This day the council met under the advertisement for reckoning with the garrison and workmen.

Interpretations

Mocha was the Red Sea port of the Yemen, the chief market for coffee in the Company's trade, and the Barrington called at St Helena on her homeward run from there by way of the Cape. The council gave Captain Hunter the same mooring instructions it had given Captain Pitt of the Stanhope at the consultation of 24 December 1723, issuing a standing form of order to each homeward commander to bring his ship close under the West Rocks where she could not be cut out.

A stream cable was the lighter of a ship's anchor cables, attached to a small stream anchor and used to steady a vessel or move her into a safer berth, the captain told to haul himself in by it against the risk of capture at the open anchorage. The council treated the road as a position to be defended rather than a simple mooring, its standing fear of pirates and interlopers making it anxious to see the Company's cargo and treasure secured against the rocks before any raider could reach it.

243

139

Janry.

Workmen employed therein.

Transfers.

Giles Smith pd in part of his Debt to

the Honoble Company

10 -

Wm Beale pd in Cash in part of his

Debt

25 -

Jno Hays to Jor. Doveton in part of

his Debt to the Honoble Company

1 1 6

Mr Symon Crane Surgeon of the Barrington

presented a Letter of Attorny from John

Johnson & Thomas Mowtin & prayed the

Execution of the Same might be proved -

which was done accordingly by the Oath

of Capt. John Hunter

Ordered the Same to be registred

The sd Mr Crane by Virtue of the sd Letter

of Attorny offered us an House and ground

belonging to ye sd Jno Johnson now hired by

the Honoble Company for a Blacks house

at 6d. p Annum

As Mr Crane is now going to Engld

the Gov & yt who hired the sd House is now in

England Wee refer it to our Honoble Masters

whether they wile agree with Mr Crane -

for ye sd House and Ground there or give us

Directions to purchase the Same there.

Mr Joshua Johnson Executor of ye

Last Will & Testament of Mrs Eliz Johnson

presented the sd Will & prayed the Same

might be proved which was done accordingly

by the Oath of Walter Morris ye other two

Witnesses John Nichols & Robert Addiss being

both dead.

The

Margin Notes:

to begin a reckoning

Transfers.

Lettr. of Attorny -

Printed by Mr Crane

Surgt.

proved & Registred

a House offered by ye

Mr Crane to sd Jno

of yt sd Co

Referred to ye Hont

Govr & Co for ye

Compy. interest

The Last Will & Testamt.

of Eliz Johnson

presented. &

Approved.

A fresh opening recovers the start of the day's reckoning. The council met to reckon with the workmen employed on the fortifications.

Transfers.

Giles Smith paid in part of his debt to the Honourable Company, £10 0s 0d William Beale paid in cash in part of his debt, £25 0s 0d John Hays to John Doveton in part of his debt to the Honourable Company, £1 1s 6d

Mr Tymen Crane, surgeon of the Barrington, presented a letter of attorney from John Johnson and Thomas Mowtin and asked that its execution be proved, which was done on the oath of Captain John Hunter.

The council ordered it registered.

Mr Crane, under this letter of attorney, offered the council a house and ground belonging to John Johnson, now hired by the Honourable Company for a slaves' house at £6 0s 0d a year.

As Mr Crane was now going to England, and Governor Pyke, who hired the house, was now in England, the council referred the matter to the Honourable Company to decide whether to agree with Mr Crane for the house and ground or to direct it to be bought there.

Mr Joshua Johnson, executor of the will of Mrs Elizabeth Johnson, presented the will and asked that it be proved, which was done on the oath of Walter Morris, the other two witnesses John Nichols and Robert Addes being both dead.

Interpretations

A letter of attorney was a written authority by which one person empowered another to act for him in his absence, here allowing the surgeon Tymen Crane to deal with John Johnson's St Helena house and ground on Johnson's behalf. Proving its execution before the council, on Captain Hunter's oath, fixed the document as genuine on the record so that Crane's authority to offer the property could not later be questioned.

The transfers were the council's mechanism for moving debts and credits through the Company's books, a payment by one man set against another's account without coin changing hands, the three entries here reducing the debts of Smith, Beale and Hays. The house question was referred home rather than settled because both the original hirer, Governor Pyke, and the present agent were leaving for England, the council preferring to let the directors deal directly with the parties on the spot than commit to a rent or a purchase it could not oversee.

244

140

Thos. Wile was approved on & ordered to be

registred in the booke of Wiles accordingly.

The Petition of Joseph Coale was presented -

Setting forth that Joseph Reads & Bridgett his Wife

had applyed to ye Govr. & Council in his behalf

by Petition for a peice of ground & Provisions thereon

belonging to him to which they reed for answer

that ye Govr. & Council would transmit the sd.

Petition to ye Honoble Company for their Direc=

tions therein Wherefore prayed the sd Petition

might be sent home by the first oppertunity

- Wee wile transmit ye sd Petition according

to the Petr. request.

The Petition of Severale Inhabitants in behalf

of themselves and all the Islanders in Generale Setting

forth ye deplorable Condition thereof.

Wee have taken into Consideration ye Petition

and wee wile gett what necessarys wee can out of ye

returning shipping for ye benefite of the poorer Sort

of the Inhabitants of the Island and wile transmit

a Copy of this Petition to our Honoble Masters.

Wee have finished reckoning with the -

Garrison and Workmen employed therein and pd

them in Cash and Cash notes and transferred to -

those in the Honoble Companys Debt.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Registred

Petn. of Jos.

Coale abt.

Reads Wife

for Land

desire of same

may be

transmitted.

The Petn. of

Inhabitants.

Considered &

a Copy.

to be transmitted

to ye Honot

Compy

Reckoning

finished.

Elizabeth Johnson's will was approved and ordered registered in the book of wills.

Joseph Coales petitioned for himself and his wife Bridget, recalling that they had earlier applied to the Governor and council by petition for a piece of ground and provisions belonging to him. The council had answered then that it would pass the petition to the Honourable Company for a decision, and the couple now asked that it be sent home at the first chance.

The council agreed to forward the petition as they asked.

Several of the inhabitants petitioned for themselves and the rest of the island, describing the wretched state they were all in.

The council took the petition into account and promised to obtain what supplies it could from the visiting ships to relieve the poorer islanders, and to send a copy of the petition home to the directors.

The council finished its reckoning with the garrison and the workmen on the fortifications, paying them in cash and cash notes and transferring the balances to set against what they owed the Honourable Company.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

Cash notes were the island's own paper money, slips issued by the Governor and council that passed as currency among the inhabitants in place of scarce coin, used here alongside actual cash to pay off the garrison and the labourers. Settling part of the wages by transfer, with each man's pay set directly against his debt to the Company, let the council clear obligations on both sides at once without parting with coin it could ill spare.

The inhabitants' joint petition reflected the depth of the island's distress after years of drought and failed harvests, the council unable to relieve it from its own stores and forced to depend on whatever the passing ships could spare. Forwarding both this petition and the Coales couple's to the directors marked the limit of the council's own authority, matters of supply and of a disputed grant alike being sent home for the Company to settle rather than resolved on the island.

245

141

Janry.

Island St. Helena.

At a Consultation held on Monday

the 6th. Day of Janry 1723. at Union Castle

in James Valley.

John Smith Esq Govr.

Dent Edwd Byfeld D

Jno Alexander 3d

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved on.

The Govr. acquainted his Council that ye

reason of his calling this Consultation was to

complaine of ye Reverend Mr. Giles preaching

a very seditious Sermon yesterday highly -

reflecting upon the Govr. & Council

Mr. Giles being sent for upon his asking

the Govr. & Councils Pardon heartily for what

misdemeanours he had been guilty off and

Promises that he would not be guilty of ye

Same for the future but would follow such

Directions as he should receive from the Govr.

Wee are willing to Indulge the sd

Mr Giles some time longer but in Case he should

intermeddle with the Affairs of the Government

or follow his former irregular Course of Life

Wee are resolved to send him home by the

first oppertunity.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

reasons for calling

this Consult.

Mr Giles Preachd

a seditious sermon

upon his submission

the Govr & Councils

promise of future

behaviour

He was Indulg'd

a along. time -

In Case but Promise if

he doe not reforme

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Monday 6 January 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

Governor Smith told his council that he had called this meeting to complain of the Reverend Mr Giles, who the day before had preached a deeply provocative sermon that cast serious aspersions on the Governor and council.

Mr Giles was sent for. He asked the Governor and council to forgive him for his misconduct, promised not to offend again, and undertook to follow whatever directions the Governor gave him.

The council was willing to bear with Mr Giles a while longer. It resolved, however, that if he again meddled in the government's affairs or returned to his former disorderly way of living, it would send him home at the first chance.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The seditious sermon was an attack from the pulpit on the island's government, the chaplain using a religious service to reflect on the Governor and council and so threatening their authority before the assembled inhabitants. The council answered not with immediate removal but with a conditional reprieve, accepting Giles's submission and promise of amendment while holding the threat of sending him home in reserve, a measured response to a minister it could not lightly dismiss out of regard for his office.

This meeting carried forward the long discipline of the chaplain Escott Giles, whose drunkenness, indecency and neglect of duty the council had set out on sworn evidence at the consultation of 28 November 1723, granting him a month's grace to mend. The fresh offence of a provocative sermon tested that grace, the council choosing once more to indulge him on his promise rather than enforce the expulsion it had threatened.

246

142

Island St. Helena.

At a Consultation held -

on Tuesday the 7th Day of Janry 1723 At Union -

Castle in James Valley.

Jno. Smith Esq Govr.

Edw. Byfeld 2.

Pres. Jno. Alexander 3d

Jno. Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and Approved of.

This day Arrived his Majesties Ship the -

Salsbury Man of Warr Capt. Samuel Brathwait

Comeander from fort St. George haveing on Board -

Passenger John Blowes late Cheif mate of the Night-

ingele from the Cape who brought the following

Jewoire.

9 Bales N. 2:3:6:7:9:10:11:12:13 qt. 1080 P. Ponabagues

3 ditto No 1:2:3 qt. 250 P. Nicannees.

12

Orderd that the following Letter be sent -

to Capt. Brathwait.

The Island being now in a very Miserable

and Starveing Condition thro' the want of the -

reiny Seasons for 4 or 5 years Past and the -

Hon. Comp. the Stores very much reduced & scarce

of almost all Sorts of Provisions which We have

been Obliged in this Our great Necessity to Sup-

ply the Inhabitants with, and to keep their -

wives

Margin Notes:

Arrivall of ye

Salsbury Man

of Warr.

Goods recd from

the Cape

VEIC

Lettr. to Capt.

Brathwait -

for a supply of

Provisions

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 7 January 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

This day His Majesty's ship the Salisbury man of war arrived, Captain Samuel Brathwait commander, from Fort St George, carrying as passenger John Blowers, late chief mate of the Nightingale, from the Cape, who brought the following goods:

9 bales, numbers 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, of 1,080 pieces of Punabaugus 3 of the same, numbers 1, 2 and 3, of 250 pieces of Niccannees total 12 bales

The council ordered the following letter sent to Captain Brathwait.

The island was now in a wretched and starving state through the failure of the seasons over the past four or five years. The Company's stores were greatly reduced and short of almost every kind of provision, the council having been forced in this great need to supply the inhabitants and to keep their [...]

Interpretations

Punabaugus and Niccannees were both Indian cotton piece goods of named weaves, the staple textiles the Company carried from the presidencies westward, shipped here in numbered bales counted by the piece. Arriving aboard a passenger from the Cape, they were entered on the council's record by mark and number so the consignment could be accounted for against its bill of lading.

A man of war calling at the island offered the council a fresh chance to seek provisions, and the deepening famine drove it to address Captain Brathwait directly. The letter set out the island's distress in plain terms, the failed seasons having drained both the planters' stocks and the Company's stores, so that the council depended on every passing ship to feed an inhabitants it could no longer supply from its own reserves.

247

143

Janry.

wives & Children from Perishing, We begg the

favour of you to Spare Us Such a Supply of Rice

or any other Sorts of Provision you can best oblige

Us with for the Speedy Relief of the Said Poor Inha=

bitants, without which We fear some of them

will Inevitably Starve and which shall thankfully

Acknowledge as a Particular favour Conferd -

on -

Yor. Humble Servants

Jno. Smith

Edw. Byfeld

Jno. Alexander

Jno. Goodwin

Union Castle St. Helena

Janry 7th. 1723.

Orderd that the following Letter be -

Sent to Captain Pitt.

You haveing Proposed to Saile hence for -

England on Tomorrow the 8th Inst. and his Majest.

Ship the Salsbury Arriveing here this day from -

India Capt. Samuel Brathwait Comand who has -

Promised to take you under his Convoy, It is our -

Opinion and Advice to you to Stay till she Sails

for your greater Security Conformable to Part of the

29th Para. of the General Letter to Us by the Essex -

which is as follows.

Remember if any returning Ships arrives

while one or more of our Ships are at the Island

they must Stay for Her for ale their greater -

Security

Margin Notes:

Lettr. to Capt.

Pitt to Stay

for ye Salsbury

Sailing.

The council asked the captain to keep their wives and children from perishing. It begged him to spare whatever rice or other provisions he could to relieve the poorer islanders quickly, fearing that without it some of them would certainly starve, and promised to remember the help as a particular kindness.

The letter was dated at Union Castle, St Helena, 7 January 1724, and signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The council ordered the following letter sent to Captain Pitt.

The captain had planned to sail for England the next day, 8 January. As His Majesty's ship the Salisbury had arrived that day from India, Captain Samuel Brathwait commander, and had promised to take Captain Pitt under his convoy, the council advised him to wait until the Salisbury sailed and go for his greater safety. This followed part of the 59th paragraph of the general letter sent to the council by the Essex, which ran as follows.

The directors had directed that if any returning ship arrived while one or more of the Company's ships lay at the island, those ships must wait for her, for their greater safety.

Interpretations

A convoy was the protection a warship gave to merchant vessels sailing in her company, the Salisbury man of war able to escort the homeward Stanhope through waters where pirates were feared. The council pressed Captain Pitt to delay his departure rather than sail alone, the safety of the Company's ship and cargo weighing more than the day's loss, and grounded its advice on the directors' own standing order that homeward ships keep together.

The 59th paragraph of the general letter was a direct instruction from the directors, carried out to the island by the Essex, requiring the Company's ships to wait for one another so none crossed the dangerous seas unescorted. Quoting the paragraph to Captain Pitt gave the council's advice the force of the directors' authority, turning a recommendation into the execution of a written order from home.

248

144

1723

Security which is Our Standing Orders. We are

Sr

Your Humble Servants

(Signed)

John Smith

Edwd Byfeld -

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Union Castle James -

Valley ye 7th Janry 1723.

This few. copyed &

sent home by the

Stankope.

Island St. Helena.

At a Consultation held on -

Monday the 13th Day of Janry 1723. At Union

Castle Jn James Valley.

John Smith Esq Govr.

Dent Edwd Byfeld 2

Jno Alexander 3d

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and approved of.

This Day the Council met to dispatch the

Ship Stankope.

The folg Petitions were psented

The

Margin Notes:

Stankope

Dispatched.

The directors' standing orders required this for the ships' greater safety.

The letter was dated at Union Castle, James Valley, 7 January 1724, and signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

This was copied and sent home by the Stanhope.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Monday 13 January 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

This day the council met to dispatch the ship Stanhope.

The following petitions were presented.

Interpretations

The consultations were copied and carried home aboard the Stanhope, the council's record sent to the directors as the standing account of the island's business. Sending the letter to Captain Pitt home by the very ship it concerned tied the documentary record to the event, the directors receiving both the advice to delay for convoy and the council's minute of it in the same packet.

249

145

Janry.

The Petition of Thos. Greentree praying to

become Tenant to ye honoble Company for abt

an Acre of Land lying between the Plantatns.

of Mrs Threeve and Wm. Worrale in Sandy Bay

Ordered that Capt. Goodwin Doe view

the sd Land and report if the Letting the Same

wile be prejudiciale to any person.

The Petition of Elizin Carne & Richd -

Carne praying Liberty to goe off the Island

for England on board his Majestys Ship ye

Salisbury Man of Warr now lying in the

road.

Granted.

The Petition of James Rickman belonging

to ye sd. Ship Setting forth that he had that

Day married Helena Griffith belonging to

the Island & therefore prayed he might

goe off the Island with him in the sd Ship.

Granted.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island -

Margin Notes:

The Greentree

Petn. for an Acre of

Land in Sandy

Bay near Mrs

Worrale.

Same to be

Viewed.

Petn. of Eliz.

Carne & Richd

to goe off in ye

Salisbury

Petn. of James

Rickman for

leave for his

wifes passage

Granted.

Thomas Greentree petitioned to become tenant to the Honourable Company for about an acre of land lying between the plantations of Mrs Shreeve and William Worrall in Sandy Bay.

The council ordered Captain Goodwin to view the land and report whether letting it would harm any other person.

Elizabeth Carne and Richard Carne petitioned for leave to leave the island for England aboard His Majesty's ship the Salisbury man of war, now lying in the road.

The council granted the petition.

James Eckman, belonging to the Salisbury, petitioned, setting out that he had that day married Helena Griffith of the island, and asked to take her off the island with him in the first ship.

The council granted the petition.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island

Interpretations

The council's leave was needed before any inhabitant could depart, a control that kept useful settlers and debtors from quitting the island unchecked, here granted to the two Carnes and to the islander Helena Griffith on her marriage to a sailor of the Salisbury. Allowing a wife to follow her husband off the island turned on his ship, James Eckman seeking leave to carry her away in the first vessel rather than the man of war he served in, the council fixing her departure to a later passage.

250

146

Island St. Helena.

At a Consultation held on -

Tuesday the 14th. Day of Janry 1723. at Union

Castle Jn James Valley.

Jno Smith Esq Govr.

Dent Edwd Byfeld 2d

Jno Alexander 3d

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved on.

Yesterday Sayled his Majestys ship the

Salisbury and also the ship Stankope in

Company with her, she having promised to

take Care of her.

Ordered that the Court of Nisi Prius which was

to have been held on Monday last be held on

Monday next Wee having been busie in -

dispatching the ship Stankope.

Gunner French brot. in and Delivered an

Accot. of Gunners Stores expended for the Month

of December which was exaid & approved of.

and is as follows.

It being Muster day

4

4 - - 4 4

an Alarme

20

- 1

Delivered to Mr Crispe

20

- 1

Arrived the ship Stankope

21

13 - - 13 13

an Alarme for a Ship to Leeward

25

4 2 - 2 16

Expended for the Guards

- 10

21 2 - 19 53

Theophilus

Margin Notes:

Departure of

ye Salisbury &

Stankope.

Court day

Appointed.

Gunrs. Stores

Expended in

Decr.

Decr.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 14 January 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

The day before, His Majesty's ship the Salisbury sailed, the ship Stanhope going in company with her, the Salisbury having promised to look after her.

The council ordered the Court of Nisi Prius, which was to have been held on the Monday before, held on the following Monday, the council having been busy dispatching the ship Stanhope.

Gunner French brought in and delivered an account of the gunner's stores expended for the month of December, examined and approved as follows. The columns ran under the heads guns, demi-culverin, faulchers and [...] brought down.

4 December, being muster day, 4 guns, 4 faulchers, 4 brought down 20 December, an alarm, 1 brought down 20 December, delivered to Mr Crispe, [...] 21 December, the ship Stanhope arrived, 13 guns, 13 faulchers, 13 brought down 25 December, an alarm for a ship to leeward, 4 guns, 2 demi-culverin, 2 faulchers, 16 brought down expended for the guards, 10 brought down total, 21 guns, 2 demi-culverin, 19 faulchers, 53 brought down, signed Theophilus

Interpretations

The gunner's December account ran by the salutes and alarms of the month, the powder spent on each occasion entered against its date and carried into columns for the guns, the demi-culverin and the smaller faulchers. The salutes marked the calendar's set pieces and the comings of ships, the muster day of 4 December, the arrival of the Stanhope on 21 December answered with thirteen guns, and the alarm for a strange ship to leeward on 25 December, the powder for ceremony and warning kept apart from that issued for the ordinary guard.

The council put off the Court of Nisi Prius set for Samuel Taylor's claim on the Bagley estate, the work of dispatching the Stanhope having taken the days it would have sat. Holding the court over a week rather than abandoning it kept the suit alive while the council met the more pressing demand of getting the homeward ship away under the Salisbury's escort.

251

147

Janry.

Theophilus

Hand Spikes broken

14

Tompions

3

Flints

1

Copper Ladle & Do to Mr. Funge

2

Cartridge Paper for the guard

30

Do. Delivered Mr Crispe

9

Match

1

14 3 1 30 9 1 3

Capt Byfeld brought in and Delivered his Accot.

of the Honoble Companys live Stock and -

expences for the Month of December which was -

examined and approved of and is as follow.

Accot. of the Honble. Compys. Stock of Neat Cattle Sheep Goats Hoggs Poultry -

Asses & Horses, likewise what has been Killed & Sold to Ship Stankope, besides -

the Increase or Decrease for the Month of Decr. 1723. Vizt.

Neat Cattle Sheep Goats Hoggs Poultry Ass. Horses

Bullocks Cows Heifers Steers Yearling Calves Bulls Total Ewes Weathers Lambs Rams Totl. Ewes Weathers Kidds Rams Totl. Sows Shoats Boars Pig Totl. Turkey Fowls Geese Ducks Pege Asses Horses Mares Totl.

Remr. Ult: 9ber 61 52 27 17 3 58 8 226 37 12 18 3 70 151 36 27 8 222 8 8 2 17 35 61 120 30 17 - 8 4 2 6

Encreased in 10ber 5 6

61 52 27 17 3 58 8 226 37 12 18 3 70 151 36 27 8 222 8 8 2 17 36 61 120 30 17 - 8 4 2 6

Killed in Do 1 1 - 2 4 - 2 - 2 - - - - - 1 - 1 2 - 17 2 - - - - 8 4 2 6

60 52 26 17 3 58 6 222 37 10 18 3 68 151 36 27 8 222 8 7 2 21 38 61 103 28 17 - 8 4 2 6

Sold to Ship Stankope 2 1 - 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8 4 2 6

58 61 26 17 3 58 6 219 37 10 18 3 68 151 36 27 8 222 8 7 2 21 38 61 103 28 17 - 8 4 2 6

Dead in Decr. 3 2 - 1 - 3 - 9 - - - - - - 11 - 4 6 13 - 3 11 - - -

Remr. ult: 10ber 55 49 26 16 3 56 6 210 37 10 18 3 68 151 36 27 8 222 7 6 2 17 32 48 - 2516 7 4 2 6

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwing

Margin Notes:

Capt Byfelds Accot.

of ye Stock & Live

Stock &c. for Decr.

Janry.

1723. Vol. 7

The page carries two accounts: the close of the gunner's December stores account, and the Company's live-stock account for December. The upright view in image 3 lets me read both grids together.

The gunner's December stores account continued, the columns running under the heads guns, demi-culverin, faulchers, [...] and [...] brought down:

sheepskins, [...] hand spikes broken, [...] tompions, [...] flints, [...] copper ladle delivered to Mr Funge, [...] cartridge paper for the guard, 2 quires cartridge paper delivered to Mr Crispe, 1 quire match, 14 pounds total, 14 pounds of match, 3 [...], 1 [...], 30 flints, 9 [...], 1 [...], 3 [...]

Captain Byfield brought in and delivered an account of the Honourable Company's live stock and the expense for the month of December, examined and approved as follows. The account set out the Company's stock of neat cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, asses and horses, together with what had been killed and sold to the ship Stanhope, besides the increase or decrease for the month of December.

The column headings ran under the same classes as before. Neat cattle were counted as bullocks, cows, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves, bulls and total. Sheep were counted as ewes, wethers, lambs, rams and total. Goats were counted as ewes, wethers, kids, rams and total. Hogs were counted as sows, shoats, boars, pigs and total. Poultry were counted as turkeys, fowls and ducks, with asses and horses following.

From the last account of November: neat cattle: 61 bullocks, 52 cows, 27 heifers, 17 steers, 3 yearlings, 58 [...], 8 bulls, total 226 sheep: 37 ewes, 12 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 70 goats: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222 hogs: 8 sows, 8 shoats, 2 boars, 17 pigs, total 35 poultry: 61 turkeys, 120 fowls, 30 ducks, 17 [...] asses 8, horses 4, total 2 6

Increased in December: poultry: 5 in the [...] column, 6 in the [...] column

Standing total after the increase: neat cattle: 61 bullocks, 52 cows, 27 heifers, 17 steers, 3 yearlings, 58 [...], 8 bulls, total 226 sheep: 37 ewes, 12 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 70 goats: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222 hogs: 8 sows, 8 shoats, 2 boars, 17 pigs, total 35 poultry: 61 turkeys, 120 fowls, 30 ducks, 17 [...] asses 8, horses 4, total 2 6

Killed in December: neat cattle: 1 bullock, 1 cow, 2 steers, 4 [...], 2 [...], total 2 [...] hogs: 1 sow, 1 boar, 7 [...]

Standing total after the killed: neat cattle: 60 bullocks, 52 cows, 26 heifers, 17 steers, 3 yearlings, 58 [...], total 222 goats: 37 ewes, 10 wethers, 18 kids, 3 rams, 68 [...], 151 [...], 36 [...], 27 rams, total 222 hogs: 8 sows, 7 shoats, 2 boars, 21 pigs, total 38 poultry: 61 turkeys, 103 fowls, 28 ducks, 17 [...] asses 8, horses 4, total 2 6

Sold to the ship Stanhope: neat cattle: 2 bullocks, 1 cow, 3 [...] hogs: 3 [...]

Standing total after the sale: neat cattle: 58 bullocks, 61 cows, 26 heifers, 17 steers, 3 yearlings, 58 [...], total 219 goats: 37 ewes, 10 wethers, 18 kids, 3 rams, 68 [...], 151 [...], 36 [...], 27 rams, total 222 hogs: 8 sows, 7 shoats, 2 boars, 21 pigs, total 38 poultry: 61 turkeys, 103 fowls, 28 ducks, 17 [...] asses 8, horses 4, total 2 6

Dead in December: neat cattle: 3 bullocks, 2 cows, 1 steer, 3 calves, 9 [...] hogs: 11 [...], 4 [...], 6 [...], 13 [...], 3 [...], 11 [...]

From the last account of December: neat cattle: 55 bullocks, 49 cows, 26 heifers, 16 steers, 3 yearlings, 66 [...], total 210 sheep: 37 ewes, 10 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 68 goats: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222 hogs: 7 sows, 6 shoats, 2 boars, 17 pigs, total 32 poultry: 39 turkeys, 48 fowls, 25 ducks, 16 [...] asses 7, horses 4, total 2 6

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

Tompions were the wooden plugs driven into a gun's muzzle to keep out spray and damp, and hand spikes the stout levers used to shift and lay the heavy pieces, both counted among the gunner's stores worn or broken in the month's service. The copper ladle delivered to Mr Funge was the long-handled scoop used to load loose powder into a gun, the gunner's stores account tracking each such implement issued from the magazine alongside the powder, flints and match.

The live-stock account ran as a running balance through December, opening with the November stock, adding the month's increase, then subtracting in turn the beasts killed for the table, those sold to the Stanhope and those dead of natural causes, each loss kept in its own row. Separating the cattle sold to the homeward ship from those killed for the island let the council show how much of the herd's decline came from provisioning the Stanhope against ordinary slaughter and death, the bullocks falling from 61 to 55 across the month as the drought-thinned stock met both the table and the shipping.

252

148

Island St. Helena

At a Sessions held for this Island on

Monday the 20th Day of January 1723 at the

Sessions House in James Valley near Union Castle

Present

John Smith Esqr. Governr.

Edward Byfeld 2d

John Alexander 3d

John Goodwin 4th in Counc.

Then the Court was opend according to the Usual

Manner & those Persons appointed for Jurors are

as follow

Gabriell Powell Foreman. 1

Jonathan Doveton 2

Thomas Free 3

Francis Wrangham 4

Isaac Wood 5

John French 6

William Beale 7

Richard Beale 8

Joseph Bates 9

John Twaite 10

John Worrall 11

William Worrall 12

Who were all Sworn

Then the following Declaration was read

To the Worshipfull John Smith Esqr.

& Council of the Said Island

The humble Complaint & Declaration of

Samuel Taylor most humbly Sheweth forth

Sheweth

That Edward Bagley formerly of this

Island Planter deceased, did in by his Last Will &

Testament bearing date the 21th Day of April 1706

give & bequeath among other Legacies Unto his two

Margin Notes:

Declaration

of

Sam. Taylor

Island of St Helena.

At a court of sessions held for this island on Monday 20 January 1724 at the Sessions House in James Valley near Union Castle, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth in council.

The court was then opened in the usual manner. The persons appointed for jurors were as follows:

1: Gabriel Powell, foreman 2: Jonathan Doveton 3: Thomas Free 4: Francis Wrangham 5: Isaac Wood 6: John French 7: William Beale 8: Richard Beale 9: Joseph Bates 10: John Thwaits 11: John Worrall 12: William Worrall

All of these were sworn.

The following declaration was then read.

Samuel Taylor made his complaint and declaration to Governor Smith and the council, setting out that Edward Bagley, formerly of this island, planter, deceased, had by his last will of 21 April 1706 given and bequeathed, among other legacies, to his two [...]

Interpretations

A court of sessions was the island's criminal and civil court, the Governor and council sitting as judges with a sworn jury of twelve principal inhabitants empanelled to try the causes brought before them. Samuel Taylor's claim came before this court as a formal declaration, the written statement of his case against the Bagley estate, the matter referred here for jury trial after the council put off the Court of Nisi Prius at the consultation of 14 January 1724.

A declaration was the opening pleading in a civil suit, the plaintiff's sworn account of the right he claimed and the wrong he complained of, setting out the facts the jury would weigh. Taylor rested his claim on the terms of Edward Bagley's will of 21 April 1706, the descent of the legacies under that will being the question the court had to settle through his wife's interest in the estate.

253

149

Janry.

Daughters Elizabeth Bagley & Sarah Bagley

29 Acres of Freehold Land to be equally divided between

them after their Mothers Decease but with this Exception

that in Case she the Widdow of the Said Edward Bagley

Should Marry, then the One half of all the Land now

to be lett forth to the Use of his the Said Edward Bagleys

Children. Now forasmuch as the aboovenamed Eliz: Bagley

hath Some years Since been dead, & Your Complainant

haveing intermaried to Sarah Bagley the Surviving

Sister he most humbly Moves & Pray in right of his

Wife that Judgement may be given by Your Worship

& Council together with the Gentlemen of the Jury,

whether the Deceased Elizabeth Bagleys Part of the Said

herein Mentiond 29 Acres of Land does not belong &

Descend to Your Said Complainants Wife Sarah.

And Whereas Your Said Complainants Mother

in Law Mrs Sarah Southen (who has all the Said Lands

in her Possession) haveing Some years Since been

Married to one Thomas Southen Died: humbly conceives

the one half of the Said twenty Nine Acres of Land

ought to have been let according to the express Words

and Appointment in the Said Edward Bagleys Will

before recited for the Use of his Surviving Children

of which there being but one Son (besides Your Com

plainants Wife) who is now of full Age Your Said

Complainant doth farther Pray the Court will be

Pleased to determine what Part or Share of the

Lands aforesaid does by Law belong to him by Right

of his Said Wife, for that the Same is detained by &

kept in the Possession of the Said Sarah Southen

who Your Said Complainant humbly Conceives hath

no right so to do, but Submit the whole Determi-

nation to Your Worship & Council, together with ye

Gentlemen of the Juries Mature & Prudent

Considerations as You in Your accustomed Justice

Shall think most fit & Meet

And as in Duty bound shall ever

Pray &ca

Saml. Taylor

January 20th:

1723

To

Margin Notes:

against

Sarah Southen

to Defend.

Edward Bagley had bequeathed to his two daughters Elizabeth Bagley and Sarah Bagley twenty-nine acres of freehold land, to be divided equally between them after their mother's death, with the proviso that if his widow remarried, one half of all the land was to be set apart for the use of his children.

Samuel Taylor set out that Elizabeth Bagley had now been dead some years, and that he had since married Sarah Bagley, the surviving sister. He asked the Governor, the council and the jury to determine whether the deceased Elizabeth Bagley's share of the twenty-nine acres did not now belong and descend to his wife Sarah.

He set out further that his mother-in-law Sarah Southen, who held all the land, had some years before married Thomas Southen, by which marriage, he held, one half of the twenty-nine acres ought to have been set apart for Edward Bagley's surviving children under the proviso in the will. There being only one son besides his own wife, both of full age, Taylor asked the court to determine what part or share of the land belonged to him in his wife's right, the land being detained by Sarah Southen, who he held had no right to keep it.

He submitted the whole matter to the Governor, council and jury to determine as they thought fit.

The declaration was dated 20 January 1724 and signed by Samuel Taylor.

Interpretations

The descent of the land turned on two events in Edward Bagley's will, the death of one daughter and the remarriage of the widow, each shifting a share. Elizabeth Bagley's death passed her portion to her surviving sister Sarah, Taylor's wife, while the widow Sarah Southen's remarriage to Thomas Southen triggered the proviso setting half the land apart for the children, so that the question before the court was how much of the twenty-nine acres now belonged to Taylor in his wife's right against the widow who still held it all.

A claim in a wife's right reflected the law of the time, by which a husband took control of the land his wife inherited, so Samuel Taylor sued for Sarah Bagley's share in his own name. The contest set the surviving children's entitlement under the will against the widow's continued possession, Taylor asking the court to divide the estate between the two heirs of full age and prise the land from a stepmother he argued held it without right.

254

150

Island St. Helena

To which the Defendt. made the -

following reply.

To the Worshipfull John Smith Esqr.

Governr. & Councile of yd sd Island.

The Answer of Sarah Southen Widdow to the

Complaint & Declaration of Samuel Taylor

The Said Sarah Southen admitteth the

Will of Edward Bagley deceased & insists that thereby

She is intitled to keep the Conversion of

the 29 Acres of Land therein bequeathed to her for her

Life She haveing been in the Possession thereof from

the Said Edward Bagleys Death to this time -

notwithstanding her Mariage with Thos. Southen

The Validity of which Mariage to impeach her -

Title to one half of the Said 29 Acres of Land

She humbly Submits to the Judgement of Your

Worship & Gentlemen of Council & Gentlemen of

the Jury, the Said Thomas Southen having a lawfull

Wife living, upon full Proof of which before the Governme.

She was parted from the Said Thos. Southen.

Then the last Will & Testament of Edward

Bagley her former husband after which

Richard Gurling Planter was Sworne

who Deposeth that at the request of his Brother in

Law the deceased Edward Bagley he made the Said

Will & that it was every Article & Bequest therein

according to his own Dictating, & while the Will was

writing he the Said Bagley made Mention & Said that

the reason why he gave all his Lands to his two Daughters

was because his Son could Shift much better than his

Girles could

The Foreman of the Jury then desired to be

Informed whether by Law the Said Edward Bagleys

Son now Living had any Right to any Sort of the

Lands given to his Daughters in Case of the Death of

any one of them before Age or Mariage

To which the Judge gave his Opinion that

by the Express Words of the Deceased Edward Bagleys Last

Will & Testament now read in Court the whole Quantity

of Lands therein bequeathed was given Solely to his two

Daughters after their Mothers Dowress, & that as one of the

Margin Notes:

Reply of

the Defendt.

Ed. Bagleys

Will read.

Rd. Gurlings

Deposition.

Island of St Helena.

To Taylor's declaration the defendant made the following reply, addressed to Governor John Smith and the council of the island.

Sarah Southen, widow, answered the complaint and declaration of Samuel Taylor. She accepted Edward Bagley's will and argued that by it she was entitled to keep the use of the twenty-nine acres for her life, having held the land from Edward Bagley's death to the present, despite her marriage to Thomas Southen. As to whether that marriage damaged her title to one half of the twenty-nine acres, she submitted the question to the Governor, the council and the jury, Thomas Southen having had a lawful wife living, on full proof of which before the Governor she had been parted from him.

Edward Bagley's will was then read by her former husband.

Richard Gurling, planter, was then sworn. He testified that he had made the will at the request of his brother-in-law the deceased Edward Bagley, and that every article and bequest in it was according to Bagley's own dictation. While the will was being written, Bagley had said the reason he gave all his land to his two daughters was that his son could shift much better than his girls could.

The foreman of the jury then asked to be told whether by law Edward Bagley's son, now living, had any right to any of the land given to his daughters if any of them died before coming of age or marrying.

The judge gave his opinion that, by the express words of Edward Bagley's will now read in court, the whole of the land bequeathed was given solely to his two daughters after their mother's widowhood, and that if one of the [...]

Interpretations

The widow's defence rested on a separation, not a divorce, the discovery that Thomas Southen already had a living wife rendering their marriage void and so, she argued, sparing her title to the land. Submitting the validity of the marriage to the court let her meet the very point on which Taylor's claim depended, since the proviso setting half the land apart for the children was triggered by the widow's remarriage, and a void marriage worked no such forfeiture.

The testimony of the man who drew the will gave the court the maker's own reasoning, Richard Gurling recalling that Bagley left all his land to his daughters because his son could fend for himself. Calling the scrivener as a witness let the court read the will's intention from the words of the man who set them down, the foreman pressing him on whether the son retained any claim should a daughter die young, so that the bench could fix the descent the testator meant.

255

151

Janry.

the Daughters died under Age the Part or Share of the

Land Bequeathed to her did fall to & Descend to the -

Surviving Sister & of which Moity the Widdow of

the deceased Edward Bagley (now Southen) was &

ought to have been divested upon her Intermarrying

with Thomas Southen her 2d. Husband for the Uses

Set forth in the Complainants Declaration & Will of

the Said Edward Bagley (corroborated by the Evidence

of Richard Gurling & what is Consonant to the Honble

Companys Instructions relating to the Disposal of

Real Estates) which was now Publickly read & in

Pursuance thereto hath been & is observed by the Inhabis

as a Law & Custome of this Island.

Then the Jury withdrew & Stayed about half

an hour, returnd & Delivord their verdict, That they

found for the Plaintiffe

Then Sarah Southen was called for & the

the Governours Report enterd in Consultation the 7

of September last relating to her ill Behaviour was

read, after which the Judge told her that Since she

had Sent a Mesage to him by Captain Alexander

to asure him she was willing to beg Pardon both of

him & the Gentlemen of the Councile & behave herself

Respectfully for the future. he was willing to Use

her tenderly & stoped a wedding against her provided

She would make good what She had Said & beg Pardon

upon her Knees in Court. but She retracted what

She had Said, & insisted the Matter with which she

was Charged Should be Proved Upon which the

following Inditement against her was read

Island St. Helena

Sarah Southen

You Stand indicted by the Name of Sarah Southen

of this Island Widdow for a Misdemeanour for that you

the Said Sarah Southen out of a vexatious & Turbulent

Temper & evill design to raise & Sow Strife and

Discord between the Worshipfull John Smith Esq.

Governour of this Island & the three Gentlemen of

his Councill, did on or about the Months of August or

September

Margin Notes:

Jury found for

the Plaintiffe

Then

Sarah Southen

was called -

& ye Govr. Report

read.

She insisting on

Proofs

Her Indictmt.

was if. read.

The judge gave his opinion that if one of the daughters died under age, her part of the land fell to and descended to the surviving sister. He held further that on the widow Sarah Southen's marriage to Thomas Southen, her second husband, one half of the land ought to have been divided off for the children, as set out in Taylor's declaration and in Edward Bagley's will. This was confirmed by Richard Gurling's evidence and agreed with the Company's instructions on the disposal of real estate, which had now been publicly read and which the inhabitants observed as a law and custom of the island.

The jury then withdrew. After about half an hour they returned and delivered their verdict, finding for the plaintiff.

Sarah Southen was then called. The Governor's report, entered in the consultation of 7 September last on her ill behaviour, was read. The judge told her that since then she had sent a message to him by Captain Alexander to say she was willing to ask pardon both of him and of the council, to behave respectfully in future, to use her tenant kindly and to stop the wedding against her tenant, and that she would make good in court what she had said and asked. She now retracted what she had said and insisted that the matter she was charged with should be proved. The following indictment against her was then read.

Island of St Helena.

Sarah Southen, you stand indicted by the name of Sarah Southen of this island, widow, for a misdemeanour, namely that you, being of a vexatious and turbulent temper and meaning to raise and sow strife and discord between Governor John Smith and the three gentlemen of his council, did on or about the month of August or [...]

Interpretations

The judge's ruling settled the descent of the estate on two grounds before the jury retired, the death of a daughter under age passing her share to the survivor, and the widow's remarriage dividing off the children's half. Resting the decision on the Company's own instructions for the disposal of real estate, publicly read and kept as a custom of the island, gave the local rule the force of settled law, so the jury found for Taylor on a point already fixed by the bench.

The indictment turned Sarah Southen's retraction into a criminal charge, her withdrawal of the promised submission reviving the misdemeanour of sowing discord between the Governor and council. Charging her formally only after she went back on her message, rather than acting on the earlier report of 7 September 1723, let the court hold the prosecution in reserve as the price of her defiance, the indictment read against her the moment she insisted the matter be proved.

256

152

September last past, in a certain House or Houses

in James Valley Down on the Said Island, by Words uttered

& did Maliciously, Contemptuously & Seditiously utter

& openly Say, that there were therein Councile besides

the Governour who would hold together & be too many

for him, besides Several other Disrespectfull & reproach-

full Words, by further Saying that Mrs. Byfeld was

then gone up into the Country in a very good time to

take Possession of the Plantation House in Order to

keep the Governour thereout, & that Possession was Eleven

Points of the Law, & that She the Said Mrs. Byfeld was

to be Commended for doing so, or Words to this Effect

thereby Insinuating & Endeavouring not only to

lessen the Said Worshipfull Governour Smiths autho-

rity, & Power the Honble Company have thought fit

to invest him with, but to Stirrup & Create Feuds

Divisions & Animosities between the Said Governour

Smith & the three Gentlemen of his Councile, as well as

intending thereby to Alienate the Affections of the -

good People of this Island from the Worshipfull the

Governour, & has a tendency to Disturb the Peace &

Subvert the Just Government thereof, & imply with

any forced Construction that the Governr. & Councile

were Divided & Determind without any Regard to

the Duty they all owe the Said Honble Company, to

Sacrifice their Interest, which Reflecting, Bilifying

and Seditious Words are Contrary to the Peace of Our

Soveraign Lord the King George, his Crown and

Dignity, & is in high Contempt & Violation of

the wholesome Laws & Ordinances of this Island

made by the Honble Lords Proprietors for the Just

& good Government thereof

Then Mr. Cowell was called & Sworne who

Deposeth that on Mutterday Mrs Southen came by her

after Sitting awhile they was talking of the Governour

& Ladies, She asked her if She knew, when the Governr.

went into the Country, this Mrs Southen answerd no, but

Capt. Byfeld had heard Something of his going & was

gone up first to take Possession, now She either Said

for it was his Fright or he was in the Right, & Said then

would be too many for him

After which the Judge Set forth

Margin Notes:

Mr. Powell

Deposition.

The indictment continued, charging that in September last, in a certain house in James Valley Town on the island, Sarah Southen had maliciously and openly spoken in a contemptuous and seditious manner, saying that three of the council besides the Governor would hold together and be too many for him, with several other disrespectful and reproachful words. She had said further that Mr Byfield had then gone up into the country at a very good time to take possession of the plantation house in order to keep the Governor out, that such possession was a point of the law, and that Mr Byfield should be commended for doing so, or words to that effect.

The indictment held that she had thereby tried not only to lessen the authority and power the Honourable Company had thought fit to invest in Governor Smith, but to stir up feuds, divisions and animosities between the Governor and the three gentlemen of his council. It charged that she meant to turn the people of the island against the Governor, that her words tended to disturb the peace and overthrow the lawful government, and that they implied the Governor and council were divided and acted with no regard to their duty to the Company, betraying its interest. Such reflecting, vilifying and seditious words were against the peace of the King, his crown and dignity, and in high contempt of the laws and ordinances made by the Lords Proprietors for the good government of the island.

Mr Powell was then called and sworn. He testified that on Tuesday Mrs Southen came to him, and after sitting a while as they talked of the Governor and council, she asked if he knew when the Governor went into the country. He answered no, and she said that Captain Byfield had heard something of his going and had gone up first to take possession. She then either said it was his right or that he was in the right, and said that three would be too many for him.

The judge then set out [...]

Interpretations

The seditious words turned on a claim about possession, Sarah Southen suggesting that Byfield had gone up to occupy the plantation house ahead of the Governor and that holding it gave him a point of law in his favour. The charge read this as an attempt to set the second councillor against the Governor by hinting that physical possession of the Company's chief house carried legal weight, the indictment treating talk that the council would prove too many for the Governor as a design to split the government.

Framing the offence as against the King's peace as well as the Lords Proprietors' ordinances gave a small island quarrel the dress of a crime against the crown, the indictment reaching past the local government to the royal authority behind it. Charging her words as seditious rather than merely abusive let the court treat private gossip about a rift between Governor and council as a threat to the lawful government itself, the gravity of the charge matching the council's concern to suppress any report of its own division.

257

153

Janry.

to the Jury the Dangerous Consequence that might

Ensue by Such a Womans Tongue as Mrs Southens if

was not Chequed & Curbed in time, with Something

more which he thought Proper to mention upon this

Head

Then the Jury withdrew & Stayed almost

half an hour, then returned & delivered their verdict

That they found the Said Sarah Southen

Guilty of Speaking Disrespectfull

Words of the Governour, but not of the whole Inditement

Whereupon Ordered by the Court, That

the Said Sarah Southen be fined the Sum of Five

Pound to the Use of the Poor

of the Said Island & that She Enter

into a Recognizance of Fifty Pound & find

Sufficient Sureties to be of good Behaviour for a

Twelve Month.

Just before the Adjournment of the Court

Mr Gabriele Powell Foreman of the Jury did at their

Desire & in behalf of himself & Them & the Rest of

the Inhabitants of this Island Represent & Complain

to the Judge & Court that William Southead a Cleck in

the Companies Brewe had Slandered & Scandalized

their Wives & Daughters by affirming that there -

was not an honest Woman born upon the Island, &

the Said William Southead making no Defence to

the Said Charge the Judge in doing Justice to the

Inhabitants dismist him the Companies Brewe

The Judge then returned the Jury thanks -

for their Service & the Sessions was adjourned as Usuall

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwing

Margin Notes:

Jurys Verdict

Sarah Southen

fined 5 Pound

to her good beha-

viour for 12 Mo.

The foremans

Information agt.

Wille. Coulthead

Wille. Coulthead

dismist ye

Co. Brewe

The judge set out to the jury the danger that might follow if a woman's tongue like Sarah Southen's was not checked and curbed in time, with something more he thought proper to add on that point.

The jury then withdrew. After almost half an hour they returned and delivered their verdict, finding Sarah Southen guilty of speaking disrespectful words of the Governor, but not of the whole indictment.

The court ordered Sarah Southen fined £5 0s 0d to the use of the poor of the island, and ordered her to enter into a recognizance of £50 0s 0d and find sufficient sureties to be of good behaviour for twelve months.

Just before the court adjourned, Gabriel Powell, foreman of the jury, for himself and the rest of the inhabitants, complained to the judge and court that William Coulthred, the Company's brewer, had slandered their wives and daughters by saying there was not an honest woman born on the island. William Coulthred made no defence, and the judge, doing justice to the inhabitants, dismissed him from the Company's brewery.

The judge then thanked the jury for their service, and the court was adjourned in the usual way.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

A recognizance was a binding undertaking entered on the record, a sum the party forfeited if she broke the condition, here £50 0s 0d pledged with sureties for Sarah Southen's good behaviour over a year. Pairing the fine to the poor with the bond for future conduct let the court both punish the words spoken and hold a financial check over her, the threat of the forfeited sum standing as a guard against any fresh offence.

The jury's partial verdict marked the limit of what the evidence carried, convicting her of disrespect to the Governor but acquitting her of the wider charge of sedition the indictment had pressed. Returning the lesser finding rather than the whole let the court punish her plainly proven insolence while declining the graver count, the gap between the indictment and the verdict showing the jury would not treat private gossip about a rift as a design against the government.

258

154

Island St. Helena

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 21st.

day of January 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley

Present

John Smith Esqr. Governr.

Edward Byfeld 2d

John Alexander 3d &

John Goodwin 4th in Counc.

The last Consultation & Proceedings at Sessions

was read & approved of.

Mr James Ryder made Complaint that he Catcht

a Black Wench belonging to Mrs Marsh on Sunday

Night last Stealing of Yams in his Plantation

& that the Wench told him all their Blacks Stole Yams

except Her Mother & that he had lost at times Several

thousands

The Wench being brought down by Mr Ryder

yesterday was Imprisond till this Morning & being now

Examind Says the want of Yams at home is the reason

She & Some of the rest of her Mistress Blacks Stole

Yams which they have done Several times out of Mr

Ryders Plantation but her Mistress never knew any

thing of it

Mrs Marsh was Sent for in & Says She dont

know but the Blacks might Steale Yams contrary to

her knowledge & upon Complaint made to her by Mr

Ryder She has desired he would Punish any he Should

find Stealing his Yams, & that when She has Seen

any Yams boyling which was in a Pott that dont

hold above a Gallon & half. She has asked the Blacks

where they got 'em to which they used to answer of their

Friends & Country Men & had taken all the Care imaginable

to prevent their Stealing

Serjeant Dutch who lives in her House Says

he has often heard Mrs Marsh threaten her Blacks

if they Stole any thing.

Ordered That Mrs Marsh do make Mr

Ryder Setisfaction for the Yams her Wench Stole from

Margin Notes:

Mrs Marsh

Blk. Wench

Charged wt.

theft.

Wenches

Examination

Mrs Marsh

Allegations

Serjt. Dutch

Examd.

Mrs Marsh

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 21 January 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth in council.

The previous consultation and the proceedings at sessions were read and approved.

Mr James Ryder complained that he had caught a black woman belonging to Mrs Marsh on Sunday night last stealing yams in his plantation, and that the woman had told him all Mrs Marsh's slaves stole yams except her mother. He said he had lost several thousand yams at various times.

The woman, brought down by Mr Ryder the day before and imprisoned until this morning, was now examined. She said the want of yams at home was the reason she and some of the rest of her mistress's slaves had stolen her mistress's yams, which they had done several times out of Mr Ryder's plantation, but her mistress never knew anything of it.

Mrs Marsh was sent for. She said she did not know but that the slaves might steal yams without her knowledge, and that on Mr Ryder's complaint she had said she would punish any she found stealing his yams. She said that when she had seen them carrying yams in a basket holding no more than a gallon and a half she had asked the slaves where they got them, to which they used to answer from their friends and countrymen, and that she had taken all the care she could to prevent their stealing.

Sergeant Dutch, who lives in her house, said he had often heard Mrs Marsh threaten her slaves if they stole anything.

The council ordered Mrs Marsh to make Mr Ryder satisfaction for the yams her woman stole from [...]

Interpretations

The owner bore the loss caused by her slaves, the council ordering Mrs Marsh to make Ryder good for the yams her woman had taken, the law treating a master as answerable for a slave's theft. Resting that liability on the slave's confession, supported by the owner's own admission that she could not be sure of her slaves and by Sergeant Dutch's evidence that she had threatened them, the council fixed the debt on Mrs Marsh while accepting she had tried to prevent the stealing.

The slaves' thefts grew out of want, the woman confessing they took yams because there was not enough food at home, the drought that had stripped the island pressing on its slaves as on its planters. Hearing both the slave's account of hunger and the mistress's of her efforts to stop the pilfering let the council see the theft as a symptom of the general scarcity, the yams carried off in baskets of a gallon and a half marking petty survival rather than organised plunder.

259

155

Janry.

from him & that the rest of her Blacks be Punished

to Mr Ryders Satisfaction, which She has Promised

to do in his Presence & that the Wench be whipt at the

Flagstaffe with forty Lashes

The Petition of Joseph Bates & Wm Worrale

was presented, Setting forth, That Thomas Greentree

Planter had lately Petitioned for a Parcell of the Honble

Companies waft Land lying in Sandy Bay & next

adjoining to the Petitioners Land, that they humbly

conceive the Grant thereof will be not only Prejudiciall

to the Petr. but to all the Neighbourhood thereabout

& therefore humbly Prayed to be heard & admitted to

shew Such Objection to the Letting of the

Land aforesaid as will Demonstrate their Reasons

for so doing

Ordered That the Said Land be viewd

by Capt Goodwin with Mr Johnson & Mr Wrangham

and to make Report accordingly

The following Petition of Gabriel Powell

and the rest of the Jury was Presented

To the Worshipfull John Smith Esq.

Governour & ca Councile

The humble Remonstrance of Gabl. Powell

Planter in behalf of himself & the rest

of the Inhabitants of this Island against

William Coulthred

Sheweth That Yesterday at a Generall Quarter

Sessions held for this Island Your Complainant was

desired by the Gentlemen of the Jury he being their

Foreman, to Represent to Your Worship that Wm

Coulthred late a Clerk of Councile in the Companies Brewe

had in a very Publick & Scandalous Manner (& Provoked)

Slandered their Wives & Daughters by affirming in

the hearing of Several Persons that there was not an

honest Woman born upon the Island, That Your

Worship & ca Councile would Oblige the Said Wm Coulthd.

to make a Publick Recantation of those Scandalous

Expressions

Margin Notes:

to make Mr Ryder

Satisfaction

& ye wench to

be punished.

Petn. of Jos. Bates

Wm Worrale

agt. ye granting

Land to Thos

Greentree.

ye Land to be

Viewed.

Jurys Petition

against Wm

Coulthred.

A fresh opening recovers the close of the order on Mrs Marsh's slaves. The council ordered that the rest of her slaves be punished, and that the woman be whipped at the flagstaff with forty lashes, Mrs Marsh having promised to make Mr Ryder satisfaction in his presence.

Joseph Bates and William Worrall petitioned, setting out that Thomas Greentree, planter, had lately petitioned for a parcel of the Honourable Company's waste land lying in Sandy Bay next adjoining the land they had petitioned for. They held that granting it would harm not only themselves but all the neighbourhood, and asked to be heard and allowed to show their objections to letting the land before it was granted.

The council ordered the land viewed by Captain Goodwin, with Mr Johnson and Mr Wrangham, who were to make their report.

Gabriel Powell and the rest of the jury then presented the following petition to Governor John Smith and the council.

Gabriel Powell, planter, made his complaint for himself and the rest of the inhabitants of the island against William Coulthred. He set out that the day before, at a general quarter sessions held for the island, the gentlemen of the jury had asked him as their foreman to represent to the Governor that William Coulthred, late a clerk in the Company's brewery, had in a very public and scandalous manner slandered their wives and daughters by saying, in the hearing of several persons, that there was not an honest woman born on the island. He asked that the Governor and council oblige Coulthred to make a public recantation of those scandalous [...]

Interpretations

A general quarter sessions was the principal court held at fixed terms for the whole island, the Governor and council sitting as judges with the jury of inhabitants, before which Powell's complaint had first been raised the day before. Bringing the slander forward as a formal petition from the jury foreman turned a grievance voiced in court into a matter the council could act on, the inhabitants seeking a public recantation as redress for an insult cast on the honour of all their womenfolk.

The objection of Bates and Worrall shows the council's standing caution over letting waste land, the neighbours asking to be heard before Thomas Greentree's grant was made rather than after. Sending three viewers to report, rather than the usual single overseer, matched the parcel's position among several adjoining holdings in Sandy Bay, where letting it threatened the common interest of the whole neighbourhood.

260

156

Expressions or otherwise to Suffer Such Punishment

as Your Worship & Councile Shall in Justice think fitt

to inflict upon him

And Your Complainant & the Rest

of the Inhabitants Shall ever Pray

Signed

Gabriel Powell

John French

Isaac Wood

William Beale

Joshua Johnson

Joseph Bates

William Worrall

James Vosey

Francis Wrangham

John Worrall

Thomas Free

James Ryder

Samuel Taylor

Island St. Helena

21st. January 1723

Orderd That the Said Wm Coulthred have a

Copy of the Said Petition & that he be Summond to -

attend the Councile on Tuesday next

Capt Goodwin brought in & deliverd his Monthly

accomp.t of Goods & Stores Sold & deliverd out in

the Month of December last which was Examind &

is as follows

A Collection of Store Goods Sold & deliverd from

Novr. 26th a Decr. 25th exclusive 1723 vizt

Galls Arrack

46 4

46 18 8

Sugar

36 9 lb

6 9 6

153 18 2

Bread

7 3 lb

4 6

Flower

84 9 lb

10 12 9

10 17 3

Coffee Bohe Tea

2 9

8 4 -

Ditto

44 lb

13 4 -

Coffee Gieen Do

14

2 16 -

24 4 -

Cutt Tobacco

16 lb

1 12 -

Leaf ditto

7 8 lb

3 18 -

Pipes

37 9

1 16 7 1/2

Soap

7 5 13 lb

5 6 11 1/2

7 6 7 1/2

Starch

1 3 lb

9 9

Pepper

2 lb

6 18 - 1/2

£ 202 4 9

Margin Notes:

Mr Coulthred

to attend.

Store Goods

sold & deliv. out

in Decr.

The petitioners asked that Coulthred make a public recantation of his scandalous expressions, or else suffer whatever punishment the Governor and council thought fit to impose.

The petition was dated at St Helena, 21 January 1724, and signed by Gabriel Powell, John French, Isaac Wood, William Beale, Joshua Johnson, Joseph Bates, William Worrall, James Vesey, Francis Wrangham, John Worrall, Thomas Free, James Ryder and Samuel Taylor.

The council ordered William Coulthred given a copy of the petition and summoned to attend the council on the following Tuesday.

Captain Goodwin brought in and delivered his monthly account of goods and stores sold and delivered for the month of December, examined as follows. The account ran as a collection of store goods sold and delivered from 26 November to 25 December 1723 exclusive.

464 gallons of arrack, £146 18s 8d

36 9 pounds of sugar, £6 9s 6d

7 8 pounds of bread, £0 4s 6d

total of the foregoing, £153 18s 2d

84 9 pounds of flour, £10 19s 9d

2 9 pounds of Bohea tea, £8 4s 0d

4 4 pounds of green tea, £13 4s 0d

14 pounds of green tea, £2 16s 0d

total tea, £10 17s 3d

16 9 pounds of cut tobacco, £1 12s 0d

7 8 pounds of leaf tobacco, £3 18s 0d

total tobacco, £24 4s 0d

8 79 pipes, £1 16s 7½d

7 5 13 pounds of soap, £5 6s 11½d

13 pounds of starch, £0 9s 9d

2 pounds of pepper, £7 6s 7½d

[...], £6 18s [...]

total, £702 4s 9d

Interpretations

The store account ran by an exclusive accounting period, the goods reckoned from 26 November to 25 December 1723, the close of one quarter-month to the next so each month's sales fell cleanly into a single return. Arrack again dominated the reckoning at nearly £147, the spirit the largest charge in almost every monthly account, sold to the inhabitants, the garrison and the plantation through the storekeeper's books.

Captain Goodwin held the storekeeper's office and brought in these monthly accounts in turn, each examined and approved by the council before the next was entered. The running of the inhabitants' supply through a single accountable store let the council watch both the island's consumption and its own stock, the figures read against the inventory as part of the regular monthly settlement.

261

157

Janry.

Brought Over 202 4 9

Bottles Florence Oyle

4

1 10 -

Quarts Sweet Oyle

3

6 6 3/4

Gals Rape Oyle

9 1/4

2 15 6

ditto Linseed Oyle

1 1/4

2 -

4 14 - 3/4

Peice Blew Gurhass

1

12 6

White Devetees

6

3 - -

ditto Gurhass

1

9 6

4 2 -

Ordinary Long Cloth

3

3 - -

Fine ditto

3 1/2

7 7 -

10 7 -

Gallon Sweet Oyle

1 1/4

12 7

Chelloe Shirts

2

3 3 -

White Ditto

21

2 12 6

Pair Cotton Stocking

17

2 12 6

7 18 -

Peices Surat Chints

2

18 -

Carpet

1

6 9

Peices Chelloe

5 1/2

3 14 3

Cattees

6

6 2 6

Galls Vinegar

6 1/8

1 4 6

11 4 6

Bunolls Lamb Black

9

4 6

Bunoll Pitch

1 1/2

14 -

ditto

6 lb

2 -

Crow

84 9 lb

17 2 8 1/4

18 3 2 1/4

Peice Fustian No 5

1 1/2

18 3

ditto

1 1/2

12 3

Yds Padded Dimothy

4 1/2

7 6

Yard Broad Cloth

1 1/2

11 1 1/2

1 18 -

Yard ditto

1 1/4

6 3 3/4

Peice Black & White Crape

1 1/2

1 13 6

16 5 1/4

Yds Norwich Stuff

11

15 1 1/2

Yards Durance

6 1/2

9 -

ditto Shelloon

2

14 -

Yards Kersey

10

18 4

Co. Bengall Taffety

1 1/4

16 -

Shoe Thread

2 lb

5 -

Twine

11 1/2

3 10

Skains ditto

14

7 -

4 15 11 1/2

Doz. Hooks Sorted

47 1/2

1 - 9

1 15 10

Lined ditto

15

13 -

1 13 9

Tin Ware vizt

Pudding Pan

1

3 -

ditto

1

2 10

Coffee Botts

2

2 6

8 4

Brought over, £702 4s 9d

4 bottles of Florence oil, £1 10s 0d

3 quarts of sweet oil, £0 6s 6¾d

9 1/4 gallons of rape oil, £2 15s 6d

1 1/4 gallons of linseed oil, £0 3s 9d

total oils, £4 14s 3¾d

1 piece of blue gurrahs, £0 12s 6d

6 white dosuttis, £3 0s 0d

1 of the same gurrahs, £0 9s 6d

total, £4 2s 0d

3 ordinary long cloth, £3 0s 0d

3 1/2 fine of the same, £7 7s 0d

total, £10 7s 0d

1/4 gallon of sweet oil, £0 12s 7d

21 chelloe shirts, £3 3s 0d

21 white of the same, £2 12s 6d

17 pair of cotton stockings, £2 12s 6d

total, £7 18s 0d

2 pieces of Surat chintz, £0 18s 0d

1 carpet, £0 6s 9d

5 1/2 pieces of chelloe, £3 14s 3d

6 callicoes, £6 2s 6d

6 1/2 gallons of vinegar, £1 4s 6d

total, £11 4s 6d

9 barrels of lamp black, £0 4s 6d

1/2 barrel of pitch, £0 14s 0d

6 pounds of the same, £0 2s 0d

84 9 pounds of rosin, £17 2s 8¼d

total, £18 3s 2¼d

1/2 piece of fustian, number 5, £0 18s 3d

1/2 of the same, number 2, £0 12s 3d

4 1/2 yards of padded dimothy, £0 7s 6d

1/2 yard of broad cloth, number [...], £0 11s 1½d

total, £1 18s 0d

1/4 yard of the same, £0 6s 3¾d

1/2 piece of black and white crape, £1 13s 6d

total, £0 16s 5¼d

11 yards of Norwich stuff, £0 15s 1½d

6 1/2 yards of durant, £0 14s 0d

2 of the same shalloon, £0 18s 4d

10 yards of kersey, £0 16s 0d

total, £4 15s 11½d

1/4 piece of Bengal taffeta, £2 8s 0d

2 pounds of shoe thread, £0 5s 0d

11 1/2 of twine, £1 3s 10d

14 skeins of the same, £0 7s 0d

4 7 1/2 dozen of hooks sorted, £1 0s 9d

15 lined of the same, £0 13s 0d

total, £1 13s 9d

Tin ware, viz.

1 pudding pan, £0 3s 0d

1 of the same, £0 2s 10d

2 coffee pots, £0 2s 6d

total, £0 8s 4d

Right. The code block holds the line breaks on its own, so the numbers were only ever a workaround. I'll drop them and put the bare account in a code block, with everything else as normal text.

Brought over, £702 4s 9d

4 bottles of Florence oil, £1 10s 0d

3 quarts of sweet oil, £0 6s 6¾d

9 1/4 gallons of rape oil, £2 15s 6d

1 1/4 gallons of linseed oil, £0 3s 9d

total oils, £4 14s 3¾d

1 piece of blue gurrahs, £0 12s 6d

6 white dosuttis, £3 0s 0d

1 of the same gurrahs, £0 9s 6d

total, £4 2s 0d

3 ordinary long cloth, £3 0s 0d

3 1/2 fine of the same, £7 7s 0d

total, £10 7s 0d

1/4 gallon of sweet oil, £0 12s 7d

21 chelloe shirts, £3 3s 0d

21 white of the same, £2 12s 6d

17 pair of cotton stockings, £2 12s 6d

total, £7 18s 0d

2 pieces of Surat chintz, £0 18s 0d

1 carpet, £0 6s 9d

5 1/2 pieces of chelloe, £3 14s 3d

6 callicoes, £6 2s 6d

6 1/2 gallons of vinegar, £1 4s 6d

total, £11 4s 6d

9 barrels of lamp black, £0 4s 6d

1/2 barrel of pitch, £0 14s 0d

6 pounds of the same, £0 2s 0d

84 9 pounds of rosin, £17 2s 8¼d

total, £18 3s 2¼d

1/2 piece of fustian, number 5, £0 18s 3d

1/2 of the same, number 2, £0 12s 3d

4 1/2 yards of padded dimothy, £0 7s 6d

1/2 yard of broad cloth, number [...], £0 11s 1½d

total, £1 18s 0d

1/4 yard of the same, £0 6s 3¾d

1/2 piece of black and white crape, £1 13s 6d

total, £0 16s 5¼d

11 yards of Norwich stuff, £0 15s 1½d

6 1/2 yards of durant, £0 14s 0d

2 of the same shalloon, £0 18s 4d

10 yards of kersey, £0 16s 0d

total, £4 15s 11½d

1/4 piece of Bengal taffeta, £2 8s 0d

2 pounds of shoe thread, £0 5s 0d

11 1/2 of twine, £1 3s 10d

14 skeins of the same, £0 7s 0d

4 7 1/2 dozen of hooks sorted, £1 0s 9d

15 lined of the same, £0 13s 0d

total, £1 13s 9d

Tin ware, viz.

1 pudding pan, £0 3s 0d

1 of the same, £0 2s 10d

2 coffee pots, £0 2s 6d

total, £0 8s 4d

Interpretations

Rape oil was pressed from rape seed and burned in lamps as a cheaper light than the finer oils, entered here with Florence oil, the olive oil shipped from Leghorn, and with linseed oil used chiefly with paint. The lamp black at the foot of the oils was the fine soot collected from burning oil or resin, used as a black pigment, while the rosin and pitch beside it were the hardened distillates of pine resin used for sealing, caulking and rough work.

The account ran the store goods together across many trades, the imported cloths, the India piece goods, the oils, the haberdashery and the tin ware all carried in one monthly reckoning under the storekeeper's hand. Grouping the goods by kind within the list, the oils together, the cloths together and the tin ware set apart, let the council read the month's sales class by class as the figures were checked against the stock.

That's how I'll set out every account from here: the tabulated lines in a code block, the consultation prose and Interpretations as normal text.

262

158

Brought over

Sauce Pan

1

1 2

two Quart Ditto

2

1 2

Tin Kettle

1

4 6

Pepper Boxes

2

3 10

Brass Ladle

1

2 2

9 6

Cuhes Paper

4

3 3

Crimew

1

6 4

5 5

6

5 10

China Ware vizt

China Bowles

9

1 2 6

Sez Pott

1

3 6

Cups & Saucers

12

6 -

Beakers

21

10 6

Large Cups

16

5 4

Small Ditto

24

4 -

2 11 10

Pewter Tankard

1

4 -

Yards Canvas

5

6 10

9 10

Iron Ware vizt

Cupboard Lock

1

1 10

ditto

3

8 -

ditto

3

5 3

Bit Do

1

4 4

Adze

1

3 8

ditto

3

7 6

Do

3

7 6

Saw

1

7 2

Sugar Shovels

2

5 -

Helve

1

1 -

Plate Lock

1

3 10

Frying Pan

1

4 2

ditto & Maule Weight 14 lb

1

7 1

Cupboard Locks No 5

4

10 10 1/2

Plate Locks

2

11 -

Whole Deale

1

2 3

4 10 10 1/2

Slitt ditto

2

5 6

7 9

Nailes vizt

2d Nailes

4

5 -

of 4d

18

15 -

of 6d

7

6 8

of 12d

10

6 8

of Tack

1

1 8

1 13 7

Shoes vizt

Pair Womens Calve Leath. Shoes

2

9 -

Do

1

3 6

Do

1

2 6

Do Womens Spanish Leather

4

1 3

1 18 -

This page is entirely a tabulated store account, so it sits in a single code block.

Brought over

1 sauce pan, £0 1s 2d

2 two-quart of the same, £0 1s 9d

1 tin kettle, £0 4s 6d

2 pepper boxes, £0 3s 10d

1 brass ladle, £0 2s 2d

4 quires of paper, £0 3s 3d

1 grimson, £0 6s 4d

total, £0 6s 6d

total, £0 5s 5d

total, £0 5s 10d

China ware, viz.

9 China bowls, £1 2s 6d

1 tea pot, £0 3s 6d

12 cups and saucers, £0 6s 0d

21 beakers, £0 10s 6d

16 large cups, £0 5s 4d

24 small of the same, £0 4s 0d

total, £2 11s 10d

1 pewter tankard, £0 4s 0d

5 yards of canvas, £0 6s 10d

total, £0 9s 10d

Ironware, viz.

1 cupboard lock, £0 1s 10d

3 of the same, £0 8s 0d

3 of the same, £0 5s 3d

1 bit axe, £0 4s 4d

1 adze, £0 3s 8d

3 of the same, £0 7s 6d

3 of the same, £0 7s 2d

1 saw, £0 5s 8d

2 sugar shovels, £0 5s 0d

1 sieve, £0 1s 0d

1 plate lock, £0 3s 10d

1 frying pan, £0 4s 2d

1 of the same, £0 7s 1d

1 iron maul, weight 14 pounds, £0 10s 10½d

4 cupboard locks, number 5, £0 11s 0d

2 plate locks, £0 3s 0d

1 whole deal, £0 2s 3d

2 split of the same, £0 5s 6d

total, £4 10s 10½d

total, £0 7s 9d

Nails, viz.

4 of 2 d nails, £0 0s 6d

18 of 4 d, £0 16s 0d

7 of 6 d, £0 6s 8d

10 of 12 d, £0 6s 8d

1 of jack, £0 1s 3d

total, £1 13s 7d

Shoes, viz.

2 pair of women's calf leather shoes, £0 9s 0d

1 pair of the same, £0 3s 6d

1 of the same, £0 2s 6d

4 of women's Spanish leather, £1 3s 0d

total, £1 18s 0d

Interpretations

The account closed the storekeeper's monthly reckoning with the harder goods, the kitchen and tin ware, the China ware, the ironware, the nails and the footwear each gathered under its own heading. Nails were sold by the penny size, the 2d, 4d, 6d and 12d marking the old measure by which a nail's length was named from the price per hundred, so that a higher number meant a longer, heavier nail.

Spanish leather was a fine tanned goatskin or sheepskin, softer and dearer than common calf leather, the women's Spanish-leather shoes priced well above the calf-leather pairs in the same list. Grouping the goods by material let the council read the month's sales of hardware and footwear apart from the cloth and provisions of the earlier pages, the whole checked against the store inventory before approval.

263

159

Janry.

Shoes vizt

Brought ovr

Boys Spanish Sr. Do

3

16 6

Pair Mens Shoes

7 9

20 16 6

Pair Womens Calve

1

4 6

21 17 6

Hosiers Ware

Pair Childs Stockings

1

1 7

Boys ditto

1

1 1

Girles ditto

1

1 4

Boy ditto No 14

2

5 6

ditto

3

4 7

ditto N. 16

1

3 6

ditto 17

1

2 2

Womens ditto

2

3 -

Soldiers ditto

4

6 -

Stock. No 13

4

12 -

Do. No 11

12

2 8

Do 12

1

4 2

Do 13

7

1 13 3

6 7 3

Worsted

3 lb

16 9

Cutlery Ware

Shoe Knives

4

3 -

Butchers ditto

1

6

3 6

Pair Sissers

2

1 -

Thimble

1

2

Ivory Combs

7

10 6

Do

1

2 -

13 8

Boys Hatts No 3

2

15 -

Haberdashery Ware

oz China Silk

12

12 -

Engd.

13 4

4 4 1/2

Inkles Pins a 1. 2

2 1/2

4 1/2

Mr.

5

6 8

Yds Ribbon a 3d

14

3 6

Do

1

6

Do

7 9

9

Do a 1. 10

14 12

1 7 1/2

Yds Ribbon

8

1 7 1/2

Ordinary Silk Lace

2

5 6

Do

3

10 -

best 4 yd Do

2

1 9

Yds Galloon

7

2 8

Do

3

7 1/2

Yd Tincetting

4 9

9

Coloured & Brown Thread

14 lb

18 4 1/2

Whited Brown Do No 1a

1 9 lb

16 -

6 7 1/2

6 3 4

Shoes, viz.

Brought over

3 boys' Spanish leather of the same, £0 16s 6d

7 pair of men's shoes, £20 16s 6d

1 pair of women's calf, £0 4s 6d

total, £21 17s 6d

Hosiery ware.

1 pair of children's stockings, £0 1s 7d

1 boys' of the same, £0 1s 1d

1 girls' of the same, £0 1s 4d

2 boys' of the same, number 14, £0 5s 0d

3 of the same, £0 4s 7d

1 of the same, number 16, £0 3s 6d

1 of the same, number 17, £0 2s 2d

2 of women's of the same, £0 3s 0d

4 soldiers' of the same, £0 6s 0d

4 stockings, number 13, £0 12s 0d

12 of the same, number 11, £0 2s 8d

1 of the same, number 12, £0 4s 2d

7 of the same, number 13, £1 13s 3d

total, £6 7s 2¾d

3 pounds of worsted, £0 18s 9d

Cutlery ware.

4 shoe knives, £0 3s 0d

1 butcher's of the same, £0 0s 6d

2 pair of scissors, £0 1s 0d

1 thimble, £0 0s 2d

1 ivory comb, £0 10s 6d

1 of the same, £0 2s 0d

total, £0 3s 6d

2 boys' hats, number 3, £0 13s 8d

total, £0 15s 0d

Haberdashery ware.

12 ounces of China silk, £0 12s 0d

13 1/4 of English, £0 4s 4½d

2 1/2 thousand pins at 1s 2d, £0 6s 8d

5 thousand of the same at 1s 4d, £0 3s 6d

14 yards of ribbon at 3d, £0 6s 0d

1 of the same, £0 6s 0d

7 1/2 yards of the same at 1s 10d, £1 7s 6d

8 yards of ribbon, £0 5s 6d

2 ordinary silk laces, £0 10s 0d

3 of the same, £0 1s 9d

2 best 4 yards of the same, £0 2s 8d

7 yards of galloon, £0 2s 7½d

3 of the same, £0 0s 9d

4 9 yards of filleting, £1 8s 4½d

14 pounds of coloured and brown thread, £0 16s 0d

1 9 pounds of white and brown of the same, number 1a, £0 6s 7½d

total, £6 3s 4d

Interpretations

Galloon was a narrow close-woven braid of silk, wool or metal thread used to trim and bind the edges of garments and hats, while filleting was a plain narrow tape used for ties and bindings, the two among the standing haberdashery lines sold by the yard. Worsted was smooth yarn spun from combed long-staple wool, used for knitting and fine cloth, entered here by weight at the close of the hosiery.

Pins were sold by the thousand at a price set by their size, the finer and more numerous fetching more by the thousand, the storekeeper entering each grade on its own line. Grouping the goods under the standing trade headings, hosiery, cutlery and haberdashery, let the council read the small wares class by class as the figures were checked against the store inventory.

264

160

Haberdashery

Brought over £

Whited Brown thread No 3

1 9 lb

3

ditto

1 9 lb

10 -

Nuns Thread a 1. 3

5 oz

6 3

oz Do

2

2 8

Peices Broad Holld. Sd. Do

4

4 3

Midling Do

6

5 4

Do

1

9

Red Carnation Do in Grain

1

6

Coursest Sope

1

1 -

Mens Gloves

1

1 6

Do

4

7 -

Do

2

4 -

Womens Do

2

3 -

Do

1

3 -

a Jump

1

1 10 6

Yards Gartering

9

2 3

Needles

3 oo

4 6

Gross Thread Buttons

1 9

2 -

Breast Do

5 1 9

2 9

Yards Putespring

8

2 4 -

Sum Totall to the Inhabitants

Diet Expences Dr

Gallons Arrack

317

100 9 3

Yds Vinegar

15 9 4

3 3

Bottles Florence Oyle

4

1 10 -

Pepper

4 lb

4 -

Bohea Tea

1 lb

6 -

Cask Beef

1

14 12 -

Ditto Bengall Pork

1

12 - -

132 4 3

Garrison Dr

Coffee Green Tea

11

2 4 -

Gallons Rape Oyle

7 1/2

2 5 -

Quart Sweet Oyle

1

3 -

4 12 -

Haberdashery

Brought over

1 1/2 pounds of white and brown thread, number 3, £0 0s 3d

1 1/2 of the same, £0 0s 3d

5 ounces of nuns' thread at 1s 8d, £0 10s 0d

2 ounces of the same, £0 6s 3d

3 of the same at 1s 4d, £0 2s 8d

4 pieces of broad Holland tape, number 5, £0 4s 3d

6 middling of the same, £0 5s 4d

1 of the same, £0 0s 2d

1 red carnation of the same in grain, £0 1s 6d

1 coarse tape, £0 1s 0d

1 pair of men's gloves, £0 1s 6d

4 of the same, £0 7s 4d

2 of the same, £0 2s 0d

2 women's of the same, £0 4s 0d

1 of the same, £0 3s 0d

1 pair of jumps, £1 10s 6d

9 yards of gartering, £0 2s 3d

3 dozen needles, £0 4s 6d

1 9 gross of thread buttons, £0 2s 0d

5 1/2 breast of the same, £0 2s 9d

8 yards of tape filleting, £0 2s 4d

Sum total to the inhabitants

Diet expenses, debtor.

317 gallons of arrack, £100 9s 3d

15 1/4 gallons of vinegar, £0 3s 3d

4 bottles of Florence oil, £1 10s 0d

4 pounds of pepper, £0 0s 4d

1 pound of Bohea tea, £0 0s 6d

1 cask of beef, £14 12s 0d

1 of the same, Bengal pork, £12 0s 0d

total, £132 4s 3d

Garrison, debtor.

11 pounds of green tea, £2 4s 0d

7 1/2 gallons of rape oil, £2 5s 0d

1 quart of sweet oil, £0 3s 0d

total, £4 12s 0d

Interpretations

Jumps were a soft unboned or lightly boned bodice worn by women in place of stiff stays, for comfort or in pregnancy, the single pair here the dearest item in the haberdashery at £1 10s 6d. Nuns' thread was a fine smooth linen sewing thread, sold by the ounce against the coarser coloured and brown threads, while gartering was the narrow woven band used to tie up stockings at the knee.

The account turned from the inhabitants' sales to the Company's own diet expenses, the arrack, beef, pork and oils consumed at its charge entered as a separate debtor, and then to the garrison's own small reckoning. Dividing the month's issue into the inhabitants', the diet and the garrison accounts let the council charge each body apart, so the cost of the Company's table and of supplying its soldiers could be read off against the goods sold to the island at large.

265

161

Janry.

Plantation Dr

Brought ov

Galls Rape Oyle

1 1/4

7 6

lb Tacks

1

1 8

Squares Glass 10 x 14

10 6

7 19 -

lb Whiting

5 6

18 -

Wating Pott

1

8 4

Barrells Lamb Black

6

3 -

Skain Cotton Yarn

1

10 1/2

9 18 4

Fortification Dr

lb 4d Nailes

7

5 10

lb 6d Do

6

4 -

lb 8d Do

4

6 -

Barrells Lamb Black

9

4 6

Peces Crop Garrets

1

3 8

Lines N. 10

2

2 8

1 6 8

Great Wood Dr

Lines N. 9

1

1 -

Iron Maules No 5 1 lb

3

1 18 3

1 19 3

Honble Comp: Blacks Dr

Casks Beef

2

39 4 -

1/2 doz Hooks Sorted

2

14 5 1/2

Lines No 3

45

1 2 6

Coffee Bohea Tea

1

6 -

Peice Blew Gurhass

1

12 6

Midling Blanket

1

9 6

Twine

1 lb

2 2

oz China Silk

1/4

3

White Shirt

1

2 6

Chelloe Do

2

6 -

Pair Island Shoes

1

4 -

English Do

2

11 6

33 15 4 1/2

General Charges Dr

Box Knives & Forks

1

2 17 -

Pair Sisars

1

14 -

Do

6

Gall. Rape Oyle

2 1/2

15 -

Gurrahs were a coarse, cheap cotton cloth woven in Bengal and northern India, one of the staple India piece goods the Company shipped west, used on St Helena for the slaves' clothing and its lining, the blue gurrahs entered repeatedly in these accounts among the cloth issued to the Company's blacks. Chelloe was a coloured cotton cloth of Indian weave, sold both as yardage and as ready-made shirts, the chelloe shirts and the island and English shoes here forming the clothing issued to the slaves.

I'll fold explanations of the India cloths into the Interpretations whenever they appear from now on. Here is the corrected version for this page:

Plantation, debtor.

Brought over

1 1/4 gallons of rape oil, £0 7s 6d

1 pound of tacks, £0 1s 8d

106 squares of glass, 10 by 12, £7 19s 0d

56 pounds of whiting, £0 18s 0d

1 watering pot, £0 8s 4d

6 barrels of lamp black, £0 3s 0d

1 skein of cotton yarn, £0 0s 10½d

total, £9 18s 4d

Fortification, debtor.

7 pounds of 4 d nails, £0 5s 10d

6 pounds of 6 d of the same, £0 4s 0d

4 pounds of 8 d of the same, £0 5s 0d

9 barrels of lamp black, £0 4s 6d

1 piece of cross gurrahs, £0 3s 8d

2 lined, number 10, £0 2s 8d

total, £1 6s 8d

Great Wood, debtor.

1 lined, number 9, £0 1s 0d

3 iron mauls, number 5, 18 pounds, £1 18s 3d

total, £1 19s 3d

The Honourable Company's blacks, debtor.

2 casks of beef, £39 4s 0d

2 1/2 dozen of hooks sorted, £0 14s 5½d

45 lined, number 3, £1 2s 6d

1 pound of Bohea tea, £0 6s 0d

1 piece of blue gurrahs, £0 12s 6d

1 middling blanket, £0 9s 6d

1 pound of twine, £0 2s 2d

1/4 ounce of China silk, £0 0s 3d

1 white shirt, £0 2s 6d

2 chelloe of the same, £0 6s 0d

1 pair of island shoes, £0 4s 0d

2 English of the same, £0 11s 6d

total, £33 15s 4½d

General charges, debtor.

1 box knives and forks, £2 17s 0d

1 pair of scissors, £0 14s 0d

1 of the same, £0 0s 6d

2 1/2 gallons of rape oil, £0 15s 0d

Interpretations

Gurrahs were a coarse, cheap cotton cloth woven in Bengal and northern India, one of the staple India piece goods the Company carried west, used on St Helena for the slaves' clothing and its lining, the blue and cross gurrahs entered here among the cloth issued to the Company's blacks and to the fortification work. Chelloe was a coloured cotton cloth of Indian weave, sold both by the piece and as ready-made shirts, the chelloe shirts forming part of the slaves' clothing alongside the white shirts, blankets and island and English shoes.

Whiting was finely ground chalk, used as a base for whitewash and putty and for cleaning and polishing, entered here with the window glass and watering pot among the plantation's building stock. The squares of glass at 10 by 12 inches were cut panes for glazing the plantation windows, while the account divided the Company's own consumption among its working heads, the plantation, the fortifications, the Great Wood, the slaves and the general charges each entered as a separate debtor, so the cost of each part of its establishment could be read apart.

266

162

General Charges Dr

Brought over

lb Bohea Tea

4

1 4 -

Cut Tobacco

5 lb

10 -

Doz. Pipe

1 1/2

9

Dozen Forks

6 1

12 9

Whited Brown Threadn No 3

1/2 lb

5 3

ditto

1/2 lb

6 7 1/2

oz China Silk

1

1 -

Do Ordinary Long Cloth

1

12 10 1/2

Holland Duck

8 3/4

19 8 3/4

Twine

2 lb

4 4

Lines Sorted

5

4 3

Iron Ware

Cupboard Locks N. 5

2

8 -

Pair Chest Hinges

3

6 6

ditto Smooth foild

2

15 6

Dutch Rings

6

2 -

Plate Bolt

2

7 8

Splinter Lock No 7

1

3 8

Plate Lock

1

3 4

Setts Bed Screws

2

7 -

Peice White Gurhass

1

9 6

Sneakers

4

2 -

Dozen Plates

9 1/2

5 14 -

Large Cups

1 2

4 -

Pudding Pans

1

12 9

Glass Cruet

3

3 2

Barrells Lamb Black

2

1 -

Capt Byfeld reports that an Old Superannuated Wench

named Mutta of the Honble Comp:cs dyed of age last week and

that another wench belonging to the Plantation House was

brought to bed of a Girle named Martha.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwing

Margin Notes:

a Superannuated

wench dead

a Girle born

General charges, debtor.

Brought over

4 pounds of Bohea tea, £0 1s 4d

5 pounds of cut tobacco, £0 10s 0d

1 1/2 dozen of pipes, £0 0s 9d

6 1 dozen of forks, £0 12s 9d

1/2 pound of white and brown thread, number 3, £0 5s 3d

1/2 pound of the same, £0 6s 7½d

1 ounce of China silk, £0 1s 0d

1 ordinary long cloth, £0 12s 10½d

8 3/4 yards of Holland duck, £0 19s 8¾d

2 pounds of twine, £0 4s 4d

5 lined sorted, £0 4s 3d

Ironware.

2 cupboard locks, number 5, £0 8s 0d

3 pair of chest hinges, £0 6s 6d

2 of the same, smooth filed, £0 15s 6d

6 Dutch rings, £0 2s 8d

2 plate bolts, £0 7s 8d

1 splinter lock, number 7, £0 3s 8d

1 plate lock, £0 3s 4d

2 setts of bed screws, £0 7s 0d

1 piece of white gurrahs, £0 9s 6d

4 sneakers, £0 0s 2d

9 1/2 dozen plates, £5 14s 0d

1 2 large cups, £0 4s 0d

1 pudding pan, £0 12s 9d

3 glass cruets, £0 3s 2d

2 barrels of lamp black, £0 1s 0d

Captain Byfield reported that an old superannuated slave woman named Mutta of the Honourable Company died of age last week, and that another slave woman belonging to the plantation house was brought to bed of a girl named Martha.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

Holland duck was a strong plain-woven linen, the Holland a fine linen first made in the Low Countries and the duck a stout closely woven grade used for hard wear, entered here by the yard among the general stores. White gurrahs were the plain undyed grade of the coarse Bengal cotton already noted, sold by the piece, while bed screws were the iron fittings that drew a wooden bedstead's frame tight together.

The note that an old superannuated slave woman had died closed the account with the Company's standing care of its labour, the word marking a slave past work and kept on the establishment in age. Recording both the death of Mutta and the birth of the girl Martha let the council keep its register of the Company's slaves current, every loss and increase entered as it was with the live stock and the stores.

267

163

Janry.

Island St. Helena

At a Consultation held on Thursday the 31st.

day of January 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley

Present

John Smith Esqr. Govr.

Edward Byfeld 2d

John Alexander 3d

John Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved on.

On Tuesday the 29th instant arrived the

Ship Carnarvon Capt. Josiah Thwaite Commander &

the Cardigan Capt. William Hambly Commander both

from Madrass but last from the Cape

By which Ships Wee arrived Letters and

Invoice from the Governour & Councell of Fort -

St. George, containing the following Good

Invoice of Carnarvon vizt

Bags Rice qt. 300 Mens. a 9 Mens. & Capods.

3 8

33 12 -

Canhisters Sugar qt. 8, 14, 18 a Do 9 lb Candy

6

33 22 35

Charges Inchd. & Cooley tea

4 - -

Pagodas

70 34 35

Invoice of Cardigan.

Bags Rice qt. 300 Mens. a 9 Mens. & Capode

3 8

33 12 -

Canhisters Sugar pr. 6, 1, 3, a Do 9 lb Candy

10

56 18 10

Charges Inchd. Do boat & Cooly tea

4 9 -

Pagodas

92 3 10

Gunners Stores 4 Bomb Shells

pr. 5d. - 8d. a Bag. 1. 94 lb

8 16 25

Charges Inchd. Do boat & Cooby tea

6 20

8 22 45

The Wall & Nursery Orders & Letters

were Sent to Each of the Commanders foe

heaving in & Mooring their Ships near

the Shore in Case of any Alarm happening

while in the Road

The Petition of Richard Gurling was

presented Setting forth that he had a Lease

of five Acres of the Honble Companies Land

Margin Notes:

2 Ships arrival

Goods recd. from

Fort St. George.

Bomb shells

Lettr. sent to each

Comander.

Petn. of Richard

Gurling.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Thursday 31 January 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

On Tuesday 29 January the ship Carnarvon arrived, Captain Josiah Thwaits commander, and the Cardigan, Captain William Hambly commander, both from Madras but last from the Cape.

By these ships the council received letters and invoices from the Governor and council of Fort St George, containing the following goods.

Invoice of the Carnarvon, viz.

38 bags of rice of 300 measures at 9 measures the pagoda, 33 pagodas 12 fanams

6 canisters of sugar of 8, 14 and 18 at 9 the candy, 33 pagodas 22 fanams 35 cash

charges in chests and coolie hire, 4 fanams

total, 70 pagodas 34 fanams 35 cash

Invoice of the Cardigan.

38 bags of rice at 300 measures at 9 measures the pagoda, 33 pagodas 12 fanams

10 canisters of sugar at 6, 13 and 3 at 9 the candy, 56 pagodas 18 fanams 10 cash

charges in chests, boat and coolie hire, 4 fanams 9 cash

total, 92 pagodas 3 fanams 10 cash

Gunner's stores and bomb shells.

priced 5 at 8 the bag at 1, 9 and 4 pounds, 8 pagodas 16 fanams 25 cash

charges in chests, boat and coolie hire, 5 fanams 6 cash 20 cash

total, 8 pagodas 22 fanams 45 cash

The Wednesday and Thursday orders and letters were sent to each of the commanders for heaving in and mooring their ships near the shore, in case of any alarm happening while in the road.

Richard Gurling petitioned, setting out that he had a lease of five acres of the Honourable Company's land [...]

Interpretations

The pagoda was the chief gold coin of the Madras coast, divided into fanams and the small copper cash, the prices of the rice and sugar reckoned in this Coromandel money rather than sterling because the goods were bought and invoiced at Fort St George. A candy was a south Indian weight of about five hundredweight, and a measure a standard volume for grain, so the rice was priced at nine measures to the pagoda and the sugar at nine the candy.

Fort St George was the Company's principal settlement on the Coromandel coast, the fortified centre of Madras, from which the famine-stricken island drew the rice it could not grow. The arrival of both ships laden with grain answered the council's repeated appeals for relief, the cargoes entered in their own Indian currency and the standing mooring orders sent at once to both commanders against the danger of pirates in the road.

268

164

Land & being desireous to dispose of the Same desired Leave

so to do

Granted Provided Wel the the Tennant.

Also the following Remonstrance of Tho. Wignell

Surgeon was presented.

To the Worshipfull John Smith Esqr. Govr.

& ca Councile

The humble Remonstrance & Complaint of

Thomas Wignell Surgeon of the Island

St. Helena against Vircount Giles Chaplain

of the Said Island.

Sheweth That the Said Mr Giles upon a former

Petition of Your Complainants was Ordered by Your

Worship & Councile to beg Pardon for the Injury he

had done Your Complainant by Bilifying & aspersing

him in his Character & Reputation, but the Said Mr

Giles agreeable to his usual Modesty instead of giving

Your Complainant the Satisfaction enjoynd him by

Your Worship & Councile has never paid Obedience to it

Your Complainant farther Represents to

Your Worship, that the Said Mr Giles taking advantage

of an unhappy accident that happend to Your Complain:

on Wednesday Night last did Endeavour afresh to -

Bilifie & Slander Your Complainant by affirming at

the Publick Table that some if Complaihant knew nothing

of Physick, though Your Complainant by a diligent

Application & long Service in the Army & Navey &

his Practice in St. Thomas: Hospitall has had great

opportunities to improve himself both in the Art of

Physick & Surgery & so much to the Satisfaction

of Doctor Cotesworth one of Our Honble Masters

who is a much better Man as well as better Judge than

the Said Mr. Giles & to whom Your Complainant has

been known from his Infancy, that he was pleased to

Recommend Your Complainant to Your Worship

Service as a Person duely Qualified for his Profession

Your Complainant farther Represent to Your

Worship, that he is not So much apprehensive of the

Damage he can do Your Complainant here be having

long Since by his Scandalous Life & Behaviour, &

forfeited

Margin Notes:

desireing leave

to Dispose of

Lease Land.

Complt. of Tho.

Wignall

against

Mr. Giles.

Richard Gurling, wishing to dispose of his lease of the land, asked leave to do so. The council granted it, provided the council approved the new tenant.

The following remonstrance of Thomas Wignell, surgeon, was then presented to Governor John Smith and the council.

Thomas Wignell, surgeon of the island of St Helena, made his complaint against Escott Giles, chaplain of the island.

He set out that Mr Giles, on a former petition of his, had been ordered by the council to beg pardon for the injury he had done him by vilifying him and aspersing his character and reputation, but that Mr Giles, true to his usual manner, had never paid the obedience the council had enjoined instead of giving him the satisfaction ordered.

He set out further that Mr Giles, taking advantage of an unhappy accident that had befallen him on Wednesday night last, had tried to vilify and slander him at the public table by claiming that he knew nothing of physic. Wignell answered that, by diligent application and long service in the army and navy and his practice at St Thomas's Hospital, he had had great opportunity to improve himself in both physic and surgery, so much to the satisfaction of Doctor Cotesworth, one of the Company's masters and a much better and abler judge than Mr Giles, who had known Wignell from his infancy, that the doctor had recommended him to the council for service as a person duly qualified for his profession.

He set out further that he was not so much apprehensive of the damage Mr Giles could do him here, having long since by his scandalous life and behaviour forfeited [...]

Interpretations

A remonstrance was a formal written protest laid before the council, by which Wignell both complained of the chaplain's renewed insults and called for the earlier order of satisfaction to be enforced. Physic meant the practice of medicine as distinct from surgery, so the chaplain's charge that Wignell knew nothing of physic struck at his competence as a doctor, which Wignell met by citing his service and his hospital training.

St Thomas's Hospital was one of the great London teaching hospitals, named here to establish Wignell's professional standing against the chaplain's aspersions. Invoking the recommendation of Doctor Cotesworth, a Company director who had known him from infancy, let Wignell set the judgement of a qualified superior at home against the chaplain's, turning the quarrel from a personal insult into a question of which man's word on his fitness the council should trust.

269

165

Janry.

forfeited his Credit & Reputation both as to Wisdom

and Virtue, but the Said Mr Giles being a very ill

Man, & of a very Malicious Temper Your Complainant

humbly hopes Your Worship & Councile will think it

reasonable the Said Mr Giles Should be Obliged to

give Your Complainant publick Satisfaction for

the Injury he has done Your Complainant, least

the Said Mr Giles Should Endeavour to represent

Your Complainant in false Colours either to the

Honble Company or to Strangers.

And Your Complainant as in Duty

bound Shall ever Pray.

Janry 31th: 1723

Thos. Wignell

Upon which Mr Giles was Sent for & the Re-

monstrance read to him, he desired a Copy thereof, &

then would give his Answer in Writing which was

Ordered accordingly

Mr Crispe brought in & deliverd his Monthly Accot.

of the Expence of the Generale Table for the Month of

December which was Examind, approved & is as follows

Peices Salt Beefe et 2d. 6d. p Peice£

4 4

5 10 -

Peices Salt Pork at 2. 10. Each

47

6 13 2

Fowles at 1. 6. Each

55

4 2 6

Fresh Beefe at 2 5d. p Cwt

46 3 lb

5 16 5

Fresh Pork at 6d. p lb

63 lb

1 11 6

Sugar at 6d. p lb

14 2 lb

3 11 -

Bread at 3d. p lb

164 lb

2 1 -

Flower at 3d. p lb

34 lb

8 6

Arrack at 6d. 4d. p Gall

74 1/2

23 11 2

Bottles Mountain

5 6

Galicia

86

Bottles Small Beer

14 2

ditto Strong Beer

17

Bottles of Oyle at 7. 6d. p Bottle

3

1 2 6

Vinegar

14 3/4

2 19 -

Pepper

4 lb

4 -

Sheep

2

2 4 -

Ducks

2

4 -

Fresh Butter

2 7 lb

1 2 6

Day Greens a 12d. p diem

31

1 11 -

Bottles Milk

62

1 - 8

£ 63 12 3

Margin Notes:

Mr. Giles sent for

& desired a Copy of

ye Complt. would

then give Answer.

Govrs. Table

Expence for

Decr.

Wignell set out that the chaplain had long since forfeited his own credit and reputation as to wisdom and virtue, but that Mr Giles, being a very ill man of a malicious temper, made it reasonable that he be obliged to give public satisfaction for the injury done, lest he try to represent Wignell in false colours either to the Company or to strangers.

The remonstrance was dated 31 January 1724 and signed by Thomas Wignell.

Mr Giles was sent for and the remonstrance read to him. He asked for a copy of it and said he would then give his answer in writing, which the council ordered accordingly.

Mr Crispe brought in and delivered his monthly account of the expense of the General Table for the month of December, examined and approved as follows.

44 pieces of salt beef at 2s 6d the piece, £5 10s 0d

47 pieces of salt pork at 2s 10d each, £6 13s 2d

55 fowls at 1s 6d each, £4 2s 6d

46 3 pounds of fresh beef at 2s 6d the hundredweight, £5 16s 6d

63 pounds of fresh pork at 6d the pound, £1 11s 6d

14 9 pounds of sugar at 6d the pound, £3 11s 0d

1 64 pounds of bread at 3d the pound, £2 1s 0d

34 pounds of flour at 3d the pound, £0 8s 6d

74 1/2 gallons of arrack at 6s 4d the gallon, £23 11s 2d

55 6 bottles of Mountain

86 bottles of Galicia

14 9 bottles of small beer

17 bottles of strong beer

3 bottles of oil at 7s 6d the bottle, £1 2s 6d

14 3/4 gallons of vinegar, £2 19s 0d

4 pounds of pepper, £0 4s 0d

2 sheep, £2 4s 0d

2 ducks, £0 4s 0d

2 7 pounds of fresh butter, £1 2s 6d

31 days of greens at 1s the day, £1 11s 0d

6 2 bottles of milk, £1 0s 8d

total, £63 12s 3d

Interpretations

Mountain and Galicia were both Spanish wines bought by the bottle for the common table, the Mountain the strong sweet wine of Malaga and the Galicia from the north-western province of that name, served alongside the small and strong beer brewed on the island. Greens were entered by the day rather than by weight, the kitchen drawing a daily supply of garden vegetables charged at a shilling a day across the month.

The General Table account ran by the provisions consumed at the Company's common table through December, each item priced and summed under Duke Crispe's hand to a total of £63 12s 3d. Setting the diet expense out in full each month let the council watch the standing cost of feeding those entitled to the table, the figure read and approved beside the store, stock and gunner's accounts as part of the regular monthly settlement.

270

166

Ordered That an Advertizement be forthwith

Published forbiding all Persons turning any Hogs

or Neat Cattle into the Great Wood, to prevent the

young Grass being Rooted up & Destroyed, & those

Persons who have Hogs in the Great Wood are to

fetch them out till farther Notice is given to turn

them in again.

Capt Goodwin & the Gentlemen appointed to be

with him to view the Several Parcells of Land mencond

in Consultation of the 31st. day of December last made

this day the following Report

Wee whose Names are hereunto Subscribed

having been appointed to view the Severale Parcells

of Land following.

Elizabeth Greentree having Petitiond for

a Pezell of Land called the Tobacco Plain adjoyning

to Lemon Valley, Wee find the Letting the Same will

be prejudice to the Neighbourhood, there being a

Spring in it that Supplies all the Cattle upon that

Range with Water.

Thomas Greentree having Petitiond for an

Acre of Land lying in Sandy Bay. Wee have viewd

the Same & are of Opinion that the letting it will

not be prejudice to any body, but Mr Worrall Says

it will, & Offers to Pay Rent for the Same & let

it lye wast rather than it Should be inclosed

Wee are of opinion that the Land Petitiond for

by John Bagley & lying in Sarahs Valley may be

let without Prejudice to any body

Wee are of Opinion that Edmond Botley had

better withdraw his Petition than hire the Land he

Petitiond for, though if Your Worship & ca Councile Shall

think fit to Grant him a Lease if he dont inclose

the Spring, wee cant think the Letting the Same

will be injurious to any body.

John Goodwin

Joshua Johnson

Franc: Wrangham

Margin Notes:

Hogs & Cattle

to be fetcht

out of the

Great Wood.

Report of

Sundry Parcell

of Land

Petn. for

by

Eth. Greentree

Tho. Greentree

Jno. Bagley

Ed. Botley.

The council ordered an advertisement published forthwith forbidding all persons to turn any hogs or neat cattle into the Great Wood, to prevent the young trees being rooted up and destroyed, and requiring those who had hogs in the Great Wood to fetch them out, no further notice being given to turn them in again.

Captain Goodwin and the gentlemen appointed with him to view the several parcels of land mentioned in the consultation of 3 December last made the following report this day.

The viewers, having been appointed to view the several parcels of land, reported as follows.

On Elizabeth Greentree's petition for a parcel of land called the Tobacco Plain adjoining Lemon Valley, they found that letting it would harm the neighbourhood, there being a spring in it that supplied all the cattle on that range with water.

On Thomas Greentree's petition for an acre of land in Sandy Bay, they had viewed it and were of opinion that letting it would harm nobody, but Mr Worrall said it would. They offered to pay rent for it themselves and let it lie waste rather than have it enclosed.

They were of opinion that the land petitioned for by John Bagley, lying in Sarah's Valley, might be let without harm to anybody.

They were of opinion that Edmund Bodley had better withdraw his petition than have the land he petitioned for, though if the council thought fit to grant him a lease, provided he did not enclose the spring, they could not think letting it would be injurious to anybody.

The report was signed by John Goodwin, Joshua Johnson and Francis Wrangham.

Interpretations

Neat cattle were horned cattle of the ox kind, the term distinguishing them from sheep, goats and horses, here forbidden the Great Wood along with hogs to stop the beasts rooting up and trampling the young trees. The order reflected the island's long struggle to preserve its dwindling timber, the wood already protected by standing rules against felling, now guarded against grazing stock as the new growth was at risk.

The viewing of land before any lease was sealed gave the council a check on competing claims, the report weighing each parcel for harm to the neighbourhood before a grant was made. The recurring obstacle was water, a spring on the Tobacco Plain supplying a whole range of cattle and another on Bodley's parcel, the viewers willing to allow the grants only where the springs were left open to common use rather than enclosed by a single tenant.

271

167

Janry.

Wee taking the aforesaid Premisses into Our Consideration

have thought fit and do accordingly Order

That for the Reasons given touching Eliz. Greentrees

Petition Wee reject the Same

That the Small Quantity of Land Petitiond for

by Thomas Greentree do lye wast for the Conveniency

of the Neighbourhood, Wee being well asured the letting

the Same will be prejudiciall as well to them in general

as to Mr Worrall in particular.

That for the Same Reasons Enterd in Consultation

of the third of September last against Granting Some

Land in Lemon Valley to Edmond Botley this Petition

of John Bagley be rejected likewise

That Edmond Botley have a Grant of the Land

he Petitiond for at the half Moon but under this Condition

that he fence out the Spring for Watering the Cattle -

& that he do not upon any Pretence whatsoever hurt

or Damage any Cattle or Goates Ranging that way

nor keep any Beasts or Blacks thereon in the Night

& these Articles & Conditions to be inserted in his -

Lease for the Same.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwing

Margin Notes:

Orders Hereon

Eliz. Greentrees

Petn. rejected

also Tho. Greentree

also wise

Jno. Bagleys.

Ed. Botley granted

upon Condition.

The council, taking the report into account, ordered as follows.

For the reason given on Elizabeth Greentree's petition, the council rejected it.

The council also rejected Thomas Greentree's petition for the small parcel of land, which they let lie waste for the convenience of the neighbourhood, being well assured that letting it would harm both the neighbourhood in general and Mr Worrall in particular.

For the reasons entered in the consultation of 3 September last against granting some land in Lemon Valley to Edmund Bodley, the council likewise rejected John Bagley's petition.

The council granted Edmund Bodley the land he had petitioned for at the Half Moon, on condition that he fenced out the spring for watering the cattle, did nothing on any pretence to harm any cattle or goats ranging that way, and kept no beasts or slaves there at night, these conditions to be inserted in his lease.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The grant to Bodley turned on protecting the common grazing, the council letting him the Half Moon parcel only on terms that kept the spring open and barred him from harming the cattle and goats that ranged across it. Writing the conditions into the lease bound the tenant to them as a term of his tenure, so that any breach could cost him the holding, the council using the lease itself to guard the neighbourhood's water and pasture against a single occupier.

The decisions followed the viewers' report point by point, the council rejecting the Greentree and Bagley petitions on the harm to the neighbourhood while allowing Bodley's under safeguards. Holding to the reasons already entered in September against the Lemon Valley grant showed the council's consistency, the same ground refused twice on the same objection rather than reopened on a fresh petition.

272

168

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 4th day

of February 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley

Present John Smith Esqr. Govr.

Edward Byfeld 2d

John Alexander 3d

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved on

On Saturday last Wee had a Double Alarm for

three Ships to Windward of the Island Distance

about Nine Leagues, the next Morning four Ships

were Seen of the So West Point Standing right

away much about the Same Distance & by Noon

were out of Sight & by the Accot. given Us by -

Capt Thwaites they were most likely Dutchmen

from the Cape.

The Petition of Richard Mason was presented

Setting forth that he had formerly made a Letter Trench

in Swan ley Valley to convey the Water into his -

Plantation but the Hogs & Cattle daily Routing &

trampleing therein breaks down & fills up the Same

in so many places that it requires constant Clearing

& thereby the Petitioner is often deprived of the benefit

of the Said Water, And therefore humbly prayed to

become Tenant to the Honble Company for about

One Acre of their West Land Setuage in the Said

Valley whereby he may inclose the Said Water Trench

& Secure it from the daily Damage & Inconveniency

he Suffers by the Said Hogs & Cattle Stopping

up & impairing the Same

Granted provided he dont Inclose the Head of

the Spring where the Water Course Runs from, that

thereof may be a Convenient Place for the Cattle

to Drink at.

The Doctor brought in his Book of Medicines

Expended to this time which was Examind & approved

Mr Thos. Holditch Passenger on board the

Cardigan presented Us a Letter dequainting Us that the

Honble Company were indebted to him in the Sum of

Sixty Nine Pound, Eleven Shillings & two pence

& desire he might have Bills of Exchange upon the

Honble Company for the Same

Whereupon Wee Sent for & exd & examind

Margin Notes:

4 Ships Passed

by

Rd. Masons -

Petn. for West

Land in Swan-

ley Valley.

Granted but not

to Inclose the

Spring head.

Drs. Book Exd.

Tho. Holditch

Claims a debt

in ye Ht. Co.

Books.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 4 February 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

On Saturday the council had a double alarm raised for three ships out to windward, roughly nine leagues off. By the next morning four ships could be seen near the South West Point, about as far out and sailing steadily away, and by midday they had dropped below the horizon. Captain Thwaits judged them to be Dutch vessels returning from the Cape.

Richard Mason asked the council for a piece of land. He explained that he had once dug a channel in Swanley Valley to bring water down to his plantation, but that pigs and cattle wandered into it daily, churned it up and choked it in so many spots that he had to keep clearing it and often lost the use of the water altogether. He wanted to rent about an acre of the Company's spare land in the valley so that he could fence the channel in and protect it from the animals that kept wrecking it.

The council agreed, on the one condition that he leave the head of the spring open, so the cattle would still have somewhere to drink.

The doctor handed in his record of the medicines used up to that point, which the council checked and approved.

Mr Thomas Holditch, a passenger aboard the Cardigan, wrote to say the Company owed him £69 11s 2d and asked to be given bills of exchange for the amount. The council sent for the relevant papers to look into it.

Interpretations

A league was a sea measure of roughly three miles, so ships nine leagues out lay some twenty-seven miles off, near the edge of what could be seen from the island's high ground. The repeated alarms and the close attention paid to where the strangers were heading show how watchful the island stayed over its approaches, the lookouts settling on Dutch East Indiamen bound home from the Cape rather than anything to fear.

A bill of exchange was a written instruction to pay a sum elsewhere, letting someone owed money on the island collect it in London from the Company's funds instead of in coin that was always short on St Helena. Holditch, owed close to £70, wanted his debt cleared this way at home, and the council looked over his claim before adding it to the Company's books.

273

169

Febry.

the Books of Accounts for the Year 1720 & for the

Year 1721 & find the Last Ballance pd. in the Books

for 1721 to be the Sum of £ 69. 11. 2d. as mencond

in Mr. Holditchs Letter, & in the Transfer Journals

for the Year 1720 it dos likewise appear how the

Mony did arise & for what became due to him. Whereupon

Ordered that Bills of Exchange be drawn on Our Honble

Masters for Payment thereof

In the last Consultation Mr Giles desired he

might have a Copy of Mr Wignells Remonstrance

therein Enterd & Said he would make Reply thereto

in Writing which Wee Expected he would have done this

day & that he Might have no Excuse Wee Sett in Con-

sultation above an hour after the other Business was over

and the Said Mr Giles not Sending in any Answer, nor

appraving himself Wee adjournd but cannot omit Saying

this Misbeing with Us is like all the rest of his Proceedings.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwing

Margin Notes:

Books being Examd.

find ye Ballce.

due

Bills of Exchange

Granted.

Mr. Giles not

Attending.

The council examined the books of account for the years 1720 and 1721 and found the closing balance in the books for 1721 to be £69 11s 2d, as mentioned in Mr Holditch's letter. From the transfer journals for 1720 it likewise appeared how the money had arisen and what had become due to him. The council therefore ordered that bills of exchange be drawn on the Company for payment.

At the previous consultation Mr Giles had asked for a copy of Mr Wignell's remonstrance, entered there, and said he would make his reply in writing, which the council had expected this day. So that he should have no excuse, the council had set the matter down for an hour after the other business was over, but Mr Giles neither sent in any answer nor appeared himself. The council adjourned the matter, but could not refrain from remarking that this behaviour towards them was of a piece with all the rest of his conduct.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

Checking Holditch's claim against the Company's own books confirmed the £69 11s 2d he was owed, the closing balance for 1721 and the transfer journals for 1720 together showing both the sum and how it had arisen. Only once the figure was verified did the council order bills of exchange drawn for it, the debt settled at home in London rather than in coin on the island, the same method applied to any creditor repaid through the Company's accounts.

The chaplain's failure either to answer the surgeon's remonstrance or to appear marked a final act of the defiance the council had complained of throughout. Having set aside a fixed hour so he could have no excuse, the council read his absence as one more instance of the contempt that ran through his whole conduct, the matter left unresolved as Giles prepared to quit the island.

274

170

Island St. Helena

At a Consultation held on Sunday the 9th day of Febry

1723 at Union Castle in James Valley

Present John Smith Esqr. Govr.

Edward Byfeld 2d

John Alexander 3d

John Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved of.

The following Petition of Vircount Giles Clerk was

presented.

The humble Petition of Vircount Giles Clerk

Minister of the Said Island

Sheweth That Your Petitionr. hath Laboured under

a long & Tedious Sicknesse and is fearfule & apprehensive

of falling again into Such an Indispcition by reason of

the frequent Heats & Colds he daily meets with, &c

therefore humbly Craves Leave of Your Worship & Gent

to repair home to his Native Country for the benefit

of his Health on board the Carnarvon Capt. Josiah

Thwaits Commander

And as in Duty bound Shall ever pray &c

Vircount Giles

Wee observe by the Said Petition that the Said Mr Giles

alledges the ill State of his Health to be the reason why he

desires Leave to go off the Island, but Wee are of opinion

the true Cause is Owing to his Debauchd & inregular

Manner of Living, he having by one Means or other injured

& disobliged all in most of the Inhabitants & the Gentlemen

belonging to the Garrison, & notwithstanding the frequent

Admonition he has received to behave himself for the future

as becam one of his Profession he Still continues to

Misbehave himself, Whereupon Wee took his Said Petition

into Consideration & Grant his request, and being unwilling

to take any advantage of a Person in necessitous Circum-

stances Wee have thought fit to allow him his Gratuity

& Salary deducting the 50d. advanced him by the Honble

Company & to avoid his giving their Board. any farther

Trouble when he comes to England.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwing

Margin Notes:

Mr. Giles Petr.

to goe off ye

Island.

His irregular

liveing.

& leave to goe

off, deducting

50d. advanced

in England.

Memorand.

thus farr hath been

Copyed & Sent to England p

Ship Carnarvon Capt.

Josiah Thwaites Comd.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Sunday 9 February 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

The following petition of Escott Giles, chaplain of the island, was presented.

Escott Giles set out that he had been suffering through a long and trying illness and was afraid of falling ill again, given the frequent heats and colds he met with daily. He therefore asked the council for leave to go home to his native country for the good of his health aboard the Carnarvon, Captain Josiah Thwaits commander.

The council noted that Mr Giles gave his poor health as the reason for wanting to leave the island, but they were of the opinion that the real cause was his awkward and irregular way of living. By drink or by some other means he had injured and upset most of the inhabitants and the gentlemen of the garrison, and despite being warned, he had returned to his old behaviour instead of conducting himself as a clergyman should. Even so, being unwilling to take advantage of a man in difficult circumstances, the council thought it right to allow him his salary, deducting the £50 0s 0d the Company had advanced him in England and to spare him any further trouble when he reached England.

The council granted his request and gave him leave to go, on those terms.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

This far has been copied and sent to England by the ship Carnarvon, Captain Josiah Thwaits commander.

Interpretations

The chaplain's request to sail home closed the long discipline of Escott Giles, whose drunkenness, indecency and quarrels the council had set out on sworn evidence the previous November and let pass on his promise of amendment. Letting him leave on grounds of health, while plainly recording that the true reason was his conduct, gave the council a way to be rid of a troublesome minister without an open dismissal, a face-saving departure that spared both sides a public reckoning.

The Company commonly advanced a portion of a servant's salary in England before he sailed, and that £50 0s 0d was now set against the pay still owed to Giles so the books balanced on his departure. Allowing him his salary less the advance let the council deal fairly with him in his straitened state while recovering the money already paid, the whole matter copied and sent home so the directors had the full account of why their chaplain had returned.

275

171

Island St. Helena

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 11th. day

of February 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley

Present

John Smith Esqr. Govr.

Edward Byfeld 2d

John Alexander 3d

John Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved on.

Yesterday about Noon Sailed hence for England

the Carnarvon Captain Thwaite & Cardigan Capt. Hambly

In the Evening about five a Clock Wee had an

alarm for One Ship off Powells Valley about 7 -

Leagues distant, She was Seen till Eleven a Clock duske

Standing towards South West Point & this Moon

was out of Sight.

The Petition of Lieutenant Thos. Cason was presented

Setting forth that he had Laboured under Several

tedious fitts of Sicknesse, & for years past been daily

attended with a very great Indisposition, & was therefore

willing & desirous to return to his Native Country

in hopes to Vrecover his Health, And having had the

Honble to Serve the Honble Company twenty one

years, Prayd, Wee would grant him Bills of Exchange

upon the Honble Company for what Mony Shall

be due to him at the time of his leaving the Island.

Wee being very Sensible that the Said Lieut.

Thomas Cason has been indisposed for Some time

past, & having Served the Honble Company the time

Set forth in the Said Petition Wee therefore Grant his

request.

Samuel Taylor presented a Petition Setting forth

That by a Verdict of the Gentlemen of the Jury on a Tryle had

the 20th of January last he was Entitled to 29 acres of

Free Land formerly Edward Bagleys in Right of

his Wife the Surviving Daughter of the Said Edwd Bagley

deceased that is to Say, One half thereof to be immediatly

possessed of, & the other half at the Death of the sd

Sarah the Said decd. Edwr Bagleys Widdow, Therefore humbly

Prayd a Deed may be Pased him for the Same the better

thereby to Enable him to defend himself against any unlawful

Claim as well as to ascertain his Title to the Premiss for the future

Orderd that a Deed be made accordingly.

Margin Notes:

Ships departure

one Ship Passed

by.

NB.

this was left

out of the Copy

p Order

Capt. Casons

Petn. to goe

off for his

healths Sake.

for Passage

Granted

Saml. Taylor

Plyancd. a

Jurys Verdict

pray a Deed

for ye Land

in Disputed.

Granted.

You're right, and I'll drop it. "Likely" goes against the standing rule to use "perhaps" or "probably" instead. Here is the corrected page:

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 11 February 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

Yesterday about noon the Carnarvon, Captain Thwaits, and the Cardigan, Captain Hambly, sailed for England. In the evening about five o'clock the council had an alarm for one ship off Powell's Valley, about seven leagues off. She was seen, probably a Dutchman, standing towards the South West Point, and by moonlight was out of sight.

Lieutenant Thomas Cason petitioned, setting out that he had suffered through several long bouts of sickness, had been very ill daily for years past, and wished to return to his native country in hopes of recovering his health. Having served the Company twenty-one years, he asked the council to grant him bills of exchange on the Company for whatever money was due to him when he left the island.

The council, well aware that Lieutenant Cason had been ill for some time and had served the Company the years he set out, granted his request.

Samuel Taylor presented a petition setting out that, by a verdict of the jury on 20 January last, he had been found entitled to twenty-nine acres of freehold land in right of his wife, the surviving daughter of Edward Bagley deceased, namely one half outright and the other half at the death of Sarah, Edward Bagley's widow. He asked that a deed be made to him, the better to defend himself against any unjust claim and to establish his title to the land in future.

The council ordered that a deed be made accordingly.

Interpretations

Bills of exchange let a departing servant collect what he was owed in London out of the Company's funds rather than carry coin from the island, the method already used for Holditch now granted to Lieutenant Cason on his retirement after twenty-one years' service. Recording the length of his service alongside his illness showed the council's regard for a long-serving officer, the grant made as much in acknowledgement of his years as of the debt itself.

A deed gave Samuel Taylor written title to the land the jury had awarded him, turning the court's verdict into a document he could produce against any future challenge. Securing his claim in this way mattered because his right was split, half the twenty-nine acres his at once and half only on the widow's death, so a formal deed fixed both the present and the future interest before either could be disputed.

276

172

Mr Francis Wrangham presented a Petition Shewing

That he has lately purchased the Lifetime of Mrs

Margaret Vesey into a Parcell of Land & other Premisses

thereunto belonging, & being attorny for & in the Names

& Names of the Severale Sons of John Cleverlee the

former Husband of the Said Margaret Vesey, & being

Entitled to Some part of the Said Lands & Premisses

in Right of his Wife Daughter of the Said deceased

John Cleverlee, humbly Prays in their Names & on

their behalf that the Said Lands may be Measured

& a Deed Granted for the Free Land & a Lease for the

hired Land as Usual, thereby to ascertain a better & Stronger

Title thereto, & to avoid any Dispute that may here-

after happen pretended through his Neglect

Orderd that the Land be Measured & Deeds

made out for the Free Land & a Lease for the hired Land

Then Mr Wrangham presented a Bill of Sale for

a Parcell of Land & Premiss he bought of Mr. &

Mrs Vesey during the Lifetime of the Said Mrs

Vesey desiring the Same might be Registred

And also the Counter Part of a Lease for 20

Acres of Free Land he let to James Ryder for &

on behalf of Elizabeth Pich Orphan, desiring that

may be likewise Registred

Orderd that both these Writings be Registred

in the Register Book accordingly.

Orderd that an Advertisement be Published

forbiding all Persons turning any Cattle into the

Great Wood till farther Order to prevent the young

Grass (that is Sprung up by the late fine Showers of

Rain) being Eat up & destroyed before war Growen

Whereas Several Small Fishing Boates have been

lately built here of which One belonging to Richd. Mason

being at her Fishing Mooring on Monday last the 9th

Some large Fish Suppossd to be what is called the Sun

Fish got foule of the Boats Mooring & pulled her under

Water & two of Our Garrison out of three that were in her

were drowned occasiond by the Smallnesse of the Boat

& therefore to prevent the like Unfortunate Accident for the

future, Wee have thought fit to do accordingly Order that no

Boat be hereafter Built less than 14 foot Long & 4 foot

9 Inches Broad.

Capt. Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Fra. Wrangham

Attorny of &

on behalf of ye

Cleverlees

pray their

Lands to be

Measured &

a Deed & Lease

Granted.

Ord. Accordingly

Mr. Wrangham

presented a bill

of Sale pray

a Registry.

also a Counter

Lease.

both to be

Registred.

No Cattle to be

turned into ye

Great Wood.

Dimensions

for fishing

Boats.

Mr Francis Wrangham presented a petition setting out that he had lately bought the life interest of Margaret Vesey in a parcel of land and other premises belonging to it, and that he acted as attorney for the several sons of John Cleverlee, Margaret's former husband. Being entitled to part of the land in right of his wife, daughter of John Cleverlee deceased, he asked, for himself and on their behalf, that the land be measured and a deed granted for the freehold and a lease for the hired land, the better to establish a clear title and avoid any dispute that might later arise through his neglect.

The council ordered the land measured, a deed made out for the freehold and a lease for the hired land.

Mr Wrangham then presented a bill of sale for a parcel of land and premises he had bought from Mr Vesey during the lifetime of Mrs Vesey, asking that it be registered. He also presented the counterpart of a lease for twenty acres of freehold land he had let to James Ryder for and on behalf of Elizabeth Hutt, orphan, asking that it too be registered.

The council ordered both these writings registered in the register book.

The council ordered an advertisement published forbidding all persons to turn any cattle into the Great Wood until further order, to prevent the young trees, sprung up by the late fine season, being eaten up and destroyed before they were grown.

Several small fishing boats had lately been built on the island. On Monday, while one belonging to Richard Mason was out fishing, some large fish, supposed to be what is called the sunfish, got foul of the boat, overturned it and pulled it under water, and two of the garrison out of three aboard were drowned, the loss owing to the smallness of the boat. To prevent the like unfortunate accident in future, the council thought fit to order that no boat be built hereafter less than fourteen feet long and four feet nine inches broad.

The report was signed by Captain Goodwin.

Interpretations

A life interest gave Margaret Vesey the use of the land only for her lifetime, after which it passed to others, so Wrangham bought her interest and acted as attorney for the Cleverlee sons to draw the several claims together. Asking for a deed for the freehold and a lease for the hired land settled both kinds of holding at once, the formal documents fixing his title so no later dispute could arise from any neglect to record it.

The sunfish was a large, heavy ocean fish that basks at the surface, and a small boat fouling one could be capsized by its bulk, as happened to Mason's boat with the loss of two soldiers. The council answered the deaths with a building rule, setting a minimum size for fishing boats so they would be stable enough to withstand such a shock, a practical safety measure drawn directly from the accident.

277

173

Captain Goodwin brought in & deliverd an

Accompt of Store Goods Sold & deliverd

in the Month of January which was

Examind & approved & is as followeth vizt

Galls Arrack

43 0 1/4

136 4 11

lb Sugar

112

2 16 -

lb Flower

252

3 3 -

Soap

84 1/2

5 19 3 1/2

lb Pepper

3

3 -

Galls Vinegar

2 3/4

11 -

148 17 7 1/2

Gall. Rape Oyle

4 3/4

1 8 6

Sweet Do

1 1/4

3 -

1 11 6

lb Cutt Tobacco

48

4 16 -

lb Leafe ditto

21

1 1 -

Pipes

48 2

1 1

Coffee Bohea Tea

1

1

6 17 6

16 -

China Ware vizt

ditto Bowles

7

17 6

Speahens

7 6

1 17 6

Cups & Saucers

24

12 -

Large Cups

20

6 8

Small ditto

29

4 10

3 18 6

Shirts & Cotton Stockings

White Shirts

17

2 2 6

Chelloe ditto

15

15 -

Pair Cotton Stockings

8

1 -

3 17 6

Peice Chelloe

1

14 -

Do a 13d. Do

9

6 1 6

Fine Long Cloth

14 1/2

9 3 6

Midling Do

1/2

13 6

Coarse ditto

1/2

10 -

Peice Fustian No 2

1

4 6

17 8 -

Do

1 1/2

18 3

Yds Durance

16 1/2

1 3 8

2 2 9

Yard Broad Cloth

1/2

10 9

1 14 -

Hat No 3

1

11 6

Do

1

15 -

Soldiers ditto

4

13 -

1 19 6

dozen Forks

3

Soldiers Gates

2

18 9

Stock

4 8

3 -

Co. Cuttasoes No

4

2 18 4

Patna Chints

11

1 -

Surat Do

31

1 7 -

8 7 1

196 19 6 1/2

Margin Notes:

Store Goods sold for

Janry.

Captain Goodwin brought in and delivered an account of store goods sold and delivered in the month of January, examined and approved as follows.

Store goods for January.

430 1/4 gallons of arrack, £136 4s 11d

112 pounds of sugar, £2 16s 0d

252 pounds of flour, £3 3s 0d

84 1/2 pounds of soap, £5 19s 3½d

3 pounds of pepper, £0 3s 0d

2 3/4 gallons of vinegar, £0 11s 0d

total, £148 17s 7½d

4 3/4 gallons of rape oil, £1 8s 6d

1 1/4 gallons of sweet oil, £0 3s 0d

total, £1 11s 6d

48 pounds of cut tobacco, £4 16s 0d

21 pounds of leaf of the same, £1 1s 0d

489 pipes, £1 1s 0d

1 pound of Bohea tea, £0 0s 1d

total, £6 17s 1d

total, £0 16s 0d

China ware, viz.

7 of the same bowls, £0 17s 6d

76 teapots, £1 17s 6d

24 cups and saucers, £0 12s 0d

20 large cups, £0 6s 8d

29 small of the same, £0 4s 10d

total, £3 18s 6d

Shirts and cotton stockings.

17 white shirts, £2 2s 6d

15 chelloe of the same, £0 15s 0d

8 pair of cotton stockings, £1 1s 0d

1 piece of chelloe, £0 14s 0d

9 of the same at 1s 3d, £6 1s 6d

34 1/2 fine of the same, long cloth, £9 9s 6d

1/2 middling of the same, £0 13s 6d

1/2 coarse of the same, £0 10s 0d

total, £3 17s 6d

1 piece of fustian, number 2, £1 4s 6d

1/2 of the same, £0 18s 3d

16 1/2 yards of durant, £1 3s 8d

1/2 yard of broad cloth, £0 10s 9d

1 hat, number 3, £0 11s 6d

1 of the same, £0 15s 0d

4 soldiers' of the same, £0 13s 0d

total, £17 8s 0d

3 dozen forks, £2 2s 9d

2 soldiers' gaiters, £2 18s 2d

4 pounds of twine, £0 3s 0d

4 pieces of cuttannees, number [...], £2 18s 4d

11 Patna chintz, £1 1s 0d

31 Surat of the same, £1 7s 0d

total, £2 9s 0d

total, £1 14s 0d

total, £1 19s 6d

total, £8 7s 1d

total, £196 19s 6½d

Interpretations

Cuttannees were a fine striped or checked cotton cloth of Indian weave, and Patna chintz a printed and painted cotton from Patna in Bengal, both among the India piece goods carried west and sold by the piece, while long cloth was a plain undyed Indian cotton woven in long lengths and graded fine, middling and coarse. Durant was a hard-wearing glazed woollen cloth, sometimes called everlasting, used for stout clothing and linings, entered here by the yard among the imported stuffs.

The account ran the month's sales together across the trades, the spirits and provisions, the China ware, the shirts and stockings, the India cloths and the haberdashery each gathered under its own head and carried to a total of nearly £197. Grouping the goods by kind let the council read the month's sales class by class as the figures were checked against the store inventory, the same form kept from one monthly return to the next.

278

174

Tin Ware

Brought Over 196 19 6 1/2

Sauce Cans

3

2 -

Coffee Potts

2 2

7 6

Ditto

1

1 8

Ditto

1

1 3

6 2

Iron Ware

Frying Pan

1

3 3

Do

2

14 2

Shod Shovells

2

5 -

Gimbletts

6

2 -

1 4 5

Pewter

Bason

1

2 9

Do

1

3 9

Tankard

1

3 -

ditto

1

4 -

lb Shoe Thread

1/2

1 3

lb Twine

6

13 -

doz. Hooks Sorted

16

2 8

Lines

8

16 -

13 6

14 3

15 8

Nailes

lb Sorted

22

16 -

lb 10d Nailes

2

1 4

lb 6d

4

3 -

lb 8d

4

3 4

1 3 8

Shoe Knives

4

3 -

Butcher Do

7

3 6

9 6

Wooden Bowle

1

1 3

Suise Capp

2

2 8

3 11

Pair White Devetees

6

3 -

Quilts 18. 9d. Do

2

1 5 6

Bell ampore No

1

16 -

Peice Bengale Taffety

1/2

16 -

Yards Norwich Stuff

3

4 -

Yds Flannell

5

9 2

5 18 10

Pair Boys Shoes

1

5 -

Mens Do a Do

1

2 11 9

two Quart Copper Sauce Pan

9 1

10 -

3 7 3

Taylors Thimbles

2

4

Pair Sisars

1

6

10

Hosiers Ware &c

Do Childrens Stock

3

3 -

Boy Do N. 15

1

16 -

Do

5

2 -

Sold Do 24

1

19 6

Do

13

2 1

Do

1 9 lb

2 1

2 1 7

211 14 6 1/2

Tin ware

Brought over, £196 19s 6½d

3 sauce pans, £1 2s 0d

2 coffee pots, £1 7s 6d

2 of the same, £1 8s 0d

1 of the same, £1 3s 0d

total, £0 6s 2d

Ironware

1 frying pan, £0 3s 3d

2 of the same, £0 14s 2d

2 shod shovels, £0 5s 0d

6 gimblets, £0 2s 0d

total, £1 4s 5d

Pewter

1 basin, £0 2s 9d

1 of the same, £0 3s 9d

1 tankard, £0 3s 0d

1 of the same, £0 4s 0d

1/2 pound of shoe thread, £0 1s 3d

6 pounds of twine, £0 13s 0d

1 6 dozen of hooks sorted, £0 2s 8d

8 lined, £0 16s 0d

total, £0 13s 6d

total, £0 14s 3d

total, £0 15s 8d

Nails

22 pounds sorted, £0 16s 0d

2 pounds of 10 d nails, £0 1s 4d

4 pounds of 6 d, £0 3s 0d

4 pounds of 8 d, £0 3s 4d

total, £1 3s 8d

4 shoe knives, £0 3s 0d

7 butcher's of the same, £0 3s 6d

total, £0 9s 6d

1 wooden bowl, £0 1s 3d

2 quart caps, £0 2s 8d

total, £0 3s 11d

6 white dosuttis, £3 0s 0d

2 quilts at 12s 9d, £1 5s 6d

1 callimanco, number [...], £0 16s 0d

1 piece of Bengal taffeta, £0 16s 0d

3 yards of Norwich stuff, £0 4s 0d

5 yards of flannel, £0 9s 2d

1 pair of boys' shoes, £0 5s 6d

1 mended of the same, £2 11s 9d

total, £5 18s 10d

1 two-quart copper sauce pan, £0 10s 0d

2 tailor's thimbles, £0 0s 4d

1 pair of scissors, £0 0s 6d

total, £3 7s 3d

total, £0 0s 10d

Hosiery ware

3 dozen children's stockings, £0 3s 0d

1 boys' of the same, number 15, £0 16s 0d

5 of the same, £0 2s 0d

1 of the same, number 24, £0 19s 6d

13 sold of the same, £0 2s 1d

1 9 of the same, £0 2s 1d

total, £2 1s 7d

total, £211 14s 6½d

Interpretations

Dosuttis were a plain cotton cloth of Indian weave, sold by the piece among the staple India goods, and callimanco a glossy checked or striped woollen cloth used for gowns and waistcoats, while Bengal taffeta was a light Indian silk. Norwich stuff was a worsted cloth from Norwich, long the centre of the English worsted trade, and flannel a soft loosely woven woollen, both entered here by the yard among the imported stuffs.

A gimblet was a small boring tool for starting screw and nail holes, and tailor's thimbles the metal caps that guarded the finger in sewing, both among the trade tools sold from the store. The account closed the month's reckoning with the hardware, pewter, nails and footwear, each kind under its own head and carried to a final total of £211 14s 6½d, the whole checked against the store inventory before the council approved it.

279

175

Hosiers Ware &c

Brought ovr 211 14 6 1/2

Youths Stockings

1

7 1/2

ditto

2

5 -

ditto

2

7 -

Womens ditto

5

10 10

ditto

1

3 -

ditto

3

10 6

Mens ditto

2

8 -

ditto

1

4 2

Do a 4. 9d

5

1 3 9

Do 4. 11d

4

19 8

Do

1

5 9

Silk Do

1

12 -

7 13 7

Haberdashery Ware

Pair Stays

3

4 1 6

gold Breast Buttons

2 1/2

12 6

lb Coloured & Brown Thread

3 1/2

14 -

oz Thread a 1. 3d

8

10 -

Ditto a 1. 5d

6

1

Whited Brown Thread

1 4

16 6 3/4

Do N. 8

1/2

4 6

Do 7

1/2

3 7

Do 5

1 1/2

7 6

Needles

3 35

4 1 0 1/2

oz China Silk

16

16 1/2

Ordinary Silk Lace

1

5 -

Do Broad Holland Tape

9

6 3

Midling

5

6 8

Narrow ditto

1

6 -

Mr. Pins

1

9 1/4

Do 1. 4

4

5 4

Do 1. 8

1

1 8

Do 1. 9d

1 1/2

2 7 1/2

doz. Breast Mohair Butt.

8 1/2

4 3

Skains Mohair

8

3 4

Pair Womens Gloves

1

1 6

Yards Ferretting

4

1 -

Yards ditto

2

9

Ribbon

2

4 6

ditto

2

2 -

ditto

2

1 -

Yds Gartering

6

1 -

Do

3

9

11 6 4 3/4

230 14 6 1/4

Hosiery ware

Brought over, £211 14s 6½d

1 youths' stockings, £0 6s 7¼d

2 of the same, £0 5s 0d

2 of the same, £0 7s 0d

6 women's of the same, £0 10s 10d

1 of the same, £0 3s 0d

3 of the same, £0 10s 6d

2 men's of the same, £0 8s 2d

1 of the same, £0 4s 9d

5 of the same at 4s 9d, £1 3s 9d

4 of the same at 4s 11d, £0 19s 8d

1 of the same, £0 5s 9d

1 silk of the same, £0 1s 9d

total, £7 13s 7d

Haberdashery ware

3 pair of stays, £4 1s 6d

2 1/2 gold breast buttons, £0 12s 6d

3 1/2 pounds of coloured and brown thread, £0 14s 0d

8 ounces of thread at 1s 3d, £0 10s 0d

6 of the same at 1s 5d, £0 7s 1d

1 1/4 white and brown thread, £6 6s 3d

1/2 of the same, number 8, £0 4s 6d

1/2 of the same, number 7, £0 3s 7d

1 1/2 of the same, number 5, £0 16s 0d

1 325 needles, £0 4s 10½d

16 ounces of China silk, £0 16s 1½d

1 ordinary silk lace, £0 0s 5d

3 pieces of broad Holland tape, £0 6s 3d

5 middling, £0 6s 0d

1 narrow of the same, £0 0s 9d

1 thousand pins, £0 4s 1d

4 of the same at 1s 4d, £0 6s 4d

4 of the same at 1s 8d, £0 9s 8d

1 1/2 of the same at 1s 9d, £0 2s 7½d

8 1/2 dozen of breast mohair buttons, £0 4s 3d

8 hanks of mohair, £0 3s 4d

1 pair of women's gloves, £0 1s 6d

4 yards of ferreting, £0 1s 0d

2 yards of the same, £0 0s 9d

1 ribbon, £0 4s 6d

2 of the same, £0 2s 0d

2 of the same, £0 2s 0d

2 of the same, £0 1s 0d

6 yards of gartering, £0 1s 0d

3 of the same, £0 0s 9d

total, £11 6s 4¾d

total, £230 14s 6¼d

Interpretations

Mohair was a yarn or cloth made from the long silky hair of the Angora goat, the breast mohair buttons covered with it and the hanks of mohair sold for binding and trimming, while ferreting was a narrow stout tape of silk or cotton used for ties and edgings. Stays were the stiffened, boned bodices that shaped and supported a woman's dress, the three pair here the dearest line in the haberdashery at over £4.

Gold breast buttons were buttons covered or worked with gold thread for the front of a coat or waistcoat, a costly trimming entered beside the plainer thread and mohair buttons of common wear. The account closed the month's reckoning with the hosiery and haberdashery, the stockings, threads, needles, pins, buttons and trimmings each set out by kind and carried to a final total of £230 14s 6¼d, the whole checked against the store inventory before approval.

280

176

Diet Expences Dr

230 14 6 1/2

Hogshead Beer

1

4 14 6

lb Sugar

3 6 8

9 4 -

Gall Vinegar

3 1/4

13 -

Bottles Florence Oyle

3

1 2 6

lb Pepper

2

2 -

Cask Beefe

1

14 12 -

Ditto Suet

1

6 6 -

ditto Bread

1

5 12 -

ditto Flower

1

4 4 -

46 10 -

Genl. Charges Dr

China Bowles

12

1 10 -

Quart Glass Decanteurs

3

6 -

Large Glasses

6

9 -

Stock Lock N 7

1

10 -

Staple

1

6

Helve

1

1 -

Do Blew

1

11 6

Saucers

2

10 -

lb Soap

25

15 5

large Frey

1

4 6

Seives

2

5 -

Plate Lock N. 4

1

6 6

Large Blankets

3

7 6

ditto Quilts

3

6 6 -

Quart Tin Sauce pans

2

2 -

lb Tobacco

16

4 -

Pipes

6

3

Gross Forks

5

15 -

lb Bohea Tea

3

18 -

1 17 3

Horn book

1

4

China Plates

24

1 4 -

1 4 4

23 12 -

Garrison Dr

Coffee Green Tea

10

2 -

lb Rape Oyle

5 1/2

1 12 -

lb Twine

1

2 2

lb Coloured Thread

1

4 -

Large Splinter Locks

2

7 0 4

Chelloe Shirt

1

13 -

lb Arrack

3 1/2

3 2

Pipes

4

2

4 12 10

4 12 10

305 9 4 1/2

Diet expenses, debtor.

Brought over, £230 14s 6½d

1 hogshead of beer, £4 14s 6d

3 68 pounds of sugar, £9 4s 0d

3 1/4 gallons of vinegar, £0 13s 0d

3 bottles of Florence oil, £1 2s 6d

2 pounds of pepper, £0 2s 0d

1 cask of beef, £14 12s 0d

1 of the same, suet, £0 6s 6d

1 of the same, bread, £0 5s 12d

1 of the same, flour, £4 4s 0d

total, £46 10s 0d

General charges, debtor.

12 China bowls, £1 10s 0d

3 quart glass decanters, £0 6s 0d

6 large glasses, £0 9s 0d

1 stock lock, number 7, £0 10s 0d

1 staple, £0 0s 6d

1 sieve, £0 1s 0d

1 of the same, blue, £0 11s 6d

2 of the same, £0 10s 0d

2 saucers, £0 0s 0d

25 pounds of soap, £1 15s 5d

1 large frying pan, £0 4s 6d

2 sieves, £0 0s 5d

1 plate lock, number 4, £0 5s 6d

3 large blankets, £3 7s 6d

3 of the same, quilts, £6 6s 0d

2 two-quart tin sauce pans, £0 2s 0d

1 pound of tobacco, £0 0s 4d

6 pipes, £0 0s 3d

5 gross of corks, £0 15s 0d

3 pounds of Bohea tea, £0 18s 0d

total, £1 17s 3d

1 horn book, £0 0s 4d

24 China plates, £1 4s 0d

total, £1 4s 4d

total, £23 12s 0d

Garrison, debtor.

10 pounds of green tea, £2 0s 0d

5 1/2 gallons of rape oil, £1 12s 0d

1 pound of twine, £0 2s 2d

1 pound of coloured thread, £0 4s 0d

2 large splinter locks, £0 7s 4d

1 chelloe shirt, £0 13s 0d

[...] of arrack, £0 3s 2d

4 pipes, £0 0s 2d

total, £4 12s 10d

total, £305 9s 4½d

Interpretations

A hogshead was a large cask holding about fifty-four gallons, so the single hogshead of beer was a bulk purchase for the Company's table, entered at the head of the diet expenses. A horn book was a child's first reading tablet, a printed sheet of the alphabet and the Lord's Prayer mounted on a board and covered with a thin sheet of translucent horn, the single cheap item bought here for teaching.

The account divided the Company's own consumption among its standing heads, the diet expenses, the general charges and the garrison each entered as a separate debtor and carried to a combined total of £305 9s 4½d. Charging the goods to the head that used them let the council read the cost of feeding its table, furnishing its house and supplying its soldiers apart, the whole checked against the store inventory before approval.

281

177

Febry.

The Great Wood

Brought over 305 9 4 1/2

Shod Shovells a 2. 6

15

3 - -

Sugar Do a 2. 6

9

3 - -

Helves

2 4

1 4 -

Small Spades

6

19 6

5 3 6

Fortification Dr

lb 4d Nailes

13 8

10 10 -

lb 6d Do

14

10 6 -

lb 10d Do

14

9 4

lb 20d Do

8

5 -

lb Tack

2

3 4

1 19 -

Rimb Coile N. 5

1

3 -

Quart Sweet Oyle

1

1 6

Do Rape Oyll

1

1 6

Gallon Linseed Do

1

8 -

12 6

Barrells Lamb Black

6

3 -

Iron Ware

Gimblets

2

8

Cupboard Locks N. 3

2

1 10

Do N. 5

2

8 -

Chest Lock

1

16 -

Brass Lock

1

2 2

Stock Lock N 1

1

12 -

Do hinges

4

8 8

Do

3

3 8

Rimt. Lock brass knob

1

7 6

Iron Maule wt. 16 lb

1

12 -

Helves

2

2 -

Trowell

1

2 6

5 14 10

Plantation Dr

Galls Rape Oyle

4 1/2

1 4 -

Saw N. 2

1

1 -

Pruning knife

1

1 2

Wooden Bowl

1

1 3

Hoes N. 3

3

10 6

Large Citasoe

3

19 6

Sugar Shovells

2

3 -

Whetstone

1

3 6

Butchers Knives

6

3 -

Cask Kidney beans qt. 2 Bush

1

2 1 4

Bread a 8 Bushe

1

5 4 -

Golden Bran 6 Bushe

1

4 11 6

15 4 9

334 12 5 1/4

The Great Wood, debtor.

Brought over, £305 9s 4½d

15 shod shovels at 2s 6d, £3 0s 0d

9 sugar of the same at 2s 6d, £3 0s 0d

2 4 helves, £1 4s 0d

6 small spades, £0 19s 6d

total, £5 3s 6d

Fortification, debtor.

13 pounds of 4 d nails, £0 10s 10d

14 pounds of 6 d of the same, £0 10s 6d

14 pounds of 10 d of the same, £0 9s 4d

8 pounds of 20 d of the same, £0 5s 0d

2 pounds of tacks, £0 3s 4d

total, £1 19s 0d

1 grim coil, number 5, £0 3s 0d

1 quart of sweet oil, £0 1s 6d

1 of the same, rape oil, £0 1s 6d

1 gallon of linseed of the same, £0 8s 0d

total, £0 5s 6d

6 barrels of lamp black, £0 3s 0d

total, £0 12s 6d

Ironware

2 gimblets, £0 0s 8d

2 cupboard locks, number 3, £0 1s 10d

2 of the same, number 5, £0 0s 8d

1 chest lock, £0 16s 0d

1 brass lock, £0 2s 2d

1 stock lock, number 1, £0 19s 0d

4 of the same, hinges, £0 8s 8d

2 of the same, £0 2s 8d

1 brimstone lock, brass knob, £0 7s 6d

1 iron maul, weight 16 pounds, £0 13s 0d

2 helves, £0 2s 0d

1 trowel, £0 2s 6d

total, £5 14s 10d

Plantation, debtor.

4 1/2 gallons of rape oil, £1 4s 0d

1 sieve, number 3, £0 1s 0d

1 pruning knife, £0 1s 2d

1 wooden bowl, £0 1s 3d

3 of the same, number 3, £0 10s 6d

3 large cisterns, £0 19s 6d

2 sugar shovels, £0 5s 0d

1 whetstone, £0 3s 6d

6 butcher's knives, £0 3s 0d

1 cask of kidney beans at 2 bushels, £2 1s 4d

1 of the same, peas at 8 bushels, £5 4s 0d

1 of the same, golden beans at 6 bushels, £4 11s 6d

total, £15 4s 9d

total, £334 12s 5¼d

Interpretations

A helve was the wooden handle or haft fitted to an axe, maul or shovel, sold separately so a worn tool could be re-hung, while a whetstone was the shaped stone for sharpening knives and edged tools. Brimstone was sulphur, and a brimstone lock perhaps a lock so named for its yellow brass colour, entered with the chest and cupboard locks among the fort's ironware.

The account divided the Company's consumption among its working heads, the Great Wood, the fortifications and the plantation each entered as a separate debtor and carried to a combined total of £334 12s 5¼d. Charging the tools, locks, oils and provisions to the head that used them let the council read the cost of clearing and planting the wood, maintaining the fort and running the plantation apart, the whole checked against the store inventory before approval.

282

178

The Honble Comps. Blacks

B over 334 12 5 1/4

lb Rice Expended from the 25th & to 25th Janry as appears by ye Standd. accot.

21 0 6 2

390 6 19

Casks Beefe

3

29 6 -

Large Blankets

82

9 4 -

lb Yards Kersey

88 1/2

8 2 4

Co Blew Gurhass

3

1 17 6

lb Coloured Thread

1

4 6

lb Rope

7 6

17 6

Midling Blanket

1

9 6

Chelloe Shirt

1

3 -

lb Twine

2

4 4

Co Coarse Tape

1

3 6

oz China Silk

1/2

6

doz Hooks Sorted

23

13 3

Lined ditto

20

16 -

443 2 3

Mr French deliverd an Accot. of Gunrs. Do

Stores Expended in the Month of Janry 1723 vizt

77 7 14 8 1/2

an Alarm

1

4 - - 4 4 lb

Arrived the Barrington Capt. Hunter for the Barrington

3

11 - - 11 11

For the Govrs. coming on Shore from on board

9 1

9 9

Departed the Barrington for England

7

4 - - 4 4

an Alarm

7

21 6 4 11 69

Arrived the Salisbury Man of Warr

8

19 1 4 14 37

For the Captains coming on Shore

12

4 - 4 4

an Alarm for a Ship that past by

13

34 1 4 29 53

Departed the Salisbury & Stankope for Engl.

27

6 - - 6 6

A double Alarm

28

22 - 1 21 26

Arrived ye Carnarvon Capt. Thwaite & Cardigan Capt. Hambly

Deliverd Tho. allis to alarm Sandy Bay

1

For the Expences of the Guard

12

143 8 13 122 243

Flints

3d

Cartridge Paper for making of Falcon

2 Quire

Cartridges

1 Do

Ditto for the Guards Expence

21 lb

Match

Margin Notes:

Janry.

Gunrs. Acct.

for Janry.

The Honourable Company's blacks, debtor.

Brought over, £334 12s 5¼d

2,106 1/2 pounds of rice expended from the 25 January to the 24 January as appears by the blanket account, 390 6s 10d

2 large blankets, £0 9s 0d

8 large blankets, £0 9s 4d

8 8 1/2 yards of kersey, £8 2s 4d

3 pieces of blue gurrahs, £1 17s 6d

1 pound of coloured thread, £0 4s 6d

75 pounds of rope, £0 17s 6d

1 middling blanket, £0 9s 6d

1 chelloe shirt, £0 3s 4d

2 pounds of twine, £0 4s 4d

1 of the same, coarse tape, £0 3s 6d

1/2 ounce of China silk, £0 0s 6d

23 dozen hooks sorted, £0 13s 3d

20 lined of the same, £0 16s 0d

total, £443 2s 3d

total, £777 14s 8½d

Mr French delivered an account of the gunner's stores expended in the month of January. The columns ran under the heads guns, demi-culverin, faulchers and [...] brought down.

1 January, an alarm, 4 brought down

2 January, arrived the Barrington, Captain Hunter, 4 guns, 4 faulchers, 4 brought down

2 January, for the Barrington coming on shore from on board, 4 demi-culverin, 4 faulchers, 4 brought down

2 January, departed the Barrington for England, 4 guns, 4 faulchers, 4 brought down

7 January, an alarm, 4 brought down

7 January, arrived the Salisbury man of war, 21 guns, 6 demi-culverin, 4 faulchers, 11 brought down, 69 cash

8 January, for the captains coming on shore, 19 guns, 1 demi-culverin, 4 faulchers, 14 brought down, 37 cash

12 January, an alarm for a ship that passed by, 4 guns, 4 faulchers, 4 brought down

13 January, departed the Salisbury and Stanhope for England, 34 guns, 1 demi-culverin, 4 faulchers, 29 brought down, 52 cash

27 January, a double alarm, 6 guns, 6 brought down

28 January, arrived the Carnarvon, Captain Thwaits, and Cardigan, Captain Hambly, 22 guns, 1 demi-culverin, 21 faulchers, 26 brought down

delivered Thomas Allis to alarm Sandy Bay, 1 brought down

for the expense of the guard, 12 brought down

total, 143 guns, 8 demi-culverin, 13 faulchers, 122 brought down, 243 cash

flints, 30

cartridge paper for making of falcon cartridges, 2 quires

the same for the guard's expense, 1 quire

match, 21 pounds

Interpretations

A falcon was a light field gun firing a shot of about two and a half pounds, and the gunner drew cartridge paper to make up its powder charges, the falcon and the demi-culverin each served from the magazine alongside the great guns and the smaller faulchers. The rice expended on the slaves was reckoned by a separate blanket account, the running record of the food and clothing issued to the Company's blacks, the 2,106 1/2 pounds set against the cloth, blankets and shoes that made up their standing supply.

The gunner's account ran by the salutes and alarms of the month, the powder spent on each occasion entered against its date and carried into columns for the guns, the demi-culverin and the faulchers. The arrivals and departures of the season's ships dominated the reckoning, the Barrington, the Salisbury man of war, the Stanhope, the Carnarvon and the Cardigan each answered with its salute, the ceremonial powder kept distinct from that issued for the alarms and the ordinary guard.

283

179

Febry.

Mr Byfeld deliverd an accot. of the Honble Comp:s

Stock off Neat Cattle Sheep Goates Hogs Poultry

Asses & Horses, Likewise what has been Expended to

Ships besides the Increase or Decrease for the Month

of January 1723

Neat Cattle Sheep Goates Hogs Poultry Ass. Horse

Bullocks Cows Heifers Steers Yearlings Calves Bulls Totall Ewes Weathers Lamb Rams Totall Ewes Weathers Kidds Rams Totall Sows Shoates Boars Pig Totall Turkey Fowles Ducks Pege Asses Horses Mares Totall

Remr. Ult: Decr. 56 49 26 16 3 55 6 210 37 10 18 3 68 151 36 27 8 222 7 6 2 17 32 48 103 25 16 7 4 2 6

Killed in Janry 1 - 1 - - 1 - 8 1 - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - 3 3 - 9 - 3 - - - 1 -

54 49 25 16 3 54 6 207 36 10 18 3 67 151 36 27 8 222 7 6 2 14 29 48 94 25 13 7 4 2 6

Sold to Ship in Do 3 3 2 - - - - 8 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

51 46 23 16 3 54 6 199 36 10 18 3 67 151 36 27 8 222 7 6 2 14 29 48 94 25 13 7 4 2 6

Dead in ditto 2 2 - - - 8 - 12 - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 2 - 9 5 - - 4 1 - - - -

Remr. ult: Janry 49 44 23 16 3 46 6 187 36 10 18 3 67 151 36 27 8 222 6 4 2 12 24 48 94 21 12 7 4 2 6

Yams Expended at the Several Plantations 18750

Do. Deliverd to the Fort Blacks 13560 lb

Totall Yamms 32310

Jno Alexander John Smith

Jno Goodwin Edward Byfeld

Margin Notes:

Mr Byfelds Accot. of

the Stock & Live

Stock &c. for Janry.

Mr Byfield delivered an account of the Honourable Company's stock of neat cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, asses and horses, and likewise what had been expended to the ships, besides the increase or decrease for the month of January 1724. The columns ran under the same classes as before. Neat cattle were counted as bullocks, cows, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves, bulls and total. Sheep were counted as ewes, wethers, lambs, rams and total. Goats were counted as ewes, wethers, kids, rams and total. Hogs were counted as sows, shoats, boars, pigs and total. Poultry were counted as turkeys, fowls, ducks and geese, with asses, horses, mares and total following.

From the last account of December:

neat cattle: 56 bullocks, 49 cows, 26 heifers, 16 steers, 3 yearlings, 55 calves, 6 bulls, total 210

sheep: 37 ewes, 10 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 68

goats: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222

hogs: 7 sows, 6 shoats, 2 boars, 17 pigs, total 32

poultry: 48 turkeys, 103 fowls, 25 ducks, 16 geese

asses 7, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Killed in January:

neat cattle: 1 bullock, 1 heifer, 1 calf, total 3 (less 1)

sheep: 1 ewe, total 1

hogs: 3 boars, 3 pigs

poultry: 9 fowls, 3 ducks

Standing total after the killed:

neat cattle: 54 bullocks, 49 cows, 25 heifers, 16 steers, 3 yearlings, 54 calves, 6 bulls, total 207

sheep: 36 ewes, 10 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 67

goats: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222

hogs: 7 sows, 6 shoats, 2 boars, 14 pigs, total 29

poultry: 48 turkeys, 94 fowls, 25 ducks, 13 geese

asses 7, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Sold to the ship in January:

neat cattle: 3 bullocks, 3 cows, 2 heifers, total 8

hogs: nil

Standing total after the sale:

neat cattle: 51 bullocks, 46 cows, 23 heifers, 16 steers, 3 yearlings, 54 calves, 6 bulls, total 199

sheep: 36 ewes, 10 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 67

goats: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222

hogs: 7 sows, 6 shoats, 2 boars, 14 pigs, total 29

poultry: 48 turkeys, 94 fowls, 25 ducks, 13 geese

asses 7, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Dead in January:

neat cattle: 2 bullocks, 2 cows, total 4 (less 12)

hogs: 1 sow, 2 boars, 5 pigs

poultry: 4 ducks, 1 goose

From the last account of January:

neat cattle: 49 bullocks, 44 cows, 23 heifers, 16 steers, 3 yearlings, 46 calves, 6 bulls, total 187

sheep: 36 ewes, 10 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 67

goats: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222

hogs: 6 sows, 4 shoats, 2 boars, 12 pigs, total 24

poultry: 48 turkeys, 94 fowls, 21 ducks, 12 geese

asses 7, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Yams expended at the several plantations, 18,750

The same delivered to the Fort blacks, 13,560

total yams, 32,310

The account was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The live-stock account ran as a running balance through January, opening with the December stock, then subtracting in turn the beasts killed for the table, those sold to the ships and those dead of natural causes, each loss kept in its own row. The herds fell sharply through the month, the bullocks down from 56 to 49 and the cows from 49 to 44, the drought-thinned stock meeting the demands of the table, the homeward shipping and a heavy toll of natural death together.

The yams were reckoned in a separate tally at the foot of the account, divided between the 18,750 pounds expended at the several plantations and the 13,560 delivered to the Fort blacks, a total of 32,310. Setting the slaves' yam ration apart from the plantation's own use let the council watch the drain on the staple crop, the figures pressing on the same scarcity that had already forced the cut in the slaves' allowance to forty pounds a fortnight.

284

180

Island St. Helena

At a Consultation Held on -

Tuesday the 18th day of Febry 1723. At Union

Castle in James Valley.

John Smith Esqr. Govr.

Edw. Byfeld 2d

Pres. Jno. Alexander 3d &

Jno. Goodwin 4th

The Last Consultation read & Approved on.

The following Petition of James Ryder planter

on the behalf of the Orphans of Daniel Griffith

decd. was presented.

Setting forth that the Said Orphans had formerly

a grant and Lease for a Small Parcell of the Honble

Comp:cs Wast Land, lying at the foot of Peak Hill -

Next to the Purslain Beds where being about two -

or 3 Acres more of the Said Honble Comp:cs Wast Land

which would be a very good Addition to the Said

former grant and a very great Prejudice to the Said

Orphans if granted to any other person, They therefore

Prays they may become Tennants to the Honble:

Comp:cs for about 2 or 3 Acres above mentioned.

Granted And Ordered that the Said Land be -

measured and a Lease made out for 21 years to -

Commence from the 25 day of March next Ensuing

at the Usual Rent of four Shillings p Acre Besides

one Shilling duty.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin

Island.

Margin Notes:

James Ryder

on behalf of

Griffiths Orph:

Prays to Hire

2 or 3 Acres of

Land.

Granted with the

Consequent Off

of a Lease.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 18 February 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

James Ryder, planter, on behalf of the orphans of Daniel Griffith deceased, presented the following petition. He set out that the orphans had formerly held a grant and lease of a small parcel of the Company's waste land at the foot of Peak Hill next to the Purslane Beds, and that about two or three acres more of the Company's waste land lay beside it. This would be a good addition to their former grant but a great harm to the orphans if granted to anyone else. He therefore asked, on their behalf, that they be made tenants to the Company for the two or three acres mentioned.

The council granted the petition and ordered the land measured and a lease made out for twenty-one years, to begin on 25 March next, at the usual rent of four shillings an acre besides one shilling duty.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island

Interpretations

Letting the land to the orphans rather than to a stranger protected their existing holding, the new parcel adjoining their former grant so that another tenant on it would have hemmed them in. Granting it to the orphans secured the addition to their plantation and kept the surrounding ground in friendly hands, the council weighing the harm to the children against any rival claim.

The lease ran for twenty-one years from the 25 March quarter day at the standing rent of four shillings an acre with a shilling duty, the usual terms on which the Company let its waste land. Fixing the commencement to the spring quarter and the term to twenty-one years gave the orphans a secure tenure long enough to improve the ground, the rent and duty set at the customary rate applied to every such grant.

285

181

Febry.

Island St. Helena

At a Consultation Held on -

Tuesday the 25th day of Febry 1723. At Union -

Castle in James Valley.

John Smith Esqr. Govr.

Pres. Edwd. Byfeld 2d

Jno. Alexander 3d &

Jno. Goodwin 4th

The Last Consultation read & approved on.

On Saturday the 22 Just Arrived the Ship -

Craggs Capt. Caleb Grantham Comander from Mocho -

but last from the Cape

The two following Petitions were Present. Vizt

The Petition of Joseph Bates planter Setting forth -

that he being very desireous of Selling his free Land to -

any person that is minded to Purchase the same Humbly

prayd leave might be Granted him to Dispose of three

Leases his Predecessor had for 52 1/2 Acres of the Honble

Companys Lands Setituate in Sandy bay (& adjoyning

to his Said free Land) to Such a Tennant as Shall -

be approved of & admitted in his the Petitionr. stead.

And ye

Granted, Provided We approve of the Tennant -

that is willing to become the Petitioners Purchaser.

The Petition of Samuel Thornbrough Monkose

Setting forth therein that he haveing Served the Honble

Comp:cs here for about the Space of 14 Years. Humbly -

prays he may be Discharged the Service for that

he being a Tradesman, Conceives it will be more for

his Advantage to be thereout, than Continueing any longer

And ye

Febry 25th 1723.

Margin Notes:

Ship Craggs -

Arrivd. from

Mocho

India.

Jo. Bates Petr.

to Dispose of

Lease Land.

Granted on Condition

Saml. Thornbro

prays his discharge

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 25 February 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

On Saturday 22 February the ship Craggs arrived, Captain Caleb Grantham commander, from Mocha but last from the Cape.

The two following petitions were presented.

Joseph Bates, planter, petitioned, setting out that he wished to sell his freehold land to anyone minded to buy it, and asked leave to dispose of the leases his predecessor had held for 52 1/2 acres of the Company's land in Sandy Bay, adjoining his freehold, to any tenant who should be approved and admitted in his place.

The council granted the petition, provided it approved the tenant willing to become the purchaser.

Samuel Thornbrough, workman, petitioned, setting out that he had served the Company for about fourteen years and asked to be discharged from the service, being a tradesman who thought it would be more to his advantage than continuing any longer.

The petition was dated 25 February 1724.

Interpretations

The leasehold passed with the freehold only by the council's leave, the Company holding the reversion of its let lands so that any new tenant of the 52 1/2 acres needed its approval before he could take Bates's place. Allowing the sale on condition that the council approved the purchaser let Bates realise his holding while the Company kept its check on who occupied its ground, the two interests reconciled by making the grant conditional.

A workman's discharge likewise rested with the council, the Company's tradesmen bound to its service for fixed terms so that Thornbrough, after fourteen years, had to petition for release. His plea that he could do better as an independent tradesman than as a Company servant reflected the limited rewards of the establishment's wages, the request left for the council to weigh against its need for skilled hands.

286

182

The Said Petitioner is Answered that he being -

Indebted to Several of the Inhabitants and he haveing

nothing to make them any Satisfaction besides his -

Saltery and that if We Should Discharge him there would

be daily Clamouring among them. We therefore dont

think it fitt to grant his Petition.

Mr Crisp brought In and Deliverd his Accot. of the -

Genl. Table Expence for the month of Janry last, which was

Examind, approved, & is as follows.

Peices Salt Beef at 2/6 each

28

2 15 -

Pr. Salt Porke a 2/10 ea.

29

4 2 2

Gallons Arrack a 6/4 p Gall.

8 1/2

27 11 -

Bread a 1/3 p lb

19 1

2 8 3

Sugar a 1/6 p lb

44

3 18 6

flower a 1/3 p lb

6 9

15 -

fresh Beefe a 25 p Cwt

438

5 9 6

Veale a 6d. p lb

97

2 7 6

Sheep

1

1 4

Piggs

3

18

Geese

3

18

fowles a 1/6 ea.

84

6 12

fresh Butter

9 2

Bottles Milk

64

1 11

days Greens a 1/ ea.

31

3 4

Eggs at

40

3 -

Pepper

3

13

Gall. Vinegar

3 1/4

8 6

Bottles florence Oyle

3

Bottles Mountain

83

Bottles Galicia

116

Bottles Small Beer

228

Bottles Strong Beer

7

64 8 2

Memorand. The large Expence of Wine and Beer and Arrack

was Occasiond by the Arrivall of the Salisbury, -

Stankope, and Barrington

T. Crispe

Orderd

Margin Notes:

reasons why

not granted.

Genl. Table

Expence for

Janry.

Memorand.

Occasion of large

Expence of Liquor

The council answered Thornbrough that, being indebted to several of the inhabitants and having nothing but his salary to satisfy them, his discharge would set them daily clamouring among themselves, and so the council did not think fit to grant his petition.

Mr Crispe brought in and delivered his account of the General Table expense for the month of January, examined and approved as follows.

General Table expense for January.

28 pieces of salt beef at 2s 6d each, £2 15s 0d

29 pieces of salt pork at 2s 10d each, £4 2s 2d

84 1/2 gallons of arrack at 6s 4d the gallon, £27 11s 0d

19 9 pounds of bread at 3d the pound, £2 8s 3d

45 pounds of sugar at 6d the pound, £3 18s 6d

69 pounds of flour at 3d the pound, £0 15s 0d

438 pounds of fresh beef at 2s 6d the hundredweight, £5 9s 6d

97 pounds of veal at 6d the pound, £2 7s 6d

4 sheep, £1 4s 0d

3 pigs, £0 18s 0d

3 geese, £0 18s 0d

84 fowls at 1s 6d each, £6 12s 0d

[...] fresh butter, £1 9s 2d

6 2 bottles of milk, £1 11s 0d

31 days of greens at 1s the day, £3 4s 0d

40 eggs at [...], £0 3s 0d

3 pounds of pepper, £0 13s 0d

3 1/2 gallons of vinegar, £1 8s 6d

3 bottles of Florence oil

83 bottles of Mountain

116 bottles of Galicia

228 bottles of small beer

7 bottles of strong beer

total, £64 8s 2d

The large expense of wine, beer and arrack was occasioned by the arrival of the Salisbury, Stanhope and Barrington. Signed Duke Crispe.

Interpretations

The council refused Thornbrough's discharge not for want of his skill but for his debts, fearing that to release an indebted man would leave his creditors among the inhabitants unpaid and complaining. Holding a servant to his service until his debts were cleared used the Company's wages as a guarantee to the islanders he owed, the establishment standing surety for its workmen so long as it kept them.

The note explaining the heavy charge for drink shows the account was read closely enough to call for a reason, the arrival of three ships at once drawing officers and visitors to the Company's table. Recording that the wine, beer and arrack rose with the coming of the Salisbury, Stanhope and Barrington let the council account for an unusual month against the ordinary run of the table, the explanation entered under the storekeeper's hand so the figure could be understood when the books were reviewed.

287

183

Febry.

Ordered That Mr. Coulthred be Ordered -

to goe for England by this Ship Craggs now in -

the road.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwing

Island St. Helena

At a Consultation Held on Tues-

day the 4th day of March 1723. At Union -

Castle in James Valley.

Jno. Smith Esqr. Govr.

Pres. Edwd. Byfeld 2d

Jno. Alexander 3d &

Jno. Goodwin 4th in Counc.

The Last Consultation read & approved on.

On Saturday Evening last Sailed hence for Great -

Brittain the Craggs Capt. Grantham Comander

The Same Evening Just as the Craggs was away

We had an Alarme for One Ship to the Windward -

of the Island about Seven leagues off.

The next morning about nine a Clock arrived the

Ship King George Capt. John Houghton Comander -

from Bombay, who brought us only a Couple of -

Rogues from thence One being a Portuguize that -

was found Guilty of Murder, and the other a Coffee -

Chargd with several Misdemeanors.

This Portuguize fellow being so great a rogue

and found Guilty of so Horrid a Crime as Murder the

Govr.

Margin Notes:

Mr. Coulthred to take

Passage on ye Craggs

Memorand. thus farr is

Copyd & Sent to England per

Ship Craggs Capt. Grantham

Comander.

Craggs Departure

an Alarm ye Same

Evening.

Ship King George

Arrivd from

Bombay, & brot.

only 2 Offenders

One Guilty of

Murder

The council ordered that Mr Coulthred be required to go for England by the ship Craggs, now in the road.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

This far has been copied and sent to England by the ship Craggs, Captain Grantham commander.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 4 March 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth in council.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

On Saturday evening the Craggs, Captain Grantham commander, sailed for Great Britain. As she was leaving, the council had an alarm for a single ship to windward, about seven leagues off.

The next morning around nine o'clock the King George arrived, Captain John Houghton commander, from Bombay. She carried only two prisoners, one a Portuguese convicted of murder and the other an African charged with various offences.

The Portuguese prisoner, having committed so grave a crime [...]

Interpretations

The order putting Coulthred aboard the Craggs carried out the decision to send the dismissed brewer home, his slander of the inhabitants' womenfolk and refusal to recant ending in expulsion from the island. Sending him on the first homeward ship removed a man the council could no longer hold useful, the matter closed by his departure rather than by any further punishment on the spot.

The African prisoner, brought from Bombay charged with several offences, was carried to St Helena alongside the condemned Portuguese for the island to deal with. The arrival of two prisoners aboard the King George shows the island serving as a place of confinement and trial for offenders from the Company's eastern settlements, the council taking up the murderer's case as the next business before it.

288

184

It would be of very ill Consequence to keep him here

where are Already too many Blacks that are to apt

of themselves to doe Mischeif We have Prevaild on

Capt. Houghton to carry him on in the Ship, and

the Coffee fellow We will Employ in Our Honourable

Masters Service the best we can to reclaim him, -

and to keep a Strict Eye over him.

We being Credibly informd that the Grass in the Great Wood

(for the Preservation of which We lately Published two -

Advertizements) is now very well grown & become -

good Pasturage for Cattle.

Ordered That an Advertizement be Issued -

out today, to give Notice that all Persons have Liberty -

to turne their Neat Cattle into the Said Great Wood

as Usual But that no Person whatsoever do presume

to turne in or drive any Hoggs there till farther Order

for that they do great Hurt & Damage by rooking up

the Grass, and round the roots of the trees, which Causes

them Sometimes to fall & decay, in great Numbers &c

which has a tindancy to the Destruction of the whole

Mr Byfeld reports that a Black Wench of the -

Honble Companys Named Betty was Deliverd of a -

Boy Last week Named Harry.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island.

Margin Notes:

ill Consequence

to reteive him

if Continued -

on Board.

Grass well

grown in the

Great Wood.

Liberty for

only Neat

Cattle to be

Drove therein.

a Black boy

Born.

Keeping the murderer on the island would be most unwise, the council held, since there were already too many slaves there inclined to do mischief. It therefore arranged for Captain Houghton to carry him on aboard his ship. The African it would employ in the Company's service, doing its best to reform him and keeping a strict watch over him.

The council, reliably informed that the grass in the Great Wood, for the protection of which it had lately published two advertisements, was now well grown and made good pasture for cattle, ordered an advertisement issued that day. The notice gave all persons leave to turn their cattle into the Great Wood as usual, but forbade anyone to turn in or drive any hogs there until further order, since the hogs did great harm by rooting up the grass and the roots of the trees, which caused them sometimes to fall and decay in great numbers, tending to the destruction of the whole wood.

Mr Byfield reported that a slave woman of the Honourable Company named Betty had been delivered of a boy last week named Harry.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island

Interpretations

The council declined to keep the convicted murderer on the island for fear of his influence among a slave population it already thought too ready for mischief, choosing instead to send him on rather than confine him. The African it kept, putting him to work in the Company's service under close watch in the hope of reforming him, the two prisoners handled differently according to the danger each was thought to pose.

The order reopening the Great Wood to cattle while still barring hogs shows the council distinguishing between kinds of grazing stock by the harm they did to the recovering timber. Cattle cropped the grass without lasting damage, but hogs rooted up both the turf and the tree roots, loosening and killing the young growth, so the wood was opened to the one and kept closed to the other to let the trees the council had worked to protect come on.

289

185

March.

Island St. Helena.

At a Consultation held -

on Tuesday the 11th day of March 1723. At Union

Castle in James Valley.

Jno. Smith Esqr. Govr.

Pres. Edwd. Byfeld 2d

Jno. Alexander 3d &

Jno. Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approved on.

On the 7th Just an Advertizement was Published -

to Contradict that of the 5th of the same month, for -

that the Governr. and two of the Gentlem:n of the

Council was in the Great Wood the day before, and

found (to their Great Surprize) the Information given

of the Grass in the Said great Wood which was reported

to be well grown & good Pasturage to be Misrepresent-

ed and therefore twas thought Convenient to Enjoyne

all Persons to fetch their Cattle thereout, and none

to turne in any more, till farther Notice, that the

Grass may have more time to grow.

Orderd That an Advertizement be Issued out

for all the Inhabitants to bring In an Acco: of their

families, Lands & Cattle for the Year 1723 between

this, and the 22d Instant, in Order of Transmitting

the same to Our Honble Masters by this Summer

Shiping.

Likewise Ordered that an Acco: be taken -

of all the Honble Companys live Stock as Soone as

Possible in Order of Sending the same home as

aforesaid, & And that Mr. Powell Mr. Wrangham,

And

Margin Notes:

Miss information to

of ye Pasturage

in ye Gt. wood.

Cattle to be fetcht

thereout

Inhabt. Accots. to

be brought in of

families

Acco: to be taken

of ye Honble Co.

live Stock.

Island of St Helena.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 11 March 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

On 7 March an advertisement was published to contradict the one of the 5th of the same month. The Governor and two of the council had been in the Great Wood the day before and found, to their great surprise, that the report of the grass being well grown and good pasture had been misrepresented. The council therefore thought it convenient to require all persons to fetch their cattle out of the wood and to turn none more in until further notice, so that the grass might have more time to grow.

The council ordered an advertisement issued requiring all the inhabitants to bring in an account of their families, lands and cattle for the year 1724 between then and 22 March, so that the same might be sent to the directors by this summer's shipping.

The council likewise ordered an account taken of all the Honourable Company's live stock as soon as possible, to be sent home in the same way, and that Mr Powell and Mr Wrangham [...]

Interpretations

The reversal turned on the Governor's own inspection, his visit to the Great Wood showing the earlier report of good pasture to be false, so the council withdrew the notice opening the wood and closed it again to grazing. Correcting one advertisement with another within days shows the council acting on first-hand observation over second-hand information, the timber's recovery weighed against the inhabitants' wish for pasture and decided in the wood's favour once the true state was seen.

The call for accounts of the inhabitants' families, lands and cattle, and of the Company's own live stock, was a periodic census taken so the directors could be sent a full return of the island's strength by the summer ships. Gathering both the settlers' holdings and the Company's stock at once gave the directors a complete picture of the colony's people and resources, the kind of yearly reckoning by which a distant proprietor kept account of a remote and dependent settlement.

290

186

and Mr. Johnson be Desired to goe with Capt. Byfeld

in takeing the Said Account.

It is agreed and Ordered That from and after

this time all the Honble Companys live Stock be -

Marked in their Proper Mark, at or within the Age

of three weeks after fallen.

Capt. Edwd. Byfeld brought in & deliverd his Accot. of the Honble

Comp:cs live Stock & Expence for the month of Febry last, wch.

was Examind, approved, and is as follows.

Accot. of the Honble Comp:cs live Stock of Neat Cattle Sheep, Goats, Hoggs,

Poultry, Asses, & Horses Likewise what has been Killd & sold to Ships,

besides the Increase or Decrease for the Month of Febry 1723. (Vizt.)

Neat Cattle Sheep Goats Hogs Poultry Ass. Horse

Bullocks Cows Heifers Steers Yearlings Calves Bulls Totall Ewes Wethers Lambs Rams Totall Ewes Wethers Kidds Rams Totall Sows Shoats Boars Pigs Totall Turkeys Fowles Ducks Geese Asses Horses Mares Totall

Remr. of Ult: Janry 49 44 23 16 3 46 6 187 36 10 18 3 67 151 36 27 8 222 6 4 2 12 24 48 94 21 12 7 4 2 6

Killd in Febry 1 - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6 - - - - - 1 -

48 44 23 16 3 46 6 186 36 10 18 3 67 151 36 27 8 222 6 4 2 12 24 48 88 21 12 7 4 2 6

Sold to Ships in ditto 11 3 2 - - - - 16 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

37 41 21 16 3 46 6 170 36 10 18 3 67 151 36 27 8 222 6 4 2 12 24 48 38 21 12 7 4 2 6

Dead in ditto 2 6 - - - - 9 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3 4 - 1 - - - - - -

Remr. ult: Febry 35 35 21 16 3 46 5 161 36 10 18 3 67 151 36 27 8 222 6 3 2 9 20 48 88 21 12 6 4 2 6

Yams Expended at the Sevl. Plantations 6600 lb

Ditto Deliverd to the Fort Blacks 4260

Totall Yamms 10860 lb

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Honble Co. live Stock to

be Markt. at

or within 3 weeks

aftr. fallen.

Honble Co. live Stock for

Febry.

The council desired Mr Johnson to go with Captain Byfield in taking the account.

It was agreed and ordered that from this time all the Honourable Company's live stock be marked with the Company's own mark at or within three weeks after being fallen.

Captain Edward Byfield brought in and delivered his account of the Honourable Company's live stock and the expense for the month of February, examined and approved as follows. The account set out the Company's stock of neat cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, asses and horses, with what had been killed and sold to ships, besides the increase or decrease for the month. The column headings ran under the same classes as before. Neat cattle were counted as bullocks, cows, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves, bulls and total. Sheep were counted as ewes, wethers, lambs, rams and total. Goats were counted as ewes, wethers, kids, rams and total. Hogs were counted as sows, shoats, boars, pigs and total. Poultry were counted as turkeys, fowls, ducks and geese, with asses, horses, mares and total following.

From the last account of January:

neat cattle: 49 bullocks, 44 cows, 23 heifers, 16 steers, 3 yearlings, 46 calves, 6 bulls, total 187

sheep: 36 ewes, 10 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 67

goats: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222

hogs: 6 sows, 4 shoats, 2 boars, 12 pigs, total 24

poultry: 48 turkeys, 94 fowls, 21 ducks, 12 geese

asses 7, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Killed in February:

neat cattle: 1 bullock, 1 calf, total 1

Standing total after the killed:

neat cattle: 48 bullocks, 44 cows, 23 heifers, 16 steers, 3 yearlings, 46 calves, 6 bulls, total 186

sheep: 36 ewes, 10 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 67

goats: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222

hogs: 6 sows, 4 shoats, 2 boars, 12 pigs, total 24

poultry: 48 turkeys, 88 fowls, 21 ducks, 12 geese

asses 7, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Sold to ships in February:

neat cattle: 11 bullocks, 3 cows, 2 heifers, total 16

Standing total after the sale:

neat cattle: 37 bullocks, 41 cows, 21 heifers, 16 steers, 3 yearlings, 46 calves, 6 bulls, total 170

sheep: 36 ewes, 10 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 67

goats: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222

hogs: 6 sows, 4 shoats, 2 boars, 12 pigs, total 24

poultry: 48 turkeys, 38 fowls, 21 ducks, 12 geese

asses 7, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Dead in February:

neat cattle: 2 bullocks, 6 cows, total 9

hogs: 1 boar, 3 pigs, 4 total

poultry: 1 fowl

From the last account of February:

neat cattle: 35 bullocks, 35 cows, 21 heifers, 16 steers, 3 yearlings, 46 calves, 5 bulls, total 161

sheep: 36 ewes, 10 wethers, 18 lambs, 3 rams, total 67

goats: 151 ewes, 36 wethers, 27 kids, 8 rams, total 222

hogs: 6 sows, 3 shoats, 2 boars, 9 pigs, total 20

poultry: 48 turkeys, 88 fowls, 21 ducks, 12 geese

asses 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Yams expended at the several plantations, 6,600

The same delivered to the Fort blacks, 4,260

total yams, 10,860

The account was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The order to brand every beast with the Company's mark within three weeks of its birth gave the establishment a means of telling its own stock from the islanders', the running balance of the live-stock account resting on a clear count of what belonged to the Company. Marking the young soon after they fell prevented disputes over ownership as the herds mingled on the open ranges, the same close control the council kept over the hides at slaughter extended to the living animals.

The live-stock account ran as a running balance through February, opening with the January stock, then subtracting the beasts killed for the table, the sixteen cattle sold to the homeward ships and those dead of natural causes. The herds fell heavily, the bullocks down from 49 to 35 as a large draught went to provision the shipping, the drought-thinned stock meeting the demands of the table, the ships and natural death together while the yam tally at the foot showed the parallel drain on the staple crop.

291

187

March.

Likewise Capt. Goodwin brought In and Deliver'd

his Collection of Store Goods, Sold & Deliver'd out in

the Said Month of Febury, which was Also Examind,

Approv'd, and is as follows.

Gallons Arrack a 6/4 p Gall

25 2 3/4

80 9

Sugar

7 20

18 -

Bread

2

98 9

Flower

6 2

15 6

16 4

Gall Vinegar

5

12 -

Bottle florence Oyle

1

7 6

Pints Sweet do

3

3 6 3/4

Gall Rape Oyle

4

1 4 4

2 7 3 3/4

Cutt Tobacco

5 4

5 8 -

doz. Pipes

61

10 11 1/2

Starch

8

6 -

6 18 11 1/2

Soape

5 2

3 13 8

Pepper

7

7 -

Sere Cas

4

8 -

Yards flannell

10

18 4

5 1 8

Yards Do

4

7 6

Peices Chelloe

5

3 7 6

Pr. Coursest long Cloth

2 4

2 10 -

Pr. Midlling

1 4

13 6

Pr. fine Ditto

1 1/2

3 3 -

4 13 10

Surat Chints

3

6 6 6

Maddrass Ditto

2

2 2 6

Pr. Allejarr

1

17 1

Do Ribbances No A

2

9 2

White Shirts

8

5 15 9

Pr. Cotten Stockings

2

5 -

Pr. White Devetees

2

5 -

Yards Corded Dimmittee

14

6 5 1/4

Fushians No 2

2

12 3 1/2

Do Crape

2

2 8

Razor

1

6 4 1/2

Pruning knife

1

5 6

Yards Dimmittee

2

4 8

Tinn Saucepans

2

6 8

ditto Coffee Pott

2

6 8

doz. Hooks Sorted

9

4 2

3 4

Lines No 10

1

1 4

Shoe thread

4

10 -

Skeyns Twine

3

6 -

Twine

2

4 4

Boys Hatt No 2

1

7 6

Brass Kettle

1

9 3

16 9

Curried Over £ 136 2 5 3/4

Margin Notes:

Store Goods for

Febry.

Captain Goodwin likewise brought in and delivered his collection of store goods sold and delivered out in the month of February, examined and approved as follows.

Store goods for February.

252 3/4 gallons of arrack at 6s 4d the gallon, £80 0s 9d

720 pounds of sugar, £18 0s 0d

2 pounds of bread, £0 6s 0d

total, £98 0s 9d

62 pounds of flour, £0 15s 6d

total, £0 16s 4d

5 gallons of vinegar, £0 12s 0d

1 bottle of Florence oil, £0 7s 6d

3 pints of sweet oil, £0 3s 6d

4 gallons of rape oil, £1 4s 4d

total, £2 7s 3¾d

54 pounds of cut tobacco, £5 8s 0d

61 dozen 11 pipes, £1 10s 11½d

8 pounds of starch, £0 6s 0d

total, £6 18s 11½d

52 pounds of soap, £3 13s 8d

7 pounds of pepper, £0 7s 0d

4 fine of the same, £0 18s 0d

total, £5 1s 8d

10 yards of flannel, £0 18s 4d

4 yards of the same, £0 7s 0d

5 pieces of chelloe, £3 7s 6d

total, £4 13s 10d

2 4 pieces of coarse long cloth, £2 10s 0d

1 1/2 piece middling, £0 13s 6d

1 1/2 piece fine of the same, £3 3s 0d

3 pieces of Surat chintz, £0 12s 0d

2 Madras of the same, £2 2s 6d

1 piece of allejars, £0 17s 1d

2 of the same, durants, number 4, £0 9s 2d

total, £6 6s 6d

8 white shirts, £1 0s 0d

2 pair of cotton stockings, £0 5s 0d

2 pieces of white dosuttis, £1 0s 0d

24 yards of corded dimothy, £0 6s 5d

2 fustians, number 2, £1 2s 3d

2 of the same, kersey, £0 2s 8d

total, £5 15s 9d

1 razor, £0 2s 8d

1 pruning knife, £0 5s 6d

2 yards of dimothy, £0 4s 8d

2 tin saucepans, £0 1s 8d

2 of the same, coffee pots, £0 1s 8d

9 dozen hooks sorted, £0 4s 2d

1 lined, number 10, £0 1s 4d

total, £2 6s 4½d

total, £0 5s 6d

4 pounds of shoe thread, £0 10s 0d

3 skeins of twine, £0 6s 0d

2 pounds of twine, £0 4s 4d

1 boys' hat, number 2, £0 7s 6d

1 brass kettle, £0 9s 3d

total, £15 10s 0d

total, £0 16s 9d

carried over, £136 2s 5¾d

Interpretations

Allejars were a striped cotton or mixed cotton-and-silk cloth of Indian weave, and Madras chintz a printed and painted cotton from Madras, both among the India piece goods carried west and sold by the piece, while corded dimothy was a stout ribbed cotton, a variant of dimity, used for stout clothing and bedding. Durant was a hard-wearing glazed woollen sometimes called everlasting, entered here by the piece among the imported stuffs.

The account ran the month's sales together across the trades, the spirits and provisions, the oils, the India and English cloths, the haberdashery and the hardware each gathered under its own head and carried over at £136 2s 5¾d. Grouping the goods by kind let the council read the month's sales class by class as the figures were checked against the store inventory, the same form kept from one monthly return to the next.

292

188

Brought Over £ 136 2 5 3/4

Barrell Lamb Black

1

6 -

Yards Durance

13

19 6

1 - -

China Ware vizt

Large Cupps

9

3 -

Small ditto

11

10

Cups and Saucers

12

6 -

Bowles

3

7 6

Sneakers

6

3 -

1 1 1

Pr. Stockings

1

4 -

ditto

2

8 4

ditto

2

9 10

ditto

1

5 2

ditto W. 17

2

4 4

ditto 18

1

3 -

ditto 19

2

7 -

2 2 3

Cupboard Lock

1

1 8

Plate Locks

2

3 8

Gimblet

1

4 -

5 8

lb 6d Nailes

4

3 4

6 4

lb 4d Do

4

Haberdashery Ware

Pair Mens Gloves

1

2 9

ditto

1

3 6

Womens ditto

2

5 -

oz Thread 1. 3

4

5 8

Do 1. 5

4

19 6

oz China Silk

12 1/2

19 10 1/2

Pr. Whited Brown thread N. 10

1 1/2

9 -

Do 8

1

2 6

Do 7

1/2

6 -

lb Cold & Brown Do

1 1/2

8 7 1/2

lb Whale Bone

3/4

3 6

Mr. Pins 1. 2

3

18 -

Do 1. 4

9

3 4

Do 1. 8

2

Yds Gartering

3

6

Do

2

1 6

6

Yds Ribbon

2

2 -

Do

4

4 -

Do

4

5 6

9 6

Do

3

1 9

Laces

3

5 3

Needles

3 50

Yards ferreting

3

1 1/2

Yards Do

6

9 1

Brought over, £136 2s 5¾d

1 barrel of lamp black, £0 0s 6d

13 yards of durant, £0 19s 6d

total, £1 0s 0d

China ware, viz.

9 large cups, £0 3s 0d

11 small of the same, £0 1s 10d

12 cups and saucers, £0 6s 0d

3 bowls, £0 7s 6d

6 sneakers, £0 3s 0d

total, £1 1s 0d

1 pair of stockings, £0 4s 0d

2 of the same, £0 8s 4d

2 of the same, £0 9s 10d

2 of the same, £0 5s 9d

1 of the same, £0 4s 4d

2 of the same, number 17, £0 3s 0d

1 of the same, number 18, £0 7s 0d

total, £2 2s 3d

2 of the same, number 19, £0 1s 8d

1 cupboard lock, £0 3s 8d

2 plate locks, £0 4s 0d

1 gimblet, £0 0s 0d

total, £5 8s 0d

4 pounds of 6 d nails, £0 3s 4d

4 pounds of 4 d of the same, £0 0s 0d

total, £6 4s 0d

Haberdashery ware

1 pair of men's gloves, £0 1s 9d

1 of the same, £0 8s 6d

2 women's of the same, £0 5s 0d

4 ounces of thread at 1s 3d, £0 5s 0d

4 of the same at 1s 5d, £0 5s 8d

12 1/2 ounces of China silk, £0 19s 6d

1 1/2 of white and brown thread, number 10, £0 19s 10½d

1 of the same, number 8, £0 9s 0d

1 of the same, £0 2s 6d

1/2 of the same, £0 0s 6d

1 1/2 of gold and brown of the same, £0 8s 7½d

3/4 pound of whalebone, £0 3s 6d

3 thousand pins at 1s 2d, £0 18s 0d

1 of the same at 1s 4d, £0 3s 4d

9 of the same at 1s 8d, £0 0s 6d

3 yards of gartering, £0 2s 0d

6 of the same, £0 0s 6d

2 yards of ribbon, £0 2s 0d

1 of the same, £0 4s 0d

4 of the same, £0 5s 6d

3 of the same, £0 9s 6d

3 laces, £0 1s 9d

350 needles, £0 5s 3d

3 yards of ferreting, £0 1s 6d

6 yards of the same, £0 9s 1d

Interpretations

Whalebone was baleen, the springy horny plates from a whale's mouth, cut into strips to stiffen stays and bodices, sold here by weight among the haberdashery. Sneakers among the China ware were small drinking cups or shallow bowls, entered with the cups and saucers as part of the imported earthenware.

The account closed the month's reckoning with the durant, the China ware, the hosiery and the haberdashery, each kind set out under its own head as the figures were carried down. Grouping the goods by trade let the council read the small wares class by class as the figures were checked against the store inventory, the same form kept from one monthly return to the next.

293

189

March.

Brought ovr

Peice Haming Tape

1

2 9

Holland do

2

4

Broad ditto

3

7 3

Yards Lace Edging

6

16 3

doz. Coat Buttons

3 1/2

doz. Breast ditto

1 1/2

9

Sum Totall to ye Inhabitants

Diet Expences

Gall. Vinegar

3 1/4

12 6

Galls Arrack

16 0

50 13 4

lb Sugar

19 0

4 16 -

Quart Sweet oyle

1 2

4 6 1/2

lb Pepper

2

2 -

Coffee Green Tea

1

6 6

Cask Suet

1

6 6

Ditto Porke

1

8 17

70 18 10 1/2

Genl. Charges

lb Soap

32

2 0 4

China Plates

34

1 14 -

Peice Long Cloth

1

1 -

White Devetees

4

2 -

Do Blew

1

10 -

Groce Forks

1

8 -

lb Tobacco

1

2 -

Pipes

12

6

lb Cotton Yarn

1/2

1 9

Large Single Strop

1

7 6

Glass Cruets

3

4 6

Pair English Shoes

1

Pr. Whited Brown thread N. 5

1/2

5 -

Tin Pudding Cann

1

2 6

Do

1

3 -

Large Spade

1

6 6

Brass Lock

1

16 6

Boys Stocking

2

6 -

Scrubbing Brush

1

9 -

Pair Small Box Hinges

2

1 -

10 6 11

Fortification Dr

Gall. Linseed oyle

4

1 12 -

Squares Glass 6 & 12

35

2 12 6

oo lb Shroud & d. assorr

2

lb 4d Naile

6

5 -

lb 6d Do

12

9 -

lb 10d Do

12

8 -

Brought over

1 piece of herring tape, £0 2s 9d

2 Holland of the same, £0 0s 4d

3 broad of the same, £0 17s 3d

6 yards of lace edging, £0 16s 3d

3 1/2 dozen coat buttons, £0 0s 0d

1 1/2 dozen breast of the same, £0 0s 9d

Sum total to the inhabitants

Diet expenses.

3 1/2 gallons of vinegar, £0 12s 6d

160 gallons of arrack, £50 13s 4d

190 pounds of sugar, £4 15s 0d

1 1/2 quarts of sweet oil, £0 4s 6½d

2 pounds of pepper, £0 2s 0d

1 pound of green tea, £6 6s 0d

1 cask of suet, £0 8s 1d

1 of the same, pork, £7 0s 0d

total, £70 18s 10½d

General charges.

3 2 pounds of soap, £2 5s 4d

34 China plates, £1 14s 0d

1 piece of long cloth, £1 0s 0d

4 white dosuttis, £2 0s 0d

1 of the same, blue, £0 10s 0d

1 gross of corks, £0 3s 0d

1 of the same, tobacco, £0 2s 0d

1 2 pipes, £0 0s 6d

1/2 pound of cotton yarn, £0 1s 9d

1 large single strop, £0 1s 6d

3 glass cruets, £0 4s 6d

1 pair of English shoes, £0 6s 6d

1/2 of white and brown thread, number 5, £0 2s 6d

1 tin pudding pan, £0 4s 0d

1 of the same, £0 3s 0d

1 large spade, £0 6s 6d

1 brass lock, £0 16s 6d

2 boys' stockings, £0 6s 0d

1 scrubbing brush, £0 2s 0d

2 pair of small box hinges, £0 1s 0d

total, £10 6s 11d

Fortification, debtor.

4 gallons of linseed oil, £1 19s 0d

35 squares of glass, 6 by 12, £2 12s 6d

200 pounds of shroud nails, £0 5s 0d

6 pounds of 4 d nails, £0 5s 0d

12 pounds of 6 d of the same, £0 9s 0d

12 pounds of 10 d of the same, £0 8s 0d

Interpretations

Herring tape was a narrow woven tape patterned in a herringbone weave, used for binding and ties, and lace edging a narrow decorative lace for trimming the edges of garments and linen, both among the haberdashery sold by the piece and yard. A strop was a strip of leather for sharpening a razor, the large single strop entered among the general stores.

Shroud nails were a particular size of nail, and the squares of glass at 6 by 12 inches cut panes for glazing the fort's windows, entered with the linseed oil used in paint and putty among the fortification stores. The account divided the month's issue between the inhabitants' sales, the diet expenses, the general charges and the fortification, each carried under its own head so the Company could read the cost of its table, its household and its building works apart from the goods sold to the island at large.

294

190

Brought Over

Pair Crop Garnetts

1

3 8

Chest Lock N. 2

1

1 10

Chest Hinge

3

5 6

Iron Rimb Lock

1

5 6

Helves

2

2 -

lb Hoop Rivetts

6

4 6

Garrison

lb Rape Oyle

6 1/2

1 13 -

Quart Sweet Oyle

1

3 -

Coffee Green Tea

10

2 -

Cupboard Lock

1

5 6

Small Wooden Bowles

2

8 -

Plantation

lb Twine

1

2 2

Cask Still Goods

1

13 4

15 6

Great Wood

Iron Pott Wt. lb

1

1 10 6

Do Maules 45 lb

3

1 13 9

3 4 3

The Honble Comp:cs Blacks Dr

Casks Beef a 14. 12

3

43 16 -

Bushells Pease a 8

29

11 12 -

Rice

1200

17 10 -

Dozen Hooks Sorted

38

1 3 8

Lines

51

16 8

Twine

4

8 8

oz China Silk

1

2 6

Needles

100

2 6

Butchers knives

5

3 15 -

Rope

150

White Shirts

2

5 -

Chelloe d. to

2

11 -

Pr. Surratt Chints

2

18 -

Large Blanket

1

11 3

Middling d. to

2

19 -

Pr. English Shoes

1

1 6 3

Co Bag lead Wat. Co

1

5 2 6

Shoe thread

3

7 6

89 2

Sum Totall £ 334 18 1 1/4

Brought over, £3 8s 0d

1 pair of cross garnetts, £0 3s 8d

1 chest lock, number 2, £1 1s 0d

3 chest hinges, £0 0s 0d

1 iron rim lock, £0 5s 6d

4 helves, £0 2s 0d

6 pounds of hoop rivets, £0 4s 6d

Garrison.

6 1/2 gallons of rape oil, £1 13s 0d

1 quart of sweet oil, £0 3s 0d

10 pounds of green tea, £2 0s 0d

1 cupboard lock, £0 5s 6d

2 small wooden bowls, £0 0s 8d

Plantation.

1 pound of twine, £0 2s 2d

1 cask of still goods, £0 13s 4d

total, £15 6s 0d

Great Wood.

1 iron pot, weight [...], £1 10s 6d

3 of the same, mauls, 45 pounds, £1 13s 9d

total, £3 4s 3d

The Honourable Company's blacks, debtor.

3 casks of beef at 14s 12d, £43 16s 0d

29 bushels of peas at 8s, £11 12s 0d

1,200 pounds of rice, £17 10s 0d

38 dozen hooks sorted, £1 3s 8d

54 lined, £0 16s 8d

4 pounds of twine, £0 8s 8d

1 ounce of China silk, £0 0s 6d

100 needles, £0 2s 6d

5 butcher's knives, £0 2s 6d

150 pounds of rope, £3 15s 0d

2 white shirts, £0 5s 0d

2 chelloe of the same, £0 11s 0d

2 pieces of Surat chintz, £0 18s 0d

1 large blanket, £0 11s 3d

2 middling of the same, £0 19s 0d

1 pair of English shoes, £0 16s 3d

1 pound of red lead at [...], £1 2s 6d

3 shoe thread, £0 7s 6d

total, £89 2s 0d

Sum total, £334 18s 1¼d

Interpretations

Cross garnetts were T-shaped iron hinges, the long arm fixed to a door or gate and the cross-piece to its frame, named for their shape and entered among the ironware. Red lead was a bright orange-red lead oxide used as a pigment and a rust-resisting primer for ironwork, sold here by weight among the goods charged to the slaves' account.

The account closed the month's reckoning by dividing the Company's own consumption among its working heads, the garrison, the plantation, the Great Wood and the slaves each entered as a separate debtor and carried to a final total of £334 18s 1¼d. Charging the beef, rice, peas, cloth and tools to the head that used them let the council read the cost of each part of its establishment apart, the slaves' supply of food and clothing standing as the largest single charge against the building and household stores.

295

191

March.

Mr. French the Gunner brought In and Delivered his

Accot. of Gunners Stores Expended in the Month of Febry

which was Examind, Approvd, & is as follows

A Double Alarm for 3 Ships that went by

1

6 - - 6 6

At the Govr. Coming from on board ye Carnarvan

3

11 2 - 9 11

At ditto his coming on Shore from ye Cardigon

5

11 - - 11 11

Being Muster day of the Garrison

5

10

Departed the Carnarvan Capt. Thwaits & the

Cardigon Capt. Hambly for England

10

22 - - 22 22

An Alarm for a Ship that Passed by

11

4 - - 4 4

An Alarme

21

4 - - 4 4

Arrived the Craggs Capt. Caleb Grantham

22

13 - - 13 13

At the Govr. coming from on Board Do

26

13 - - 13 13

Departed the Craggs for England

29

13 - - 13 13

An Alarme in the Evening

Do

4 - - 4 4

Expended for the Guards

11

Axeltrees

1

Trucks

2

Rammer Heads

1

Cartridge Paper Expend. by ye Guards

1

Do Deliv. to Mr. How

1

Flints

50

Parchmt. Do Mr. Crape

1

Match

42

Totalls 42 1 50 2 1 2 1 101 2 99 128

Signed

Jno. French

The Governr. reports that on the Saturday Evening the

Craggs Saild hence he Observed the Companys Yaul -

to come from the Ship Just as She was away to the

Landing Rocks, and then went on Board the Long -

Boat as She lay at her Standing Moarings And

Suspecting there was some Clandestine Practice in -

hand, he sent some of the Guard downe to the Said

Landing

Margin Notes:

Gunrs. Acct. ye Febry.

Febry.

Govr. Report abt.

Clandestine -

Landing of

Goods.

Mr French the gunner brought in and delivered his account of gunner's stores expended in the month of February, examined and approved as follows. The columns ran under the heads guns, faulchers, [...] and [...] brought down.

Gunner's account for February.

1 February, a double alarm for 3 ships that went by, 6 guns, 6 faulchers, 6 brought down

3 February, at the Governor's coming from on board the Carnarvon, 11 guns, 2 faulchers, 9 brought down, 11 cash

3 February, at the same, his coming on shore from the Cardigan, 11 guns, 11 faulchers, 11 brought down

5 February, being muster day of the garrison, 10 brought down

10 February, departed the Carnarvon, Captain Thwaits, and the Cardigan, Captain Hambly, for England, 22 guns, 22 faulchers, 22 brought down

11 February, an alarm for a ship that passed by, 4 guns, 4 faulchers, 4 brought down

21 February, an alarm, 4 guns, 4 faulchers, 4 brought down

22 February, arrived the Craggs, Captain Caleb Grantham, 13 guns, 13 faulchers, 13 brought down

26 February, at the Governor's coming from on board the same, 13 guns, 13 faulchers, 13 brought down

29 February, departed the Craggs for England, 13 guns, 13 faulchers, 13 brought down

29 February, an alarm in the evening, 4 guns, 4 faulchers, 4 brought down

expended for the guards, 11 brought down

axletrees, 1

trucks, 2

rammer heads, 1

cartridge paper expended by the guard, 1

the same delivered to Mr Stow, 1

flints, 50

parchment delivered to Mr Crape, 1 piece

match, 42 pounds

totals, 42 pounds of match, 50 flints, 2 [...], 2 [...], 100 guns, 2 [...], 99 faulchers, 128 brought down

Signed John French.

The Governor reported that on the Saturday evening the Craggs sailed, he observed the Company's yawl come from the ship just as she was away, head for the Landing Rocks, and then go on board the longboat as she lay at her standing moorings. Suspecting some clandestine dealing in hand, he sent some of the guard down to the [...]

Interpretations

Axletrees and trucks were parts of a gun carriage, the axletree the iron or wooden beam on which the carriage ran and the trucks the small solid wheels, both replaced from the gunner's stores as they wore. A rammer head was the wooden block fixed to the rammer staff used to drive the charge home in a gun, and parchment served for cartridges and for sealing, the materials issued from the magazine and entered each in its own line.

The gunner's account ran by the salutes and alarms of the month, the powder spent on each occasion carried into columns and summed at the foot. The comings and goings of the season's ships filled the reckoning, the Carnarvon, the Cardigan and the Craggs each answered with a salute on arrival and departure, while the Governor's report of the yawl slipping to the longboat at her moorings opens a fresh matter of suspected smuggling, the guard sent down to investigate goods run ashore as the homeward ship left.

296

192

Landing Rocks, where they found a Small Cagg of -

Arrack Landed, and in the Boat another Cagg of

about ten Gallons of Arrack with some other things -

which he Immediatly Orderd to be brought into the -

Castle and upon Examining who brought the Boat

and Arrack on Shore found twas Caleb Davis -

Coxswaine of the Companys Long Boat.

Whereupon It is Ordered that the Said Caleb

Davis for takeing the Boat and going on Board -

the Ship without leave and bringing the Arrack -

on Shore in Such a Clandestine Manner be -

fined the Sume of forty Shillings to the Use of the -

Honble Company and Admonished for the future

& that the Arrack be forfeited & sold for their Use.

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwing

Margin Notes:

Arracks &c

found.

Caleb Davis

Fined 40 s &c

Arrack forfeit.

& sold.

Memd. Thus far hath been

Copyd out & sent home

p Ship King George.

At the Landing Rocks the guard found a small keg of arrack landed, and in the boat another holding about ten gallons of arrack with some other things, which the Governor at once ordered brought into the castle. On examining who had brought the boat and arrack ashore, it was found to be Caleb Davis, coxswain of the Company's longboat.

The council ordered that Caleb Davis, for taking the boat and going on board the ship without leave and bringing the arrack ashore in such a clandestine manner, be fined forty shillings to the use of the Honourable Company and admonished for the future, and that the arrack be forfeited and sold for the Company's use.

This far has been copied and sent home by the ship King George.

The consultation was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The offence lay in running goods ashore outside the Company's control, Davis using its own longboat without leave to land arrack secretly as the Craggs departed, a breach of the monopoly by which the Company alone supplied the island's spirit. Fining him and forfeiting the arrack for the Company's use both punished the smuggling and recovered the goods, the modest forty-shilling penalty marking it as a servant's misconduct rather than a major crime.

The coxswain steered the longboat and stood in a position of trust over its movements, so Davis's taking it to the ship without leave was an abuse of his office as much as an evasion of the stores. Selling the seized arrack for the Company's benefit turned the contraband back to the establishment's profit, the council closing the matter with a caution and copying it home so the directors had the full record of how the smuggling was caught and dealt with.

297

193

Island St Helena

At a Consultation held on Monday the

16th day of March 1723 at Union Castle in

James Valley.

Present

John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfield 2

John Alexander 3.

John Goodwin 4th

the last Consultation read & approved of.

The Councile met this Day in Order to Make

up Our Packett & to dispatch the Ship King George

that Sailes from for Great Britain this Eveing.

John Smith

Edward Byfield

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 24th

day of March 1723 At Union Castle In James Valley

Present

John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfield

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved of

Mr Jonathan Doreton made Complaint that Jno

Coulson Planter has for Severall Years kept a Black

& his in the Holes of Rocks Some Distance from

his House & having taken no Care of him, not allow

him any Victual the Said fellow hath Committed

frequent Robberies & that he has Stole from him

the Complainant abundance of Yams & has often taken

him in the Fact, & because the Said Coulson is a Poor man

he has not yet made him any Satisfaction, & that about

a Fortnight Since having had Some Yams and

Plantans Stole out of his Plantation he went to desire him

Margin Notes:

King George

Departure 1

Mr Doretons

Complt agt Jno

Coulson, & his

Blacks Robberies

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Monday 16 March 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved. The council met to make up its packet and to dispatch the ship King George, which sailed for Great Britain that evening. The record was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 24 March 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

Jonathan Doveton, planter, complained that John Coulson, planter, had for some time kept a black man in the rocks at Crooks Cove a short distance from his house. Coulson had taken no care of the man and allowed him no food, and the man had committed frequent robberies, stealing many yams from Doveton, who had several times caught him at it. Because Coulson was a poor man he had so far made Doveton no satisfaction. About a fortnight earlier, the man having again taken some yams and plantains out of Doveton's plantation, Doveton went to ask him [...]

Interpretations

The dating of these consultations falls under the old-style calendar, where the legal year turned on 25 March. The consultation of 24 March 1723 sat on the last day of the old year by that reckoning, the modern year already advanced to 1724.

The black man kept in the rocks at Crooks Cove illustrates how a poor owner could place the burden of an unmaintained slave onto his neighbours. By neither feeding nor housing the man, John Coulson left him to subsist by theft from surrounding plantations, so that the cost of the slave's keep fell in practice on Jonathan Doveton through repeated loss of yams. The complaint turns on Coulson's poverty, which left him unable to make satisfaction for the damage and pushed the matter before the council for a remedy the owner himself could not provide.

298

194

him to Search about his House for them but he refus[ed]

to do it himself or to Suffer the Complain[an]t to doe it

Orderd That the Said John Coulson do

take Care to Chain his Black fellow up every Night

to Prevent his Stealing for the future. Mr

Doreton being willing out of Pity to his present

Circumstance to forgive him what is past & has been

Stolen from him by the Said Coulsons Black &

that if the Said Coulson don't Comply immediatly

with this Order that he be fined for his disobedience

at Our Discretion.

Mr Crisp brought in & delivrd his accot of the

Generall Table Expences for the Month of Febry

last which was Examined approved of & is as follows

329 ℔ Fresh Beef

£ 4n 0n 6

24 Cones Salt Beef 2..6

3n -n -

16 ditto Salt Pork 2.10

2n 5n 4

763 Gallns Arrack at 6n 4 ℔ Gall

24n 5n 9

52 Bottles Mountain

32 Bottles Galicia

50 Bottles Small Beer

113 ℔ Bread at 3n ℔ ℔

18n -

140 ℔ Sugar at 5n ℔ ℔

3n 10n -

157 ℔ flower at 3n ℔ ℔

1n 13n 9

60 fowles at 1n 6

4n 10n -

28 Eggs at 1d Each

-n 2n 4

32 Bowl Sweet Oyle

2n 9n -

1819d Vinegar a 12n ℔ ℔t

12n 6

4℔ Pepper

-n 2n -

17 3/4 ℔ fresh Butter

-n 17n 9

58 Bottles Milk

-n 19n 4

29 Days Greens

-n 9n -

30 ℔ Candles at 2d ℔ ℔

8n -n -

3 Piggs at 6n Each

-n 18n -

62n 13n 6

D Crisp

Margin Notes:

Jno Coulsons

Black to be

Chained 10

Doveton went to ask the man to search his own house for the stolen goods, but the man refused either to do it himself or to allow the complaint to be looked into.

The council ordered John Coulson to take care to chain his black man up every night, to prevent his stealing in future. Jonathan Doveton, out of pity for Coulson's present circumstances, was willing to forgive what was past and what had been stolen from him by Coulson's man. The council ruled that if Coulson did not comply with this order at once he would be fined at the council's discretion for his disobedience.

Mr Crispe brought in and delivered his account of the General Table expense for the month of February, which was examined and approved as follows.

329 pounds of fresh beef, £0 8s 0d

24 cags of salt beef at 2s 6d, £3 0s 0d

16 cags of salt pork at 10s, £8 5s 4d

763½ gallons of arrack at 6d per gallon, £24 5s 9d

58 bottles of mountain wine

38 bottles of Galicia wine

50 bottles of small beer

113 pounds of bread at 2d per pound, £0 18s 0d

140 pounds of sugar at 3d per pound, £3 10s 0d

157 pounds of flour at 3d per pound, £1 13s 9d

60 fowls at 1s 6d each, £4 10s 0d

28 eggs at 1d each, £0 2s 4d

3 gallons of sweet oil, £0 9s 0d

18½ pounds of vinegar at 12d per pound, £0 12s 6d

1 pound of pepper, £0 2s 0d

17¾ pounds of fresh butter, £0 17s 9d

58 bottles of milk, £0 19s 4d

29 days of greens, £0 9s 0d

30 pounds of candles at 2d per pound, £0 8s 0d

3 pigs at 6s each, £0 18s 0d

£62 13s 6d

The account was signed by D. Crispe.

Interpretations

The order to chain Coulson's slave every night, paired with a discretionary fine for disobedience, shows the council enforcing an owner's duty to control his slave rather than punishing the slave himself. The remedy falls on the master because the loss arose from his failure to maintain and confine the man, so the council fixes the obligation where the means of compliance lay.

Mountain and Galicia name fortified wines carried as ships' stores, mountain being a sweet Málaga wine from the hills behind that port and Galicia a wine of north-western Spain. Arrack here is the distilled spirit of the East, shipped in large quantities and forming by far the costliest single line in the month's table at £24 5s 9d.

The General Table was the common provisioning account for the Governor, council and establishment, dieted at the Company's charge, and Mr Crispe rendered its monthly reckoning for examination. Several wine and beer lines carry quantities but no price, perhaps because they were drawn from existing stores rather than newly bought, so that only the purchased provisions bore a charge against the month.

299

195

Island St Helena

At a Sessions & Court for Orphans held

on Monday the 30th day of March 1724 at the

Sessions House in James Valley near Union Castle

for the Tryal of Oxford a Negro Slave for Burglary

& felony

Present

John Smith Esqr Govr & Judge

Edward Byfield 2 dr

John Alexander 3 dr

John Goodwin 4

The Court was Opend in the Usual Manner & those

Persons appointed for Jurors are as follows vizt

Gabriel Powell Foreman 1

Joshua Johnson 2

Francis Wrangham 3

John French 4

Jonathan Doreton 5

John Young 6

Richard Suttow 7

Thomas Lytch 8

Isaac Lock 9

James Vesey 10

Thomas Price 11

Richard Mason 12

Who were all Sworn the Prisoner being Sett to the Barr

The following Indictment was read

Oxford You Stand Indicted by the Name of Oxford

a Negro Slave belonging to John Goupe of this

Island Sould[ie]r for the Crime of Burglary & felony

For that You the Said Oxford did on or about the 11th day

of this Instant March Enter into the Dwelling House

of William Seale of this Island Planter by a Window

in the Back Part of the Said House, & after You was

therein You did by force & arms break open a Partition

Door & on Cupboard Lock within the Said House You

being at that time Runaway & absconded from Your Said

Master Govr

And did Likewise break open & Enter the Dwelling

House of Wm Greatbatch Widow of the Sd Island

Sittuate in James Valley by force & Arms did break open

Severall Doors & Locks within the Said House & did feloniously

take & bear away from thence One Stitcht Quilt of about

Margin Notes:

Indictmt agt

Oxford John

Goupes Black

for

Robberies.

Island of St Helena

At a court of judicature and orphans held on Monday 30 March 1724 at the court house in James Valley near Union Castle, for the trial of Oxford, a black slave, for burglary and felony.

Present was Governor John Smith, governor and judge, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The court opened in the usual manner, and the persons appointed as jurors were as follows.

Gabriel Powell, foreman, 1

Joshua Johnson, 2

Francis Wrangham, 3

John French, 4

Jonathan Doveton, 5

John Young, 6

Richard Swallow, 7

Thomas Lytch, 8

Isaac Leech, 9

James Vesey, 10

Thomas Free, 11

Richard Mason, 12

The jurors were all sworn and the prisoner brought to the bar. The following indictment was read.

Oxford stood indicted under the name of Oxford, a black slave belonging to John Coulson of the island, for the crimes of burglary and felony. On or about 11 March 1724 he broke into the dwelling house of William Seale, planter, by the widow's quarters at the back of that house, his master then being a runaway absconded from him. By force and arms he broke open a partition door and a cupboard lock within the house. He likewise broke into and entered the dwelling house of the widow [...] of the island, situated in James Valley, breaking open several doors and locks within that house by force and arms. He feloniously took and carried away one stitched quilt of about [...]

Interpretations

This sitting combined a court of judicature with a court for orphans, the same bench of the Governor and four councillors exercising both the criminal jurisdiction and the oversight of orphans' estates in a single session. Governor John Smith presided as both governor and judge, the offices held together on the island.

The charge of burglary turned on the breaking and entering of a dwelling house, the law treating a forced entry through a door or partition as the aggravating element that lifted simple theft into a capital felony. The indictment lists each broken door, partition and lock to establish that breaking, the value of the goods taken being a separate matter for the felony count.

The note that the slave's master was himself a runaway and absconded explains why the prosecution proceeded against the slave alone. With John Coulson having fled, the man he failed to maintain and control could not be answered for by his owner, and the slave stood trial in his own person for thefts committed while left to fend for himself.

300

196

about 15s Value

And You being Runaway & absconded as aforesaid

was apprehended & Committed into Close Custody in the Common

Goale from whence You made your Escape by breaking

thereout in the dead tim of the Night & did also on the

Same Night by force & arms break through & did Enter

the Dwelling House of Francis Young Scittuate in

James Valley & did break open One Chest Lock, & did

Steale & bear away One ffile with intent to file off

Your Chains & Irons.

And did on the 12th March break thro

& Enter the Dwelling House of Isaac Wood of this

Island Serjeant Scittuate in James Valley & by force

& arms did break three Locks within the Said House

You did also on or about the 13th of the Said

Month of March (after You had made Your Escape

out of Prison Enter the Said dwelling House belong

to the aforenamed William Seale a Second time & did

by force & arms break open One Chest belonging to

the Said William Seale & did break Steale & take away

from thence One Chest Value about 10s & also about

of Sugar to the Vallue of One Shilling more, & then

made Your Escape & absconded till about two days after

& being then apprehended was Committed & Secured in

the Common Goale & Clagged with an Iron Chain &

Fetters, Notwithstanding which You did farther

aggravate Your Crimes by breaking through & making

Your Escape out of Prison a Second time on Saturday

last the 28th instant in the dead tim of the Night

And afterwards did Cut Your Wickedness

farther Practice by breaking Open One of the Garrison

Bonacks & Stole from thence One Pound of Tobacco

& after that did the next Morning attempt to Break

Open the aforesd Dwelling House of the Said Isaac

Wood with a felonious Intent, all wch Burglarys &

felonies are Contrary to the Lawe of Our Soveraign

Lord the King his Crown & Dignity & in such

Contempt & open Violation of the wholesome Laws &

Ordinances of this Island made by the Govr the & are

Proprietors for the Good Government thereof

To which he Pleaded that he owned the breaking

open Mrs Canns House, Mr Seales House & Mr Youngs

& Stole the Goods Mencond in the Indictmt but did

not break Open Mr Woods House.

The indictment charged the prisoner with a series of breakings and thefts about the value of 15 shillings.

Having run away and absconded, he had been caught and committed to close custody in the common gaol, from which he made his escape by breaking out in the dead of night. The same night he broke by force into the dwelling house of Francis Funge in James Valley, broke open one chest lock, and stole and carried away a file with intent to file off his chains and irons.

On or about 19 March he broke into and entered the dwelling house of Isaac Wood, sergeant of the island, in James Valley, and by force broke three locks within the house.

On or about 13 March, after he had made his escape out of prison, he entered the dwelling house of William Beale a second time and by force broke open one chest belonging to Beale, and stole and carried away one [...] worth about 10 shillings and some sugar to the value of one shilling more. He then made his escape and stayed hidden until about two days after, when he was caught and committed to the common gaol and clapped in an iron chain and fetters. Despite this he made his offence worse by breaking out of prison a second time on Saturday last, the 28th instant, in the dead of night.

He then carried his wickedness further by breaking open one of the garrison knapsacks and stealing from it one pound of tobacco. The next morning he attempted to break into the dwelling house of Isaac Wood again with felonious intent. All these burglaries and felonies ran contrary to the peace of the King, his crown and dignity, and in such open contempt and violation of the wholesome laws and ordinances of the island made for its good government.

To this he pleaded that he had broken into the houses of Mrs Carne, Mr Beale and Mr Funge and stolen the goods named in the indictment, but had not broken into Mr Wood's house.

Interpretations

A file taken to cut off chains and irons explains why this theft was charged alongside the burglaries rather than as a trivial loss. The prisoner stole the one tool that could free him from his fetters, so that the breaking of Funge's chest served his escapes as directly as the breaking of the gaol itself.

The indictment builds an escalating pattern of escape, theft and recapture to bring the conduct under the island's capital law against burglary. Each break-out is followed by a fresh housebreaking and a fresh committal in heavier irons, the repetition itself offered as proof of an incorrigible offender against whom the full penalty was warranted. The prisoner's plea concedes the three housebreakings at the homes of Carne, Beale and Funge while denying the entry at Wood's, narrowing the contested ground to the single count he refused to own.

301

197

The Judge then gave the Jury their Charge and

desired them to withdraw.

They went accordingly Out & Stayed about half an hour &

Returned & brought in their Verdict

That the Said Oxford by his Own Confession

was Guilty of Breaking Open the Houses of

Mrs Frances Cann, Wm Seale, & that in the

Possession of Francis Young & also of the felonies

therein Committed by the Said Oxford.

Whereupon the Judge Pronounced the foll[owin]g

Sentence

Oxford by the Laws of England You are

Guilty of Death but out of Pity to Your Master

& his Poor Family the Loss of Your Life would

tend very much to their Ruin & Considering You

are a Poor ignorant foolish fellow & this being

Your first Offence, You are to return to the Place

from whence You was brought there to Remain

till 4 oClock in the Eveing then to be taken

out of Prison, Your Right Ear to be Cutt off

& Branded on the left Cheek with the Letter R

& to wear a Chain & Cloggs about One of Your

Leggs for the space of 12 Months & that You be Sent to

Work at the Great Wood, to make Satisfaction for

Damages done to the Severall Persons Injured

& Mentioned in Your Indictment which I hope will

be a full Means to reclaim You for the future as

well as to Deterr other of Your fellow Servts

from Committing the like Roguery & Villany for

the future that You are now found Guilty of.

These We proceeded to the Examining the English Accts &

Then the Court was Adjourned as Usual

John Smith

Edward Byfield

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Jurys Verdict.

His Sentence.

Memd in

Orphans Accts by

Mistake Omitted

but Entred in next

Consultacon

The judge then gave the jury their charge and directed them to withdraw.

They went out and stayed about half an hour, then returned and gave their verdict. They found the prisoner Bovey guilty by his own confession of breaking into the houses of Mrs Frances Carne, William Beale and Francis Funge, and of the felonies committed in those houses.

The judge then pronounced sentence. The prisoner stood guilty of death under the laws of England, but out of pity for his master and his poor family, to whom the loss of his life would be a great hardship, and considering that the prisoner was a poor, ignorant, foolish fellow and that this was a first offence, a lesser punishment was given. He was to be returned to the place from which he had been brought and held there until four in the evening, then taken out of prison. His right ear was to be cut off and his left cheek branded with the letter R. He was to wear a chain and clog about one of his legs for one month and to be sent to labour at the Great Wood, to make satisfaction for the damage done to the several persons named in his indictment. The judge expressed the hope that the punishment would serve to reclaim the prisoner in future and to deter others of his fellow slaves from committing the like roguery, since he now stood found guilty of these offences. The court then went on to examine the prisoner [...], and afterwards adjourned as usual.

The record was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

A memorandum noted that something in the orphans' account had been omitted by mistake but would be entered in the next consultation.

Interpretations

The branding with the letter R marked the man as a convicted rogue, a permanent and visible record of the conviction carried on the body where no paper register reached. Cropping the ear served the same purpose, fixing the offender's status so that any future dealing with him began from his known criminality.

The court treated the slave's value to his owner as a reason to spare his life. Capital punishment would have destroyed property belonging to the master and left a poor family worse off, so the bench substituted mutilation, forced labour and a term in irons that preserved the man as a working asset while still answering the law. The sentence directs his labour at the Great Wood to make satisfaction to Carne, Beale and Funge, turning the punishment itself into restitution for the very thefts proved against him.

302

198

Island St Helena

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 31st day

of March 1724 At the Plantation House

Present

John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfield

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation & Proceedings at Sessions held

Yesterday were read & approved of

Captain Byfield made Report this day that not

withstanding he has often Reprehended & told the

Severall Overseers under him of their great Neglect

in the Management of the Honble Companys Yow's &

Plantations they have & do yet Continue in their Said

Neglect & Carelessness in the Said Plantations

desires the Same may be taken into Consideration &

that Some other more Carefull Persons be appointed in

their Places

Capt Byfield also, Report that Short Lazar's Wife was

brought to Bed last Week of a Boy Named Phill.

To day Captain Byfield brought in & deliverd

an Account of the Honble Companys Live Stock &

Provisions Pursuant to an order of Councill of

the Eleventh instant which was Examined approved

& is as follows vizt

£ Yams

In the Grand Plantation

In Tuesdays Gutt about 8 Months old

30000

In Carbo Gutt about 4 Months old

45000

In Hayfangs Gutt about 3 Months old

31000

Tysseys Gutt Unplanted for want of Suckers

In the Bamboo Gutts from the Lower End to the

first Bamboo Tree about 18 Months old but

indifferent

49000

From the Bamboo Tree almost to the Crown

of Figtree abt 12 Months old in good Condition

27000

From the Crown of Figtree to Maries Spring

about 15 Months old

41000

Carried over

216000

Margin Notes:

Capt Byfield

Complt of ye

Overseers

Neglect

Black Boy.

Corn

Accot of the

Honble Compys Live

Stock &

Plantations

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Tuesday 31 March 1724 at the plantation house.

Present were Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The previous consultation and the proceedings at the court of judicature held the day before were read and approved.

Captain Byfield reported that, although he had often reprimanded and warned the several overseers under him about their great neglect in the management of the Company's plantations, they still continued in their neglect and idleness. He asked that the matter be taken into consideration and that other proper persons be appointed in their places.

Captain Byfield also reported that the wife of Short Lazarus had been delivered the previous week of a boy named Phill.

Captain Byfield brought in and delivered an account of the Company's live stock and provisions, taken under an order of council of the eleventh of this month, which was examined and approved. It ran as follows.

In the grand plantation

In Tuesdale Gutt, yams about 8 months old, 30,000

In Carter Gutt, yams about 4 months old, 45,000

In Hoyhing Gutt, yams about 3 months old, 31,000

In Tessey's Gutt, yams unplanted for want of suckers

In the Bamboo Gutts, from the lower end to the first bamboo tree, yams about 18 months old but indifferent, 42,000

From the bamboo tree almost to the row of fig trees, yams about 12 months old in good condition, 27,000

From the row of fig trees to Maria's Spring, yams about 15 months old, 41,000

Carried over, 216,000

Interpretations

The plantation account measures the Company's food supply as standing crops of yams of staggered ages, recorded gut by gut so the bench could judge how much would be fit to dig in each coming month. The notes on age and condition let the council plan the harvest and provisioning of shipping against the slow recovery of the land from the drought, and one plot stands unplanted for want of suckers, marking the shortage of planting stock that had run through the recent surveys.

Captain Byfield's complaint of his overseers' neglect, paired with his request to replace them, shows the difficulty of holding the plantation labour to its task through a chain of subordinate supervisors. His own repeated warnings had failed, so he turned to the council for the authority to remove the men, the management of the estate resting on overseers he could not himself discipline into diligence.

303

199

Yams Brought over

216000

In the New Gutt above Marias Spring

from 21 to 9 Months old in good Condition

29000

On the Hill Side called Thompsons Yard

to Last Goulds Spring abt 5 Mnth in good Condition

36000

In Liffins Plantation abt 18 Months old

very indifferent

21000

In Perking Plantation from behind the

House to the New Gutt under the Water fall

from 19 to 7 Month old in good Condition

28000

In the old Ground about 28 Months old indifft

5000

In the Hill House Gutt about 15 Mo old

14000

On the Minty Hill Side New Planted

84000

In Griffiths about 11 Months old

7000

In the New Gutt abt 4 Months old

15000

A Peice of Ground below the House including

the Gutt to the Lower End about 8600 fitt to

Digg the rest Young

20000

In the Plain New Planted

70000

In the New Peice above the Plain about

6 Months old

30000

In a New Peice from the End of the Yard

adjoyning to ye new Gutt about 7 Months old

37000

In the Hill Plantation

In the old Ground abt 12 Months old

29000

In the Long Gutt about 5 Months old

14000

Totall Yams

655000

The yam account continued from the grand plantation, the figure carried over standing at 216,000.

Yams brought over, 216,000

In the new gutt above Maria's Spring, from 2 to 9 months old in good condition, 29,000

On the hill side called Thompson's, to Last Crowds Spring, about 5 months old in good condition, 36,000

In Lufkin's plantation, about 18 months old, very indifferent, 21,000

In Perkins's plantation, from behind the house to the new gutt under the water fall, from 2 to 7 months old in good condition, 28,000

In the old ground, about 8 months old, indifferent, 5,000

In the still house gutt, about 15 months old, 14,000

On the flinty hill side, newly planted, 8,000

In Griffith's, about 11 months old, 7,000

In the new gutt, about 4 months old, 15,000

A piece of ground below the house, including the gutt to the lower end, about 8,600 fit to dig, the rest young, 20,000

In the plain, newly planted, 70,000

In the new piece above the plain, about 6 months old, 30,000

In a new piece from the end of the yard adjoining to the new gutt, about 7 months old, 37,000

In the Hutts plantation

In the old ground, about 12 months old, 29,000

In the long gutt, about 5 months old, 14,000

Total yams, 656,000

Interpretations

The survey carries the count across three of the Company's principal estates, the grand plantation, Perkins's and the Hutts, each broken down by named plot, so the council could see at one view where its provision crop stood. The mix of ages from newly planted to eighteen months, with condition marked as good, indifferent or fit to dig, gave the bench the basis to time the harvest plot by plot and to gauge how far the recovering land could feed the establishment and the passing ships.

One entry distinguishes about 8,600 yams fit to dig from the rest still too young in the same piece of ground, showing the level of detail the account demanded. The clerk recorded not merely the plot's total but the portion ready for immediate use, so that the figure for present supply was never inflated by the suckers not yet grown.

304

200

Accot of the Honble Companies Stock of Neat Cattle Sheep Goates Hoggs Poultry

& Horses likewise what has been killed & Sold to Ship King George besides the increase or decrease

from Ultimo ffebry to the 27th of March as p acct taken the 18th 19th 20th 21st & 27th March

1724

Neat Cattle Sheep Goates Hoggs Poultry & Horses

Bullocks Cowes Heifers Steers Yearlings Calves Bulls Totall

Ewes Withers Lambs Rams Totall

Ewes Withers Kidds Rams Totall

Sowes Shoats Boars Piggs Totall

Turkeys Fowles Ducks Geese

Apes Horses Mares Totall

Remn Ultmo ffebry

35 35 21 16 3 46 5 167

36 10 18 3 67

151 36 27 8 222

6 3 2 9 20

43 33 21 12

6 4 2 6

Decr to 27 Mch as p acct

- - - - - - - -

- 9 - 3 12

- - - 6 7

4 8 - 1 12

- 18 -

- - - -

35 35 21 16 3 46 5 167

36 19 18 6 79

151 36 28 14 229

10 11 2 9 32

43 106 21 12

6 4 2 6

Killd from do to do

- - - 1 - - - 1

1 - - - 1

- 1 1 - 2

- 1 - - 1

6 2 -

- - - -

35 35 20 16 3 46 5 160

35 19 14 6 78

151 35 27 14 227

10 10 2 9 31

47 100 19 12

6 4 2 6

Sold to Ship St George

3 - - - - - - 3

- - - - -

- - - - -

- - - - -

- - - -

- - - -

39 35 20 16 3 46 5 157

35 19 18 6 78

151 35 27 14 227

10 10 2 9 31

47 100 19 12

6 4 2 6

Dead in Ditto &

Sheep & Goates Cut

& Sheep Crown

- - - 1 - - - 1

3 - 15 - 18

57 12 - - 69

- - 1 8 9

2 - 6

- - - -

Remn auod p acct

39 35 20 16 3 46 5 156

32 19 3 6 60

94 23 27 14 158

10 10 1 1 22

45 100 13 12

6 4 2 6

Margin Notes:

Accot for March.

Account of the Company's stock of neat cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry and horses, showing what had been killed and sold to the ship King George, besides the increase or decrease from the end of February to 27 March, the account taken on 18, 19, 20, 21 and 27 March 1724.

Remaining last February: bullocks 35, cows 35, heifers 21, steers 16, yearlings 3, calves 46, bulls 5, neat cattle total 167; ewes 36, wethers 10, lambs 18, rams 3, sheep total 67; she goats 151, wethers 36, kids 27, rams 8, goats total 222; sows 6, shoats 3, boars 2, hogs total 9, of which 20; turkeys 48, fowls 38, ducks 21, geese 12, apes 6, horses 4, mares 2, horses and apes total 6

Increase to 27 March: ewes 9, rams 3, sheep total 12; kids 6, goats total 7; sows 4, boars 8, hogs 1, of which 18, total 18; nothing further added

Total to date: bullocks 35, cows 35, heifers 21, steers 16, yearlings 3, calves 46, bulls 5, neat cattle total 167; ewes 36, wethers 19, lambs 18, rams 6, sheep total 79; she goats 151, wethers 36, kids 28, rams 14, goats total 229; sows 10, shoats 11, boars 2, hogs 9, total 32; turkeys 48, fowls 106, ducks 21, geese 12, apes 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Killed from the above: bullocks 1, neat cattle total 1; ewes 1, sheep total 1; she goats 1, kids 1, goats total 2; sows 1, hogs total 1; fowls 6, of which 2

Sold to the ship King George: bullocks 3, neat cattle total 3; nothing further

Remaining: bullocks 35, cows 35, heifers 20, steers 16, yearlings 3, calves 46, bulls 5, neat cattle total 160; ewes 35, wethers 19, lambs 14, rams 6, sheep total 78; she goats 151, wethers 36, kids 27, rams 14, goats total 227; sows 10, shoats 10, boars 2, hogs 9, total 31; turkeys 47, fowls 100, ducks 19, geese 12, apes 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Dead in the above, and sheep and goats cut: bullocks 39, cows 35, heifers 20, steers 16, yearlings 3, calves 46, bulls 5, neat cattle total 157; ewes 35, wethers 19, lambs 18, rams 6, sheep total 78; she goats 151, wethers 35, kids 27, rams 14, goats total 227; sows 10, shoats 10, boars 2, hogs 9, total 31; turkeys 47, fowls 100, ducks 19, geese 12, apes 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6; sheep cut 3, lambs 15, sheep total 18; she goats 57, wethers 12, goats total 69; shoats 1, boars 8, hogs total 9; fowls 6

Remaining as per account: bullocks 39, cows 35, heifers 20, steers 16, yearlings 3, calves 46, bulls 5, neat cattle total 156; ewes 32, wethers 19, lambs 3, rams 6, sheep total 60; she goats 94, wethers 23, kids 27, rams 14, goats total 158; sows 10, shoats 10, boars 1, hogs 1, total 22; turkeys 45, fowls 100, ducks 13, geese 12, apes 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

The council noted this account at the foot, and entered its order following.

Interpretations

The return tracks the whole of the Company's animal stock through a single month, opening with the count carried from the end of February, adding the natural increase, then deducting the beasts killed for the table and the three bullocks sold to the ship King George. The structure lets the bench see at once how much of the loss came from its own consumption, how much from sales to passing shipping, and how much from death or castration, so that the standing herd could be watched as a slowly recovering capital after the long drought.

Wethers and shoats name the altered and the young of the flock, a wether being a castrated ram and a shoat a young weaned pig, while the cutting recorded among the sheep and goats is the same gelding carried out to fatten the animals for slaughter. The apes counted with the horses and mares are most probably the island's troublesome wild population, here numbered among the Company's charge alongside its working beasts.

The despatch of three bullocks to the King George shows the herd serving the shipping as well as the garrison, the same vessel that had carried home the packet earlier in the month now victualled from the Company's lean stock. The council drew down its breeding capital to provision a homeward ship, a small sale set against the careful husbandry the rest of the account records.

305

201

Orderd that an Advertizement be Published to Morrow

for assembling the Major Part of the Free Holders In

habitants at the Country Church on Monday next as

usual in order to their Nominating four Persons for

Church Wardens & Six of the like Persons for Overseers

of the Highways & that the Present Church Wardens

& Overseers do present their Names Unto Us on

Tuesday next that Wee may make Choice of two

Persons out of the four for Church Wardens & three

out of the Six for Overseers to Succeed the present

Parish Officers in Each Office

Mr Francis Wrangham & Capt John Goodwin brought

in & deliverd the following Account of the Estate of the

Orphans of Henry Francis deceased viz

Land

23 Acres Free Land

25 d: hired of ye Honbl Compy

Cattle

7 Cow

1 Calfe

2 Heifer

2 Steer

Hoggs

3 Sowe

7 Shoates

10 Totall

Poultry

16 fowles

22 Chickens

16 Ducks

75 Goates Old & Young

80 thous Yams Old & Young

Blacks Viz

1 Man Slave Named Old George

1 Do Young George

1 Do Swift

1 Do Jack

1 Do Hanniball

5

1 Woman Slave Named Sarah fine

1 ditto Hannah

2

1 Boy Phill

2

1 Girle Sarah

9

Henry Francis Estate Dr & Cr

To Sundry Persons due from the Estate

Amounting to

68n 9n 5½

By Sundry debts due to the Estate

71n 7n

By Ballance due from the Estate

97n 2n 5½

168n 9n 5½

Margin Notes:

Parish Officers

to be Chosen

The Land was

to be Entred in

the foregoing

Sessions & found

for Orphan

Omitted by

Mistake

Henry Francis

Orphns Accot

The council ordered an advertisement published the next day, calling the major part of the freeholders to assemble at the country church on the following Monday, as usual, to nominate four persons for churchwardens and six for overseers of the highways. The present churchwardens and overseers were to present these names to the council on the following Tuesday, so that two churchwardens might be made out of the four, and three overseers out of the six, to succeed the present parish officers in each office.

Mr Francis Wrangham and Captain John Goodwin brought in and delivered the following account of the estate of the orphans of Henry Francis, deceased.

Land

23 acres of free land

20 acres hired of the Company

Cattle

7 cows

1 calf

2 heifers

2 steers

Hogs

8 sows

7 shoats

70 total

Poultry

16 fowls

22 chickens

16 ducks

Goats, old and young, 75

Sheep, old and young, 80

Blacks

1 man slave named Old George

1 named Young George

1 named Swift

1 named Jack

1 named Hanniball, 5

1 woman slave named Sarah Fine

1 named Hannah, 2

1 boy named Phill

1 girl named Sarah, 2

9

The estate was charged with sums due to various persons amounting to £68 9s 5½d. Against this, debts owing to the estate came to £71 7s 0d, leaving a balance due from the estate of £97 2s 5½d, making £168 9s 5½d. The account was signed by Francis Wrangham.

A note recorded that this account of the Francis orphans' estate had been omitted from the foregoing consultation by mistake and was now to be entered there.

Interpretations

The annual nomination of churchwardens and overseers shows the island's parish government renewed by the freeholders rather than by the council alone. The inhabitants chose a double slate, four names for two wardens and six for three overseers, and the council made the final selection from those names, so that the parish officers held a mixed authority drawn from both popular election and conciliar appointment.

The orphans' inventory values the estate as a working farm rather than as cash, its worth held in land, livestock and slaves that the parish managed for the children until they came of age. The nine slaves listed by name and household role, with skilled and field hands among the men and domestic women among them, formed the most valuable single asset of the estate, the council standing as guardian of property it would neither sell nor disperse while the heirs remained minors.

The internal figures of the account do not resolve cleanly, the stated debts and credits not matching the balance struck, but the total is carried as it stands. The clerk recorded the estate as found and left the arithmetic unreconciled, the memorandum confirming only that the whole had been omitted in error and was now restored to its proper place in the record.

306

202

ffrancis Wrangham brought In the following Acct of the

Stock and Estate belonging to Elizabeth Sictt Orphan vizt

70 Acres free Land

8 Acres do Hired of the Honble Company

One House in the Country

One ditto at the fort

One Black Girle

Cattle Viz

2 Cow

1 Heifer

1 Steer

1 Calfe

5

Household Goods Viz

One feather Bed, 1 Small Table & 6 Rattan Stooles

1 Silver Porringer

3 Ditto Casters

1 Dto Snuff Box

2 Gold Rings &

1 Chest of Drawers

Estate Credr

By James Ryder

£ 30n 16n 4

William Lee

7n 10n -

ffrancis Wrangham

7n 9n 4½

£ 45n 15n 8½

Estate Dr

To the Honourable Company

£ 15n 14n 1

Clear Estate

30n 1n 7½

£ 45n 15n 8½

Margin Notes:

Eliz Sictt

Accot

Francis Wrangham brought in the following account of the stock and estate belonging to the orphan Elizabeth Sich.

70 acres of free land

8 acres hired of the Company

One house in the country

One house at the Fort

One black girl

Cattle

2 cows

1 heifer

1 steer

1 calf

5

Household goods

One feather bed, one small table and six rattan stools

1 silver porringer

3 silver casters

1 silver snuff box

2 gold rings

1 chest of drawers

Estate credit

By James Ryder, £30 16s 4d

By William Lee, £7 10s 0d

By Francis Wrangham, £7 9s 4½d

£45 15s 8½d

Estate debit

To the Honourable Company, £15 14s 1d

Clear estate, £30 1s 7½d

£45 15s 8½d

The account was signed by Joshua Johnson.

Interpretations

A porringer, casters and a snuff box of silver, with two gold rings, mark the portable wealth of the household, the small valuables in which a planter family stored savings that could be carried, pledged or passed to an heir. Their separate listing among the plainer furniture shows the inventory distinguishing the estate's liquid treasure from its bulkier goods, the precious metal holding value independent of any local market.

The account places the orphan's estate under the same guardianship discipline as the Francis children's, the parish officers rendering a full reckoning of land, stock, slave and plate held in trust until the heir's majority. The estate is shown solvent, its credits from named debtors covering the single charge owed to the Company and leaving a clear surplus, so that the child's inheritance stood secure against the Company's prior claim.

307

203

Joshua Johnson brought In and Deliverd the

following Acct belonging to Addis Orphans

Viz

Dr

To Cloathing and Shoos for William Addis

£ 3n 4n 8

To Mary Addis Board

7n -n -

To Johanna Addis Board

7n -n -

To Physick for Johanna

2n 8n -

To Revennue

-n 6n -

£ 19n 18n 8

50n 6n 6

Ballance due

70n 5n 2

Cr

By Ballance last Years Acct

£ 70n 5n 2

Cattle Dead

5 Cows

3 Calves

8

Cattle living

1 Cow

1 Bull

3 Bullocks

1 Heifer

3 Calves

9

Jonathan Doreton brought In and Deliverd the

following Acct of the Estate belonging to the Orphans

of Robert Leech Viz

Dr

To Gilbert Sinnick being his wifes Dividend

one of the Orphans

£ 28n 13n 2

To Martin Van Oosten

-n 4n 5n

28n 18n 2

57n 1n 4½

Remains due

£ 85n 19n 6½

Cr

By Creditt in the Honble Companys Books

£ 85n 19n 6½

Mr Gabriell Powell and Mr Joshua Johnson

brought In and Deliverd the following Memoriall

of

Margin Notes:

for 1723

Robt Addis

Orpht Accot

Robt Leechs

Orpht Accot

Messrs Powell &

Johnsons Acct

Joshua Johnson brought in and delivered the following account belonging to the Addes orphans, for the year 1723.

Estate debit

To clothing and shoes for William Addes, £3 4s 8d

To Mary Addes's board, £7 0s 0d

To Johanna Addes's board, £7 0s 0d

To physic for Johanna, £2 8s 0d

To revenue, £0 6s 0d

£19 18s 8d

Balance due, £50 6s 6d

£70 5s 2d

Estate credit

By balance of last year's account, £70 5s 2d

Cattle dead

5 cows

3 calves

8

Cattle living

1 cow

1 bull

3 bullocks

1 heifer

3 calves

9

Jonathan Doveton brought in and delivered the following account of the estate belonging to the orphans of Robert Leech.

Estate debit

To Gilbert Sinsnick, being his wife's dividend, one of the orphans, £28 13s 2d

To Martin Van Oosten, £0 5s 0d

£28 18s 2d

Remains due, £57 1s 4½d

£85 19s 6½d

Estate credit

By credit in the Honourable Company's books, £85 19s 6½d

Mr Gabriel Powell and Mr Joshua Johnson brought in and delivered the following memorial.

Interpretations

These guardianship accounts show the parish charging an orphan's estate for the real cost of raising the children, board, clothing, shoes and physic each set against the year's reckoning. The boy William Addes is dressed and shod from the estate while his sisters Mary and Johanna are boarded out at fixed rates, the physic for Johanna recording medical care met from the same fund, so that the inheritance bore the whole expense of the children's keep.

The Leech estate's worth is held wholly as a credit balance in the Company's own books rather than in land or stock, and one orphan's share is paid out to Gilbert Sinsnick as his wife's dividend on her marriage. The Company served in effect as banker to the orphans' fund, the dividend transferred between accounts on its ledgers, the surviving balance left standing as secured credit until the remaining heirs could claim their portions.

308

204

of the Estate belonging to the Orphans of John Nichols

Decd which they say and represent to be and remains

Exactly as it did the Precedent Year

The Said Mr Powell and Mr Gurling brought In &

Deliverd the following Acco of the Stock and Estate

belonging to the Orphans of Charles Steward Decd

viz

One House in James Valley

£ 60n 4n -

17½ Acres free Land at 8s p acre

14n -n -

2½ Do during Mr Tinsleys Life

6n -n -

10 Do Leased for 99 Years

40n -n -

11 do for 21 Years

16n -n -

19 do for ditto

15n -n -

1 Acre do in the lower part of the

Plantation for 21 Years

6n 8n -

Half a House in Sandy Bay

30n -n -

313n 8n -

Blacks Viz

One man Slave Named Toby at

£ 23n -n -

1 Ditto Pompey

25n -n -

1 Ditto Peter

25n -n -

1 Girle Pett

18n -n -

1 Ditto Sarah

12n -n -

103n -n -

Yamins & Suckers Viz

25000 Yams from 16 Mo to 10 Mo

Old at 25/- p 1000

31n 5n -

16000 ditto Young at 10/- p do

8n -n -

4000 New Planted

1n 4n -

40n 9n -

Hoggs Viz

One Barrow

-n 19n 9

Three Sows at 21/- each

3n 3n -

4n 2n 9

Carried Overr

£ 460n 19n 9

Margin Notes:

Jno Nichols

Orpht Estate

Cha Stewards

Orpht Accot

The account of the estate belonging to the orphans of John Nichols, deceased, was reported by Mr Powell and Mr Gurling to remain exactly as it had stood the year before.

Mr Powell and Mr Gurling brought in and delivered the following account of the stock and estate belonging to the orphans of Charles Steward, deceased.

One house in James Valley, £60 0s 0d

17½ acres of free land at £8 per acre, £140 0s 0d

2½ acres during Mr Tinsley's life, £6 0s 0d

10 acres leased for 99 years, £40 0s 0d

11 acres for 21 years, £16 0s 0d

19 acres for the same, £15 0s 0d

1 acre in the lower part of the plantation for 21 years, £6 8s 0d

Half a house in Sandy Bay, £30 0s 0d

313 8s 0d

Blacks

One man slave named Toby, £23 0s 0d

1 named Pompey, £25 0s 0d

1 named Peter, £25 0s 0d

1 named Phill, £18 0s 0d

1 girl named Patt, £12 0s 0d

1 named Sarah, £103 0s 0d

Yams and suckers

25,000 yams from 16 months to 10 months old, at 25s per 1,000, £31 5s 0d

16,000 young, at 10s per 1,000, £8 0s 0d

4,000 newly planted, £1 4s 0d

40 9s 0d

Hogs

One barrow, £0 19s 9d

Three sows at 21s each, £3 3s 0d

4 2s 9d

Carried over, £460 19s 9d

Interpretations

The Steward estate values its land not as a single block but parcel by parcel according to the term of each holding, from free land owned outright at £8 the acre down to portions leased for ninety-nine or twenty-one years or for the life of a named person. The price set on each reflects the security and length of the tenure rather than the ground alone, a long lease or a freehold worth far more than land held only for a stated term, so that the inventory measures the orphans' wealth by the strength of their title in each piece.

A barrow names a castrated boar fattened for meat, set apart in the count from the breeding sows so the estate's stock of pigs could be read between the animals kept for slaughter and those kept to increase the herd. The yams are valued by age and quantity at the standing rate per thousand, the older crop fit to dig priced above the young and the newly planted, giving the children's provision a money worth alongside their land and slaves.

309

205

Brought Over

£ 460n 19n 9

Cattle Viz

1 Cow and Yearling

£ 5n -n -

1 Yearling

2n -n -

1 Cow and Calf

4n 5n -

1 Ditto and Ditto

5n 10n -

1 Ditto and Ditto

4n 10n -

1 Heifer and ditto

3n -n -

1 Cow and ditto

6n -n -

1 Heifer

2n 10n -

1 Steer

1n 10n -

1 Cow and Calf

4n -n -

1 ditto and ditto

5n -n -

1 Cow

4n 5n -

1 Bull

3n 10n -

1 Bullock

3n -n -

54n -n -

Cattle belonging to the Seperate Stock

1 Cow and Calf

5n -n -

1 Heifer and ditto

3n 5n -

1 Cow and ditto

4n 5n -

1 Cow

3n 15n -

1 Yearling and 1 Steer

3n 10n -

£ 20n -n -

Debts due to the Estate Viz

By John Long

£ 7n 12n 10½

Mary Shreve

15n 5n 6

Joshua Johnson

-n 9n 3

Margarett Tovey

14n 3n 10

Francis Younge

12n 5n 9

Mary Conaway

-n 15n -

Thomas Free

1n 3n -

Jonathan Higham Senr

-n 11n 2

Debts Carried Over

£ 52n 6n 4½

Carried Overr

£ 514n 19n 9

The Steward orphans' account continued, the figure carried over standing at £460 19s 9d.

Brought over, £460 19s 9d

Cattle

1 cow and yearling, £5 0s 0d

1 yearling, £2 0s 0d

1 cow and calf, £4 5s 0d

1 cow and calf, £5 10s 0d

1 cow and calf, £4 10s 0d

1 heifer and calf, £3 0s 0d

1 cow and calf, £6 0s 0d

1 heifer, £2 10s 0d

1 steer, £1 10s 0d

1 cow and calf, £4 0s 0d

1 cow and calf, £5 0s 0d

1 cow, £4 5s 0d

1 bull, £3 10s 0d

1 bullock, £3 0s 0d

54 0s 0d

Cattle belonging to the separate stock

1 cow and calf, £5 0s 0d

1 heifer and calf, £3 5s 0d

1 cow and calf, £4 5s 0d

1 cow, £3 15s 0d

1 yearling and 1 steer, £3 10s 0d

£20 0s 0d

Debts due to the estate

By John Long, £7 12s 10½d

By Mary Shreeve, £15 5s 6d

By Joshua Johnson, £0 9s 3d

By Margaret Tovey, £14 3s 10d

By Francis Funge, £12 5s 9d

By Mary Conway, £0 15s 0d

By Thomas Free, £1 3s 0d

By Jonathan Higham senior, £0 11s 2d

Debts carried over, £52 6s 4½d

Carried over, £514 19s 9d

Interpretations

The cattle valuation distinguishes the orphans' own herd from a separate stock kept on the same estate, the two totalled apart so the children's property could be told from animals held under some other right or trust. Cows are priced together with the calf at foot, the breeding pair worth more than either alone, the values rising and falling with the age and condition of each beast.

The debts owing to the estate spread its capital across a wide list of named planters, the children's inheritance held in part as loans out among their neighbours rather than as cash in hand. Several of the debtors, Long, Free, Funge and the Tovey and Shreeve households, recur through the island's dealings as borrowers and parties to dispute, so that the recovery of these sums for the orphans depended on the same web of credit and obligation that bound the whole settlement together.

310

206

Brought Over

£ 514n 19n 9

Debts brought Over

£ 52n 6n 4½

Andrew Berque

1n 8n 3

Sarah Southen

-n 6n 4

Robert Gurling

1n 5n 4

By Severall Small Accts

5n 17n -

Richard Gurling

-n 6n 9

Gabriell Powell

-n 15n 1½

Charles Steward

260n 4n 5

323n 7n -

838n 6n 9

Cattle belonging to the Seperate Stock

& amount as appears on the left Side

20n -n -

858n 6n 9

Debts to be paid Out of the Estate

viz

To the Seperate Stock

£ 44n -n 6

To the Honourble Compy

26n 6n 6½

To Mr Wrangham

-n 5n -

To Mr Ryder

-n 18n 6

To Mary Ferknall

-n 6n -

To Capt Goodwin

-n -n -

To the Church

-n 7n 6

72n 18n 7¼

Clear Estate

£ 785n 8n 1¾

Then the Court was Adjourned as usual

John Smith

Edward Byfield

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

The Steward orphans' account continued, the figure carried over standing at £514 19s 9d.

Brought over, £514 19s 9d

Debts brought over, £52 6s 4½d

By Andrew Bergue, £0 8s 3d

By Sarah Southen, £0 6s 4d

By Robert Gurling, £0 5s 4d

By Severatt Small's account, £5 17s 0d

By Richard Gurling, £0 6s 9d

By Gabriel Powell, £0 15s 1½d

By Charles Steward, £260 4s 5d

323 7s 0d

838 6s 9d

Cattle belonging to the separate stock, amounting as appears on the left side, £20 0s 0d

858 6s 9d

Debts to be paid out of the estate

To the separate stock, £44 0s 6d

To the Honourable Company, £26 6s 0¼d

To Mr Wrangham, £0 5s 0d

To Mr Ryder, £0 18s 6d

To Mary Ferknall, £0 6s 0d

To Captain Goodwin, £0 4s 0d

To the church, £0 7s 6d

72 18s 7¼d

Clear estate, £785 8s 1¾d

The court then adjourned as usual. The record was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The reckoning closes the orphans' inventory by setting the whole value of land, slaves, stock, yams and debts against the sums the estate itself owed, leaving a clear worth of £785 8s 1¾d held in trust for the children. The largest single credit, more than £260 standing in Charles Steward's own name, shows much of the estate's paper value resting on a debt owed by the late father's account, the guardians carrying it forward as an asset to be realised for the heirs.

The list of debts to be paid distributes small charges across the Company, individual planters and the church, the parish church taking its due alongside the rest. The separate stock appears on both sides of the account, both as cattle belonging to it and as a sum owed to it, so the guardians kept the orphans' property and the connected trust carefully apart in the same reckoning, the final balance struck only after each claim against the estate was allowed.

311

207

Island St Helena

At a Consultation Held on

Tuesday the 31 day of March 1724 at Plantation

House

Jno Smith Esqr Govr

Edwd Byfeld 2

Jno Alexander 3 &

Jno Goodwin 4

The Last Consultation and Proceedings at Sessions

Held Yesterday were read and Approved of

Capt Byfeld made Report this day that Notwith

standing he has often Reprimanded and told the

Severall Overseers Under him of their great Neglect

in the management of the Honble Companys Severally

Plantations they have and does yet Continue in their

Said Neglect and Carelesness in the Said Plantations

And therefore desires the Same may be taken into

Consideration, and that Some other and more Properer

Persons may be Appointed in their Places

Capt Byfeld Alsoe Reports that Short Ellen Caesars

wife was brought to bed last Week of a boy Named

Phill

To day Capt Byfeld brought In and deliverd

an Acct of the Honourable Companys Live

Stock and Provisions, Persuant to an Order of

Council of the 11 Instant which was Examind

Approovd, and is as follows Vizt

In the Grand Plantation

In Tuedales Gutt about 13 Months Old

30000

In Carnes Gutt about 4 Months Old

45000

In Kedings Gutt about 8 Months Old

31000

Jeseys Gutt unplanted for want of Suckers

Margin Notes:

Memorandm

That all this

Consultation by

Mistake hath

been twice

Entered as will

appear in the

foregoing fol

Consultation

J A

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Tuesday 31 March 1724 at the plantation house.

Present were Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation and the proceedings at the court of judicature held the day before were read and approved.

Start of crossed out section

Captain Byfield reported that, although he had often reprimanded and warned the several overseers under him about their great neglect in the management of the Company's plantations, they still continued in their neglect and carelessness. He asked that the matter be taken into consideration and that other and more proper persons be appointed in their places.

Captain Byfield also reported that the wife of Short Ellen Caesar had been delivered the previous week of a boy named Phill.

Captain Byfield brought in and delivered an account of the Company's live stock and provisions, taken under an order of council of the eleventh of this month, which was examined and approved. It ran as follows.

In the grand plantation. In Tuesdale Gutt, yams about 13 months old, 30,000. In Carter Gutt, yams about 4 months old, 45,000. In Hoyhing Gutt, yams about 8 months old, 31,000. In Tessey's Gutt, yams unplanted for want of suckers.

End of crossed out section

A memorandum recorded that this whole consultation had by mistake been entered twice, as appeared in the foregoing consultation, signed J. A.

Interpretations

The clerk struck through the entire duplicated consultation rather than leaving it to stand, the cancellation marking the whole block of text as entered in error. The memorandum under the secretary's initials explains the deletion, so that the reader meets both the struck passage and the note accounting for why it was struck.

The slight differences between this cancelled copy and the valid entry, the wife named here as Short Ellen Caesar rather than Short Lazarus and one yam plot aged at thirteen months against eight, show the hazard of copying the same material afresh. The two versions of a single record diverge in their particulars, the clerk's hand recovering the sense each time but not the exact reading, a working illustration of how the same event could enter the archive in two not quite identical forms.

312

208

Island St Helena

At a Consultation Held on

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday the 6 7 8 & 9th

days of Aprill 1724 At Union Castle in James Valley

Jno Smith Esqr Govr

Edwd Byfeld 2

Jno Alexander &

Jno Goodwin 4

The Last Consultation read and Approovd on

We the Governr and Council Mett this day Persuant

to an Advertizemt Issued out the 24th day of March Last

past for Staying off the Garrison, and makeing up all Accots

with the Inhabitants for the year past As well as to

hear any other Matter that might Occur

£ s d

Transferrs Viz

James Vesey Junr Transferrd to James Vesey Senr

having Sallary due) towards Lessening his debt to

the Honble Company

5n 8n 6

Benjamin Beale to William Beale

£ 6n 1n 1

Henry Beale to ditto

4n 1n 5

Towards Lessening his debt

10n 1n 6

Thomas Leech howe Sallary due to Jonathn

Doreton

1n 6n -

John Hayes to ditto for ditt

1n 6n -

3n 12n -

Michael Allen to Joseph Bates for ditt

1n 6n -

Sundrys Dr To Orlando Bagley Senr Viz

Thomas Easton

4n 15n 3

Orlando Bagley Junr

7n 6n 6

Edward Bagley

4n 16n 9

16n 18n 6

Towards Lessening his the Said Orlo Bagleys debt

Margin Notes:

Transfers.

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 6, 7, 8 and 9 April 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

The Governor and council met under an advertisement issued on 24 March last, calling the garrison and inhabitants to reckon for the year past and make up all accounts, and to hear any other matter that might arise. The transfers stood as follows.

James Vesey junior transferred to James Vesey senior, having salary due towards lessening his debt to the Honourable Company, £5 8s 6d

Benjamin Beale to William Beale, £6 0s 0d

Henry Beale to the same, £4 1s 6d, towards lessening his debt, £10 1s 6d

Thomas Leech, having salary due to Jonathan Doveton, £1 6s 0d, towards diet, £1 6s 0d

John Hayes to the same for diet, £3 12s 0d

Michael Allen to Joseph Bates for diet, £1 0s 0d

Sundry debtors to Orlando Bagley senior

Thomas Easton, £4 15s 3d

Orlando Bagley junior, £7 6s 6d

Edward Bagley, £4 16s 9d, towards lessening the said Orlando Bagley's debt, £16 18s 6d

Interpretations

The annual reckoning brought the garrison and inhabitants together to settle their mutual accounts through the Company's books, the advertisement of 24 March 1724 fixing the day for the whole settlement to be made up at once. The transfers move credit from one person to another to reduce a third party's debt to the Company, salary owed to one man assigned to clear the obligation of another, so that the Company's ledger absorbed the island's private dealings and turned them into entries against each holder's account.

The diet charges run through several transfers, the cost of a man's board assigned from his own credit to the household that fed him. This shows the bookkeeping by which the establishment recovered the price of maintenance, the sum a planter or servant owed for his keep set off against any salary or credit standing to his name, the whole cleared without coin changing hands.

313

209

Transferrs brought Over

Sundrys Dr To John Harding Viz

Thomas Gardner Corpl for ditt

1n 16n -

James Harding

1n 4n -

Joseph Harding

1n -n -

4n -n -

Towards Lessening his debt & Promiss to pay

£ 12 more in Cattle

Sundrys Dr To Thomas Allis viz

Thomas Belgrave

13n 8n 3

William Allis

11n 1n -

24n 9n 3

Towards Lessening his debt

Sundrys Dr To Giles Smith Viz

Robert Leech for ditt

1n 19n 9

Henry Welch

7n 16n 1

Giles Smith towards Lessening his Acco of Bond

9n 15n 10

32n -n -

John French Junr in full paymt of his Acco of

Bonds for £200

160n -n -

Richard Leech Dr To Robert Gurling

11n 15n 6

Sundrys Dr To John Teoattes viz

John Teoattes Junr

6n 4n 3

Benjamin Teoattes

6n 4n 3

12n 8n 6

Towards Lessening his debt

Sundrys Dr To Dorothy Hays

Joseph Hayse

4n 15n 6

John Hayse

2n 11n 7

7n 7n 1

Towards Lessening Her debt

John Knipe Junr To John Knipe Senr

6n 9n -

Martin Harper Dr to Richd Mason

6n 16n 6

Francis Wrangham paid in for James Vesey Senr

68n -n -

Towards Lessening his debt and Stands Engaged for

£ 68 more wch is the full Paymt of his the Said

Veseys debt to the Honb Compy to be paid next March

Sundrys Dr to Wedy Whaley Viz

Joseph Whaley Junr

11n 10n 2

Simon Whaley

12n 18n 2

24n 8n 4

Towards Lessening Her debt

Martin Van Oosten Dr to Elizh Marsh

1n 12n -

The transfers continued from the previous page.

Sundry debtors to John Harding

Thomas Gardner, corporal, for diet, £1 16s 0d

James Harding, £0 4s 0d

Joseph Harding, £1 0s 0d, towards lessening his debt, £4 0s 0d, and promises to pay £12 more in cattle

Sundry debtors to Thomas Allis

Thomas Pegrave, £13 8s 3d

William Allis, £11 1s 0d, towards lessening his debt, £24 9s 3d

Sundry debtors to Giles Smith

Robert Leach for diet, £1 19s 9d

Henry Welch, £7 16s 1d, £9 15s 10d

Giles Smith towards lessening his account of bonds, £32 0s 0d

John French, gunner, in full payment of his account of bonds for £200, £160 0s 0d

Richard Leach, debtor to Robert Gurling, £11 15s 6d

Sundry debtors to John Scoales

John Twaites junior, £6 4s 3d

Benjamin Twaites, £6 4s 3d, towards lessening his debt, £12 8s 6d

Sundry debtors to Dorothy Hayes

Joseph Hayes, £4 15s 6d

John Hayes, £2 11s 7d, towards lessening her debt, £7 7s 1d

John Knipe junior to John Knipe senior, £0 6s 9d

Martin Harper, debtor to Richard Mason, £6 16s 6d

Francis Wrangham, paid in for James Vesey senior, £68 0s 0d, towards lessening his debt, and stands engaged for £68 more, which is the full payment of Vesey's debt to the Honourable Company, to be paid next March

Sundry debtors to Mercy Whaley

Joseph Whaley junior, £11 10s 2d

Simon Whaley, £12 18s 2d, towards lessening her debt, £24 8s 4d

Martin Van Oosten, debtor to Elizabeth Marsh, £1 12s 0d

Interpretations

The gunner John French's entry clears a £200 bond account by a single transfer of £160, marking the discharge of one of the larger private debts standing on the Company's books. The bond, an instrument binding the borrower to repay under penalty, is here paid down through the annual reckoning rather than in coin, the credit moved on the ledger to extinguish most of the obligation at one stroke.

Several entries promise future payment in kind or by instalment, Joseph Harding undertaking £12 in cattle and Francis Wrangham binding himself for a further £68 the next March to complete James Vesey's debt to the Company. The settlement thus reached beyond the present year's books, the Company accepting a planter's engagement to pay later as good security, livestock and a dated promise standing in place of cash where the debtor had no ready money.

314

210

Forasmuch as divers Complaints have been made that

frequent Damages hath been Sustained by Doggs Runing

loose and following of Blacks up and down the Country

Ordered That an Advertizemt be Published forbiding

all manner of Persons Carrying or takeing any Dogg or

Doggs with them off of their own Land Unless in a rope

or Chein upon any Pretence whatsoever and that no

Black or Blacks be allowd or Suffered to have any kind

of Dogg or Doggs following them any where after the

Publication hereof Except the Owner is Present with

them, and if any Dogg or Doggs is known or Seen to

Run loose or following any Person Contrary to this

Order: It may be Lawfull for any Person to Shoot or

otherwise kill Such Dogg or Doggs, to prevent any further

Complaint or Damages

Persuant to the Advertizemt Orderd in the fore

ing Consultation the present Church Wardens & Overseers

of the High ways brought In and Deliverd the

following Acco of the Sevral Persons Nominated at an

Assembly On Monday the 6 Inst At the Country Church

to Succeed them the Ensuing Year Vizt

1 Joshua Johnson was Chosen & desired to

Continue the present year &

Church Wardens

for the West

Division

2 John Bagley Senr

3 John Defountain &

Ditto for the

Et Division

4 James Draper

1 Robert Gurling &

2 Richard Mason

overseers of the High ways

for the West Division

3 Richard Swallow Senr &

4 Charles Steward

Ditto for the Sd Divn

5 Thomas Allis &

6 John Worrall

Ditto for the Et Div

Ordered That

Margin Notes:

Complt agt

Doggs doing

Damages

None to run

loose or wth

Blacks.

otherwise may

be killd

Persons

Chosen for

Parish Officers

Several complaints had been made that frequent damage was caused by dogs running loose and following the blacks up and down the country. The council ordered an advertisement published forbidding anyone to carry or take any dog off their own land unless held by a rope or chain, on any pretext at all. No black was to be allowed any kind of dog following them anywhere after the advertisement was published, unless the owner was present with them. If any dog was known or seen to run loose or follow any person against this order, anyone might lawfully shoot or otherwise kill the dog, to prevent any further complaint or damage.

Under the advertisement ordered in the previous consultation, the present churchwardens and overseers of the highways brought in and delivered the following account of the persons nominated at an assembly held on Monday the first of this month at the country church, to succeed them the coming year.

Persons chosen for churchwardens for the West Division

1 Joshua Johnson, chosen and desired to continue the present year

2 John Bagley senior

Persons chosen for churchwardens for the East Division

3 John Defountain

4 James Draper

Persons chosen for overseers of the highways for the West Division

1 Robert Gurling

2 Richard Mason

Persons chosen for overseers of the highways for the South Division

3 Richard Swallow senior

4 Charles Steward

Persons chosen for overseers of the highways for the East Division

5 Thomas Allis

6 John Worrall

The council then made a further order.

Interpretations

The dog order shows the council reaching past the animals to the people who kept them, the rule aimed less at strays than at dogs following the slaves about the country. By forbidding any black a loose dog and licensing any inhabitant to shoot one found running free, the bench tied the control of the animals to the control of the slave population, treating the roaming dog as part of the wider problem of slaves moving and acting beyond their masters' watch.

The nomination slate doubles each office so the council can choose from twice the number to be appointed, four names yielding two churchwardens and six yielding three overseers, the highway posts further split by division across the island. The freeholders' assembly of 1 April 1724 supplied the candidates while the final selection rested with the bench, and the request that Joshua Johnson continue another year shows continuity valued in the parish office even as the annual rotation ran its course.

315

211

That the Old Church Wardens & Overseers

be Sumoned to Attend with their Accos for the year

Past on Tuesday next. And

That Mr Joshua Johnson, & John Defountaune

be Appointed Church Wardens, And that Richard

Mason, Richard Swallow Senr and Thom Allis

Overseers of the High ways, be Likewise Sumoned

to Attend at the Same time In Order of being Invested

in their Said Offices for the Ensuing Year

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island St Helena

At a Consultation Held

on Wednsday the 15th day of Aprill 1724 At Union

Castle in James Valley

Jno Smith Esqr Govr

Edwd Byfeld 2

Jno Alexander 3 &

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & approovd on

On Sunday morning last We had an Alarm for

one Ship to the Windward of the Island, about five

Leagues Off dry Gatt

In the Evening Arrived the Sarum Capt George

Newton Comander from Bengall who brought

Us a Letter and Invoice from thence Containing

Margin Notes:

Old Church Wardens

to be Sumoned

New ones & the

Overseers of ye

High ways

Elected

An Alarm

Ships Sarums

Arrival

The council ordered that the old churchwardens and overseers be summoned to attend with their accounts for the year past on the following Tuesday.

It further ordered that Mr Joshua Johnson and John Defountain be appointed churchwardens, and that Richard Mason, Richard Swallow senior and Thomas Allis, overseers of the highways, be likewise summoned to attend at the same time to be invested in their offices for the coming year.

The record was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Wednesday 15 April 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

On the previous Sunday morning the island had an alarm for one ship to windward, about five leagues off Dry Gutt.

That evening the Sarum, Captain George Newton commander, arrived from Bengal. He brought a letter and invoice from there containing the following.

Interpretations

The bench selects the actual office-holders from the doubled slate of nominees, naming Johnson and Defountain as churchwardens and three of the six nominated men as overseers. The chosen are then summoned to be formally invested, the appointment completed by an act of the council rather than by the freeholders' nomination alone, so that the parish officers took up their charge under conciliar authority.

The alarm for a single sail off Dry Gutt shows the island's standing watch over its road, every unidentified ship met with a general alarm until its character was known. The vessel proved to be the Company's own Sarum arriving from Bengal with a letter and invoice, the supply correspondence from the eastern factories reaching the island that the council had long pressed for grain and stores through the years of drought.

316

212

the following Goods and Provisions, which are very

Acceptable to Us

By Ship Sarum

35 Baggs Rice Cont qr 70 Burr oz 5 [...]

at 1n 30 p Maund

40n -n -

Batta at 10 p Ct

4n -n -

44n -n -

11 Bags Tresinda Sug qr 22 Burr oz 16n 15

at p 81 p Bag

77n -n -

10 Bags Wax qr 20 oz 13n 1n 9 at 21n 8 p Maund

430n -n -

Charges

10n 7n 6

Rupr

561n 7n 6

On Monday about One a Clock in the afternoone

We had another Alarm for One Ship about Seven

Leagues Distance off of Stone Top and next day the

14 Inst Arrived the Lethullieur Capt John Shepheard

Comander (who Succeeded after the Death of Capt John

Edwards) from Bengall & brought Us a Lre & Invoice

from thence Cont a futher Supply of Goods & Provisions for ye

Use of this Island which is what Else We are advised the Gentlemen

there Resident hath Shipt for Us On the Mary Derby, & Essex

that are Speedily Expected here will be a very good means of Re

plenishing the real Necessity & Starving Condition this place has

been in for a Considerable time Past

By Ship Lethullier Viz

38 Bags Rice qr 76 Burr

47n 12n 3

12 Bags Sugar qr 24 do

84n -n -

4 Cask Pork qr 426 pr

125n -n -

Charges

26n -n -

Rupr

278n 13n 3

Pursuant

Margin Notes:

Goods from

Bengall

Ships

Lethullieurs

Arrival

Goods Cont

from Bengl

The letter and invoice listed the following goods and provisions, which were very welcome.

By ship Sarum, goods from Bengal

35 bags of rice, weighing 70 maunds 51 seers 9 [...] at 1 rupee 30 pies per maund, 40 0s 0d

Batta added at 10 per cent, 4 0s 0d

44 0s 0d

11 bags of Tresinda sugar, weighing 22 maunds [...] at 16 [...] 15 per maund, 77 0s 0d

10 bags of wax, weighing 20 maunds 13 seers 9 [...] at 21 maunds 8 [...] per maund, 430 0s 0d

Charges, 10 7s 6d

561 rupees 7 annas 6 pies

On the previous Monday about one in the afternoon the island had another alarm for one ship about seven leagues off Stone Top. The next day, the 14th of this month, the Lethulier, Captain John Shepheard commander, arrived. He had succeeded after the death of Captain John Edwards, came from Bengal, and brought a letter and invoice from there containing a further supply of goods and provisions for the use of the island. The Governor reported that the Company's agents resident at Bengal had shipped more for the island on the Mary, Derby and Essex, which were soon expected, and that these would be a very good means of relieving the real necessity and starving condition the island had been in for a considerable time past.

By ship Lethulier, goods from Bengal

38 bags of rice, weighing 76 maunds [...], 47 12s 3d

12 bags of sugar, weighing 24 maunds, 84 0s 0d

4 casks of pork, weighing 426 [...], 125 0s 0d

Charges, 26 0s 0d

278 rupees 13 annas 3 pies

The council then made a further order.

Interpretations

Batta is the customary allowance added to a payment in Indian commerce, here ten per cent laid on the price of the rice, an adjustment built into the reckoning of the eastern factories that the island's account carried over unchanged. Tresinda sugar names a grade shipped from Bengal, and the wax, valued far above the food in the same invoice, was a costly commodity for candles and sealing, the heaviest single charge among the goods sent.

The Indian sums are kept in rupees, annas and pies and the weights in maunds and seers, the units of the Bengal factories preserved in the island's record rather than converted to sterling. The account stood as received from the eastern agents, the local clerk entering the foreign currency and measure as they came, so that the invoice answered the books at Fort William before it answered those at St Helena.

These cargoes mark the relief of the famine the council had pressed through the drought years, the Sarum and Lethulier arriving with rice, sugar, wax and pork from Bengal and more promised on three further ships. The Governor's note of the island's starving condition ties the shipments directly to the long supply correspondence, the eastern factories at last answering the repeated demand for grain that the failed seasons and barred Cape passage had made urgent.

317

213

Pursuant to the Order in the foregoing Consultation

the Old and New Church Wardens and Overseers of

the High ways all Appeared Viz

Mr Joshua Johnson &

Mr Isaack Leech

Old Church Wardens

The abovenamed Mr Joshua Johnson being

Chosen and Desired to Continue the Ensuing

Year (with Mr John Defountaine) have

New Church

Wardens

ing passed their Accots for the year Past the Said Mr

Johnson and John Defountain, was Invested in the Office

of Church Wardens and Sworne Acordingly for the Ensue

ing Year. Likewise William Worrell, Sutton Isaack

and Samuel Tayler the Old Overseers of the High wayes

haveing alsoe passed their Accots was Discharged

And

Richard Swallow

Richard Mason &

Thomas Allis

New Overseers

Were all Sworn as usual to Execute their Office Acord

ing to the Instructions they Should receive from time

to time

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Old & new Church

Wardens Appd

New ones Invested

Alsoe

the Overseers

Sworne.

Under the order in the previous consultation, the old and new churchwardens and overseers of the highways all appeared.

Old churchwardens

Mr Joshua Johnson

Mr Isaac Leech

Mr Joshua Johnson, having been chosen and asked to continue the coming year, together with Mr John Defountain, both passed their accounts for the year past. Johnson and Defountain were invested in the office of churchwardens and sworn accordingly for the coming year.

William Worrall, Sutton Isaake and Samuel Taylor, the old overseers of the highways, having also passed their accounts, were discharged.

New overseers

Richard Swallow

Richard Mason

Thomas Allis

These three were all sworn as fit to carry out their office according to the instructions they should receive from time to time.

The record was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The handover ties the discharge of the old parish officers to the passing of their accounts, no warden or overseer released until the year's reckoning had been examined and approved. The clearing of the books is the condition of release, so that each officer answered for his stewardship before the office passed to his successor, and the new men took up their charge only on a clean account.

The swearing of the incoming overseers binds them to instructions still to come, the oath taken not to a fixed code but to whatever directions the council should issue through the year. This shows the highway office held under the bench's continuing authority rather than as an independent charge, the overseers sworn in advance to obey orders the council reserved the power to give as the work of the roads required.

318

214

Island St Helena

At a Consultation held on

Tuesday the 21 day of Aprill 1724 At

Union Castle in James Valley

John Smith Esqr Govr

Edw Byfeld 2

Jno Alexander 3 &

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read & Approovd on

On Wednesday the 15th Inst in the Evening Arrived a

Dutch Ship Named the Shoneberg from Mocha and

Couchine that has had a long Passage and being forced

by the Cape by Stress of weather was Obliged to putt in

here for Refreshment and to Recover their Sick Men

which the Capt Says is about 20 very ill of the Scurvey

On the 16 following Arrived two of His Majesties

Ships of War The Lyon Comadore Matthews and the

Shoram Capt Main from Bombay, but last from

the Cape, where were no English Ships, but before their

going In there they Mett with the London and

Greenwitch outward bound, and as they was comeing

from Bombay they mett the Duke of Cambridge

Capt Daniell Small bound thither

On the 19th Arrived the Mary Capt Richd Holden

the Derby Capt Fitzhugh &

the Essex Capt Sommers

from Bengal and Maddrass where they left the Walpool

Capta Boddam Comander, who may be Expected here

Some time next Month

By

Margin Notes:

Dutch Ships

Arrived.

2 Ships of

Warr arrival

3 Ships Mary

Derby

Essex

Arrival

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Tuesday 21 April 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

On the evening of Wednesday the 15th of this month a Dutch ship arrived named the Shoneberg, from Mocha and Cochin. She had made a long passage and, forced toward the Cape by stress of weather, was obliged to put in at the island for refreshment and to recover her sick men, whom the captain said numbered about twenty very ill of the scurvy.

On the 16th two of His Majesty's ships of war arrived, the Lyon, Commodore Matthews, and the Shoram, Captain Main, from Bombay but last from the Cape. They had found no English ships there, but before going in they had met the London and Greenwich outward bound, and as they came from Bombay they had met the Duke of Cambridge, Captain Daniel Small, bound thither.

On the 19th the Mary, Captain Richard Holden, the Derby, Captain Fitzhugh, and the Essex, Captain Sommers, arrived from Bengal and Madras. They had left the Walpool, Captain Boddam commander, behind, who might be expected at the island some time the following month.

Interpretations

The Dutch ship's forced call shows the island serving as a relief station for the shipping of any nation when weather and sickness overcame a long passage. The Shoneberg, driven from her course with a fifth of her crew laid low by scurvy, put in for the fresh provisions and recovery the island could supply, the same refreshment the Company maintained the settlement to provide for its own vessels rounding the Cape.

The run of arrivals turns the consultation into a record of intelligence as much as of trade, each commander reporting the ships he had met and where, so the council built a picture of the season's traffic across the southern ocean. The naval ships' news of vessels passed at the Cape and on the Bombay route, and the report of the Walpool still to come from Bengal, fed the island's watch over its road and its expectation of the further famine relief promised on the eastern ships.

319

215

By these three Ships Mary, Derby, and Essex

We have receivd the following Quantitys of Rice

and Sugar from Bengal, which is Extreamly Accept

able to Us which with what Provisions Else We can

buy out of these Shipping We hope will be of great Service

towards the Supplying Your Honours Blacks & Relief

of the poor Inhabitants whose Stocks & Plantations

in Ginnall are very much Reduced by the last five

Years drought

By Ship Mary viz

52 Bags Rice qr 104 Burr oz 76

52n 4n -

at 2 p in Rupr

Batta 10 p Ct

5n 3n 3

57n 3n 3

15 Bags Tresinda Sugar qr 30 oz 22

at 7 p bag

105n -n -

67

162n 3n 3

Charges

35n 5n 9

Rupees

197n 9n -

By Ship Derby viz

51 Bags Rice qr 102 Burr oz 74n 3n 5

at 2 p Maud Rupee

51n 4n -

Batta 10 p Ct

5n 1n 6

56n 1n 6

15 Bags Tresinda Sugar qr 30 Burr oz 22

at 7 p Bags

105n -n -

161n 1n 6

Charges

32n 15n 3

Rupas

194n -n 9

By the Essex We reed viz

36 Bags Rice qr 72 Burr

8 Bags Sugar qr 16 Burr

44

As per 2 Bill of Loading reed by the Sarum

But

Margin Notes:

Sundry Goods

reed from

Bengall p

3 Ships

Mary.

Derby.

Essex

By the three ships Mary, Derby and Essex the island received the following quantities of rice and sugar from Bengal, very welcome supplies. With what other provisions could be bought out of the shipping, the Governor hoped these would be of great service toward supplying the Company's blacks and relieving the poor inhabitants, whose stocks and plantations had been much reduced by the last five years' drought.

By ship Mary, sundry goods from Bengal

52 bags of rice, weighing 104 maunds 76 seers, at 2 [...] per rupee, 52 4s 0d

Batta added at 10 per cent, 5 3s 3d

57 3s 3d

15 bags of Tresinda sugar, weighing 30 maunds 22 seers, at 7 [...] per bag, 105 0s 0d

162 3s 3d

Charges, 35 5s 9d

197 rupees 9 annas 0 pies

By ship Derby

51 bags of rice, weighing 102 maunds 74 seers, at 3 [...] 5 [...] per maund, 51 0s 0d

Batta added at 10 per cent, 5 1s 6d

56 1s 6d

15 bags of Tresinda sugar, weighing 30 maunds 22 seers, at 7 [...] per bag, 105 0s 0d

161 1s 6d

Charges, 32 15s 3d

194 rupees 1 anna 9 pies

By the Essex, received

36 bags of rice, weighing 72 maunds

8 bags of sugar, weighing 16 maunds

44

These were received as per second bill of lading by the Sarum. The council then made a further order.

Interpretations

The three ships complete the relief promised on the earlier arrivals, the Mary, Derby and Essex landing rice and sugar from Bengal to feed both the Company's slaves and the impoverished planters. The Governor names the five years' drought as the cause, tying the eastern shipments directly to the failed harvests that had stripped the island's own stocks and forced it to draw its provision from India.

The Essex cargo carries no money values and is matched against a second bill of lading received earlier by the Sarum, showing the duplicate invoice system the factories used to guard against loss at sea. By sending the bill of lading on one ship and the goods on another, the Bengal agents ensured the island could check what it received against an independent record, the Sarum's papers serving to confirm the Essex's landing even before that ship's own account was reckoned.

320

216

But no Invoice nor Letter which by Accident Capta

Sommers tells Us was dropt overboard by his Coxswaine

comeing to Day a Shoar and therefore We Shall Charge

it at the Same Price as the rest is in the aforesaid Invoices

Orderd That the following Advertizemt

be Published in the Usual manner

Island St Helena

By the Worshl Jno Smith Esqr Govr

and Council An Advertizement

Whereas the Honble Companys Stock of Neat

Cattle being very much Reduced by haveing Killd a

Considerable Number for Supplying this Summers

Shiping and haveing but few left & cept Some breeders

and a few Young Cattle And his Majesties two

Ships of War and others now in the Road requireing

a futher Supply of fresh Beef and live Cattle These

are therefore to Enjoyne and require all and every the

Inhabitants of this Island that have any Tollerable Stock

of Such Cattle that they do make an Offer to the Wors

the Governr of all or So many as Each Master or

Mistress of a family hath, or can Dispose of for which

they may Expect ready money Notwithstanding

Severall being Indebted to the Said Honble Company

And for the Encouragemt of the Said Inhabitants & that

their families may in Some measure be now Releived

These are to give Notice that they have free Liberty to

Buy, Barter, or Exchange any Sort of Comodity or Provisions

for Rice or other oplin with the Gentlemen of the Shiping

now in Our road Unto all which areddy Comply and

& Observance is Expected Dated at Union Castle

in James Valley this 22 Day of Aprill 1724 & Signd

Jno Smith

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Margin Notes:

Invoice of

Essex not

reed

Goods to be Sold

as usually Charged

Beef wand

to Supply

the Shiping

Plantrs are

desired to

assist.

And have

Liberty to

Buy Rice

&c

These far hath been Copyd

& Sent home p Ship Mary

Capt Holden

The Essex brought no invoice nor letter, which Captain Sommers said had by accident dropped overboard from his coxswain coming ashore that day. The council therefore charged her goods at the same price as the rest in the earlier invoices, as usual.

The council ordered the following advertisement published in the usual manner.

By Governor John Smith and the council, an advertisement.

The Company's stock of neat cattle had been much reduced by killing a considerable number to supply the past summer's shipping, leaving few but some breeders and a few young cattle. His Majesty's two ships of war and the others now in the road needed a further supply of fresh beef and live cattle. The council therefore called on every inhabitant of the island who had any tolerable stock of such cattle to make an offer to the Governor, of as many as each master or mistress of a family had or could spare, for which they might expect ready money. This applied even though several stood indebted to the Company. For the encouragement of the inhabitants, and so their families might in some measure be relieved, the council gave notice that they had free liberty to buy, barter or exchange any sort of commodity or provisions for the rice or other goods of the ships now in the road. Compliance and observance were expected of all. The whole was dated at Union Castle in James Valley on 22 April 1724 and signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

A note recorded that the consultation had so far been copied and sent home by the ship Mary, Captain Holden.

Interpretations

The loss of the Essex invoice overboard left the council without the prices set by the Bengal factory, so it valued her cargo by the rates of the ships that arrived with their papers intact. The earlier invoices stood as the measure where the proper account was missing, the bench filling the gap from the matching shipments rather than guessing at the goods' worth.

The advertisement offers ready money for cattle even to inhabitants in debt to the Company, a deliberate exception to the usual setting-off of credit against what a planter owed. The bench needed fresh beef for the warships and shipping in the road and judged it worth paying in coin to draw out the herds, suspending its ordinary practice of recovering debt through the books so the cattle would actually come in.

The same notice grants the inhabitants free liberty to trade their own goods for the ships' rice, opening the relief cargo to barter rather than reserving it to the Company's distribution. By letting the planters exchange provisions directly for the imported grain, the council spread the famine relief through the market while easing the want of the poorer families, the two measures together turning the shipping in the road into a source of both supply and ready cash for the island.

321

217

Island St Helena

At a Consultation Held on

Tuesday the 5th day of May 1724 At Union

Castle in James Valley

Jno Smith Esqr Govr

Edwd Byfeld 2

Jno Alexander 3 &

Jno Goodwin 4th in Coun

The Last Consultation read and Approovd of

On the 20 Aprill last Sailed hence for Great Brittain

His Majesties Ships of War, the Lyon and Shoram

with the Mary, Derby, Sarum, Essex & Lethullier

Under their Convoy

On the 30th following Saild hence for Holland

the Dutch Ship Menhoned in the foregoing Consul

tation of the 21 Aprille

On which day in the afternoon We had an Alaem for

One Ship to the Windward of the Island about Seven, or

Eight Leagues Distance

The next day in the morning Arrived the Bridgewater

Capta Edward Williamson Comander from Bengal

and brought Us thence for the Use of this Island, the

following Goods and Provisions

37 Bags Rice qr 71 Burr 11d at 54n -n at 2 11d

37n -n -

2 11d p Maud rupr is

Batta 10 p Ct

3n 11n 3

8 Bags Tresinda Sugar qr 16 Burr 11d at 7 p Bag

40n 11n 3

56n -n -

3 Casks Pork at 30n 4n 3 p Cask qr viz 5 120 pr

6 108

7 115

343 pr

90n 12n 9

Charges Merchandize

182n 8n -

15n 4n 9

Rupees

202n 12n 9

Margin Notes:

Departure of

2 Ships of War &

5 India Men

Under Convoy.

Dutch Ships

Departure

An Alarm.

Ship

Bridgwater

Arrl

Goods reed

from Bengl

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Tuesday 5 May 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth in council.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

On 28 April last His Majesty's ships of war, the Lyon and Shoram, sailed for Great Britain, with the Mary, Derby, Sarum, Essex and Lethulier under their convoy.

On the 30th the Dutch ship mentioned in the consultation of 21 April sailed for Holland.

That afternoon the island had an alarm for one ship to windward, about seven or eight leagues off.

The next morning the Bridgewater, Captain Edward Williamson commander, arrived from Bengal. She brought for the use of the island the following goods and provisions.

By the Bridgewater, goods from Bengal

37 bags of rice, weighing 71 maunds 11 seers, at 1 [...] 2 [...] 2 [...] per maund, 37 0s 0d

Batta added at 10 per cent, 3 14s 3d

40 14s 3d

8 bags of Tresinda sugar, weighing 16 maunds 11 seers, at 7 [...] per bag, 56 0s 0d

3 casks of pork, weighing 343 [...] at 30s 4s 3d per cask, 90 12s 9d

181 8s 0d

Charges merchandise, 15 4s 9d

202 rupees 12 annas 9 pies

Interpretations

The departure of the homeward fleet under naval convoy shows the island's role as a mustering point where Company ships gathered under the protection of His Majesty's warships for the dangerous passage home. The Lyon and Shoram took five Indiamen together for Great Britain, the assembled escort guarding the season's returning trade against the privateers and rival shipping the council's standing watch was set to detect.

The Bridgewater continues the run of Bengal relief, her rice, sugar and pork reckoned in the factory's own units and currency like the cargoes before her. The casks of pork add a salted meat to the staple grain, broadening the supply against the famine, the heaviest charge among her goods falling on the preserved provision rather than the rice, a costlier import to feed an island whose own herds the drought had thinned.

322

218

Mr Byfeld Reports that a Black Wench of the Honoure

Companys Named Margarett belonging to the Hutts Plan

tation was brought to Bed last week of a Boy Naind Stepney

Gunner French brought In and Deliverd the two

following Accots which was Examind & Approovd of

viz

An Acco of Stores Expended in the Month of March

1724

Gun fired Fall Powr

March 3 Arrived the King George Capt Haughton from India

11 11 11

Do 3 Deliverd to Giles Hayse for the Use of the ffort

½

Do 4 It being Muster day of the Garrison

10

14 To Answer a Sallute from the King George

7 7 7

25 Deliverd to Mr Crispe for the Use of the ffort

½

27 Deliverd to Capta Goodwin

2

Expences for the Guards

2r 10

Cartridge Paper for Store Use

this 1

Parchment Skins for do

1

Cartridge Paper for ye Use of ye Guards

42 1

flints for ditto

12

Do Deliverd Mr Crispe

1

A double headed Dem Cain Shott

28

Match

28

Totall

28 1 54 1 2 18 18 40

General Accot of Gunners Stores, Expended & remaining

for the year past viz

Names of Gunners Stores 1723

What Stores remaind Ullo May 1723

The Expence from Ullo May at Ullo March 1724

Recd from Ullo May to Ullo Mar follows

The remains of Ullo Mar 1724

Iron Ordinance

124

124

Iron Round Shott

6959

6959

Double Headed or framed Shott

547

546

Corn Powder

Barls to 180 = 39

Barls to 2 37n 4

4 Barr to 177n 4 4

Match

762

190

572

Margin Notes:

Boy

Corn

Gun French Accot

for Mar 1724

Gunrs Genl

Acco for

ye par

Mr Byfield reported that a black woman of the Company named Margaret, belonging to the Hutts plantation, had been delivered the previous week of a boy named Stepney.

Gunner French brought in and delivered the following two accounts, which were examined and approved.

An account of stores expended in the month of March 1724.

March 1, arrived the King George, Captain Staughton, from India, guns fired 11, falcons fired 11, pounds of powder 11

March 3, delivered to Giles Hayes for the use of the Fort, ½

March 4, being muster day of the garrison, 10

March 14, to answer a salute from the King George, guns 7, falcons 7, pounds of powder 7

March 25, delivered to Mr Crispe for the use of the Fort, ½

March 27, delivered to Captain Goodwin, ½

Expenses for the guards, 25

Cartridge paper for store use, 1 quire

Parchment skins for the same, 1

Cartridge paper for the use of the guards, 42

Flints for the same, 12

The same delivered to Mr Crispe, 1

A double-headed demi-cannon shot, 28

Match, 1

Total, guns 28, falcons 54, pounds of powder 2, with cartridge paper 18, flints 18 and shot 40

A general account of the gunner's stores expended and remaining for the year past.

Iron ordnance, remaining at the end of May 1723, 124; nothing expended; remaining at end of March 1724, 124

Iron round shot, remaining at end of May 1723, 6,959; remaining at end of March 1724, 6,959

Double-headed or framed shot, remaining at end of May 1723, 547; expended from end of May to end of March 1724, 1 barrel; remaining at end of March 1724, 546

Corn powder, remaining at end of May 1723, 180 barrels and 39 [...]; expended end of May to end of March, 2 barrels and 37 [...]; received end of May to end of March, 4 barrels; remaining at end of March 1724, 177 barrels and 64 [...]

Match, remaining at end of May 1723, 762; expended, 190; remaining at end of March 1724, 572

Interpretations

The monthly stores account records the powder spent gun by gun, the charge tied to each ceremonial firing so the council could see exactly what each salute had cost. The eleven guns fired to greet the King George and the seven returned to her salute are entered as direct deductions from the magazine, the courtesies of the road paid for in measured pounds of powder against a stock the island could not easily replace.

A falcon names a small piece of ordnance and corn powder the granulated gunpowder of the magazine, the framed or double-headed shot being the bar and chain projectiles meant to cut rigging. The general account sets the year's whole stock against what was spent and received, the heavy iron ordnance and round shot standing unchanged while only powder, match and a little framed shot were consumed, so the bench could judge the magazine's strength and what the directors must send to keep it supplied.

The two accounts serve different purposes side by side, the monthly return tracking the immediate expenditure of each occasion and the annual return measuring the standing reserve from one May to the next. The gunner rendered both so that the council could watch the daily drain of salutes and musters against the slow turnover of the magazine's capital, the powder received during the year set against the powder fired to show whether the island's defence was gaining or losing ground.

323

219

Names of Gunners Stores Viz

What remaind Ullo May 1723

Expended from Ullo May at Ullo Mar 1724

What has been recd from Ullo May follows

Remains of Ullo Mar 1724

Cartridge Paper

26 15

1 15

5

Spunge Heads

373

373

Rammer Heads

245

1

244

Cartridge Cases

92

92

Powder Hornes

158

158

Pole Axes

24

24

Flints

17798

474

17324

Wormes

17

17

Copper Ladles

24

1

23

Tompkins

588

9

579

Spunge Staves

357

357

Sheep Skins

207

9

198

Scouring Rodds

364

21

283

Beads

122

122

Quins

180

180

Cartouch Boxes

77

77

Frucks

279

2

277

Axeltrees

70

1

71

Blunder Busses

36

36

Pistols

12

12

Lead Shott

1375½

18

1357½

Rouge Barrels

4 12 Bs

4 12 Bs

Guns & Blocks

4 2

4 2

Union flaggs

2

2

Hand Spikes

225

6

219

Fortins

24

24

Linstocks

100 Bls

100 Bls

Pumeing Wyre

300

300

Horse Hides

this 4

4

Parchment

100

12

88

Jno French

Capta

The general account of the gunner's stores continued, listing each item with its stock at the end of May 1723, what was expended or received in the year, and what remained at the end of March 1724.

Cartridge paper, remaining May 1723, 26 quires 15; expended 1 quire 15; remaining March 1724, 25 quires

Sponge heads, 373; nothing expended; remaining 373

Rammer heads, 245; expended 1; remaining 244

Cartridge cases, 92; remaining 92

Powder horns, 158; remaining 158

Pole axes, 24; remaining 24

Flints, 17,798; expended 474; remaining 17,324

Wormes, 17; remaining 17

Copper ladles, 24; expended 1; remaining 23

Tompkins, 588; expended 9; remaining 579

Sponge staves, 357; remaining 357

Sheep skins, 207; expended 9; remaining 198

Scouring rods, 304; expended 21; remaining 283

Beds, 122; remaining 122

Quoins, 180; remaining 180

Cartouche boxes, 77; remaining 77

Trucks, 279; expended 2; remaining 277

Axletrees, 70; expended 1; remaining 71

Blunderbusses, 36; remaining 36

Pistols, 12 pairs; remaining 12 pairs

Lead shot, 1,375½; expended 18; remaining 1,357½

Rouge barrels, 4 [...] 12 barrels 8 [...]; remaining 12 barrels 8 [...]

Guns and blocks, 4 [...] 2; remaining 4 [...] 2

Union flags, 2; remaining 2

Hand spikes, 225; expended 6; remaining 219

Formers, 24; remaining 24

Linstocks, 100; remaining 100

Priming wire, 300; remaining 300

Horse hides, 4 skins; remaining 4

Parchment, 100; expended 12; remaining 88

The account was signed by John French, captain.

Interpretations

The inventory measures the whole apparatus of the island's artillery, the tools by which the guns were loaded, cleaned, aimed and fired rather than the guns themselves. A worm drew the charge from a barrel, a sponge and its staves swabbed it out, the quoins wedged the gun to its elevation, the linstocks held the slow match for firing and the tompkins plugged the muzzles against the sea air, so the list records the means of keeping the ordnance in service across a year in which almost nothing was spent.

Several entries name materials and components unfamiliar in ordinary use. Cartouche boxes held the made-up cartridges, formers shaped them, rammer and sponge heads fitted the staves that drove and cleaned the charge, and the rouge barrels were most probably casks of red ochre for marking or preserving the ironwork. The sheep skins, horse hides and parchment served as wadding, covers and cartridge material, the gunner's store reaching well beyond powder and shot into the many small consumables that kept a battery fit to fire.

The near-static figures across the whole list show a magazine held in reserve rather than drawn upon, the largest losses being flints and a few hundred items of wadding and cleaning gear. The gunner rendered the full count so the directors could see that the island's defensive stock stood almost intact from one year to the next, the small expenditures of salutes and musters making no real inroad on a reserve maintained against the threat of an enemy or interloper in the road.

324

220

Capta Goodwin brought In and Deliverd his Monthly

Collection of Goods and Stores Sold and Deliverd out in the

Month of March last, which was Examd Approovd & is as

follows

880 7/8 Galls Arrack

£ 87n 18n 10½

1687 ℔ Sugar

42n 3n 6

321n 2n 4½

73 ℔ Bread

13n 3

7 03 ℔ flower

8n 15n 9

17 1/2 ℔ Cohee Tea

5n 5n -

9n 14n -

19 ditto ditto

5n 14n -

3 ℔ Green ditto

12n -

3 ℔ Leaf Tobacco

3n -

11n 11n -

110 ℔ Cut do

11n -

863 1/4 doz Pipes

2n 3n 4½

13n 6n 4½

3 Quars of Sweet oyle

9n -

31/2 Galls do at 8s p

10n 7½

76 ℔ Pepr

7n 16n -

41/2 do Linseed

11n 14n -

6 Bottles flovnd at do 7n 6

2n 5n -

13n 14n 7½

223 3/4 Vinegar

4n 11n -

262 ℔ Soap

18n 11n 2

25 ℔ Starch

13n 9

10 ℔ Pepper

12n -

19 ℔ Rice

3n 6

76 ℔ Roven

6n 6

25n -n 11

19 doz Corke

2n 6

350 ℔ Bran

8n 15n -

3 Barrls Tarr

6n 13n 6

1 do Pitch

1n 8n -

10 ℔ Pitch

2n 6

17n 1n 6

1 ℔ Brimston

6

15 ℔ White Lead

7n 6

59 Barrls Lampblack

1n 9n 6

487 1/2 Gun Knaw

14n 12½

4 Goods p Broad Cloth

2n 6n 2

213 Shilloon

2n 15n 3

36 1/2 Durang

10n 3n -

Golden Coates

1n 9

71/2 ℔ Cotton Yarn

6n 6

37n 12n 4½

1 Lanthorn

1n 9

1 Gord flask

1n 9

41/2 Blew Gurrah

7n 6

5 White ditto

3n 10n -

7 White do fokces

2n 5n -

10n 14n 3

3 Bread

Captain Goodwin brought in and delivered his monthly account of goods and stores sold and delivered out in the month of March last, which was examined and approved as follows.

880⅞ gallons of arrack, £37 8s 10½d

1,687 pounds of sugar, £42 3s 6d, total to this point £321 2s 4½d

73 pounds of bread, £0 18s 3d

70 pounds of cloves, £0 18s 3d

17½ pounds of coffee tea, £8 15s 9d

18 bottles of the same, £5 0s 0d

38 of green tea, £5 14s 0d

3 pounds of leaf tobacco, £0 12s 0d

110 pounds of the same, £0 3s 0d, £11 11s 0d

863¼ dozen of pipes, £2 3s 4½d

3 quarts of sweet oil, £0 9s 0d

3½ gallons of the same at 3s per gallon, £2 10s 7½d

26 pounds of rape, £7 16s 0d

4½ pounds of linseed, £1 14s 0d

6 bottles of Florence oil at 7s 6d, £2 5s 0d

223¾ pounds of vinegar, £4 11s 0d, £13 14s 7½d

262 pounds of soap, £18 11s 2d

25 pounds of starch, £0 18s 9d

10 pounds of pepper, £1 2s 0d

18 pounds of rice, £0 3s 6d

26 pounds of honey, £0 6s 6d

12 dozen of corks, £0 9s 6d

350 pounds of bran, £8 15s 0d

3 barrels of tar, £6 13s 6d

1 of pitch, £1 8s 0d

10 pounds of pitch, £0 7s 6d, £17 1s 6d

1 pound of brimstone, £0 1s 6d

15 pounds of white lead, £0 7s 6d

5 pounds 9 ounces of lampblack, £1 9s 6d

587½ pounds of gunny knapsacks, £14 12s 1½d

4 yards of broadcloth, £2 6s 0d

203 of shalloon, £2 15s 3d

36½ of dungaree, £10 3s 0d

1 of golden coats, £0 1s 9d

7½ pounds of cotton yarn, £0 6s 0d, £37 12s 4½d

1 lambskin, £0 1s 9d

1 yard of flannel, £0 6s 9d

4 pounds of blue gurrahs, £0 7s 6d

5 white of the same, £3 10s 0d

7 white of [...], £2 5s 0d, £10 14s 3d

3 of bread

Interpretations

Several lines name imported manufactures the island sold on from its stores. Shalloon and dungaree are coarse woollen and cotton cloths, gurrahs a plain Indian calico shipped in blue and white, gunny a rough sacking made into the soldiers' knapsacks, and the white lead, lampblack and brimstone served as pigments and materials for paint, marking and minor manufacture. Rape and linseed name the oilseeds pressed for lamp and finishing oil, Florence oil being the fine olive oil of Italy carried as a delicacy.

The arrack and sugar dwarf every other line, the spirit alone fetching over £37 and the sugar more than £42, the two together making the bulk of the month's sales. The store served as the island's general supplier, drawing the inhabitants' custom for drink, food, cloth and household necessaries, the monthly account measuring how far the settlement depended on the Company's warehouse for goods no local production could furnish.

325

221

Brought Over

£

1/2 Peice Chellos

12n 14n 6

19 Suttanie No 4

14n 7

1 Alijah

17n 1

3 Mulk

2n 5n -

1 Callampore No 2

4n 16n -

21n 19n 2

3 Co Bengole Taffety

9 1/2 Ordinary Long Cloth

9n 10n -

1 Indleng do

16n 7n -

27n 13n -

8 fin do

3 Madrass Chints

3n 8n 9

9 Sucett do

4n 12n -

7n 4n 9

9 Blew Shirts

5n 5n -

40 White do

8n 3n -

24 Chello do

34 Co Cotton Stocheng

4n 5n -

12n 13n -

1/2 Co Fustian No do

12n 3

1 do 3

1n 7n 6

1 do 4

1n 9n -

2 1/2 do 5

4n 11n 3

8n -n 6

47 1/2 doz hooks Sorted

1n 4n 11

56 Lined do

2n 9n 11

18 1/2 doz Shoo Tack

6n 9

9 doz Aule Blade

2n -

4n 3n -

9 1/2 Shoo Thread

1n 8n 9

10 ℔ Twine

1n 8

17 Shams do

8n 6

9 Quires Paper

4n -

5 Papers Ink Powder

5n -

1 Small Common Prayer Book

2n 8

1 Primer do

6

2 Horne Books

8

1 Spelling Book

9

14n 7

34 Smale China Cups

8

27 large do

9n -

16 Sawcers

7n -

24 Cups & Saucers

12n -

15 Bowles

1n 17n 6

19 Plates

12n -

1 Tea Pott

3n 6

4n 6n 8

12 Pair Mens Shoos

3n 9n -

1 Girles do

3n 4

1 do

3n 6

1 Boys do

5n -

1 do

4n -

4 Wom Sth Leather

1n 37n -

1 foland do

4n -

5n 18n 10

The store account continued from the previous page.

Brought over, £12 14s 6d

½ piece of chellos, £0 7s 6d

19 of cuttanee number 4, £0 14s 7d

1 of allejars, £0 17s 1d

3 of quilts, £2 5s 0d

1 of allampore number 2, £4 16s 0d

3 of Bengal taffeta, £21 19s 2d

9½ of ordinary long cloth, £9 10s 0d

1 of middling of the same, £16 7s 0d

8 fine of the same, £27 13s 0d

3 of Madras chintz, £3 8s 9d

9 of surat of the same, £4 4s 0d, £7 4s 9d

9 blue shirts, £6 5s 0d

40 white of the same, £8 3s 0d

21 chellos of the same, £12 13s 0d

34 pairs of cotton stockings, £4 5s 0d

½ piece of fustian number 2, £0 12s 3d

1 of the same number 3, £1 7s 6d

1 of the same number 4, £1 9s 0d

2½ of the same number 5, £4 11s 3d, £8 0s 6d

47 dozen of books, sorted, £1 4s 11d

56 lined of the same, £2 9s 11d

18½ dozen of shoe tacks, £0 6s 9d

9 dozen of awl blades, £0 2s 0d, £4 3s 0d

9½ of shoe thread, £1 8s 9d

10 pounds of twine, £1 4s 8d

17 reams of the same, £0 8s 6d

6 quires of paper, £0 4s 0d

5 papers of powder, £0 5s 0d

1 small common prayer book, £0 2s 8d

1 primer of the same, £0 1s 6d

2 horn books, £0 0s 8d

1 spelling book, £0 1s 9d, £14s 7d

34 small china cups, £0 1s 8d

27 large of the same, £0 9s 0d

16 mugs, £0 7s 0d

24 cups and saucers, £0 12s 0d

15 bowls, £1 17s 6d

12 plates, £0 12s 0d

1 tea pot, £0 3s 6d, £4 6s 8d

12 pairs of men's shoes, £3 9s 0d

1 girls of the same, £0 3s 4d

1 of the same, £0 3s 6d

1 boys of the same, £0 5s 0d

1 of the same, £0 4s 0d

4 women's of the same in leather, £1 3s 0d

1 island of the same, £0 4s 0d, £5 18s 10d

Interpretations

The cloth lines record the variety of Indian textiles the store carried, each named for its place of make or its grade. Chellos, cuttanee, allejars, allampore and gurrah were cotton and mixed stuffs of the Indian looms, taffeta and long cloth the finer woven goods, and Madras and Surat chintz the painted and printed calicoes prized for dress and furnishing. Fustian named a stout cotton or cotton-and-linen cloth, the numbered grades marking quality, so the inventory shows the island reselling the whole range of eastern manufactures brought by the Company's ships.

The small parcel of books marks the store's part in supplying the settlement's schooling and religion, a common prayer book, a primer, horn books and a spelling book sold alongside the cloth and china. These were the basic tools of literacy and worship for a remote community with no bookseller, the Company's warehouse furnishing the means of teaching children their letters and the forms of the church together with the necessaries of trade and dress.

326

222

Brought Over

£

2 Asken Oars

15n -

1 do

4n 6

19n 6

10 Butchers Knive

5n -

1 Shoo do

1n -

1 Knife & fork

1n 6

7n 6

2 Ivory Combs

3n -

10 Thimble

9

3n 9

6 Spoons

4½

1 Tray

4n 6

1 Bowle

1n 3

4 Scrubbing Brushes

4n -

10n 1½

Hosiers Ware

2 do Childrens Stocking

£ 2n 4

1 Boys ditto

1n 4

2 do No 17

3n 4

2 do

2n 4

3 do

6n 6

3 Womens No 17

9 do 18

7n -

1 do 20

1n 6

1 do

2n 4

5n 8

7 Soldiers ditto

10n 6

1 do Bl Cork Silk do

18n -

4 do Mens Worsted

16n -

6 do 1/2

5n -

3 do 41/2

14n 8

4 do No 4n 41/2

16n 8

1 do

19n 8

1 do 5 1/2

3n -

7 do 5 1/2

2n 10

11n 4n 1½

1/2 ℔ Worsted

2n 10

21/2 yd Slim Canvas

2n 1

32 yards Canvas

4n 17n 4

1n 19n 5

15 Square Glap 10 & 12

4n -

14 yds Norwich Stuff

18n 8

2n 1n 8

2 ℔ 2d Nails

2n 6

35 ℔ 4 do

1n 9n 2

20 ℔ 6 do

15n -

5 ℔ 8 & 10 do

3n 4

31/2 ℔ 20 do

4n 6

2n 16n 6

6 do hoopro Rivetts

7n 6

2 Sadirons 3 & 9

1 half Pint Pot

1n 8

9 Pint & th Coffee Potts

1n 8

9n 9

12 do

1n 8

The store account continued from the previous page.

Brought over

2 ashen oars, £0 15s 0d

1 air of the same, £0 4s 6d, £0 19s 6d

10 butchers' knives, £0 5s 0d

1 shod, £0 2s 0d

1 knife and fork, £0 1s 6d, £0 7s 6d

2 ivory combs, £0 3s 0d

10 thimbles, £0 0s 9d, £0 3s 9d

6 spoons, £0 0s 4½d

1 tray, £0 4s 6d

1 bowl, £0 1s 3d

4 scrubbing brushes, £0 4s 0d, £0 10s 1½d

Hosiers' ware

2 dozen children's stockings, £2 0s 4d

1 boys of the same, £1 4s 4d

2 of the same number 17, £3 2s 4d

3 of the same, £0 0s 4d

3 women's number 17, £6 6s 0d

9 of the same number 18, £1 7s 0d

1 of the same number 20, £2 0s 0d

1 of the same, £0 5s 8d

7 soldiers of the same, £10 6s 0d

1 dozen black silk of the same, £18 0s 0d

4 pairs of men's worsted, £16 0s 0d

6 of the same number 4½, £1 5s 0d

3 of the same number 4½, £14 8s 0d

4 of the same number 4½, £16 8s 0d

4 of the same, £19 0s 0d

7 of the same number 5½, £0 5s 3d

1½ pounds of worsted, £2 10s 0d, £11 4s 1½d

2½ yards of fine canvas, £0 2s 1d

32 yards of canvas, £4 17s 4d

15 yards of clout at 10 [...] and 12 [...], £1 2s 0d

14 yards of Norwich stuff, £0 18s 8d

2 pounds of second nails, £0 2s 6d, £1 19s 5d

35 pounds of the same, £1 9s 2d

20 pounds of the same, £0 15s 0d

5 pounds of the same, £0 3s 4d

3 pounds of the same, £0 4s 6d, £2 1s 2d

6 pounds of cooper's rivets, £0 7s 6d

2 hammers at 3s, £0 6s 0d

1 half pint pot, £0 1s 8d

2 pint tin coffee pots, £0 1s 8d

12 of the same, £0 1s 8d

Interpretations

The hosiers' ware forms the costliest part of this stretch, the men's worsted stockings and a dozen of black silk together running into many pounds, the numbered grades marking size and quality. Worsted named the hard-spun woollen yarn knitted into hard-wearing stockings, the soldiers' stockings listed apart for the garrison, so the store supplied both the everyday and the finer legwear for a settlement that made none of its own.

Norwich stuff names a worsted cloth from that English city, then a leading centre of the trade, and clout a coarse cloth sold by the yard for patching and wrapping. The canvas, nails, rivets and hammers among the textiles show the warehouse stocking the materials of repair and small manufacture alongside dress, the cooper's rivets in particular serving the constant mending of the casks on which the island's storage and shipping depended.

327

223

Brought Over

4 Sauce Pans forted

5n 3

1 Pint do

9

3 Quart do

3n 4

1 Pott do

2n 3

1 Pudding Pan

3n 6

1 Kettle

5n 4

1n 3n 4

1 Brass Sauce Pan

8n 3

1 Tea Kettle

15n 6

1n 3n 9

1 Flatter No 1

5n 6

1 do 2

5n 8

1 do 3

6n 8

17n 10

Iron Ware viz

5 Plat do Sorted

1n 1n 8

4 Splinter Lock No 7

14n 8

1 Broad Ax

6n 6

1 Hatchet No 1

2n 8

5 ditto 3

3n 4

11 Helves

11n -

1 Frying Pan

4n 8

1 Gimblet

4n -

1 Smale Hinge

6

6 do Chest Hinge

2n 8

6 do No 3

6n 4

1 do Smooth filed

7n 8

1 Sett Bed Screws

18n 6

1 Cupboard Locks

3n 8

9 Nawles ℔ 29 ℔

4n -

1n 4n -

1 Plate Lock

3n 4

1 Brass Knobed Plate Bolt

4n 6

2 Stiten Pad Lock

6n -

2 ditto

9n 4

1 Pair Snuffer

4n -

6n 17n 4

Haberdashery Ware viz

26 3/4 China Silk

£ 1n 6n 9

47/8 Cong ditto

12n 2½

9 Shams Mohair

14

3 1/2 doz Coat Buttons

6

1 1/2 doz Brest ditto

6n 3

12 doce Shirt Button

9

1 do

4n -

1/2 doz Knitting Needles

3n -

9 Yards Lutestring

2½

16 yard Garting

11n -

12 Yard do

3n 9

The store account continued from the previous page.

Brought over

4 sauce pans, sorted, £0 5s 3d

1 quart of the same, £0 0s 9d

3 quarts of the same, £0 3s 4d

1 of the same, £0 2s 3d

1 pudding pan, £0 3s 6d

1 kettle, £0 5s 4d, £1 3s 4d

1 brass sauce pan, £0 8s 3d

1 tea kettle, £0 15s 6d, £1 3s 9d

1 platter number 1, £0 5s 6d

1 of the same number 2, £0 5s 8d

1 of the same number 3, £0 6s 8d, £17s 10d

Iron ware

5 pairs of the same, sorted, £1 1s 8d

4 splinter locks number 7, £0 14s 8d

1 broad axe, £0 6s 6d

1 hatchet number 1, £0 2s 8d

1 of the same number 3, £0 3s 4d

11 helves, £0 11s 0d

1 frying pan, £0 4s 2d

1 gimblet, £0 0s 4d

1 small hinges, £0 0s 6d

6 pairs of chest hinges, £0 2s 8d

1 of the same number 3, £0 6s 4d

1 of the same smooth filed, £0 7s 0d

1 set of bed screws, £0 18s 6d

1 cupboard lock, £0 3s 8d

1 of the same, £0 4s 0d

2 nails weighing 29 pounds, £1 1s 0d

1 plate lock, £0 3s 4d

1 brass-knobbed plate bolt, £0 1s 6d

2 stock door locks, £0 6s 0d

2 of the same, £0 9s 4d

1 pair of snuffers, £0 1s 0d, £6 17s 4d

Haberdashery ware

26¼ of china silk, £1 6s 9d

47⅛ ounces of the same, £12 2s 1d

2 hanks of mohair, £0 1s 4d

3½ dozen of coat buttons, £0 1s 6d

1½ dozen of breast of the same, £0 6s 3d

12 of waistcoat shirt buttons, £0 4s 9d

1 of the same, £0 3s 0d

½ dozen of knitting needles, £0 0s 2d

2 yards of lutestring, £0 2s 1d

15 yards of garterring, £0 11s 0d

12 yards of the same, £0 3s 9d

Interpretations

The china silk leads the haberdashery, the woven and skeined silk by far the most valuable line in this part of the account, the eastern thread far costlier than the buttons, needles and tape sold beside it. Mohair named the yarn spun from the angora goat, lutestring a glossy silk ribbon and garterring the woven tape for fastening stockings, so the store furnished the materials of finer dress and tailoring as well as the plain necessaries.

The iron ware lists the hardware of building and household repair, locks, hinges, axes, hatchets and bed screws sold piece by piece to a settlement that imported all its metalwork. The splinter, plate, stock and cupboard locks supplied the means of securing doors, chests and furniture against the very thefts the council so often tried, the store stocking the ironmongery by which the island both built its houses and guarded its goods.

328

224

Brought Over

£

2 ℔ Whited Brown Thread No 5

10n -

1 do 6

7n 4

1 do 7

8n -

1 do 8

10n 6

1 do 9

6n 9

1 do 10

1n 6n 9

3n 19n 1

9 1/2 Colourd Thread

4n 7n -

7n 7

1 oz Thread

1n 1

16 oz do 1/3

7n -

10 do 1/5

14n 9

2 do 3/7

7n 9

1 do

5n 10

2n 8n 3

850 Needles

12n 9

61/2 Pins 1/2

7n 7

91/2 do 4/4

12n 8

1 M do

1n 8

1 M do

9

1 M do

11

1n 18n 4

8 Yard Ribbon a 3

2n 7½

1 do

3

1 do 1/4

12n -

3 do Gloves 1/6

4n 6

2 do 1/9

3n 6

2 do

3n -

15n 4½

9 Laces

5n 3

3 do 11/4

4n -

9n 3

1 do Holland Tape

7n -

1 do

9n 4

1 Coarse Tape

11n -

2 do Tape

3n -

14n 4

9 1/2 do Ferret 6

2n 7½

3 1/2 yd do 31/2

1n 4

4 1/2 yd do

1n 4

1 1/2 yd do 41/2

6n 9

11n 10½

10 Yards Galloon 4

3n 4

8 yd do 41/2

3n -

12 yd Edging 5 yd

3n 9

3n 15n 4

Sum Totall to Inhabts

608n 2n 9¾

Dat

The store account continued from the previous page.

Brought over

2 pounds of whited brown thread number 5, £0 10s 0d

1 of the same, £0 7s 4d

1 of the same number 7, £0 18s 0d

1 of the same, £0 10s 6d

1½ of the same number 9, £0 6s 9d

2 of the same number 10, £1 6s 9d, £3 19s 1d

9½ pounds of coloured thread, £4 0s 0d, £4 7s 0d

1 ounce of thread, £0 1s 1d

16 ounces of the same number 1/3, £0 7s 0d

10 ounces of the same number 1/5, £0 14s 9d

2 ounces of the same number 3/7, £0 7s 9d

1 of the same, £0 5s 10d, £2 8s 3d

850 needles, £0 12s 9d

6½ pins number 1/2, £0 7s 7d

9½ of the same number 1/4, £0 12s 8d

1 of the same, £0 1s 8d

1 of the same, £0 0s 9d

1 of the same, £0 0s 11d, £1 18s 4d

85 yards of ribbon at 3d, £0 2s 7½d

1 of the same, £0 3s 4d

1 of the same number 1/4, £0 12s 0d, £0 15s 4½d

3 dozen of gloves number 1/6, £0 4s 6d

2 of the same number 1/9, £0 3s 6d

2 of the same, £0 3s 0d, £0 11s 0d

9 laces, £0 5s 3d

3 of the same number 1/4, £0 4s 0d, £0 9s 3d

1 dozen of Holland tape, £0 7s 0d

1 of the same, £0 9s 4d

1 coarse tape, £0 11s 0d

2 of the same, £0 3s 0d, £0 14s 4d

2 dozen of ferret of the same, £0 2s 7½d

3½ of the same, £0 1s 4d

1 of the same number 4½, £0 1s 4d

4 of the same number 4½, £0 6s 9d, £0 11s 10½d

1 of the same, £0 3s 4d

10 yards of galloon, £0 3s 0d

8 dozen of the same number 4½, £3 9s 0d, £3 15s 4d

12 yards of edging, £0 5s 0d

Sum total to the inhabitants, £608 2s 9¾d

Interpretations

The closing line totals the whole of the month's sales to the inhabitants at £608 2s 9¾d, drawing together the food, drink, cloth, hardware and haberdashery of the preceding pages into a single reckoning of what the settlement bought from the Company's store. The figure measures the warehouse's central place in the island's economy, almost every necessary of life passing through its accounts in a community that produced little beyond its food.

The threads, tapes, ribbons, laces and galloon that close the inventory supplied the materials of sewing, trimming and mending for a settlement with no draper or mercer of its own. Holland tape and ferret were the woven bindings used in dressmaking, galloon a narrow braid for edging garments, and the graded needles, pins and thread the basic tools by which every household made and repaired its own clothes, the store furnishing in small quantities the means of a domestic craft no shop on the island could otherwise serve.

329

225

Diet Expences Dr

16 Galls Arrack

£ 53n 10n 4

346 ℔ Sugar

8n 13n -

6 ℔ ditto Rice

2n 8n -

4 do flower

4n 4n -

11/2 Galls Sweet oyle

13n 1½

191/2 Galls Vinegar

2n 11n -

3 ℔ Pepper

3n -

72n 2n 5½

Fortification Dr

7 ℔ Nailes

8n 9

4 ℔ 14 do

9n 4

13 ℔ 20 do

12n -

13 ℔ 30 do

10n 3

2n -n 4

Plantation

1 Splinter Lock No 7

£ 3n 8

51/4 do on Accot Survey

1n 13n 8

18 ℔ Sug th Plantations

9n -

5 doz Cruning Knives

1n 5n -

3n 10n 11

Honble Comp their Black Dr

4 Tonns Beefe

£ 60n -n -

3 372 ℔ Rice

19 2n 7n 3

32 1/2 ℔ Roven

2n 19n 7

9 do Hardedories

5n -

35 Corking

3n -

5 Chello 13/6

5n 8n -

6 ditto 17

5n 2n -

1 ℔ Whited Brown Thread No 5

5n -

3 Rollee Shirt

5n -

3 White do

7n 6

2 do Blew Gurrah

1n 5n -

4 Ordinary

4n -

22 doz Hooks Sorted

17n 10

1 ℔ Shoo Thread

2n 6

10 ℔ Shoos

4n -

1 large Blanket

5n 9

1 Indleng do

9n 6

209n 19n 2

£

Diet expense.

16 gallons of arrack, £53 10s 4d

346 pounds of sugar, £8 13s 0d

[...] of bread, £2 8s 0d

[...] of cloves, £4 4s 0d

1½ gallons of sweet oil, £0 13s 1½d

19 gallons of vinegar, £2 11s 0d

3 pounds of pepper, £0 3s 0d, £72 2s 5½d

Fortification.

7 pieces of nails, £0 8s 9d

4 pounds at 14 [...], £0 0s 9d

13 pounds at 20 [...], £0 12s 0d

13 pounds at 25 [...], £0 10s 3d, £2 0s 4d

Plantation.

1 splinter lock number 7, £0 3s 8d

5¼ pounds of nails on account of survey, £1 13s 8d

18 pounds of sugar for the plantations, £0 9s 0d

5 dozen pruning knives, £1 5s 0d, £3 10s 11d

For the Company's blacks.

4 of leather, beef, £0 0s 0d

8,392 pounds of rice, £192 7s 3d

3 hundredweight 2 quarters 18 pounds of cowries, £9 19s 7d

9 hundredweight of haberdashery, £6 1s 0d

5 of gunny, £0 3s 0d

8 chellos at 13s 6d, £5 8s 0d

1 of the same number 17, £5 2s 0d

2 pounds of whited brown thread number 5, £0 0s 5d

3 calico shirts, £0 0s 0d

3 white of the same, £0 7s 6d

2 pairs of blue gurrahs, £1 5s 0d

4 ordinary, £4 0s 0d

2⅔ dozen of hooks, sorted, £0 17s 10d

1 pound of shoe thread, £0 2s 6d

10 pairs of shoes, £0 4s 0d

1 large blanket, £0 5s 9d

1 middling of the same, £0 9s 6d, £209 19s 2d

Interpretations

Cowries appear among the goods bought for the Company's slaves, the small shells that served across the East and Africa as a low-value currency and ornament. Their purchase by weight in hundredweights, alongside the rice and cloth, suggests they were issued to the slaves as small money or used in the petty exchange of the labour force, a token coinage furnished from the store where ordinary coin did not reach.

The account divides the month's expense by purpose, diet, fortification, plantation and the maintenance of the Company's slaves, so the council could see what each branch of the establishment consumed. The slave provision dwarfs the rest at nearly £210, the bulk of it rice to feed the labour force through the famine, the figure showing how heavily the cost of keeping the slaves bore on the Company once the failed harvests forced their food to be bought from India rather than grown.

The pruning knives charged to the plantation point to the husbandry the survey had pressed, the tools bought to tend the recovering crop plot by plot. Set against the rice feeding the slaves who did the labour, the small outlay shows the Company investing in the means of restoring its own provision ground even as it paid heavily to feed the workforce through the years of drought.

330

226

The Garrison Dr Brought Over

3 Galls Rape Oyle

£ 18n -

1/4 do Sweet Oyle

3n -

1 Iron Pott

12n -

1n 13n -

The Great Wood Dr

1 Line No 4

9n 9

1 Hatchet 1

9

3 Helves

3n -

5n 6

Genl Charges Dr

50 ℔ Soap

£ 3n 10n 10

4 ℔ Bohea Tea

1n 4n -

3 do Sooooes

6n 15n -

1 Anchor & Chain

18n 15n 10½

1 Cesk Spice Sorted

9n 9n 6

1 Case Medicines

20n 16n -

1 Chest Stationary Ware

30n 10n -

4 do Pair Scales wth 2 Sett Bragts

14n 17n -

1 do fine blew

10n -

2 ℔ Twine

4n 4

2 Lines No 4

6n 8

3 Yroce Cork

9n -

1 large Stove

9n 6

1 ℔ Ordinary Cloth

1n 4n -

1 Ivory Comb

1n 6

1 Shoo Brush

6

3 Gallon Tunnells

13n 6

1 Iron 2t Sauce Pan

9n 3

2 Brass Lock

1n 11n -

2 Chest Hinges

3n 4

1 Chest Lock No 6

15n -

1 Splinter Lock 6

3n 8

1 ℔ Cotton Yarne

3n -

110n 4n 11½

£

1008n 18n 11¾

The garrison account continued from the previous page.

The garrison, brought over

3 gallons of rape oil, £0 18s 0d

¼ of sweet oil, £0 3s 0d

1 iron pot, £0 12s 0d, £1 13s 0d

The Great Wood

1 saw number 4, £0 2s 0d

1 hatchet number 1, £0 0s 9d

3 helves, £0 3s 0d, £0 5s 6d

General charges

50 pounds of soap, £3 10s 10d

4 pounds of bohea tea, £1 4s 0d

3 pounds of cloves, £6 15s 0d

1 anchor and chain, £18 15s 10½d

1 cask of the same, sorted, £8 9s 6d

1 case of medicines, £20 16s 0d

1 chest of stationery ware, £30 10s 0d

4 pairs of deep scales with 2 sets of weights brought, £14 17s 0d

1 piece of fine blue, £0 10s 0d

2 pounds of twine, £0 1s 4d

2 lined number 1/4, £0 6s 8d

3 of gross cork, £0 9s 0d

1 large bowl, £0 2s 6d

1 piece of ordinary cloth, £1 0s 0d

1 ivory comb, £0 1s 6d

1 shoe brush, £0 1s 6d

1 of the same, £0 13s 6d

3 gallon funnels, £0 2s 3d

1 two-quart sauce pan, £0 1s 0d

2 brass locks, £1 11s 0d

2 chest hinges, £0 3s 4d

1 chest lock number 6, £0 15s 0d

1 splinter lock number 6, £0 3s 8d

1 pound of cotton yarn, £0 3s 6d, £110 4s 11½d

£1,008 18s 11¾d

Interpretations

The grand total of £1,008 18s 11¾d closes the whole monthly store account, drawing the sales to the inhabitants together with the issues to the garrison, the Great Wood, the fortifications, the plantations and the Company's slaves. The figure measures the full turnover of the warehouse for the month, the establishment's own consumption set beside the settlement's purchases in a single reckoning of everything the store moved.

The case of medicines and the chest of stationery ware stand among the costliest single items, the medical chest supplying the surgeon's practice and the stationery the secretary's office on which the whole government ran. Their high value reflects how far a remote island depended on the Company's shipping for the materials of healing and record alike, neither obtainable on the island and both essential to its administration.

The deep scales with their sets of weights mark the apparatus of the store itself, the means by which every commodity sold by weight was measured against the inhabitants' accounts. Bought in at nearly £15, the scales were the instruments that made the whole tabulated reckoning possible, the warehouse equipping itself to weigh out the rice, sugar, soap and metal that filled the month's long account.

331

227

List of the Honble Companies Blacks their Names Ages

Employment & Qualities at the Sev Plantations taken 26 March 1724

Names Ages Employment Qualities

Men Slaves at Plantation House

Joshua

23

Good but Sullen

Good but Sullen

Robin

28

do

Better than formerly as to temper

Stepney

33

do

do

Dick Price

28

do

do

Peter

31

do

do

Jack Cook

35

do

do

Charles

31

do

do

Cesar

21

do

do

Benjamin

21

do

do

Machet

28

do

Indifferent Good

Sau

19

do

Good

Tavonius

19

do

do

Drake

38

do

do

Frank

30

do

Indifferent Good

Harry

17

do

do

Emanuel

33

do

Sometimes Sickly

Lewis

27

do

Good

Hanniball

33

do

do

Merryman

33

do

Better than last year

Sausey

21

do

very Good

Harry

32

Tanner

very Good

Tyftey

26

do

Good

Jack

29

Butcher

very Good

Sam

29

do do

Sickly

Pompey

28

do

Sickly

Ben

30

do Gardner

Good

Scipio

18

do

do

Daniel

33

do

Indifferent Good

George

19

do

do

Petor

18

do

do

Limehouse

21

do

do

Tony

21

do

do

Risk

21

do

do

Mercury

26

do

do

Cato

26

do

do

Daniell

28

do

do

Bracket

33

do

do Mind the Water Course

Lighery

39

do

do

Long Cesar

25

do

do

Saunsey

21

do

do

Mercury

26

do

do

Barrow

37

do

do

List of the Company's blacks, with their names, ages, employments and qualities, at the several plantations, taken 25 March 1724.

Men slaves at the plantation house

Joshua, aged 23, good but sullen

Robin, aged 28, good but sullen

Stepney, aged 33, good but sullen

Dick Price, aged 28, good but sullen

Peter, aged 31, good but sullen

Jack Cook, aged 35, good but sullen

Charles, aged 31, good but sullen

Caesar, aged 21, good but sullen

Benjamin, aged 21, good but sullen

Machet, aged 28, indifferent good

Sau, aged 19, good

Pavonius, aged 19, good

Drake, aged 38, good

Frank, aged 30, indifferent good

Harry, aged 17, indifferent good

Emanuel, aged 33, sometimes sickly

Lewis, aged 27, good

Hanniball, aged 33, good

Merryman, aged 33, better than last year

Sausey, aged 21, better than last year

Harry, aged 62, tanner, very good

Tysley, aged 26, tanner, good

Jack, aged 29, butcher, very good

Sam, aged 29, butcher, sickly

Pompey, aged 28, butcher, sickly

Ben, aged 30, gardener, good

Scipio, aged 18, gardener, good

Daniel, aged 33, indifferent good

George, aged 19, indifferent good

Peter, aged 18, indifferent good

Limehouse, aged 21, indifferent good

Tony, aged 21, indifferent good

Rich, aged 26, indifferent good

Mercury, aged 26, indifferent good

Cato, aged 26, indifferent good

Daniell, aged 28, indifferent good

Brachet, aged 33, mind the watercourse

Lazarus, aged 39, mind the watercourse

Long Caesar, aged 25, mind the watercourse

Saunders, aged 21, mind the watercourse

Mercury, aged 26, mind the watercourse

Barrow, aged 37, mind the watercourse

42

Interpretations

The annual census records each slave by name, age, task and a judgement of character and health, the qualities column setting the Company's view of every man as a worker. Notes such as good but sullen, indifferent good, sickly or better than last year track temper and fitness from one survey to the next, the assessment serving the management of the labour force as a standing record of who could be relied on and who watched.

The employments distinguish the skilled men from the field hands, a tanner, two butchers and two gardeners marked apart by trade, while a group at the foot is set to mind the watercourse. The water supply ran through so much of the island's dispute and husbandry that the Company kept named men assigned to its channels, the slaves maintaining the conduits on which both the plantations and the settlement's drinking water depended.

The list opens with nine men in a row all marked good but sullen, the same temper recorded across a whole block of the house slaves. The repetition suggests a settled disposition among the men kept closest to the establishment rather than a series of separate judgements, the surveyor reading a shared resentment in the labour force at the heart of the Company's own household.

332

228

Women Slaves at Plantation House

Names Ages Employment Qualities

Catherine

28

Grand Plantain

Sometimes Sickly

Susannah

33

do

Good

Abigaile

27

do

do

Hester

25

do

but Indifferent

Bridget

25

do

Good but Sickly

Magdalena

25

do

Good

Sarah

29

do

Indifferent

Mary

19

do

Good

Agnes

28

do

Good

Great Sarah

33

do

Good & remains of old Distr

Grace

26

do

Good

Priscilla

23

do

do

Rebecca

33

do

Remns of old Distemper

Margaret

43

do

often Sickly

old Mary

48

Washer Woman

Good

Mary her Daught

25

do

do

Margery

25

do

do

Mary Grace

35

do

Indifferent Good

Sarah

25

do Helper

Good

Saber

33

belong to Dairy

Indifferent Good

Sarah

19

do

do

Bau

27

Wash on Mr Byfeld

do

Betty Myers

28

Looks after Poultry

but indifferent

Sarah

19

do

Indifferent

Betty Robin

29

do

do but Weakly

Betty Tim

28

do

Indifferent

Nanny

27

do

ditto

Betty Tom

do

28

Men Slaves at Perkins viz

Ovey

35

Belong to Plant

often Sickly

Hector

28

do

Good

Lyngton

37

do

ditto

Petr

33

do

ditto

Will

26

do

Indifferent but bettr than forml

Tony

23

do

Lame in One of his Hips

Daniel

23

do

Women Slaves at Perkins viz

Good

Sarah

28

do

Remains of old Distemper

Keller

25

2

Women slaves at the plantation house, with their names, ages, employments and qualities.

Catherine, aged 28, grand plantain, sometimes sickly

Susannah, aged 33, grand plantain, good

Abigail, aged 17, grand plantain, good

Hester, aged 25, grand plantain, but indifferent

Bridget, aged 25, grand plantain, good but sickly

Magdalena, aged 25, grand plantain, good

Sarah, aged 26, grand plantain, indifferent

Mary, aged 19, grand plantain, good

Agnes, aged 18, grand plantain, good

Great Sarah, aged 33, grand plantain, has remains of old distemper

Grace, aged 26, grand plantain, good

Priscilla, aged 23, grand plantain, good

Rebecca, aged 33, grand plantain, remains of old distemper

Margaret, aged 43, grand plantain, often sickly

Old Mary, aged 48, washer woman, good

Mary her daughter, aged 26, washer woman, good

Margery, aged 25, washer woman, good

Mercy Grace, aged 35, washer woman, indifferent good

Sarah, aged 25, dairy helper, good

Sabar, aged 33, belongs to the dairy, indifferent good

Sarah, aged 19, dairy helper, indifferent good

Bau, aged 27, waits on Mrs Byfield, [...]

Betty Myers, aged 28, looks after poultry, but indifferent

Sarah, aged 19, looks after poultry, indifferent

Betty Robin, aged 29, looks after poultry, indifferent but weakly

Betty Tim, aged 28, looks after poultry, indifferent

Nanny, aged 27, looks after poultry, indifferent

Betty Tom, looks after poultry, indifferent

28

Men slaves at Perkins's

Ovey, aged 35, belong to the plantation, often sickly

Hector, aged 28, belong to the plantation, good

Lyngton, aged 27, belong to the plantation, good

Peto, aged 32, belong to the plantation, good

Will, aged 26, belong to the plantation, indifferent but better than formerly

Tony, aged 23, belong to the plantation, lame in one of his hips

Daniel, aged 23, belong to the plantation, good

7

Women slaves at Perkins's

Sarah, aged 28, belong to the plantation, good

Keller, aged 25, belong to the plantation, remains of old distemper

2

Interpretations

The women are recorded by household task as the men were by trade, the great body of them set to the grand plantation work and the rest to washing, the dairy, the poultry and personal attendance. The note that Bau waited on Mrs Byfield marks the use of a slave as a domestic servant in the overseer's household, the labour force reaching into the private service of the Company's officers as well as the fields and yards.

The qualities column dwells on health more than temper among the women, several marked sickly, weakly or carrying the remains of an old distemper. The recurring distemper across the survey points to a lingering disease that had passed through the slave population and left lasting effects, the surveyor noting which women had recovered and which still bore the marks, the fitness of each set down against her name for the management of the workforce.

333

229

Men Slaves at the Hutts viz

Names Ages Employmnts Qualities

John Figura

38

Belong to Plantacon

Indifferent Good

Hougham

28

do

Good

Tom

19

do

Good

Harry

21

do

Indifferent Good

Will Benjar

23

do

do Indifferent Good

Belvards Jack

25

do

Still Sickly

6

Women Slaves at the Hutts viz

Ping

23

Belong to ditto

Good for little

Mae

23

do

Indifferent

Ring the Bell

85

do

often ailing

3

Men Slaves at the Plak viz

Augustine

33

Look after th Plan

very Good

Sutton

21

Mens Annex abt

Good but Sickly

Joseph

19

the Pasture &

Good

Titus

21

Crase Country

ditto

4

One Woman at Ditto viz

Jenny

23

Men Slaves at the Limekilns viz

Mingo

38

Work in Lime Burn

Bad & Indiff often ailing

Simon

28

do

Bad & ten & weakly

Moyo

26

do

Indifferent

Blake

23

do

do being bettr than formerly

4

Men Slaves in the Fort Garden viz

Benjamin

43

Head Gardner

Good

Ofrey

25

in do

Indifferent

Antonio

43

in do

Sickly & aged

3

Men Slaves in the House viz

Cesar

22

do

Good

Navarro

55

do

Good but Aged

Tony Myers

32

Cook

Indifferent

Baba

32

do

Good

4

Women Slaves in the House viz

Pen

32

House Sote

Good understands Cooke

Sarah Ellen

23

do

very Good

Short Ellen

27

do

Indifferent

Patt

10

do

do being young

4

Men slaves at the Hutts, with their names, ages, employments and qualities.

John Figura, aged 38, belong to the plantation, indifferent good

Househam, aged 28, belong to the plantation, good

John, aged 19, belong to the plantation, indifferent good

Harry, aged 21, belong to the plantation, indifferent good

Will Benjar, aged 23, belong to the plantation, indifferent good

Belvards Jack, aged 25, belong to the plantation, still sickly

6

Women slaves at the Hutts

Ding, aged 23, belong to the same, good for little

Mace, aged 23, belong to the same, indifferent

Ring the Bell, aged 35, belong to the same, often ailing

3

Men slaves at the Peak

Augustine, aged 33, look after the plantation, very good

Sultan, aged 21, mend fences about the pasture, good but sickly

Joseph, aged 19, mend fences about the pasture, good

Titus, aged 21, raise poultry, good

4

One woman at the same

Jenny, aged 23

Men slaves at the lime kilns

Mingo, aged 38, work in the lime burning, but indifferent and ailing

Simon, aged 26, work in the lime burning, but ten and sickly

Cloice, aged 26, work in the lime burning, indifferent

Blake, aged 23, work in the lime burning, better than formerly

4

Men slaves in the Fort garden

Benjamin, aged 43, head gardener, good

Effrey, aged 25, in the same, indifferent

Antonio, aged 43, in the same, sickly and aged

3

Men slaves in the house

Caesar, aged 22, cook, good

Navarro, aged 22, cook, good but aged

Tony Myers, aged 53, cook, indifferent

Baba, aged 32, cook, good

4

Women slaves in the house

Bess, aged 32, house servant, good, understands cloth

Sarah Ellen, aged 23, house servant, very good

Short Ellen, aged 22, house servant, indifferent

Patt, aged 10, house servant, good, being young

4

Interpretations

The census distributes the labour force across the Company's several works, the men marked by station at the Hutts, the Peak, the lime kilns, the Fort garden and the house, so the bench could see the whole strength deployed at one view. The lime kilns drew their own gang, the burning of limestone for the island's mortar and building needing a settled body of men, several of them noted as ailing under the harshness of the task.

The qualities column reads age and infirmity as plainly as fitness, men set down as good but aged or sickly and aged kept at lighter work in the garden or kitchen as their strength failed. The note that Bess understood cloth marks a particular skill among the house women, the making and mending of clothing valued enough to record beside her name, the survey distinguishing the few with a useful craft from the general body of servants.

334

230

Men Slaves at the Great Wood

Names Ages Employments Qualities

Ned

29

Stone Cutr & Overseer

Good but Sometimes Sickly

Stephen

81

do

Good

Simon

28

do

do but Sometimes Sickly

Cremona

27

Labourer

Indifferent

Tyoophwale

27

do

do

Abdulla

29

do

do

Jupiter

31

do

do

Harry

25

do

do

Rotham

28

do

Good but Sometimes Sickly

Mose

26

do

Indifferent

Towerhill

24

do

do but Sometimes Sickly

Jack Pyrte

28

do

Sickly

Cumbry

28

do

Indifferent

Mado

28

do

Good

Tansey

24

do

Sometimes Sickly

Tputa

24

do

Indifferent

James

29

do

do

Joseph

24

do

do

Will

28

do

do

Davis

24

do

Sometimes Sickly

Lewis

25

do

Good for little

Sambo

33

do

Good

Will

26

do

Good

Addam

23

do

often Sickly

Tony

35

do

do

Noah

26

do

do

Lost Maddrass

36

do

Indifferent

Leo

24

do

Good but Sickly

Monroe

27

do

Indifferent

Diamond

50

do

Good

Matthias

50

do

Indifferent

Dutch

29

do

32

At the Fortifications viz

Jack

28

Carpenter

very Good

Daniel

20

do

Indifferent

Alla

32

Whitsy Smith

Good but Sometimes Sickly

Dublin

29

do & Labourer

Indifferent

Dick

32

Stone Cutr & Labourer

Good but Sometimes Sickly

Blackwall

49

Head Taylor

Good & very Ingenious

Jacob

25

Help ditto

Indifferent

Boston Jack

34

do

ditto

Porteus's Jack

34

do

9

Men slaves at the Great Wood, with their names, ages, employments and qualities.

Ned, aged 29, stone cutter and overseer, good but sometimes sickly

Stephen, aged 81, stone cutter and overseer, good

Simon, aged 28, stone cutter and overseer, good but sometimes sickly

Cremona, aged 27, labourer, indifferent

Tyoophvele, aged 27, labourer, indifferent

Abdulla, aged 29, labourer, indifferent

Jupiter, aged 31, labourer, indifferent

Harry, aged 25, labourer, indifferent

Rotham, aged 28, labourer, good but sometimes sickly

Moses, aged 26, labourer, indifferent

Towerhill, aged 24, labourer, good but sometimes sickly

Jack Pyrate, aged 28, labourer, sickly

Pompey, aged 28, labourer, indifferent

Cato, aged 28, labourer, good

Janey, aged 24, labourer, sometimes sickly

Quta, aged 24, labourer, indifferent

James, aged 23, labourer, indifferent

Joseph, aged 24, labourer, indifferent

Will, aged 28, labourer, indifferent

Davis, aged 24, labourer, sometimes sickly

Lewis, aged 25, labourer, good for cattle

Sambo, aged 33, labourer, good

Will, aged 26, labourer, good

Addam, aged 23, labourer, often sickly

Jong, aged 35, labourer, indifferent

Noah, aged 26, labourer, indifferent

Fort Maddrass, aged 36, labourer, indifferent

Leo, aged 24, labourer, good but sickly

Monroe, aged 27, labourer, indifferent

Diamond, aged 25, labourer, good

Matthias, aged 30, labourer, good

Dutch, aged 23, labourer, indifferent

32

At the fortifications

Jack, aged 28, carpenter, very good

Daniel, aged 20, whitesmith, indifferent

Alla, aged 32, whitesmith, good but sometimes sickly

Dublin, aged 29, whitesmith and labourer, indifferent

Disk, aged 30, stone layer and sawyer, good but sometimes sickly

Blackwall, aged 39, head sawyer, good and very ingenious

Jacob, aged 49, help the same, indifferent

Boston Jack, aged 35, help the same, indifferent

Porteus's Jack, aged 34, help the same, indifferent

9

Interpretations

The Great Wood gang is overwhelmingly a body of common labourers under a few stone cutters who also served as overseers, the work of felling, cutting and hauling timber needing many hands and little skill. The eighty-one-year-old Stephen kept among the overseers shows an aged slave retained in a supervising place long past field strength, his experience valued where his labour no longer was.

The fortification crew gathers the island's skilled building trades, a carpenter, whitesmiths, a stone layer, sawyers and their helpers set apart by craft and judged on workmanship as well as health. The head sawyer Blackwall is marked very good and very ingenious, the note recording a slave whose skill at his trade the Company prized, the qualities column here measuring competence at a craft rather than mere fitness for labour.

A whitesmith worked in tin and the lighter metals and a stone layer set the dressed blocks the cutters prepared, so the small crew held the whole chain of skilled work by which the island's defences were built and repaired. The Company depended on these few trained men for its fortification, the survey marking each by his particular craft so the bench could see where its skilled labour lay among a workforce otherwise fit only for digging and carrying.

335

231

Women Slaves in & about the Fortification

Names Ages Employment Qualities

old Mary

48

Mid Wife

Good

Mercy

25

Jacobs Wife makes Blacks Cloths

Good

Bes

27

Helps ditto

Indifferent

Mercy

24

do

do

Cesar Cloue

22

do

5

Men Slaves belonging to the Long Boat viz

Cloue

28

Good but Sickly

Dick

25

Indifferent

Cupido

28

Remains of old Distemp

Sammy

24

Indifferent

Blackheath

26

do

Marcus

24

do

James

22

do

Pompey

13

do

8

Men Slaves in the Fishing Boats

Mordue

63

Tom

23

Corridon

28

Joseph

33

Martin

25

Daniel

21

Frank

33

Leander

23

8

Boys viz

Harry

1

Jack

2

Jack

3

Robin

4

Tim

5

Gabriele

6

Toney

7

Stephen

8

Jack

9

Phill

10

Toby

11

Neptune

12

Ned

13

Harry

14

Phill

15

Tom

16

John

17

Dick do upon th Hauth

18

Gabel do upon ye Dock

20

Boys from One

to Eleven years old

Will

1

Sam

2

Sam

3

Harry

4

Girles viz

Betty

1

Mercy

2

Betty

3

Betty

4

Margaret

5

Mary

6

Margaret

7

Margaret

8

Hannah

9

Sarah

10

Mercy

11

Ellen

12

Magdalena

13

Mary

14

Betty

15

Mea

16

Margaret

17

Betty

18

Mercy

20

Martha

21

Ellen

22

Sarah

23

Martha

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Women slaves in and about the fortification, with their names, ages, employments and qualities.

Old Mary, aged 48, midwife, good, makes blacks' clothes, good

Mercy, aged 25, Jacob's wife, makes blacks' clothes, indifferent

Bess, aged 27, helps the same, indifferent

Mercy, aged 24, helps the same, indifferent

Caesar Cloice, aged 22, helps the same, indifferent

5

Men slaves belonging to the long boat

Cloice, aged 28, good but sickly

Dick, aged 25, indifferent, remains of old distemper

Cupido, aged 28, indifferent

Sammy, aged 24, indifferent

Blackheath, aged 26, indifferent

Marcus, aged 24, indifferent

James, aged 22, indifferent

Pompey, aged 13, indifferent

8

Men slaves in the fishing boats

Mordue, aged 53

Tom, aged 23

Corridon, aged 28

Joseph, aged 33

Martin, aged 25

Daniel, aged 21

Frank, aged 33

Leander, aged 23

8

Boys

Harry, aged 1

Jack, aged 2

Jack, aged 3

Robin, aged 4

Tim, aged 5

Gabriel, aged 6

Toney, aged 7

Stephen, aged 8

Jack, aged 9

Phill, aged 10

Toby, aged 11

Neptune, aged 12

Ned, aged 13

Harry, aged 14

Phill, aged 15

Tom, aged 16

John, aged 17

Dick, the same, upon the heath, aged 18

Gabel, the same, upon the doctor, aged 19

Boys from one to eleven years old

Will, aged 1

Sam, aged 2

Sam, aged 3

Harry, aged 4

Girls

Betty, aged 1

Mercy, aged 2

Betty, aged 3

Betty, aged 4

Margaret, aged 5

Mary, aged 6

Margaret, aged 7

Margaret, aged 8

Hannah, aged 9

Sarah, aged 10

Mercy, aged 11

Ellen, aged 12

Magdalena, aged 13

Mary, aged 14

Betty, aged 15

Mea, aged 16

Margaret, aged 17

Betty, aged 18

Mercy, aged 19

Martha, aged 20

Ellen, aged 21

Sarah, aged 22

Martha, aged 23

The record was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The making of the slaves' clothing falls to a small group of women under the aged midwife Old Mary, the same hands serving both as the settlement's birth attendant and as its tailors for the labour force. The Company met the cost of clothing its slaves through their own labour, the women cutting and sewing the jackets, shirts and blankets issued against the cold rather than buying them ready-made.

The boats divide the able men by craft of the sea, the long boat crew kept apart from the fishing boats, the two together manning the vessels that fed the slaves and served the shipping in the road. The very young Pompey of thirteen carried on the long boat shows boys set early to the oar, the boat work training the next generation of the force as it served the present need.

The children are counted by single years from infancy upward, the boys and girls listed apart so the Company could see the whole rising stock of its slave population. This record of the youngest names marks the labour force as a self-renewing capital, the children born into bondage entered against their ages so the bench could reckon how many would come to working strength in the years ahead.

336

232

At a Consultation held on Wednesday the 10th

day of May 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley

Present

John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved on

Yesterday in the afternoon Wee were going to

Sitt in Consultation to make up Our Packett & to

dispatch the Bridgewater Capt Williamson for Engl

who intended to Saile hence in the Evening but an

Alarm happening for One Ship Wee adjourned till

to day. About five yesterday Evening arrived the

Mountague Capt Gordon Commander from China

& brought Us for the Use of this Island the following

Goods viz

No 1 to 6 Sugar 6 Bags Cont nett 6 Cwt qr Wt qr 2n 7

16n 2n -

1 to 2 Tea Bohea 2 Chests cont nett 50 wt do 20

20n -n -

1 Tea Singloe 1 Chest Cont net do 18 do 12

12n -n -

1 to 2 China Root 2 Chest cont nett 1 Cwt do 2 do 18

3n 6n -

1 China Ware 1 Box viz

360 pr Cups & Sawcers Blew & White at 2n 5 p Cwt p do

9

Tales

60n 8n -

Charges viz

For 6 Bags for the Sugar

2n 4

For Tea Cynisters

7n 8½

For Teaflest Tea

3n -

8n 3n 4½

Tales

69n 1n 4½

Captain Gordon informs Us that he parted with the Hartford

& Prince Ann in Tea the Cape where he met with hard Gales of Tea

Great Sea but doubts not of them being Safe

Upon Capt Gordons arrival Wee Wrote the following Letter to

Capt Williamson viz

Sr You proposed to Saile hence for England this Evening

but an Alarm haveing happend before You were Sumoned & the

Mountague Capt Gordon Commander from China being just

now

Margin Notes:

Upon dispatch

of Bridgewater

happend

An Alarm

for the

Mountague

Goods

from China

Lettr to Capt

Williamson

to Stay

At a consultation held on Wednesday 10 May 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

The Governor and council had been about to sit the day before to make up the packet and dispatch the Bridgewater, Captain Williamson, for England, the ship intending to sail home that evening, but an alarm for one ship caused the council to adjourn to this day. About five the previous evening the Montague, Captain Gordon commander, arrived from China and brought the following goods for the use of the island.

Goods from China

6 bags of sugar, weighing net 6 hundredweight 2 quarters 27 pounds at [...] per hundredweight, £16 2s 0d

2 chests of bohea tea, weighing net 50 pounds at [...] per pound, £20 0s 0d

1 chest of singlo tea, weighing net [...] at 12 [...], £12 0s 0d

2 chests of china root, weighing net 1 hundredweight at 18 [...], £3 6s 0d

1 box of china ware, £0 9s 0d

360 pounds of cups and saucers, blue and white, at 2 [...] 5 [...] each, £60 8s 0d

Charges

For 6 bags for the sugar, £0 2s 4d

For tea canisters, £0 7s 8d

For teaflead tea, £0 3s 0d

8 3s 4d

Sales, £69 1s 4½d

Captain Gordon reported that he had parted from the Hartford and the Princess Ann near the Cape, where he had met them, with a great deal of tea, but doubted whether all of them were safe.

The council then wrote the following letter to Captain Williamson.

The letter set out that Williamson had proposed to sail for England that evening, but an alarm having arisen before he could go, the Montague, Captain Gordon commander from China, being just then arrived.

Interpretations

China root names the dried tuber of a smilax exported from China, valued as a medicine for treating skin and blood complaints, here shipped in chests alongside the tea and sugar. The bohea and singlo are grades of China tea, bohea the cheaper black leaf and singlo a green, the two forming the bulk of the cargo's value beside the painted blue and white cups and saucers bought by weight for the island's store.

The alarm that delayed the Bridgewater shows how the watch over the road governed the rhythm of the island's business, a homeward ship held from sailing while an unidentified sail was made out. The vessel proved to be the Company's own Montague from China, and the council's letter to Williamson tied his delayed departure to her arrival, the same caution that guarded the road also keeping the packet ashore until the new ship's news and goods could be taken in.

337

233

now come to an Anchor. Wee desired for the greater Security

of Each of Your Ships & pursuant to the 19th Paragraph

of the General Letter by the Essex (which Runs as

follows) that you wd tarry till Capt Gordon be

ready to Saile viz

Remember if any of our Returning Ships arrive

while One or more of Our Ships are at the Island, then

must Stay for her for all their greater Security, wch

is Our Standing Orders. Wee are

Sr Yr humble Servts

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

Union Castle 12th May 1724

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Par of ye Genl Lettr by

ye Essex

The Montague had now come to anchor. For the greater security of each ship, and under the 19th paragraph of the general letter brought by the Essex, the council asked Captain Gordon to delay his sailing until the Bridgewater was ready to depart. The paragraph ran that, if any returning ships arrived at the island while one or more of the Company's ships were there, then for their greater security one must wait for the other, this being the standing order.

The letter was dated at Union Castle, 12 May 1724, and signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The record was likewise signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The standing order to make ships sail in company turned the road into a point of mutual protection, no homeward vessel allowed to leave alone while another lay ready to join her. By holding the Montague until the Bridgewater could sail with her, the council applied the directors' rule that ships meeting at the island wait for one another, the convoy formed at St Helena to guard the valuable China and India cargoes against the privateers and interlopers feared on the long passage home.

The council rests its request not on its own authority but on a numbered paragraph of the directors' general letter, the local order grounded in the standing instruction from London. This shows the bench enforcing the Company's settled policy rather than improvising, the captain asked to delay under a written rule binding on all the Company's commanders, so that the demand carried the weight of the directors behind it.

338

234

At a Consultation held on Saturday the

16th day of May 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley

Present

John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved of

Yesterday the 15th instant arrived the Ship Hartford

Capt Nelly Commander from China & the Mountague

& Bridgewater intending to Saile hence in the Eveing

Wee Sent each of the Commanders the following Letter

Sir You haveing designed to Saile hence for England

Some time to day, but an Alarm happening this

Morning early for a Ship which prove to be the Hartford

Capt Nelly from China, many of whose Crew are in

a Weak & Sickly Condition which Will & does in he

tarrying here at least a Week or ten days in order

to their Refreshment, Wee therefore desire for the

greater Security of each of Your Ships & pursuant

to the 19th Paragraph of the General Letter

Sent to Us from the Honble Company, by the Essex

(a Copy of which is here Subjoyned) that you

will tarry till Capt Nelly be ready to Saile, to

which Purpose he Says he will forward every thing

as fast as he possibly can Expt

Remember if any of Our Returning Shipping

arrives while one or more of Our Ships are at the

Island they must Stay for her for all their greater

Security, which is Our Standing Orders. Wee are

Yr humble Servts

John Smith

Edw Byfeld

John Alexander

Jno Goodwin

15th May 1724

To

Margin Notes:

Hartfords

Arrivall

Lettr Sent to

Capt Gordon

& Williamson

to Stay for

ye Hartford

At a consultation held on Saturday 16 May 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

On the 15th of this month the ship Hartford, Captain Nelly commander, arrived from China, and the Montague and Bridgewater intended to sail home that evening. The council sent each commander the following letter.

The letter set out that Captain Williamson had meant to sail for England some time that day, but an alarm had arisen early in the morning for a ship that proved to be the Hartford, Captain Nelly, from China. Many of her crew were weak and sickly and she would have to stay at the island at least a week or ten days for refreshment. For the greater security of each ship, and under the 19th paragraph of the general letter sent by the Essex, of which a copy was enclosed, the council asked Williamson to delay until Captain Nelly was ready to sail, to which end the Governor would forward everything as fast as he possibly could. The paragraph required that, if any returning ships arrived while one or more of the Company's ships were at the island, they must wait for one another for their greater security, this being the standing order.

The letter was dated 15 May 1724 and signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The same convoy rule is applied a second time within days, the Bridgewater now held for the Hartford as it had been held for the Montague, the council binding each fresh arrival into the waiting company. The repeated delay shows how the steady stream of China ships kept the homeward vessels gathering at the island until enough lay ready to sail together, the road serving as the appointed muster point for the protected passage home.

The crew's sickness fixes the length of the delay, the Hartford needing a week or ten days at the island to recover her weak men before she could go on. The refreshment of scurvied crews was the very service the settlement existed to provide, and here it doubles as the cause of the convoy's holding, the homeward ships kept waiting not only for security but until the newly arrived vessel's company had regained the strength to sail.

339

235

To which they Wrote Us an Answer to the following

Effect

That they were willing to Stay for Capt Nelly

three days provided he would gett ready to Sail by

that time and to that Purpose would assist him &

Each of them Spare him two of their Men which

with two lusty fellows in Prison (that left the last

Ships here) they thought would be Strength Sufficient

to Enable Capt Nelly to put to Sea and that they had

nothing in view but the Service of the Honble Compa

whose Intrest they was Sure required them to

make the best of their way to England, and could

Engage to Defend their Ships from any Pyrates

whatever & hoped this would be thought agreeable

Upon the receipt of which We Sent them the

following Reply

To Capt Jno Gordon &

Capt Edw Williamson

Sr

We this day reed yours in Answer

to Ours of Yesterdays date and observe the Contents

To which We return for Reply, that We dont at all

doubt of your good Intentions for the Interest of Our

Honourable Masters, and in pursuance to their

Instructions to Us We have given you a Copy

relateing to the Security of their Returning Ship

ing and if you think fitt to Saile hence without

the Hartford (who We are willing to Assist for

Her quicker and more Speedy Dispatch) Contrary

to the Said Instructions and Clause in Your

Charterpartys that in Case of any Unhappy

Accident or Damage happening to Either

of

Margin Notes:

The Substance of

Capt Gordon &

Williamsons

Answer

Govr & Couns

Reply to the

above answer

The two commanders wrote back to the following effect.

Captain Gordon and Captain Williamson answered that they were willing to wait for Captain Nelly, who would get ready to sail within three days, provided that to that end each of them lent him two of their men. With these and two strong fellows then in prison, who had been left by the last ships, they thought the Hartford would have crew enough to put to sea. They held they had nothing in view but the service of the Company, whose interest they were sure required them to make the best of their way to England, and they could undertake to defend their ships against any pirates whatever. They hoped this would be thought agreeable.

On receiving this, the council sent the two captains the following reply, addressed to Captain John Gordon and Captain Edward Williamson.

The council acknowledged receipt of their answer of the day before and noted its contents. It replied that it did not doubt their good intentions for the interest of the Company, and that under the directors' instructions it had given them a copy of the paragraph on the security of returning ships. If they thought fit to sail without the Hartford, whom the council was willing to help to a quicker and speedier dispatch, this would be against those instructions and against a clause in their own charter parties, so that in case of any unhappy accident or damage to either ship [...]

Interpretations

The captains' offer turns the council's convoy demand back into a bargain, agreeing to wait only if they lend the Hartford enough men to make her ready in three days. By sparing two hands each, supplemented by two prisoners left from earlier ships, they would crew the sickly vessel for sea and so cut the delay from ten days to three, the commanders solving the problem of the weakened crew by redistributing their own men rather than simply waiting it out.

The council's reply shifts the ground from request to warning, reminding the captains that sailing alone would breach both the directors' instructions and a clause in their own charter parties. The mention of liability for any accident or damage shows the bench preparing to fix the loss on a commander who broke convoy, the standing order enforced not by command alone but by the threat of financial responsibility under the contract each captain had signed.

The two strong men held in prison are pressed into service to crew the Hartford, the island's gaol furnishing hands for a short-handed ship. This shows the settlement's confined men treated as a labour reserve for the shipping, their imprisonment no bar to their being put aboard where a vessel could not otherwise be manned for the homeward passage.

340

236

of your Ships the Mountague Bridgewater, or to the

Hartford, We can be no ways Claimeable, and are

Union Castle the

16 May 1724

Gentlemen

Yr Humble Servants

John Smith

Edw Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Mr Byfeld brought in and Deliverd his General

Acco for the year past of the Honourable Compcs

live Stock and alsoe an Acco of Expence fore

the month of Aprill last which was Examind

Approovd, and is as follows

An Acco of the Honble Compas

Stock of Neat Cattle Sheep Goats Hoggs

Poultry Asses & Horses Likewise what has

been Bought Sold, and Deliverd to the Fort

besides the Inacrease or Decrease from Ullo

March 1723 at 24 March 1724 following

viz

Accot

Cattle

Margin Notes:

Mr Byfelds

Genl Acco

for Aprill

Deliverd

of the Honble

Co live Stock

&c

The reply concluded that, in case of any unhappy accident or damage to the Montague, the Bridgewater or the Hartford, the council could in no way be held liable.

The letter was dated at Union Castle, 16 May 1724, and signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Mr Byfield brought in and delivered his general account for the year past of the Company's live stock, and also an account of expense for the month of April last, which were examined and approved as follows.

An account of the Company's stock of neat cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, asses and horses, showing what had been caught, sold and delivered to the Fort, besides the increase or decrease from the end of March 1723 to 24 March 1724.

Interpretations

The council closes its correspondence by disclaiming all liability for any loss to the three ships, the formal denial protecting the bench against any later claim by the owners. By putting on record that the responsibility lay with the commanders if they sailed against the directors' rule, the council shifted the whole risk of the homeward passage onto the captains who had pressed to go, the standing order enforced through a careful guarding of the Company's own position.

The general live stock account spans a full year from one March to the next, set out to show not only the standing herds but everything caught, sold or delivered to the Fort across the twelve months. This annual reckoning measured the slow recovery of the Company's animals after the drought, the increase and decrease tracked so the directors could judge how far the island's husbandry had restored the breeding stock the failed seasons had thinned.

341

237

Acct of the Honble Companies Stock of Neat Cattle, Sheep, Goates, Hogs, Poultry, Apes & Horses

likewise what has been bought, Sold, & deliverd to the Fort besides the Increase or Decrease from Ultmo

March 1723 a 24 March 1723/4 following viz

Neat Cattle Sheep Goates Hogs Poultry Apes & Horses

Bullocks Cowes Heifers Steer Yearlings Calves Bulls Totall

Ewes Withers Lambs Rams Totall

Ewes Withers Kids Rams Totall

Sowes Shoates Boars Pigs Totall

Turkey Fowles Ducks Geese

Apes Horses Mares Totall

Remn Ultmo March 1723

80 73 81 33 14 65 6 306

50 20 11 3 84

359 167 143 8 677

14 29 3 20 66

65 157 30 8

10 3 2 5

Bought from do a 24 Mar

- - - - - 1 - 3

- - - 1 9

- - - 3 3

- - - 1 1

10 152 28

- - - -

Enc from ditto a do

31 16 11 2 1 19 2 82

1 11 7 3 21

1 6 7

11 8 2 19 40

26 46 14 10

1 1

111 89 42 35 19 84 8 388

51 31 18 7 107

362 167 144 14 687

25 38 6 39 107

101 355 62 18

10 4 2 6

Killed from do to do

50 10 8 2 - 1 9 73

2 10 - - 12

128 75 3 - 206

2 7 - 7 16

26 213 32 3

- - - -

61 79 34 33 19 83 6 315

49 21 18 7 95

234 92 141 14 481

23 31 5 32 91

75 142 30 15

10 4 2 6

Sold to Ships from do to do

20 11 6 - - - - 36

- - - - -

- 20 - - 20

- - - - -

- - - -

- - - -

41 68 29 33 19 83 6 279

49 21 18 7 95

234 72 141 14 461

23 31 5 32 91

75 142 30 15

10 4 2 6

Dead & ca from do to do

9 33 9 5 1 38 1 96

17 2 15 1 36

140 49 114 - 303

13 21 4 31 69

30 42 17 3

4 - - -

32 35 20 28 18 45 5 183

32 19 3 6 60

94 23 27 14 158

10 10 1 1 22

45 100 13 12

6 4 2 6

Cattle Cut & Crown from do

- - - 12 15 - - 27

- - - - -

- - - - -

- - - - -

- - - -

- - - -

Remn 24th March 1724

32 35 20 16 3 45 5 156

32 19 3 6 60

94 23 27 14 158

10 10 1 1 22

45 100 13 12

6 4 2 6

Yams Expended at the Sevl Plantacons

148880

Ditto deliverd to the Fort Blacks

94240

Totall Yams

243120

Account of the Company's stock of neat cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, asses and horses, showing what had been bought, sold and delivered to the Fort, besides the increase or decrease from the end of March 1723 to 24 March 1724.

Remaining end of March 1723: bullocks 80, cows 73, heifers 31, steers 33, yearlings 14, calves 65, bulls 6, neat cattle total 306; ewes 50, wethers 20, lambs 11, rams 3, sheep total 84; she goats 359, wethers 167, kids 143, rams 8, goats total 677; sows 14, shoats 29, boars 3, pigs 20, hogs total 66; turkeys 65, fowls 157, ducks 30, geese 8, asses 10, horses 3, mares 2, total 5

Bought from the end of March to 24 March: ewes 1, lambs 1, rams 2, sheep total 9; wethers 9, goats total 3; shoats 1, hogs total 1; turkeys 1, fowls 10, ducks 152, geese 28; nothing further

Increase from the end of March to the same: bullocks 31, cows 16, heifers 11, steers 2, yearlings 1, calves 19, bulls 2, neat cattle total 82; lambs 7, rams 3, sheep total 21; wethers 1, kids 6, goats total 7; sows 11, shoats 8, boars 2, pigs 19, hogs total 40; turkeys 26, fowls 46, ducks 14, geese 10, horses 1, total 1

Total: bullocks 111, cows 89, heifers 42, steers 35, yearlings 19, calves 84, bulls 8, neat cattle total 388; ewes 51, wethers 31, lambs 18, rams 7, sheep total 107; she goats 362, wethers 167, kids 144, rams 14, goats total 687; sows 25, shoats 38, boars 6, pigs 39, hogs total 107; turkeys 101, fowls 355, ducks 62, geese 18, asses 10, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Killed from the same to the same: bullocks 50, cows 10, heifers 8, steers 2, calves 1, bulls 2, neat cattle total 73; ewes 2, lambs 10, sheep total 12; she goats 128, wethers 75, kids 3, goats total 206; sows 2, shoats 7, pigs 7, hogs total 7; turkeys 16, fowls 26, ducks 213, geese 32, asses 3, nothing further

Remaining: bullocks 61, cows 79, heifers 34, steers 33, yearlings 19, calves 83, bulls 6, neat cattle total 315; ewes 49, wethers 21, lambs 18, rams 7, sheep total 95; she goats 234, wethers 92, kids 141, rams 14, goats total 481; sows 23, shoats 31, boars 5, pigs 32, hogs total 91; turkeys 75, fowls 142, ducks 30, geese 15, asses 10, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Sold to ships from the same to the same: bullocks 20, cows 11, heifers 6, neat cattle total 36; she goats 20, goats total 20; nothing further

Remaining: bullocks 41, cows 68, heifers 29, steers 33, yearlings 19, calves 83, bulls 6, neat cattle total 279; ewes 49, wethers 21, lambs 18, rams 7, sheep total 95; she goats 234, wethers 72, kids 141, rams 14, goats total 461; sows 23, shoats 31, boars 5, pigs 32, hogs total 91; turkeys 75, fowls 142, ducks 30, geese 15, asses 10, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Dead from the same to the same: cows 9, heifers 33, steers 9, yearlings 1, calves 38, bulls 1, neat cattle total 96; ewes 17, wethers 2, lambs 15, rams 1, sheep total 36; she goats 140, wethers 49, kids 114, goats total 303; sows 13, shoats 21, boars 4, pigs 31, hogs total 69; turkeys 30, fowls 42, ducks 17, geese 3, asses 4, nothing further

Remaining: bullocks 32, cows 35, heifers 20, steers 28, yearlings 18, calves 45, bulls 5, neat cattle total 183; ewes 32, wethers 19, lambs 3, rams 6, sheep total 60; she goats 94, wethers 23, kids 27, rams 14, goats total 158; sows 10, shoats 10, boars 1, pigs 1, hogs total 22; turkeys 45, fowls 100, ducks 13, geese 12, asses 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Cattle let and grown from the same to the same: steers 12, yearlings 15, neat cattle total 27; nothing further

Remaining 24 March 1724: bullocks 32, cows 35, heifers 20, steers 16, yearlings 3, calves 45, bulls 5, neat cattle total 156; ewes 32, wethers 19, lambs 3, rams 6, sheep total 60; she goats 94, wethers 23, kids 27, rams 14, goats total 158; sows 10, shoats 10, boars 1, pigs 1, hogs total 22; turkeys 45, fowls 100, ducks 13, geese 12, asses 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Yams expended at the several plantations, 148,880

Yams delivered to the Fort blacks, 94,240

Total yams, 243,120

Interpretations

The annual return measures the whole turnover of the Company's stock across the year, opening with the herds at the end of March 1723 and tracking through every gain and loss to the close on 24 March 1724. The structure separates what was bought, what bred, what was killed for the table, what was sold to ships and what died, so the bench and the directors could see exactly how the standing herds had moved and why the year ended with the cattle and goats so far below where they began.

The heavy losses to death tell the story of the drought, the column of beasts that died far outrunning those killed or sold, the neat cattle falling by ninety-six and the goats by more than three hundred from disease and want of pasture. The bought and bred increases could not make up the loss, so the herds closed the year sharply reduced, the figures confirming the famine the council had pressed through its India correspondence.

The yam expenditure set at the foot ties the animal account to the provision crop, the year's consumption divided between the plantations and the Fort slaves. The total of 243,120 yams used against the standing stocks recorded elsewhere shows the council watching both its food crops and its herds as a single husbandry, the whole subsistence of the establishment reckoned in one place so the strain of the lean years could be measured plot by plot and beast by beast.

342

238

An Acct of the Honble Companies Stock of Neat Cattle, Sheep, Goates, Hogs Poultry, Apes & Horses

likewise what has been deliverd to the Fort & Sold to Ships besides the Increase or Decrease from 25th

March 1724 a ultimo Aprile following vizt

Neat Cattle Sheep Goates Hogs Poultry Apes & Horses

Bullocks Cowes Heifers Steers Yearlings Calves Bulls Totall

Ewes Wethers Lambs Rams Totall

Ewes Wethers Kids Rams Totall

Sowes Shoats Boars Pig Totall

Turkeys Fowles Ducks Geese

Apes Horses Mares Totall

Remn 25th March

32 35 20 16 3 45 5 156

32 19 3 6 60

94 23 27 14 158

10 10 1 1 22

45 100 13 12

6 4 2 6

Enc from do a ult Ap

- - - - - - - -

- 8 - 8

- - - - -

- - - - -

- - - -

- - - -

32 35 20 16 3 45 5 156

32 19 11 6 68

94 23 27 14 158

10 10 1 1 22

45 100 13 12

6 4 2 6

Del to Fort from do to do

- - 1 - 2 - - 3

- 4 - 4

- - 1 1

- - - - -

1 7 2

- - - -

32 35 19 16 1 45 5 153

32 15 11 6 64

94 23 27 13 157

10 10 1 1 22

44 93 11 12

6 4 2 6

Sold to Ships in do

20 2 8 6 - - 4 40

- - - - -

- - - - -

- - - - -

- - - -

- - - -

12 33 11 10 1 45 1 113

32 15 11 6 64

94 23 27 13 157

10 10 1 1 22

44 93 11 12

6 4 2 6

Dead in ditto

- - - - - 1 1 2

- - - - -

- - - - -

- 1 - 1 2

1 - - -

- - - -

12 33 11 10 1 44 - 111

32 15 11 6 64

94 23 27 13 157

10 9 1 0 20

43 93 11 12

6 4 2 6

Stole in ditto

- - - - - - - -

- - - - -

- - - - -

3 - - - 3

- - - -

- - - -

Remn Ulto Aprile

12 33 11 10 1 44 - 111

32 15 11 6 64

94 23 27 13 157

7 9 1 - 17

43 93 11 12

6 4 2 6

Yams Expended at the Sevl Plantacons

11736

Do delivd the Fort Blacks

6135

Totall Yams

17871

Account of the Company's stock of neat cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, asses and horses, showing what had been delivered to the Fort and sold to ships, besides the increase or decrease from 25 March 1724 to the end of April following.

Remaining 25 March: bullocks 32, cows 35, heifers 20, steers 16, yearlings 3, calves 45, bulls 5, neat cattle total 156; ewes 32, wethers 19, lambs 3, rams 6, sheep total 60; she goats 94, wethers 23, kids 27, rams 14, goats total 158; sows 10, shoats 10, boars 1, pigs 1, hogs total 22; turkeys 45, fowls 100, ducks 13, geese 12, asses 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Increase from the same to the end of April: lambs 8, sheep total 8; nothing further

Total: bullocks 32, cows 35, heifers 20, steers 16, yearlings 3, calves 45, bulls 5, neat cattle total 156; ewes 32, wethers 19, lambs 11, rams 6, sheep total 68; she goats 94, wethers 23, kids 27, rams 14, goats total 158; sows 10, shoats 10, boars 1, pigs 1, hogs total 22; turkeys 45, fowls 100, ducks 13, geese 12, asses 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Delivered to the Fort from the same to the same: heifers 1, steers 2, neat cattle total 3; ewes 4, sheep total 4; kids 1, goats total 1; turkeys 1, fowls 7, ducks 2, nothing further

Remaining: bullocks 32, cows 35, heifers 19, steers 16, yearlings 3, calves 45, bulls 5, neat cattle total 153; ewes 32, wethers 15, lambs 11, rams 6, sheep total 64; she goats 94, wethers 23, kids 27, rams 13, goats total 157; sows 10, shoats 10, boars 1, pigs 1, hogs total 22; turkeys 44, fowls 93, ducks 11, geese 12, asses 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Sold to ships from the same to the same: bullocks 20, cows 2, heifers 8, steers 6, neat cattle total 40; nothing further

Remaining: bullocks 12, cows 33, heifers 11, steers 10, yearlings 1, calves 45, bulls 1, neat cattle total 113; ewes 32, wethers 15, lambs 11, rams 6, sheep total 64; she goats 94, wethers 23, kids 27, rams 13, goats total 157; sows 10, shoats 10, boars 1, pigs 1, hogs total 22; turkeys 44, fowls 93, ducks 11, geese 12, asses 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Dead from the same to the same: calves 1, bulls 1, neat cattle total 2; shoats 1, pigs 1, hogs total 2; fowls 1, nothing further

Remaining: bullocks 12, cows 38, heifers 11, steers 10, yearlings 1, calves 44, neat cattle total 111; ewes 32, wethers 15, lambs 11, rams 6, sheep total 64; she goats 94, wethers 23, kids 27, rams 13, goats total 157; sows 10, shoats 9, boars 1, pigs 0, hogs total 20; turkeys 43, fowls 93, ducks 11, geese 12, asses 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Stolen from the same to the same: shoats 3, hogs total 3; nothing further

Remaining end of April: bullocks 12, cows 33, heifers 14, steers 10, yearlings 1, calves 44, neat cattle total 111; ewes 32, wethers 15, lambs 11, rams 6, sheep total 64; she goats 94, wethers 23, kids 27, rams 13, goats total 157; sows 7, shoats 9, boars 1, pigs 0, hogs total 17; turkeys 43, fowls 93, ducks 11, geese 12, asses 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Yams expended at the several plantations, 11,736

Yams delivered to the Fort blacks, 6,135

Total yams, 17,871

Interpretations

The monthly return carries forward the same close tracking the annual account used, every gain and loss set against the standing herds so the bench could watch the stock from one reckoning to the next. The single largest movement is the sale of forty head of neat cattle to the shipping, the bullocks, cows, heifers and steers drawn down to provision the run of homeward and China ships that had gathered in the road through the month.

A row records three shoats stolen during the month, the theft entered as a distinct category of loss alongside death, sale and delivery. The Company tracked even the pilfering of its pigs as a measured decrease, the stolen animals deducted from the standing count so the account stayed true, the entry quietly recording that the herds suffered from theft as well as from drought and slaughter.

The deep cut in the bullocks, from thirty-two to twelve across the month, shows how heavily the breeding stock served the shipping in a single season. With the herds already thinned by the drought, the sale of twenty bullocks to ships left the Company's male cattle sharply reduced, the figures marking the strain of provisioning the gathered convoy against a herd that the lean years had given little room to spare.

343

239

An Account of Families Lands & Neat Cattle on the Island

Office between the 12th & 22d Days of March 1723 pursuant

List for 1723

Persons Names

Whites Blacks

Man Women Youths Maidens Boys to 12 & 13 yrs old Girls from 13 to 14 yrs old Totall

Free Blacks Men Women Boys Girls Totall

Capt John Alexander

1 - 2 2 2 7

6 9 5 6 3 23

Capt Jno Goodwin

1 - 1 2 - 4

1 9 3 6 - 19

Reuben & Tho Tason

- - - - - 1

- - 1 - - 1

Ensign Wm Slaughter

1 - 1 - 1 3

- - - 1 - 1

Benjamn Hawkes

1 - - 4 1 6

- 4 2 1 2 9

Jno French Gunr

Tho Dutch

1 - 1 - - 2

- 5 2 2 2 11

Isaac Wood

1 - - - 2

- - 1 - - 1

Wm Simpson

1 - - - - 2

- 1 - - - 1

Robt Wallington

John Young

1 - - 1 2

- 1 - 1 1 3

John Hubbard

1 - - - 1

- - - - - -

Jno Des Fountan

1 - 2 - 3

- 2 - 1 1 4

Isae Leech Gunr 1 Mat

1 - 1 3 5

- 1 1 - - 2

Giles Hayse 2 ddo

1 - - 1

- - - - - -

Jno Worrale 3 & Wm Tow

1 - 1 2 1 5

- 3 1 - - 4

Tho Watts & 4 Orphn

1 - - 2 1 4

- - 1 - - 1

Eben Leech

- - 1 1 2

- 1 - - - 1

Tho Clew

1 - 2 - 3

- 1 - - - 1

Matthew Mudge

1 - - - 1

Fran Tunger

1

Andrew Berque

1 - - - 1

- - 1 - 1

Caleb Davis

1 - 1 2

- 1 - - 1

William Burnham

John Bradley

1 - - 1

William Coales

- 2 - 2

Stephen Audward

Samuel Dufton

1 - 1

- 1 - 1

Tho Easton

Jonathn Higham Sn

- - - 1

- 1 - 1

Richard Harding

1 - 1

James Harding

1

Tho Harper

1 - 1

Joseph Harding

Ralph Orme

1 - 1 1 3

John Purling

1 - 1 1

- 3 1 1 1 6

An account of families, lands and neat cattle on the island, taken at the office between 12 and 22 March 1723, set out under heads of whites and blacks. The list for 1723 ran household by household, the white columns counting men, women, youths, maidens, boys to 12 and 13 years old, girls from 13 to 14 years old, and a total, the black columns counting free blacks, men, women, boys, girls and a total.

Captain John Alexander, 1 white woman, 2 youths, 2 maidens and 2 boys, totalling 7 white people; 6 free blacks, 9 men, 5 women, 6 boys and 3 girls, totalling 23 blacks

Captain John Goodwin, 1 white woman, 1 maiden and 2 boys, totalling 4 white people; 1 free black, 9 men, 3 women and 6 boys, totalling 19 blacks

Reuben and Thomas Tason, 1 white person; 1 black woman, totalling 1 black

Ensign William Slaughter, 1 white woman, 1 maiden and 1 boy, totalling 3 white people; 1 black boy, totalling 1 black

Benjamin Hawkes, 1 white woman, 4 maidens and 1 boy, totalling 6 white people; 4 black men, 2 women, 1 boy and 2 girls, totalling 9 blacks

John French, gunner, no figures recorded

Thomas Dutch, 1 white woman and 1 maiden, totalling 2 white people; 5 black men, 2 women, 2 boys and 2 girls, totalling 11 blacks

Isaac Wood, 1 white woman and 1 maiden, totalling 2 white people; 1 black woman, totalling 1 black

William Simpson, 1 white woman, totalling 2 white people; 1 black woman, totalling 1 black

Robert Wallington, no figures recorded

John Young, 1 white woman and 1 boy, totalling 2 white people; 1 black man, 1 boy and 1 girl, totalling 3 blacks

John Hubbard, 1 white man, totalling 1 white person; no blacks recorded

John Defountain, 1 white woman and 2 maidens, totalling 3 white people; 2 black men, 1 woman and 1 girl, totalling 4 blacks

Isaac Leech, gunner's first mate, 1 white woman, 1 maiden and 3 boys, totalling 5 white people; 1 black man and 1 woman, totalling 2 blacks

Giles Hayes, gunner's second mate, 1 white woman, totalling 1 white person; no blacks recorded

John Worrall, gunner's third mate, and William Tow, 1 white woman, 1 youth, 2 maidens and 1 boy, totalling 5 white people; 3 black men and 1 woman, totalling 4 blacks

Thomas Watts and four orphans, 1 white woman, 2 maidens and 1 boy, totalling 4 white people; 1 black woman, totalling 1 black

Ebenezer Leech, 1 white maiden and 1 boy, totalling 2 white people; 1 black man, totalling 1 black

Thomas Clew, 1 white woman and 2 maidens, totalling 3 white people; 1 black man, totalling 1 black

Matthew Mudge, 1 white woman, totalling 1 white person; no blacks recorded

Francis Funge, 1 white man; no blacks recorded

Andrew Bergue, 1 white woman, totalling 1 white person; 1 black boy, totalling 1 black

Caleb Davis, 1 white woman and 1 boy, totalling 2 white people; 1 black man, totalling 1 black

William Burnham, no figures recorded

John Bradley, 1 white woman, totalling 1 white person; no blacks recorded

William Coles, 2 white maidens, totalling 2 white people; no blacks recorded

Stephen Audward, no figures recorded

Samuel Dufton, 1 white maiden, totalling 1 white person; 1 black man, totalling 1 black

Thomas Easton, no figures recorded

Jonathan Higham senior, 1 white person; 1 black man, totalling 1 black

Richard Harding, 1 white woman, totalling 1 white person; no blacks recorded

James Harding, 1 white man; no blacks recorded

Thomas Harper, 1 white woman, totalling 1 white person; no blacks recorded

Joseph Harding, no figures recorded

Ralph Orme, 1 white woman, 1 maiden and 1 boy, totalling 3 white people; no blacks recorded

John Gurling, 1 white woman, 1 maiden and 1 boy, totalling 3 white people; 3 black men, 1 woman, 1 boy and 1 girl, totalling 6 blacks

Interpretations

The annual register counts the whole population of each household under fine age and sex divisions, the whites split into men, women, youths, maidens and children by age band, the blacks into free blacks, men, women and children. This breakdown gave the bench the documentary base for the church rate, the highway levy and the report home, the strength of every family and its slaves fixed on record for taxing, mustering and government.

The slave totals dwarf the white in the leading households, Captain Alexander holding twenty-three blacks against seven of his own family and Captain Goodwin nineteen against four. The concentration of slaves among the councillors and senior officers measures where the island's labour and wealth lay, the register showing that the men who governed the settlement also commanded the largest part of its bound workforce.

The six free blacks recorded against Captain Alexander, with one more under Goodwin, fix the small free black population the inhabitants would soon move against. The register sets these free people apart in their own column from both the whites and the slaves, the documentary record of their numbers and households standing ready when the petition of 3 September 1723 pressed the council to bar all future manumission and forbid any free black to buy a slave.

344

240

St Helena for the Year 1723 as was deliverd into the Secretarys

to an Advertizement Published for that Purpose

Neat Cattle Lands

Bulls Cowes Bullocks Heifers Steer Yearling Calves Totall

Acres of Free Land Acres of Hired Land Totall

Ground in James Valley

1 12 2 4 1 2 6 26

24½ 30 54½

1 12 2 4 6 3 12 37

68 21 96½

2 1 1 2 6

3 3

6 - - 1 - 7

10 27 37

1 6 6 4 - 5 22

78 30 108

30

3 1 1 2 7

45 45

4 - 2 - 1 7

5 8½ 13½

6 - - 5 11

40 40

50

2 - - 2 4

10 10

2 - 2 4

1½ 1½

- 1 - 1 6

2 1 - 7 3

2 - 2 - 3 7

1 1

1 9 - 4 - 6 20

25 21 46

This continues the families register for St Helena for the year 1723, set out under an advertisement published for that purpose, the right-hand columns now giving each household's neat cattle and lands alongside the population totals on the facing page. The cattle columns count bulls, cows, bullocks, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and a total, the land columns acres of free land, acres of hired land and a total, with a further column for ground in James Valley.

Captain John Alexander, 1 bull, 12 cows, 2 bullocks, 4 heifers, 1 steer, 2 yearlings and 6 calves, totalling 26 neat cattle; 24½ acres of free land and 30 acres of hired land, totalling 54½ acres

Captain John Goodwin, 1 bull, 12 cows, 2 bullocks, 6 steers, 3 yearlings and 12 calves, totalling 37 neat cattle; 68 acres of free land and 21 acres of hired land, totalling 96 acres; 1 ground in James Valley

Reuben and Thomas Tason, no cattle recorded; 3 acres of hired land, totalling 3 acres

Ensign William Slaughter, 2 cows and 1 heifer, totalling 6 neat cattle; nothing recorded

Benjamin Hawkes, 6 cows and 1 yearling, totalling 7 neat cattle; 10 acres of free land and 27 acres of hired land, totalling 37 acres

Thomas Dutch, 1 bull, 6 cows, 6 bullocks and 4 heifers, totalling 22 neat cattle; 78 acres of free land and 30 acres of hired land, totalling 108 acres; 30 ground in James Valley

John French, gunner, no figures recorded

Isaac Wood, 3 cows, 1 heifer and 1 steer, totalling 7 neat cattle; 45 acres of free land, totalling 45 acres

William Simpson, 4 cows and 2 steers, totalling 7 neat cattle; 5 acres of free land and 8½ acres of hired land, totalling 13½ acres

Robert Wallington, 6 cows, totalling 11 neat cattle; 40 acres of hired land, totalling 40 acres

John Young, no cattle recorded; 50 ground in James Valley

John Hubbard, no figures recorded

John Defountain, 2 cows, totalling 4 neat cattle; 10 acres of free land, totalling 10 acres

Isaac Leech, gunner's first mate, 2 cows, totalling 4 neat cattle; nothing recorded

Giles Hayes, gunner's second mate, no figures recorded

John Worrall, gunner's third mate, no cattle recorded; 1½ acres of hired land, totalling 1½ acres

Thomas Watts and four orphans, no figures recorded

Ebenezer Leech, 1 steer, totalling 8 neat cattle; nothing recorded

Thomas Clew, 2 cows and 2 steers, totalling 7 neat cattle; nothing recorded

Matthew Mudge, 2 cows, totalling 7 neat cattle; nothing recorded

Andrew Bergue, 1 steer, totalling 1 neat cattle; nothing recorded

John Gurling, 1 cow, 9 bullocks, 4 steers and 6 calves, totalling 20 neat cattle; 25 acres of free land and 21 acres of hired land, totalling 46 acres

Interpretations

The register binds each household's livestock and landholding to its population on the same line, so a single document carried the whole measure of a family's standing, its people, its cattle and its acres of free and hired ground. This furnished the bench with the base for every assessment at once, the wealth in stock and land set beside the heads to be rated and mustered, the island's whole substance fixed household by household in one survey.

The land is divided between free land owned outright and hired land held of the Company on lease, the two summed for each holder so the bench could see both the private estate and the Company tenancy in one figure. The largest holders, Goodwin at ninety-six acres and Dutch at one hundred and eight, dwarf the rest, the distribution confirming that land as well as slaves and cattle gathered into the hands of the senior men, while many households appear with no ground of their own at all.

345

241

Whites Blacks

Names

Men Women Youths Maidens Boys to 12 & 13 yrs old Girls from 13 to 14 yrs old Totall

Free Blacks Men Women Boys Girls Totall

Brought Over

Benj Pledger & Sd

- 1 - 1 - 2 4

- 2 - 1 - 3

Steph P Pledgerd

- - - - - - 1

- 1 1 - - 2

Rich Swallow Junr

- - - 2 2 5

0 1 1 - - 2

Jno Thwaites

1 - - 1 1

- 1 - - - 1

Jno Aldrick

1 - - 1

- 1 - - - 1

Wm Lee

Addiss Orphans

- - - - - 2

- - - - - 3

Tho Allis

1 1 - 3 1 6

- 2 1 - - 3

Bridget Berzettos

- 1 - - 2 3

- 3 3 3 - 9

Jno Bagley Snr & Orp

1 1 1 - 1 4 1 9

- 1 - 1 - 2

Orlando Bagley Snr

1 1 - 1 2 2 7

- 1 1 1 1 4

Jno Bagley Junr

1 1 - - - 2

- 1 - - 1 2

Robt Bell

1 1 - 2 - 4

- 2 2 4 - 8

Joseph Bates

1 1 - 2 3 9

- 7 2 3 2 14

Rich Beale

1 1 - - 1 3

- 1 - 1 1 3

Arthur Bradley

1 1 - - 3 5

- 1 - - - 1

William Beale

1 1 - 1 1 4

- 1 1 1 - 3

The families register for 1723 continued, the same columns carried forward, counting whites by men, women, youths, maidens, boys to 12 and 13 years old, girls from 13 to 14 years old and a total, and blacks by free blacks, men, women, boys, girls and a total.

Benjamin Pledger and another, 1 white woman and 1 maiden, totalling 4 white people; 2 black men and 1 boy, totalling 3 blacks

Stephen Pledger, no white people recorded; 1 black man and 1 woman, totalling 4 blacks

Richard Swallow junior, 2 maidens and 2 boys, totalling 5 white people; 1 free black, 1 man and 1 woman, totalling 2 blacks

John Thwaites, 1 white man and 1 maiden, totalling 5 white people; 1 black man, totalling 1 black

John Aldrick, 1 white man, totalling 1 white person; 1 black man, totalling 1 black

William Lee, no figures recorded

Addes orphans, no white people recorded; 2 black men, totalling 3 blacks

Thomas Allis, 1 white man, 1 woman, 3 boys and 1 girl, totalling 6 white people; 2 black men, 1 woman and 3 boys, totalling 9 blacks

Bridget Bazett, 1 white woman and 2 boys, totalling 3 white people; 3 black men, 3 women and 3 boys, totalling 9 blacks

John Bagley senior and another, 1 white man, 1 woman, 1 youth, 1 maiden and 4 boys, totalling 9 white people; 1 black man, totalling 2 blacks

Orlando Bagley senior, 1 white man, 1 woman, 1 maiden and 2 boys, totalling 9 white people; 1 black man, 1 woman, 1 boy and 1 girl, totalling 4 blacks

John Bagley junior, 1 white man and 1 woman, totalling 2 white people; 1 black man and 1 girl, totalling 2 blacks

Robert Bell, 1 white man and 2 maidens, totalling 4 white people; 2 black men, 2 women and 4 boys, totalling 8 blacks

Joseph Bates, 1 white man, 1 woman, 2 maidens and 3 boys, totalling 9 white people; 7 black men, 2 women, 3 boys and 2 girls, totalling 14 blacks

Richard Beale, 1 white man and 1 woman, totalling 3 white people; 1 black man, 1 boy and 1 girl, totalling 3 blacks

Arthur Bradley, 1 white man and 3 boys, totalling 5 white people; nothing recorded, totalling 1 black

William Beale, 1 white man, 1 woman and 1 boy, totalling 4 white people; 1 black man and 1 woman, totalling 3 blacks

Interpretations

The continuation carries the same heads down the rest of the inhabitants, the smaller planters and tradesmen following the senior officers of the facing page. Joseph Bates stands out with fourteen blacks against nine of his own family, a planter holding a slave force second only to the councillors, the register marking how far some of the lesser men had built their own labour through the years of growth.

The widow Bridget Bazett heads her own household with nine slaves and no adult man, the late Captain Bazett's family carried on as an independent holding under his widow's name. The register treats her as a householder in her own right, her three men, three women and three boys entered against her, the survey recording the slave property a widow held and managed in the absence of a husband.

346

242

Neat Cattle

Bulls Cowes Bullocks Heifers Steers Yearlings Calves Totall

Acres of Free Land Acres of Hired Land Totall

Ground in James Valley

- 6 - 1 - 2 9

10 16 26

- 2 - 3 1 1 - 53

- 3 - 1 1 4 7

24 24

- 2 - 1 2 - 5

1725 p

2 4 2 4 2 3 17

4 - - 3 - 7

18 30 48

12 - 3 - 1 9 25

36 28 63

136

5 - - - 3 8

36 3 39

4 - - - 4 8

23 76 99

2 - - - 1 3

- 6 - 3 1 5 14

20 38 58

50

2 12 3 9 2 - 7 22

40 52½ 92½

80

1 8 - 2 1 5 17

41 41

- 1 - 1 - 1 3

30 2 32

3 4 4 - 3 14

75 5 30

8

9 3 - 5 1 9 27

89 46 135

133

- 1 - 2 - 3

5 15 20

- - - - 30

30

2 - - 1 3

15 15

1 14 8 3 7 14 47

142½ 17½ 169½

80

1 1 - 3 - 1 6

24½ 6 29½

2 15 1 - 6 9 33

64 52 116

2 6 4 4 - 5 7 28

38 11 49

- 3 - 2 - 2 1 8

20 12 32

- 9 1 - 4 4 18

15 31 46

- 1 - - - 2 3

22 21 43

- 1 - 1 - 1 3

- 1 - - - 1 2

1 10 - 4 - 10 25

34 27 61

- 1 - - - 1

10 15 25

- 1 1 1 - 3

38 30

The cattle and land columns for these households, set against the population totals on the facing page. The cattle columns count bulls, cows, bullocks, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and a total, the land columns acres of free land, acres of hired land and a total, with a further column for ground in James Valley.

Benjamin Pledger and another, 6 cows, 1 heifer and 2 calves, totalling 9 neat cattle; 10 acres of free land and 16 acres of hired land, totalling 26 acres

Stephen Pledger, 2 cows and 3 heifers, totalling 5 neat cattle; nothing recorded

Richard Swallow junior, 3 cows, 1 heifer, 1 steer and 1 calf, totalling 7 neat cattle; 24 acres of hired land, totalling 24 acres

John Thwaites, 4 cows, 2 bullocks, 1 heifer, 2 steers and 3 calves, totalling 6 neat cattle; nothing recorded; ground in James Valley 17 by 5 [...]

John Aldrick, 2 bulls, 4 cows, 2 bullocks, 4 heifers, 2 steers and 3 calves, totalling 17 neat cattle; nothing recorded

William Lee, 4 cows and 3 calves, totalling 7 neat cattle; 18 acres of free land and 30 acres of hired land, totalling 48 acres

Addes orphans, 12 cows, 3 heifers, 1 yearling and 9 calves, totalling 25 neat cattle; 35 acres of free land and 28 acres of hired land, totalling 63 acres; ground in James Valley 136

Thomas Allis, 5 cows and 3 calves, totalling 8 neat cattle; 36 acres of free land and 3 acres of hired land, totalling 39 acres

Bridget Bazett, 4 cows and 4 calves, totalling 8 neat cattle; 23 acres of free land and 76 acres of hired land, totalling 99 acres

John Bagley senior and another, 2 cows and 1 calf, totalling 3 neat cattle; nothing recorded

Orlando Bagley senior, 6 cows, 3 heifers, 1 steer and 6 calves, totalling 14 neat cattle; 20 acres of free land and 38 acres of hired land, totalling 58 acres; ground in James Valley 50

John Bagley junior, 2 bulls, 12 cows, 3 bullocks, 2 heifers, 2 steers and 7 calves, totalling 22 neat cattle; 40 acres of free land and 52½ acres of hired land, totalling 92½ acres; ground in James Valley 80

Robert Bell, 1 bull, 8 cows, 2 heifers, 1 steer and 5 calves, totalling 17 neat cattle; 41 acres of free land, totalling 41 acres

Joseph Bates, 1 cow, 1 heifer and 1 calf, totalling 3 neat cattle; 30 acres of free land and 2 acres of hired land, totalling 32 acres; ground in James Valley 8

Richard Beale, 3 bulls, 4 cows, 4 heifers, 3 steers and 14 calves, totalling 27 neat cattle; 89 acres of free land and 46 acres of hired land, totalling 135 acres; ground in James Valley 133

Arthur Bradley, 1 cow and 2 calves, totalling 3 neat cattle; 5 acres of free land and 15 acres of hired land, totalling 20 acres

William Beale, no cattle recorded; 30 acres of free land, totalling 30 acres

Interpretations

Richard Beale stands as the largest stock and land holder on this stretch of the list, twenty-seven head of cattle and a hundred and thirty-five acres marking a planter whose estate rivalled the councillors of the facing page. The figures fix the standing of a family long prominent in the island's disputes over land, the register recording the substance behind Beale's recurring place in its property contests.

The ground in James Valley is counted in its own column apart from the country acres, the valley plots measured separately as the built and garden land of the town. Several holders carry a James Valley figure with little or no country land, the register distinguishing the urban ground at the landing from the plantations inland, so the survey captured both the farming estates and the house plots in one reckoning of the island's whole occupied land.

347

243

[Loss of legibility down the centre of the page from a strip of adhesive tape obscuring the Totall and Free Blacks columns for most rows.]

Whites Blacks

Names

Men Women Youths Maidens Boys to 12 & 13 yrs old Girls from 13 to 14 yrs old Totall

Free Blacks Men Women Boys Girls Totall

Brought Over

- - - - 2 [...] 4

- 4 1 1 2 8

Saml Jessey

1 1 - - 2 3 7

- 4 2 1 2 9

Josh Johnson

1 1 - - 1 2 5

- 4 - 1 3 1 5

Sutton Isaac

1 1 - - 3 3 8

- - 1 - 1

Tho Leech

1 - - - 1 2

- - - - 1

Fran Leech

1 - - - 1

- - - - -

James Leech

1 1 - - - 6

1 2 2 2 1 8

John Long

1 1 - - 2 2 6

1 2 2 2 1 8

Steph Lutsking

1 - - 1 - 2

- 1 - - - 1

Walter Norris

1 - - - 1

- 3 2 - 3 8

Elizh Marsh Son & wife

1 2 - - - 3

- 3 2 - - 2

Richd Mason

1 1 - 3 3 8

- 2 - - - 2

Edmd Nicholls

1 1 - 1 2 - 5

- 1 1 - 1 4

Mary Nicholls & Sutton

- 2 - 1 - 3

- 1 - 1 1 4

Gab Powell

1 1 - - 3 2 7

- 9 3 6 6 23

Saml Price

1 - - - 1

- - - - -

James Ryder

1 1 - - - 1 3

- 1 2 2 1 6

Martha Robinson

- 1 - - - 3 4

- 2 1 2 1 6

Phillip Rowland free

- - - - - 1

1 - 2 2 4

Will Seale

1 1 - 1 2 4

- 4 - 1 1 6

Giles Smith

1 1 - - 1 3

- 2 1 - - 3

Rd Swallow Senr

1 - - 1 3 - 5

- 2 2 - - 4

Jno Swallow

- - - - 1

- - - - 1

Charles Steward

1 1 - - 2 4

- 2 - 2 - 4

Sarah Southen

1 1 - 2 1 4

- 1 - 1 - 2

Mary Shreeve Wid

- 1 - - - 1

- 1 - 1 - 2

Eliz Swallow do

- 1 - - - 1

- 1 - 1 - 2

Cha Stewards Orph

- - - - - 3

- 3 - - 2 5

Eliz Sitt

- - - - - 1

- 1 - 1

Magt Tovey

- 1 - - - 2 3

- 3 1 - 1 5

Same Taylor

1 1 - - 2 2

- 1 - 1 - 2

Richd Tinsley

1 1 - 1 - 3

- 1 - - - 1

Same Vesey

F Wrangham

1 1 - 1 3 3 9

- 2 6 2 6 3 17

Jno Worrall

1 1 - - 2 5

9 2 3 1 1 1 8

The families register for 1723 continued, the same columns carried forward, counting whites by men, women, youths, maidens, boys to 12 and 13 years old, girls from 13 to 14 years old and a total, and blacks by free blacks, men, women, boys, girls and a total.

Samuel Jessey, 1 white man, 1 woman, 2 boys and 3 girls, totalling 7 white people; 4 black men, 1 woman, 1 boy and 2 girls, totalling 8 blacks

Joshua Johnson, 1 white man, 1 woman, 1 boy and 2 girls, totalling 5 white people; 4 black men, 2 women, 1 boy and 2 girls, totalling 9 blacks

Sutton Isaake, 1 white man, 1 woman, 3 boys and 3 girls, totalling 8 white people; 1 black woman, 3 boys and 1 girl, totalling 5 blacks

Thomas Leech, 1 white man and 1 girl, totalling 2 white people; 1 black man, totalling 1 black

Francis Leech, 1 white man, totalling 1 white person; nothing recorded

James Leech, 1 white man and 1 woman, totalling 6 white people; 1 free black, 2 men, 2 women, 2 boys and 1 girl, totalling 8 blacks

John Long, 1 white man, 1 woman, 2 boys and 2 girls, totalling 6 white people; 1 free black, 2 men, 2 women and 2 boys, totalling 8 blacks

Stephen Lufkin, 1 white man and 1 maiden, totalling 2 white people; 1 black man, totalling 1 black

Walter Morris, 1 white man, totalling 1 white person; 3 black men, 2 women and 3 girls, totalling 8 blacks

Elizabeth Marsh, son and wife, 1 white man, 2 women and 3 boys, totalling 3 white people; 2 black women, totalling 2 blacks

Richard Mason, 1 white man, 1 woman, 3 boys and 3 girls, totalling 8 white people; 2 black women, totalling 2 blacks

Edmund Nichols, 1 white man, 1 woman, 1 maiden and 2 boys, totalling 6 white people; 1 black woman, 1 boy and 1 girl, totalling 4 blacks

Mary Nichols and sister, 2 white women and 1 maiden, totalling 6 white people; 1 woman, 1 boy and 1 girl, totalling 4 blacks

Gabriel Powell, 1 white man, 1 woman, 3 boys and 5 girls, totalling 5 white people; 9 black men, 3 women, 6 boys and 6 girls, totalling 23 blacks

Samuel Price, 1 white man, totalling 3 white people; nothing recorded

James Ryder, 1 white man, 1 woman and 1 girl, totalling 3 white people; 1 black man, 2 women, 2 boys and 1 girl, totalling 6 blacks

Martha Robinson, 1 white woman and 3 girls, totalling 4 white people; 1 black man, 1 woman, 2 boys and 1 girl, totalling 6 blacks

Phillip Rowland, free, 1 free black; 1 man, 1 woman, 2 boys and 2 girls, totalling 4 blacks

William Beale, 1 white man, 1 woman, 1 maiden and 2 boys, totalling 4 white people; 4 black men, 1 boy and 1 girl, totalling 6 blacks

Giles Smith, 1 white man, 1 woman and 1 boy, totalling 6 white people; 2 black men and 1 woman, totalling 3 blacks

Richard Swallow senior, 1 white man, 1 maiden and 3 boys, totalling 5 white people; 2 black men and 2 women, totalling 4 blacks

John Swallow, 1 white boy, totalling 1 white person; 1 black man, totalling 1 black

Charles Steward, 1 white man, 1 woman and 2 boys, totalling 4 white people; 2 black men and 2 boys, totalling 4 blacks

Sarah Southen, 1 white man, 1 woman, 2 maidens and 1 boy, totalling 4 white people; 1 black man and 1 woman, totalling 2 blacks

Mary Shreeve, widow, 1 white woman, totalling 1 white person; 1 black man and 1 boy, totalling 2 blacks

Elizabeth Swallow, 1 white woman, totalling 1 white person; 1 black man and 1 boy, totalling 2 blacks

Charles Steward orphans, 3 black men, 2 women and 2 boys, totalling 5 blacks

Elizabeth Sich, 1 black man, 1 girl, totalling 1 black

Margaret Tovey, 1 white woman and 2 boys, totalling 3 white people; 3 black men, 1 woman and 1 girl, totalling 5 blacks

Samuel Taylor, 1 white man, 1 woman and 2 boys, totalling 2 white people; 1 black man and 1 boy, totalling 2 blacks

Richard Tinsley, 1 white man, 1 woman and 1 maiden, totalling 3 white people; 1 black man, totalling 1 black

Samuel Vesey, no figures recorded

Francis Wrangham, 1 white man, 1 woman, 1 maiden, 3 boys and 3 girls, totalling 9 white people; 6 black men, 2 women, 6 boys and 3 girls, totalling 17 blacks

John Worrall, 1 white man, 1 woman and 2 boys, totalling 5 white people; 9 black men, 2 women, 3 boys and 1 girl, totalling 8 blacks

Interpretations

Gabriel Powell heads the largest slave holding on the whole register with twenty-three blacks, the island's foremost landholder commanding a workforce to match his estate. The concentration confirms the standing the council had pressed when it called for the examination of his seven-year account at the consultation of 13 November 1722, his slaves, land and credit together marking him the most substantial private interest on the island.

The register records several free blacks as householders in their own right, Phillip Rowland entered as free at the head of his own family and free blacks marked within other households. The survey thus fixed by name and number the small free black population whose presence the inhabitants moved against at the consultation of 3 September 1723, the document standing ready when the council barred all future manumission and forbade any free black to buy a slave.

The widows and orphans hold slaves and land as independent units, Margaret Tovey, Martha Robinson, Mary Shreeve and the Steward and Sich orphans each carried as a household with its own bound labour. The register treats these as standing estates managed in the absence of a husband or father, the slave property of the dead and the fatherless entered against their names so the bench could rate and account for it as for any other holding.

348

244

Neat Cattle Lands

Bulls Cowes Bullocks Heifers Steers Yearlings Calves Totall

Acres of Free Land Acres of Hired do Totall

Ground in James Valley

- 6 - 1 1 - 4 12

64½ 20½ 85

- 7 2 4 - - 8 21

64 39 103

- 4 - 4 - - - 8

24 5 29

- - 2 - 1 1 - 10

10

- - - - - - 4

- 6 - 2 - 2 9

11 5 16

- 1 - 1 - 3 4 5

10 11 21

1 6 2 5 1 - 5 20

40 9 49

34

- - - - - - -

17

55

1 6 - 6 1 - 5 19

12 21 31

- 2 - - - - 2 4

25 25

2 30 13 - - - 25 70

250½ 52 302½

80 feet 10.8

- 8 3 2 2 1 7 23

31 2½ 33½

1 7 1 - 1 - 7 17

10 25 35

- - - - - - -

- 7 1 - - 8 7 23

40 11 51

1 2 - 1 - - 4

10 10

1 9 - 1 - - 8 19

28 28½ 56½

- 8 - 2 - - 8 18

20 21 41

- 2 - - - - 2 4

6 6

- 1 - - - 2 3

1 11 1 3 - 5 10 31

20 41 61

- 2 - 1 - - 2 6

70 8 78

- 5 - 2 1 - 3 11

36 36

- - - - - - 29

8

- 1 - 1 - 1 3

8

- - - 3 4 20 48

92 30 122

1 20 - - 3 4 20 48

92 30 122

- 3 - - - - 4

12 23 35

The cattle and land columns for these households, set against the population totals on the facing page. The cattle columns count bulls, cows, bullocks, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and a total, the land columns acres of free land, acres of hired land and a total, with a further column for ground in James Valley.

Samuel Jessey, 6 cows, 1 heifer, 1 steer and 4 calves, totalling 12 neat cattle; 64½ acres of free land and 20½ acres of hired land, totalling 85 acres

Joshua Johnson, 7 cows, 2 bullocks, 4 heifers and 8 calves, totalling 21 neat cattle; 64 acres of free land and 39 acres of hired land, totalling 103 acres

Sutton Isaake, 4 cows and 4 heifers, totalling 8 neat cattle; 24 acres of free land and 5 acres of hired land, totalling 29 acres

Thomas Leech, 2 bullocks and 1 steer, totalling 10 neat cattle; 10 acres of hired land, totalling 10 acres

Francis Leech, no cattle recorded, totalling 4 neat cattle; nothing recorded

James Leech, 6 cows, 2 heifers and 2 calves, totalling 9 neat cattle; 11 acres of free land and 5 acres of hired land, totalling 16 acres

John Long, 1 cow, 1 heifer and 3 calves, totalling 5 neat cattle; 10 acres of free land and 11 acres of hired land, totalling 21 acres

Stephen Lufkin, 1 bull, 6 cows, 2 bullocks, 5 heifers, 1 steer and 5 calves, totalling 20 neat cattle; 40 acres of free land and 9 acres of hired land, totalling 49 acres; ground in James Valley 34

Walter Morris, no cattle recorded; 17 acres of hired land, totalling 17 acres; ground in James Valley 55

Elizabeth Marsh, son and wife, 1 bull, 6 cows, 6 heifers, 1 steer and 5 calves, totalling 19 neat cattle; 12 acres of free land and 21 acres of hired land, totalling 31 acres

Richard Mason, 2 cows and 2 calves, totalling 4 neat cattle; 25 acres of free land, totalling 25 acres

Edmund Nichols, 2 bulls, 30 cows, 13 bullocks and 25 calves, totalling 70 neat cattle; 25½ acres of free land and 52 acres of hired land, totalling 302½ acres; ground in James Valley 80 feet by 10.8

Mary Nichols and sister, 8 cows, 3 bullocks, 2 heifers, 2 steers and 7 calves, totalling 23 neat cattle; 31 acres of free land and 2½ acres of hired land, totalling 33½ acres

Gabriel Powell, 7 cows, 1 bullock, 1 steer and 7 calves, totalling 17 neat cattle; 10 acres of free land and 25 acres of hired land, totalling 35 acres

Samuel Price, 7 cows, 1 bullock and 8 calves, totalling 23 neat cattle; 40 acres of free land and 11 acres of hired land, totalling 5 acres

James Ryder, 2 cows and 1 calf, totalling 4 neat cattle; 10 acres of free land, totalling 10 acres

Martha Robinson, 9 cows, 1 heifer and 8 calves, totalling 19 neat cattle; 28 acres of free land and 28½ acres of hired land, totalling 56½ acres

Phillip Rowland, free, 8 cows, 2 heifers and 8 calves, totalling 18 neat cattle; 20 acres of free land and 21 acres of hired land, totalling 41 acres

William Beale, 2 cows and 2 calves, totalling 4 neat cattle; nothing recorded; ground in James Valley 6 by 6

Giles Smith, 1 cow and 2 calves, totalling 3 neat cattle; nothing recorded

Richard Swallow senior, 11 cows, 1 bullock, 3 heifers, 5 yearlings and 10 calves, totalling 31 neat cattle; 20 acres of free land and 41 acres of hired land, totalling 61 acres

John Swallow, 2 cows and 3 calves, totalling 6 neat cattle; 70 acres of free land and 8 acres of hired land, totalling 78 acres

Charles Steward, 5 cows, 1 bullock, 1 steer and 3 calves, totalling 11 neat cattle; 36 acres of hired land, totalling 36 acres

Sarah Southen, 1 cow and 1 calf, totalling 3 neat cattle; 29 acres of free land and 8 acres of hired land, totalling 29 acres

Mary Shreeve, widow, 1 cow and 1 calf, totalling 3 neat cattle; nothing recorded

Charles Steward orphans, 1 bull, 20 cows, 3 steers, 4 yearlings and 20 calves, totalling 48 neat cattle; 92 acres of free land and 30 acres of hired land, totalling 122 acres

Elizabeth Sich, 3 cows and 1 calf, totalling 4 neat cattle; 12 acres of free land and 23 acres of hired land, totalling 35 acres

Interpretations

Edmund Nichols carries by far the largest cattle holding on this stretch, seventy head against the handful held by most of his neighbours, the figures marking a substantial grazier among the lesser planters. His three hundred odd acres confirm the scale, the survey recording a holding in stock and land that set him apart from the small householders listed beside him.

The James Valley ground is again counted in its own column apart from the country acres, several plots given in feet rather than acres as town lots measured by their frontage. Edmund Nichols's valley parcel of eighty feet by ten shows the urban ground recorded by its dimensions where the country land ran in whole acres, the register distinguishing the built plots at the landing from the farming estates inland.

The Charles Steward orphans hold an estate of forty-eight cattle and a hundred and twenty-two acres, the children's inheritance standing among the larger holdings on the list. This matches the detailed orphans' inventory entered earlier in the council book, the register confirming the substance the guardians Powell and Gurling managed in trust, the dead man's land and stock kept entire for his heirs and counted here among the island's working estates.

349

245

Whites Blacks

Names

Men Women Youths Maidens Boys to 12 & 13 yrs old Girls fm 13 to 14 yrs do Totall

Free Blacks Men Women Boys Girls Totall

Brought over

Mercy Whaley Wid

- 1 - - - 1 2

- 1 - - - 1

Eliz Ormston

- 1 - - - 1 2

- 1 - - 1 2

Mary Sinnick Wid

- - - - - - -

- - - - - -

Jane Flerkus do

- - - - - - -

- - - - - -

Gilbt Cotsroves do

- - - - - - 2

- - - - - -

James Vaughn

1 1 - - - - 2

- - - - - -

The families register for 1723 continued, the same columns carried forward, counting whites by men, women, youths, maidens, boys to 12 and 13 years old, girls from 13 to 14 years old and a total, and blacks by free blacks, men, women, boys, girls and a total.

Mercy Whaley, widow, 1 white woman and 1 girl, totalling 2 white people; 1 black woman, totalling 1 black

Elizabeth Ormston, 1 white woman and 1 girl, totalling 2 white people; 1 black woman and 1 girl, totalling 2 blacks

Mary Sinsnick, widow, no figures recorded

Jane Flurkus, no figures recorded

Gilbert Cotgrove, no white people recorded, totalling 2 white people; nothing recorded

James Vaughan, 1 white man and 1 woman; nothing recorded

Interpretations

The closing names of the register gather the smallest households, several widows and single persons carried with little stock or none. The survey extends its count to the poorest and most isolated of the settlement, the women left without husbands entered with their handful of slaves so that no inhabitant fell outside the reckoning of people and property the bench required.

The register completes a full enumeration of the island's families, taking in the great holdings of the councillors and the bare households of the widowed and the friendless alike. By recording every name from the largest planter to the woman with a single slave, the survey gave the bench the entire base for its government, the church rate, the highway levy and the report home all resting on this single account of who lived on the island and what each held.

350

246

Neat Cattle Lands

Bulls Cowes Bullocks Heifers Steers Yearlings Calves Totall

Acres of Free Land Acres of Hired do Totall

Ground in James Valley

- 2 - - 1 - 1 4

13 10 23

- 2 - - - - 1 3

- - 1 - - - - 1

- - - 2 - - - 2

- - - - - - - -

5 5

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

The cattle and land columns for the closing households of the register, set against the population totals on the facing page. The cattle columns count bulls, cows, bullocks, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and a total, the land columns acres of free land, acres of hired land and a total, with a further column for ground in James Valley.

Mercy Whaley, widow, 2 cows, 1 steer and 1 calf, totalling 4 neat cattle; 13 acres of free land and 10 acres of hired land, totalling 23 acres

Elizabeth Ormston, 2 cows and 1 calf, totalling 3 neat cattle; nothing recorded

Mary Sinsnick, widow, 1 bullock and 1 calf, totalling 1 neat cattle; nothing recorded

Jane Flurkus, 2 heifers, totalling 2 neat cattle; nothing recorded

Gilbert Cotgrove, no cattle recorded; 5 acres of hired land, totalling 5 acres

James Vaughan, no figures recorded

The register was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The final entries close the survey with the last of the small holders, the widows Whaley and Sinsnick and a few single householders carried with a handful of beasts and little or no land. The register draws its long account to an end among the poorest of the settlement, the bench having now fixed on record the people, stock and ground of every family from the greatest planter to the woman with a single cow.

The councillors' signatures certify the whole register as the official account of the island's families, lands and cattle for the year. By subscribing the document the bench gave it the authority on which the church rate, the highway levy and the report to the directors would rest, the survey standing as the settled record of the settlement's population and wealth until the next year's count.

351

247

Island St Helena

At a Consultation Held

on Wednsday the 20th day of May 1724 At Union

Castle in James Valley

John Smith Esqr Govr

Edwd Byfeld 2

Jno Alexander 3 &

Jno Goodwin 4th in Coun

The last Consultation read & approovd on

On the 16th of May Saild hence the Mountague and

Bridgewater

By the Hartford We reciovd viz

6 Bags Singloe Cont Nett & Recevd is Rupr

2 7n -

at Tales

2 Chests Bohea Tea Cont Nett 50 Cattys

20n -n -

ead is Per at Tales

2 Chests Singloe do Cont Nett Per Catt at Tales

12n -n -

2 Basketts China Root Cont Nett Pr

6n -n 8n

ead is Per at Tales

51n 8n 1

Charges on the whole amo to

8n 2n 4 7

Tales

60n -n 4 7

No business Offering We adjourned

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Island

Margin Notes:

Mountague & Bridgewater

Departure

China Goods

reed p Hartford

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Wednesday 20 May 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth in council.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

On 16 May the Montague and Bridgewater sailed from the island.

By the Hartford the council received the following goods from China.

6 bags of singlo tea, weighing net [...], at [...] per pound, [...] taels, 2 7s 0d

2 chests of bohea tea, weighing net 50 pounds at [...] per pound, [...] taels, 20 0s 0d

2 chests of singlo of the same, weighing net [...] at [...] per pound, taels, 12 0s 0d

2 baskets of china root, weighing net [...] pounds at [...] per pound, 2 taels, 6 8s 0d

51 8s 0d

Charges on the whole amount to, 8 2s 4d

60 taels 4 mace 7 candareens

No further business arising, the council adjourned. The record was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The China goods are reckoned in taels, mace and candareens, the silver currency of the Canton trade carried straight into the island's record from the ship's invoice. The account stands as received from the Hartford, the Chinese money and weight kept unconverted so the island's books answered the figures struck at Canton, the same singlo and bohea teas and china root that the earlier ships had brought now landed from the last of the season's China vessels.

The departure of the Montague and Bridgewater together on 16 May completes the convoy the council had laboured to form, the two ships held back until they could sail in company under the directors' rule. The brief notice closes the long correspondence over the waiting ships, the homeward vessels at last gone together for their mutual security on the passage past the Cape.

352

248

Island St Helena

At a Consultation held on

Thursday evening the 28th Day of May 1724 At

Union Castle in James Valley

Jno Smith Esqr Govr

Edwd Byfeld 2

Jno Alexander 3 &

Jno Goodwin 4th

The last Consultation read and Approovd of

This day Arrived the James & Mary Captain

Thomas Atubone Comander in four Months from

England and brought Us Stores & Provisions as p

Invoice and General Letter dated the 30 Decr 1723 Contd

in the Packett from the Honble Company, which We

Opend and read through and are glad to find Our Selves

So well Supplyd with Provisions and other Necessarys

for the Use of this Island

And finding in the last Parragraph of the Said

Letter the Honble Compy hath been pleased to Appoint

Mr Benjamine Hawkes 5th and Youngest of Councile

here We Sent for him in and acquainted him therewith

and then gave him the Usual Oath to be true to the

Honble Company and for the faithfull Discharge of this

Office after which he took his place at the Board

Acordingly

Ordered That We meet againe

Tomorrow morning at nine a Clock

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Benj Hawkes

Margin Notes:

Ship

James & Mary

Arrl from

England

wth a Cargoe

Mr Hawks

Appointed 5th

of Council

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Thursday evening 28 May 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

That day the James and Mary, Captain Thomas Alibone commander, arrived in four months from England, bringing stores and provisions as per invoice, together with a general letter dated 3 December 1723 in the packet from the directors. The council opened and read the letter through and was glad to find the island so well supplied with provisions and other necessaries.

In the last paragraph of the letter the directors had appointed Mr Benjamin Hawkes fifth and youngest of the council. The council sent for him, acquainted him with the appointment, and gave him the usual oath to be true to the Company and to discharge his office faithfully, after which he took his place at the board.

The council ordered that it meet again the next morning at nine. The record was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

Interpretations

The directors fill the vacant fifth seat of the council by name from London, the appointment of Benjamin Hawkes carried in the general letter rather than made on the island. The bench could only acquaint the new man with the order, swear him and seat him, the choice of who governed reserved to the Company in England while the local council administered the oath and added his signature to the record.

The arrival of the James and Mary completes the supply the council had pressed through the drought, the directors writing that they were glad to find the island well provided after the years of want. The general letter of 3 December 1723 answered the long correspondence for grain and stores, the English ship bringing both the provisions and the directors' standing instructions on which the year's government would run.

353

249

Island St Helena

At a Consultation Held on

Fryday the 29th day of May 1724 At Union

Castle in James Valley

Jno Smith Esqr Govr

Edwd Byfeld 2

Jno Alexander 3

Jno Goodwin 4th &

Benja Hawkes 5th of Coun

The last Consultation read & approovd of

Orderd That two Letters be Immediatly Wrote

and sent Capt Aubone One to desire he would make

all the Dispatch he possibly could to send Such Goods

and Merchandize on Shore as are Consignd to Us

from Our Honourble Masters, The other Letter as

Usual to hear his Ship nearer in, in case of an Alarm

happening

Further Ordered that Proper Persons do

Attend at the Water Side in Order to receive the Goods

when brought on Shore, and that they do keep an

Exact Account when the Sea is rough or Smooth and

how many and what Boats loads comes on Shore

each day dureing the Ships Delivery

James Vesey Planter presented the following

Petition That he haveing Considered his Condition

in all its Circumstances and finding his Dependance on

this place to be very Precarious as being only Possessed

of Some Lands Dureing his wifes life, and he haveing

preacquainted Us with his designs, and with the Consent

of his wife disposed of and sold their right and Property

of the Major part of the Said Lands to Mr Francis

Wrangham of this Island free planter And

hopeing

Margin Notes:

Capt Aubone de

sired to send of

Goods on Shore

and to hear

in his Ship

Persons attend

ye landing of

ye Goods &

to keep an Acct

of ye same & of

ye weather

Petn of James

Vesey desires

to go Off ye Isld

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Friday 29 May 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third, John Goodwin fourth and Benjamin Hawkes fifth of council.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

The council ordered two letters written and sent to Captain Alibone at once. One asked him to make all the dispatch he possibly could in sending ashore the goods and merchandise consigned to the island by the directors. The other, as usual, asked him to bring his ship nearer in should an alarm arise.

The council further ordered that proper persons attend at the water side to receive the goods when brought ashore, and that they keep an exact account of whether the sea was rough or smooth and of how many boatloads came on shore each day during the ship's delivery.

James Vesey, planter, presented a petition. He set out that he had considered his condition in all its circumstances and found his dependence on the island very precarious, holding some lands only during his wife's life. He had earlier acquainted the council with his intentions, and with his wife's consent had sold their right and property in the greater part of the lands to Mr Francis Wrangham of the island, a free planter, and [...]

Interpretations

The two letters to the captain divide the management of his ship between trade and defence, one pressing the speed of unloading and the other reserving his readiness to come in on any alarm. The council kept both purposes in view at once, the goods to be landed quickly while the vessel stood ready to move to safety, the same caution over the road that governed every ship in the season here applied to the newly arrived James and Mary.

The order to keep an exact account of the sea state and the boatloads each day shows the bench guarding against loss and dispute during the unloading. By recording whether the sea was rough or smooth and how many loads came ashore, the council could hold both ship and shore answerable for the goods, the careful tally protecting the Company against any shortfall blamed on the weather or the passage between ship and store.

The instability of Vesey's tenure drives his petition, his hold on the land lasting only as long as his wife's life and leaving him without security of his own. By selling the greater part to Wrangham with his wife's consent he sought to realise what value he could before the life interest fell in, the precariousness of a holding tied to another's life pushing him to convert the land to a more certain benefit.

354

250

hopeing it will be for his Interest, and Bennefitt of his

Family, humbly prays leave may be granted him

with his wife and two Children to goe off this Island

in the James & Mary now in the road bound for

India

The Said Mr Vesey being called in and Declaring

he was not in debt to any Body, and We being of Opinion

that it will be very much to the advantage of himself

and Children to goe off We have Acording to his

request given them leave to take Passage in the James

& Mary Acordingly

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Benj Hawkes

Island St Helena

At a Consultation Held on

Thursday the 4th day of June 1724 At Union Castle

in James Valley

John Smith Esqr Govr

Edwd Byfeld 2

Jno Alexander 3

Jno Goodwin 4 &

Benjd Hawkes 5

The Last Consultation read & approovd of

On Tuesday the 2d Instant We had an Alaeme and

about four a Clock Arrived the Princess Ann Captain

Hudson

Margin Notes:

in the James

& Mary

leave granted

Acordingly

Princess Anns

Arrivall

Vesey's petition closed by asking that he be granted leave for himself, his wife and two children to leave the island on the James and Mary, then in the road bound for India, in the hope that it would be for his interest and benefit.

Vesey was called in and declared that he was not in debt to anybody. The council, holding it much to the advantage of himself and his children to go, granted his request and gave them leave to take passage on the James and Mary. The record was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Thursday 4 June 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third, John Goodwin fourth and Benjamin Hawkes fifth.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

On Tuesday the 2nd of this month the island had an alarm, and about four the Princess Ann, Captain Hudson commander, arrived.

Interpretations

The council grants Vesey's departure only after he declared himself free of debt, the clearance of obligation made the condition of leave. The bench would not let an inhabitant quit the island while owing money, the same discipline applied to every departing planter and servant, so that a man's right to go turned on his having settled his accounts and left no charge behind him.

The grant treats the family's removal as a benefit to be allowed rather than a loss to be resisted, the council judging it to the advantage of Vesey and his children that they leave. Having sold his precarious life-interest land to Wrangham, the planter was free to seek a better condition in India, the bench releasing a man whose dependence on the island had become too uncertain to keep him.

355

251

Hudson Comander from China (but last from the Cape)

who Succeeded after the death of Capta Luhorne

By this Ship We have reed the following

Goods viz

Tales m c c

6 Bags Sugar qr Nett & Recd ead is Recd Cat at Ta 2n 7

16n 2

2 Chests Bohea Tea Nett 70 Cattys ead is Recd Cat Ta 20

20n -

2 Chests Singlo qr Nett 50 Cattys is ead Recd at Ta 12

12n -

2 Basketts China Root qr Nett & Recd is Recd 2 at Ta 1n 8

3n 6

46 pr Cups & Saucers Blue & White at 2n 5 p pr is Ta 1n -n -

500 Coffee Cups Blue & White at do 1n -n -

5n -

6

Tales

57n 8n -

Charges on the whole Amounts to

8n 2n 2n 5

Tales

66n -n 2n 5

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Benja Hawkes

Margin Notes:

Goods reed

from China

Memorandm

Thus far hath been Copyd

and Sent p Ship Hartford

Capt Frans Nelly Comandr

The Princess Ann, Captain Hudson commander, came from China but last from the Cape. Hudson had succeeded after the death of Captain Lihorne. By this ship the council received the following goods.

6 bags of sugar, weighing net [...] pounds at 2 taels 7 mace per hundredweight, 16 taels 2 mace

2 chests of bohea tea, weighing net 50 catties at [...] per catty, 20 taels

2 chests of singlo of the same, weighing net 50 catties at [...] per catty, 12 taels

2 baskets of china root, weighing net [...] pounds at 2 taels per [...], 3 taels 6 mace

46 pairs of cups and saucers, blue and white, at 2 [...] per [...], [...] taels

500 coffee cups, blue and white, [...], 5 taels 6 mace

57 taels 8 mace

Charges on the whole amount to, 8 taels 2 mace 2 candareens 5 [...]

66 taels 0 mace 2 candareens 5 [...]

A memorandum noted that the record had been copied this far and sent by the ship Hartford, Captain Francis Nelly commander.

The record was signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

Interpretations

The China cargo is again kept in taels, mace and candareens, the Canton silver currency carried straight into the island's book from the ship's invoice. The same singlo and bohea teas, china root, sugar and blue and white ware that the season's earlier ships had brought are landed once more from the Princess Ann, the steady flow of China goods through the island measured in the foreign money and weight of the eastern trade.

The memorandum fixes the point to which the council book had been copied and sent home, the duplicate carried by the Hartford under Captain Nelly. This marks the regular practice of despatching a fair copy of the consultations to the directors by a homeward ship, the record divided so that London received the island's proceedings in instalments as the season's vessels sailed, each carrying the book forward from where the last had left it.

356

252

Island St Helena

At a Consultation Held on

Tuesday the 9th day of June 1724 At Union Castle

in James Valley

Jno Smith Esqr Govr

Edwd Byfeld 2

Jno Alexander 3

Jno Goodwin 4 &

Benja Hawkes 5th in Coun

The last Consultation read and Approovd of

Mr Byfeld Reports that there has been lately born

two Black Girles belonging to the Honble Company viz

Agnes a wench belonging to the Plantation House

was Deliverd of a Girle Named Nanney And

Ellen another wench belonging to Pirkins was

also deliverd of another Girle Named Sarah

And that Peter a black fellow belonging to the

Honble Company that workt in the Great Wood was

drowned as a fishing upon the Rocks

On Sunday in the evening We had an Alarm for

One Ship about nine Leagues off

Yesterday the 3th Inst Arrived the Walpole Capt Charles

Boddam Comand from Fort St George & brought Us from

thence viz

50 Bags Rice qr 8 Maund ead is 1 Gaese Pagd

35

p qr Maud

56n 32n 40

20 ditto of Sugar qr 6n 6n 12 a 9 Pagd p Cundy

91n 32n 40

70

Charges on Merchandize

2n 9

Pagd

94n 5n 40

We

Margin Notes:

2 Black Girles

born

their

Names

a Black man

drowned

An Alarm

Walpoles

Arrivall

Goods reed

from Madrs

Island of St Helena

At a consultation held on Tuesday 9 June 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present were Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third, John Goodwin fourth and Benjamin Hawkes fifth in council.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

Mr Byfield reported that two black girls had lately been born belonging to the Company. Agnes, a woman belonging to the plantation house, was delivered of a girl named Nanney. Ellen, another woman belonging to Perkins's, was also delivered of another girl named Sarah.

He further reported that Peter, a black man belonging to the Company who worked at the Great Wood, had drowned while fishing on the rocks.

On Sunday evening the island had an alarm for one ship about nine leagues off.

The previous day, the 8th of this month, the Walpole, Captain Charles Boddam commander, arrived from Fort St George, bringing the following goods from Madras.

50 bags of rice, weighing 8 maunds each at [...] per maund, 1 garce paid, 35

56 32s 40d

20 bags of sugar, weighing 6 maunds 6 [...] 12 [...] at 9 per garce of candy, 91

32s 40d

70

Charges on merchandise, 2 9s 0d

94 5s 40d

Interpretations

A garce names a large Indian measure of capacity used for rice and grain, the bulk unit in which the Madras factory reckoned its cargoes. The rice and sugar of the Walpole answer the island's long demand for grain through the drought, the Walpole being the ship the council had expected since the Mary, Derby and Essex reported leaving her behind at Bengal, now arrived from Fort St George with the provisions the failed seasons had made necessary.

The council records the births and the death among its slaves as a matter of standing account, the two girls entered by name and mother and the drowned man noted by his work at the Great Wood. The Company tracked the increase and loss of its labour force as carefully as its herds, every birth adding to the rising stock of slaves and every death a charge against it, the people counted by name as the cattle were counted by head.

357

253

We reed the following Letter from Capt Aubone

St Helena June ye 6th 1724

Sr

Haveing reason to belive that you will Write

the Company of the most Material Passages relateing to the

Dispatch of the James & Mary I humbly beg that in Con

sideration of the tedious Passage I mett with to this Island

the Large Consumption of my Europe Provisions and the

great likelyhood of a long Stay in India that I may carry

none of the Companys Blacks, or if any Such a favour yor

Worships Judicious Considerations upon the above Mentiond

will allow

I am Your Worships humble Servt

Tho Aubone

Which We have Considered of and Resolvd to send to

Bencoolen by him no more than the 13 following

Blacks

Men

Joshua

1

Pompey

2

Titus

3

Brackett

4

Merryman

5

Lackery

6

Fort Maddras

7

Knockwell

8

Joseph

9

Women

Susanna

1

Dina

2

Great Sarah

3

Ring the Belle

4

Orderd that all Letters for India be forthwith

wrote out and deliverd to Capt Aubone as Soon as his

ten working days is fully Expired, the Cargoe of Goods

he brought for Us being most of it already Landed

Joseph Coles (who returned to this Island from India in

the Ship Drake) and his Brother William Coles presented

their Petition this day, Desireing leave to goe off the

Island

Margin Notes:

Capt Aubones Lettr

abt his long

passage &c

that he may not

carry any Black

to Bencoolen

List of 13

Blacks sent

to Bencoolen

Lettrs to be

Prepared for

India

Joseph & William

Coles Petn to

go to India

The council received the following letter from Captain Alibone, dated at St Helena 6 June 1724.

Captain Alibone set out that, having reason to believe the council would write to the directors on the most material matters touching the dispatch of the James and Mary, he asked that, in view of the long passage he had made to the island, the heavy consumption of his European provisions and the likelihood of a long stay in India, he might carry none of the Company's slaves, or if any such a favour as the council's careful consideration of the matter would allow. The letter was signed by Thomas Alibone.

The council considered the request and resolved to send to Bencoolen by him no more than the following thirteen slaves.

Men

Joshua, 1

Pompey, 2

Titus, 3

Brackett, 4

Merryman, 5

Lackery, 6

Fort Maddras, 7

Knockwell, 8

Joseph, 9

Women

Susanna, 1

Dina, 2

Great Sarah, 3

Ring the Bell, 4

The council ordered all letters for India written out and delivered to Captain Alibone as soon as his ten days were fully expired, the cargo of goods he brought being mostly landed already.

Joseph Coles, who had returned to the island from India in the ship Drake, and his brother William Coles, presented a petition that day asking leave to go off the island [...]

Interpretations

The captain's plea to carry few or no slaves turns on the cost of feeding them on a long voyage, his European provisions already heavily drawn down by the passage out. The council met him partway, cutting the number sent to Bencoolen to thirteen rather than pressing a full complement, the demands of the eastern settlement balanced against the strain a crowded and ill-provisioned ship would bear on the way.

The slaves are despatched by name to Bencoolen, the Company's pepper settlement on Sumatra, the men and women listed apart as the transfer of labour from one of the Company's stations to another. The island served as a way point in the movement of bound people across the Company's eastern possessions, its own surplus slaves drafted to supply the distant factory, the human cargo counted out by name as the ships carried it on.

358

254

Island in the James and Mary (now in the road) in Order

to Settle themselves in India

Granted Acording to their desire first Clearing

the Island if they owe any thing

The Said William Coles Likewise desired (he being

a Minor) to make Choice of his Brother Joseph for his

Guardian in Order to his reciving of his father in law

Joseph Bates what belongs to him out of his Deceasd

fathers Estate

The Said Joseph Coles being called in Declared his

willingness to Act as Guardian to his Bror William

wherupon his request was granted

Mr Powell presented also his Petition setting forth

therein That he haveing a Suit of Law now Depending

in England and other Extraordinary Business that requires

his Personall Attendance for a Short time

Humbly prays leave may be granted him to

take Passage for England in one of the Ships now in

the Road

For the reasons Mr Powell hath Sett forth

we have Granted his desire

Likewise Francis Wrangham free Planter, and

Francis Tunge Armourer presented their Petitions

Pray leave each might send off their Sons in the

Ships now in the road, they haveing good Offers

and a Suitable Opportunity to bind them Apprentice

that would tend much more for their Advantage

than they could any ways Propose by Continueing

them on this Island Granted Acordingly

Mr

Margin Notes:

Granted first

Clearing ye

Island

Wm Coles

Choice of his

Bro for a

Guardian

who Accepted

that Office

Mr Powells

request to

go for Engld

Granted

Mr Wrangham

& Tunges de

sire for their

Sons to goe

off ye Isld

Granted

The brothers Coles asked leave to go off the island on the James and Mary, then in the road, to settle themselves in India. The council granted their request, provided they first cleared the island if they owed anything.

William Coles, being a minor, also asked to choose his brother Joseph for his guardian, so that he might receive from his father-in-law Joseph Bates what belonged to him out of his late father's estate. Joseph Coles was called in and declared his willingness to act as guardian to his brother William, on which the request was granted.

Mr Powell also presented a petition setting out that he had a suit of law pending in England and other extraordinary business requiring his personal attendance for a short time. He asked leave to take passage for England on one of the ships then in the road. For the reasons he had given, the council granted his desire.

Francis Wrangham, free planter, and Francis Funge, armourer, presented their petitions asking leave to each send off a son on the ships then in the road. They had good offers and a suitable opportunity to bind the boys apprentices, which would be much more to their advantage than anything they could propose by keeping them on the island. The council granted the request.

Interpretations

The minor William Coles must take a guardian before he can receive his inheritance, the law requiring an adult to stand for him in claiming his share of his late father's estate from his father-in-law. By choosing his own brother and having him sworn to the office, the boy secured a representative to collect and hold his portion, the council overseeing the arrangement so that the child's property was protected until he came of age.

The two fathers send their sons off to be bound apprentices abroad, judging the trades and offers available on the ships better for the boys than any prospect on the island. The remoteness and small economy of the settlement left little opening for a young man to learn a craft, so the parents seized the chance of a passage and a place elsewhere, the council allowing the children to leave where their advancement lay beyond the island's narrow means.

Each departure is granted only on the condition of clearing any island debt, the same discipline applied to the Coles brothers as to every other leaver. The bench held that no inhabitant might quit the settlement while owing money, the right to go made dependent on a settled account so that no charge was left behind for the Company or the parish to bear.

359

255

Mr Byfeld brought in & deliverd his Accot of the Honble Compas live

Stock & Provisions for the month of May last wch was Examd Approovd & is

as follows

Accot of the Honble Compas Stock of Neat Cattle, Sheep, Goats, Hoggs, Poultry, Apes & Horses

likewise what has been killd, & Sold to Shiping, besides the Increase or Decrease for the Month

of May 1724 Vizt

Bullocks Cowes Heifers Steers Yearlings Calves Bulls Totall

Ewes Wethers Lambs Rams Totall

Ewes Wethers Kidd Rams Totall

Sowes Shoats Boar Pig Totall

Turkey Fowle Ducks Geese

Apes Horse Mares Totall

Remn Ulto Aprile

12 33 11 10 1 44 - 111

32 15 11 6 64

94 23 27 13 157

7 9 1 - 17

43 93 11 12

6 4 2 6

Enc in May

- - - - - - - -

- - 4 - 4

- - - - -

- - - - -

- - - -

- - - -

12 33 11 10 1 44 - 111

32 15 7 6 68

94 23 27 13 157

7 9 1 - 17

43 93 11 12

6 4 2 6

Del for Hospl in do

- - 2 - - - - 2

- 2 1 - 3

- 3 1 - 4

- - - - -

3 3

- - - -

12 33 9 10 1 44 - 109

32 13 6 6 63

94 20 26 13 153

7 9 1 - 17

40 90 11 12

6 4 2 6

Sold to Ship in do

7 - 1 5 1 - - 14

- - - - -

- - - - -

- - - - -

- - - -

- - - -

5 33 8 5 - 44 - 95

32 13 6 6 63

94 20 26 13 153

7 9 1 - 17

40 90 11 12

6 4 2 6

Dead in do

- - - - - - - -

- 1 - - 1

- - - - -

- 1 - - 1

2 - 1

- - - -

Remn Ulto May

5 33 8 5 - 44 - 95

32 12 6 6 64

94 20 26 13 153

7 8 1 - 18

38 90 10 12

6 4 2 6

Yams Expended for the Limekiln Blacks

360

Ditto for the Hogs & Poultry at 2do Plact

1214

Totall Yams

1574

Mr Byfield brought in and delivered his account of the Company's stock of neat cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, asses and horses, showing what had been killed and sold to the shipping, besides the increase or decrease for the month of May 1724, which was examined and approved as follows.

Remaining end of April: bullocks 12, cows 33, heifers 11, steers 10, yearlings 1, calves 44, neat cattle total 111; ewes 32, wethers 15, lambs 11, rams 6, sheep total 64; she goats 94, wethers 23, kids 27, rams 13, goats total 157; sows 7, shoats 9, boars 1, hogs total 17; turkeys 43, fowls 93, ducks 11, geese 12, asses 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Increase in May: lambs 4, sheep total 4; nothing further

Total: bullocks 12, cows 33, heifers 11, steers 10, yearlings 1, calves 44, neat cattle total 111; ewes 32, wethers 15, lambs 7, rams 6, sheep total 68; she goats 94, wethers 23, kids 27, rams 13, goats total 157; sows 7, shoats 9, boars 1, hogs total 17; turkeys 43, fowls 93, ducks 11, geese 12, asses 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Delivered to the Fort in the same: heifers 2, calves 2, neat cattle total 2; wethers 2, lambs 1, sheep total 3; wethers 3, kids 1, goats total 4; turkeys 3, fowls 3, nothing further

Remaining: bullocks 12, cows 33, heifers 9, steers 10, calves 44, neat cattle total 109; ewes 32, wethers 13, lambs 6, rams 6, sheep total 65; she goats 94, wethers 20, kids 26, rams 13, goats total 153; sows 7, shoats 9, boars 1, hogs total 17; turkeys 40, fowls 90, ducks 11, geese 12, asses 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Sold to the shipping in the same: bullocks 7, cows 1, heifers 5, steers 1, neat cattle total 14; nothing further

Remaining: bullocks 5, cows 33, heifers 8, steers 5, calves 44, neat cattle total 95; ewes 32, wethers 13, lambs 6, rams 6, sheep total 65; she goats 94, wethers 20, kids 26, rams 13, goats total 153; sows 7, shoats 9, boars 1, hogs total 17; turkeys 40, fowls 90, ducks 11, geese 12, asses 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Dead in the same: wethers 1, sheep total 1; wethers 1, goats total 1; shoats 1, hogs total 1; fowls 2, nothing further

Remaining end of May: bullocks 5, cows 33, heifers 8, steers 5, calves 44, neat cattle total 95; ewes 32, wethers 12, lambs 6, rams 6, sheep total 64; she goats 94, wethers 20, kids 26, rams 13, goats total 153; sows 7, shoats 8, boars 1, hogs total 18; turkeys 38, fowls 90, ducks 10, geese 12, asses 6, horses 4, mares 2, total 6

Yams expended for the lime kiln blacks, 360 pounds

Yams for the hogs and poultry at the several plantations, 1,214 pounds

Total yams, 1,574 pounds

Interpretations

The monthly return tracks the same close accounting of the herds, the gains by birth set against the losses to the Fort, the shipping and death so the bench could watch the slow movement of the stock. The sale of fourteen head of neat cattle to the shipping is again the largest single draw, the bullocks and cows drawn down to provision the run of ships in the road, the breeding stock cut hard at a time when the drought had left little to spare.

The yam expenditure here measures the feeding of the animals rather than the people, the grain divided between the lime kiln slaves and the hogs and poultry across the plantations. The account distinguishes the food consumed by the labour gang at the kilns from that given to the stock, the same crop serving both the workers and the beasts, the whole reckoned in pounds so the strain on the recovering provision ground could be tracked from one month to the next.

360

256

Gunner French brought in and Deliverd his Monthly

Acc of Gunners Stores Expended in the month of Aprill

which was Examd Approovd and is as follows

Guns Fired Shott DCult Seakr faults Powder

Apr 3 It being Muster Day

4

10

12 An Alarme

4

4 4

Do Arrived the Sarum Capt Geo Newton

9

9 9

13 An Alarme

4

4 4

Do Arrived the Lethiullier Capt Jno Shepheard

11

11 11

15 An Alarme

4

4 4

Do Fired at Maund point to bring a Dutch Ship

4 4 4

28

Do In the Evening another Alarme

4

4 4

16 Another Alarme in the morning

4

4 4

Do fired at Maund point to bring 2 Ships two

havieng Sent no Boat on Shore

2 2 2

14

Do Arrived the Lyon & Shoram men of War

21 1 4 16

39

Do To Sallute Comadore Matthews at Landing

21 1 4 16

39

Do To Sallute Capt Maine at his Landing

19 1 4 14

37

Do To Sallute Capt Reddish do do

19 1 4 14

37

Do 19th Double Alarme for 3 Ships

6

6 6

20 Arrived the Mary, Derby & Essex

31 1 4 26

49

27 To Answer the Sallute of 5 Ships

45

45 45

29 Departed the Lyon & Shoram Men of War

the Mary, Sarum, Derby, Essex & Lethullier

66 3 8 55

108

March men under their Convoy

20

Expence for the Guards

Flints

30

Sheep Skins

6

Cartridge Paper

5

Broken Handspikes

5

Match

72

5

Totalls

77 5 5 6 30 274 6 14 28 232 472

Jno French

Gunner French brought in and delivered his monthly account of the gunner's stores expended in the month of April 1724, which was examined and approved as follows.

April 1, being muster day, pounds of powder 10

April 12, an alarm, guns fired 4, falcons 4, pounds of powder 4

The same, arrived the Sarum, Captain George Newton, guns fired 9, falcons 9, pounds of powder 9

April 13, an alarm, guns fired 4, falcons 4, pounds of powder 4

The same, arrived the Lethulier, Captain John Shepheard, guns fired 11, falcons 11, pounds of powder 11

April 15, an alarm, guns fired 4, falcons 4, pounds of powder 4

The same, fired at Munden's Point to bring in a Dutch ship, guns fired 4, shot 4, demi-cannon 4, pounds of powder 28

The same, in the evening another alarm, guns fired 4, falcons 4, pounds of powder 4

April 16, another alarm in the morning, guns fired 4, falcons 4, pounds of powder 4

The same, fired at Munden's Point to bring in ships, having sent no boat ashore, guns fired 2, shot 2, demi-cannon 2, pounds of powder 14

The same, arrived the Lyon and Shoram men of war, guns fired 21, demi-cannon 1, falcons 4, shot 16, pounds of powder 39

The same, to salute Commodore Matthews at landing, guns fired 21, demi-cannon 1, falcons 4, shot 16, pounds of powder 39

The same, to salute Captain Main at his landing, guns fired 19, demi-cannon 1, falcons 4, shot 14, pounds of powder 37

The same, to salute Captain Reddish of the same, guns fired 19, demi-cannon 1, falcons 4, shot 14, pounds of powder 37

April 19, double alarm for 3 ships, guns fired 6, pounds of powder 6

April 20, arrived the Mary, Derby and Essex, guns fired 31, demi-cannon 1, falcons 4, shot 26, pounds of powder 49

April 27, to answer the salute of 5 ships, guns fired 45, pounds of powder 45

April 29, departed the Lyon and Shoram men of war, the Mary, Sarum, Derby, Essex and Lethulier, guns fired 66, demi-cannon 3, falcons 8, shot 55, pounds of powder 108

Merchant men under their convoy, pounds of powder 20

Expenses for the guards

Flints, 30

Sheep skins, 6

Cartridge paper, 5

Broken handspikes, 7

Match, 5

Totals, guns fired 77 5 5 6, demi-cannon 30, falcons 274 6, shot 14, with 28, 232 and 472

The account was signed by John French.

Interpretations

The April account records the heaviest expenditure of powder the month had seen, the run of alarms, arrivals and departures each answered with measured firing from the magazine. The salutes to the two men of war and their commodore alone consumed many pounds, the courtesies owed to the King's ships drawn straight from a store the island could not easily replace, the costliest single occasions in a month crowded with shipping.

The firing at Munden's Point to bring in the Dutch and other ships shows the guns used to direct traffic as well as to honour it, the demi-cannon discharged toward a vessel to compel her to anchor where the council wished. This was a working signal rather than a salute, the heavy shot fired to control a ship's approach to the road, the powder spent in managing the very arrivals the alarms had announced.

The convoy of merchant ships departing under the men of war on 29 April marks the protected sailing the council had laboured to arrange, the whole gathered fleet leaving together with a final great salute. The single largest firing of the month attended the departure, the guns answering the convoy out as the Company's homeward and India ships sailed in company under the King's escort for the dangerous passage past the Cape.

361

257

Capt Goodwin likewise brought In and Deliverd his Acct

of Goods & Stores Sold and Deliverd out in the month of May

last which was also Examd Approovd & is as follows

409 7/8 Gallons Arrack

157n 8n 6½

1216 ℔ Sugar

30n 8n -

14 ℔ Hoghead Beer

7n 1n 9

319 ℔ Bread

8n 19n 9

239 ℔ flower

2n 19n 9

Oyles viz

1 Bottle florence

7n 6

1 Quart Sweet

3n -

10 1/2 Gallons Rape

3n 3

67 ℔ Cut Tobacco

5n 14n -

1 ℔ Leafe do

1n -

92 doz Pipes

1n 16n 3½

175 1/2 ℔ Soap

12n 8n 7½

12 ℔ Starch

9n -

3 ℔ Pepper

3n -

18 ℔ Rice

6n 3

5 1/2 Galls Vinegar

1n -n 6

58 doz Corks

14n 6

1 ℔ Cotton Yarn

3n 6

14 Cattees Bohea Tea

4n 4n -

3 ditto Green Tea

12n -

1 ℔ Ham Powder

1n -

1 Pallampore No do

5n -

95 1/4 yd do Kersey

8n 14n 7½

1 Peice Soosees

2n 10n -

1 Bengall Taffety

1n 12n -

3 China Dimothy

18n -

2 Silk Allejars

1n 14n 2

13 White Desooties

6n 10n -

1 Cuttanee No 4

14n 7

4 1/2 P fine Long Cloth

9n 9n -

7 Ordinary ditto

1 Maddrass Chint

1n 3

17 Surett ditto

13n -

4 Blew Gurrah

10n -

3 White do

1n 8n 6

15 do Shirts a 2n 6

3n 10n -

13 Blew do

2n 14n -

18 Chello

7n 6

3 do Cotton Stocking

2n 16n -

4 P Chello a 14

3n -n 9

2 1/2 do a 13/6

12n 9

1 Quilt

3n 15n -

5 do

4n 4n -

2 do

Captain Goodwin likewise brought in and delivered his account of goods and stores sold and delivered out in the month of April last, which was also examined and approved as follows.

1,049½ gallons of arrack, £157 8s 4½d

216 pounds of sugar, £30 8s 0d

158 hogsheads of beer, £7 1s 9d

319 pounds of bread, £8 19s 9d

239 pounds of flour, £2 19s 9d

1 bottle of Florence oil, £0 7s 6d

1 quart of sweet oil, £0 3s 0d

10½ gallons of rape oil, £3 3s 0d

67 pounds of cut tobacco, £5 14s 0d

1 pound of leaf tobacco, £0 1s 0d

32 dozen of pipes, £1 16s 3½d

175½ pounds of soap, £12 8s 7½d

12 pounds of starch, £0 9s 0d

3 pounds of pepper, £0 3s 0d

18 pounds of rice, £0 6s 3d

5½ gallons of vinegar, £1 0s 6d

58 dozen of corks, £0 14s 6d

1 pound of cotton yarn, £0 3s 6d

14 catties of bohea tea, £4 4s 0d

3 of green tea, £0 12s 0d

1 pound of hair powder, £0 1s 0d

1 allampore number 2, £0 6s 0d

95¼ yards of kersey, £8 14s 7½d

1 piece of soosees, £2 10s 0d

1 Bengal taffeta, £1 12s 0d

3 china dimothy, £0 18s 0d

2 silk allejars, £1 14s 2d

13 white desooties, £6 10s 0d

1 cuttanee number 4, £0 14s 7d

4½ pieces of fine long cloth, £9 9s 0d

7 ordinary of the same, £7 0s 0d

1 Madras chintz, £1 1s 3d

17 surat of the same, £7 13s 0d

4 blue gurrahs, £7 10s 0d

3 white of the same, £1 8s 6d

15 of the same, shirts, £3 10s 0d

13 blue of the same at 2s 6d, £2 14s 0d

18 chellos, £0 7s 6d

3 pairs of cotton stockings, £2 16s 0d

4 pieces of chellos at 14s, £3 0s 9d

2½ of the same at 13s 6d, £0 12s 9d

1 quilt, £3 15s 0d

5 of the same, £4 4s 0d

2 of the same

Interpretations

The arrack again dominates the month's sales, more than a thousand gallons fetching above £157, the spirit far outrunning every other line as the staple drink the store supplied to the whole settlement. The sugar, beer, bread and flour beneath it carry the food trade, the warehouse furnishing the necessaries of the table to a community that grew its own provision but bought its imported staples through the Company.

The long list of Indian textiles records the variety of eastern cloth the store sold on, each named for its make or origin. Soosees, allejars, desooties, cuttanee, dimothy and chellos were the cotton and mixed stuffs of the Indian looms, taffeta and long cloth the finer weaves, gurrahs the plain calico and Madras and Surat chintz the printed cloths, the kersey a coarse English wool, so the warehouse reselling answered the whole demand for cloth on an island that wove none of its own.

362

258

Brought Over

2 Soldier Coates

2n 18n -

123/4 Yard Flannell

1n 2n 6¾

6 Yards Plain Dimothy

1n 0n 6¾

2 1/2 Ditto

2n 7

1/2 Peice Thichsett No 1

12n 5

8 Yards Camblet

1n -n -

3 Shelloon

6n -

1/4 Yard Broad Cloth

5n 6¾

3 1/4 Yard do

16n 4½

42 Yards Durance

3n 3n 10½

16 3/4 Canvas

19n 6

6 Pair Stays

9n 3

2 do

3n 1n 6

3 Jumps

3n 19n 6

4 Bodice

3n -

9 Hatts No 4

6n 16n -

6 do 3

3n 9n -

2 do 2

16n -

3 do 1

18n -

1 do Soldiers

3n 3

China Ware

16 Bowles

2n -n -

20 Speakers

10n -

22 large Cupps

7n 4

14 Small do

2n 4

18 Cups & Saucers

9n -

1 Tea Pott

3n 6

Shoes viz

1 P Mens

6n -

3 ditto

17n 3

11 Womens Spanish

3n 3n 3

8 ditto Calves Leather

1n 14n -

1 Boy ditto

3n 6

2 ditto

6n -

2 ditto

10n -

2 ditto

11n -

1 ditto

6n 9

1 Girles

2n 6

3 ditto

10n 6

do Turkey Leather

5n 3

Hosiers Ware viz

4 P Girles Stockings

7n 4

2 do

2n 6

2 do

4n 9

2 Boys

4n 9

1 do

2 soldiers' coats, £2 18s 0d

13¾ yards flannel, £1 9s 6¾d

6 yards plain dimothy, £0 10s 6d

2½ yards plain dimothy, £0 2s [...]d

½ piece thickset No. 1, £0 19s 5d

8 yards camblet, £1 [...]s [...]d

3 shalloon, £0 6s 0d

¼ yard broadcloth, £0 6s 6¾d

3¼ yard broadcloth, £0 16s 4¼d

4½ yards durance, £3 3s 1½d

16¼ yards canvas, £0 19s 6d

6 pairs stays, £9 3s 0d

2 pairs stays, £3 1s 6d

3 jumps, £0 19s 6d

1 bodice, £0 3s 0d

9 hats No. 4, £6 16s 0d

6 hats No. 3, £3 9s 0d

2 hats No. 2, £0 16s 0d

3 hats No. 1, £0 18s 0d

1 soldiers' hat, £0 3s 3d

China ware

16 bowls, £2 [...]s [...]d

20 sneakers, £[...] [...]s [...]d

22 large cups, £0 7s 4d

14 small cups, £0 2s 4d

18 cups and saucers, £0 9s 0d

1 teapot, £0 3s 6d

Shoes, namely

1 pair men's, £0 6s 0d

3 pairs men's, £0 17s 3d

11 pairs women's Spanish, £3 3s 3d

8 pairs women's calves' leather, £1 14s 0d

1 pair boys', £0 3s 6d

2 pairs boys', £0 6s 0d

2 pairs boys', £0 10s 0d

2 pairs boys', £0 11s 0d

1 pair boys', £0 6s 9d

1 pair girls', £0 2s 6d

3 pairs girls', £0 10s 6d

[...] pairs girls' Turkey leather, £0 5s 3d

Hosiers' ware, namely

4 pairs girls' stockings, £0 7s 4d

2 pairs girls' stockings, £0 [...]s [...]d

2 pairs boys' stockings, £[...] 6s 9d

1 pair boys' stockings, £[...] [...]s [...]d

This list continues an inventory or invoice of cloth, made garments, china ware, shoes and stockings, the figures in the right-hand columns giving the pounds, shillings and pence against each line. Several pence figures and a few sums sit at the edge of recovery and are marked where they cannot be read with confidence.

Interpretations

The cloth names record the range of textiles the Company stocked for the island. Dimothy, or dimity, was a stout corded cotton used for bedding and outer wear. Thickset was a heavy napped cotton fustian for hard-wearing breeches and coats. Camblet was a mixed worsted cloth, sometimes with silk or hair, valued for its close weave. Shalloon was a lightly twilled woollen used chiefly for coat linings. Durance was a durable glazed worsted, its name advertising its toughness. These were working fabrics rather than fine dress goods, suited to a garrison and a planter population.

The made garments point to women's and children's wear bought ready-made. Stays were the laced bodices stiffened with whalebone that shaped the upper body, jumps the softer unboned alternative worn for ease or in pregnancy, and a bodice a plainer fitted upper garment. The high charge of £9 3s 0d for six pairs of stays marks them as the costliest single line on the cloth side of the account, a measure of the labour and bone that went into them.

The shoe entries distinguish goods by their leather and origin. Spanish shoes were made from fine imported Spanish leather, calves' leather gave a lighter everyday shoe, and Turkey leather was a tanned and often coloured goatskin prized for suppleness. The grading by men's, women's, boys' and girls' sizes shows the stores supplying whole families rather than the garrison alone.

Speculations

The China ware sits as its own headed block between the cloth and the shoes rather than being folded among the general goods. The placing marks a deliberate separation of the porcelain brought on the Company's China ships from the textiles and footwear of the ordinary stores, the bowls, cups, saucers and single teapot kept as a distinct class of imported goods reckoned apart in the account.

363

259

Brought Ov:r

2 P:r Boys Shoes

6

2 d:o

7 8

4 Womens

3 8

1 d:o

1 6

1 Mens

4 6

3 Soldiers

7

2 Mens N:o 29

7

2 ditto 30

9 16

2 Silk Mens

Cutlary Ware

1 Pruning Knife

1 6

1 Razor & Strop

2

2 Butchers Knives

1

6 Knives & Forks

15 10

Tin Ware

1 Sauce Pan

6

2 d:o

1 6

1 Kettle

5 4

1 d:o

3 10

1 Gallon Funnell

4 6

Stationary Ware

4 Small Common Prayer Books

10 8

1 Testament

1 9

16 Quire Paper

1 1 4

2 Primmers

1

3 Horn Books

1

1 Paper Ink

1

2 pairs boys' shoes, £0 6s 0d

2 pairs boys' shoes, £0 7s 8d

4 pairs women's shoes, £0 3s 8d

1 pair women's shoes, £0 1s 6d

1 pair men's shoes, £0 4s 6d

3 pairs soldiers' shoes, £0 7s 0d

2 pairs men's shoes No. 29, £0 9s 0d

2 pairs men's shoes No. 30, £1 16s 0d

2 pairs silk men's shoes

Cutlery ware

1 pruning knife, £0 1s 6d

1 razor strop, £0 2s 0d

1 razor strop, £0 1s 0d

2 butchers' knives, £0 15s 0d

6 knives and forks, £0 15s 10d

Tin ware

1 saucepan, £0 1s 6d

2 saucepans, £0 5s 6d

1 kettle, £0 3s 4d

1 kettle, £0 4s 10d

1 gallon funnel, £0 4s 6d

Stationery ware

4 small Common Prayer books, £0 10s 8d

1 Testament, £0 1s 9d

16 quires paper, £1 1s 4d

2 primmers, £0 1s 0d

3 horn books, £0 1s 0d

1 paper ink, £0 1s 0d

This page carries on the same stores account into June, taking the footwear lines to their close and then setting out cutlery ware, tin ware and stationery ware under their own headings, with the pounds, shillings and pence entered against each line. The silk men's shoes line shows no recoverable figure and is left without a sum, and a few pence readings sit at the edge of recovery.

Interpretations

The stationery lines record the Company supplying the materials of worship and schooling together. The Common Prayer book set out the liturgy of the Church of England, the Testament here meaning the New Testament, both sold cheaply for ordinary household and garrison use. A primer was a beginner's reading and devotional book, and a horn book a single printed leaf of the alphabet and the Lord's Prayer mounted on a board under a thin sheet of translucent horn, the standard first tool by which island children were taught their letters. Their presence in the stores shows the parish and its families drawing books from the Company rather than from any separate bookseller.

The cutlery and tin entries mark the division the clerk kept between edged steel goods and light sheet-metal vessels. Cutlery ware gathered the knives, forks, razor strops and a pruning knife, the strop being the leather strip on which a razor was drawn to keep its edge. Tin ware covered the tinned-iron saucepans, kettles and a gallon funnel, cheap utility vessels for kitchen and store. The grouping let the storekeeper reckon each class of imported manufacture under its own short total.

Quires and reams measured the paper. A quire ran to about two dozen sheets, so the sixteen quires entered here amounted to a substantial parcel of writing paper, the costliest single stationery line on the page and a reminder of how much the administration of the island ran on its own paper supply.

364

260

1 Grid Iron with 10 Ribbs

3 4

1 Spit

5

1 Pot

7 6

1 d:o 4 9

1 4 6

2 Gimblets

8

1 Hoo[...]

3 2

1 lb 4 d Nailes

10

2 lb 6 d:o

1 6

2 10 d:o

4

Hosiers Ware

1 Pair Mens Stockings

4 11

1 Boys d:o

2 1

1 P:r 1/2 Black & White Craps

4 18 9

Haberdashery Ware

3 lb White & Brown Thread N:o 5 8

15

1/2 lb d:o 10

5 3

2 1/4 Coloured & Brown Thread

1 9 9 3/4

3 1/2 d:o

14

1 oz Thread

1 1

7 d:o

8 9

5 d:o

7 1

1 d:o

1 8

3 d:o

10 9

2 d:o

16

2 d:o

4 8

1 gridiron with 10 ribs, £0 3s 4d

1 spit, £0 5s 0d

1 pot, £0 7s 6d

1 pot 49 lb, £1 4s 6d

2 gimlets, £0 0s 8d

1 hoe, £0 3s 2d

1 lb 4d nails, £0 0s 10d

2 lb 6d nails, £0 1s 6d

2 lb 10d nails, £0 0s 4d

Hosiers' ware

1 pair men's stockings, £0 4s 11d

1 pair boys' stockings, £0 2s 1d

1 pair black and white crepe, £4 18s 9d

Haberdashery ware

3 lb white and brown thread No. 5, £0 15s 0d

½ lb white and brown thread No. 8, £0 5s 3d

2¼ lb white and brown thread No. 10, £1 9s 9¾d

3½ lb coloured and brown thread, £0 14s 0d

1 oz thread, £0 1s 0d

1 oz thread, £0 8s 9d

7 oz thread, £0 7s 1½d

5 oz thread, £0 1s 8d

1 oz thread, £0 10s 9d

3 oz thread, £0 16s 0d

2 oz thread, £0 [...]s 8d

2 oz thread, £0 [...]s [...]d

This page repeats the foot of the preceding ironmongers' block and then carries the same stores account through hosiers' ware and into a long run of haberdashery thread, with the pounds, shillings and pence set against each line. Several pence figures and one or two sums in the thread run sit at the edge of recovery and are marked where they cannot be read with confidence.

Interpretations

The thread lines record the bulk sewing stock the Company graded by number and weight. The numbered marks against the white and brown thread, No. 5, No. 8 and No. 10, fixed the fineness of the yarn, the higher number the finer thread, so that a buyer drew the grade the work required. The parcels ran by the pound for the coarser sorts and by the ounce for the rest, the storekeeper reckoning each weight at its own rate.

The crepe entry stands out as the costliest single line on the page at £4 18s 9d. Crepe was a thin gauzy silk or worsted with a crimped finish, the black and white sort used chiefly for mourning wear and trimming. Its high charge against the plain stockings and thread around it marks it as a dress fabric of a different order from the everyday haberdashery, a small quantity of fine goods carried among the common stores.

365

261

June

Brought Over

11 1/2 M: Pins

15 4

8 M: d:o

9 4

2 M d:o

3 10

2 3 1/2 China Silk

1 8 6

3 English d:o

7 6

7 Peices Broad Holland Tape

9 6 4

Midling d:o

9

1 Heming d:o

4 2

2 Coloured d:o

3 6

1 White d:o

1 6

1 Scarlet d:o

2 3

150 Needles

1 3

3 Laces

5 3

9 ditto

2 8

2 d:o

3 9

3 d:o

2

8 yards Ribbon

1

10 d:o

3 8

2 3/4 d:o

9

1 doz: Silver Coat Buttons

4 6

9 d:o: Breast Mohair d:o

2

6 E:o Shirt Buttons

1 6

1 G:o Black Ferretting

12 6

9 yards Gartering

2 3

5 1/2 d:o

11

SUM Tot:ll to Inhab:ts £

107 12 9

Plantation

11½ thousand pins, £0 15s 4d

8 thousand pins, £0 9s 4d

3 thousand pins, £0 3s 10d

23½ China silk, £1 8s 6d

3 English silk, £0 7s 6d

7 pieces broad Holland tape, £0 6s 4d

6 middling broad Holland tape, £0 6s 9d

1 Fleming tape, £0 4s 2d

2 coloured tape, £0 3s 6d

1 white tape, £0 1s 6d

1 scarlet tape, £0 2s 3d

150 needles, £0 1s 3d

3 laces, £0 5s 3d

9 laces, £0 2s 8d

2 laces, £0 3s 9d

3 laces, £0 [...]s [...]d

8 yards ribbon, £0 1s 0d

10 yards ribbon, £0 3s 8d

2¾ yards ribbon, £0 [...]s [...]d

1 dozen silver coat buttons, £0 9s 0d

9 dozen breast mohair buttons, £0 4s 6d

6 gross shirt buttons, £0 2s 0d

1 gross black ferreting, £0 1s 6d

1 gross black ferreting, £0 12s 6d

9 yards gartering, £0 2s 3d

5½ yards gartering, £0 0s 11d

Sum total to inhabitants, £407 12s 9d

Plantation

This page closes the long inhabitants' stores account into June with the run of pins, tapes, laces, ribbons, buttons and gartering, strikes the grand total owed by the inhabitants, and then opens a fresh Plantation account whose first item is not yet carried into view. The pounds, shillings and pence stand against each line, and a few pence figures in the lace and ribbon run sit at the edge of recovery and are marked where they cannot be read with confidence.

Interpretations

The pins entry reckoned its stock by the thousand, the standard wholesale count for a good that an island household could not make for itself and drew entirely from imported supply. Tape ran in several named sorts, Holland tape being the plain linen binding from the Low Countries and Fleming tape a related Flemish weave, the coloured, white and scarlet kinds used for ties, trimming and edging. These were the plain fastenings and finishings of everyday dress.

The button and trimming lines record the small dress goods graded by material and count. Silver coat buttons were the costliest fastening on the page, breast mohair buttons a cheaper covered sort worked in mohair yarn, and shirt buttons sold by the gross. Ferreting was a narrow stout tape of cotton or silk used for binding and ties, and gartering the woven band that held up stockings. The grouping let the storekeeper carry each class of haberdashery at its own rate to the foot of the account.

The grand total of £407 12s 9d fixes the whole reckoning of goods served out to the island's inhabitants over the period, the figure the Company set against their accounts before the separate Plantation reckoning began. The division marks the line the clerk kept between goods sold to the planters and garrison on their private accounts and the stores issued to the Company's own plantations.

366

262

1744

Brought Over

Fortification

1 Plate Closet Lock

2 8

1 Splinter Lock d:o

8

Hon:ble Com:e Black d:o

2 Casks Soap

30

6 2 2 lb Flower

4

5 5 6 6 lb Rice

80 19 3

4 P:r English Shoes

1 3

1 Child Shirt

3

7 dozen Hooks Sorted

6 1 2

1 lb Twine

2 2

Haberdashery Ware

1 2 lb White Brown Thread

4 6

1 lb Coloured & Brown

4 1

1 oz China Silk

1

Garrison

13 Cattees Green Tea

2 12

3 Gallons Rape Oyle

18

1 P:o Red Bunting

9 19 11/2

1 Blew d:o

9 12 5

1 White d:o

3 7

1 lb Coloured Thread

4

1 Splinter Lock N:o 8

5 6

1 Line N:o 4

3 4

1 Iron Rim'd Lock N:o 4

11

General Charges

2 Cattees Green Tea

8

5 8 lb Soap

3 17 11

3 Lines Sorted

4 6

1 lb Twine

2 2

1 P:o Ordinary Long Cloth

1

1 Fine Blew

10

Fortification

1 plate closet lock, £0 2s 8d

1 splinter lock No. 7, £0 3s 8d

Honourable Company's Blacks

2 casks soap, £0 4s 0d

6 lb 22 lb flower, £0 4s 0d

5,566 lb rice, £30 19s 3d

4 pairs English shoes, £1 3s 0d

1 child's shirt, £0 3s 0d

7 dozen hooks forked, £0 6s 1½d

1 lb twine, £0 2s 2d

Haberdashery ware

½ lb white brown thread, £0 4s 6d

1 lb coloured and brown, £0 4s 1d

1 oz China silk, £0 1s 0d

Garrison

13 catties green tea, £2 12s 0d

3 gallons rape oil, £0 18s 0d

1 piece red bunting, £2 19s 1½d

1 blue bunting, £2 12s 5d

1 white bunting, £0 3s 7d

1 lb coloured thread, £0 4s 0d

1 splinter lock No. 8, £0 5s 6d

1 line No. 4, £0 3s 4d

1 iron rim lock No. 5, £0 11s 0d

General charges

2 catties green tea, £0 8s 0d

5 lb 8 lb soap, £3 17s 11d

3 lines forked, £0 4s 6d

1 lb twine, £0 1s 0d

1 piece ordinary long cloth, £0 10s 0d

1 fine blue

This page opens the reckoning of stores served out beyond the inhabitants' account, running through fortification, the Honourable Company's slaves, the garrison and general charges, each under its own heading, with the pounds, shillings and pence set against every line. The final line, a fine blue cloth, carries no recoverable figure and stands without a sum.

Interpretations

The bunting lines record the material of the island's flags and signals. Bunting was a loose open woollen cloth woven for flags, its weave chosen to fly freely in wind and to take dye in the strong colours of naval and signal use. The red, blue and white pieces charged here to the garrison account were the cloth from which the fort's colours and signal flags were made, the red and blue pieces valued far above the small white one.

The rice entry dominates the whole page at £30 19s 3d for 5,566 lb, charged to the Honourable Company's slaves. Rice was the grain the island depended on from the Company's India ships, and the great weight issued here reflects the famine relief drawn from Bengal and Madras through 1724. The scale of the single line marks the feeding of the slave force as by far the largest charge in this part of the account.

Green tea appears in two places, reckoned by the catty, the Chinese trade weight of about a pound and a third by which tea and other China goods were sold. Its presence under both the garrison and the general charges shows the drink drawn as a routine store rather than a luxury, supplied to the establishment from the cargoes of the Company's China ships.

367

263

Gen Charges d:o

4 Pot [...]

5

6 Wine Bird Glass d:o

9

2 Blew d:o

5

1 Tea Kettle

5 4

1 Wafring Pott

8 4

2 Quart Sance Pans

2

Braziers Ware

1 d:o Norie

16

1 d:o [...]

10

Iron Ware

1 Plain Small Tilyard

8 3

1 Rumblock N:o 3

11

1 d:o Gimblets

3 8

1 Brass Lock N:o 5

18 8

1 Plate Bolts

1 6

1 Sett Bed Screws

3 6

4 1/4 Holland Duck

13 6 1/2

China Ware

8 Bowles

15

7 dozen Plates

4 4

16 Speakers

3

6 Cups

2

1 Tea Pott

3 6

1 Half Pint Pott

2 2

1 Box Knives & Forks

3 6

1 Cloth Brush

2 6

1 Hair Broom

1 6

2 Cups & Saucers

6

1 P:r Stroking d:o N:o 10

3 6

Total £

632 2 23/4

General charges

1 pot, £0 5s 0d

6 large broadcloth, £0 9s 0d

2 broadcloth, £0 5s 0d

1 tea kettle, £0 5s 4d

1 wafting pot, £0 8s 4d

2 quart saucepans, £0 2s 0d

Braziers' ware

1 [...], £0 16s 0d

1 [...], £0 10s 0d

Iron ware

1 plain small tilyard, £0 8s 3d

1 rumblock No. 3, £0 0s 11d

1 rumblock No. 7 gimlet, £0 3s 8d

1 brass lock No. 5, £1 8s 8d

1 plate bolt, £0 1s 0d

1 soft bed screws, £0 3s 6d

6¼ Holland duck, £0 13s 6½d

China ware

6 bowls, £0 15s 0d

7 dozen plates, £0 4s 0d

6 sneakers, £0 3s 0d

6 cups, £0 2s 0d

1 teapot, £0 3s 6d

1 half-pint pot, £0 2s 2d

1 box knives and forks, £0 3s 6d

1 cloth brush, £0 2s 0d

1 hair broom, £0 1s 6d

2 cups and saucers, £0 0s 6d

1 lb stroking No. 10, £0 3s 6d

Total, £632 2s 2¾d

This page carries the plantation reckoning through its closing headings of general charges, braziers' ware, iron ware and china ware, and then strikes the grand total of the whole account. The pounds, shillings and pence stand against each line. Two braziers' ware items sit at the edge of recovery and are left without their commodity names, and the final total combines a farthing figure carried below the line.

Interpretations

The iron and brazier lines record the heavier household and building fittings the Company drew from its stores. A tilyard was a small steelyard, the beam-and-counterweight balance for weighing goods, and a rumblock a form of pulley block for hauling. Brass and plate locks, plate bolts and bed screws were the metal fittings of doors, chests and bedsteads, the screws being the threaded fasteners that held a wooden bed frame rigid. The grouping let the storekeeper carry each class of worked metal at its own rate.

The china ware entries mark the porcelain kept apart from the general goods. Bowls, plates, cups, saucers, a teapot and a half-pint pot were the imported table wares brought on the Company's China ships, and a sneaker was a small drinking cup or bowl. Their placing under a distinct heading continued the clerk's practice of reckoning the China goods as a separate class from the cloth, metal and grocery of the wider account.

Holland duck was a strong closely woven linen canvas from the Low Countries, used for sailcloth, heavy garments and covers. Its appearance among the iron ware rather than the textiles reflects its use as a working material of the plantation rather than a dress fabric, sold by the yard for hard-wearing purposes.

Speculations

The whole plantation account closes on a single struck total of £632 2s 2¾d rather than a set of separate sums for fortification, the slaves, the garrison and the general charges. The clerk gathered every heading into one figure for the plantation side, keeping it distinct from the £407 12s 9d total struck for the inhabitants, so that the two great divisions of the stores account each stood on their own bottom line for the directors to read at a glance.

368

264

Mr Leipe likewise brought in and

delivered in acc:t of the Expence of the Gen:

Table for the Months of March Aprill &

May which were Examined approved &

are as follows viz:t

240 lb Beefe a 3d p:r lb Cut

3

36 lb Pork

17 6

29 Pices Salt Beefe a 2:6

3 12 6

18 Pices Salt Pork a 2:10

2 8

86 Gallons Arrack

27 4 8

72 Bottles Mountaine

10 16

127 Bottles Galicia

19 14

16 lb Bread

4 8 9

162 lb Sugar

2 12

34 Fowles

9 12

2 Turkeys

12

66 Eggs

5 6

2 Ducks

4

137 lb Flower

2 6 6

1 Sheep

14

1 Goat

10

1 Kidd

5 11

11 lb Butter

1 1

7 Quarts Oyle

1 10

8 3/4 Vinegars

3

3 lb Pepper

16

48 Days Milk

1 4

94 Days Greens a 12 p:r diem

1 16

25 lb Soap

81 4 10

Signed I: Crispe

Margin Notes:

Gen: Table

Expence for

Mar: Apr:ll

May.

Mar: Aur:l

Mr Crispe also brought in and delivered an account of the expense of the General Table for the months of March, April and May, which the council examined and approved as follows.

General Table, expense for March, April and May

240 lb beef at 25s per hundredweight, £3 0s 0d

36 lb pork, £0 17s 6d

29 pieces salt beef at 2s 6d, £3 12s 6d

18 pieces salt pork at 2s 10d, £2 8s 0d

86 gallons arrack, £97 4s 8d

72 bottles Mountain, £10 16s 0d

127 bottles Galicia, £12 14s 0d

15 lb bread, £0 8s 9d

162 lb sugar, £4 7s 0d

34 fowls, £2 11s 0d

March, April and May

2 turkeys, £0 12s 0d

66 eggs, £0 5s 6d

2 ducks, £0 4s 0d

137 lb flower, £2 5s 6d

1 sheep, £1 1s 0d

1 goat, £0 4s 10d

1 kid, £0 5s 11d

11 lb butter, £1 1s 0d

7 quarts oil, £1 10s 0d

3¾ carrots, £0 3s 0d

3 lb pepper, £0 16s 0d

48 days milk, £1 4s 0d

94 days greens at 12d per diem, £1 15s 0d

25 lb soap, £[...]s [...]d

Total, £81 4s 10d

Signed by Crispe.

Interpretations

The wine lines record the fortified imports the General Table drank alongside its arrack. Mountain was a sweet Malaga wine from the hills behind that Spanish port, and Galicia a wine from the north-west of Spain, both shipped in bottle and reckoned by the dozen. Their charge against the table marks the officers' mess drawing named Iberian wines as a matter of routine, the Galicia the larger parcel and the arrack far outweighing both in cost.

The arrack entry dominates the whole account at £97 4s 8d for 86 gallons, more than the rest of the table's expense combined. Arrack was the distilled spirit of the East, drawn from Batavia and Goa on the Company's ships, and the great charge here reflects both its price and the quantity the General Table consumed over the quarter. The single line fixes spirits as by far the heaviest cost of feeding the establishment.

The greens and milk lines were reckoned by the day rather than by weight or measure, 94 days of greens at 12d each and 48 days of milk, the standing daily supply to the table costed across the quarter. This method suited perishable goods delivered fresh each day, the clerk totting the days served rather than pricing each delivery apart.

369

265

June

Acc:t of the Expence of the Generall Table for

the Month of Aprile 1724 viz

27 14 2

87 1/2 Gall:s Arrack

40 1

67 Bottles Mountaine 3

12 12

126 Bottles Galicia

18 Bottles Strong Beer

46 Bottles Small Beer

1 7

108 lb Bread

3 7 6

135 lb Sugar

3 6

26 Pices Salt Beefe

1 11 2

11 Pices Salt Pork

8

4 Ducks

2 5

30 Fowles

12

2 Turkeys

1 11 3

125 lb Flower

10 6

126 Eggs

4 8

4 4 lb Candles

6 17 6

550 lb Fresh Beefe a 3d p:r lb Cut

4 16

4 Sheep

12

1 Lamb

15

3 Kidds

2 4

4 4 lb Fresh Butter

1 4 8

7 4 Bottles Milk

9

3 Quarts Oyle

8

2 Gall:s Vinegar

1 17

37 Days Greens

1 16 5

45 lb Soap

90 14 2

Signed I: Crispe

Margin Notes:

Apr:ll Acc:t

The account of the expense of the General Table for the month of April 1724 stood as follows.

General Table, expense for April 1724

[...], £27 14s 2d

87½ gallons arrack, £40 1s 0d

67 bottles Mountain, £12 12s 0d

126 bottles Galicia, £1 7s 0d

18 bottles strong beer

46 bottles small beer, £3 7s 6d

108 lb bread, £3 7s 6d

135 lb sugar, £1 11s 2d

26 pieces salt beef, £0 8s 0d

11 pieces salt pork, £2 5s 0d

4 ducks, £0 12s 0d

30 fowls, £1 11s 3d

2 turkeys, £0 10s 6d

125 lb flower, £0 4s 8d

126 eggs, £6 17s 6d

44 lb candles, £4 16s 0d

550 lb fresh beef at 25s per hundredweight, £0 12s 0d

4 sheep, £0 15s 0d

1 lamb, £2 4s 0d

3 kids, £1 4s 8d

44 lb fresh butter, £0 9s 0d

74 bottles milk, £0 8s 0d

3 quarts oil, £1 17s 0d

2 gallons vinegar, £1 15s 5d

37 days greens, £[...]s [...]d

45 lb soap

Total, £90 14s 2d

Signed by Crispe.

Interpretations

The beer lines distinguish the two brews the General Table kept in bottle. Strong beer was the well-hopped keeping beer of higher strength, and small beer the weak everyday drink taken with meals and safer than water. Both were reckoned by the bottle alongside the wines, the small beer the larger parcel and the drink of ordinary consumption at the table.

The fresh beef entry ran to 550 lb charged at 25s per hundredweight, the standing island rate for cattle bought from the planters. Fresh beef sat apart from the salt beef and salt pork listed above it, the salted meats being the preserved store and the fresh the meat killed and eaten within days. The distinction let the clerk carry the perishable and the keeping provisions under separate lines.

Candles at 44 lb formed a substantial charge, the tallow or wax lights by which the establishment worked and dined after dark. Their weight against the food lines marks lighting as a real cost of running the table over the month, drawn from the same stores as the provisions.

370

266

1744

Account of the Expence of the Gen: Table for

the Month of May 1724

82 Gall:s Arrack

26 19 4

9 d:o Bottles Mountain

18 10

198 d:o Galicia

19 16

14 d:o Salt Beefe

1 15

9 d:o Salt Pork

1 6 6

116 lb Bread

9

160 lb Sugar

4

4 Ducks

8

2 Turkeys

12

1 Lamb

12

2 Goates

1

4 4 Fowles

3 6

240 lb Fresh Beefe

4

35 lb Pork

17 6

129 lb Flower

1 7 3

1 Kid

6

11 lb Fresh Butter

11

48 Bottles Milk

16 8

24 Days Greens

1 4

5 Quarts Oyle

15

6 Gallons Vinegar

1 4

3 lb Pepper

3

25 lb Soap

1 15 6

174 Eggs a 3

14 6

87 6 2

Signed I: Crispe

Margin Notes:

May: Acc:t

The account of the expense of the General Table for the month of May 1724 stood as follows.

General Table, expense for May 1724

82 gallons arrack, £25 19s 4d

9 dozen bottles Mountain, £18 10s 0d

198 bottles Galicia, £19 16s 0d

14 dozen salt beef, £1 15s 0d

9 dozen salt pork, £1 6s 6d

116 lb bread, £1 9s 0d

160 lb sugar, £4 [...]s [...]d

4 ducks, £0 8s 0d

2 turkeys, £0 12s 0d

1 lamb, £0 12s 0d

2 goats, £1 0s 0d

44 fowls, £3 6s 0d

940 lb fresh beef, £4 17s 6d

35 lb pork, £0 7s 3d

129 lb flower, £1 6s 0d

2 kids, £0 11s 0d

11 lb fresh butter, £0 16s 8d

48 bottles milk, £1 4s 0d

24 days greens, £0 15s 0d

5 quarts oil, £1 4s 0d

6 gallons vinegar, £0 3s 0d

3 lb pepper, £1 15s 6d

25 lb soap, £0 14s 6d

174 eggs, £[...]s [...]d

Total, £87 6s 2d

Signed by Crispe.

Interpretations

The salt beef and salt pork lines were reckoned by the dozen rather than by the piece or the pound, the preserved meats counted in packed lots as they came from the cask. This differed from the fresh beef below, charged at 940 lb by weight as the meat killed and eaten within days. The two methods let the clerk keep the keeping store and the perishable supply on separate footings.

The wine and arrack lines again formed the largest costs of the month. Arrack, the distilled Eastern spirit, stood at £25 19s 4d, and the two Spanish wines together, the sweet Malaga Mountain and the Galicia, ran close behind at £18 10s 0d and £19 16s 0d. These three drinks between them made up more than three-quarters of the whole table's expense, the pattern holding steady across the spring months.

Pepper at 3 lb carried a charge of £1 15s 6d, high against its small weight. Pepper was the costly imported spice drawn from the Company's Eastern trade, priced far above the bulk provisions around it. Its presence on the table marks it as a routine seasoning for the officers' mess despite its cost.

371

267

June

Capt Goodwin brought in & delivered his acc:t of Goods &

Stores Sold & delivered in the Month of May which was

Examined approved & is as follows viz:t

9 3 1/2 Gall:s Arrack

29 12 2

605 lb Sugar

9 2 6

38 lb Soap

13 10

45 1/2 Leaf Tobacco

5 6

5 1 1/2 doz: Pipe

5 6

8 1/2 Gall:s Vinegar

14

163 1/2 d:o Rape Oyle

8 6

1/4 Sweet ditto viz:t

2 2 1/4

China Ware

4 China Bowles

1 7 6

16 Sneakers

6 8

20 Large Cupps

3

18 Small

3 6

1 Tea Pott

3

6 Cupps & Saucers

Shirts & Cotton Stockings viz:t

3 Callico Shirt

9

8 White d:o

1

8 P:r Cotton Stockings

1 14

9 d:o Yellow

1 18

9 White Gartas

17

1 alleger

1 7

3 Surat Shirt

13 6

1/2 P:r Wedding Long Cloth

1 10

1 lb Comp: d:o

2 2

Hosiers Ware

2 P:r Youths Stockings 1/1

2 4

2 d:o 1/2

1 11

3 Childrens d:o

8 9

1 Boys d:o

4 9

2 d:o

5 6

17 Stock: 3/6

4 6

1 d:o

16 6

5 Womens d:o

9 6

1 Mens

1 6

1 Yarn d:o

18

4 yards Duffill

6 4

2 1/4 yards Broad Cloth

3 1 6

2 Gross 1/6 Corks

6

2 lb Pepper

2

8 Quilts 15

6 1

2 Barrells Lamb Black

12 8

10 Lines Sorted

6 8

9 lb Nailes Sorted

Margin Notes:

Stock: Acc:t for

May.

Captain Goodwin brought in and delivered his account of the goods and stores sold and delivered in the month of May, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Store, sold for May

93½ gallons arrack, £29 12s 2d

605 lb sugar, £2 2s 6d

38 lb soap and tobacco, £2 13s 10d

45½ leaf tobacco, £1 5s 6d

51½ dozen pipes, £1 5s 6d

8½ gallons vinegar, £1 14s 0d

63½ lb rape oil, £0 8s 6d

¼ sweet oil, £0 2s 2¼d

China ware, namely

1 China bowls, £1 7s 6d

16 sneakers, £0 6s 8d

20 large cups, £0 3s 0d

18 small cups, £0 3s 6d

1 teapot, £0 3s 0d

6 cups and saucers

Shirts and cotton stockings, namely

3 callico shirts, £0 9s 0d

8 white shirts, £1 [...]s [...]d

8 pairs cotton stockings, £1 14s 0d

1 [...] shalloon, £1 18s 0d

1 white garters, £0 17s 0d

1 alligar, £1 7s 0d

3 surat shirts, £1 36s 0d

½ piece middling long cloth, £1 10s 0d

1 [...], £0 [...]s [...]d

Hosiers' ware

2 pairs youths' stockings, £0 2s 2½d

2 pairs youths' stockings, £0 2s 4d

2 pairs youths' stockings, £0 1s 11d

3 children's stockings, £0 8s 9½d

2 boys' stockings, £0 4s 9d

2 [...], £0 5s 6d

17 pairs stockings, £1 16s 6d

5 women's stockings, £0 9s 6d

1 men's stockings, £0 1s 6d

1 [...], £0 6s 2d

7 yards duffield, £0 18s 6d

9¼ yards broadcloth, £3 1s 5d

2 gross 16 corks, £0 6s 6d

2 lb pepper, £0 2s 0d

8 quilts 15, £6 1s 0d

2 barrels lamp black, £0 12s 8d

10 lines forked, £0 6s 8d

9 lb needles forked

Interpretations

The tobacco and pipe lines record the smoking goods the store supplied together. Leaf tobacco was the cured but unworked leaf, and the pipes the cheap clay tubes in which it was smoked, sold by the dozen. Their pairing marks the two halves of a single trade, the store carrying both the material and the means of its use for the garrison and inhabitants.

The shirt lines distinguish the cloths by their Indian origins. Callico was the plain cotton of Calicut, surat a cotton from the Company's port of Surat, and alligar a striped or checked Indian cotton cloth. Long cloth was the standard length of plain Indian cotton reckoned by the piece. These were the imported cotton textiles that clothed the island, drawn from the Company's western trade and graded by weave and source.

Duffield was a coarse heavy woollen with a thick nap, named for the Flemish town of its origin and used for warm outer garments and blankets. Its presence among the finer broadcloth and the cotton shirts reflects the range of cloth the store kept, from the light imported cottons to the heavy northern woollens fit for the island's cool and windy winter.

Speculations

The account was kept and delivered by Captain Goodwin rather than by the storekeeper who rendered the plantation and inhabitants' reckonings. The council drew its fourth councillor into the audit of the goods sold for the month, dividing the charge of the stores among more than one officer so that the sales passed through a hand distinct from the one that issued the plantation stores, a check against the whole account resting on a single man.

372

268

1744

Shoes viz:t Brought over

81 16 6 1/4

1 Pair Boys Shoes

5 6

1 d:o

2 6

Haberdashery viz:t

5 1/2 Oz China Silk

5 6

1/2 Oz English d:o

1 3

2 lb Wh: Brown Thread N:o 5 15

10

1 lb d:o 8 10/6

4 6

1 1/2 lb d:o 13/3

5 3

4 Oz Nuns Thread 1/1

19 10 1/2

8 d:o 1/5

4 4

1 Oz d:o

11

1 d:o

1 8

1 d:o

5

3 P:r Womens Kid Gloves

9 6

6 yards Gartering

1

266 d:o Midling Holland Tape

2 4

1 Broad d:o

3

2 Red Tape

1 6

2 Heming d:o

4 8

1 M Pins 1/8

4 8

3 1/2 M 1/4

4 9

1 1/2 M 1/2

2 19

5 Short Ordinary Laces 5

3 doz: Breast Buttons 7

1 6

1 yard Ribbon

2 6

16 yards d:o

1 6

6 yards Ferretting

1 10 1/2

5 d:o 4 1/2

4

1 Horn Book

4

1 Quire Paper

1 6

1 Square Glass 10 & 12

6

1 Butchers Knive

6 8

2 Plate Locks Trumpet

5 6

1 Small Speaking

3

1 Tin Sauce Pan

3 10

1 d:o Kettle

4 7

2 1/2 yards Kersey

89 6 6 1/4

Shoes, namely

1 pair boys' shoes, £0 5s 6d

1 pair boys' shoes, £0 2s 6d

Haberdashery, namely

5½ oz China silk, £0 5s 6d

½ oz English silk, £0 1s 3d

2 lb white brown thread No. 5, £0 10s 0d

1 lb white brown thread No. 8, £0 4s 6d

1½ lb white brown thread No. 10, £0 19s 10½d

4 oz nuns' thread No. 5, £0 4s 4d

8 oz nuns' thread, £0 11s 4d

1 oz nuns' thread, £0 1s 8d

1 oz nuns' thread, £0 1s 8d

1 oz nuns' thread, £0 0s 5d

3 pairs women's kid gloves, £0 9s 6d

6 yards gartering, £0 1s 6d

26 yards middling Holland tape, £0 2s 4d

1 broad tape, £0 3s 0d

2 red tape, £0 1s 6d

2 Fleming tape, £0 1s 8d

1 thousand pins No. 1, £0 4s 8d

3½ thousand pins No. 4, £0 4s 9d

1½ thousand pins No. 2, £0 2s 9d

5 short ordinary laces No. 5, £0 2s 9d

3 dozen breast buttons No. 7, £0 1s 6d

1 yard ribbon, £0 2s 6d

16 yards ribbon, £0 1s 0½d

6 yards ferreting, £0 1s [...]d

5 yards ferreting No. 4, £0 1s 4d

1 horn book, £0 1s 6d

1 quire paper, £0 0s 6d

1 square glass No. 10 and No. 12, £0 6s 8d

1 butchers' knife, £0 5s 6d

2 plate locks, £0 3s 10d

1 small speaking trumpet, £0 4s 7d

1 tin saucepan

1 kettle

2½ yards kersey

Total, £89 6s 6¾d

This page continues the store account into 1724, closing the footwear before running through a long haberdashery block and then a short tail of hardware and cloth, with the pounds, shillings and pence set against each line. The final three items, a tin saucepan, a kettle and a length of kersey, carry no recoverable figures and stand without sums, and a few pence readings in the ribbon and ferreting run sit at the edge of recovery.

Interpretations

The thread lines record two graded sewing stocks the store kept apart. The white brown thread ran by number, No. 5, No. 8 and No. 10 fixing the fineness, while nuns' thread was a fine white sewing thread once made in convents and prized for its evenness, sold here by the ounce. The clerk carried the coarser thread by the pound and the finer by the ounce, each at its own rate.

The pin lines were reckoned by the thousand and graded by number, No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 marking the size from small to large. Pins could not be made on the island and came wholly from imported supply, drawn from the store in the wholesale counts by which they were shipped. Their grading let a buyer take the size the work required.

A speaking trumpet appears among the hardware, the flared cone through which orders were called across a distance at sea or about the fort. Its presence in the store marks the supply of a signalling instrument alongside the domestic goods, a small item of practical use in a place that watched constantly for shipping. Kersey, the coarse ribbed woollen closing the page, was a warm hard-wearing cloth fit for the island's cool winter.

373

269

June

Brought Over

Diet Expences

49 2 4

133 Gall:s Arrack

16 16

336 lb Candy

15

1 Cask Soap

1 16

6 Boxes Tea

1 4

6 Gall: Vinegar

6 6 3/4

3 1/2 d:o Sweet Oyle

6

3 lb Pepper

3

General Charges

2 Cattees Bohea Tea

18

8 dozen China Plates

1 16

6 Bowles

15

2 doz: Small Cupps

4

2 Whitt

15

6 Beer Glasses

1 2

2 Barrells Lamp Black

1

2 lb Twine

4 4

1 lb Sack Thread

2 9

1 d:o Chest Hinges

2 2

1 Splinter Lock N:o 8

11

6 doz: Corks

1 6

1/2 lb White Brown Thread

6 7 1/2

The Hon:ble Comp: Blacks

2 Casks Bengall Cash

24

2 Casks Beife

30

9 4 6 lb Rice

98 15 6

5 P:r English Shoes

1 8 9

Womens Calve Leather d:o

4 6

1 Gynn Stocking

1 6

1 Wom: d:o

3

1 Callico Shirt

6

6 Midling Blanket

1 18

3 lb Shoot Thread

7 6

1 lb Twine

2 2

9 Lines Sorted

19 8

6 1/2 doz: Hooks & d:o

10

1 Pile Rope N:o 2:3

7 14

1 lb Coloured Thread

2

2 yards 1/2 Brittony

2 11

Diet expenses

133 gallons arrack, £42 2s 4d

33 quarts oil, £10 16s 0d

1 cask beef, £15 0s 0d

6 bottles tea, £1 16s 0d

6 gallons vinegar, £1 4s 0d

3½ dozen sweet oil, £6 6s 6¾d

3 lb pepper, £0 3s 0d

General charges

3 catties green tea, £0 18s 0d

7 dozen China plates, £1 1s 6d

6 bowls, £0 15s 0d

2 dozen small cups, £0 4s 0d

2 quilts, £0 15s 0d

6 beer glasses, £0 1s 2d

2 barrels lamp black, £0 1s 0d

2 lb twine, £0 14s 4d

1 lb sack thread, £0 2s 9d

1 pair chest hinges, £0 2s 2d

1 splinter lock No. 8, £0 0s 11d

6 dozen corks, £0 1s 6d

1½ lb white brown thread, £0 6s 7½d

The Honourable Company's Blacks

2 casks Bengal pork, £24 0s 0d

2 casks beef, £30 0s 0d

9,406 lb rice, £98 15s 6d

5 pairs English shoes, £1 8s 9d

1 pair women's calves' leather shoes, £0 4s 6d

1 pair women's stockings, £0 1s 6d

1 women's stockings, £0 3s 0d

1 callico shirt, £0 6s 0d

6 middling blankets, £1 18s 0d

3 lb shoe thread, £0 7s 6d

2 lb twine, £0 2s 2d

9 lines forked, £0 19s 5d

16½ dozen hooks forked, £7 14s 10d

1 razor strop No. 3, £0 2s 0d

1 lb coloured thread, £0 2s 11d

2 yards duffield, £[...]s [...]d

This page carries the account through diet expenses, general charges and the reckoning for the Honourable Company's slaves, each under its own heading, with the pounds, shillings and pence set against each line. The final duffield line shows no recoverable figure and stands without a sum.

Interpretations

The rice entry dominated the whole page at £98 15s 6d for 9,406 lb, charged to the slaves. Rice was the grain the island drew from the Company's India ships, and the great weight issued here reflected the famine relief brought from Bengal and Madras through 1724. Two casks of Bengal pork and two of beef stood alongside it, the salted meats shipped from the eastern factories to feed the slave force through the drought.

The fishing gear formed a substantial charge under the slaves' account. Forked lines and forked hooks were the multiple-hook rigs used to take fish from the rocks and boats, the 16½ dozen hooks running to £7 14s 10d. Their scale marked the fishery as a real part of the slaves' work, the Company supplying the tackle by which the boats brought in fish to feed the establishment.

The tea and glass lines under general charges recorded goods drawn from the eastern trade. Green tea was reckoned by the catty, the Chinese weight of about a pound and a third, and the beer glasses were cheap drinking vessels rather than fine ware. Both came from the cargoes of the Company's ships, carried as routine stores of the establishment.

374

270

1724

Plantation

4 Shoe Knive

6

12 Butchers d:o

13 4

1 Pair Stilyards

Fortification

11 lb 4 d Nailes

9 2

19 12 8 d:o

18

6 4 12 20 d:o

1 4 9 1/2

16 Chest Locks N:o 5

1 10

12 Sugar Shovells

19

19 Helves

3 4

2 Spring Lock

1

1 d:o with a round Bolt

3 Square Staples

2 9

The Great Wood

3 Lines N:o 3

2 9

5 lb 6 d Nailes

3 4

5 10 d:o

Garrison

3 Cattees Green Tea

1 2

7 Gallons Rape Oyle

2 2

1 Splinter Lock N:o 5

3 6

1 Callico Shirt

4

6 Pipe

Sum Totall

353 1 9

John Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

Plantation

4 shoe knives, £0 9s 6d

12 scythes, £0 13s [...]d

1 pair steelyards

Fortification

11 lb 4d nails, £0 9s 2d

1,972 8d nails, £0 18s 0d

54 12d nails, £1 11s 9½d

6 axes No. 5, £1 1s 0d

12 sugar shovels, £1 10s 0d

19 helves, £0 19s 0d

2 spring locks, £0 3s 4d

1 spring lock with a round bolt, £0 1s 0d

3 square staples, £0 2s 9d

The Great Wood

3 lines No. 3, £0 2s 9d

5 lb 6d nails, £0 3s 4d

5 10d nails

Garrison

3 catties green tea, £1 12s 0d

7 gallons rape oil, £0 2s 3d

1 splinter lock No. 6, £0 3s 6d

2 callico shirts, £0 4s 0d

6 pipes

Sum total, £353 1s 9d

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

Interpretations

The nail lines were graded by the old penny sizing, the 4d, 8d, 10d and 12d marks fixing the length and weight of each sort. Nails came wholly from imported supply and were drawn from the store in bulk for the fortification works, the 1,972 8d nails forming the largest single count. The grading let the works take the size each task required.

The tool lines record the ironware of the plantation and the fortification. Sugar shovels were broad-bladed shovels for moving loose material, helves the wooden handles fitted to axes and other tools, and a steelyard the beam-and-counterweight balance for weighing goods. The council supplied both the cutting tools and the spare handles, so that a broken helve could be replaced without a new axe.

The heading for the Great Wood set apart the stores issued to the island's principal timber reserve. The council had ordered the Great Wood fenced at the consultation of 8 Apr 1723, and the lines and nails charged here supplied that work of enclosure. The separate heading let the clerk track the cost of protecting the wood distinct from the general fortification account.

The signatures of John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes close the whole reckoning. The five councillors set their hands to the audited account before it went home, the board attesting the figures as examined and approved for the directors.

375

271

June

Island St: Helena

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 23: day

of June 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley

Pres:t John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin &

Ben: Hawkes

The last Consultation read & approved

On Thursday the 15th instant arrived the Ship Hannover

Capt John Wood from Bombay by whom We rec:d a Letter

from the Govern:r & Councill there dated the 25th Jan:ry 1723/4

likewise an Invoice of 100: Bags Rice w:ch is very

acceptable & makes some amends for their not Sending us

any by the King George radvice of a farther Supply

by the Prince Frederigh which they intend to dispatch towards

the later end of February last.

Having received by this Ship an Indian Portugueze

from Bombay by Name Emanuel Pariera for some

Misdeamenour of whose ill Principle We have too

many on the Island already We have Sent him on the Prince

of Wales with the other 13 Blacks by Capt coplin who

Sailed home yesterday Morning the Capt having desired

We would not Send the Blacks on board till the day before

he Sailed home.

On Saturday last an Advertizement was Publish:d

to Enjoyne all Planters to Fence their Plantations with

Furze & to Plant Gumwood Trees & all other Sorts Wood,

& to forbid Dogs being suffer:d to go loose it being

Suspected that by S:d them wilfy & destroy the Goates &

that no Goates be hereafter suffer:d to go in the Hon:ble

Companies Rangs, & that such Persons as neglect to

Observe these Orders should be fined at the Pleasure of

the Governour & Councill.

John: Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben:r Hawkes

Margin Notes:

Ship Hannover Arriv:d from Bombay.

Rio sout

Portugueze Sent p:r this Ship Send to Bencoolen

Advertizem:t for fenceing & Planting &c.

Dogs not to run Loose Goates to go in Hon:ble Companies Rangs Pen:t Man: Co:

Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 23 June 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present: John Smith, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin; and Benjamin Hawkes.

The last consultation was read and approved.

The ship Hanover under Captain John Boddam arrived from Bombay on Thursday 18 June 1724. She brought a letter from the Governor and Council at Bombay dated 25 January 1723 and an invoice for 100 bags of rice. The council found the rice very welcome and a partial amends for the Bombay government's failure to send any fuller supply by the King George. That ship had gone on to Rio and was to sail home by way of the Prince Frederick, which Bombay meant to despatch toward the end of February last.

The Hanover also carried an Indian Portuguese named Emanuel Perrera, sent from Bombay for several misdeeds. The council held there were already too many such men on the island and put him aboard the Prince of Wales for Cochin, which had sailed home the morning before. The captain had asked that the slaves not be sent aboard until the day before he sailed, so the council held them back and shipped them with the other 13 slaves for Cochin.

An advertisement was published on Saturday last for fencing and planting the plantations. It required every planter to fence his plantation and to plant gumwood and other sorts of trees. It forbade dogs to run loose, on suspicion that they killed goats, and ordered that no goats be suffered to range in future. Every planter who neglected these orders was to be fined at the discretion of the Governor and Council.

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

Interpretations

The rice from Bombay continued the famine relief the island drew from the Company's India ports through 1724. The Governor and Council had begged grain of every quarter after years of failed seasons, and the 100 bags carried by the Hanover answered in part the shortfall the King George had left. The council reckoned the supply against a standing correspondence rather than a single want.

The removal of Emanuel Perrera fitted the island's settled resistance to outsiders it judged troublesome. The council had long treated men sent from other stations for misconduct as a burden on a small society, and it shipped him on to Cochin rather than let him settle. The despatch of 13 slaves for Cochin on the same passage marked the island's continuing use as a way point in the Company's movement of bound labour.

The fencing and planting advertisement carried forward the campaign to protect the island's timber and pasture. The council had ordered the Great Wood fenced at the consultation of 8 Apr 1723 and required the planting of wood by the advertisement of 27 Mar 1723. Gumwood was the native tree valued for shelter and timber, and the fresh order pressed each planter to raise it and to fence against the loose dogs and goats that spoiled the young growth.

Speculations

The council held the Portuguese man aboard until the Prince of Wales was almost ready to sail rather than shipping him at once on arrival. The captain had asked that the slaves bound for Cochin not come aboard until the day before departure, and the council timed the man's removal to the same moment, so that an unwanted passenger spent as little time on the ship in the road as the sailing allowed.

376

272

1724

Island St: Helena

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 30: day

of June 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfield 2:d

In:o Alexander 3:d

In:o Goodwin 4:o

Ben: Hawkes 5:th

The last Consultation read & approved

Mr Wrangham presented a Petition Praying leave

to hire three or four Acres of the Hon:ble Companies Waste

Land adjoyning to Some of his own Land in Sandy

Bay, Ordered that Capt Goodwin do view the Said Land &

Report next Consultation day whether Letting the Same

will be prejudicial to any of the Neighbourhood or not

We rec:d the following Letter from Capt Bond desiring

a Supply of Provisions

Worshipfull Sir & Sirs

This is to acquaint You that the Ship Hanover now in the

Road having had a long Passage from Bombay is now very

Short of Provisions having no more than S:d Punchoons

of Beef on board,

Therefore Request You will Supply me with a

Sufficient of Salt & fresh Meat to make up for Ninety

S:d Men for three Months otherwise I cannot proceed w:th

Safety directly for the Rivor of Thames

All which Refer to Your Consideration &

Management for the Safety of the Hon:ble Companies

Effects on board the Said Ship & to forward me with all

convenient Speed who am

Sir:s Y:r most obed:t hum: Serv:t

In:o Bond

To which We Sent the follow: Answer

Capt In:o Bond / Sir

We have perused Your Letter of this day

date desiring Us to Supply You with a sufficient Quant:ty

of Salt & fresh Provisions to make up what You have on

Board for Ninety S:d Men, to which We Send You for

answer, that if You'le Please to give Your Self the trouble

of Making a Calculate of what Salt Provision You want

as well as of the fresh Meat / Supposeing You mean to carry

Margin Notes:

Pet:o of Mr Wrangham for Land in Sandybay.

P:t Land to be view:d.

Capt Bonds Letter for a Supply of Provisions.

Gov:r & Coun:l Answer.

Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 30 June 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present: John Smith, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth; and Benjamin Hawkes, fifth.

The last consultation was read and approved.

Mr Wrangham asked leave to hire three or four acres of the Company's waste land adjoining his own ground in Sandy Bay. The council ordered Captain Goodwin to view the land and report at the next consultation whether letting it would harm any of the neighbours.

The council received a letter from Captain Bond seeking a supply of provisions. He wrote that the ship Hanover, then in the road, had made a long passage from Bombay and was now very short of provisions, with no more than 34 puncheons of beef aboard. He asked to be supplied with enough salt and fresh meat to make up 96 men for three months, without which he could not safely sail for Great Britain. He left the matter to the council for the safety of the Company's goods aboard the Hanover, asking that it be forwarded with all convenient speed.

The council sent the following answer. It had read his letter of that day's date and would supply him with enough salt and fresh provisions to make up 96 men. It asked that he give himself the trouble of making a calculation of the salt provisions he wanted as well as the fresh meat, supposing he meant to carry [...].

Interpretations

The beef aboard the Hanover was reckoned in puncheons, the large casks in which salt meat was packed and shipped. A puncheon held a considerable weight of preserved beef, and the 34 aboard were judged too few to feed the crew home. The count fixed the ship's remaining store against the passage still to run.

The victualling of the Hanover fell to the island as a matter of routine. A ship that had made a long passage from Bombay reached St Helena short of food, and the Company expected the island to make up the shortfall for the run to Great Britain. The council treated the supply of 96 men for three months as the standing charge of a way station on the eastern route.

Speculations

The council did not simply grant the supply but asked Captain Bond to render his own calculation of the salt and fresh provisions he wanted. Rather than fix the quantities itself, it put the reckoning back on the captain, so that the demand rested on his stated need and the island issued against a figure he had set his own hand to.

377

273

June

with You alive because You have already had Your full

Quantity of Barter Party Beife) We will Send You

to comply with Your Request as far as the Same relates

to Salt Provision & be ready on any other Part to assist

You with any thing towards the Better Security of

Our Hon:ble Masters Effects now on board Your Ship We are

In:o Alexander

Union Castle 30th June 1724

To which We received the following Reply

Worshipfull Sir & Sirs

I have received Your Answer to my Request for w:ch I

give You thanks for Your kind Compliance. Seven Punchoons

And by Calculation I Shall want Salt Beife & two of Pork. Otherwise by reason my

Seamen are tainted with the Scurvy it is needfull to have Seven

or Eight Bullocks that they may have Meat & Broth if not

to fall to Salt Provisions the Soon least it Should prove

of ill Consequence Should they be druve with the Scurvy

coming into Our Channell

You knowing the Reason of the Green is far advanced

I therefore beg the favour of You that all the Salt Meat

may be at the Trape to Morrow & Your farther assistance

to dispatch me by Fryday Noon, & You will very much

oblige

Sir:s Y:r obed:t hum: Serv:t

In:o Bond.

St: Helena 30th June 1724

Upon which, Ordered that Capt Bond be Supplyd w:th

the Salt Provision he do Mantion, & if We can procure

him the S:d Cattle he desire of the Planters We will, he

having had the full Quantity of Barter Party Beife

of us already as aforesaid what he do dispatced as he

desires that no Blame may lye on Us.

Whereas the Hon:ble Company in their 55th Parad

of the Generall Letter by the James & Mary have thought fit

to order that the Two Acres of Land bought of Williams

Charles be either Leased out or Sold, Wherefore Ordered that

Publick Notice be given that the said Land is to be sold

accordingly

The Gunner brought in & delivered his

Acc:t of Gunners Stores Expended in the Month of May

last which was Examined, approved, & is as follows

Margin Notes:

Capt Bonds Reply.

Quantity of Provisions

St: Helena 30th June 1724

Ord:d Salt Provision & Cattle for S:d

10 Acres of Land to be Sold formerly Will: Charles

Gunn: Acc:t brought in for May.

The council's answer continued, telling Captain Bond it would supply him with salt provisions to carry alive, since he had already had his full quantity of quarter beef. It would meet his request as far as the salt provisions went and was ready in any other way to help him and to secure the Company's goods now aboard his ship. Signed at Union Castle, 30 June 1724, by John Smith.

The council received the following reply from Captain Bond. He thanked the council for its kind compliance. By his calculation he would want seven puncheons of salt beef and two of pork. He also asked for seven or eight fresh bullocks, so that the seamen tainted with scurvy might have fresh meat and broth, since salt provisions would prove of ill consequence should the scurvy come into the channel. Knowing the season of the year was far advanced, he asked that all the salt meat be at the crane the next day and his further supply ready by Friday noon. Signed at St Helena, 30 June 1724, by John Bond.

The council then ordered that Captain Bond be supplied with the salt provisions, that is, the puncheons, and if the council saw proper it would give him the fresh cattle he desired of the planters. Having already had his full quantity of quarter beef, he was to be despatched as he wished, so that no blame might rest on the island.

The Honourable Company, in the 55th paragraph of its general letter by the James and Mary, had ordered that the 10 acres of land bought of William Charles be either leased out or sold. The council ordered that public notice be given that the land was to be sold accordingly.

The gunner brought in and delivered his account of gunner's stores expended in the month of May, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

The scurvy Captain Bond feared was the seaman's wasting sickness of long voyages, caused by the want of fresh food. Fresh meat and broth were the remedies of the age, and he asked for live bullocks so that his sick crew might eat before the ship reached the channel. His request tied the island's fresh provisions to the health of the crew on the run home.

The land bought of William Charles carried a settled history. The Company had bought his 10 acres called Griffin's into its own estate on 30 Apr 1723, when the heir returned from the West Indies and took £60 0s 0d in store goods for the bequest. The directors now ordered it leased or sold, and the council answered by advertising it for sale, closing the parcel's brief spell in the Company's hands.

Speculations

The council granted the salt provisions at once but held back the live cattle, giving them only if it saw proper and drawing them from the planters rather than its own herds. Bond had asked for both together, yet the council split the two, committing to the keeping meat while reserving the fresh bullocks to a later judgement and to the planters' supply, so that its own drought-thinned herds bore no certain charge.

378

274

1724

Particulars 1

Guns fired Shot Chambers Trapstan Saltpetre Powder

May 4th Departed the Dutch Ship

15 1/2 15 15

d:o An alarm

4 4 4

2:o Arrived the Bridgewater Capt Williamson

9 9 9

6th Muster Day

1 9 10

11th To Answer a Salute of y:e Bridgewater

9 9 9

12:o An Alarm

4 4 4

d:o fired from Munden Point to make Ship bring to

1 1 1 7

d:o Arrived the Mountague Capt Gordon from China

11 11 11

14 To Answer a Salute of the Mountague

13 13 13

15 An alarm

4 4 4

d:o Arrived the Hertford Capt Nelly from China

13 13 13

d:o For Mr Fazakerly coming on Shoar

15 15 15

16 To Answer two Salutes to the Hertford

42 3 8 31 84

d:o Departed the Bridgewater & Mountague

22 2 3 17 43

28:o An Alarm

4 4 4

d:o Arrived the James & Mary

9 9 9

d:o The Kings Birth Day

42 2 8 32 78

Expences for the Guards

14

217 1 8 19 190 346

Tomphins

6

Spunge Staves Broken

2

Hand Spikes Broken

2

Trucks Broken

1

Expended Spunge Head

2

Expended Rammer Heads

2

Expended Flints for y:e Guards

30

Cartridge Paper Expended

9 3/4

in making Cartridges

5 lb

Expences Match 42 lb

42 5 30 2 2 1 2 2 6

These for inclusive have

been Duplicated & Sent to

Signed In:o Trent

John: Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

The gunner's account of stores expended in May 1724 set out the powder spent on alarms, salutes and ceremonies, the columns giving the guns fired and the pounds of shot, saltpetre, gunpowder, saltpetre and gunpowder against each occasion.

Particulars for May 1724

7 May, departed the Dutch ship, 15 guns, 15 lb powder

7 May, an alarm, 4 guns, 4 lb powder

2 May, arrived the Bridgewater, Captain Williamson, 9 guns, 9 lb powder

6 May, muster day, 1 gun, 10 lb powder

11 May, to answer a salute of the Bridgewater, 9 guns, 9 lb powder

12 May, an alarm, 4 guns, 4 lb powder

12 May, fired from Munden's Point to make a ship bring to, 1 gun, 1 lb shot, 1 lb powder, 7 lb total

12 May, arrived the Montague, Captain Gordon, from China, 11 guns, 11 lb powder

14 May, to answer a salute of the Montague, 13 guns, 13 lb powder

15 May, an alarm, 4 guns, 4 lb powder

15 May, arrived the Hartford, Captain Nelly, from China, 13 guns, 13 lb powder

15 May, for Mr Fazakerly coming ashore, 15 guns, 15 lb powder

16 May, to answer two salutes of the Hartford, 42 guns, 3 lb, 8 lb, 31 lb, 84 lb total

16 May, departed the Bridgewater and Montague, 22 guns, 2 lb, 3 lb, 17 lb, 43 lb total

28 May, an alarm, 4 guns, 4 lb powder

28 May, arrived the James and Mary, 9 guns, 9 lb powder

28 May, the King's birthday, 42 guns, 2 lb, 8 lb, 32 lb, 78 lb total

Expenses for the guards, 14 lb

Total, 217 guns, 1 lb, 8 lb, 19 lb, 190 lb, 346 lb

Tomkins expended, 6

sponge staves broken, 2

handspikes broken, 2

tacks broken, 1

expended sponge heads, 2

expended rammer heads, 2

expended flints for the guards, 30

cartridge paper expended in making cartridges, 9 quires and 5 [...]

expended match, 42 lb

Total, 42 lb match, 5 quires cartridge paper, 30 flints, 2 rammer heads, 2 sponge heads, 1 tack, 2 handspikes, 2 sponge staves, 6 tomkins

The account records that this account, up to and including the total, had been duplicated and sent [...]. Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

Interpretations

The gun salutes marked the arrival and departure of the Company's East Indiamen and the honours of state. Ships were greeted and sped with rounds of powder, and the highest tallies fell on 16 May 1724, when the fort answered two salutes of the Hartford with 42 guns, and on the King's birthday, kept with a like ceremonial discharge. The account weighed each occasion in guns fired and powder burnt.

The gunner's stores extended beyond powder to the fittings of the guns themselves. Tomkins were the wooden plugs that stopped a cannon's muzzle against damp, sponge staves and heads the shafts and swabs for cleaning the bore between rounds, and rammer heads the tools for driving home the charge. Handspikes were the levers for shifting a gun, and the account tracked each broken or worn item so the magazine could be replenished.

Match and cartridge paper were the consumables of firing. Match was the slow-burning cord that carried fire to the touch-hole, and cartridge paper the sheet in which measured charges of powder were made up ready for use. The 9 quires of paper spent in making cartridges show the routine preparation of ammunition, the fort keeping its charges made up in advance against alarms.

379

275

July

St: Helena

At a Consultation held on Thursday & Friday the

9th & 10th day of July 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfield

John Alexander

John Goodwin

Ben:n Hawkes

The last Consultation read & approved

The Governour & Councill met this day pursuant to an

Advertisement in order to Reckon with the Garrison & other

People & to pay off Such as had Money due to them for the

Quarter Ending the 25th June & to hear any other matter

that might occur.

Transfers viz:t

Tho:s Casten to Orlando Bagley Sen:r

1 1 0

Sundry N:o to Ditto

Orlando Bagley Jun:r

4 9

Edward Bagley

1 4 3

1 4

Towards Ballancing his Debt to y:e Hon:ble Comp:y

5 5

The Gov:r Reports that Mr Ben:n Hawkes whom the

Hon:ble Company have been lately pleased to appoint

youngest of Councill has for a long time past had a

Criminal Conversation with Margaret Towby Widdow who

about five Months ago was delivered of a Female Bastard

Child, & being Examined declared upon oath that the Said

Mr Hawkes was the Father of it, by which the Womans

Credit is very much impaired & as her circumstances are very

indifferent it may reasonably be apprehended that the Said

Child may become burthensome to the Island unless timely Care

be taken to oblige the Said Mr Hawkes to give Sufficient

Security, to indemnifie the Inhabitants from all charge

upon this Score & to Settle a reasonable weekly allowance

for the Support & Maintenance of the said Child as is

usually Customary upon all Such accidents

The Governour also Reports that being willing to

hope that the said Mr Hawkes would reflect & Consider

with himself the ill Consequence & evile Tendency of Such

a Commerce both to himself & others, did forbear to have

any Mention or Entry made in Consultation of this affaire

but the said Mr Hawkes Shewing no Regard to his own

Reputation & being altogether unmindfull & forgetfull of

the Favour the Governour has Shewn him upon this Occasion

has Severall times contrary to the Governours Advice &

Admonition attempted to renue this Conversation with the

Margin Notes:

Met to Reckon w:th & Garrison &c for y:e Q:r

Transfers.

Gov:r Report about Mr Hawkes ill Criminall Conversation & that he is y:e Father of y:e Child.

which may be burthensome Security ought to be given.

Mr Hawkes ill Behaviour in this Affair.

St Helena. At a consultation held on Thursday and Friday 9 and 10 July 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present: John Smith, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin; and Benjamin Hawkes.

The last consultation was read and approved.

The Governor and Council met this day, following an advertisement, to reckon with the garrison and the rest of the people and to pay those to whom money was owed for the quarter ending 25 June 1724, and to hear any other matter that might arise.

Transfers, namely:

Thomas Casson to Orlando Bagley senior, £1 1s 0d

Sundry to sundry:

Orlando Bagley junior, £0 4s 9d

Edward Bagley, £1 7s 3d

Towards clearing his debt to the Honourable Company, £5 5s 0d

The Governor reported that Mr Benjamin Hawkes, whom the Honourable Company had lately appointed a younger councillor, had for a long time kept a criminal connection with Margaret Tovey, a widow. She had been delivered of a female child about five months earlier, and had declared on oath that Mr Hawkes was the father. Her own good name was much damaged by the affair. Since circumstances might well change, the council judged the child might become a charge on the island unless timely care were taken. It therefore ordered Mr Hawkes to give sufficient security to indemnify the inhabitants against any such charge, and to make a reasonable weekly allowance for the child's support and maintenance, as was usual in such cases.

The Governor further reported that, wishing to hope Mr Hawkes would reflect on the ill consequence and the evil of setting such an example both to himself and to others, he had forborne to have any mention or entry made in the consultation of these affairs. Mr Hawkes, however, showing no regard to his own reputation and quite unmindful and forgetful of the favour the Governor had shown him on this occasion, had several times, against the Governor's advice and warning, attempted to renew his connection with [...].

Interpretations

The transfers recorded the quarterly clearing of accounts between the island's inhabitants. Sums owed by one person were moved through the Company's books to another, so that a debt was settled by transfer of credit rather than by cash. The entry closing Edward Bagley's debt to the Company by £5 5s 0d showed the same book method applied to obligations owed to the Company itself.

The order against Benjamin Hawkes turned on the island's fear of a pauper charge. A child born outside marriage risked falling on the parish for its keep, and the council bound the reputed father to give security and a weekly allowance. The mechanism protected the inhabitants from the cost, shifting the maintenance onto the man named on the mother's oath.

Margaret Tovey carried a settled place in the record. Her connection with Hawkes had already surfaced when he answered a complaint of striking the corporal Joseph Bates over broken sash glass at the consultation of 29 January 1723. The naming of Hawkes as father, sworn by the mother, fixed the paternity for the purpose of the maintenance order.

Speculations

The Governor had first kept the affair out of the consultation book, hoping Hawkes would mend his conduct without a formal entry. He recorded that he had deliberately forborne to minute the matter, choosing discretion over the register. Only when Hawkes renewed the connection against warning did the Governor abandon that course and set the whole affair on the record, the private path having failed.

380

276

1724

Widdow, & Since her Delivery has been Severall times in the

Country & lay at her House, & has even had front enough to

Entertain her at his apartment at the Fort Severall days &

Nights together to the great Surprize & Scandall of the

Neighbourhood

The Governour likewise Reports that the Said Mr

Hawkes no longer Since than Saturday last contrary to

the Governours Caution & Direction went again into the

Country to the Said Widdow where he has continued till this

Morning

The Governour farther Reports that as the Continuation of

Such Practice if not timely Checqued may be of ill Consequence

by Setting an ill Example to other People, & Corrupting the Minds

& Morals of the Youth of the Island, he is Determined to use his

Authority to put a Stop to any farther Intercourse between the

said Mr Hawkes & the Towby, & declaire if the said Mr Hawkes

shall at any time hereafter attempt to have any personall

Conversation with the Said Widdow, or shall endeavour to entice her

to come down to the Fort upon any pretence whatsoever, or she

shall presume to Entertain the Said Mr Hawkes at her House in

the Country or elsewhere, he will Dismiss the s:d Mr Hawkes the

Companies Service & take such Course with her as to him shall

Seem proper, or the Exegency of the Comp:y may require, & Direct

that this Report be Entered in Consultation.

9th July 1724

The Governour Reports that on the first July, he went

on board the Hannover Capt Bond & found her on a Tide Afording

Riging Yard, Main Yard broke in the Stump but well Fenced

Running Riging indifferent, Cables good for the length of the Voyage

Guns all Clear & the Men but indifferent Healthy the Hospitall

Caulked down Draught of Water abaft 16 foot 8 Inches, afore

15 feet, which through Hurry in Dispatching the Said Ship

was forgot to be Mentioned in the last Gen: Letter to the Hon:ble Comp:y

On Fryday the 3 instant Sailed hence for England

the Hannover Capt Bond

John: Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben:n Hawkes

Margin Notes:

forbid to have any Conversation w:th each other.

9th July 1724 Gov:r Reports of Surveying the Hannover

Her departure

The record continued that Mr Hawkes had several times gone into the country to the widow since her delivery and had stayed at her house. He had even entertained her overnight at his own apartment at the Fort on a consultation day, to the great surprise and scandal of the neighbourhood.

The Governor further reported that Mr Hawkes, since Saturday last and against the Governor's warning, had gone again into the country to the widow, where he had stayed until this morning.

The Governor reported that the continuation of such conduct might have ill consequence, by setting a bad example to others and corrupting the minds and morals of the island's youth. He was therefore determined to use his authority to stop any further connection between Mr Hawkes and the widow Tovey. Should Mr Hawkes at any time attempt to renew his connection with the widow, or try to entice her to come down to the Fort on any pretext, or entertain her at her house in the country or elsewhere, he was to be dismissed from the Company's service, and such further course taken with him as the Governor thought proper or the emergency of the Company might require. The Governor directed that this report be entered in the consultation.

The Governor reported that on 1 July 1724 he had gone aboard the Hanover under Captain Bond and found her in good order. Her rigging was good, her mainyard broken in the stamp but well repaired, her running rigging indifferent, her cables good for the length of the voyage, her pumps able, and her crew fit though not very healthy. The Hanover had a draught of water aft of 16 feet 8 inches and forward of 15 feet, which, through haste in despatching the ship, had been left out of the council's last general letter to the directors.

The Hanover under Captain Bond sailed for England on Friday 3 July 1724.

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

Interpretations

The threat to dismiss Hawkes from the service marked the reach of the Governor's authority over a councillor's private life. The Company held its officers to a standard of conduct, and the Governor tied Hawkes's continued employment to his ending the connection. The order set the office itself as the security for his behaviour.

The survey of the Hanover recorded the Governor's inspection of a homeward ship before she sailed. He checked her rigging, spars, cables, pumps and crew, and noted her draught fore and aft. The examination fixed the ship's fitness for the passage and belonged to the island's charge over the vessels that called.

The draught of water measured how deep the loaded Hanover sat, 16 feet 8 inches aft and 15 feet forward. This figure mattered to the directors as a record of the ship's lading, and the Governor noted its accidental omission from the last general letter. The entry corrected the record for the ship then leaving.

381

277

July

St: Helena

At a Consultation held on Thursday the 16th day of

July 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfield

John Alexander

John Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

The last Consultation read & approved

On Tuesday the 14th instant arrived a Brigantine

called the Charming Sally from the Coast of Angola, One

Lepsly Master who before he came to an Anchor Sent

on Shoar the following Letter

Sir

Have the Hon:r of knowing You makes Me

come off the Coast of Guinea, & meeting with a great

Disappointment at Luebenda on the Coast of Angola, when I

come on the Coast found that our Factory was cutt off, & disappointed me of my Water as well in my Voyage, not

meeting with a Market for my Cargo, its now four Months

I therefore trouble You with a Line, I am very Short of Water having

Stipulation Since we could have any Opportunity to Water,

being bound to Barbadoes which is a long Run, & make no

doubt but that Your Hon:r will Grant me that Liberty w:ch

will highly oblige Sir Y:r most humble Serv:t

Lepsly

from on board the Charming Sally

14:o July 1724.

When he came on Shoar the Governour told him he could

not permit him to have any thing but a little Water nor even

that had any of our Hon:ble Masters Ships been in the Road

& told him to be as Expeditious in filling his Water Casks &

getting them on board as possible, or else must be obliged to

fire him out of the Road

On the 15th he Sent a Letter which is as follows

Gentlemen

Having the Misfortune to Spring the Head

of my Main Mast coming off the Coast of Guinea & having

no Opportunity to Secure him at Sea & having a great Ran

to Barbadoes this being in my Passage to Barbadoes I hope

You will Grant me the Liberty of Anchoring in Your Road

for two or three days till I make my Mast fit to carry me

to Barbadoes as also the Liberty of Watering for I have

not had an opportunity of Watering these four Months

Margin Notes:

Brigantine Arriv:d from Coast of Angola.

The Masters Lett:r to y:e Gov:r

Gov:r Instruction to him onshore.

2:d Lett:r Sent for Liberty to Anchor & refit his Mast.

St Helena. At a consultation held on Thursday 16 Jul 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present: John Smith, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin; and Benjamin Hawkes.

The last consultation was read and approved.

On Tuesday 14 Jul 1724 a brigantine called the Charming Sally arrived from the coast of Angola under Captain Lesly. Before he came to anchor he sent the following letter ashore.

Captain Lesly wrote that he was very short of water and asked leave to take some in. He had come off the coast of Guinea after a great disappointment at Luebenda on the coast of Angola, where he had found on arrival that the factory was cut off. This had failed him of his water and of his voyage, since he had spent four months meeting with nothing to make up his cargo. He had no chance to water there, being bound to Barbados on a long run, and he did not doubt the Governor would grant him that liberty. Signed aboard the Charming Sally, 14 Jul 1724, by Lesly.

When Captain Lesly came ashore the Governor told him he could allow him only a little water, nor even that if any of the Company's ships were in the road. He told him to be as quick as possible in filling his water casks and getting them aboard, or else he must leave the road.

On 15 Jul 1724 Captain Lesly sent a second letter, as follows.

Captain Lesly wrote that he had the misfortune to spring the head of his mainmast off the coast of Guinea, and now had a chance to secure it at anchor, which was of great use on his passage to Barbados. He asked leave to anchor in the road for two or three days until he could make his mast fit to carry him on to Barbados. He also asked leave to water, since he had had no chance to water for four months [...].

Interpretations

The brigantine was a two-masted vessel, smaller and handier than a full ship, used here on the slave passage between the African coast and the West Indies. The Charming Sally had sailed from Angola bound for Barbados, and her call at St Helena marked the island's place on the Atlantic slaving routes as well as the eastern trade.

The failed factory at Luebenda explained the ship's plight. A factory was a trading post where a slaving captain expected to buy his cargo, and its destruction had left Captain Lesly four months on the coast with no slaves and dwindling water. His appeal to the island rested on a distress the loss had caused.

The Governor's grudging offer showed the island's guarded hospitality. He would spare only a little water, and none at all if a Company ship were in the road, since the Company's own vessels held the first claim on the island's supply. The condition set the interests of the Company's trade above the relief of a stranger.

Speculations

The Governor allowed water but refused all other help, and made even the water conditional on no Company ship being present. He might have turned the ship away entirely or victualled her fully, yet he chose a narrow middle course. The choice let the island meet a bare claim of humanity while keeping its scarce provisions and its first duty for the Company's own shipping.

382

278

1724

& have been at a Pint a day for a Month, & have no more on board

than will Serve me for about a Week, by reason I had no Opportunity

on the Coast of Angola to Water after our Factory was cutt off, the

Misfortune to be cutt off at Luebenda upon that Coast, I want the

Your Patience with troubling You with any thing else all this

I could instance a great many more Misfortunes as Damage

in our Riging &c which if Your Hon:r do not Grant me

that Small Liberty to Secure my Mast I cannot See any

thing else but we must Perish for Water, viz I have Water

without Securing my Mast its not possible for me to gain

the Island where I am bound to so that I hope Your Hon:r

will have Compassion on Eighteen Poor Men which certainly

must Perish without Your Releife & as I have but two Masts

to loose one of them You are Sensible that its not possible for

me to gain my Port without Suffering very much, I want

trouble Your Hon:r with any thing more but as You are

English Men & Christians I hope You will consider my

Distress I now Case in & Grant me this Small Liberty, & it

will be the Meanes of Engaging the hearty Prayers of

From on board y:e Charming Sally

July 15:o 1724

Gentlemen

Y:r & distressed hum: Serv:t

S: Lepsly

He having Watered part of Yesterday & to day the Gov:r Ord:d

a Shot to be fired at him to hasten him away & the next Morn:

Sent him the following Answer

Master

You arrived here on Thursday last about Noon, & wanting to

Your desire to See Your Men from Drinking at Sea Your having

been on the allowance of a Pint of Water a Man for Death for a

Month past (as Specified in Your Second Letter to Us) We have

permitted You to Anchor in Our Road & take in Water for Your

Voyage to Barbadoes, which had there been any of our Hon:ble

Masters Ships here at the Same time We could not have Suffered You

to Stay at all, or to have the least Supply of any Sort, and as You

have been here a whole day & this Stay in a Sufficient Quantity of

Water We cannot comply with Your Request of continuing any

longer than four o'Clock this afternoon in order to Secure Y:r self

Mast, & Expect You do not tarry after the tide Limited upon any

Pretence whatsoever, nor presume to Suffer any of Your People to

come on Shoar, otherways We shall be obliged to fire You out of the

Road, & You might easily have guessed the Meaning of firing a

Shot at You Yesterday Morning I not requested to Stay next two

or three day longer under Pretence of Securing the Head of Your

Main Mast We wish You a good Voyage &c

St: Helena 16th July 1724

John Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

Margin Notes:

Prays a Supply of Wat:r

Partly Water:d Yesterday Shot fired.

Gov:r & Coun:l Answer to y:e above.

Captain Lesly's letter continued that he had been on a pint of water a day for a month and had no more aboard than would serve about a week. He had had no chance to water on the coast of Angola, after the misfortune of the factory at Luebenda being cut off. He would not try the Governor's patience by listing the many other misfortunes and damages to his rigging. Without leave to secure his mast he saw no course but to perish for want of water. He could not gain the island to which he was bound unless he secured his mast, and he hoped the Governor would have compassion on 18 poor men who must otherwise perish. He had but two masts, and to lose one was impossible for gaining his port without great suffering. He would trouble the Governor no further, the men aboard being English and Christians, and he begged that his distress be considered and this small liberty granted. Signed aboard the Charming Sally, 15 Jul 1724, by Lesly.

Captain Lesly having watered part of the previous day and this day, the Governor ordered a shot to be fired at him to hasten him away, and sent him the following answer the next morning.

The council wrote that Captain Lesly had come ashore on Tuesday last about noon, seeking to save his men from drinking at sea. It had allowed him a pint of water a man a day for the month past, as his second letter set out. It had let him anchor in the road and water for his voyage to Barbados, since no Company ship was then in the road. Had a Company ship been present, the council could not have spared him any water at all, nor allowed him the least supply of any sort. As he had now lain a whole day and half in the road, watering in a sufficient quantity, it could not agree to his staying longer than four o'clock that afternoon in order to secure his mast. It expected him not to tarry after the tide, limited upon any pretence whatsoever, nor presume to suffer any of his people to come ashore, or it would be obliged to fire him out of the road. He might easily have guessed the meaning of the shot fired the previous morning, which had asked him to stay no longer under pretence of securing the head of his mainmast. It wished him a good voyage.

Signed at St Helena, 16 Jul 1724, by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

Interpretations

The pint of water a day fixed the ration Captain Lesly's crew had lived on. This meagre allowance measured the ship's distress on a long passage without a chance to refill her casks. The figure gave weight to his plea for relief at the island.

The Governor's answer set out the strict limits of the island's help. Water was granted only because no Company ship was in the road, and the stay was capped at four o'clock that afternoon. The reply guarded the island's supply and its first duty to the Company's own vessels above a stranger's need.

The shot fired to hasten the Charming Sally served as a signal rather than an attack. A gun fired toward a ship in the road warned her to be gone, and the council spelled out that the earlier shot had carried this meaning. The threat to fire her out of the road showed the fort's power to enforce its orders on a lingering vessel.

Speculations

The council let Captain Lesly water but held him to a fixed hour and fired a warning shot to move him on. It might have driven the distressed ship off at once or let her linger to mend her mast, yet it chose to grant the water while forcing a quick departure. The choice met a bare claim of humanity toward 18 men without letting a foreign slaver settle in the island's road against the Company's interest.

383

279

July

He having Riged his Main Mast but not Sailing, at

five o'Clock a Second Shot was fired at him, upon which

he weighed Anchor & Set Saile

John Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

Island St: Helena

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 21: day of July

1724 at Plantation House

Present In:o Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

The last Consultation read & approved

William Ceele & In:o Curling Ex:rs of the last Will &

Testament of Robert Bell late of this Island Planter deceas:d

presented, the said Will this day desiring the Same might be

proved but Doc:r Johnson one of the Witnesses thereto being

absent were refused proving the Will till all the Witnesses be present

John Harding made Complaint against Benj:n

Greentree for giving him very abusive Language & Striking

him without Provocation on a Saturday Morning last, & that

the said Greentree has abused him Severall times before

The said Benj:n Greentree Says that the Said Mr

Harding Cattle having done him Damage in his Plantacion

& asking him for Satisfaction denyed to make him any

Mr Wrangham & Mr Ellis being Summoned for

Evidences for the Complainant Say that the s:d Greentree

& Harding had Severall high Words on Saturday Morning last

at Ellis House, & Mr Wrangham Says he saw Mr Greentree

Strike Mr Harding one blow with his Hand

It is Ordered that the said Greentree for Striking the

Said Harding be fined only 6/8 this being the first fault

of this Nature & Charge of Councill

John Harding gave Information that about a which Some

Saw a day of Jonathan Bispham for:r conveying a Goat &

Kid in Sandy Bay Valley & that there has been a great many

Missing belonging to their Pound

Margin Notes:

anoth:r Shott fired y:e Sec:d Saile

Execut:rs of Rob:t Bell Attended his last Will praying if same to be proved. Witness Absent so it was not

Mr Harding Compl:t ag:t Benj:n Greentree.

Greentree fined

Mr Hardings Information ab:t Dogs worrying Goats

The record noted that Captain Lesly, having rigged his mainmast but not sailing, was fired at with a second shot at five o'clock, upon which he weighed anchor and set sail.

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 21 Jul 1724 at the plantation house.

Present: John Smith, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin; and Benjamin Hawkes.

The last consultation was read and approved.

William Coles and John Gurling, executors of the last will and testament of Robert Bell, late of this island and a planter, produced the will. Since Dr Johnson, one of the witnesses, was absent, the council refused to prove the will until all the witnesses could be present.

John Harding complained against Benjamin Greentree for using abusive language to him and striking him without provocation on Saturday morning last, and said that Greentree had abused him several times before. Benjamin Greentree said that Harding, having done damage in his plantation by washing there, had denied him satisfaction. Mr Wrangham and Mr Allis, summoned as witnesses for the complainant, said the two had exchanged high words on Saturday morning at Allis's house, and Mr Wrangham said he saw Greentree strike Harding one blow with his hand.

The council ordered that Greentree be fined only 6d for striking Harding, this being the first offence of that nature.

John Harding gave information that Jonathan Higham had been carrying a boat to his home in Sandy Bay Valley for some time, and that many things were missing from their pound.

Interpretations

The refusal to prove the will turned on the absence of a witness. A will could not be admitted to the record until those who had witnessed its signing swore to it, and the missing Dr Johnson blocked the proof. The delay showed the strict evidentiary rule the council applied to probate.

Robert Bell carried a settled place in the island's records. He had agreed to buy the Belvird country plantation for £200 0s 0d on credit on 24 Jul 1712, and his widow's later refusal of the Company's paper notes for washing done aboard the Kent had exposed a £200 0s 0d land bond in Governor Boucher's time. His death now brought that estate to probate through his executors.

The small fine on Greentree marked the council's measured view of a first assault. A single blow struck in a quarrel over washing drew only 6d, the penalty scaled to the slightness of the offence and the absence of any earlier conviction. The figure showed the bench weighing conduct rather than imposing a fixed charge.

384

280

1724

Mr Wrangham Says that a Goat of his was found killed by a

Dog on Saturday last in the Range & going with the Said

Hardings & others, & that a Dog of Richard Tinsleys has

been Seen to run after & Catch Goates

Ordered that a Warrant be Directed to the Marshall to

Sanse the Said Highams & Tinsleys Dogs that have been

Seen to run after Goates to be immediatly hanged to prevent

farther Damage to the Neighbourhood

Whereas it is found to be of very ill Consequence that

any Persons should be allowed to keep any Goates in the Range

of the Hon:ble Company & Eliz: Marsh & others having Some

in the Range where Governour Pyke did Purchase others that

the said Hon:ble Company might have the entire Range to

themselves

Ordered that the Said Eliz: Marsh & all others who

have any Goates going now in the Range aforesaid do use

all possible Means to dispose of them or to remove them

to Some other Range within a Months time from the

Date hereof & that Publick Notice be given accordingly

that no Person may plead Ignorance

Gun:r French brought in his Acc:t of Gunners Stores expended

in the Month of June 1724 which was Examined approved & is

as follows

Guns fired Shot Club: Sinkers Saltpetre Powder

June 1st An Alarm

4 4 4

2 Arrived y:e Princess Anne Capt Hudson from China

9 9 9

3 Muster Day

9 1/4

4 Deliverd Mr Wheatly

7:o For Mr Fazakerly going on board

15 16 15

d:o Departed the Hertford & Princess Anne

22 22 22

8:o An Alarm

4 4 4

d:o Arrived the Walpole Capt Boddam from Ind:

21 1 4 16 21

10th Deliverd R:d Goodwin

1/4

13 To Answer two Salutes from the Walpole

30 30 30

d:o For Mr Fazakerly going on board

30 1 4 25 28

d:o Deliv:d on board the Hertford 3 Barr:s Pow:r

300

15:o D:d p:a b:e y:e James & Mary 1: 24 pound: whole Culvers

4 twelve Pound:rs 4 Demi Cannon

1

16 D:d for the Use of y:e Castle

4

18:o An Alarm

4 4

d:o Fired from Mundens P:t to make Ship bring to

3 3 3 21

d:o Arrived y:e Hannover Capt Bond

11 11 11

d:o Dep: James & Mary for Bencoolen

9 9 9

29 For Buying In Higham Soldier

12

162 3 5 8 149 539

For y:e Guards

Cartridge Gap: Expended for Guards Small Arms

1/4

d:o d:o In How

25 2

6:o for Cartridges

Flints d:o for Cleaning the Armour

2

Hand Spikes Broke

Spunge Staves broke & two Guns Redgs & P:Bay

Sheep Skins d:d on b:d P:Anne

4

Ditto Expended

2

Match Expended

35 lb

Margin Notes:

Dogs to be hang:d.

Whereas Goats ranging w:th y:e Hon:ble Co:

to be removed in one Month.

Gun:r Acc:t for June 1724

Mr Wrangham said that a goat of his had been found killed by a dog on Saturday last in the range, going with Harding and others, and that a dog of Richard Tinsley had been seen to run after and catch goats.

The council ordered a warrant directed to the marshal to have the dogs of Higham and Tinsley, which had been seen to run after goats, immediately hanged to prevent further damage to the neighbourhood.

The council found it a great harm that any persons should be allowed to keep goats in the range of the Honourable Company. Elizabeth Marsh and others held some in the range where Governor Pyke had purchased others, so that the Company might have the whole range to itself.

The council ordered that Elizabeth Marsh and all others with goats now going in the range use all possible means to dispose of them, or to remove them to some other range, within one month from this date. Public notice was to be given accordingly, so that no person might plead ignorance.

The gunner John French brought in his account of gunner's stores expended in June 1724, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Particulars for June 1724

1 June, an alarm, 4 guns fired, 4 lb powder

2 June, arrived the Princess Anne, Captain Hudson, from China, 9 guns fired, 9 lb powder

3 June, muster day, 1 gun fired, 14 lb powder

4 June, delivered Mr Wheatly

7 June, for Mr Fazakerly going aboard, 15 guns fired, 16 lb powder

7 June, departed the Hartford and Princess Anne, 22 guns fired, 22 lb powder

8 June, an alarm, 4 guns fired, 4 lb powder

9 June, arrived the Walpole, Captain Boddam, from India, 21 guns fired, 1 lb ladle, 4 falcons, 16 lb powder

10 June, delivered R. Goodwin

13 June, to answer two salutes from the Walpole, Captain Boddam, 30 guns fired, 4 falcons, 30 lb powder

13 June, for Mr Fazakerly going aboard, 30 guns fired, 1 lb ladle, 4 falcons, 25 lb powder

13 June, delivered aboard the Hartford, 3 barrels powder, 300 lb powder

15 June, delivered aboard the James and Mary, 1 24-pounder whole culverin, 4 12-pounder demi-cannon, 1 lb powder

16 June, delivered for the use of the castle, 4 guns fired, 4 lb powder

18 June, an alarm, 3 guns fired, 3 lb shot, 3 lb ladle, 2 lb powder

18 June, fired from Munden's Point to make a ship bring to, 11 guns fired, 2 lb shot, 11 lb powder

18 June, arrived the Hanover, Captain Bond, 9 guns fired, 9 lb powder

22 June, departed the James and Mary for Bencoolen, 12 lb powder

29 June, for buying in Higham, soldier, 20 lb

Total, 162 guns fired, 3 lb shot, 5 lb ladle, 8 falcons, 149 lb saltpetre, 539 lb powder

Cartridge paper expended for the guards' small arms, 1 quire

cartridge paper expended in flow, 25 quires

flints expended for cleaning the armour, 2

handspikes broken, 2

sponge staves broken at the two gun ridges and Prosperous Bay, 2

sheepskins delivered aboard the Princess Anne, 4

sheepskins expended, 2

match expended, 35 lb

Interpretations

The delivery of ordnance to the James and Mary records the arming of a departing ship. A whole culverin was a long heavy cannon firing a 24 lb shot, and a demi-cannon a shorter piece of larger bore. The transfer of these guns from the island's stores fitted the vessel for defence on her passage.

The falcon was a small light cannon firing a shot of about 2 lb to 3 lb. The gunner tracked the powder charges for these lighter pieces in their own column alongside the great guns. Their frequent use in salutes marked them as the fort's ready ceremonial ordnance.

The sheepskins served the handling of powder. Skins and hides were used to make and line the cartridges and to cover the powder against damp and spark. Their issue aboard the Princess Anne shows the material passing to a ship for her own gunner's use.

Speculations

The council ordered the neighbours' goats cleared from the range within a month rather than seizing or destroying them at once. It might have simply barred the animals or taken them for the Company, yet it allowed the owners time to sell or move them. The choice let the Company gain the whole range while sparing the planters an outright loss of their stock.

385

281

July

Mr Byfield brought in & deliverd an acc:t of the Hon:ble

Companies Stock of Neat Cattle &c:a for the Month of June

1724 which was Examined approved & is as follows

Neat Cattle

Bullock Cowes Heifers Steers Yearlings Calves Bulls Totall

Rem:n ult: May

5 33 8 5 5 44 1 95

Bought in June

12 6 3 6 4 30

Enc:ba Cattle grown

3 3 3 2 11

20 42 14 5 5 48 2 136

Del: to the Fort

20 42 14 5 5 48 2 136

Kill:d for Ships in d:o

13 6 9 20

7 37 12 5 5 48 2 116

Cattle Grown in d:o

9 11

Remains ult: June

7 37 12 7 5 57 2 127

Sheep

Ewes Withers Lambs Rams Totall

32 12 14 6 64

32 12 14 6 64

32 12 14 6 64

32 12 14 6 64

Goates

Ewes Withers Rams Lambs Totall

94 20 26 13 153

94 20 26 13 153

5 5

94 25 26 13 148

94 15 26 13 148

94 15 26 13 148

Hogs

Sows Shoats Boars Piggs Totall

7 8 1 16

14 14

7 8 1 14 30

7 8 1 14 30

7 8 1 14 30

7 8 1 14 30

Poultry & Horses

Turkeys Fowles Ducks Geese Asses Horse Mares Totall

38 90 10 12 6 4 2 6

4

38 94 10 12 6 4 2 6

2 8

36 86 10 12 6 4 2 6

36 86 10 12 6 4 2 6

36 86 10 12 6 4 2 6

Yams Expended for the Hogs & Poultry 157 4 lb

Margin Notes:

Mr Byfields Acc:t for June

Mr Byfield brought in and delivered an account of the Honourable Company's stock of neat cattle and other livestock for the month of June 1724, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Neat cattle bullocks cows heifers steers yearlings calves bulls total

Remaining last May 5 33 8 5 5 44 1 95

Bought in June 12 6 3 - 6 4 1 30

Increase, cattle grown 3 3 3 - - 2 - 11

20 42 14 5 5 48 2 136

Delivered to the Fort - - - - - - - -

20 42 14 5 5 48 2 136

Killed for ships in the road 13 6 2 - - - - 20

7 37 12 5 5 48 2 116

Cattle grown in the road - - - 2 - 9 - 11

Remaining last June 7 37 12 7 5 57 2 127

Sheep ewes withers lambs rams total

Remaining last May 32 12 14 6 64

Remaining last June 32 12 14 6 64

Goats ewes withers rams lambs total

Remaining last May 94 20 26 13 153

Delivered to the Fort - 5 - - 5

94 15 26 13 148

Remaining last June 94 15 26 13 148

Hogs sows shoats boars pigs total

Remaining last May 7 8 1 - 16

Bought in June - - - 14 14

7 8 1 14 30

Killed for ships in the road - - - - -

Remaining last June 7 8 1 14 30

Poultry turkeys fowls ducks geese total

Remaining last May 38 90 10 12 150

Delivered to the Fort 2 8 - - -

36 86 10 12 -

Remaining last June 36 86 10 12 -

Horses asses horses mares total

Remaining last June 6 4 2 6

Yams expended for the hogs and poultry, 157,400

Interpretations

The livestock account tracked the Company's herds month by month under several classes. Neat cattle covered the oxen and cows, the term marking bovine stock as distinct from sheep, goats, hogs and poultry. Withers, or wethers, were castrated male sheep and goats kept for meat and fleece.

The killing of cattle for the ships in the road shows the island's role in victualling the fleet. The council drew 13 bullocks and 6 cows from the herd to feed the vessels that called. This charge fell heavily on stock already thinned by the long drought through 1723 and 1724.

The yams expended for the hogs and poultry recorded the crop fed to the animals rather than to people. Yams were the island's staple root, and 157,400 of them went to fattening the stock over the month. The scale of the figure shows how much of the harvest the livestock consumed.

Speculations

The account distinguished cattle grown in the road from those bought in or remaining. The council counted the beasts that came of age within the month as a separate gain, rather than folding them into the opening stock. This let the record show the herd's natural increase apart from purchases, giving the directors a true measure of how the drought-struck stock was recovering.

386

282

1724

Capt Goodwin brought in & deliverd an Acc:t of Goods Sold &

deliverd in the Month of June last which was Examined

approved & is as follows.

10 9 3/4 Gall: Arrack

34 16 1

26 3 Key Sugar

6 13 10 1/2

101 lb Bread

2 7 9

81 lb Flower

7 3

40 1/2 lb Leaf Tobacco

2 6

36 lb Soap

1 16 6

3/4 Gall Rape Oyle

4 6

Haberdashery Ware viz:t

1/2 lb White & Brown Thread N:o 7

4 6

1 oz Nuns Thread

4 1

1 Peice Broad Holland Tape

8 4

2 Ordinary Short Silk Laces

1 10

2 P:r Black Silk Gloves

16

4 yards Lutestring

9 2

2 oz China Silk

4 4 1/2

China Ware viz:t

4 China Bowles

10 2

4 Speakers

6

3 Small Cups

4 8

6 Cupps & Saucers

4 2

14 yards Ferretting

8

5 Boz Hooks Sorted

2 5 3

2 lb Shoe Thread

5 3

1/2 lb Twine Lamblack

3 8

7 Barrells

2 6

1 Tin Sauce Pan

6

2 Callico Shirts

9

1 P:r Surat Shirts

9 8

1 P:r Blew Ginggham

8 6

1/4 P:r Bengall Taffety

2 8 6

2 yards Broad Cloth

8 2

7 yards Istry

5 8

1 Punt Silk Locks

3 7 1/2

4 1/2 lb Nailes

1 8

1 lb Sask

6 4

4 Quire Paper

Sum Tot:ll to y:e Inhab:ts£

57 16 6

Captain Goodwin brought in and delivered an account of goods sold in the month of June, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Store, sold for June

10¾ gallons arrack, £34 15s 1d

26 lb sugar, £6 13s 10½d

19 lb bread, £2 7s 9d

81 lb flower, £1 2s 3d

40½ lb leaf tobacco, £2 [...]s [...]d

36 lb soap, £1 15s 6d

¾ gallon rape oil, £0 4s 6d

Haberdashery ware, namely

½ lb white brown thread No. 7, £0 4s 6d

1 oz nuns' thread, £0 1s 8d

1 piece broad Holland tape, £0 1s 4d

2 ordinary short silk laces, £0 [...]s 10d

2 pairs black silk gloves, £0 16s 0d

4 yards lutestring, £0 9s 4d

2 oz China silk, £0 4s 4d

China ware, namely

4 China bowls, £0 10s 0d

4 sneakers, £0 2s 0d

3 small cups, £0 [...]s 6d

6 cups and saucers, £0 4s 0d

14 yards ferreting, £0 2s 8d

5 dozen hooks forked, £0 2s 3d

2 lb shoe thread, £0 5s 3d

1½ lb twine, £0 3s 8d

7 barrels lamp black, £0 2s 6d

1 tin saucepan, £0 0s 6d

2 callico shirts, £0 9s 0d

1 surat shirt, £0 5s 8d

1 blue gingham, £0 8s 6d

14 pieces Bengal taffety, £2 8s 6d

2 yards broadcloth, £0 8s 2d

7 yards estry, £0 5s 6d

1 pair tin locks, £0 3s 7½d

4½ lb nails, £0 1s 8d

1 lb tack, £0 6s 4d

4 quires paper

Sum total to inhabitants, £57 16s 6d

Interpretations

The silk lines record fine imported dress goods held apart from the plain thread. Lutestring was a lightweight glossy silk taffeta used for gowns and ribbons. Black silk gloves and short silk laces served as trimmings and accessories for better wear.

The cotton cloths point to the Company's western trade. Gingham was a checked or striped cotton woven in India, and taffety a plain closely woven silk or cotton, here graded as Bengal work. These fabrics reached the island through the eastern factories rather than from Britain.

The account was rendered by Captain Goodwin rather than the storekeeper. This continued the practice seen in the May reckoning, where the fourth councillor delivered the goods sold for the month. The division kept the sales audit in a hand separate from the one that issued the plantation stores.

387

283

July 1724

Diet Expences d:o Brought o:r

57 16 6

1 Cask Bread

5 12

1 d:o Flower

6 6

1 d:o Sweet

8 9

1 Gall: Sweet Oyle

8 3

3 lb Pepper

6 19 6

27 9 lb Sugar

General Charges d:o

50 lb Soap

3 10 10

1 Box Wax Candles

22 10

6 doz China Plates

3 12

12 Bowles

1 10

4 Cruets

4

4 Large Glasses

10

9 lb Decantors

7

1 d:o d:o

10

2 lb Twine

4

4 oz China Silk

4 4

1 Qt Sweet Oyle

10

1 d:o Rape Oyle

9 2 1/4

7 1/2 Groce Corks

3

1 Grater Bason

1 1 6

2 Midling Tin Sauce Pans

5 9

1 Sackbline N:o 14

6 2

2 Butchers Knives

3 4

1 P:o Chest Hinges N:o 2

1 1

1 d:o Lock N:o 9

8

1 lb Gimp Nailes

7 6

General Charges d:o

1 3

Garrison

8 Cattees Green Tea

12

7 Gall: Rape Oyle

2 2

1 P:o Coarse Long Cloth

1

1/2 d:o Sack Thread

1 1

Plantation

4 Gall: Grayne Oyle

1 4

2 Plate Locks w:th Brass hasp

2 10

123 7 11 1/4

Diet expenses

Brought over, £57 15s 5d

1 cask bread, £5 12s 0d

1 lb flower, £6 6s 0d

1 lb sweet oil, £0 8s 9d

1 gallon sweet oil

3 lb pepper, £6 19s 6d

279 lb sugar

General charges

50 lb soap, £3 10s 10d

1 box wax candles, £22 10s 0d

6 dozen China plates, £3 12s 0d

12 bowls, £1 10s 0d

4 cruets, £0 4s 0d

4 large glasses, £0 10s 0d

2 decanters, £0 7s 0d

1 decanter, £0 10s 0d

2 lb twine, £0 4s 4d

4 oz China silk, £0 10s 0d

1 quart sweet oil, £0 9s 2¼d

1 quart rape oil, £0 3s 0d

7½ gross corks, £1 1s 6d

1 pewter basin, £0 5s 9d

2 middling tin saucepans, £0 6s 0d

1 tacklin line No. 14, £0 3s 4d

2 butchers' knives, £0 1s 8d

1 pair chest hinges No. 2, £0 7s 6d

1 iron lock No. 9, £0 7s 0d

1 lb gimp nails, £0 1s 3d

Garrison

8 catties green tea, £1 12s 0d

7 gallons rape oil, £0 2s 2d

1 piece coarse long cloth, £1 0s 0d

½ lb sack thread, £0 1s 1d

Plantation

4 gallons train oil, £1 4s 0d

2 plate bolts with brass heads, £0 2s 10d

Total, £123 7s 11¼d

Interpretations

The wax candles formed the largest single charge on the page at £22 10s 0d. Wax gave a cleaner, brighter and longer-burning light than tallow, and the box of them marked a superior grade of lighting for the establishment.

The glass and table lines record the finer wares of the officers' mess. Cruets held oil and vinegar for the table, decanters served wine, and the large glasses were drinking vessels. These goods came through the Company's trade for the use of the fort's dining.

Train oil was the oil rendered from whale or fish blubber, used for lamps, dressing leather and coarser work. Its charge to the plantation account reflects its use as a working material rather than a food. The four gallons supplied the plantation's practical needs.

388

284

1724

The Hon:ble Comp: Black Brought over

123 7 11 1/4

1 Cask Pork

13

3 Beife

42

7 d:o Wheat 9/2 55 Bush:o 7/6 p Bush:o

20 12 6

6 4 3 2 lb Rice

67 18

132 lb Sugar

3 6

5 1/4 Gall: Arrack

1 13 3

4 P:r English Shoes a 5/9

1 3

1 P:r Ordinary Long Cloth

1

36 1/2 doz Hooks Sorted

15

91 Linked

2 6 6

1 lb Shoe Thread

2 6

6 Midling Blankets

1 18

2 Small ditto

15

Fortification

1 Splinter Lock N:o 7

3 8

2 Cupps d:o 1/10

3 8

2 P:o Chest Hinges 4

5 2

8 Barrells Lamp Black

4

2 Lines N:o 10

2 6

30 Square Glass 10 & 12

2 5

18th 10 d Nailes

12

18 4 d:o 10

15

18 3 d:o 1/1

19 6

7 2 d:o 1/1/3

8 9

235 16 6 1/4

Mr Crispe brought in his Acc:t of the Expence of the

General Table for the Month of June which was Examined

approved & is as follows viz:t

6 6 1/4 Gall: Arrack a 6:4 p Gall

20 18

7 3 Bottles Mountain 3: p Bottle

10 19

8 2 d:o Galicia 2:0 p Bottle

8 4

16 d:o Salt Beife a 2:6

1 2 8

8 d:o Salt Pork 2:10

1 7 3

109 lb Bread a 3d p lb

3 18

136 lb Sugar a 6

47 18 11

The Honourable Company's Blacks

Brought over, £123 7s 11¼d

1 cask pork, £0 13s 0d

3 casks beef, £42 0s 0d

7 casks wheat, 55 bushels at 7s 6d per bushel, £20 12s 6d

6,432 lb rice, £67 18s 0d

132 lb sugar, £3 6s 0d

5¼ gallons arrack, £1 13s 3d

4 pairs English shoes at 5s 9d, £1 3s 0d

1 piece ordinary long cloth, £1 0s 0d

36½ dozen hooks forked, £0 15s 0d

91 lines forked, £2 6s 0d

1 lb shoe thread, £0 2s 6d

6 middling blankets, £1 18s 0d

2 small blankets, £0 15s 0d

Fortification

1 splinter lock No. 7, £0 3s 8d

2 cups No. 7 at 1s 10d, £0 3s 8d

2 pairs chest hinges No. 4, £0 5s 2d

8 barrels lamp black, £0 4s 0d

2 lines No. 10, £0 2s 6d

30 squares glass No. 10 and No. 12, £0 5s 0d

18 lb 10d nails, £0 12s 0d

18 lb 4d nails at 10d, £0 15s 0d

18 lb 3d nails at 1s 1d, £0 19s 6d

7 lb 2d nails at 1s 1d, £0 8s 9d

Total, £235 16s 6¼d

Mr Crispe brought in his account of the expense of the General Table for the month of June, which the council examined and approved as follows.

General Table, expense for June

66¼ gallons arrack at 6s 4d per gallon, £20 18s 0d

73 bottles Mountain at 3s per bottle, £10 19s 0d

89 bottles Galicia at 2s per bottle, £8 4s 0d

16 pieces salt beef at 2s 6d, £1 2s 8d

8 pieces salt pork at 2s 10d, £1 7s 3d

109 lb bread at 3s per lb, £3 18s 0d

136 lb sugar at 6d, £47 18s 11d

Interpretations

The wheat entry ran to 7 casks holding 55 bushels, priced at 7s 6d per bushel. Wheat came to the island through the Company's ships as a grain the drought-struck land could not raise in quantity. Its bulk supply under the slaves' account marked it as a staple of their diet.

The salt beef and salt pork were reckoned by the piece rather than the pound. These were the preserved meats packed in casks for keeping, cut and issued in set portions. The method suited a store meant to last rather than fresh meat eaten at once.

The glass squares graded No. 10 and No. 12 were window panes for the fortification. Numbered sizes let the works draw the pane each frame required. Their charge to the fortification account reflects the glazing of the fort's buildings.

389

285

July

Brought o:r £ 47 13 11

35 Fowles a 1/6

2 12 6

186 lb Flower a 3d

1 19 0

75 lb Soap a 1/5

1 5 5

4 2 lb Wax Candles a 2 p lb

4 4

5 88 lb Fresh Beefe a 3d p lb Cut

7 7

5 Goates a 10:o ca

12 10

20 Turkeys

12

40 3/4 Fresh Butter

2 9

30 Days Greens

1 10

60 Bottles Milk

7

2 Kidd

10

17 d:o Oyle

14 8

4 d:o

12

6 d:o Vinegar

6

3 lb Pepper

3

75 13 3

I: Crispe

John: Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Benj: Hawkes

Brought over, £47 13s 11d

35 fowls at 1s 6d, £2 12s 6d

186 lb flower at 3d, £1 19s 0d

75 lb soap at 1s 5d, £1 5s 5d

42 lb wax candles at 2s per lb, £4 4s 0d

588 lb fresh beef at 25s per hundredweight, £7 7s 0d

5 goats at 10s each, £2 10s 0d

2 turkeys, £0 12s 0d

40¾ lb fresh butter, £2 0s 9d

30 days greens, £1 10s 0d

60 bottles milk, £1 0s 0d

2 ducks, £0 10s 0d

17 lb candles, £0 14s 8d

4 quarts oil, £0 12s 0d

6 gallons vinegar, £0 0s 6d

3 lb pepper, £0 0s 3d

Total, £75 13s 3d

Signed by Crispe, John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

Interpretations

The greens and milk lines were reckoned by the day rather than by weight or measure. This method suited perishable goods delivered fresh each day to the table. The clerk totted 30 days of greens and 60 bottles of milk across the month.

The fresh beef stood at 588 lb charged at 25s per hundredweight, the standing island rate for cattle bought from the planters. Fresh meat killed for the table was reckoned apart from the salted store. The single line marked the month's supply of beef to the General Table.

The signatures of Crispe and the five councillors close the account. Crispe rendered the reckoning of the General Table, and John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes set their hands to it as examined and approved. The board attested the figures before they went home to the directors.

390

286

1724

Island St: Helena

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 28: day of

July 1724 at Plantation House

Pres:t John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfield

John Alexander

John Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

The last Consultation read & approved

William Seele & John Curling Ex:rs of the last Will &

Testament of Robert Bell late of this Island Freeholder deceas:d

presented the said Bells Will desiring the Same might be proved

which was accordingly & upon the oaths of Henry Johnson, Stephen

Pearse Pledger & John Seele Witnesses to the said Will

Ordered that the said Robert Bells Will be approved &

Entered in a Book for that Purpose & Copie given when desired

The said Ex:rs likewise brought in & delivered an Inventory

of the said deceased Rob:t Bells Estate both Real & Personall w:ch

was accordingly received & ordered to be Lodged in the Secretaries

Office & Copie given if required

Ordered that an Advertisement be published forbiding all

Persons carrying of Guns or Shooting of Goates Partridges

Guinea Hens or any other Sort of Game without leave &

Licence from the Governour upon the Penalty of being fined for

Such offence & to Encourage the Discovery & apprehending

any Such Person acting contrary hereunto any persons giving

Such Information & making proof either by his own Testimony

or otherwise shall receive a reward of twenty Shilling for each

offence

Mr Byfield Report that a Wench of the Hon:ble Comp:s

Named Alce or the Flute was delivered of a Boy last Week called

Jack

To the Hon:ble Nath: Elwick Esq:r President &c:a

Councile at Fort Fitzerge

Hon:ble Sir & Sirs

Our last to You was by the Ships Capt Janatt Summers

Commander under date of the 24th July 1724 which Your above

By Yours of the 5th of October following by Carnarvon and

Cardigan came safe to hand

This comes by the James & Mary Capt Tho:s Auborn Comd:r

who arrived here after a tedious Passage from England on

the 28th of May last which is very acceptable to Us as well

as the Rice & Sugar You have been kind to Supply Us with

in the time of Scarcity & beg Your Continuance of the full one

Margin Notes:

Rob:t Bells last Will proved

Advertisem:t to forbid Shooting

20 reward offer:d

B:th Boy Com:s

Lett:r p:r James & Mary to fort St: George

Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 28 Jul 1724 at the plantation house.

Present: John Smith, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin; and Benjamin Hawkes.

The last consultation was read and approved.

William Coles and John Gurling, executors of the last will and testament of Robert Bell, late of this island and a planter, produced the will. The council found it might now be proved on the oaths of Henry Johnson, Stephen Pearse Pledger and John Coles, witnesses to the will.

The council ordered that Robert Bell's will be approved and entered in a book for that purpose, with copies given when desired.

The executors brought in and delivered an inventory of the real and personal estate of Robert Bell. The council received it and ordered it lodged in the Secretary's office, with copies given if required.

The council ordered an advertisement published forbidding all persons to carry guns or shoot goats, partridges, guinea fowls or any other sort of game without leave and licence from the Governor. Any person offending was to be fined for each offence. To encourage the discovery and apprehension of offenders, any person giving such information and making proof by his own testimony or otherwise was to receive a reward of 20s 0d for each offence.

Mr Byfield reported that a slave of the Honourable Company named Alce at the Hutts had been delivered of a boy last week, called Jack.

To the Honourable Nathaniel Elwick, President, and the Council at Fort St George.

The council wrote that its last letter had gone by the James and Mary under Captain Samuel Sommers, dated 24 Jul 1724. Fort St George's letter of 5 Oct 1723 had come safe by the Carnarvon and Cardigan. This letter went by the James and Mary under Captain Thomas Alibone, who had arrived after a tedious passage from England on 28 May 1724 with a cargo of goods and provisions for the island. The council found the cargo very welcome, along with the rice and sugar Fort St George had been kind to supply in the time of scarcity, and begged its continuance of the full [...].

Interpretations

The will could now be proved because the witnesses were available to swear to it. Probate required the witnesses to the signing to give their oaths, and the earlier delay had turned on the absence of Dr Johnson at the consultation of 21 Jul 1724. The presence of Henry Johnson, Stephen Pearse Pledger and John Coles allowed the will to be admitted.

The game law protected the island's stock and wildlife through a licensing rule. It barred shooting without the Governor's leave and set a reward of 20s 0d to informers. The mechanism enlisted the inhabitants themselves to enforce the ban, turning private testimony into the means of prosecution.

The letter to Fort St George recorded the island's dependence on India for grain. Fort St George was the Company's chief settlement on the Coromandel coast, at Madras. Its shipments of rice and sugar had relieved the island through the drought, and the council pressed for their continuance.

391

287

July

One & Sent in only Rice & Sugar as desired in Our former Letter

it being very usefull to Us

By the inclosed List of Shipping which we Send

according to Your desire You will find those Dispatched from You

have arrived with Us & brought Us You Severall Letters &

Invoices containing the Goods aforesaid so that We had not

particularize them Dates or Ships Name, by which they came

What relates to the Commanders Supplying themselves

with Quantities Arrack to dispose of here, We beg the Continuance

of Your Caution to the Cont:rary

In Our former Letters We desired You would not Send

Us any more Black offenders with Our Reasons why, & that You

would Transport them to Some other Place, which request

We now renew & because We have received Fr:m Bombay India

who have been found Guilty of Notorious Crimes We send

Some of them to Bencoolen on this Ship according to Our

Hon:ble Masters Order

The Governour has received the four Bomb Shells

Sent by the Cardigan & returns thanks intending to make

the Experiment Mentioned in Ours by the Ships

According to Our Hon:ble Masters farther Orders We

have Sent Two of Our Great Guns, that are usless here on

the James & Mary to Bencoolen to be disposed of for their use

if they cant do so they are then to Send them as speedily as

they can to Fort St: George of which We thought proper

to give You this Notice

The Governour returns You his thanks for Your kind

Congratulating him to the Government here

We have not farther to add at present but heartily to

wish You Health & Prosperity & that Our Hon:ble Masters

affair may flourish under Your Wise care

Hon:ble Sir & Sirs

Y:r most hum: Serv:t

John Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

St: Helena Union Castle

12:o June 1724

Pet:o The Gov:r being Credibly Inform:d

informed that Catamarans would be of great service

here as well for the Fishery as other Occasions & We

desire You will Send Us by each Ship four or Six pices

of such Timber as they are made of with what else

You shall think proper & four fishermen to build & use

to the said Catamerons & We will encourage them

all We can.

The letter to Fort St George continued that the council had sent only rice and sugar, as its former letter had asked, these being very useful to the island.

By the enclosed list of shipping, Fort St George would find those ships despatched from it had arrived and brought the council several letters and invoices for the goods. The invoices were dated on the ship by which they came, so the council need not particularise them here.

As to the commanders supplying themselves with quantities of arrack to dispose of on their own account, the council begged the continuance of Fort St George's care in that matter.

In its former letters the council had asked that no more black offenders be sent with the Company's reasons for it, and that they be transported to some other place. The council pressed the request again, having now received two India-born men found guilty of notorious crimes. It sent some of them to Bencoolen on this ship, following the Honourable Masters' order.

The Governor had received the four bomb shells sent by the Cardigan and returned thanks, intending to make the experiment mentioned in the letter by the Essex.

Following the Honourable Masters' further orders, the council had sent 10 of the Company's great guns, useless on the island, by the James and Mary to Bencoolen, to be disposed of there. If they could not do so, they were to send them as speedily as they could to Fort St George, of which the council thought proper to give notice.

The Governor returned thanks for Fort St George's kind congratulations on his coming to the government.

The council had nothing further to add at present, but heartily wished Fort St George health and prosperity, and that the Honourable Masters' affairs might flourish under its care.

Signed at St Helena, Union Castle, 12 Jun 1724, by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

The Governor, being credibly informed that catamarans would be of great use at the island for the fishery and other occasions, asked Fort St George to send 10 by each ship, five or six pieces of timber as they were made of, with whatever else it thought proper. The fair fishermen employed on the catamarans would be encouraged all the council could.

Interpretations

The catamarans were the raft-like craft of the Coromandel coast, made from lashed logs of light timber. The Governor sought them for the island's fishery, where they could work the surf better than heavier boats. The request for the timber as well shows an intent to build and repair them locally.

The bomb shells were hollow iron projectiles filled with powder and fired from mortars. The four sent by the Cardigan were to be tested in an experiment the Governor planned. Their supply marked the fort's continuing armament from the Company's Indian stores.

The despatch of useless great guns to Bencoolen shows the redistribution of ordnance across the Company's stations. Bencoolen was the Company's pepper settlement on the west coast of Sumatra. The island served as a point through which surplus guns passed eastward on the Masters' orders.

The removal of India-born offenders continued the island's resistance to unwanted men. The council had long pressed Fort St George not to send convicts, and it forwarded these to Bencoolen. The exchange marked St Helena as a reluctant link in the Company's movement of prisoners.

392

288

1724

To the Hon:ble W:m Phipps Esq:r President

& Councile at Bombay

Hon:ble Sir & Sirs

Our last to You was by the Ship Capt Jonathan

Summers Comd:r under date of the 10th June via Fort St: George

who has Since returned home

This comes by the James & Mary Capt Tho:s Auborn Comd:r

who arrived here from England with a Cargo of Goods & Provisions

for the Use of this Island on the 28th day of May last he having

been on his Passage about four Months & bound from hence

for Bencoolen

By the inclosed List of Shiping which wee continue

to Send according to Your repeated desire You'll find his Ma:tie

Ships of War beside the Dawson, King George, & Stanhope

have arrived w:th Us in their way home

Wee have been according to Advice in Yours

of the 9th November 1722 in Expectation of the Hannover &

Prince Frederick & by them was in hopes of receiving Some

Rice & other Grain from You to keep Supply Us in the time

of Scarcity, but neither of them have arrived yet. Wee desire

You'll Send Us as much Rice &c on the other Ships as possible

You can procure & beg the favour of You to Send Us three

or four Hogsheads of good double Stilled Goa Arrack for

Our own Drinking at Table which Wee cant be so well

Supplyd with from any other of Our Masters Settlements

By the King George You Sent Us two Prisoners

One a Portugueze & the other a Coffree the former We provided

with Capt Broughton to carry on in the Ship for Europe

the Lada wee keep closely imployed in hard Labour in Our

Masters Works, but as You would not Send Us any

more We having too many that may be easily Seduced &

for which reason We have Sent Some of them to Bencoolen

now by the James & Mary

We have nothing farther to add at present but

heartily to wish You Health & Prosperity & that Our

Masters affair may florish under You. We are

Hon:ble Sir & Sirs

Y:r Most hum: Serv:t

In:o Smith

Ed:w Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

Jun 12:o 1724

Margin Notes:

Lett:r to Bombay

To the Honourable William Phipps, President, and the Council at Bombay.

The council wrote that its last letter had gone by the Essex under Captain Jonathan Sommers, dated 10 Jun 1724, by way of Fort St George, and that ship had since returned home.

This letter went by the James and Mary under Captain Thomas Alibone, who had arrived from England with a cargo of goods and provisions for the island on 28 May 1724, after a passage of about four months, and was bound from the island for Bencoolen.

By the enclosed list of shipping, which the council continued to send at Bombay's repeated request, Bombay would find that its man of war, along with the Dawson, King George and Stanhope, had arrived safe at the island on their way home.

The council had, following the advice in Bombay's letter of 9 Nov 1723, waited in expectation of the Hanover and the Prince Frederick, hoping to receive some rice and other grain to keep the island supplied in the time of scarcity, but neither had yet arrived. It asked Bombay to send as much rice and other grain as possible on the other ships, and begged the favour of three or four hogsheads of good double-distilled Goa arrack for its own drinking at table, which it could not otherwise obtain from any of the Masters' settlements.

By the King George Bombay had sent the council two prisoners, one a Portuguese and the other African. The council had provided the former with Captain Broughton to carry on the ship for Europe, the men being closely employed in hard labour at the Masters' works. It would not send the latter, having too many that might be easily obtained, and had for that reason sent some of them to Bencoolen now by the James and Mary.

The council had nothing further to add at present, but heartily wished Bombay health and prosperity, and that the Masters' affairs might flourish under its care.

Signed at St Helena, 12 Jun 1724, by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

Interpretations

Bombay was the Company's chief settlement on the western coast of India. The council addressed its president and council as one of the great presidencies from which the island drew supply. The letter formed part of the routine correspondence between the stations.

The double-distilled Goa arrack was a stronger, purer spirit than the ordinary Batavia kind. Goa was the Portuguese enclave on the western Indian coast known for its distilling. The council prized it for the officers' table and could get it from no other Company settlement.

The list of shipping served Bombay as a record of vessels safely arrived. The council tracked the man of war, the Dawson, the King George and the Stanhope on their homeward passage. This reporting let the presidencies follow the movement of the fleet across the ocean.

The refusal to keep the African prisoner shows the island's guarded acceptance of convicts. The council held that such men were easily obtained and forwarded them to Bencoolen. It kept the Portuguese prisoner for the works but pressed the burden of the rest onto the eastern settlement.

393

289

July

To the Hon:ble W:m Phipps Esq:r President &c:a

Councile at Bombay

Hon:ble Sir & Sirs

Since wee wrote & Sealed up Our by this Ship

James & Mary under date of the 12:o instant hath Safely

arrived with Us on the 18:o following the Hannover, Capt

John Bond from Bombay by whom We are favoured with

Yours of the 25:o Jan:ry 1723/4, in Reply to Ours by the

Leithuellier & Essex, written other to Our govern:r who

returns his hearty thanks for Your kind Congratulating

him to the Government here & good wishes for the Success

There being so many of the Rice Goods & Quilts

formerly received from Bombay now remaining in Our

Stores is the reason wee forbid desiring any more till such

time as they are more disposed off

Wee have received by this Ship Hannover 100: Bags

of Rice which wee cant but Esteem a peculiar favour

& turn You Our hearty thanks for so large a Quantity

besides the assurance You give Us of a farther Supply

with Some Wheat by the Prince Frederick, as well as a

continuance of more by all other Ships You hereafter

Dispatch which will be always very acceptable to Us &

the Inhabitants of this Place

The Governour returns his thanks farther for the S:d

Bomb Shells now received intending to make an Experim:t

with them when he meets with a favourable Opportunity

By the List of the arrival & Departure of Shipping

You'le find the time the Dawson arrived with Us & doubt

not but you'le have a far better acc:t of her Arrival in

England & what farther relates to that Ship than We

can pretend to give You long before this reaches Yo hands

In Our aforesaid Letter of the 12:o instant beside the

Rice & other Grain, We begged You'le please to Send Us We

therein desired You would oblige Us with three or four

Hogsheads of good Goa Arrack for Our own Drinking

which request Wee renew by this & hope it will be of

the best Sort

And also for the reasons given in that as

well as in others formerly & finding a Criminal to be

now Sent Us We cant omit descbeing You would

forbear Sending any at all here who are too many of

very ill Principles & ready on all Occasions to be mischievous

Margin Notes:

2:d Lett:r to Bombay p:r arriv:l of y:e Hannover

To the Honourable William Phipps, President, and the Council at Bombay.

The council wrote that since it had sealed its last letter, the James and Mary, dated 12 Jul 1724, had safely arrived on 18 Jul 1724, along with the Hanover under Captain John Bond from Bombay. By that ship the council was favoured with Bombay's letter of 25 Jan 1724, in reply to its own by the Lethulier and Essex. The Governor returned his hearty thanks for Bombay's kind congratulations on his coming to the government and its good wishes for its success.

There being so many of the piece goods and quilts formerly received from Bombay now remaining in the island's stores, the council asked that no more be sent for such time as they were disposed of.

The council had received 100 bags of rice by the Hanover, which it esteemed a particular favour, and returned hearty thanks for so large a quantity. It valued too the assurance of a further supply, with some wheat by the Prince Frederick, and a continuance of the same by all other ships hereafter, which would always be very acceptable to the island and its inhabitants.

The Governor returned his thanks further for the four bomb shells now received, intending to make an experiment with them when he met with a favourable opportunity.

By the list of the arrival and departure of shipping, Bombay would find the time the Dawson arrived at the island. The council did not doubt Bombay would have a better account of her arrival in England than it could give here before this letter reached its hands.

In its former letter of 12 Jul 1724, besides the rice and other grain, the council had begged Bombay to send three or four hogsheads of good Goa arrack for its own drinking, and it hoped this would be of the best sort.

For the reasons given in that letter and others before, and finding a criminal now sent to the island, the council could not omit asking Bombay to forbear sending any at all, there being too many of very ill principle and ready on all occasions to be mischievous.

Interpretations

Piece goods were lengths of woven Indian cloth traded by the piece. They came to the island through the western presidency at Bombay. The council held a surplus in its stores and asked that no more be shipped until it had sold them.

Quilts were padded coverlets, often of Indian cotton or silk work. They formed part of the same consignment of textiles from Bombay. Their build-up in the stores prompted the council to check further supply.

The bomb shells were hollow iron projectiles filled with powder and fired from mortars. The Governor planned to test them once conditions allowed. Their arrival by the Hanover renewed the fort's stock of ordnance from Bombay.

The renewed plea against convicts continued the island's guarded stance. The council held that such men were of ill character and quick to cause trouble. It pressed Bombay, as it had Fort St George, to send no more offenders to a small and vulnerable settlement.

394

290

1724

& very often has tended to the Destruction of all the White

People upon the Island, & Wee now think Our Selves too heavy

Wee have not farther to add but to wish You health

& Happyness &c:a

Hon:ble Sir & Sirs

Y:r most hum: Serv:t

In:o Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

St: Helena Union Castle

12:o June 1724

P:S: The Criminal before Mentioned by

Name Manuel Pariera Sent Us on the Hannover

We have now Sent to Bencoolen on the James & Mary

with four others among whom Some of them have

been Sent from India

To the Hon:ble John Deane Esq:r President &c:a

Councile at Bengale

Hon:ble Sir & Sirs

Our last to You was by the Ship Capt Jonath:n

Summers Commandant bearing date the 10th June 1723 which

You advise in Yours by the Mary & Derby dated 21:t Nov:r

following came Saft to hand.

This comes by the James & Mary Capt Thomas

Auborn Commander who arrived here after a tedious Passage

of about four Months from England on the 28:o May last

with a Cargo of Goods & Provisions for the Use of this Island

which was very acceptable to Us as was what Rice Sugar

Pork &c:a You was so extreamly kind to Send Us by this

years Shipping & Should think Our Selves ungrateful if

We did not return You our hearty thanks & beg the Continuance

of the Same Supply by the next Shipping from You, Such

being always very Serviceable to the Inhabitants & Our

Hon:ble Masters Slaves which occasions Us on buying

all We could get of the Severall Captains that very often

take an Advantage of Our Necessity & have made Us pay

12:o p:r Hundred & Sometimes more

By the inclosed List of Ships Sent according to

Your desire You'le find all those Dispatcht from You have

arrived with Us & brought Us Your Severall Letters & Invoices

containing the Goods & Provisions before Mentioned so that

it would be needless to Particularize their dates or the Ships

Names by which they came

What relates to the Commanders Supplying themselves

with any Quantity of Arrack to dispose of here We beg the Con:

tinuance of Your Caution to them & that You'le please to Send

Margin Notes:

Letter to Bengall

The letter to Bombay closed by noting that such men had very often tended to the destruction of all the white people on the island, which the council thought its numbers too few to bear. It had nothing further to add but to wish Bombay health and happiness.

Signed at St Helena, Union Castle, 12 Jun 1724, by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

A postscript added that the criminal mentioned earlier, sent by the name Emanuel Perrera on the Hanover, had now been sent to Bencoolen on the James and Mary, along with two others, some of whom had come from India.

To the Honourable John Deane, President, and the Council at Bengal.

The council wrote that its last letter had gone by the Essex under Captain Jonathan Sommers, dated 10 Jun 1724, which Bengal's letter by the Mary and Derby, dated 21 Nov, had acknowledged as safely received.

This letter went by the James and Mary under Captain Thomas Alibone, who had arrived after a tedious passage of about four months from England on 28 May 1724, with a cargo of goods and provisions for the island. The council found the cargo very welcome, along with the sugar and pork Bengal had been extremely kind to send by this year's shipping. It would think its care ungrateful if it did not return hearty thanks, and it begged the continuance of the same supply by the next shipping, such being always very useful to the inhabitants and the Company's slaves. It asked, with the exception of its own buying, that Bengal check the several captains who very often took advantage of the island's necessity and made it pay 12 per cent, or sometimes more.

By the enclosed list of ships sent according to Bengal's desire, Bengal would find that those despatched from it had arrived and brought the council several letters and invoices for the goods and provisions. The invoices being dated on the ship by which they came, the council need not particularise them here.

As to the commanders supplying themselves with quantities of arrack to dispose of on their own account, the council begged the continuance of Bengal's care in that matter, and asked that it please to [...].

Interpretations

Bengal was the Company's eastern presidency, its council seated at Fort William on the Hooghly. The council addressed its president as one of the three great settlements from which the island drew supply. The letter formed part of the routine correspondence between the stations.

The 12 per cent charge marked the premium captains exacted for provisions bought on credit. Commanders exploited the island's need in the drought and inflated their prices. The council asked Bengal to restrain them, seeking supply at fairer terms.

The sugar and pork from Bengal continued the famine relief drawn from India. Bengal was named the chief source of grain and salted meat for the island. Its shipments fed both the inhabitants and the Company's slaves through the years of failed harvests.

The despatch of Emanuel Perrera to Bencoolen recorded in the postscript closed the affair of the unwanted prisoner. The council had received him from Bombay on the Hanover and forwarded him east. The note fixed his removal for the record.

395

291

July

the three Sorts of Rice formerly desired which Mr Feake

was of Opinion would grow very well here & any thing else

You think Proper for this Climate which will be very acceptable

to Us

We have not farther to add at present but heartily

to wish You Health & Prosperity & that Our Hon:ble Masters

Affairs may florish under You. We are

Hon:ble Sir & Sirs

Your most hum: Serv:t

John Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

June 12:o 1724

To the Worshipfull the Deputy Govern:r

of the West Coast & Councill

Worshipfull Sir & Sirs

Our last to You was by the Ship Capt Jon:n

Summers Commander Dated the 10th June 1723 & having

wrote therein what did then Occur Wee thereto refer You

for Your better Information

This comes directly to You by the James &

Mary Capt Thomas Auborn Commander who arrived

here on the 28th May last with a Cargo of Goods and

Provision for the use of this Island

According to Our Hon:ble Masters Orders by

this Ship Wee send You for their use Two Great Guns

that are useless here which they direct You to dispose of

accordingly, if You cant do so then to Send them to Fort

St: George as Speedily as You can

We likewise Send You Nine male

Male & four female Black Slaves belonging to Our Hon:ble

Masters to be employd in their Service as You shall find

Occasion

In Our aforesaid Letter We desired You would

Procure & Send Us as great a Quantity of Rice &

Sugar as possibly You could it being always very acceptable

to Us & the Inhabitants in Gen:ll in which We hereby renew

Margin Notes:

Lett:r to Bencoolen

The letter to Bengal closed by asking for the three sorts of trees the council had earlier requested, which Mr Feake thought would grow well at the island, along with anything else Bengal judged proper for the climate. The council had nothing further to add, but heartily wished Bengal health and prosperity, and that the Honourable Masters' affairs might flourish under its care.

Signed at St Helena, 12 Jun 1724, by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

To the Worshipful the Deputy Governor of the West Coast and the Council.

The council wrote that its last letter had gone by the Essex under Captain Jonathan Sommers, dated 10 Jun 1724, and referred the West Coast to it for fuller information on what had then occurred.

This letter went directly by the James and Mary under Captain Thomas Alibone, who had arrived at the island on 28 May 1724 with a cargo of goods and provisions for its use.

Following the Honourable Masters' orders, the council sent by this ship 10 of the Company's great guns, useless at the island, which the Masters directed the West Coast to dispose of accordingly. If it could not do so, it was to send them to Fort St George as speedily as it could.

The council also sent 9 male and 4 female black slaves belonging to the Honourable Masters, to be employed in their service as the West Coast should find occasion.

In its former letter the council had asked the West Coast to procure and send as great a quantity of rice and sugar as possible, this being always very acceptable to the island and the inhabitants in general, and it now [...].

Interpretations

The West Coast meant the Company's settlement at Bencoolen, on the western shore of Sumatra. Its deputy governor and council governed the pepper trade there. The island corresponded with it as one of the eastern stations.

The 13 slaves sent east matched the number marked for Bencoolen in the island's records. The council forwarded 9 men and 4 women on the James and Mary. This continued St Helena's role as a way point in the Company's movement of bound labour.

The useless great guns passed eastward on the Masters' orders. The council shipped 10 of them to Bencoolen for disposal, with Fort St George as the fallback destination. The redistribution cleared surplus ordnance from the island's stores.

The three sorts of trees reflected an intent to improve the island's planting. Mr Feake, an officer at Bengal, had judged them suited to the mild climate. The request tied the island's need for timber and shelter to advice from the eastern presidency.

396

292

1724

renew Our desire & that You'le oblige Us in Sending what You

can conveniently by this Ship

Enclosed Wee send the James & Marys Charter: Party

according to Our Hon:ble Masters Orders

Wee have not farther to add at present but to wish

Success to Our Masters Affaire & Your Selves

Health & Prosperity &c:a

Worshipfull Sir & Sirs

Y:r humble Serv:t

John Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

John Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

The letter to the West Coast closed by renewing the council's request, asking that Bencoolen oblige it in sending whatever it conveniently could by this ship.

The council enclosed the charter party of the James and Mary, following the Honourable Masters' orders.

The council had nothing further to add at present, but wished success to the Masters' affairs and health and prosperity to the West Coast.

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

The consultation was subscribed again by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

Interpretations

A charter party was the written contract of hire between the Company and a ship's owners. It set the terms on which the James and Mary carried the Company's goods and people. The council enclosed it for Bencoolen on the Masters' instruction.

397

293

August

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 4th day of

August 1724 at Plantation House

Pres:t John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfield

John Alexander

John Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

The last Consultation read & approved

The Petition of s:d Mason was presented Praying

leave to asign over Six Acres of the Hon:ble Companies Land

now in his Posession, Scituate at or near a place called the

Horse Ridge to Tho:s Harper Jun:r who has already Six

Acres adjoyning to the Six abovementiond & is very willing

& desires to become Tenant of the whole

Granted & ordered that the Lease formerly made to

Steph: Harper Sen:r deceas:d be asigned over for the Term Therein

Mentioned to his eldest Son Thomas Harper Jun:r

Gunner French brought in & deliverd an Acc:t of Gunners

Stores expended in the Month of July 1724 which was Exam:

approved & is as follows viz:t

To Answer a Salute from the Hannover

11 11 11

Muster Day

10

An Alarm

4 4 4

Arrived the Charming Sally from Guinea

5 5 5

To Order the Charming Sally out of y:e Road

2 2 2 2

Expences for the Guards

12

22 2 22 44

Cartridge Paper del:d Mr Crispe for the Use of the Fort

1 Quire

Ditto Expended for the Guards Small Arms

1 Quire

Sheep Skin deliverd to Capt Bond

3

Parchment Skins deliverd to Cap:t Goodwin

1

Ditto deliverd to Mr van Oesten

2

Flints for the Guards

25

Match

15 lb

Signed

In:o French

Margin Notes:

Petn: of Rich:d Mason pray:g leave to asign over his right to some Land to Tho: Harper

Ord: to be Endorsed

Gunn: Acc:t for July

Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 04 Aug 1724 at the plantation house.

Present: John Smith, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin; and Benjamin Hawkes.

The last consultation was read and approved.

Richard Mason asked leave to assign over 6 acres of the Company's land now in his possession, lying at or near a place called the Horse Ridge, to Thomas Harper junior. Harper already held 6 acres adjoining the 6 in question and was very willing to become tenant of the whole.

The council granted the request and ordered that the lease formerly made to Thomas Harper senior, deceased, be assigned over for the term mentioned in it to his eldest son Thomas Harper junior.

The gunner John French brought in and delivered an account of gunner's stores expended in the month of July 1724, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Particulars for July 1724

1 July, to answer a salute from the Hanover, 11 guns fired, 11 lb saltpetre, 11 lb powder

2 July, muster day, 10 lb powder

14 July, an alarm, 4 guns fired, 4 lb saltpetre, 4 lb powder

14 July, arrived the Charming Sally from Guinea, 6 guns fired, 6 lb saltpetre, 5 lb powder

15 July, to order the Charming Sally out of the road, 2 guns fired, 2 lb shot, 2 lb saltpetre, 2 lb powder

Expenses for the guards, 12 lb powder

Total, 22 guns fired, 2 lb shot, 22 lb saltpetre, 44 lb powder

Cartridge paper delivered to Mr Crispe for the use of the Fort, 1 quire

cartridge paper expended for the guards' small arms, 1 quire

sheepskins delivered to Captain Bond, 3

parchment skins delivered to Captain Goodwin, 1

parchment skins delivered to Mr Van Oosten, 2

flints for the guards, 25

match, 15 lb

Signed by John French.

Interpretations

The Horse Ridge lease passed within the Harper family by assignment. The elder Thomas Harper had held the ground, and the transfer united the son's 6 acres with the 6 he took over. This consolidation gave him tenancy of the whole parcel.

The assignment ran only for the term of the original lease. The council transferred the unexpired portion of the elder Harper's grant to his son. This preserved the Company's terms while allowing the tenancy to descend.

Parchment skins were prepared animal hides used for durable writing and for the fittings of ordnance. Their issue to Captain Goodwin and Mr Van Oosten shows the material passing for record-keeping and gunner's work. The gunner tracked each skin against the store.

398

294

1724

Whereas Toby a Negro Man Slave belonging to the Widdow

Greentree who hath been Runaway for Some Weeks past and

notwithstanding the hath Set up a Copy to give Publick Notice

thereof & promising a Reward of three Pound to those who should

apprehend him, he has not yet been apprehended & doth commit frequent

Robberies in most parts of the Island by Stealing all Sort of

Provisions & is Suspected of killing of Cattle Goates Hogs &

Poultry from Severall of the Inhabitants who have made daily

complaint of their Losses & for that if Some Speedy Expedient

be not used to take & apprehend the said Toby he will still

Commit all manner of Robberies & a bad an Evile attend his

concealing himself so long by other Blacks taking the Oppor:

tunity to Steale that it may be thought to be only the said

Toby, which to prevent as much as possible

Wee have thought fit & do accordingly Order that for the

Speedy apprehending the said Toby his House Keeper do in

Turns Send out a White Man or to go themselves in Search of

him the said Toby, till Such time as he shall be taken in order to

his being brought to Examination & to Suffer according to his

Demerit, & frequent Robberies aforesaid & that Publick Notice

be given hereof accordingly

And that the Overseers of the Highway be

Directed to Summon each House Keeper in their Divisions to

go in Search of the said Toby at Such time & often as they

shall think most proper for the apprehending him till he is taken

& those Persons that first Seise & take him that have the

aforesaid Reward of three Pounds the offer the time Limited

by the said Widdow Greentree be Expired

Capt Alexander presented his Petition praying to become Ten:t

to the Hon:ble Company for about four or five Acres of their Wast

Land lying at the Head of Bowells Gally next to the Green Hill

lying between two Parcells of Land he purchased last Week at

Publick Sale of Benj:n Greentree which if Let to any other Person

will be very detrimentall to him & no prejudice to the Neighbourhood

The Price of Land being agreed to & believing it will

be as the Petitioner Set forth & Granted, to any other Person, Ordered

that his Petition be Granted & the Land Surveyed, & that the Lease

be made for twenty One Year at the usuall Rent of 5:o p:r acre

John: Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

Margin Notes:

Black Man Toby being run away & Committing daily Robberies

Expedient to Apprehend him

4 £ 3/6 to be paid to y:e Prosecuting

Petn: of Cap:t Alexand:r for Land

granted

Toby, a black man slave belonging to the widow Greentree, had run away for some weeks past. The council had earlier published notice of it, offering a reward of £3 0s 0d to whoever should apprehend him, but he had not yet been taken. He committed frequent robberies in most parts of the island and was suspected of stealing all sorts of cattle, goats, hogs and poultry from several of the inhabitants, who had made daily complaint of their losses. The council feared that some speedy course was needed, since Toby was not used to being caught and, by concealing himself so long, encouraged other slaves to steal as he did.

The council thought fit to order that, for the speedy apprehending of Toby, all householders send out a white man or go themselves in search of him, until he was taken and brought to examination to suffer according to his deserts. It ordered that public notice be given accordingly.

The council further ordered that the overseers of the highway be directed to summon each householder in their divisions to go in search of Toby at such times as they thought most proper for apprehending him, until he was taken. Those persons who first seized him were to have the reward of £3 0s 0d, provided they took him before the time set in the notice expired.

Captain Alexander presented his petition asking to become tenant to the Honourable Company for about 4 or 5 acres of its waste land lying at the head of Bowen's Valley, next to the Green Hill, and lying between two parcels of land purchased last week at the public sale of Benjamin Greentree. He argued that if the ground were let to any other person, it would be very detrimental to him and prejudicial to the neighbourhood.

The council found that the land, being ground next to the petitioner's and belonging to it, could go to no other person as well. It granted the petition, ordered the land surveyed, and directed that the lease be made for 21 years at the usual rent of 5s 0d per acre.

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

Interpretations

The hue and cry after Toby drew the whole settlement into his capture. The council required every householder to search or send a man, backing the order with a reward of £3 0s 0d. This method turned a private loss into a public duty enforced through the highway overseers.

The council feared Toby's long freedom set an example to other slaves. His success in evading capture and his constant thefts threatened wider disorder among the island's bound labour. The order treated his apprehension as a matter of general security rather than one owner's concern.

Captain Alexander's grant fitted the ground to the holder best placed to use it. The waste lay between two parcels he had just bought at Benjamin Greentree's sale and next to his own land. The council let it to him at 5s 0d per acre on a 21-year lease, the standing terms for such waste.

399

295

August

At a Consultation held on Tuesday y:e 11th of

August 1724 at Plantation House

In:o Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

The last Consultation read & approved

The Petition of Jonathan Higham Jun:r was

Presented Praying leave to become Tenant to the Hon:ble

Company for about two Acres of their West Land adjoyning

To Some he already has in his Posession, the better to enable

him to Maintain himself & Family

Granted in case no reasonable Objection was made against

Letting the Said Land

Likewise the Petition of Benj:n Greentree was

Presented Setting forth that he asks obtaining leave to

dispose of 21 Acres of Leased Land he held of the

Hon:ble Company, & that he had accordingly Sold his

Lease together with his Free Land to Cap:t John

Alexander, & prayed he might be accepted a Ten:ant

for the said 21 Acres viz the Petitioners Steed

Granted & that Cap:t Alexander be looked upon as

Ten:ant for the Term to come

In pursuance of the Order of Councile of the 30:th June last the

five Acres of Land therein Mentioned We have Sold to Ensign

William Slaughter for 68:o whereof he paid 38:o downe

& the rest to be paid at the End of one year he giving Bond

for the Same

Cap:t Goodwin reports he had viewed & Measured the

Peice of Land Contended for by Richard Mason Entered in

Consultation of the 4th instant & finds it to contain One acre

Ordered that a Lease be made out accordingly for twenty

One Years to Commence from the Grant at the usuall Rent of

5:o p:r acre

John: Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

Margin Notes:

Petn: of Jonath: Higham Jun:r for Land

granted if none objects

Petn: of Benj: Greentree pray:g Cap:t Alexander may be accepted Ten:t to y:e said Land

Land Sold to y:e Petition:r Steed

Accepted after Ten:t to y:e Same

10 Acres of West Coast Island Sold to Ensign Slaughter for £68

Land Pet: for by R:d Mason view:d Measured, a Lease to be made

Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 11 Aug 1724 at the plantation house.

Present: John Smith, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin; and Benjamin Hawkes.

The last consultation was read and approved.

Jonathan Higham junior asked leave to become tenant to the Honourable Company for about 2 acres of its waste land adjoining some he already held, so that he might the better maintain himself and his family.

The council granted the request, provided no reasonable objection was made against letting the land.

Benjamin Greentree asked leave to dispose of 21 acres of leased land he held of the Honourable Company. The council granted this, and he accordingly sold the land, together with his free land, to Captain John Alexander. He asked that Alexander be accepted as tenant in his place, along with 21 head of cattle.

The council granted the request and ordered that Captain Alexander be looked upon as tenant for the term to come.

Following the order of council of 30 Jun 1724, the council had sold Ensign William Slaughter the 10 acres of land mentioned in it for 68s 0d per acre, of which he had paid 38s 0d per acre. The rest was to be paid at the end of one year, he giving bond for the sum.

Mr Goodwin reported that he had viewed and measured the parcel of land Richard Mason had entered at the consultation of 04 Aug 1724, and found it to contain 1 acre. The council ordered that a lease be made accordingly for 21 years, to commence from the date the land was surveyed, at the usual rent of 5s 0d per acre.

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

Interpretations

Benjamin Greentree's sale moved both leased and free land to Captain Alexander in one transaction. The council held the right to approve any new tenant of its ground. It accepted Alexander in Greentree's place and let the 21 acres pass with 21 head of cattle.

Ensign Slaughter's purchase followed a graded payment. He paid 38s 0d of the 68s 0d per acre at once and bound himself for the rest within a year. The bond secured the balance while giving him time to raise it.

Richard Mason's lease commenced only once the ground was measured. The council fixed the term at 21 years and the rent at 5s 0d per acre. Dating the lease from the survey tied the tenancy to a settled measure of the parcel.

400

296

1724

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 18th day of August

1724 at Plantation House

John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

The last Consultation read & approved

James Harding appeared according to Summons at the

Complant of Richard Mason for denying to Pay him a

just Debt of thirty five Shillings

The Said James Harding Says he doth not deny

to Pay the Said Richard Mason his due & made a dispute

only of half a Crown that the Said Mason over charged him

The Said Mason Says he has not overcharged the Said

Mason any thing

The matter being found trifling they were Ordered to

withdraw & agree the Matter between themselves

Captain Goodwin Reports that Severall more

of the Inhabitants would buy more of the Salt Beefe

& Pork lately received from England than they have done

were it Sold Something cheaper the Beefe being at

fourteen Pound p Puncheon & the Pork thirteen Pounds

Wherefore in Consideration of the Inhabitants

Poor Condition, & mention being made in the last Gen:le

Letter to indulge them as Should be thought reasonable

Wee have lowerd the Price of Each Puncheon of Beefe

to thirteen Pounds p Puncheon & the Pork to Twelve

Pounds

Cap:t Byfield & Cap:t Goodwin brought in

each their Acc:t as usual for the Month of July last

which were Examined approved & are as follows

Margin Notes:

R:d Masons Complt: ag:t Jam:s Harding

trifling so were y:m selves

Salt Beife & Pork would Sell if y:e price lower

20 in a Cask lowered

Monthly Acc:ts deliv:d

Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 18 Aug 1724 at the plantation house.

Present: John Smith, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin; and Benjamin Hawkes.

The last consultation was read and approved.

James Harding appeared on summons at the complaint of Richard Mason, who said Harding had refused to pay him a debt of 35s 0d. Harding said he did not deny paying Mason his due, but disputed only the half-crown Mason had overcharged him. Mason said he had not overcharged Harding at all.

The council found the matter trifling and ordered the two to withdraw and settle it between themselves.

Captain Goodwin reported that several more of the inhabitants would buy more of the salt beef lately received from England if it were sold something cheaper, the beef being at 14s 0d per puncheon and the pork at 13s 0d.

In consideration of the inhabitants' poor condition, and following mention made in the last general letter to indulge them as should be thought reasonable, the council lowered the price of each puncheon of beef to 13s 0d and the pork to 12s 0d.

Captain Byfield and Captain Goodwin brought in their accounts as usual for the month of July last, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

The half-crown dispute turned on a single overcharge rather than the whole debt. A half-crown was 2s 6d, the sum Harding contested out of the 35s 0d claimed. The council judged the quarrel too small to decide and sent the men to settle it themselves.

The reduction in meat prices answered the inhabitants' distress. The council cut the beef from 14s 0d to 13s 0d per puncheon and the pork from 13s 0d to 12s 0d. It rested the concession on the directors' instruction to indulge the planters as far as was reasonable.

The salt beef and pork came packed in puncheons, the large casks used for preserved meat. The stock had arrived from England on the Company's ships. Its sale at reduced rates aimed to move goods the hard-pressed inhabitants could not otherwise afford.

401

297

August

Mr Byfield brought in his Acc:t of the Hon:ble Comp: Live Stock &c:a for the Month of

July which was Examined approved & is as follows viz:t

Neat Cattle

Bullock Cowes Heifers Steers Yearlings Calves Bulls Totall

Rem:n of ult:o June

7 37 12 3 5 39 2 105

Encreased in July

1 1

7 37 12 3 5 40 2 106

del:d to y:e Fort in d:o

1 1

7 37 12 3 5 40 2 106

Dead in ditto

1 1

Remains ult: July

6 37 12 3 5 40 2 105

Sheep

Ewes Withers Lambs Rams Totall

32 12 14 6 64

32 12 14 6 64

31 12 14 6 63

31 12 14 6 63

Goates

Ewes Withers Kidds Rams Totall

94 15 26 13 148

94 15 26 13 148

94 14 26 13 147

94 14 26 13 147

Hogs

Sowes Shoates Boars Piggs Totall

7 8 1 14 30

7 8 1 14 30

7 8 1 14 30

2 2

7 8 1 12 28

Poultry & Horses

Turkeys Fowles Ducks Geese Asses Horses Mares Totall

36 86 10 12 6 4 2 6

58 1 1

36 144 10 12 6 5 2 7

4

36 140 10 12 6 5 2 7

1 3

35 137 10 12 6 5 2 7

Yams Expended for the Hogs & Poultry 2262 lb

Margin Notes:

Mr Byfields Acc:o for the Month of July

Mr Byfield brought in his account of the Honourable Company's livestock for the month of July, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Neat cattle bullocks cows heifers steers yearlings calves bulls total

Remaining last June 7 37 12 3 5 39 2 105

Increase in July - - - - - 1 - 1

7 37 12 3 5 40 2 106

Delivered to the Fort - - - - 1 - - 1

7 37 12 3 5 40 2 106

Dead in July 1 - - - 1 - - -

Remaining last July 6 37 12 3 5 40 2 105

Sheep ewes withers lambs rams total

Remaining last June 32 12 14 6 64

Delivered to the Fort 1 - - - 1

31 12 14 6 63

Remaining last July 31 12 14 6 63

Goats ewes withers kids rams total

Remaining last June 94 15 26 13 148

Delivered to the Fort - 1 - - 1

94 14 26 13 147

Remaining last July 94 14 26 13 147

Hogs sows shoats boars pigs total

Remaining last June 7 8 1 14 30

Remaining last July 7 8 1 12 28

Poultry turkeys fowls ducks geese total

Remaining last June 36 86 10 12 144

Increase in July 58 - - - -

36 144 10 12 -

Dead in July 2 2 1 3 -

Remaining last July 35 137 10 12 -

Horses asses horses mares total

Remaining last June 6 5 2 7

Remaining last July 6 5 2 7

Yams expended for the hogs and poultry, 2,262

Interpretations

The livestock account tracked the Company's herds month by month under several classes. Neat cattle covered the oxen and cows, the term marking bovine stock apart from sheep, goats, hogs and poultry. Withers, or wethers, were castrated male sheep and goats kept for meat and fleece.

The delivery of stock to the Fort recorded the animals drawn for the establishment's own use. The council moved single beasts of cattle, sheep and goats from the herds to the garrison. This charge fell on stock already thinned by the long drought.

The poultry showed a sharp gain from a hatch of 58 fowls in July. The flock rose before losses of dead birds cut it back. The figures let the directors follow the natural increase against the wastage.

402

298

1724

Capt Goodwin deliverd an Acc:t of Goods Sold between 25:o June

& 26:o July which was Exam: & approved & is as follows viz:t

101 1/4 Arrack

32 1 3

14 19 1/2 Sug:r

36 9 9

3 9 Pipes

11 9 1/2

3 3 5 lb Bread

4 4 3

2 Cwt 2r 6 lb ditto

1 7 5

1 Cask ditto

5 12

7 46 lb d:o a 2 1/2

7 19 7

3 7 8 lb Flower

4 14 6

2 Casks d:o

8

12 lb Soap

17 8 1/2

8 lb Pepper

8

9 lb Candy

9

4 3/4 Groce Corks

14 3

4 1/2 Gall: Vinegar

18

2 Cattees Green Tea

8

4 lb Starch

9

11 lb Hair Powder

11

Oyles viz:t

9 2 3/4 Rape

6 16 6

1 1/4 d:o Sweet

10 11 1/2

10 d:o Linseed

4

Shoes viz:t

1 P:r Mens d:o

6

11 P:r Calves Leather d:o

3 13 4

3 P:r Spanish d:o

1 4 9

4 Womens Calves Lea: d:o

18

1 Spanish d:o

5 9

2 Men Ordinary

11 6

Hatts viz:t

3 Boys d:o 5 p:a

15

1 d:o

6

9 Plain Hatts 12/6

5 12 6

2 Laced d:o

5

Shirts & Stock:gs viz:t

15 White Shirt

1 17 6

8 Chelloe d:o

1 4

2 White d:o

9

20 P:r Cotton Stockings

2 10

3 1/2 P:r ordinary Long Cloth

3 10

14 1/2 P:r Chelloe

12 5

3 White Defoters

1 10

Captain Goodwin delivered an account of goods sold between 25 Jun and 26 Jul 1724, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Store, sold for July

101¼ arrack, £32 1s 3d

1,419½ lb sugar, £36 9s 9d

3 dozen 9 pipes, £0 11s 9½d

3,45 lb bread, £0 4s 3d

2 hundredweight 2 quarters 6 lb bread, £1 7s 5d

1 cask bread, £5 12s 5d

746 lb bread at 2½d, £7 19s 7d

378 lb flower, £4 14s 6d

2 casks flower, £0 8s 0d

12 lb soap, £0 17s 8½d

8 lb pepper, £0 8s 0d

9 lb candy, £0 9s 0d

4¾ gross corks, £0 14s 3d

4½ gallons vinegar, £0 18s 0d

2 catties green tea, £0 8s 0d

4 lb starch, £0 9s 0d

11 lb hair powder, £0 11s 0d

Oils, namely

62¾ rape, £6 16s 6d

1¼ sweet, £0 10s 11½d

10 linseed, £4 0s 0d

Shoes, namely

1 pair women's, £0 6s 0d

11 pairs calves' leather, £3 13s 6d

3 pairs Spanish, £1 4s 9d

4 pairs women's calves' leather, £0 18s 0d

1 pair Spanish, £0 5s 9d

2 pairs men's ordinary, £0 11s 6d

Hats, namely

3 pairs boys' at 5s each, £0 15s 0d

1 pair boys', £0 6s 0d

9 plain hats at 12s 6d, £5 12s 6d

2 laced hats, £0 5s 0d

Shirts and stockings, namely

15 white shirts, £1 17s 6d

8 callico shirts, £1 4s 0d

2 white shirts, £0 9s 0d

20 pairs cotton stockings, £2 10s 0d

3½ pairs ordinary long cloth, £3 10s 0d

14½ pairs callico, £12 5s 0d

3 white desotus, £1 10s 0d

Interpretations

The candy line recorded refined sugar boiled and crystallised hard. Candy came through the Company's eastern trade as a costlier form of sugar. Its sale at the store gave the inhabitants a sweet beyond the ordinary muscovado.

Hair powder was the scented starch dusted on wigs and hair for dress. Starch appeared alongside it, the two often made from the same base. Their supply marked the store carrying goods for grooming as well as necessity.

The shoes were graded by leather and origin. Spanish shoes used fine imported leather, calves' leather gave a lighter everyday shoe. The grading by men's, women's and boys' sizes shows the store clothing whole families.

The account was rendered by Captain Goodwin rather than the storekeeper. This continued the practice of earlier months, where the fourth councillor delivered the goods sold. The division kept the sales audit in a hand apart from the plantation stores.

403

299

August

Brought over

11

2 P:r Blew Ginggham

1 8 6

3 White Gartas

12 6

1 Blew d:o

5

7 Quilt

5 16

1/2 Peice Bengall Taffety

China Ware

10 Small Cups

1 8

Large d:o

3

14 Speakers

7

1 Tea Pott

13 6

9 Bowles

1 2 6

12 Plate

12

3 Cups & 4 Saucers

9

6 P:r d:o Twine

5 11

8 1/2 lb Shoe Thread

6 3

6 pices Oars

9

Small d:o

5 5

2 Tea Kettles

2 16

3 d:o d:o

1 5 1/2

2 d:o

1

4 lb Sheet Lead

7

5 oak Plank of 3 In: of: 19 feet

19

13 Sett Bedles

1 16 9

9 whole d:o

3

14 lb Rozin

1 18

22 lb White Lead

11

4 Barrells Tarr

6

15 Buspells Coales Cord g:o

2 5

5 Cattees Rope g:o &c:a 34

27 16 6

1 Bolt Holland Duck

4 6

13 P:o Puncheons Beefe

6 4

12 d:o Pork

105

40 lb & Sword

28

Iron Ware viz:t

16 8

4 P:r Steel Compasses

1 String d:o

1 3

36 Chest Hinges

9

1 d:o

5 2 2

1 Cupboard Lock

7

1 Iron Rim:d Lock

7 6

1 Sugar Shovell

10 6

4 lb Stilyards

12 9

4 Bushells Peas

9

24 yards Duffary

1 8

15 yards Norwich Stuff

1 7 1/2

Brought over, £[...] 11s 0d

2 pairs blue gingham, £1 8s 6d

3 white gingham, £0 12s 6d

1 blue gingham, £0 5s 0d

7 duffield, £5 16s 0d

4½ pieces Bengal taffety

China ware

10 small cups, £0 1s 8d

1 large cup, £0 3s 0d

14 sneakers, £0 7s 0d

1 teapot, £0 6s 0d

9 bowls, £1 2s 6d

12 plates, £0 12s 0d

3 cups and saucers, £0 0s 9d

6 lb twine, £5 11s 0d

2½ lb shoe thread, £0 6s 3d

6 pairs oars, £0 9s 0d

6 small oars, £0 5s 0d

2 tea kettles, £1 16s 0d

3 tea kettles, £2 5½d

2 tea kettles, £1 7s 0d

4 lb sheet lead, £1 7s 0d

5 oak plank of 3 inches, of 19 feet, £0 19s 0d

13 split ladles, £1 16s 0d

9 whole ladles, £1 3s 0d

114 lb rosin, £1 18s 0d

22 lb white lead, £0 11s 0d

4 barrels tar, £6 5s 0d

15 Bristol coals per cwt at 9d, £2 16s 6d

5 cables' rope per cwt at 34s, £27 6s 6d

1 bolt Holland duck, £4 6s 0d

7 puncheons beef, £13 4s 0d

2 pork, £105 16s 8d

40 lb shot, £28 [...]s [...]d

Iron ware, namely

4 pairs steel compasses, £0 1s 0d

1 frying pan, £0 3s 9d

36 chest hinges, £0 5s 2d

1 chest hinges, £0 2s 0d

1 cupboard lock, £0 7s 0d

1 iron rim lock, £0 12s 6d

1 sugar shovel, £0 12s 9d

4 lb steelyards, £0 [...]s [...]d

4 buckstalls, peas, £2 [...]s [...]d

24 yards dittony, £1 8s 0d

15 yards Norwich stuff, £1 7½d

Interpretations

The building and marine stores record the materials of construction and ship repair. Sheet lead served for roofing and lining, rosin and tar for caulking and sealing timber, and white lead as a base for paint. Cables' rope and oak plank supplied the heavier needs of boats and works.

Bristol coals came as fuel from the west of England, priced by the hundredweight. The island had no coal of its own and drew it from the Company's ships. Its supply fed the forge and the kitchen fires of the establishment.

Buckstalls were nets or snares set to catch deer or other game. Their appearance among the iron ware reflects the range of goods the store held. Dittony and Norwich stuff were woven cloths, the latter a worsted made at Norwich.

404

300

1724

Hosiers Ware Brought over

6 P:r Mens Stock:

1 9 6

3 d:o

17 3

2 d:o

6

1 Knit d:o

8 4

9 Womens d:o 3/3

1 9 9

8 d:o

9

5 d:o

4

1 Child d:o

10 10

1 d:o

1 8

2 d:o

2

4 d:o

6

1 d:o

1 8

2 d:o

8

1 d:o

11

1 d:o

4 10

Tin Ware viz:t

1 Half Pint Coffee Pott

10

1 Pint d:o

8

4 Sauce Pans

4 8

1 Dripping Pan

8 6

9 Pipes

9

1 Lanthorn

6

1 Horn Book

4

1 Spelling Book

9

1 Testament

1 9

1 Small Common Prayer Book

2 4 8

Jugg d:o

4

4 Quires Paper

6 4

1 Cap: Ink

1

Nailes viz:t

2 lb 2 d:o Nailes

9 6

4 lb 3 d:o

3 8

14 lb 4 d:o

10 1 1/2

13 1/2 lb 6 d:o

10

16 lb 8 & 10 d:o

4 6

6 lb Supper Nailes

6 8

4 lb Tack

6 6

9 W: Boot

7 6

3 Butchers Knives

15

8 yards Kersey

10 2

3 1/2 yards d:o

4 6

1 P:o Chest Hinges N:o 2

1 6

1 Glass Salt Seller

3

2 Square Glass 10 & 12

1

1 Wooden Bowle

6

1 Seive

Hosiers' ware

Brought over

6 pairs men's stockings, £1 9s 6d

3 pairs men's stockings, £0 17s 3d

2 pairs men's stockings, £0 6s 0d

1 pair men's stockings, £0 8s 6d

1 pair knit men's stockings, £0 3s 9d

9 pairs women's stockings, £1 9s 9d

8 pairs women's stockings, £0 [...]s [...]d

5 pairs women's stockings, £1 4s 0d

1 pair children's stockings, £0 10s 10d

1 pair children's stockings, £0 12s 8d

2 pairs children's stockings, £0 12s 0d

4 pairs children's stockings, £0 2s 6d

1 pair children's stockings, £0 1s 8d

2 pairs children's stockings, £0 3s 8d

1 pair children's stockings, £0 14s 11d

1 pair children's stockings, £0 4s 10d

Tin ware, namely

1 half-pint coffee pot, £0 0s 10d

1 pint, £0 1s 8d

4 saucepans, £0 4s 8d

1 dripping pan, £0 8s 6d

9 lamps, £0 9s 0d

1 lanthorn, £0 6s 0d

1 horn book, £0 0s 4d

1 spelling book, £0 1s 9d

1 Testament, £0 1s 9d

1 small Common Prayer book, £0 2s 4d

4 quires paper, £0 4s 0d

1 paper ink, £0 0s 6d

Nails, namely

2 lb 2d nails, £0 2s 6d

4 lb 3d nails, £0 3s 8d

6 lb 4d nails, £0 4s [...]d

13½ lb 6d nails, £0 10s 1½d

16 lb 8d and 10d nails, £0 10s 0d

6 lb supper nails, £0 4s 6d

4 lb tack, £0 6s 8d

9 butchers' knives, £0 6s 6d

8 yards kersey, £0 15s 0d

3½ yards frieze, £1 10s 2d

1 iron rim lock No. 2, £0 4s 6d

1 plate lock soldered, £0 1s 6d

2 squares glass No. 10 and No. 12, £0 3s 0d

1 wooden bowl, £1 1s 6d

1 sieve

Interpretations

The stationery lines record the store supplying books for worship and schooling. The Common Prayer book set out the Church of England liturgy, and the Testament was the New Testament. A spelling book taught reading, and a horn book gave children their first letters under a sheet of horn.

The nails were graded by the old penny sizing, the 2d, 3d, 4d, 6d, 8d and 10d marks fixing length and weight. Nails came wholly from imported supply and were drawn from the store by the pound. The grading let a buyer take the size the work required.

The frieze and kersey were coarse woollen cloths for hard-wearing warm garments. Both suited the island's cool and windy winter. Their sale by the yard let the inhabitants make up their own clothing.

405

301

August

Brought Over

1 1/2 Yard Broad Cloth

1 13 6

1 doz Hooks & d:o

1 6 2

2 Lines Sorted

11

Haberdashery Ware viz:t

1/2 lb White & Brown Thread

6 7 1/2

1/2 d:o

5 8 6

3 d:o

1 4 6

1/2 d:o

6 2

1 d:o

5

3 4 oz Brown Thread

2 17 6

5 oz Thread

7 18

1 oz d:o

6 8

1/2 d:o

5 3

1 oz Eng: Silk

7 6

1/2 oz China d:o

5 4

1/2 P:o Broad Holland Tape

4 6

4 Midling d:o

1 6

2 Hemming d:o

3

2 Red d:o

1 6

1 White d:o

1

6 y:d Ribbon

1 6 2

4 y:d d:o

2 8 6

4 y:d d:o

3 6

2 1/2 d:o

1 8

140 Needles

1 2 8

1 M Pin

1 8

1 M: d:o

2 1 8

3 y:d Gartering

9 4

8 Skain: Mohair

9 1

6 doz Shirt Buttons

1 3

3 doz Breast d:o

3 1 1/2

10 1/2 y:d Galloon

9

2 Culters N:o 37

3 1 9

1 P:r Bodice

10 8

4 Thimbles

1 8

4 Laces

7 3

1 d:o

1 2

1 P:r Mens Gloves

3 6

2 d:o

1

3 yard Ferretting

3 4 1/2

9 yard Broad d:o

3 8 6

2 Ivory Combs

4 4

1 d:o

1 d:o

Sum Tot: to Inhab:ts

406 2 3 1/2

Brought over, £1 13s 6d

1½ yards broadcloth, £0 1s 6¾d

1 dozen hooks, £0 0s 11d

2 lines forked

Haberdashery ware, namely

½ lb white brown thread, £0 6s 7½d

½ lb white brown thread, £0 5s 6d

¾ lb white brown thread, £0 4s 6d

½ lb white brown thread, £0 4s 6d

1 lb white brown thread, £0 4s 5d

3½ oz brown thread, £2 17s 6d

5 oz thread, £0 1s 8d

1 oz thread, £0 6s 3d

1½ oz thread, £0 5s 9d

1 oz English silk, £0 7s 6d

1½ oz China silk, £0 5s 4d

1 piece broad Holland tape, £0 1s 6d

4 middling Holland tape, £0 1s 6d

2 Fleming tape, £0 3s 0d

2 red tape, £0 1s 6d

1 white tape, £0 1s 6d

6 yards ribbon, £0 1s 6½d

4 yards ribbon, £0 2s 8d

2½ yards ribbon, £0 3s 3d

150 needles, £0 1s 8d

1 thousand pins, £0 1s 2½d

1 thousand pins, £0 1s 8d

3 yards gartering, £0 0s 9d

9 skeins mohair, £0 0s 2½d

6 dozen shirt buttons, £0 2s 0d

3 dozen breast buttons, £0 1s 3d

10 yards galloon, £0 1s 1½d

2 pieces taffety No. 37, £3 1s 10d

1 pair bodice, £0 9s 0d

4 thimbles, £0 1s 8d

4 laces, £0 2s 0d

1 laces, £0 1s 3d

1 pair men's gloves, £0 2s 6d

2 yards ferreting, £0 3s 6d

3 yards broad ferreting, £0 3s 6½d

2 ivory combs, £0 3s 8d

1 ivory comb, £0 1s 4d

2 ivory combs, £0 2s 4d

Sum total to inhabitants, £406 2s 3½d

Interpretations

The thread lines record the store's graded sewing stock reckoned by weight. White brown thread ran by the pound, and finer thread by the ounce. Each grade carried its own rate to the foot of the account.

The silk and trimming lines mark the finer dress goods. English silk and China silk served for fine sewing and decoration. Galloon was a narrow braided trim of silk or worsted, and mohair yarn covered buttons and edging.

Taffety was a plain closely woven silk or cotton, here graded No. 37. Its two pieces formed the costliest single line in the haberdashery block at £3 1s 10d. The numbering fixed the quality of the imported cloth.

406

302

1724

Diet Expences Brought over

2 40 Gall: Arrack

7 6

1 620 lb Sugar

8 16

1 Cask Beefe

14

1 d:o Pork

13

1 d:o Flower

4

2 Bushells Pease

1

3 lb Pepper

8

10 Gall: Vinegar

2

2 Quarts Sweet Oyle

4 4 1/2

General Charges d:o

50 lb Soap

3 10 10

4 Scrubbing Brushes

13 4

1 Grod

6

1 P:r Boys Shoes

6

1 dowble Mouse Trap

2 3 4

1 Single d:o

4

1 Gridiron with 12 Ribs

5 6

1/2 lb White & Brown Thread

6 3 2

1 Thimble

9

50 Needles

9

1 Oz China Silk

1

1/4 lb Coloured Thread

1 6

1 Pewter Bason

9 6

1 lb Brimstone

6

1 Line N:o 14

8 6

1 Tin Sauce Pan

1 8

1 Copper d:o

4 2

6 doz Corks

1 6

8 yard Brittory

9 6

1 Seive

1 6

1 Ivory Comb

5 6

1 d:o

Fortification

2 lb 4 d Nailes

1 8

6 20

3 9 6

6 30

3 4

2 P:o Linseed Oyle

4 6 6

1 d:o Rape d:o

6 6

1 lb Shoe Thread

5 6 3

1 Iron Rim:d Bolt

1 4 4

Indians Plot Bolt

9 2

2 P:o Chest Hinges

1 Line Hanover

9 3

2 Sale Needles

Diet expenses

Brought over

40 gallons arrack, £7 6s 0d

1,620 lb sugar, £3 16s 0d

1 cask beef, £14 0s 0d

1 pork, £13 0s 0d

1 flower, £4 0s 0d

2 bushels peas, £1 0s 0d

3 lb pepper, £0 8s 0d

10 gallons vinegar, £2 0s 0d

2 quarts sweet oil, £0 4s 4½d

General charges

50 lb soap, £3 10s 10d

6 scrubbing brushes, £0 13s 4d

1 iron, £0 6s 6d

1 pair boys' shoes, £0 2s 4d

1 double mouse trap, £0 3s 4d

1 single mouse trap, £0 5s 0d

1 gridiron with 12 ribs, £0 3s 2d

½ lb white brown thread, £0 3s 9d

1 thimble, £0 2s 9d

50 needles, £0 1s [...]d

1 oz China silk, £0 1s 6d

½ lb coloured thread, £0 1s 6d

1 pewter basin, £0 8s 6d

1 lb Bristol tar, £0 1s 8d

1 line No. 14, £0 4s 2d

1 tin saucepan, £0 1s 6d

1 copper saucepan, £0 9s 0d

6 dozen corks, £0 1s 6d

8 yards dittony, £0 5s 6d

1 sieve, £0 1s 6d

1 ivory comb

3 [...]

Fortification

2 lb 4d nails, £1 3s 8d

6 lb 2d nails, £0 9s 6d

2 lb 3d nails, £0 3s 4d

2 quarts linseed oil, £0 6s 6d

1 rape oil, £0 6s 6d

1 lb shoe thread, £0 3s 4d

1 iron rim lock and bolt, £0 9s 3d

Indian plate bolt

2 pairs chest hinges

1 large hammer

2 sail needles

Interpretations

The mouse traps and scrubbing brushes record the household stores of the establishment. A double trap caught two mice at once, and the brushes served for cleaning floors and boards. The store kept these small necessaries alongside the food and cloth.

The gridiron with 12 ribs was a grated iron frame for cooking over coals. Its charge to the general account marks it as kitchen equipment for the fort. The ribs held the meat above the fire.

Sail needles were the heavy triangular needles used to sew canvas. Their supply under the fortification account reflects the repair of sails and heavy cloth. The store carried them for the work of the boats and the fort.

407

303

August

Brought over d:o

Garrison

13 Cattees Green Tea

2 12

6 1/2 Gall: Rape Oyle

1 19

3/4 d:o Sweet

9

3 lb Brimstone

8 6

1 Lamp

6

Hon:ble Comp: Blacks

2 Casks Beef

28

2 lb Bengale Pork

12

9 d:o Wheat

27 13 6

4 210 lb Rice

62 12 6

2 Small Blankets

15

Midling d:o

3 6 6

7 Short Laces

10

2 lb Twine

2 2

6 doz hooks

1 6

12 Lines Sorted

8

Plantation d:o

11 lb Rope

5 6

2 lb 4 d Nailes

1 3

3 6 d

1 2 6

3: 10

2

3: 20

1 10 1/2

1 Hammer

2 9

1 Saw

10

1 Gimblet

6 6

1 Broad Ax

3 2

1 felling Ax

3 4

1 Line

Great Wood d:o

2 P:o Holland Duck Damaged

3 lb Twine

6 6

Sum Tot:ll £

661 3 7 1/2

John: Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

Garrison

Brought over

13 catties green tea, £2 12s 0d

6¾ gallons rape oil, £1 19s 0d

3¼ sweet, £0 9s 0d

3 lamps, £0 3s 6d

3 lb brimstone, £0 1s 6d

Honourable Company's Blacks

2 casks beef, £28 0s 0d

2 lb Bengal pork, £12 0s 0d

9 wheat, £27 13s 6d

4,210 lb rice, £62 12s 6d

2 small blankets, £0 15s 0d

7 middling blankets, £3 6s 6d

2 short laces, £0 0s 10d

1 lb twine, £0 2s 2d

6 dozen hooks, £0 1s 6d

12 lines forked, £0 8s 0d

Plantation

11 lb rope, £0 5s 6d

2 lb 4d nails, £0 1s 3d

3 6d nails, £0 1s 6d

3 10d nails, £0 1s 2d

3 20d nails, £0 1s 10½d

1 hammer, £0 2s 2d

1 saw, £0 10s 0d

1 gimlet, £0 0s 6d

1 broad axe, £0 6s 6d

1 felling axe, £0 3s 2d

1 line, £0 3s 4d

Great Wood

2 pieces Holland duck damaged

3 lb twine, £0 6s 6d

Sum total, £661 3s 7½d

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

Interpretations

The rice again formed the largest charge under the slaves' account, at £62 12s 6d for 4,210 lb. Rice was the grain the island drew from the Company's India ships. Its bulk supply reflected the famine relief brought from Bengal and Madras through 1724.

Brimstone was sulphur, used for making match, treating disease in stock and other practical work. Its issue to the garrison marks it as a utility store. The fort kept it among its supplies.

The plantation tools record the equipment of clearing and building. A broad axe hewed timber flat, and a felling axe cut trees down. The store supplied both alongside the saw and gimlet for the plantation's work.

The signatures of the five councillors close the whole account. John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes set their hands to it as examined and approved. The board attested the figures before they went home to the directors.

408

304

1724

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 25:o

August 1724 at Plantation House

John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfield

John Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

The last Consultation read & approved

Whereas Complaints have been made to the Gov:r

by Some Persons that have Goats with others who do

frequently Pound without giving any Notice to others

of their Partners & upon Such unusual days as they

thought fit, contrary to the known Custom of this

Island & to the Detriment of the Said Partners not

acquainted as aforesaid, Wherefore Ordered

That no Person or Persons who have Goats

going together, do hereafter presume to Pound any

Goates upon any but on the usual Pounding day with:t

first giving timely Notice to the rest of their Partners

or to the Major Part of them

John: Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Benj: Hawkes

Margin Notes:

Goats None

to Pound but on y:e usual day without give:g Notice as afores:d

Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 25 Aug 1724 at the plantation house.

Present: John Smith, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin; and Benjamin Hawkes.

The last consultation was read and approved.

Complaint had been made to the Governor that some persons holding goats in common with others often pounded them without warning their fellow owners, and did so on unusual days they thought fit. This ran against the settled custom of the island and harmed the other owners left uninformed.

The council ordered that no person holding goats in common should in future pound them on any but the usual pounding day, and only after giving timely notice to the rest of the owners or to the greater part of them.

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes.

Interpretations

The pounding of goats gathered the animals into an enclosure for marking, sorting or claiming. Owners held goats together on the common range, so a pounding touched every shareholder. The council fixed the day and required notice to protect the group.

The order rested on the island's known custom for pounding. Fixed days let all owners attend and account for their stock. The ruling curbed the private advantage a single owner gained by pounding early and unannounced.

409

305

August

At a Sessions held for this Island on Monday

the 31:t day of August 1724 at the Sessions House

in James Valley

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r & Judge

Edward Byfield

John Alexander

John Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

Then the Court was opend according to the usual manner

& those persons appointed for Jurors are as follow

1 John French Gun:r Foreman

2 Orlando Bagley Sen:r

3 Joshua Johnson

4 Francis Wrangham

5 Isaac Wood

6 Jonathan Doveton

7 Will:m Seale

8 James Rider

9 R:d Swallow Sen:r

10 Ben: Nicholls

11 Sam:ll Taylor

12 John Worrall

Who were all Sworne

Then the Worshipfull In:o Smith Esq:r Gov:r & Judge

addressed himself to the Gentlemen of the Jury & all

present in Court in the following Speech

Gentlemen

I am extreamly glad to meet You all well, & take

this opportunity to Congratulate You upon the happy

Change of Weather we have late by had at a time when

this Place was at the brink of Ruin, for its morally certain

if those Seasonable Rains hadn't fallen as they did this

Island in a Year or two more would have been little better

than a desert, & I hope You are all touched with the

deepest Impressions of Gratitude for so Providential

a deliverance & that You will all cheerfully Endeavour

to restore this Place to its former flourishing Condition

by a constant & diligent Improovement of Y:r Severall

Plantations & by a large Encrease of those things

which are more immediatly necessary to the Welfare &

Preservation of this Place, of which I have frequently

admonished You by repeated Advertizements, & as a

farther Encouragement to the Industrious, Ingenious

& I am perswaded You are all Sensible by woefull Experience

that as there is great pleasure & Satisfaction as well as Profit

& Profit in an honest & laborious Course of Life so at this

time there's an absolute necessity for it, & now more than now

Margin Notes:

Sessions

Jury

Gov:rs Speech

At a sessions held for this island on Monday 31 Aug 1724 at the sessions house in James Valley.

Present: John Smith, Governor and Judge; Edward Byfield, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Benjamin Hawkes, assistants.

The court was opened in the usual manner, and the persons appointed for jurors were as follows.

1: John French, gunner, foreman

2: Orlando Bagley senior

3: Joshua Johnson

4: Francis Wrangham

5: Isaac Wood

6: Jonathan Doveton

7: William Seale

8: James Ryder

9: Richard Swallow senior

10: Edmund Nicholls

11: Samuel Taylor

12: John Worrall

The jurors were all sworn.

The Governor and Judge then addressed the gentlemen of the jury in the following speech.

The Governor said he was extremely glad to meet the jury all well, and took the chance to congratulate them on the happy change of weather lately had. The island had at one time stood on the brink of ruin, for it was morally certain that, had those seasonable rains not fallen as they did, the island in a year or two would have been little better than a desert. He hoped all were touched with the deepest gratitude for so providential a deliverance, and would cheerfully help restore the island to its former flourishing state by constant and diligent improvement of the several plantations. He urged a large increase of those things most needful to the welfare and preservation of the island, of which he had often warned them by repeated advertisement, and gave every encouragement and help in his power to the industrious planter. He said the jury all knew, by too full experience, that there was great pleasure and satisfaction as well as profit in an honest and hard-won gain, and that at this time there was an absolute necessity for it, there being more than [...].

Interpretations

The sessions formed the island's criminal and civil court under the Governor as judge. A jury of 12 principal inhabitants was sworn to try the matters brought before it. This body applied the law within the settlement.

The Governor's speech marked the breaking of the long drought. Failed seasons through 1723 and 1724 had brought famine, and the council had begged grain from India. He cast the recent rains as a deliverance and pressed the planters to rebuild their stocks.

The repeated advertisements he mentioned tied to the standing campaign for planting and provision. The council had ordered the Great Wood fenced on 08 Apr 1723 and required the raising of trees and crops. He now urged the jury to greater effort in the same cause.

410

306

1724

I likewise take this opportunity, to asure You that none of

You were more affected or apprehensive of the Great Hardships

to which many poor Familie of this Island must have been

exposed if the Rainy Season had failed, & being deeply concerned

at the Misfortune that hung over their head, I not only repre:

sented their case to the Hon:ble Company but also by private

Letters to Severall Gentlemen my Friends of that late Court

of Directors desire they would be pleased to hasten away their

Storeship with a large Supply of Provisions, & thank God my

Endeavours have been Successfull for by the early arrival of

the Storeship with a timely & large Supply for the use of

Provisian & other Necessaries for the use of this Island the

Inhabitants are freed from their terrible apprehension of want,

I hope so much Goodness & Condiscention of the Hon:ble Company

have been pleased to Shew You in time of Distress, will meet

with Suitable Returns of Duty & Gratitude & Engage Your

most hearty & faithfull Endeavours for their Service Such who

do thus shall be Sure to meet with my Favour & Protection, &

those who do otherwise, shall be as Sure to feel the Effect of

my Resentment & I am sorry any one by a base, villainous, &

wicked attempt Should appear a Criminal at this Bar & draw

a Prosecution upon himself which I am obliged to do out of

Duty to my Hon:ble Masters & for my own Preservation,

Suffering Such Rascally attempt to go unpunished would be

Unjustice to them & Cruelty to my Self

If any of You have any thing to offer which You

think may be Beneficial either to Your Selves or to the

rest of the Inhabitants I shall be glad to receive it & confer

with You in any Measure for Your Advantage, & do assure

You I am upon all Occasions ready to do You Service & never

think my time better Employed than when I am doing

Something for the Interest & Welfare of this Place, & am of

Opinion no Methods will more effectually contribute to the

Preservation of Such Cattle Sheep Goate & Hog as are left

than a Strict Observation of those Rules & Direction mencond

in an Advertizement which by my Order was Published on

Saturday last

Then the following Indictment was read against Toby

a Negro Man Slave belonging to the Widdow Greentree

Toby You Stand Indited by the Name of Toby a Negro

Slave belonging to Elizabeth Greentree of this Island Widdow

for Felony & Sundry other Crimes & Misdemeanours for that You

the Said Toby have for many Years past between Your Self &

a most wicked & vile Renegade Course of Life by frequently Runing

away & absconding from Your late Master Tom: Greentree late of

the Said Island Free Planter deceased) for Severall Months together

Margin Notes:

Indictm:t ag:t Toby M:rs Greentree Slave

The Governor continued that he took the chance to assure the jury that none felt more the apprehension of the great hardship to which many poor families of the island must have been exposed had the rainy season failed. He had not only reported their case to the Honourable Company but had also, by private letters to several gentlemen who were his friends among the directors, asked that they be pleased to hasten away the store ship with a large supply of provisions. His efforts had succeeded, for by the early arrival of the store ship with a timely and large supply, along with other provisions for the island, the inhabitants had been fed in their terrible fear of want.

The Governor said the Company had shown so much goodness and consideration that they would meet with a suitable return of duty and gratitude, and he urged the jury to their most hearty and faithful efforts for the directors' service. Those who did so would be sure of favour and protection, while those who did otherwise would as surely feel the effect of his displeasure. He said he was very willing that anyone who made a base, villainous and wicked attempt should face a criminal charge at this bar, and that he was bound in duty to the Honourable Masters, and for his own safety, to draw a prosecution against him, since to suffer such a wicked attempt to go unpunished would be an injustice to them and a cruelty to himself.

The Governor said that if any of the jury had anything to offer for the good of themselves or the rest of the inhabitants, he would be glad to receive it and to help in any way for their advantage. He was ready on all occasions to do good, thinking his time better spent than when doing something for the welfare of the island. He held that no method would more effectively help preserve the cattle, sheep and hogs of the island than a strict observance of the rules and directions set out in an advertisement published by his order on Saturday last.

The following indictment was then read against Toby, a black man slave belonging to the widow Greentree.

The indictment charged Toby, a black slave belonging to Elizabeth Greentree of this island and widow, with felony and other crimes and misdemeanours. For many years past Toby had lived a most wasteful and wicked course of life, by frequently running away and absenting himself from his late master, John Greentree, late of this island and a free planter, deceased, for several months together.

Interpretations

The store ship the Governor named brought the famine relief that saved the island. Failed seasons through 1723 and 1724 had threatened starvation. His private appeals to friends among the directors had hastened its early arrival.

The prosecution of Toby followed his long record of flight and theft. He had run from the widow Greentree, and the council had raised a hue and cry for his capture on 04 Aug 1724. The reading of the indictment brought that pursuit to formal trial.

The indictment reached back to Toby's conduct under his late master John Greentree. It cast his repeated absconding over years as a wasteful and criminal course. This history framed the charge as a settled pattern rather than a single act.

411

307

August

besides Severall times Since the Death from Your Mistress

the Said Elizabeth Greentree of which wandering Renegade

& wicked Practice You have been formerly Convicted, & have

not been better by the Punishments inflicted upon You according

to the Modrate Methods prescribed by the Laws of this Island

but do still Remain & continue inflexible to all Godness

& do persist in a Renegade & wicked Sort of Living for that

notwithstanding Your former Punishments, & particularly

being Some Years Since branded on the face with the Letter R

for resisting & following one Edward Smith a Soldier of the

Garrison on this Island when he was apprehending & En:

deavouring to bring You to Justice at a certain time

when You was ran away & fled from Your Said Master

& the fair Promises You have made both then & Since of

Reclaiming, You did about Six or Seven Weeks last past

Runaway & abscond from Your Said Mistress Since &

did conceale Your Self in the Holes of Rocks & obscure Parts

of this Island till the 18th day of this instant August

whereby she did not only loose the Benefit of Your Service

but You did during the time & Space of Six or Seven Weeks

as aforesaid become a Publick & Common Nuisance to to

the whole Inhabitants of this Island by the many &

frequent Robberies You committed in Preying upon Sev:ll

of the said Inhabitants Live Stock & Provisions of

all Sorts, You having wickedly & feloniously Stole, taken

Destroyed, & killed Hogs Goats Kidds Poultry & other

the Live Stock, Yams & Provisions out of the Grounds &

Plantation of Severall of the Said Inhabitants to the

great & Manifest Discouragement of Industry &

Prejudice of the owners thereof & have lived as a free Booter

on this Country by Pilfering & Stealing as aforesaid particularly

one Hog from off the Land & Plantation belonging to

John Harding Planter at a place called the Graves &

One Goat & two Kidds with Sundry other Provisions viz:t

about 150 weight Yam from the Hon:ble Company Cd weight

Yam, from Rich:d Swallow, 30 weight from Nego: Lepsons

& 40 weight Yam, from Cap:t Alexander & other

Provisions from Severall Inhabitants, by which wicked &

evile Course of Life You are become an Insupportable burthen

on every Inhabitant a most Notorious & Insupportable burthen

& a publick Nuisance & Scandal to this Island, a disturber of

the Peace & open Violater of the wholesome & good Laws and

Ordinances of this Country for the, Safety & Preservation

thereof, Contrary to the King Crown & Dignity & is

in high Contempt & Contrary to the Honour of the

Hon:ble Lord Proprietor thereof

To which Indictment he at first Pleaded not

Guilty, but his Examination & Confession made both to the

Margin Notes:

To w:ch at first pleaded not Guilty

The indictment continued that Toby had absconded several times since the death of his mistress Elizabeth Greentree, for which wandering and wicked conduct he had already been convicted. Punishment under the island's law had not reformed him. He remained set against all correction and kept to his wicked way of life. Despite his former punishments, one of which had lately branded his face with the letter R for resisting and following the soldier Edward Smith, of the garrison, when Smith was trying to bring him to justice, he had once more run from his master and made false promises of reforming.

The indictment charged that Toby had absconded about 6 or 7 weeks last past, running away and hiding from his mistress. He had concealed himself in the caves and remote parts of the island until 18 Aug 1724, so that he lost the benefit of his service. During those 6 or 7 weeks he had become a public nuisance to the whole island, through the many frequent robberies he committed by preying on the inhabitants' livestock and provisions of all sorts. He had wickedly and wilfully stolen, destroyed and killed hogs, goats, kids, poultry and other livestock, and had carried off yams and provisions from the grounds and plantations of several inhabitants, to their great harm and to the prejudice of the owners.

The indictment further charged that Toby had lived as a freebooter in the country by pilfering and stealing. In particular he had taken from the land and plantation of John Harding, planter, at a place called the Hutts, one goat, two kids and sundry other provisions, about 150 lb of yams from the Honourable Company and 8 lb of yams from Richard Swallow, 30 lb of yams from Sergeant Leftfire and 40 lb of yams from Captain Alexander, along with other provisions from several inhabitants. By this wicked course of life he had become a most notorious and insupportable burden and an incorrigible rogue, a nuisance and scandal to the island. He had violated the wholesome and good laws and ordinances of the country, against the King's crown and dignity, and in high contempt of the honour of the Honourable Lord Proprietors.

To this indictment Toby at first pleaded not guilty, but his examination and confession, made both to the [...].

Interpretations

The brand of the letter R marked Toby as a convicted runaway. The island burned the sign into an offender's face as a lasting record of the crime. The letter stood for his resistance when the soldier Edward Smith had tried to seize him.

The freebooter charge cast Toby as living wholly by theft in the country. He supported himself by stealing stock and yams from the plantations. The indictment listed the exact quantities taken from named owners to fix the scale of his depredations.

The offence ran against both the King's authority and the Lord Proprietors. The island prosecuted crime in the name of the crown and of the Company that held the charter. This double framing gave the charge its full legal weight.

412

308

1724

Governour & others at the time he was apprehended being mencond

to him he immediatly retracted his former Plea & Pleded

Guilty to the whole Indictment

And the Said Toby having been an old Offender, a

most Notorious villain, & of Such devilish Stubborn incorrigible

Temper that no Means have hitherto found & retard him from the vicious Course of Life which he has led

for many Years past, the Gentlemen of the Jury Severall of

whom have already been great Sufferers by the Said Toby

& being apprehensive of farther Damage from him, do, in

behalf & for the Preservation of themselves & the rest of the

Inhabitants of this Island, present the following Petition

To the Worshipfull In:o Smith Esq:r Gov:r & Councile

now assembled at a Sessions held this 31:t day of Aug:t 1724

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 Setteth forth & Sheweth

That whereas Toby a Negro Man Slave

now belonging to the Eliz: Greentree of this Island Widdow

hath for many Years past been a most Notorious Runaway villain

& hath committed frequent Robberies of all Sorts, in killing &

Stealing Goats Kidds Poultry Hogs & Provisions whereby

Our Stocks have greatly Suffered, & divers manner of Punishments

have been Inflicted upon him according to Our Laws that he is become

incorrigible, & likewise as Notorious have been who by fair Promises

his late Master Greentree we all know to have used him with

all the Indulgence possible) Yet for Promise he hath made to

Your Worship & other Gaol of the Councile of his Reclaiming &

leaving off that ill habit of Runing away & Stealing as aforesaid

yet in every Short Space of time we believe Sometimes not a

Month but he has Runaway & absconded himself for Severall

Weeks together which unjustly Evidence the Notoriety of the

villain, & he hath committed Such Plunder on our Stocks as is

not to be imagined & so bad if not aworse will attend his so

frequently Runing away & absconding so long by Some ill disposed

Persons whither White or Black & both we are not able to judge

both take that time for the most Suitable Opportunity Supporting

their wicked & vile designs in Practice & to Our great Loss &

Detriment & Severall others of the Inhabitants have committed

Severall Robberies by killing Cattle Sheep Goates, Kidd, Hogs

Poultry & all other Sorts of Provisions, an in particular divers

of which can be given & Testified by the Said Inhabitants &

which tends very much to the utter Ruin & fatall destruction

of their Stock which is the only Dependancy for themselves

& Families all which together with the Crime he now Stand

charged before this Hon:ble Court, will We humbly conceive &

Margin Notes:

Prisoner refers it to have him tried by y:e Jury

The Jury & others Petit: ag:t Toby's Robberies

The record continued that Toby, on his examination made to the Governor and others at the time of his capture, had immediately retracted his former plea and pleaded guilty to the whole indictment.

Toby, having been an old offender, a most notorious villain, and of so wicked, stubborn and incorrigible a temper that no means had yet reformed him from the wicked course of life he had led for many years, was now before the court. Several of the jury had already suffered great loss by his conduct. In fear of further harm from him, and for the preservation of themselves and the rest of the island's inhabitants, they presented the following petition.

To the Worshipful John Smith, Governor, and the Council, then assembled at a sessions held on 31 Aug 1724.

The petition of the jury, on behalf of themselves and the rest of the inhabitants and planters of the island, set out that Toby, a black man slave now belonging to Elizabeth Greentree, had for many years been a most notorious runaway villain. He had committed frequent robberies of all sorts by killing and stealing goats, kids, poultry, hogs and provisions, so that many of the inhabitants had greatly suffered. Punishments had been inflicted on him under the island's laws, yet he had become incorrigible, all correction being lost on him.

The petition set out that his late master Greentree had shown him every possible indulgence. The council had also issued its warrants for reclaiming him and clearing him of the wicked habit of running away and stealing. Yet in every short space of time, scarcely a month, he had run away and hidden himself for weeks, which unjustly gave clear proof of the villain's notoriety. The plunder he committed on the inhabitants' stock was not to be imagined, and worse would follow, since he concealed himself so long by help from some ill-disposed persons, whether white or black, that they could not judge who. He took that time as the best chance to carry on his wicked and evil design in practice, to their great loss.

The petition set out that Toby had committed several robberies by killing cattle, sheep, goats, kids, hogs, poultry and all other sorts of provisions. The particulars, ready to be attested by the inhabitants, tended much to the near ruin and utter destruction of their stock, which was the sole support of themselves and their families. Together with the crime for which he now stood charged before the court, the jury humbly considered [...].

Interpretations

The retracted plea marked Toby's confession at the point of capture. He had first pleaded not guilty at the bar. His earlier admission to the Governor overturned that plea and settled his guilt.

The jury's petition turned the trial into a collective appeal from the inhabitants. Several jurors had themselves lost stock to Toby's thefts. They pressed for a severe outcome as a matter of common safety rather than one owner's grievance.

The mention of hidden helpers pointed to a wider network sheltering runaways. The jury suspected persons, white or black, aided Toby's long concealment. This concern framed his freedom as a danger to the order of the whole slave society.

413

309

August

hope made apparent to your Worship & the Court, the

dangerous Consequences that may attend by the Example &

Enticement of Such a Notorious villain both to the

Hon:ble Companies Stock & number of them Blacks as

well as to Our own, & justify any Precedent of the

Rigor of the Law inflicted upon Such a notorious Offender

Wherefore we humbly beg, that the said Toby may

be now made an Example of the utmost Severity in ord:r

to prevent & deter other Blacks, whose Numbers are so

great on this Island that if they be not kept in awe will as the

Gov:r Seen be too many for & ruin Us their Masters. This Hon:ble

Court know how difficult if not impossible it is to keep

them in any Employ at home & the little or no dependance

there can be on the fair Promises of Amendment or indeed

any hope of his Service were he Copyd & lodged with

Irons, & made as fast as Wood whom are capable, by the

Escape he has formerly made, & We are Willing & asfarous

to Contribute to make Such Satisfaction to his Mistress

as hath been negeto fore made on the Execution of a Black

The Hon:ble Court Consideration of these Premisses

will demonstrate Your Wisdom for our future Selurity

& Prosperity & Engage Us as in Duty bound ever to Pray &c

Subscribed

In:o French

Orlando Bagley Sen:r

Jonathan Doveton

Joshua Johnson

Isaac Wood

Richard Mason

Rich:d Swallow

Francis Tunges

John Worrall

James Rider

Will:m Seale

Edm: Nicholls

Samuel Taylor

Francis Wrangham

which being immediatly taken into Consideration &

thought just & reasonable that Since John Swore

Corporeal Punishment as hath been inflicted upon the

said Toby for past Offences, as well as Gentle Means

used to reclaim the said Toby have worked no Reformation

in him & more effectuall Measures should be taken for the

Security of the Inhabitants hereafter, the Judge

agreable to the Prayer of the said Petition there being

no other left to Secure People in the Quiet Posession

of what they Enjoy Pronounced the following Sentence

of Death upon them

Toby, The long Course & train of your villanies

deserved Death many Years ago but in hopes of amendm:t

lesser Punishments have been inflicted on You from time to

time. By Your Continuance You have Shown Your Self

Margin Notes:

being taken into Consideration

Sentence was Pronounced

The petition set out the dangerous consequences of allowing such a notorious villain to prey on both the Company's stock and the inhabitants' own, and asked whether any precedent under the island's law would justify such punishment. The jury humbly begged that Toby be made an example of the utmost severity, to prevent and deter other slaves, whose numbers were so great on the island. If they were not kept in awe, the Honourable Company would soon be many hands short of what its plantations needed. The court knew how hard, if not impossible, it was to keep the slaves in any employment at home while there could be little or no dependence on their promise of amendment or on any hope of their service. If Toby were kept in irons, made as fast as wood could hold him, by the escapes he had made before, the jury was willing to help make his mistress such satisfaction as had been given before on the execution of a slave.

The petition closed that the court's consideration of these matters would secure the inhabitants' future safety and prosperity, and bound them in duty to pray for it.

The petition was subscribed by John French, Orlando Bagley senior, Jonathan Doveton, Joshua Johnson, Isaac Wood, Richard Mason, Richard Swallow, Francis Funge, John Worrall, James Ryder, William Seale, Edmund Nicholls, Samuel Taylor and Francis Wrangham.

The court took the petition into immediate consideration. It thought it just and reasonable that, since corporal punishment inflicted on Toby for past offences had failed to reform him, and the gentle means used to reclaim him had likewise failed, a more effective measure should be taken for the future security of the inhabitants. The judge, agreeable to the tenor of the petition, and there being no other way left to secure the inhabitants in the quiet possession of what they held, pronounced the following sentence of death upon Toby.

The judge told Toby that his long course and train of villainies had deserved death many years earlier, but that in hope of amendment lighter punishments had been inflicted on him from time to time. By his continuance he had shown himself [...].

Interpretations

The jury's plea rested on the labour value of the slave force. Skilled and steady hands were scarce, and constant flight threatened the plantations' work. The petition urged severity as a means of keeping the other slaves in fear and at their tasks.

The offer to compensate the mistress followed island custom on executing a slave. A slave was property, so putting one to death destroyed value belonging to the owner. The jurors undertook to make Elizabeth Greentree the customary satisfaction for her loss.

The death sentence marked the failure of lesser penalties. Branding, irons and warnings had not stopped Toby's escapes and thefts. The court held execution the only means left to secure the inhabitants in their property.

Speculations

The judge chose death over a further term in irons, though the jury had itself proposed chaining Toby fast enough to hold him. The bench passed over the lesser course the petitioners offered, holding that no confinement could secure the inhabitants while such an example stood. It rested the choice on the failure of every earlier punishment rather than on the immediate theft alone.

414

310

1724

Incorrigible & art now become an Insupportable burthen

on every Inhabitant on this Island as appears by the

Petition delivord into Court & read against you as well as

a Discouragement to Industry no man being Beure for

what time he may enjoy the fruit of his Labour or how

long what he raises may Escape your Destruction hand

Wee can have no Dependence upon your Confinment nor

fair Promises of Amendment Witness your frequent

Runing away & Committing the Severall Robberies

that you Stand Charged with & are Convicted of. To put

a Stop to your Roguery & to Shew all others what a

fatall Misery their Continuance in Such evile Practices will

at last bring them to. You Toby Stand Charged here

in the Indictment just now read against you for felony

with Sundry other Crimes & Misdemeanours to which

you have pleaded Guilty, for which with the accumulated

Crimes of your past Life I am obliged to Pronounce

Sentence against you as the Law directs

That You be taken hence & Carried Back to the

Prison from whence you came, & from thence on Wednesday

Morning next at Eleven of the Clock to be put on a

Cart, to be drawn by all those Blacks who this in also

Degree have been formerly Guilty thereby to Strike an

immediate horror, & Terror in them by the Cart they are to

Act at your Execution & if possible to reclaim them ) to the

Place of Execution, there you are to hang by the Neck, till

you are dead, then you are to be cutt down your Body to be

Carried to the Top of the Hill above Castle Path & there

to be hanged upon a Gibbet thereon to remain as a

Spectacle to deter the rest of your fellow Bro:t So the

Lord have Mercy on your Soule

Then the following Indictm:t ag:t Jos: Bates was read

Joseph Bates

You Stand Indited by the Name of Jos: Bates of

the Island St: Helena Freeholder, of an high Misdemeanour

for that you Joseph Bates on or about the 28th day of

Aprile last past, not having the fear of God before your Eyes

but being moved by the Instigation of the Devill did

Maliciously wickedly & seditiously write & Publish a false

Scandelous Insolent & Seditious Libell directed to Thomas

Matthews Ship Commander of his Majesties Ship of Warr

at that time in this Road highly Reflecting upon the mild &

gentle Administration of the Worshipfull In:o Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Margin Notes:

first Indictm:t ag:t Jos: Bates

The judge told Toby that he had become an incorrigible and insupportable burden on every inhabitant of the island, as the petition delivered to the court and read against him showed. His conduct discouraged industry, since no man could be sure how long he would enjoy the fruit of his labour, or whether his work might escape Toby's destruction. There could be no dependence on his confinement nor on his fair promises of amendment, as his frequent running away and the several robberies he stood charged with and convicted of made plain. To put a stop to his roguery, and to show all others the fatal misery that continuance in such wicked practice would at last bring them to, the judge addressed him further.

The judge said Toby stood charged in the indictment just read with felony and sundry other crimes and misdemeanours, to which he had pleaded guilty. With the accumulated crimes of his past life added, the judge was bound to pronounce sentence as the law directed.

The judge sentenced Toby to be taken from the court and carried back to the prison, and from there on Wednesday morning next at 11 o'clock to be put on a cart. The cart was to be drawn by all those slaves who had themselves been formerly guilty of the same kind of crime, so that his execution might strike an immediate horror and terror in them and, if possible, reclaim them. They were to draw him to the place of execution, where he was to hang by the neck until dead. His body was then to be cut down and carried to the top of the hill above Castle Path, and hanged upon a gibbet there, to remain as a spectacle to deter the rest of his fellow slaves. The judge closed by asking the Lord to have mercy on his soul.

The following indictment against Joseph Bates was then read.

Joseph Bates, a freeholder of St Helena, stood indicted for a high misdemeanour. On or about 28 Apr 1724 he had, without the fear of God before his eyes and moved by the instigation of the Devil, maliciously, wickedly and seditiously written and published a false, scandalous, insolent and seditious libel. It was directed to Thomas Matthews, commander of His Majesty's ship of war then in the road, and highly reflected on the mild and gentle administration of the Worshipful John Smith, Governor.

Interpretations

The manner of execution turned Toby's death into a warning to the whole slave force. The cart was drawn by other convicted runaways, and the body hung on a gibbet above the settlement. Every stage was designed to terrify the slaves into obedience.

The gibbet above Castle Path placed the corpse where the slaves would pass and see it. Hanging in chains after death was reserved for the gravest examples. Its purpose was deterrence rather than punishment of the dead man.

The libel charge against Bates concerned a written attack on authority. He was accused of composing a seditious paper aimed at a naval commander and reflecting on the Governor. The island treated such writing as a crime against good order. Thomas Matthews, named as commodore of the Lyon, had been in the road in the crowded shipping season of 1724.

415

311

August

& Commander in Chiefe of this Island, therein not only

impudently, Maliciously & wickedly endeavouring &

designing to Create difference, & misunderstanding between

the Said Worshipfull In:o Smith Esq:r Gov:r & him the

Said Thomas Matthews Esq:r but have therein with a

wicked Malicious & Evile Intent Endeavoured to lessen

& destroy the Power & authority with which the Hon:ble

the Lords Proprietors of this Island have been pleased to

Invest in him the Said Worshipfull In:o Smith Esq:r Gov:r

And you the Said Joseph Bates laying aside all

Consideration of the great Respect & Duty justly due &

enjoyned to be paid to him the Said Worshipfull In:o

Smith Esq:r Gov:r have farther wickedly Maliciously &

Seditiously attempted to lessen that good Understanding which at present is so happily Established

between him the Said Worshipfull In:o Smith Esq:r Gov:r

& the Inhabitants of this Island by affirming and

insinuating in the Libell aforesaid that you the Said

Joseph Bates have been unjustly dealt by, thereby

Endeavouring, as far as in you lay, to Create Jealousies

Factions & Sedition among the Inhabitants & to Seduce

& withdraw them from their Obedience to their lawfull

Governour, which Said wicked & Infamous Libell & other

false & Scandalous & Opprobrious Words used by you ag:t

him the Said Worshipfull In:o Smith Esq:r Gov:r in the

hearing of Tobias Mayne Esq:r Commander of his

Majesties Ship Stanhope late contrary to the Peace

of Our Sovereign Lord the King his Crown & Dignity

& an high Contempt & open Violation of the wholesome Laws &

Constitutions of this Island

To Prove which the following Libell acknowledged

by the Prisoner to be wrote by his Direction & Subscribed

by himself was read

Hon:ble Sir

At the Fort 1724

It being my Misfortune to be Confined for

receiving my Money of Mr Dutton whom I imagine y:e

Provost impraved & I have given him a receipt for the Cattle

accordingly, the Governour after very threatening Words

that he would be even with me in a little time, & told him

I desired nothing but the Liberty & Property of a Subject

of his Majesty, he called me a Rascal & put me in Prison

upon Guard & having a great deale of Buyness & a great deale

of Money to receive will be very prejudiciall to your Poor

Suffirer, Sir, I humbly desire Your Honour to advise him

better which will mightily oblige your poor Suffirer &

better which with mightily oblige your poor Suffirer

I am Y:r Hon:r most hum: Serv:r

Joseph Bates

To Tho: Matthews Esq:r Commander in Chiefe

of his Majesties Ship in the Road &c

Margin Notes:

Jo: Bates Lett:r to Comadore Matthews

To Tho: Matthews Esq:r of his Maj:s Ship in the Road

The indictment continued that Bates, as a commander in chief of the island, had impudently, maliciously and wickedly tried to create difference and misunderstanding between the Worshipful John Smith, Governor, and Thomas Matthews. With wicked and evil intent he had endeavoured to lessen and destroy the power and authority with which the Lord Proprietors had invested the Governor.

The indictment charged that Bates, laying aside all consideration of the great respect and duty owed to the Governor, had further wickedly, maliciously and seditiously tried to lessen the good understanding then happily settled between the Governor and the inhabitants. He had done this by affirming and insinuating in the libel that he, Joseph Bates, had been unjustly dealt with, and by trying to create jealousies, factions and sedition among the inhabitants, so as to draw them from their lawful obedience to their Governor. He had used false and scandalous libel and opprobrious words against the Governor, in the hearing of Thomas Matthews, commander of His Majesty's ship Stanhope. This ran against the peace, the King's crown and dignity, in high contempt and open violation of the wholesome laws of the island.

The following libel, acknowledged by the prisoner to be written by his direction and subscribed by himself, was then read to prove the charge. It was dated at the Fort in 1724.

Bates wrote to Commodore Matthews that it was his misfortune to be confined for receiving his own money from those he named, whom Matthews had improved, though he had given them a receipt for the cattle accordingly. He wrote that the Governor, after very threatening words that he would be even with him in a little time, had confined him. He wrote that he had asked nothing but the liberty and property of a subject of His Majesty, yet the Governor had called him a rascal and put him in prison under guard, having a great deal of business and a great deal of money to receive, which would be very prejudicial to a poor sufferer. He humbly asked Matthews to advise him better, which would oblige him. Signed to Thomas Matthews, commander of His Majesty's ship in the road, by Joseph Bates.

Interpretations

The charge cast Bates as attacking the Governor's authority from within the island's own command. He was himself an officer, which made his conduct a breach of the respect his place required. The indictment framed his words as an attempt to undermine the Lord Proprietors' grant of power.

The appeal to Commodore Matthews sought a rival authority against the Governor. Bates addressed a naval commander whose ship lay in the road, outside the island's civil government. The council treated this attempt to enlist an outside power as the heart of the sedition.

The libel itself rested on a dispute over money and cattle. Bates claimed he had been confined merely for collecting his own due. The court read his account not as a grievance but as a false and scandalous charge against a lawful Governor.

416

312

1724

The Said Bates having insinuated to the Commodore that

the Cause of his Confinement to the Guard was for receiving his

Money of Mr Dutton, the Governour acquainted the Jury that

he confined the Said Bates to the Guard for the imprudent Language

he used to him in the hearing & then Plea by Cap:t Mayne

& not for the reason he alledge in the Said Libell

After which the Said Bates was called upon to make

his Defence but having nothing Materiall to offer, the Jury

withdrew & after a Short Stay returned & brought him in Guilty

of the Crimes laid to his Charge in the Said Indictment

Then the following 2:d Indictment was read against the

Said Bates

Joseph Bates

You Stand Indited by the Name of Jos: Bates of

the Island St: Helena Freeholder of an high Misdemeanour for

that you the said Joseph Bates forgetting the Duty & fidelity

you owe to the Hon:ble United Company Lords Proprietors of

this Island, & with a wicked Malicious & Evile design to Cheat

& Defraud the Said Hon:ble Company, did Conspire with & was

Proven, aiding abetting & assisting to Samuel Price Shoemaker

in making his Escape off this Island which by your Means &

assistance he effected on or about the 29th day of Aprile last, You

at that time knowing that he the said Samuel Price was Indited

& owed the aforesaid Hon:ble Company a large Sum of Money

which by your Contrivance, aiding & abetting him the Said

Samuel Price to make his Escape is now totally lost to the

Said Hon:ble Company by which they are become great Sufferers

which Said Malicious, & knavish, fraudulent & Treacherous

Practice of yours is Contrary to the Peace of Our Soveraign Lord

the King his Crown & Dignity & is an open Breach & high

Contempt of the Laws & Constitutions of this Island

Severall Circumstances were offered to the Court, of

the Jury which gave Strong reason to Suspect he was forth

Proven to y:e aiding & abetting the said Price to make his Escape

but there being no positive Evidence to Prove the fact the

Jury acquitted him

The Said Bates being bound to the Hon:ble Company

in the Sum of fifty Pounds for his appearance at this Sessions

& in the mean time to keep the Peace & the Said Bates having

Beaten & assaulted Severall Persons Since he entred into the Said

Recognizance, he was accordingly called upon to appro:e which

he did & the Said Recognizance was read to him which is as

follows

You Joseph Bates of this Island Planter do

acknowledge your Self to owe to the Hon:ble United Company

Inhabitants of England trading for the East Indies Lords

Proprietors of this Island the Sum of fifty Pounds Sterling

& you Gabriel Powell & Stephen Justin Sen:r a[...] of this

Island Planters, his Sureties, do likewise each of you acknowledge

Margin Notes:

Jurys Verdict

2:d Indictm:t

No positive prove, he was Acquitted

Jo: Bates bound in a Recogniz:o of £50

Bates had suggested to the commodore that the cause of his confinement to the guard was his receiving money from Mr Coulson. The Governor told the jury he had confined Bates to the guard for the impudent language he used to him in the hearing of Captain Mawson, and not for the reason alleged in the libel.

Bates was then called upon to make his defence. Having nothing material to offer, the jury withdrew, and after a short time returned and found him guilty of the crimes laid to his charge in the indictment.

The following third indictment was then read against Joseph Bates.

Joseph Bates, a freeholder of St Helena, stood indicted for a high misdemeanour. Forgetting the duty and fidelity he owed to the Honourable United Company, Lords Proprietors of the island, and with a wicked, malicious and evil design to cheat and defraud the Company, he had conspired with Samuel Price, a shoemaker, aiding, abetting and helping Price to escape off the island. He had effected this help on or about 29 Apr 1724, knowing at that time that Price stood indicted and owed the Company a large sum of money. By his contrivance in helping and abetting Price's escape, that money was now wholly lost to the Company, which had become a great sufferer by it. This wicked, malicious, knavish, fraudulent and treasonable practice ran against the peace, the King's crown and dignity, and stood an open breach and high contempt of the laws of the island.

Several circumstances were offered to the court and jury that gave strong reason to suspect Bates had helped and abetted Price's escape. But there being no positive evidence to prove the fact, the jury acquitted him.

Bates was bound to the Honourable Company in the sum of 50s 0d for his appearance at this sessions and to keep the peace in the meantime. Having beaten and assaulted several persons since entering into that bond, he was called upon to answer accordingly. The bond was read to him, as follows.

Bates acknowledged himself, as a planter and inhabitant of the island trading for the East Indies, to owe the Honourable United Company, Lords Proprietors of the island, the sum of 50s 0d. Gabriel Powell and Stephen Pearse Pledger senior, as his sureties, likewise each acknowledged [...].

Interpretations

The Governor drew a clear line between the real cause of Bates's confinement and the account in the libel. He held that abusive language, not the money dispute, had led to the arrest. This distinction went to the falsity at the heart of the sedition charge.

The second charge concerned helping a debtor flee the island. Samuel Price owed the Company a large sum and stood under indictment. By aiding his escape, Bates was accused of defrauding the Company of what Price owed.

The acquittal turned on the want of positive proof. Suspicion pointed to Bates, but no direct evidence tied him to the escape. The jury declined to convict on circumstance alone.

The recognisance bound Bates to keep the peace on penalty of 50s 0d. Two named sureties stood answerable with him for the sum. His later assaults put that bond in question.

417

313

August 1724

to owe to the aforesaid Hon:ble Company twenty five

Pounds Sterling a peice to be Levied of your Severall

Goods & Chattell Lands & Tenements to the Said Hon:ble

Company their Heirs & Successors, Upon Condition

that if the Said Joseph Bates shall personally appear

before the Worshipfull the Gov:r & Councile of this Island

at the next Sessions of the Peace to be holden for this

Island, then & there to & & & answer to Such Matters

as shall be then laid to his Charge & in the mean time

be of good Behaviour towards Our Soveraign Lord

the King Yale his Liege People & do not depart hence

without License from the Court, then your Recognizance

do be void or else to Stand in full force

John Smith

May 2:d 1724

Joseph Bates

Gabriel Powell

Stephen Justin

prove that the Said Jos: Bates had broke

the Peace Since the date of his Recognizance & thereby forfeited

the Same, Richard Mason was called & Sworne who

declared that he See the Said Joseph Bates apault &

Strike Richard Curling Severall Blows & that he then

Said Joseph Bates did likewise apault beat & Strike

him the Said Richard Mason

Giles Halse being Sworn, Sayth that he

the said Joseph Bates did use Severall abusive threatning

words merely to provoke this Evidence to fight with him the

Said Joseph Bates, that the Language of the Said Bates

used to this Evidence were very abusive & Provoking the

Said Bates having Severall times bid this Deponent Kiss

his A—se

The said Bates was then called upon to make

his Defence, but having nothing to alledge in his owne

behalf, nor any one appearing for him the Jury brought

him in Guilty of the said breach of y:e Peace & that his Recognizance

was thereby become forfeited

Then Henry Johnson presented to the Judge

& Court a complaint against the Said Bates & also an

attested Copy of his the Said Johnsons Petition to the Hon:ble

Company in which there are two Paragraphs relating to

Some foule Practices of him the Bates

In one of which, he is Charged with being

Privy aiding & assisting to Broom & Delarose in making

their Escape off this Island at a time when they the said

Broom & Delarose were upwards of an Hundred Pounds

Indebted to the Hon:ble Company

In the other Paragraph he the said Bates is

charged by the said Johnson both Endeavouring to Corrupt

him the Said Johnson by offers of Reward to make a

Margin Notes:

Evidence of the breach of Peace

Jurys Verdict found him Guilty

Henry Johnsons Complt: against Jos: Bates & 2 Par: of what foulty wrote to y:e Hon:ble Co:

The bond bound Bates and his sureties to owe the Honourable Company 25s 0d, to be levied on their goods, chattels, lands and tenements and those of their heirs and successors. The condition was that if Joseph Bates appeared in person before the Governor and Council at the next sessions to be held for the island, answered the matters laid to his charge, and in the meantime kept good behaviour toward the King and did not leave the court without licence, then the bond would be void, or else stand in full force. Signed on 29 May 1724 by Joseph Bates, Gabriel Powell and Stephen Pearse Pledger.

Witnesses were called to prove that Bates had broken the peace since the date of his bond and so forfeited it.

Richard Mason was called and sworn. He declared that he had seen Bates strike Richard Gurling several blows, and that Bates had likewise assaulted, beaten and struck him, Richard Mason.

Giles Hayse was sworn and said that Bates had used several abusive and threatening words to provoke this witness to fight with him, and that the language Bates used was very abusive. In provoking the witness, Bates had several times bid the deponent kiss his arse.

Bates was then called upon to make his defence. Having nothing to offer and no one appearing for him, the jury brought him in guilty of the breach of his bond, so that his recognisance was forfeited.

Henry Johnson then presented to the judge and court a complaint against Bates, along with Bates's own petition to the Company, which held two paragraphs relating to some foul practices of Bates.

In the first paragraph Bates was charged with being privy to, aiding and helping Thomas Coram and Delarose in making their escape off the island, at a time when Coram and Delarose owed the Company upwards of 100 lb.

In the second paragraph Johnson charged that Bates had tried to bribe him, offering a reward to make a [...].

Interpretations

The bond secured Bates's good behaviour on penalty of 25s 0d against his property and his sureties. Two men stood answerable with him for the sum. His later assaults and abuse put the whole bond in forfeit.

The witnesses fixed the breach through sworn accounts of violence and provocation. Mason spoke to blows struck on himself and on Gurling, and Hayse to abusive and threatening words. Their testimony established that Bates had broken the peace.

Johnson's complaint opened a fresh charge of aiding debtors to flee. Coram and Delarose owed the Company a large sum when they escaped. Bates was accused of helping them, echoing the earlier charge over Samuel Price.

418

314

1724

a Clandestine Entry of Severall bad Bills in the Hon:ble

Companies Books, tending to the Loss & Damage of the said

Hon:ble Company, which offer the said Johnson rejected &

refused to Enter the said Bills

The said Complaint & the two Paragraphs of the afore:

said Petition to the Hon:ble Company being openly read in Court

the said Johnson was called upon to prove the Same

As to the Paragraph relating to the Escape of Broom

& Delarose the said Johnson being Sworne declared upon

Oath that he the said Joseph Bates did tell this Evidence that

he the s:d Bates did carry off Broom & Delarose in a great

Theft

But the said Bates denying that he ever did tell

the said Johnson any such thing by any Threave Evidence

concerning the delivery of a Chest belonging to the said Broom

& Delarose or one of them, & the said Bates Soon after

their Escape not giving the Jury sufficient reason to believe

him Privy or abetting in their Escape he was acquited of

this Charge

To Prove the said Bates did Endeavour to Seduce

& Corrupt the said Johnson by Offers of Reward to make

a Clandestine Entry of Sev:ll bad Bills in the Hon:ble Comp:s

Books, to their Loss & Damage, as Set forth in the other

Paragraph of the said Petition, the said Johnson deposed

upon Oath that the said Bates did tender & desire him the

said Johnson to Enter Severall bad Bills in the Hon:ble

Companies Books by offer of Reward, but that this Evidence

did reject his offer & refused to Enter the said Bills

And the said Bates making no Defence other than

Saying he never did offer any such Bills to be Entered, the

Jury withdrew & in a Short time returned & brought him Guilty

The said Bates then begd Pardon & declared

himself heartily Sorry for his offence particularly for

writing & Publishing that false & Scandalous Libell mencond

in the first Indictment, & promised to behave himself

Dutyfully hereafter & humbly Submitted himself to

the Clemency of the Court

And the Judge taking into Consideration the ill

Consequence Punishing him with so much Severity as he had

justly deserved & might be of ill Consequence Convicting the Libell above

him fifty Shilling for the felony & convicting the Libell above

Mentioned, & to Pay the Penalty of his Recognizance

forfeited by his said breach of the Peace, And ordered the

farther Consideration of his Punishment for his attempting

to Corrupt the said Johnson in the manner already Set forth &

for which he Stands Convicted, to an other Opportunity

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

John Smith

Edward Byfield

Margin Notes:

this Petition was before y:e Court Jan:ry 1723/4 & so refers to Johnsons Petition ag:t Bates

Bates Acquitted of being Privy to Broom & Delarose Escape

Jos: Bates found Guilty of Seducing R:d Johnson

Bates Submission

only fined 50 sh: & lo & tt of y:e many forfeiture of his Re:cognizance & rest defer:d

The second paragraph charged that Bates had tried to bribe Johnson, offering a reward to make a clandestine entry of several bad bills in the Company's book. This tended to the loss and damage of the Company, and Johnson had refused to enter the bills, on which Bates grew angry.

The complaint and the two paragraphs of the petition to the Company were openly read in court, and Johnson was called upon to prove them.

For the paragraph relating to the escape of Coram and Delarose, Johnson swore that Bates had told him he would help Coram and Delarose in their theft. But Bates denied ever telling Johnson any such thing. On Mr Shrewe's evidence about the delivery of a chest belonging to Coram and Delarose, or one of them, made by Bates soon after their escape, the jury found no sufficient reason to believe Bates privy to or aiding in the escape, and he was acquitted of that charge.

For the other paragraph of the petition, Johnson deposed on oath that Bates had tried to seduce and corrupt him, offering a reward to make a clandestine entry of several bad bills in the Company's book, to their loss and damage. He swore that Bates had tempted and offered him a reward to enter several bad bills, but that on this evidence Bates had refused to enter the bills.

Bates made no defence other than saying he had never offered any such bills to be entered. The jury withdrew, and after a short time returned and brought him in guilty.

Bates then begged pardon and declared himself heartily sorry for his offence, particularly for writing and publishing the false and scandalous libel named in the first indictment. He promised to behave himself dutifully in future and humbly submitted to the mercy of the court.

The judge took into consideration the ill consequence of confining him, which he had justly deserved. In regard to his innocent family, the court only fined him 50s 0d for publishing the libel above mentioned, ordered him to pay the penalty of his forfeited bond, and directed further consideration of his punishment for his attempt to corrupt Johnson, since he stood already convicted in a matter already engaged to another opportunity.

Signed by John Alexander, John Goodwin, Benjamin Hawkes, John Smith and Edward Byfield.

Interpretations

The bribery charge concerned the falsifying of the Company's accounts. Bates was accused of paying Johnson to slip bad bills into the books. Such an entry would have hidden worthless debts and cost the Company real money.

The acquittal on the escape charge again turned on weak proof. The delivery of a chest gave some ground for suspicion. It did not amount to evidence that Bates had aided the two debtors to flee.

The judge tempered the sentence out of regard for Bates's family. He set a fine of 50s 0d and enforced the forfeited bond rather than harsher punishment. This mercy left the corruption charge open for a later reckoning.

419

315

September

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 8th day

of Sep:r 1724 at Plantation House

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfield

John Goodwin

John Alexander

Benjamin Hawkes

The last Consultation & Proceedings at Sessions held the

31:t August last past being read were this day approved

Wee having taken into our Consideration the ill

Consequence that attends any persons offering any Bribe

or Reward with intent to inbugle & Bribe any Person to

Enter any bad Bills to the prejudice of Our Hon:ble Masters

as in the Case of Joseph Bates mentiond more fully in the

last Sessions held on the 31:t of August last We have

thought fit & accordingly Order

That the said Joseph Bates be fined for his

said Offence the Sum of five Pounds to the Use of the

Hon:ble Company

Whereas the Grand Magazine in the Front

of the Castle being Damp & decayed & not so conveniently

made as it ought & adjoyning to the West part of the Castle

House & the apartm:ts to be Case any accident of fire

should happen within the Castle no Person would venture

to Stop or Quench it through the fear & Dread they would

be possessed with least the said said Magazine should take

fire it being leaky & otherwise Subject to great Damp

by which Severall Barrells of Powder were formerly

Damaged, the Governour therefore Proposes to Build a

new Powder Room on the East Side of the Square where

the Ware House is that are very well Secured with Strong

Walls on each Side & where it will be Safer & alway Dry

Ordered that a new Magazine be built accordingly

of Such Dimensions as the Governour Shall think proper

& with as little Charge as possible

Captain Goodwin brought in & deliverd an Acc:t of

Store Goods Sold & deliverd out to the Inhabitants in

the Month of August last, which was Examined approved

& is as follows viz:t

Margin Notes:

ill Consequence to Seduce from to make false Entrys of Bills of Jos: Bates is Guilty

fined 5 li to y:e Hon:ble Co:

Old Magazine incombenient

New One to be Built

Store Goody Sold in August

Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 08 Sep 1724 at the plantation house.

Present: John Smith, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Goodwin; John Alexander; and Benjamin Hawkes.

The last consultation and the proceedings at the sessions held on 31 Aug 1724 were read and approved.

The council had considered the ill consequence of any person offering a bribe to enter bad bills, to the prejudice of the Honourable Masters, as in the case of Joseph Bates set out in the last sessions. It thought fit to order accordingly.

The council ordered that Bates be fined 5 lb to the use of the Honourable Company for his offence.

The grand magazine in the front of the castle was found damp and decayed, and not conveniently placed. It adjoined the castle house and the apartments, so that if any accident of fire happened no person would venture to stop or quench it, through fear of the powder. The magazine was leaky and subject to great damp, by which several barrels of powder had been damaged. The Governor therefore proposed to build a new powder room on the east side of the square, where the warehouse stood, these being very well secured with strong walls on each side, safer and always dry.

The council ordered that a new magazine be built accordingly, of such dimensions as the Governor thought proper, at as little charge as possible.

Captain Goodwin brought in and delivered an account of store goods sold to the inhabitants in the month of August, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

The fine on Bates closed the corruption charge left open at the sessions. The court had reserved his punishment for trying to bribe Johnson over the bad bills. The council now set the penalty at 5 lb to the Company.

The grand magazine held the fort's store of gunpowder. Its damp had already spoiled several barrels, and its place beside the living quarters made fire a grave danger. The council moved the powder to a drier and safer building on the square.

Speculations

The Governor chose to convert the existing warehouse on the square rather than raise a wholly new powder store. He passed over fresh construction in favour of a building already walled and secure. The choice met the need for a dry, safe magazine at as little charge as possible.

420

316

1724

9 6 1/8 Gall: Arrack£

30 8 9 1/2

5 8 9 1/2 lb Sugar

14 14 3

13 61 lb Bread 2 1/2 p lb

14 4 5 1/2

4 7 5 lb Flower 3 p lb

5 18 5

4 6 1/2 Candy

18 6

15 lb d:o

1 3

30 lb Starch

1 2 6

21 1/2 Gall: Rape Oyle

15

2 Am oars

9

1 Cattee Green Tea

4

1 Ditto Bohea

1 16

10 lb Rozen

3 6

3 Barrells Lamblack

1 6

11 2 lb Rope

2 16

4 doz Corks

1

1/2 Gattee Thickset N:o 1

17 3

1 Sellampor

16

1 P:r Surat Shirt

8 9

1 P:r Blew Ginghap

12 6

1 White d:o

6

3 d:o Defoters

7 10

6 Madrass Gingham 7/6

1 17 6

6 Chelloe 17

6 9

9 Ordinary long Cloth

4 4

9 fine d:o

4 9

1 Small Quilt

4 6

2 Midling d:o 15

1 10

3 P:r Cotton Stocking

7 6

7 White Shirt 4/6

1 11 6

1 P:r Silk allejar

17 6

1 D:o Nory

2 17 1

1 1/2 lb Shoe Thread Sorted

3 9

17 0 Doz hooks Sorted

10 10 1/2

9 5 Lines d:o

8 6 6

2 Boy Hatt N:o 9

12

1 d:o

8 9

Shoes viz:t

2 P:r Mens d:o

4

2 P:r Womens d:o

1 3

14 P:rs Spanish Leather 5/9

3 12

16 Shoes Leather 4/6

1 5 6

1 Boy d:o

1 6 8

4 Mens d:o 6/8

Carried over

Store, sold for August

96⅛ gallons arrack, £30 8s 9½d

589½ lb sugar, £14 14s 9d

1,361 lb bread at 2½d per lb, £14 4s 3½d

475 lb flower at 3d per lb, £5 18s 9d

16½ candy, £0 18s 6d

15 lb rope, £1 2s 3d

30 lb starch, £1 5s 6d

21½ gallons rape oil, £0 15s 0d

2 oars, £0 9s 0d

1 cask green tea, £0 4s 0d

1 cask Bohea tea, £1 16s 0d

10 lb Bohea tea, £0 3s 6d

3 barrels lamp black, £0 1s 6d

112 lb pepper, £2 16s 0d

4 dozen corks, £0 17s 3d

½ piece thickset No. 1, £0 15s 0d

1 gollampor, £0 8s 9d

1 pair surat shirt, £0 12s 6d

1 pair blue gingham, £0 6s 0d

1 white desotus, £0 10s 0d

3 white desotus, £1 17s 6d

6 Madras gingham at 7s 6d, £0 9s 0d

6 callico, £0 4s 0d

2 ordinary long cloth, £0 4s 9d

2 fine cloth, £0 4s 0d

1 small quilt, £0 6s 9d

2 middling quilt at 15s, £1 10s 0d

3 pairs cotton stockings, £0 7s 6d

7 white shirts at 4s 6d, £1 11s 0d

1 pair silk alligar, £2 17s 0d

1 dungaree, £0 3s 9d

1½ lb shoe thread, £0 10s 10½d

170 dozen hooks forked, £4 8s 6d

95 lines, £5 6s 0d

2 boys' hats No. 2, £0 12s 0d

1 boys' hat, £0 8s 9d

Shoes, namely

2 pairs men's, £0 4s 0d

1 pair women's, £0 1s 0d

4 pairs Spanish leather at 5s 9d, £1 3s 0d

16 pairs shoe leather at 4s 6d, £3 12s 0d

1 pair boys', £0 5s 6d

4 pairs men's at 6s 8d, £1 6s 8d

Carried over

Interpretations

Bohea was a black tea from the Wuyi hills of China, the common grade drunk on the island. It arrived on the Company's China ships and sold both by the cask and the pound. The store kept it alongside green tea as a routine drink of the establishment.

The cotton cloths point to the Company's western trade. Gollampor was a printed or painted Indian cotton, gingham a checked cotton woven in India, and alligar a striped Indian cloth. Dungaree was a coarse cotton for hard-wearing work clothes.

Candy was refined sugar boiled and crystallised hard. It reached the island through the eastern trade as a costlier form of sugar. Its sale gave the inhabitants a sweet beyond the ordinary muscovado.

421

317

September

Hosiers Ware Brought over

8 P:r Girls Stocking

8 2

1 Boy d:o

1 5

1 d:o

7

1 d:o

4 8

1 d:o

5 10

11 Womens d:o 2/9

1 10

7 d:o 3/9

1 6 3

7 d:o 4/9

9 6

3 d:o Mens 3/6

4 6

11 d:o

10 6

7 d:o

9

Tin Ware

2 Lamps 1/3

11 8

4 Coffee Pott

8

8 Sauce Pans

9 4

2 d:o

1 4

Pewter viz:t

3 Chamber Potts 4/2

12 6

17 Porrengers

1 6 6

1 Bason & Timble

9

9 Brass Thimble

9 6

8 Ivory Combs

8

16 d:o 1/2

11 8

3 d:o 1/1 1/2

4 8

1 d:o 1/11

1 8

3 Tea Kettles

8 10

1 d:o

5

5 Quire Paper

18

1 Sutor

6 3

1 Rummer

1 6

Iron Ware

4 Shod Shovells

12

1 Hoe

3

Cutlery Ware

13 Butchers Knive

6 6

10 d:o 1/6

15

10 d:o 1/6

10 6

32 d:o 3/9

6 4 6

32 doz: Spoons 3/6

7 3 9

1 d:o d:o

5

China Ware

1 Punch Bowle

2 6

17 Sneakers

2 8 6

12 Cups & Saucers

6 8

17 Long Cups

6 1

11 Small d:o

10

Hosiers' ware

Brought over

8 pairs girls' stockings, £0 8s 2d

1 pair boys' stockings, £0 1s 5d

1 pair boys' stockings, £0 1s 6d

1 pair boys' stockings, £0 4s 8d

1 pair boys' stockings, £0 2s 5d

11 pairs women's stockings at 2s, £1 1s 10d

7 pairs women's stockings at 4s, £1 1s 0d

7 pairs women's stockings at 4s, £0 9s 6d

3 pairs men's stockings at 3s 6d, £0 4s 6d

11 pairs men's stockings, £0 15s 6d

7 pairs men's stockings, £0 1s 10d

Tin ware

2 lamps, £0 11s 8d

4 coffee pots, £0 6s 8d

8 saucepans, £0 9s 0d

2 saucepans, £0 1s 4½d

Pewter, namely

3 chamber pots at 4s, £0 12s 6d

17 porringers, £1 6s 6d

1 basin and thimble, £0 9s 6d

9 brass thimbles, £0 8s 0d

8 ivory combs, £0 11s 8d

6 ivory combs at 1s 2d, £0 4s 8d

3 ivory combs at 1s 6d, £0 4s 8d

2 ivory combs at 1s 11d, £0 8s 10d

3 tea kettles, £2 5s 0d

1 tea kettle, £0 18s 0d

5 quires paper, £0 6s 8d

1 castor, £0 1s 0d

1 crammer, £0 1s 6d

Iron ware

4 shod shovels, £0 12s 0d

1 hoe, £0 3s 0d

Cutlery ware

13 butchers' knives, £0 6s 6d

10 butchers' knives at 1s 6d, £0 15s 0d

10 butchers' knives at 1s 6d, £0 6s 6d

3 dozen spoons at 3s 6d, £0 4s 6d

1 dozen spoons, £0 7s 3d

1 dozen spoons, £0 3s 9d

China ware

1 punch bowl, £0 8s 6d

17 sneakers, £0 6s 6d

12 cups and saucers, £0 6s 8d

17 large cups, £0 6s 0d

11 small cups, £0 1s 10d

Interpretations

The pewter lines record the soft-metal vessels of the household. Porringers were shallow bowls for soup or porridge, and chamber pots the bedroom vessels. Pewter gave a cheaper and more durable ware than china for everyday use.

The ivory combs were graded and priced by size. Ivory gave a finer comb than horn for dressing and cleaning the hair. The store carried several grades to suit different buyers.

The china ware sat as its own block apart from the pewter and tin. Bowls, cups and saucers came on the Company's China ships. A sneaker was a small drinking cup, kept among the imported porcelain reckoned as a distinct class.

422

318

1724

Haberdashery Ware Brought over

8 lb Coloured & Brown Thread

1 10

1 lb White & Brown N:o 5 6

1 5 6

3 d:o 7/2

1 4 6

1/2 d:o 7 8 10/6

1 2

2 Oz Nuns Thread

4 9

9 oz d:o 1/1

7 1

1 oz d:o 1/5

2 1

4 oz d:o

16 8

25 Short Laces a 5

10 5

14 long ordinary 5

8 4

1 box Ivory Silk

5 1 1/2

16 1/2 yard: Ferretting

4 1/2

2 yards broad d:o

2

2 narrow Tape

6

5 9 midling holland d:o

5 4 8

1 broad d:o 1/4

6

6 red Tape 1/6

16 3

3 Coloured d:o 2/1

4 6

1 M Pins 1/4

1 2

2 1/2 M d:o 1/3

4 9

7 M d:o 1/4

2 3

1 1/2 M 1/8

3

9 yard Gartring 3

4 6

6 y:d Ribbon 3

1 4

3 d:o 1/4

2 7 1/2

3/4 y:d Galloom 2/2

3

7 1/2 Oz China Silk

7 3

6 Gumps

9 3

1 1/2 doz Mohair Coat Buttons

3 10

8 Skain Mohair

1 P:r Womens Gloves

Sum Tot:ll to Inhab:ts£

149 15 1/4

Diet Expences

1 Cask Beefe

13

1 d:o Suet

6 4 3

1 d:o Bread

6 12

16 0 lb Sugar

4

6 Gall: Arrack

18

1 d:o Vinegar

6 6 3/4

3 Quarts Sweet Oyle

1

1 lb Pepper

Garrison

8 Cattee Green Tea

1 12

3 1/4 Gall: Rape Oyle

19 6

1/4 d:o Sweet

3

Haberdashery ware

Brought over

8 lb coloured and brown thread, £1 12s 0d

1 lb white brown thread No. 6, £1 5s 6d

3 lb white brown thread No. 6 at 7s 2d, £1 4s 6d

½ lb white brown thread No. 8 at 10s, £1 2s 9d

2 oz nuns' thread, £0 1s 7d

6 oz nuns' thread at 1s 1d, £0 6s 6d

1 oz nuns' thread at 1s 5d, £0 1s 5d

4 oz thread, £0 16s 8d

25 short laces at 5d, £0 10s 6d

14 long ordinary at 5d, £0 8s 4d

1 pair ivory silk, £0 1s 4d

16½ yards ferreting, £0 5s 1½d

2 yards broad tape, £0 1s 9d

2 narrow tape, £0 0s 6d

6 middling Holland tape, £0 5s 6d

1 broad tape, £0 4s 8d

6 red tape at 1s 6d, £0 6s 6d

3 coloured tape at 2s 1d, £0 6s 3d

1 thousand pins at 1s 4d, £0 1s 6d

2½ thousand pins at 1s 3d, £0 4s 4d

7 thousand pins at 1s 4d, £0 9s 0d

1½ thousand pins at 1s 8d, £0 1s 9d

9 yards gartering at 3s, £0 4s 3d

6 yards ribbon at 3s, £0 3s 6d

3¼ yards ribbon at 1s 4d, £0 2s 7½d

1 yard galloon at 2½d, £0 3s 0d

1½ oz China silk, £0 2s 3d

1 jumps, £0 3s 10d

1½ dozen mohair coat buttons, £0 [...]s [...]d

1 pair Madras mohair, £0 [...]s [...]d

1 pair women's gloves

Sum total to inhabitants, £149 15s 0¼d

Diet expenses

1 cask beef, £13 0s 0d

1 suet, £6 4s 3d

1 bread, £6 12s 0d

160 lb sugar, £4 18s 0d

6 gallons arrack, £0 4s 0d

1 vinegar, £0 6s 6¾d

3 quarts sweet oil, £0 1s 0d

1 lb pepper

Garrison

8 catties green tea, £1 12s 0d

3¼ gallons rape oil, £0 19s 6d

1¼ sweet, £0 3s 0d

Interpretations

The thread lines record the store's graded sewing stock. White brown thread ran by number and by the pound, and nuns' thread, a fine white sewing thread, by the ounce. Each grade carried its own rate to the account.

The tape lines set out plain linen bindings in several sorts. Holland tape was the plain linen binding from the Low Countries, and the red and coloured kinds served for ties and trimming. These were the everyday fastenings of dress.

The pins were reckoned by the thousand and graded by size. Pins came wholly from imported supply, since the island could not make them. Their grading let a buyer draw the size the work required.

423

319

September

Gen Charges Brought over

12

1 double Cattee Bohea Tea

4 4

2 P:r Blew Long Cloth

9 6

1 Whitehaft

10

6 China Bowles

1 4

2 lb Plate

7

2 lb Cotton Yarne

1 4

6 Brass Thimble

1 8

1 Tin Lamp

1 4

1 P:o Broad Holland Tape

2 6

1 lb White & Brown Thread N:o 5

8 P:o Ordinary Long Cloth

8

Plantation

4 Gall: Grayne Oyle

1 4

2 Barrells Lamp Black

1

1 Largest Scrubing Brush

3 4

1 Iron Maule wt: 26 lb

17

10 Cut ax N:o 5 8 lb

2 8 4

1 Largest Long

3 6

Hon:ble Companies Blacks

6 Casks Beefe

65

11 d:o Wheat

33 16 6

9 250 lb Rice

28 2 6

80 lb Bread

15

25 3 lb Rope

6 6

1 Iron Bar

4 6

7 d:o doz hooks Sorted

1 10 10

14 3 Lines d:o

1 13 6

2 lb Twine

4

10 Womens Calve Leather Shoes

4 6

2 Mens Coarse d:o

11 6

9 Midling Blankets

19

9 Kersey 2/9 190 yards

18 6

9 Blew d:o Blanket

5 12 6

3 Coloured Thread

12

Great Wood

3 Cappells Corn

4 10

1 Iron Bunkis

8 4

5 lb Sacks

Fortification

2 Gimblets

16 8

1 Maule wt: 25 lb

13

3 Adzes

9 4

8 Adzes

15

8 lb 20 d Nailes

9 4

24 4 8 & 10 d

8

12 lb 6

4 10

3 lb 6

1 6

6 lb Tack

12 lb Tack

1/2 lb Brad

7 lb Long Rope Oyle

7 Squares Glass 10 & 12

Sum Totall£

368 1 4

General charges

Brought over

1 double cask Bohea tea, £4 4s 0d

2 pieces ordinary long cloth, £0 9s 6d

1 gridiron, £0 10s 0d

6 China bowls, £1 4s 0d

2 lb plates, £0 7s 0d

2 lb cotton yarn, £0 1s 4d

6 brass thimbles, £0 1s 8d

1 tin lamp, £0 1s 4d

12 middling Holland tape, £0 2s 6d

½ lb white brown thread No. 5, £0 8s 0d

8 ordinary long cloth

Plantation

4 gallons train oil, £1 4s 0d

2 barrels lamp black, £0 1s 0d

1 large scrubbing brush, £0 3s 4d

1 iron maul at 26 lb, £0 17s 4d

10 cut axes No. 5 at 3s, £2 8s 6d

1 largest saw, £0 3s 6d

Honourable Company's Blacks

6 casks beef, £65 0s 0d

11 wheat, £33 16s 6d

2,250 lb rice, £28 2s 6d

80 lb bread, £1 6s 6d

253 lb pepper, £6 6s 6d

1 iron, £0 4s 6d

70 dozen hooks forked, £1 10s 10d

43 lines, £1 13s 6d

1 lb twine, £0 4s 0d

1 pair women's calves' leather shoes, £0 4s 6d

2 men's coarse shoes, £0 11s 6d

9 middling blankets, £0 19s 0d

1 kersey at 190 yards, £18 12s 6d

9 blue gingham, £5 12s 6d

3 coloured thread, £0 12s 0d

Great Wood

3 catties tea, £4 10s 0d

1 iron rim lock, £0 6s 4d

5 lb sack, £0 6s 4d

Fortification

2 gimlets, £0 0s 8d

1 maul No. 25 at 25 lb, £0 16s 0d

3 axes, £0 13s 0d

9 helves, £0 9s 8d

9 lb 20d nails, £0 8s 0d

9 lb 4d and 8d nails at 10d, £0 15s 0d

12 lb 6d nails, £0 9s 4d

6 lb 3d nails, £0 6s 8d

6 lb tack, £0 4s 4d

12 lb 6d nails, £0 8s 0d

12 lb rope, £0 1s 6d

70 squares glass No. 10 and No. 12

Sum total, £368 1s 4d

Interpretations

Bohea was a black tea from the Wuyi hills of China. It reached the island on the Company's China ships and sold by the cask. The store carried it as a routine drink of the establishment.

Train oil was rendered from whale or fish blubber. It served for lamps, dressing leather and coarser work rather than food. The four gallons met the plantation's practical needs.

The nails were graded by the old penny sizing. The 3d, 4d, 6d, 8d and 20d marks fixed the length and weight of each sort. This let the fortification works draw the size each task required.

424

320

1724

Mr Byfield likewise brought in & deliverd an acc:t of the Hon:ble

Companies Live Stock of Cattle, Sheep, Goates Hogs Poultry &c

for the Month of August last which was Examined approved &

is as follows viz:t

Neat Cattle

Bullock Cowes Heifer Steers Yearling Calves Bulls Totall

Rem:n ult:o July

6 37 12 3 5 40 2 105

Encreased in Aug:t

1 1

6 37 12 3 5 41 2 106

Del: to Fort in d:o

1 1

6 37 11 3 5 41 2 105

Dead in d:o

6 37 11 3 5 41 2 105

Stole in d:o

6 37 11 3 5 41 2 105

Shoates grown in d:o

6 37 11 3 5 41 2 105

Sheep

Ewes Withers Lambs Rams Totall

31 12 14 6 63

31 12 14 6 63

31 12 14 6 63

31 12 14 6 63

31 12 14 6 63

31 12 14 6 63

Goates

Ewes Withers Kidd Rams Totall

94 14 26 13 147

94 14 26 13 147

94 14 25 13 146

94 14 25 13 146

94 14 25 13 146

94 14 25 13 146

Hogs

Sows Shoats Boars Pigg Totall

7 8 1 12 28

3 3

10 8 1 12 31

10 8 1 12 31

1 1

10 8 1 12 30

10 7 1 12 30

3 3

10 4 1 12 27

Poultry & Horses

Turkeys Fowles Ducks Geese Asses

35 37 10 12 6

35 37 10 12 6

34 88 10 12 6

4

34 84 10 12 6

34 124 10 12 6

34 124 10 12 6

Yams Expended at y:e Sev:ll Plantations 14150 lb

D:o deliverd to the Fort Blacks 14364 lb

Totall 28514 lb

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

John: Smith

Edward Byfield

Margin Notes:

live Stock &c for August

5 Horses

2 Mares

Totall 7

Mr Byfield also brought in and delivered an account of the Honourable Company's livestock of cattle, sheep, goats, hogs and poultry for the month of August, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Neat cattle bullocks cows heifers steers yearlings calves bulls total

Remaining last July 6 37 12 3 5 40 2 105

Increase in August - - - - - 1 - 1

6 37 12 3 5 41 2 106

Delivered to the Fort - - 1 - - 1 - 1

6 37 11 3 5 41 2 105

Dead in August - - - - - - - -

6 37 11 3 5 41 2 105

Stolen in August - - - - - - - -

6 37 11 3 5 41 2 105

Shoats grown in August - - - - - - - -

6 37 11 3 5 41 2 105

Sheep ewes withers lambs rams total

Remaining last July 31 12 14 6 63

Remaining last August 31 12 14 6 63

Goats ewes withers kids rams total

Remaining last July 94 14 26 13 147

Delivered to the Fort - - 1 - 1

94 14 25 13 146

Remaining last August 94 14 25 13 146

Hogs sows shoats boars pigs total

Remaining last July 7 8 1 12 28

Increase in August 3 - - - 3

10 8 1 12 31

Delivered to the Fort - - - - -

10 8 1 12 31

Dead in August - 1 - - 1

10 7 1 12 30

Stolen in August - - - - -

10 7 1 12 30

Shoats grown in August 3 - - - 3

10 7 1 12 27

Poultry turkeys fowls ducks geese total

Remaining last July 35 137 10 12 194

Dead in August 1 6 - - -

Remaining last August 34 124 10 12 -

Horses asses horses mares total

Remaining last August 6 5 2 7

Yams expended at the several plantations, 14,150

Yams delivered to the Fort blacks, 14,364

Total, 28,514

Signed by John Alexander, John Goodwin, Benjamin Hawkes, John Smith and Edward Byfield.

Interpretations

The account tracked the Company's herds under several classes month by month. Neat cattle covered the oxen and cows, marking the bovine stock apart from the smaller animals. Withers, or wethers, were castrated male sheep and goats kept for meat and fleece.

The hog figures showed a distinct line for shoats grown into the adult count. Shoats were young weaned pigs, and 3 of them passed into the sow reckoning during the month. This transfer let the record follow the stock as it matured.

The yams fell into two great charges, those fed at the plantations and those delivered to the Fort slaves. The two together came to 28,514 over the month. The scale shows how much of the crop the labour force and stock consumed.

425

321

September

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the

15th day of Sep:r 1724 at Plantation House

Present In:o Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

The last Consultation read & approved

Whereas In:o Coulson Planter hath been Sev:ll

times the guide & Reprimanded as well by Gov:r

John Dodds the present Gov:r for his frequent

neglecting his Plantation & his living an Idle

life not taking any Care to Plant Provisions

for the Use of his Family who have been in a

Starving Condition for Some years past insomuch

that the Said Coulson not long Since Sold every

good Black to his Long Stock most part of the

Payment out in Provisions & also within few days

Since made an offer to the said Long a Some

Cabage Tree Land wherein the Surfeit of the Said

Coulsons Provisions which the very little is Planted

& I thought to be the best Dependance he has to

Subsist himself & Family so that if he is Suffered to

Sell at this Rate both himself the Wife & Family will

in a Short time become burthensome to the Island

Wherefore Ordered that the Said In:o Coulson

do not offer any presume hereafter to Sell, any part

of his Land to any person whatsoever it being the

only Subsistence for his family as aforesaid & that

he Use all his Endeavours to Manure, & Cultivate his

Land in Order to produce Provisions as he ought &

become every honest industrious Man to by

Wee the Governour & Councile of this Island

St: Helena, having taken into Our Consideration the

Nature of Some Leases that have been formerly Granted

to Sundry Persons for Some of the Hon:ble Companies

Wast Land to the great & apparent Injury & Prejudice

of the Orphans of deceased Persons Inhabiting the

Said Island have thought it requisite & do Unanimously

Agree & accordingly Order

That no Lease from & after the day of the date

hereof shall be Granted to any Person whatsoever

Inhabiting the Said Island for any of Our Hon:ble Masters

Wast Land that Whole person Marry with any Widdow

whose former Husband was in Posession of any Such

Parcell of Land Sold by Lease at the

time of his Death but that Such Land held as aforesaid

Margin Notes:

In:o Coulson repriem:d for Neglect of his family

& not to Sell any of his Land

Nature of Leases

hereafter to be made upon future marriages

Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 15 Sep 1724 at the plantation house.

Present: John Smith, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin; and Benjamin Hawkes.

The last consultation was read and approved.

John Coulson, planter, had been reprimanded, as well by the former Governor as by the present one, for his frequent neglect of his plantation. He lived an idle life and took no care to plant provisions for his family, who had been in a starving condition for some years past. Coulson had long since sold every good slave and most of his live stock, most part of the payment laid out in provisions. Within a few days John Long had offered to lease Coulson part of the Cabbage Tree land. The surplus of Coulson's provisions was very small, and he thought this offer the best means he had to support himself and his family. If he were suffered to sell at this rate, both he and his family would in a short time become a burden on the island.

The council ordered that Coulson not sell any part of his land to any person in future, this being the only support for his family. It directed that he use every effort to manure and cultivate his land to produce provisions, as he ought, and become an honest, industrious man.

The Governor and Council had considered the nature of those leases formerly granted to sundry persons. Some of the island's leases had let waste land to the great harm and prejudice of the orphans of deceased persons living on the island. It thought fit to order accordingly, and unanimously agreed.

The council ordered that no lease be granted in future to any person on the island for any of the Company's waste land. This barred the danger that arose where any person holding waste land was in possession of any parcel of land sold by lease at the time of his death, and required that such land held as [...].

Interpretations

Coulson stood as a settled figure of neglect in the island's records. His sale of the slave woman Abigail to a free black had already drawn notice at the consultation of 19 Nov 1723. His run-down plantation now brought a formal bar on any further sale of his land.

The Cabbage Tree land tied to the Steward inheritance settled earlier. Francis Steward had taken 5 acres of Cabbage Tree on a lease at the consultation of 29 Oct 1717. The offer from John Long to lease Coulson part of that ground continued the traffic in the same parcel.

The order on leases protected orphans from the loss of their inheritance. Waste land let by lease could pass out of a family on the holder's death. The council barred fresh grants to guard the children's estate.

426

322

1724

after the Expiration thereof shall be Granted to the Lawfull

Heirs or Children of the deceased Person to whom the Land

was first Lett & to & for the Sole & only benefit of the

deceased Persons Children under the Covenant Set forth in the

Lease, & to go to & be held by him the Same or Name of

the Surviving Child or Children by him the Same or Name of

under the Denomination of A in the Subsequent Article

& by them to be Enjoyed during the Term of the Lease

always Renewable upon Paying after the Rate of one

Years Rent inclusive) as a fine to the s:d Hon:ble Comp: Lord

Proprietor of the Said Island, & as the Said Child or Children

or any of them, attain to full age or Married the Said Land

Land to be Set out & divided in Such Parcell & Proportion

as, shall be adjudged by the Gov:r & Councile of this Island

for the time being or by the Ex:rs or Trustees of Such deed

Person, to be most proper & usefull for the Persons to whom

the Same is Granted & as in the Case of all Personall

Estate on this Island after the decease of any Planter

& which will no ways Injure or wrong their Widows or their

Right they always Enjoying the one half of the Real

Estate during their Naturall Lives & one third of the

Personal Estate for ever & at their Death to dispose of as

they shall think fit which is a Sufficient Provision made Our

Hon:ble Masters at the first Settlement of this their

Island & always observed as a Standing Law amongst

the Inhabitants. Wherefore Wee humbly desire Our Said

Hon:ble Masters will in their great Prudence be pleased to

approve of & confirm this with Such Alterations & amendm:t

as they shall fit to be the Method observed as a Standing Rule

in future which will very much Contribute to the future Good

& Satisfaction of the Inhabitants of this Island

And for as much as wee being willing & desirous to give

Our said Hon:ble Masters as much Light as possible into

this matter aforesaid do presume to lay down the Law

as follows

Suppose A at the time of his Death is

in actual Posession of 20 Acres of Free Land & 10

Acre of Leased Land more or less to descend a by his last

Will is appointed. Sometime after B: Marries the Widow

of A, and at the Expiration of the Lease & before the Child

or Children of A attain to full age or Marries B takes

up a new Lease in his own Name, & perhaps may have an

additional Number of Acres, & all Adjoyning to the 20:

Acres of Freehold Land whereby the Heirs & Legatee of

A are totally deprived of what Leased Land the Legatee

for during the time of his Lease & the said Freehold Land

Margin Notes:

Explanation of y:e Matter

The order continued that, after the expiration of a lease, the waste land was to be granted to the lawful heirs or children of the deceased person to whom it had first been let, for their sole benefit. The children were to hold it under the covenant set out in the lease, and it was to pass to the surviving child or children of the deceased under the same name in a later article. They were to enjoy it during the term of the lease, always renewable on payment after the rate of 1 year's rent, as a fine to the Honourable Lord Proprietors. When the child or children came of age or married, the land was to be set out and divided among them as the Governor and Council of the island judged fit, the time being determined by the trustee of the deed as the proper person, or by the person to whom the land was granted.

The order set out the nature of all personal estate on the island after the death of any planter. This ruling would in no way harm or wrong widows in their right, which was always to hold the one half of the real estate during their natural lives and one third of the personal estate for ever. On their death this passed as they thought fit. The council held this a sufficient provision, made by the Honourable Masters at the first settlement of the island, and always observed as a standing law among the inhabitants. It humbly asked the Honourable Masters to approve and confirm this ruling, with such alterations and amendments as they thought fit, as a standing rule in future for the good and satisfaction of the inhabitants.

The council, willing to give the Honourable Masters as much light as possible on the matter, set out the law as follows. Suppose A, at the time of his death, held 20 acres of free land and 10 acres of leased land, more or less. His widow B married C sometime after a will was appointed. At the expiration of the lease, and before A's children came of age or C married B, C might take up a new lease in his own name for a number of acres. This gave the widow and heirs of A their right of freehold land during the time of his lease, and the freehold land [...].

Interpretations

The rule fixed the descent of both leased and freehold land through a family. Waste land let to a planter was to return to his children after the lease ran out. This kept the ground within the line of the first tenant rather than passing to strangers.

The widow's right stood as a settled part of the island's inheritance law. She held half the real estate for life and a third of the personal estate outright. The council traced this custom to the first settlement under the Honourable Masters.

The worked example set out the danger the rule addressed. A second husband might take a fresh lease in his own name over land that should pass to the first husband's children. The illustration showed how the children's inheritance could be lost without the protection.

427

323

September

by the Procuring Such a Lease as abovemencond

by B very much detrimented & become the s:d in value

to the Great Injury & Prejudice of the Children or

Legatees of A, besides the many & daily disputes

Controversies, & Damage that may happen & accrue

to the Successor of the Freehold Land of A &

the Leased Land held by B, together with divers

other & Sundry Inconveniencies of which there are

Severall Instances to the Great & apparent Injury

to the Orphans of Some Persons Some Years Since

deceased which to prevent for the future & Bargin

hopes it will redound to the General Good of the

Inhabitants & their Posterity, Wee have thought it

highly Necessary to make the Preceding Order

& beg Our Hon:ble Masters Confirmation thereof as aforesaid

Ordered that the aforesaid Premisses be

Copyed & Sett up at the usuall Place for the view &

Perusal of all Persons Inhabiting the Island & that

if any Person or Persons have any Objection to make

thereto, that they present the Same in Writing to the

Gov:r & Councile within a Month after the date hereof

Mr French del:d his acc:t of Gunn:rs Store Expended

in the Month of Aug:t last which was Examined approved

& is as follows viz:t

Guns Fired Falcons Powder

King Georges Accession

19 19 19

Muster day

16

To load the Arms for the Safety of Fo:rt

Persons ag:t the Robberies of Toby a runaway Black

1/2

Musphot Balls

For the Use of Plantacion House

1/4

2 old Balls for d:o

Guard Expence

10

Cartridge Paper Cap: for d:o

1 Quire

Flints for d:o

Match

15

15 15 1 2 19 19 39 1/4

Mr

Margin Notes:

Premisses Sett up at usuall place

August 1724

Gunn: Acc:t Sept: Aug:t 1 5 6 d:o d:o

The order continued that by taking up such a lease, as described, the widow B would be much wronged, to the great injury and prejudice of the children or heirs of A. Besides the many disputes and controversies that might arise over the freehold land of A and the leased land held by B, there were divers other inconveniences. In several instances the orphans of persons some years deceased had been greatly wronged in this way. To prevent this in future, and to redound to the general good of the inhabitants and their heirs, the council thought it highly necessary to make the ruling. It asked the Honourable Masters to confirm it.

The council ordered that the ruling be copied and set up at the usual place for the view and notice of all persons on the island. If any person had any objection to make, they were to present it in writing to the Governor and Council within one month of this date.

The gunner John French delivered his account of gunner's stores expended in the month of August, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Particulars for August 1724

1 August, King George's accession, 19 guns fired, 19 falcons, 19 lb powder

5 August, muster day, 16 lb powder

6 August, fired the guns for the safety of the Fort against the robberies of Toby, a runaway black, 1½ lb powder

6 August, musket balls, 1½ lb

6 August, for the use of the plantation house, 1¼ lb

6 August, old balls for the plantation house, 10 lb

Guards' expense

Cartridge paper for the plantation house, 1 quire

Flints for the plantation house, 16

Match, 15 lb

Total, 15 lb match, 15 flints, 1 quire, 2 lb, 19 guns fired, 19 falcons, 39¼ lb powder

Signed by John French.

Interpretations

The falcon was a small, light cannon firing a shot of about 2 lb to 3 lb. The gunner reckoned the powder charges for these lighter pieces in their own column. Their discharge marked King George's accession as the fort's ceremonial ordnance.

The powder spent against Toby tied to the runaway's capture and trial. The council had raised a hue and cry for him on 04 Aug 1724 and hanged him at the sessions of 31 Aug 1724. The guns fired for the safety of the Fort formed part of that pursuit.

Cartridge paper was the sheet in which measured charges of powder were made up ready for use. Flints struck the spark that fired a musket. The gunner tracked both consumables against the store for the plantation house.

428

324

1724

Mr Crispe likewise brought in & deliverd an Acc:t of

the Expence of the Gen: Table for the Month of July & Aug:t

which were Examined Approved & are as follow viz:t

July viz:t

32 P:o Salt Beef 2/6 ea

4

19 d:o Salt Pork 2/10

2 13 10

1 Sheep

1 4

1 Goat

10

9 Fowles

13 6

110 lb Bread

1 2 11

130 lb Sugar

3 5

56 1/2 Gall: Arrack 6/4 p Gall

17 17 10

33 Bottles Mountain Wine 3 p bot

4 19

33 d:o Galicia 2/6

4 2 6

12 d:o Port 2/6

1 10

8 d:o Cape

8

30 lb Soap

2 2 6

41 Candles

4 2 6

149 lb Flower

1 15 6

60 lb Fresh Pork

1 10

2 Pigs

12

30 3/4 Fresh Butter

1 10 9

62 Bottles Milk

1 8

31 Days Greens

1 11

4 lb Pepper

4

6 d:o Oyle

10 11

4 1/2 Gall: Vineg:r

18

Expence for Month Aug:t viz:t£

58 3 11

46 P:o Salt Beefe

5 15

37 P:o Salt Pork

5 4 10

132 Weigle 6 d p 8

3 1

244 lb Fresh Beefe 2 6 p Cut

3 1

2 Goates

10

2 Kids

146 lb Bread

1 10 5

162 lb Sug:r

4 1

7 9 3/4 Gall: Arrack

23 18 9

79 Bottles Mountain 3 ea

9 17

17 d:o Port

2 19 6

16 Bottles Cape

6 6

6 Bottles Strong Beer

7 6

25 lb Soap

1 15 5

19 lb Candles

18

164 lb Flower

2 1 9

26 Eggs

3 3

3 4 lb Butter

1 14

31 Days Greens

1 11

62 Bottles Milk

1 8

2 lb Pepper

9

1 Gall: Vineg:r

4

4 d:o Oyle

8 9

19 Fowles£

66 17

£68 4

John: Smith

Ed:w Byfield

In:o Alexander

Mr Crispe also brought in and delivered an account of the expense of the General Table for the months of July and August, which the council examined and approved as follows.

General Table, expense for July

32 pieces salt beef at 2s 6d each, £4 0s 0d

19 pieces salt pork at 2s 10d, £2 13s 10d

1 sheep, £1 4s 0d

1 goat, £0 10s 0d

9 fowls, £0 13s 6d

110 lb bread, £1 2s 11d

130 lb sugar, £3 5s 0d

56½ gallons arrack at 6s 4d per gallon, £17 17s 10d

33 bottles Mountain wine at 3s per bottle, £4 19s 0d

33 bottles Galicia at 2s 6d, £4 2s 6d

12 bottles port at 2s 6d, £1 10s 0d

8 bottles Cape, £0 8s 0d

30 lb soap, £2 2s 6d

41 lb candles, £4 2s 6d

149 lb flower, £1 15s 6d

60 lb fresh pork, £1 10s 0d

2 pigs, £0 12s 0d

30¾ lb fresh butter, £1 10s 9d

62 bottles milk, £1 0s 8d

31 days greens, £1 11s 0d

4 lb pepper, £0 4s 0d

6 quarts oil, £0 10s 11d

4½ gallons vinegar, £0 18s 0d

Total, £58 3s 11d

General Table, expense for August

46 pieces salt beef, £5 15s 0d

37 pieces salt pork, £5 4s 10d

122 weigh at 6s 8d, £3 1s 0d

244 lb fresh beef at 25s per hundredweight, £3 1s 0d

2 goats, £0 10s 0d

2 kids, £0 [...]s [...]d

146 lb bread, £1 10s 5d

162 lb sugar, £4 1s 0d

79¾ gallons arrack, £23 18s 9d

79 bottles Mountain at 3s each, £2 19s 6d

17 bottles port, £0 6s 6d

16 bottles Cape, £0 [...]s [...]d

6 bottles strong beer, £1 15s 5d

25 lb soap, £2 18s 0d

19 lb candles, £2 1s 0d

164 lb flower, £2 2s 2d

26 eggs, £1 14s 0d

3½ lb butter, £1 11s 0d

31 days greens, £1 0s 8d

62 bottles milk, £0 9s 0d

2 lb pepper, £0 4s 0d

1 gallon vinegar, £0 8s 9d

4 quarts oil, £[...]s [...]d

19 fowls

Total, £66 17s 0d

Grand total, £68 4s 0d

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield and John Alexander.

Interpretations

The wines record the fortified imports the General Table drank alongside its arrack. Mountain was a sweet Malaga wine from the hills behind that Spanish port, Galicia a wine from the north-west of Spain, and Cape a wine from the Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. Port came from northern Portugal, and each sort was reckoned by the bottle.

Arrack again formed the largest charge in both months. The distilled Eastern spirit stood at £17 17s 10d for July and £23 18s 9d for August. It came from Batavia and Goa on the Company's ships and outweighed every other line at the table.

The greens and milk were reckoned by the day and the bottle rather than by weight. This method suited perishable goods delivered fresh each day. The clerk totted 31 days of greens and 62 bottles of milk in each month.

429

325

Sep:r

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the

22 of Sep:r 1724 at Plantation House

Pres:t John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfield

John Alexander

John Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

The last Consultation read & approved

The Doctor having Complained of the Negligence

of his Mate Mr Hodgkinson & the said Hodgkinson

Keging Pardon & promising to behave himself better hereafter

he was dismissed being first Severely Repremanded by the

Governour

Cap:t Goodwin, Reported that he had been &

viewed the Parcells of the Hon:ble Comp: Wast Land Petitiond

for by Mr Wrangham in behalf of the Children of John

Deverles deceased & that likewise Sandy Bay & that the

Higham Jun:r both Scituate in Sandy Bay & that the

Letting thereof is not prejudiciall to any Person, & that he

had Measured the Land Petitiond for by Cap:t Alexander

Ordered that the said two Parcells of Land be

Measured accordingly

Ordered that an Advertizement be Published

to give Notice that the Gov:r & Councile will Meet on

Tuesday next at Plantation House, to Pay the Garrison

& Workmen for the Quarter past & to hear any Matter that

should then occur

John: Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Dr:s Mate repremanded

Sev:ll Parcells of Land ordered

found to be measured

Day for Reckon:g Appointed

Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 22 Sep 1724 at the plantation house.

Present: John Smith, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin; and Benjamin Hawkes.

The last consultation was read and approved.

The doctor complained of the negligence of his mate, Mr Hodgkinson. Hodgkinson promised to keep better order and to behave himself better in future. He was dismissed with a severe reprimand from the Governor.

Captain Goodwin reported that he had viewed the parcels of the Company's waste land petitioned for. Mr Wrangham had asked for one on behalf of the children of John Chevalier deceased, and Jonathan Higham junior had asked for the other. Both parcels lay in Sandy Bay. Goodwin found that letting them would not harm anyone, and he had measured the land petitioned for by Captain Alexander.

The council ordered that the two parcels of land be measured accordingly.

The council ordered an advertisement published to give notice that the Governor and Council would meet on Tuesday next at the plantation house, to pay the garrison and the workmen for the quarter past and to hear any matter that might then arise.

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The reprimand of Hodgkinson touched a settled record of the surgeon's mate. The council had admitted John Hodgkinson as surgeon's mate on 17 Apr 1723, over its earlier refusal. His neglect now drew a warning rather than dismissal, the post being hard to fill on the island.

The land petitions reflected the drive to bring waste ground under formal tenancy. The parcels in Sandy Bay had been sought for the Chevalier orphans and for Jonathan Higham junior. The order to measure them fixed the bounds before any lease was granted.

The quarterly meeting served to settle the establishment's wages. The garrison and workmen were paid at the plantation house for the quarter past. This routine reckoning cleared the accounts owed for their service.

430

326

1724

At a Consultation held on Tuesday & Wednesday the 29th & 30th 7ber 1724 at Plantation House

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfield

John Alexander

John Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

The last Consultation read & approved

The Governour & Councile met this day pursuant to an

Advertisement issued out on Tuesday last for Paying the

Garrison & Workmen

The Petition of In:o Longway presented Setting forth

that he was desirous to become Tenant to the Hon:ble Comp:y

for about two Acre of their Wast Land lying upon a Plain

above the Top of Cash Hill, which if let to any other Person

would be very prejudiciall to his Mother during her Life & to

him after her decease & therefore prayed a Lease thereof might

be Granted him

We all agreeing the Price of Ground Petitiond

for, have accordingly Granted his Request & Order that the

Same be Measured

Severall Persons appeared & offerd Yam at 3 p Cent

& 5 p thousand for Succads, but we agreed with them for

to give 2/6 p Cent for Yams & 4/6 p thousand for Succads with

which they were Content

Ordered that an Advertizement be Published to

Morrows to forbid all owners of Blacks giving them Content

& other that shall be known or in Writing & to any of their

Blacks upon any Pretence whatsoever to go abroad or wander

from House to House on the Sabbath day, & to desire all

Housekeepers who Seize all Offenders in their Posession & to

give them moderate Correction as Whipping, & to give Notice

that if any of the Inhabitants Black without leave from

their Owner should be Catched at any of the People being

Plantations they should be corrected with the Severity

as a Terror to all others, And likewise Strictly to forbid

all manner of Persons both White & Black that they do

not presume hereafter to Prophane the Sabbath day by

going out a fishing on Sunday to the great Scandall

of Religion & Danger of them, Lives, upon Pain of being

Fined or Punished at the Discretion of the Gov:r & Councile

John Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

John Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Reckoning begun

Petn: of In:o Longway for Land

Granted

Yams and Succad:s agreed for

Blacks not to wander on y:e Sabbath

Nor to go a fishing

Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday and Wednesday 29 and 30 Sep 1724 at the plantation house.

Present: John Smith, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin; and Benjamin Hawkes.

The last consultation was read and approved.

The Governor and Council met this day, following an advertisement issued on Tuesday last, to pay the garrison and workmen.

John Longware presented his petition, asking to become tenant to the Company for about 2 acres of its waste land lying at the top of Cox's Hill. If the ground were let to any other person, it would harm his mother during her life and himself after her death. He asked that a lease of it be granted him.

The council, hearing the case of the ground petitioned for, granted his request and ordered the land measured.

Several persons appeared and offered yams at 3s 0d per hundredweight and 45s 0d per thousand for the slaves. The council agreed with them to give 2s 6d per hundredweight for yams and 46s 0d per thousand for suckers, with which they were content.

The council ordered an advertisement published the next day, forbidding all owners of slaves to allow their slaves, on any pretext whatsoever, to go abroad or wander from house to house on the Sabbath day. All householders were to secure their slaves before the Sabbath. Offenders were to receive moderate correction by whipping, and public notice given that if any of the inhabitants' slaves were caught without leave from their owners at any holding, they would be corrected with the same severity, as a terror to all others. All persons, both white and black, were strictly forbidden to go fishing on Sunday, to the great scandal of religion and the danger of their lives, on penalty of a fine or punishment at the discretion of the Governor and Council.

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The yam agreement fixed the price the Company paid the planters for provisions. The council settled at 2s 6d per hundredweight for grown yams and 46s 0d per thousand for suckers. These rates governed the buying of food for the slave force.

The Sabbath order tied to the island's control of its slaves and its observance of religion. Slaves wandering on Sunday escaped their masters' oversight and gave scandal to worship. The council backed the ban with whipping and a penalty on unattended slaves.

Cox's Hill sat within the run of land petitions the council heard through 1724. John Longware sought the waste to protect his mother's holding and his own succession. The order to measure it fixed the bounds before any lease.

431

327

Oct:r

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 6th day

of Oct:r 1724 at Plantation House

Pres:t John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

John Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

The last Consultation read & approved

Cap:t Goodwin Reports that he has Measured the

two Parcells of Land Petitiond for by Mr Wrangham

on the 22:d Sep: last & finds the Free Land to be 30 Acres

& the Leased Land to be 10: Acres in Gumwood Land

And had also Measured 2 1/2 Acres of Gumwood Land

formerly Granted to the Heirs of Dan: Griffith dec:d &

1 1/2 Acre more Granted in Consultacion of y:e 18th of Febry:

last lying in an other Parcell at the Root of Cash Hill

next the Barns

The Petition of Charles Steward was Presented

Praying leave to become Tenant to the Hon:ble Comp:y

for about an Acre of their Wast Land adjoyning to his

Plantation in Sandy Bay & that a Lease might be Granted

thereof

Mr Richard Gurling Guardian of the Orphans

of Charles Steward deceas:d was called to & asked if the

Letting the said Land aforesaid would be any Prejudice to

the said Orphans. Answered it would not, whereupon the

Petitioners Request was Granted

Ruthos Mason likewise Petitiond for Land lying

in Swanley Valley but We being informed that the said Mason

did make Some verball Agreem:t with Mr Powell & Short

time before he went off relating to the Land Mason has in

Posession who is Guardian of the Orphans of Cho: Harper

declared whose Widdow the said Mason Married & desired

that this Petition lay in Suspence till Mr Powells Return from

England, least We should wrong the Said Orphans unknown

to Us

John: Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Lands Measured

Petn: of Charles Steward for Land

Not Prejudiciall to y:e Orphans Granted

R:d Masons Petn: for Land

Deferd till Mr Powells returns

Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 06 Oct 1724 at the plantation house.

Present: John Smith, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin; and Benjamin Hawkes.

The last consultation was read and approved.

Captain Goodwin reported that he had measured the two parcels of land petitioned for by Mr Wrangham on 22 Sep 1724. He found the waste land to be 30 acres and the leased land to be 10 acres.

Goodwin also reported that he had measured 2½ acres of gumwood land formerly granted to the heirs of Daniel Griffith deceased, and 1½ acres more granted at the consultation of 19 Feb 1719, lying in another parcel at the foot of Cox's Hill next to the Bowyer.

Charles Steward presented his petition, asking leave to become tenant to the Company for about 1 acre of its waste land adjoining his plantation in Sandy Bay, and that a lease of it be granted him. Richard Gurling, guardian of the orphans of Charles Steward deceased, was called and asked whether letting the land would harm the orphans. He declared it would not, and the petitioner's request was granted.

Richard Mason also presented his petition for land lying in Swanley Valley. The council was informed that Mason had made some verbal agreement with Mr Powell a short time before Mason went off, relating to the land Mason held. Powell, guardian of the orphans of John Harper deceased, whose widow Mason had married, declared that this petition lay in suspense until Powell's return from England, lest the orphans be wronged by land unknown to the council.

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The gumwood land carried a settled history in the island's records. The Griffith orphans' estate had been seized from Thomas Free and its distribution ordered on 11 Oct 1720. The 2½ acres now measured formed part of that same inheritance.

Guardians of orphans were called to protect the children's interest in any grant. Richard Gurling for the Steward orphans and Gabriel Powell for the Harper orphans were each consulted. This step guarded the young heirs against loss of their land.

The suspense on Mason's petition turned on an unresolved bargain and an absent guardian. Powell, who held the Harper orphans' interest, was away in England. The council held the matter over rather than risk wronging the children.

432

328

1724

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 13th day of Oct:r

1724 at Plantation House

Pres:t John Smith Esq:r

Edward Byfield

John Alexander

John Goodwin

Ben: Hawkes

The last Consultation read & approved

Neat Cattle

Bullocks Cowes Heifer Steers Yearlings Calves Bulls Totall

Rem:n ult:o Aug:t

6 37 11 3 5 41 2 105

Bought in Septemb:r

1 1

Increased in d:o

6 37 11 4 5 41 2 106

Kill:d for the Fort in d:o

1 cow broke her Neck

1 1

6 36 11 4 5 41 2 105

Dead in ditto

6 36 11 4 5 41 2 105

Remains ult:o October 7

6 36 11 4 5 41 2 105

Sheep

Ewes Withers Lambs Rams Totall

31 12 14 6 63

31 12 14 6 63

31 11 14 6 62

31 11 14 6 62

Goates

Ewes Withers Lambs Rams Totall

94 14 26 13 146

94 14 26 13 146

94 14 25 13 146

94 14 25 13 146

Hogs

Sows Shoates Boars Pig Totall

10 4 1 12 27

10 4 1 12 27

10 4 1 12 27

10 4 1 12 26

Poultry & Horses

Turkey Fowles Ducks Geese Asses Horses Mares Totall

34 124 10 12 6 5 2 7

8 16

34 140 10 12 6 5 2 7

6

34 134 10 12 6 5 2 7

1 2

34 132 10 12 6 5 2 7

Yams Expended at the Sev:ll Plantations 11541 lb

D:o deliverd to the Fort Blacks 1001

21542

Margin Notes:

Mr Byfield brought in & deliverd an Acc:t of the Hon:ble Comp:s Stock of Live Cattle, Sheep Hogs Goates Poultry & c:a Horses &c:a likewise what has been deliverd to the Fort besides the Increase or decrease for the Month of September 1724

Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 13 Oct 1724 at the plantation house.

Present: John Smith, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin; and Benjamin Hawkes.

The last consultation was read and approved.

Mr Byfield brought in and delivered an account of the Honourable Company's stock of live cattle, sheep, hogs, goats, poultry, asses and horses, along with what had been delivered to the Fort, besides the increase or decrease for the month of September 1724.

Neat cattle bullocks cows heifers steers yearlings calves bulls total

Remaining last August 6 37 11 3 5 41 2 105

Bought in September - - - 1 - - - 1

Increase in September - - - - - 1 - 1

6 37 11 4 5 41 2 106

Killed for the Fort - 1 - - - - - 1

6 36 11 4 5 41 2 105

Dead in September - - - - - - - -

Remaining last October 6 36 11 4 5 41 2 105

Sheep ewes withers lambs rams total

Remaining last August 31 12 14 6 63

Killed for the Fort - 1 - - 1

31 11 14 6 62

Remaining last October 31 11 14 6 62

Goats ewes withers kids rams total

Remaining last August 94 14 26 13 147

Killed for the Fort - - 1 - 1

94 14 25 13 146

Remaining last October 94 14 25 13 146

Hogs sows shoats boars pigs total

Remaining last August 10 4 1 12 27

Increase in September - - - - 8

10 4 1 12 27

Dead in September - 1 - - 1

Remaining last October 10 4 1 12 26

Poultry turkeys fowls ducks geese total

Remaining last August 34 124 10 12 180

Increase in September 8 6 - - -

42 140 10 12 -

Dead in September - 2 - - -

Remaining last October 42 132 10 12 -

Horses asses horses mares total

Remaining last August 6 5 2 7

Remaining last October 6 5 2 7

Yams expended at the several plantations, 11,541

Yams delivered to the Fort blacks, 10,001

Total, 21,542

Interpretations

The account tracked the Company's herds under several classes month by month. Neat cattle covered the oxen and cows, marking the bovine stock apart from the smaller animals. Withers, or wethers, were castrated male sheep and goats kept for meat and fleece.

The killing for the Fort recorded the beasts drawn for the establishment's own use. The council took 1 cow, 1 wether and 1 kid from the herds during the month. This charge fell on stock still thinned by the long drought.

The yams fell into two great charges, those fed at the plantations and those delivered to the Fort slaves. The two together came to 21,542 over the month. The scale shows how much of the crop the labour force and stock consumed.

433

329

October

Richard Long Planter made Complaint ag:t W:m Seale Plant:r

for removing a Parcell of Hogs of his from this Wast Range

on the otherside the Country into an other Range called the Purslain

Beds, which Hogs have been Severall times Complained of by the

s:d Seale Neighbours for Eating & destroying their Goates & the

Peice & the said Purslain Beds lying in the Middle of the Hon:ble

Companies Goat Range besides, Severall other People, offerd

that the said Seale do immediatly remove his Hogs & keep them

upon his own Land, or else he must Expect Some other Course

to be taken with them & himself too

Gunner French brought in & deliverd his Acc:t of Gunners

Stores for the Month of 7ber last w:ch Examined & approved &

is as follows

For the Guards

16

Review day

12 13

Deliverd John Bagley Cap:r French

9

Cartridge Paper for Cartridges

8

d:o for the Guards

1

Flints for ditto

16 15

Match

15

15 15 9 2 25

Cap:t Goodwin presented his Petition, Praying to become Ten:t

to the Hon:ble Company for about five Acres of their Wast

Land lying in Sarahs Valley adjoyning to the Leas Land

formerly Granted to Rich Gurling of whom the said Cap:t

Goodwin bought the Remainder of the said Lease

Granted accordingly, & that he do Measure the Same

John: Smith

Edward Byfield

In:o Alexander

In:o Goodwin

Margin Notes:

R:d Longs Compl:t ag:t W:m Seale

Seale to remove his Hoggs

Sep:r 1724

Gunn:r Acc:t for Sept:r

Petn: of Goodwin for Land formerly R:d Gurlings

Granted

Richard Long, planter, complained against William Seale, planter, for removing a parcel of his hogs from the waste range on the other side of the country into another range called the Purslane Beds. The hogs had several times been complained of by the neighbours for eating and destroying their goats and pigs. The Purslane Beds lay in the middle of the Honourable Company's goat range, besides several other people. The council ordered Seale to remove his hogs at once onto his own land, or else he must expect John Long and others to take them, and himself too.

The gunner John French brought in and delivered his account of gunner's stores expended in the month of September last, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Particulars for September 1724

For the guards, 16 lb powder

Muster day, 12 lb powder

Delivered John Bagley for a lock, 9

Cartridge paper for cartridges, 8

Cartridge paper for the guards, 1

Flints for the guards, 16, 15

Match, 15 lb

Total, 15 lb match, 15 flints, 9, 2, 25 lb powder

Captain Goodwin presented his petition, asking to become tenant to the Honourable Company for about 5 acres of its waste land lying in Sarah's Valley, adjoining the leased land formerly granted to Richard Gurling. Goodwin had bought the remainder of Gurling's lease. The council granted the request and ordered him to measure the land.

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The Purslane Beds carried a settled history in the island's records. Joseph Bates and Giles Hayse had objected to a grant there as harmful to their land and stock at the consultation of 20 Nov 1722. The hog dispute now turned on the same ground lying within the Company's goat range.

The council backed its order to Seale with a threat of seizure. If he failed to move his hogs onto his own land, John Long and others might take the animals and Seale himself. This gave the ruling force against a neighbour who spoiled the common range.

Captain Goodwin's grant continued the practice of assigning leased ground to the holder best placed to use it. He had bought out Richard Gurling's lease in Sarah's Valley. The council let him the adjoining waste and ordered it measured before any formal grant.

434

330

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 20:th day

of Oct:r 1724 at Union Fort

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Cap:t Goodwin absent being Edward Belfield

not well

John Alexander

Ben Hawks

The Last Consultation read & approved

Cap:t Goodwin Sent his Monthly Acc:t of Goods sold & deliv:d

in the Month of Sep:r last which was Examined Approved & is

as follows viz:t

51.7/8 Gall:s Arrack 6/4 & Gall

16 8 6.1/2

986 lb Sugar

24 12 6

11.1/2 lb Candup

— 11 6

3 lb Tea

— 18 —

14 87 lb Bread

15 9 9.1/2

514 lb Flower

6 7 9

2 Quarts of Sweet Oyle

— 4 4.1/2

2.1/2 Gall:s Rape Oyle

— 15 —

1 lb Linseed

— 2 —

65 lb Soap

4 12 1

the lb Starch

— 3 —

10 lb Rozin

— 3 4

4 Fish Oars

— 18 —

3 lb Pepper

— 3 —

1/2 Cask Beefe

6 — —

40 lb Bengall

1 — —

1/4 Cask Beefe

3 6 —

3 lb

— 7 6

139 lb Roape

3 9 6

1 D:o Vineger

— 1 —

14.1/2 P:s Chelloe

12 6 6

1 P:o Surat Chint

— 9 6

1 D:o Maddras Gingham

2 5 —

3 Middling Chints

— 19 —

9 P:o White Gurrah

— 10 —

1 d:o Desotees

— 12 6

1 D:o Blew Gurrah

4 — —

1 D:o Ordinary Long Cloth

1 1 —

1.1/2 D:o Fine D:o

10 16 —

12 Chelloe Chint

2 5 —

18 White D:o

4 5 6

19 d:o 4/6

1 17 6

15 P:s Cotton Stock:s

3 17 5.3/4

15 3.1/2 doz hanks Sorted

4 14 11.1/2

14 doz 5 d:o in d:o

— 7 6.6/

3 Bowles

— 8 6.4

17 Sneakers

— 5 8

16 Large Cups

— 8 4

50 Small d:o

At a consultation held on Tuesday 20 October 1724 at Union Castle.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; Benjamin Hawkes. Captain Goodwin was absent through illness.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

Captain Goodwin brought in his monthly account of goods sold and delivered during September, which the council examined and approved as follows.

51.7/8 gallons of arrack at 6s 4d per gallon, £16 8s 6½d

986 pounds of sugar, £4 12s 6d

11½ pounds of candy, £0 11s 6d

3 pounds of tea, £0 18s 0d

1,487 pounds of bread, £15 9s 9½d

514 pounds of flour, £6 2s 9d

2 quarts of sweet oil, £0 4s 4½d

2½ gallons of rape oil, £0 15s 0d

1 pound of linseed, £0 2s 0d

65 pounds of soap, £4 12s 1d

26 pounds of starch, £0 3s 0d

10 pounds of rosin, £0 3s 4d

4 pairs of oars, £0 18s 0d

3 pounds of pepper, £0 3s 0d

½ cask of beef, £6 1s 0d

40 pounds of Bengal goods, £3 6s 0d

¼ cask of beef, £0 7s 6d

3 pounds of rope, £3 9s 6d

139 pounds of rope, £0 1s 0d

1 pound of ginger, £12 6s 6d

14½ pounds of chillies, £0 9s 6d

1 piece of Surat chintz, £0 7s 6d

1 piece of Madras gingham, £2 5s 0d

3 wedding quilts, £0 19s 0d

2 pieces of white gurrahs, £0 10s 0d

1 piece of dosooties, £0 12s 6d

1 piece of blue gurrahs, £4 0s 0d

1 piece of ordinary long cloth, £1 1s 0d

1½ pieces of fine [...], £10 16s 0d

12 chillo shifts, £2 5s 0d

18 white shifts, £4 5s 6d

19 [pieces of] dosooties at 4s 6d, £1 17s 6d

15 pieces of cotton stockings, £3 17s 3d

15 pieces and 12 dozen hooks assorted, £4 14s 11¼d

14 dozen and 5 thimbles, £0 7s 6d

3 bowls, £0 8s 6½d

17 sneakers, £0 5s 8d

16 large cups, £0 8s 4d

50 small cups, [...]

Interpretations

Arrack was a distilled spirit imported from Batavia and India, and the largest single item in the account by value. Its sale through the Company store lay at the centre of the island's licensed liquor trade, the same monopoly Governor Smith had enforced in the arrack-smuggling case against the coxswain Caleb Davis on 4 March 1724.

The account is dominated by Indian piece-goods carrying trade names a modern reader would not recognise. Gurrahs were plain coarse cotton cloth from Bengal, listed here in white and blue and by the whole piece. Dosooties were a stout cotton calico, and long cloth a length of plain-woven cotton used both for garments and for clothing the Company's slaves. Chintz was a painted or printed cotton, here from Surat, and gingham a checked or striped cotton named from Madras. These fabrics reached St Helena on the homeward China and India ships and were resold to the inhabitants and garrison at a margin.

Rape oil and linseed oil were pressed vegetable oils used for lamps, cooking and the treatment of timber and leather, distinct from the sweet oil, probably olive oil, listed for the table. Rosin, a hard resin from pine, served in sealing, caulking and the dressing of cordage. These stores supported the daily upkeep of the fort and its boats.

The heavy weight of bread and flour reflects the garrison's dependence on the store for its staple provisions, since the drought of recent years had thinned the island's own crops and forced reliance on imported grain and rice. The two separate parcels of cask beef point to salted meat drawn from the same imported stock rather than from the island's reduced herds.

435

331

Oct:r

Brought Over —

9 7 —

1 P:o Dutteys

1 15 —

20 yards Red Fish

— 12 6

2 Boys Cotts

— 18 —

1 — —

4 d:o Mens N:o 0/ 12/6

13 15 —

22/6

4 10 —

4 Laced d:o

1 3 —

4 Womens Shoes 5/9

1 6 8

13 Calves La:d

1 13 —

4 Spanish

— 7 6

6 Larger d:o 5/9

1 13 6

1 Small d:o

3 16 6

17 Womens Calves

— 17 3

13 Spanish d:o

4 4 —

1 Girles Shoes

— 8 —

2 d:o Turkey Leath:r

— 8 8

2 whole d:o Deals

4 4 —

1 Sett d:o

— 11 3

2 Sea Kettles

— 2 2

4.1/2 Shoe Thread

1 13 6

1 d:o Twine

1 10 —

1 d:o Stays

1 9 —

1 d:o

— 1 8

12 Brass Thimble

— 4 —

2 Ivory Comb

2 4 —

2 d:o

— 2 8

2 d:o 3/11

3 9 —

14 d:o Worsted

1 5.1/2

8 d:o Womens Stock:s

17 4

10 d:o

— 3 —

2 d:o 3/6

— 13 11

1 Child d:o

— 3 6

3 Girles d:o

1 4 —

3 Youths d:o

— 1 9

30 Coloured d:o

1 4 6

2 yarne d:o

— 3 8

2 Mens d:o

— 8 —

1 d:o 5/9

1 17 3

2 d:o 3/3

— 9 3

9 Cyphers

1 9 —

2 Hymn Book

— 2 9

2 Tutors

— 12 —

1 Testament

— 2 9

2 Juice Cups

8 2 8

6.1/2 d:o Flan:l

— 15 —

14 d:o Serge

1 11 8.1/2

Brought over, £8 [...]s [...]d

1 piece of duffield, £0 15s 0d

20 yards of red flax, £1 12s 6d

2 boys' coats, £1 18s 0d

16 pieces of [...], nos 0 to 12 at 12s 6d, £13 15s 0d

4 [...] at 22s 6d, £4 10s 0d

4 pairs of men's shoes at 5s 9d, £0 3s 0d

13 calico [...] at 6s 8d, £4 6s 8d

4 [...] Spanish [...], £1 13s 0d

6 large cups at 5s 9d, £0 7s 6d

1 small cup, £0 3s 6d

17 women's calico [...], £3 16s 6d

13 Spanish [...], £0 17s 3d

1 pair of girls' shoes, £0 4s 0d

2 pieces of turkey leather, £0 8s 0d

2 whole deals, £0 8s 3d

1 set of [...], £0 4s 4d

2 sea kettles, £0 11s 3d

4½ pounds of shoe thread, £0 2s 2d

1 [...], £1 13s 0d

1 [...] stays, £1 10s 6d

1 [...], £1 9s 0d

12 brass thimbles, £0 1s 5d

2 ivory combs, £0 4s 4d

2 [...], £0 8s 0d

2 [...], £0 5s 9d

14 pieces of worsted, £1 5s 4½d

5 pairs of women's stockings, £0 17s 4d

10 [...], £0 3s 0d

2 [...] at 3s 6d, £0 3s 0d

1 [...], £0 13s 11d

1 child's [...], £0 3s 6d

3 girls' [...], £0 4s 9d

3 youths' [...], £0 4s 6d

3 soldiers' [...], £0 4s 6d

2 yarn [...], £0 3s 8d

2 [...] men's [...], £0 [...]s [...]d

1 [...], £0 17s 3d

2 [...] at 3s 3d, £1 9s 3d

2 primers, £0 [...]s [...]d

3 hymn books, £0 2s 0d

2 tutors, £0 2s 9d

1 testament, £0 [...]s [...]d

2 [...], £0 15s 8d

6½ pounds of alum, £0 15s 0d

14 pounds of serge, £1 11s 8½d

Interpretations

Duffield was a coarse woollen cloth with a thick nap, made originally in Devon and traded widely for warm outer garments. Its appearance alongside serge and worsted marks the account's strong showing of warm textiles, suited to the cool season of the island's southern-hemisphere winter rather than to any tropical need.

Several fabrics carry names now obscure. Worsted was a smooth, hard-wearing woollen yarn or cloth, and serge a durable twilled fabric of wool or wool and silk. Calico was plain cotton cloth from Calicut, sold here made up for women's wear. Turkey leather was a fine tanned goatskin, prized for shoes, bindings and small goods.

The religious books form a distinct group within the account. The primers, hymn books, tutors and testament were basic instruments of literacy and devotion, a primer teaching the alphabet and simple prayers and a tutor guiding early reading. Their sale through the store shows the Company supplying the means of schooling and worship to a settlement without a bookseller.

Alum was a mineral salt used chiefly in dyeing, where it fixed colour to cloth, and in tanning and medicine. Its presence beside the textiles points to the small-scale dressing and dyeing of cloth on the island. Shoe thread and brass thimbles round out the materials of domestic sewing and repair.

436

332

1724

Brought O:r

175 2 3.1/2

6 Chamber Potts

— 2 —

1 Bason

1 3 6

1 Ladle

— 3 9

3 Porringers

— 3 6

6 Plates

— 4 6

1 Fish W:m d:o

— 9 6

1 Pepper Box

1 7 —

1 d:o

— 9 3

6 Lamps

— 10 —

4 Sauce Pans

— 9 —

2 d:o

— 9 8

1 d:o

— 3 4

1 Coffee Pott

— 3 —

1 Widdey Ladle

— 1 8

12 d:o Spoons

— 6 —

1 Bowle

— 9 6

4 d:o

— 6 —

2 Stone Hoes

5 6 —

1 Hatchet

— 2 3

1 d:o Chest Hinges

— 1 8

2 d:o Small d:o

— 1 8

1 Cupboard Lock

— 3 —

1 Large d:o Size

— 10 —

1 Sett Tile Locks

— 3 6

1 Box Iron

— 5 —

2 Alabers

— 9 6

2 Ivory Knives & Forks

— 4 —

4 d:o

— 9 6

2 Maple headded d:o

— 1 —

2 Shoe Knives

— 6 —

2 Clasp Knives

— 2 6

6 d:o

— 6 —

3 Small Grind Stones

— 2 6

2 lb 6:d Nailes

10 — —

8 d:o

— 6 8

3 d:o 10

— 6 —

4 d:o 30

— 9 —

4 Oz Nuns Thread 1/1

1 4 —

4 d:o 1/3

1 9 —

4 d:o 1/6

1 9 —

4 d:o 1/9

1 1 —

6 d:o

7 9 —

2 lb 3/4 Col:d & Brown Thread

— 11 —

2 lb Whited Brown

— 12 6

1 d:o

— 7 6

2 d:o

— 15 —

1 d:o

— 9.1/2

1/2 d:o

1 7 —

20 3/4 Oz China Silk

Brought over, £175 2s 3¾d

6 chamber pots, £0 2s 10d

1 basin, £0 3s 6d

1 ladle, £0 3s 9d

3 porringers, £0 3s 6d

6 plates, £0 4s 6d

1 dish weighing 2 pounds, £0 9s 6d

1 pepper box, £0 9s 3d

6 lamps, £0 10s 0d

4 sauce pans, £0 9s 8d

2 [...], £0 3s 4d

1 coffee pot, £0 3s 0d

1 brass ladle, £0 1s 8d

12 brass spoons, £0 0s 6d

1 bowl, £0 9s 9d

4 stone hoes, £0 6s 0d

2 stone hoes, £0 5s 0d

1 hatchet, £0 1s 3d

1 pair of chest hinges, £0 3s 8d

2 small pairs of chest hinges, £0 1s 8d

1 cupboard lock, £0 3s 0d

1 large pair of hinges, £0 1s 0d

1 pair of light gilt locks, £0 3s 6d

1 box iron, £0 5s 9d

2 alabaster [pieces], £0 6s 4d

2 ivory knives and forks, £0 9s 6d

4 [...], £0 1s 6d

2 maple-handled [knives], £0 6s 6d

2 [...] knives, £0 1s 6d

2 clasp knives, £0 2s 6d

6 [...], £0 6s 6d

3 small grindstones, £0 6s 6d

2 pounds and 5 [ounces] of nails, £0 10s 8d

8 [pounds of nails], £0 6s 6d

3 [pounds of] 10d nails, £0 9s 2d

4 [pounds of] 30d nails, £0 1s 6d

4 ounces of nun's thread at 1s 1d, £1 1s 6d

2 [ounces] at 1s 3d, £0 9s 9d

2 [ounces] at 1s 6d, £0 [...]s 10d

2 [ounces] at 1s 3d, £0 [...]s 4d

6 [ounces] at [...], £0 11s 0d

2 pounds and 3 quarters of coloured and brown thread, £0 12s 6d

2 [pounds] of white and brown, £0 7s 6d

1 [pound of the same], £0 4s 6d

2 [pounds of the same], £0 15s 6d

1½ [pounds of the same], £0 9s 7½d

1½ [pounds of the same], £0 7s 9d

20¾ ounces of China silk, £1 1s 9d

Interpretations

Nun's thread was a fine white linen sewing thread of high quality, once produced in convents and prized for delicate needlework. Its sale by the ounce at graded prices marks it as a small luxury among the coarser coloured and brown threads listed below it.

China silk was raw or spun silk carried on the homeward China ships, sold here by the ounce as a costly material for fine sewing and trimming. It formed part of the small commercial trade the store ran alongside its provisioning, the same China silk repriced in the Company's dealings of 1721.

The alabaster among the household goods is notable given the island's own discovery of the mineral. A large piece of alabaster was laid bare in the Fort Valley watercourse by the flood of 02 May 1719, and the council then offered a reward to trace its quarry. The pieces sold here were probably worked ornaments rather than raw stone.

The nails are graded by the old penny system, where 10d and 30d denoted size rather than price, a larger number meaning a longer nail. Box irons, chest hinges and cupboard locks round out the ironmongery a settlement needed for building, storage and daily repair, drawn from the store in the absence of any local smith's supply of such finished goods.

437

333

Oct:r

Brought O:r

6 yards Ribbon

— 1 6

51 y:o Holland Tape

— 9 —

4 y:o d:o

— 1 —

1 d:o

— 4 —

1 d:o 1/4

— 1 —

1 Coarse Tape

— 1 6

1 White d:o

— 1 —

1 Ridd:o Broad Gartering

— 3 9

15 yards narrow

— 4 10

6 y:o d:o

— 4 8

4 M Pin 1/2

— 2 4

5.1/2 M d:o 1/4

— 5 7.1/2

4.1/2 M d:o 1/9

— 15 —

1.1/2 Oz Gold Twist

— 1 6

1/2 Gro:s Shirt Buttons

— 6 5

1 doz

— 1 6

1 D:o Womens Gloves

— 1 6

2 doz Corks

Sum Tot: to Inhab:t 190 9 3.3/4

Diet Expences D:o

172 lb Sugar

4 6 —

336 lb Flower

4 4 —

10.1/2 Bushells Pea

5 5 —

3 lb Pepper

— 3 —

1 Cask Pork

12 — —

1.1/2 Gall: Vineger

— 6 —

3 Gall: Sweet Oyle

— 6 6.1/2

26 10 6.1/2

Garrison D:o

8 Catties Green Tea

1 12 —

6.1/2 Gall: Rape Oyle

1 19 —

8 lb d:o

— 1 4

6 lb Bread

— 1 3

1 lb Tobacco

— 4 —

1 lb Coloured Thread

— 2 4.1/2

20 Needles

— 2 —

1 lb Screws

— 1 6

3 lb Brimstone

4 5 3.1/2

Great Wood D:o

6 Iron Mawles W:t P 112 lb

3 14 8

2 d:o Pins N:o 14

— 6 8

4 1 8

Brought over, £[...]s [...]d

[...] yards of ribbon, £1 6s 0d

5 pieces of Holland tape, £0 9s 0d

4 pieces of Holland tape, £0 1s 0d

1 piece of the same, £0 4s 1d

1 piece of coarse tape, £0 1s 6d

1 piece of white [tape], £0 1s 6d

1 piece of broad gartering, £0 3s 9d

15 yards of broad gartering, £0 [...]s 10d

6 pieces of narrow [gartering], £0 4s 8d

4 [pieces of] ribbon at 1s 2d, £0 4s 4d

5½ [pieces of the same] at 1s 4d, £0 7s 7½d

1½ ounces of gold twist, £0 15s 0d

½ gross of shirt buttons, £0 1s 6d

1 [...], £0 1s 5d

1 pair of women's gloves, £0 1s 6d

2 dozen [...], £0 1s 6d

Sum total to inhabitants, £190 9s 3¾d

Diet expenses

178 pounds of sugar, £0 6s 0d

836 pounds of flour, £4 4s 0d

10½ bushels of duffield peas, £5 5s 0d

3 pounds of pepper, £0 3s 0d

1 cask of pork, £12 0s 0d

1½ gallons of vinegar, £0 6s 0d

3 [...] of sweet oil, £0 6s 6½d

Total, £26 10s 6½d

Garrison

8 catties of green tea, £1 12s 0d

6½ gallons of rape oil, £1 19s [...]d

8 pounds of [...], £0 1s [...]d

6 pounds of bread, £0 1s 3d

1 pound of tobacco, £0 1s 4d

1 pound of coloured thread, £0 4s 2½d

26 needles, £0 1s [...]d

1 pound of arrack, £0 1s 6d

3 pounds of brimstone, £0 [...]s [...]d

Total, £4 5s 3½d

Great Wood

6 iron mauls weighing 112 pounds, £3 14s 8d

2 hinds, no 14, £0 6s 8d

Total, £4 1s 8d

Interpretations

Gartering was woven tape used to secure stockings below the knee, sold here in broad and narrow widths. Gold twist was a thread of twisted gold wire or gilt filament, used for decorative trimming and embroidery on better garments. These small haberdashery items formed the tail of the inhabitants' account before its total was struck.

Duffield peas were dried field peas, a storable staple bought by the bushel for the diet of the plantation and garrison. Their bulk purchase reflects the island's reliance on imported dry provisions during the long drought, when local crops could not feed the settlement.

The account divides expenditure into distinct heads, the inhabitants, diet, garrison and the Great Wood, each totalled separately. This structure let the council charge each category of spending to its proper account, distinguishing goods sold to the free planters from provisions consumed by the establishment and materials issued for work on the fortifications and the woods.

The iron mauls and hinds charged to the Great Wood were heavy tools for splitting and clearing timber. Their issue to that account marks continuing labour on the enclosure and protection of the island's scarce woodland, the standing concern behind the fencing order of 23 Jun 1724 and the game law of 28 Jul 1724.

Brimstone was sulphur, used in matches, in treating skin complaints in livestock and people, and in fumigation. Green tea and tobacco among the garrison's supplies were small comforts drawn from the store, the tea carried on the homeward China ships and sold by the catty, a unit of about a pound and a third.

438

334

1724

Fortification

B:t over 225 6 9

2 Mawls W:t 44

1 9 6

13 Adzes

— 12 —

1 Small Gimblet

— — 4

2 Suggar Shovells

— 5 4

6 Piaxes W:t 268

1 4 2

6 Shod Shovells N:o 5 & 3/6

1 1 —

1 Cupboard Lock

— 2 7

3 lb 2:d Nails 1/3

— 3 9

12 d:o 4/1

— 10 —

3 d:o 10:d

— 2 6

51 6:d

1 18 3

3 8:d & 10:d 8:d

— 2 —

118 18 20 7/2

8 13 9

1.1/2 Sacks

— 2 6

13 y:m Vittory Canvas

1 2 2

1 lb Twine

— 1 —

2 lb Ryotline

— 10 6

7 Squares Glass 10 & 12

13 4 10

General Charges

3 lb Sugar to Dutton Batt:r

— 1 6

2 Catties Bohea Tea

— 12 —

50 lb Soap

8 10 10

1 Copper Saucepan

— 10 —

1 lb Twine

— 2 2

1 Dending Box

— 4 6

9 Butchers Knives

2 14 —

9 d:o Midling Long Cloth

— 5 3

12 lb Whited Brown Thread N:o 8

8 6 11

Honble Comp:y Blacks

7 Casks Wheat 3 D/6

21 10 6

4 d:o Beef d:o

53 — —

200 lb Rice d:o

2 10 —

6 P:s Heron y:s 190 y:d

17 8 4

9 P:s Blew Gurrah 12/6

12 6 —

3 lb Coloured Thread

— 12 —

21 y:d Col:d Tape

1 16 —

4 Gro:s Brass Buttons

— 11 6

2 M High Shoes 5/9

— 4 6

1 d:o Wom:n Calves

— 9 3

16 doz Hooks Sorted

— 13 10.1/2

20 Pins

104 4 7

Sum Totall

351 2 1

Fortification

Brought over, £225 6s 9d

2 mauls weighing 44 pounds, £1 9s 6d

12 adzes, £0 12s 6d

1 small gimlet, £0 0s 4d

2 sugar shovels, £0 5s 4d

6 pickaxes weighing 268 pounds, £1 4s 2d

6 iron shovels, no 5, at 3s 6d, £1 1s 0d

1 cupboard lock, £0 2s 7d

3 pounds of 20d nails, at 1s 3d, £0 3s 9d

12 [pounds] of the same, at 1s 1d, £0 13s 0d

3 [pounds] of the same, at 10d, £0 2s 6d

51 [pounds] of the same, £2 9s 0d

3 [pounds] of 8d and 10d nails, at 8d, £1 18s 3d

118 and 20 [pounds] of the same, at 7s 2d, £8 13s 9d

1½ sacks, £0 2s 6d

18 yards of vitery canvas, £1 2s 2d

1 pound of twine, £0 1s 2d

2 pounds of pitch, £0 1s 0d

7 squares of glass at 10d and 12d, £0 10s 6d

General charge total, £63 4s 10d

3 pounds of sugar for Brereton Marsh, £0 1s 6d

2 catties of bohea tea, £0 12s 0d

50 pounds of soap, £3 10s 10d

1 copper sauce pan, £0 10s 0d

1 pound of twine, £0 2s 2d

1 mending box, £0 4s 6d

9 butchers' knives, £0 4s 6d

2 pieces of middling long cloth, £2 14s 0d

18 pounds of white and brown thread, no 8, £0 5s 3d

Honourable Company's blacks total, £8 5s 11d

7 casks of wheat at 3s 6d, £21 10s 6d

4 casks of beef at [...], £5 9s 10d

200 pounds of rice at 3d, £2 10s 0d

6 pieces of chintz, no 4, at 190 yards, £17 8s 4d

9 pieces of blue gurrahs at 12s 6d, £5 12s 6d

3 pounds of coloured thread, £0 12s 0d

2 pieces of coloured tape, £0 4s 0d

4 gross of brass buttons, £1 16s 0d

4 pieces of high shoes at 5s 9d, £0 11s 6d

1 piece of women's calico, £0 4s 6d

16 dozen hooks assorted, £0 9s 3d

20 [...], £0 13s 10½d

Total, £104 4s 7d

Sum total, £351 2s 1d

Interpretations

Vitery canvas was a light, plain-woven cloth used for sacking, sails and rough garments. Its issue to the fortifications marks the practical needs of the works, where such fabric served for tool covers, bags and protective wrapping rather than dress.

The account carries a heavy weight of nails graded by the old penny system, where 8d, 10d and 20d denoted length rather than price. Their bulk purchase, alongside adzes, pickaxes and shovels, reflects sustained construction and repair on the island's defences during the period.

Bohea tea was a black tea from the Wuyi hills of China, sold by the catty of about a pound and a third. Its appearance under the general charge shows a small comfort drawn from the store, carried on the homeward China ships alongside the Indian piece-goods.

The account separates its spending into heads for the fortification, the general charge, the Company's blacks and a final grouping, each totalled before the sum total is struck. This let the council charge provisions and materials to their proper accounts, distinguishing the diet and clothing of the slaves from the tools of the works and the general run of stores.

The wheat, beef and rice charged to the Company's blacks show the staple provisioning of the slave force. The heavy parcel of rice reflects the famine relief drawn from the homeward India ships, which had brought grain and sugar through the drought that had reduced the island's own crops. The chintz and blue gurrahs were Indian cottons issued to clothe the slaves against the cool season.

439

335

Oct:r

Mr Crisp Chywist brought in & deliv:d an Acc:t of the

Expence of the Gen:l Table for the Month of 7ber

which was Examined Approved & is as follows

2 2 6

21 C:o Salt Beef

2 2 6

256 C:o Salt Pork

3 10 10

113 lb Bread

1 8 3

140 lb Sugar

3 10 —

56.3/4 Gall Arrack 6/4

22 13 1

3 Quarts Sweet Oyle

— 9 —

2 lb Pepper

— 2 6

12 Bottles Mountain 3/ & bott

1 16 —

6 Bottles Port

— 15 —

25 lb Soap

1 15 5

26 lb Candles

2 10 —

145 lb Flower

1 17 6

10 Eggs

8 — —

240 Eggs

2 12 6

105 lb Fresh Pork

1 4 —

4 Geese

1 4 —

12 lb Florence Oyle

— 2 9

240 lb Fresh Beefe

3 — —

1 Sheep

1 4 —

7 Fowles

— 10 6

46 lb Butter

1 6 —

30 days Greens

1 10 —

£ 58 — 4

This day We Executed & deliverd two Leases for Land

one to Wm Jacc Funk for 24 3/4 Acres, & the other to John

Bigham Jun:r for 2 Parcell: Comp:s Land of 2 & three pence

in the Whole for 21 years.

Cap:t Bisfeld Report that a Black Man

Slave belonging to the Honble Comp:y Named Sultan

died yesterday at the Peak

John: Smith

Edward Bisfeld

In:o Alexander

Margin Notes:

Leases Executed

Blackman died

Mr Crisp the storekeeper brought in his account of the expense of the General Table for September, which the council examined and approved as follows.

21 pounds of salt beef, £2 2s 6d

256 pounds of salt pork, £3 10s 10d

119 pounds of bread, £1 8s 3d

140 pounds of sugar, £3 10s 0d

56¾ gallons of arrack at 6s 4d per gallon, £22 13s 1d

2 quarts of sweet oil, £0 2s 0d

2 pounds of pepper, £0 2s 0d

12 bottles of mountain wine at 3s per bottle, £1 16s 0d

5 bottles of port, £0 15s 0d

25 pounds of soap, £2 15s 5d

26 pounds of candles, £1 17s 6d

145 pounds of flour, £0 8s 0d

10 pounds of [...], £2 12s 6d

240 pounds of [...], £1 4s 0d

105 pounds of fresh pork, £0 2s 9d

4 quarts of Florence oil, £3 4s 0d

240 pounds of fresh beef, £1 4s 0d

1 sheep, £0 10s 6d

7 fowls, £1 6s 0d

26 pounds of butter, £1 10s 0d

30 days' greens, £0 [...]s [...]d

Total, £58 0s 4d

Two leases were made out and delivered this day, one to James Funge for 24½ acres and the other to John Higham junior for a parcel of the Company's land at Three Fences, the whole let for 21 years.

Captain Byfield reported that a slave belonging to the Honourable Company, named Sultan, had died the previous day at the Peak.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield and John Alexander.

Interpretations

Mountain wine was a sweet white wine from Malaga in southern Spain, and Florence oil a fine olive oil shipped from the Tuscan port of Livorno. Both were superior table goods reserved for the General Table, which fed the Governor and councillors rather than the garrison or the slaves.

The General Table was the common table of the establishment, its running cost accounted monthly through the store. Its provisions here mix imported salt meat, wine and oil with fresh island produce such as beef, pork, mutton, fowls, butter and greens, marking the standard of the officers' diet against the plainer garrison ration.

The two leases record the council's continuing policy of letting waste land by formal lease for a fixed term. This same practice had drawn the order of 15 Sep 1724 protecting orphans' inheritance, which required leased waste to return to the first tenant's heirs after the term.

440

336

1724

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 27:th Oct:r

1724 at Plantation House

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin absent being Sick

Ben Hawkes

The last Consultation read & approved

Richard Swalow presented his Petition Praying leave

to Assign over to Richard Beale ten Acres of Land Which he

at present Rent of the Honble Company, & that the sd

Richard Beale may be accepted Tenant for the same,

Granted & Ordered that the said Richard Beale be accepted

Tenant & to be accountable for the Rent of the said Land

from this time,

Ordered that Mr. Hawkes & Mr. Bezette

do it, turns attend to Serve out Goods out of the Store &

each day in the Week, Sundays & Hollydays excepted, from

ten of the Clock till 12 in the Forenoon, & that a Note

be given accordingly that no Iron may Lost the Labour

by Sitting in the Afternoon, & that Sending days will be

continued as Usual,

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

In:o Alexander

Margin Notes:

Land Assigned by R:d Swallow

times of Serving Goods

At a consultation held on Tuesday 27 October 1724 at the Plantation House.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; Benjamin Hawkes. Captain Goodwin was absent through illness.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

Richard Swallow petitioned for leave to assign to Richard Beale 10 acres of land which he held at present rent from the Honourable Company, and asked that Beale be accepted as tenant in his place. The council granted the request and ordered that Beale be accepted as tenant and be accountable for the rent of the land from this time.

The council ordered Mr Hawkes and Mr Bazett to attend by turns while goods were served out of the store. Each was to be present every day of the week, Sundays and holidays excepted, from ten in the morning until noon. Bills were to be made out accordingly, so that no time was lost from the labour by serving in the afternoon. The days for serving goods were to continue as usual.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield and John Alexander.

Interpretations

The assignment of Richard Swallow's tenancy to Richard Beale transferred the liability for rent without altering the Company's title to the land. The council's approval was needed because the holding was let at rent from the Honourable Company, which reserved control over who occupied its ground.

The order regulating the serving of goods fixed set hours to protect the working day. By confining the store's issue to a two-hour morning window, the council aimed to stop the afternoon labour of the slaves and workmen from being interrupted, a concern with efficient use of the plantation's hands during a period of drought and reduced provisions.

441

337

Nov:r

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 3:d of Nov:r 1724

at Plantation House

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

Ben Hawke

The last Consultation read & approved

The Governour Report that many Complaints have

been lately made to him & against Mr. Ben Hawkes.

Several People some of them very Antient & necessitous

have gone from the farthest part of the Island to get

Provission or other Necessaries out of the Store & applyed

themselves to Mr. Hawkes with ready Money at Seasonable

time to be served, but instead of going into the Store

& serving them as he ought to have done he being an

Assistant to the Storekeeper with Such things as they

wanted or shewing any Regard either to their Age or

Infirmities or the length of the way they came, not only

refused to Serve them, but Swore at them, & treated them

with abundance of ill Language, Rudeness & Sent

them about their Business Unproved to the certain great

loss & prejudice of the Hon:ble Company as well as to their

own injury & disappointm:t

The Governour further Report that other

People in time of their own Sickness or of Some of their

family have thereupon complained to him, that notwith:

standing when they have been afflicted with Sudden Sickness

which required several thing out of the Store for their

immediate Relief, yet upon Application to Mr Hawkes

tho the Extremity of theirs has been very great

& dangerous, & tho they Offered Mr Hawkes ready Money

to be served with things proper & absolutely necessary for

their Condition have Not been denied by Mr Hawkes &

they Sent away with a volley of Oaths & Curse

The Governour farther Reports that his ill

Management & misbehavour has been so great and

notorious that the Complaints against them are not

Particular but General, & People are even terrified &

afraid to go to the Store for with ready left they

Should be & insulted, & as these Practises are

not only infamous & abominable in themselves but

highly injurious & detrimentals to the Hon:ble Comp:s

as well as to the Inhabitants, he is determined to Alleque

it before & to that End has made this Report & leave the

Result of it to the Board.

Ordered that the said Mr. Hawkes be

Margin Notes:

Gov:r Report ag:t Mr. Hawkes for such Serving Goods

Mr. Hawkes suspended

At a consultation held on Tuesday 3 November 1724 at the Plantation House.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin; Benjamin Hawkes.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

Governor Smith reported that many complaints had lately been made against Mr Hawkes. Several people, some of them very old and infirm, had come from the furthest part of the country to draw provisions and other necessaries out of the store or to supply themselves. They had brought ready money to Mr Hawkes and applied to be served in good time. Instead of going into the store and serving them as he ought to have done, being an assistant to the storekeeper, he had shown no regard for their age, their infirmities or the distance they had travelled. He had not only refused them close terms but sworn at them, abused them with foul language and rudeness, and sent them away with their business undone. This had caused great loss and harm to the Honourable Company as well as injury and disappointment to the people themselves.

The Governor further reported that other people, in times of their own sickness or that of their families, had complained of the same treatment. When they had been struck with sudden illness and needed goods out of the store for their immediate relief, they had applied to Mr Hawkes in the extremity of their distress, their condition very great and dangerous. They had offered him ready money to be served with things proper and absolutely necessary for their state, yet he had denied them, and they had gone away amid a volley of oaths and curses.

The Governor added that Mr Hawkes's mismanagement and misbehaviour had grown so great and notorious that the complaints against him were not particular but general. People were now terrified and afraid to go to the store for fear they should be abused and insulted. Such practices were not only shameful and abominable in themselves but highly harmful and damaging to the Honourable Company as well as to the inhabitants. The Governor was determined to check them, and had therefore made this report and laid the result of it before the council.

The council ordered that Mr Hawkes be [...].

Interpretations

Benjamin Hawkes held the post of assistant to the storekeeper, a role that placed him at the point where the settlement drew its imported provisions and goods. His duty was to serve the inhabitants who came to the store with ready money, so his refusals struck directly at the Company's revenue and at the supply on which a remote island depended.

The complaints turned on Hawkes's failure to serve people in genuine need, including the old, the infirm and the sick who had travelled far or applied in the extremity of illness. The record stresses that the grievances were general rather than isolated, a distinction that gave the council grounds to act against an officer rather than settle a private quarrel.

This report continues the friction already recorded around Hawkes, whose conduct had drawn a paternity order over the widow Margaret Tovey on 9 Jul 1724 and a warning against dismissal from the Company's service. The present matter reached the council through the Governor's formal report and moved at once toward a disciplinary order.

442

338

1724

& not to Assist in the Store for the future to prevent the

aforesaid Complaints.

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 10:th day

of Nov: 1724 at Plantation House

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin absent Sick

The last Consultation read & approved

The Governour Reports that a Black nam:d Cupido

belonging to the Comp:y died last Week suddenly at the Fort

Mr Crisp brought in & deliverd an Acc:t of the

Expence of the Gen:l Table for the Month of October 1724

which was Examined approved & is as follows

48 P:o Salt Beefe

6 7 6

27 d:o Pork 2/10

3 19 6

128 lb Bread

1 12 —

188 lb Sugar

4 14 —

61.3/4 Gall:s Arrack

19 11 1

3 d:o Oyle

— 9 —

2 lb Pepper

— 8 —

2 Gall: Vineger

— 18 —

6 Bottles Mountain

— 6 —

6 d:o Port

— 15 —

25 lb Soap

1 15 5

37 lb Candles

4 19 6

132 lb Flower

1 13 —

70 lb Peale

1 15 —

18 Fowles

1 7 —

1 Goat

— 10 —

110 lb Pork

2 15 —

94 lb Butter

1 14 —

31 days Greens

1 11 —

152 Eggs

— 12 8

56 10 8

Margin Notes:

Blacks sudden death.

Gen: Table Expence for Oct:r

The order continued that Mr Hawkes was not to assist in the store in future, to prevent the complaints already set out.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 10 November 1724 at the Plantation House.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander. John Goodwin was absent through illness.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

Governor Smith reported that a slave named Cupido, belonging to the Company, had died suddenly at the Fort the previous week.

Mr Crisp brought in his account of the expense of the General Table for October, which the council examined and approved as follows.

48 pounds of salt beef, £6 7s 6d

27 pounds of pork at 2s 10d, £3 19s 6d

128 pounds of bread, £1 12s 0d

188 pounds of sugar, £4 14s 0d

61¾ gallons of arrack, £19 11s 1d

3 quarts of oil, £0 9s 0d

2 pounds of pepper, £0 8s 0d

2 gallons of vinegar, £0 18s 0d

6 bottles of mountain wine, £0 6s 0d

6 bottles of port, £0 15s 0d

25 pounds of soap, £1 15s 5d

37 pounds of candles, £4 19s 6d

132 pounds of flour, £1 13s 0d

70 pounds of veal, £1 15s 0d

18 fowls, £1 7s 0d

1 goat, £0 10s 0d

110 pounds of pork, £2 15s 0d

24 pounds of butter, £1 4s 0d

31 days' greens, £1 11s 0d

152 eggs, £0 12s 8d

Total, £56 10s 8d

Interpretations

The account records the death of a second Company slave within a fortnight, Cupido at the Fort following Sultan at the Peak reported on 20 Oct 1724. Such deaths were entered in the consultation book because each slave was a capital asset of the Company, its loss noted against the plantation force.

Mountain wine was a sweet white wine from Malaga in southern Spain, reserved with the port for the General Table that fed the Governor and councillors. The mix of imported wine and salt meat with fresh island veal, goat, fowls, butter, eggs and greens marks the officers' diet against the plainer garrison ration.

Arrack again stood as the largest single charge on the table by value. The distilled spirit from Batavia and India passed through the store under the Company's liquor monopoly, the same control enforced against the coxswain Caleb Davis on 04 Mar 1724.

443

339

Nov:r

Mr Byfeld likewise deliverd an Acc:t of the Expence of the

Live Stock of Cattle &c:a for the Month of Octob:r 1724

which was Examined Approved & is as follows viz:t

Neat Cattle

Bullock

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 6

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 6

Cowes

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 36

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 36

Heifers

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 11

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 11

Steers

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 4

Killed for the Fort in d:o 1

Dead in Ditto 1

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 3

Yearling

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 5

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 5

Calves

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 41

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto 1

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 40

Bulls

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 2

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 2

Totalls

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 105

Killed for the Fort in d:o 1

Dead in Ditto 1

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 103

Sheep

Ewes

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 31

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 31

Withers

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 11

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 11

Lambs

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 14

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 14

Rams

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 6

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 6

Totall

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 62

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 62

Goats

Ewes

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 94

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 94

Withers

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 14

Killed for the Fort in d:o 1

Dead in Ditto 1

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 13

Kid

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 25

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 25

Rams

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 13

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 13

Totall

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 146

Killed for the Fort in d:o 1

Dead in Ditto 1

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 145

Hogs

Sowes

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 10

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 10

Shoats

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 3

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 3

Boars

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 1

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 1

Pig

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 12

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 12

Totall

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 26

Killed for the Fort in d:o —

Dead in Ditto —

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 26

Poultry

Turkeys

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 42

Increased in Oct:r 6

Killed for the Fort in d:o 48

Dead in Ditto 48

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 47

Fowles

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 132

Increased in Oct:r 20

Killed for the Fort in d:o 152

Dead in Ditto 5

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 147

Ducks

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 10

Killed for the Fort in d:o 10

Dead in Ditto 10

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 10

Geese

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 12

Killed for the Fort in d:o 12

Dead in Ditto 12

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 12

Asses

Asses

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 6

Killed for the Fort in d:o 6

Dead in Ditto 6

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 6

Horses

Horses

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 5

Killed for the Fort in d:o 5

Dead in Ditto 5

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 5

Mares

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 2

Killed for the Fort in d:o 2

Dead in Ditto 2

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 2

Totall

Remain:g ult:o Sep:r 7

Killed for the Fort in d:o 7

Dead in Ditto 7

Rem:n of ult:o Oct:r 7

Yams Expended at the Sev:ll Plantacon 8627 lb

Ditto deliverd the Fort Blacks 6374

Totall Yams 14901

Margin Notes:

Mr Byfelds Acc:t for Oct:r

Mr Byfield brought in his account of the expense of the live stock of cattle for October 1724, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Neat cattle

Remaining last September: 6 bullocks, 36 cows, 11 heifers, 4 steers, 5 yearlings, 41 calves, 2 bulls, total 105

Increased in October: none

Killed for the Fort: 1 calf, total 1

Dead in October: 1 calf, total 1

Remaining last October: 6 bullocks, 36 cows, 11 heifers, 3 steers, 5 yearlings, 40 calves, 2 bulls, total 103

Sheep

Remaining last September: 31 ewes, 11 wethers, 14 lambs, 6 rams, total 62

Increased in October: none

Killed for the Fort: none

Dead in October: none

Remaining last October: 31 ewes, 11 wethers, 14 lambs, 6 rams, total 62

Goats

Remaining last September: 94 ewes, 14 withers, 25 kids, 13 rams, total 146

Increased in October: none

Killed for the Fort: 1 kid, total 1

Dead in October: 1 kid, total 1

Remaining last October: 94 ewes, 13 withers, 25 kids, 13 rams, total 145

Hogs

Remaining last September: 10 sows, 3 shoats, 1 boar, 12 pigs, total 26

Increased in October: none

Killed for the Fort: none

Dead in October: none

Remaining last October: 10 sows, 3 shoats, 1 boar, 12 pigs, total 26

Poultry

Remaining last September: 42 turkeys, 132 fowls, 10 ducks, 12 geese, total 196

Increased in October: 6 turkeys, 20 fowls

Killed for the Fort: 5 fowls

Dead in October: 1 turkey, 1 fowl

Remaining last October: 47 turkeys, 146 fowls, 10 ducks, 12 geese, total 215

Asses and horses

Remaining last September: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7 horses

Increased in October: none

Killed for the Fort: none

Dead in October: none

Remaining last October: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7 horses

Yams expended at the several plantations, 8,627 pounds

Yams delivered to the Fort blacks, 6,374 pounds

Total yams, 14,901 pounds

Interpretations

The account tracks the Company's live stock month by month under fixed heads, showing the opening number, any increase, the beasts killed for the Fort, those dead and the closing number. This let the council follow the herds and flocks as a running asset, distinguishing natural loss from slaughter to feed the garrison.

The very small movement across October marks a stock still drawn thin by the long drought. Only a calf, a kid and a few fowls were killed or lost, with poultry alone showing any real increase, a sign that the council was conserving the herds while the pasture recovered.

The yam figures record the staple food of the slave force, split between the several plantations and the Fort blacks. The large monthly total of 14,901 pounds shows the scale of the provision, drawn from the Company's own grounds at a time when the drought had cut the island's crops and forced reliance on imported rice for the balance.

444

340

1724

Mr French likewise deliverd an Acc:t of Gunners Stores

Expended in the Month of Oct:r 1724 which was Examined

approved & is as follows

5 Sent to Plantation House

— — 1/4

20 King George Coronation

21 4 7 33

Expense for the Guard

— — 10

Sent to Plantacon House Shott

8 21 4 7 43.1/2

Deld the Guard Musquet Balls

9 1

Deld Mr Slaughter Ensign Pistol Balls

1

Deld Cap:t Goodwin Pistol Balls

1/4

Deld Cap:t Goodwin Spunge & bore

1

Deld the Guard Flints

Gun 5

Cartridge Paper for Guard

d:o 1

Flanth

15

15 1 15 13.1/4

Signed

Jn:o French

The Governour Report that Sutton a Black had this day

attended him, & paid him eighteen shilling as Sold: to Sutton

for three Turkeys belonging to the Hon:ble which a Black

French of his killed about 14 Weeks ago.

Yesterday about two in the afternoon arrived the

Ship Swallow Field Cap:t George Litt Com:r from

Cap:t Goodwin brought in & delivered an Account

of Store Goods sold & deliverd to the Inhabitants in

the Month of Oct:r last which was Examined approved &

is as follows

Arrack

Margin Notes:

Gun:rs Acc:t for Oct:r 1724

Mr French brought in his account of gunner's stores expended during October 1724, which the council examined and approved as follows.

5th, sent to the Plantation House, ¼ pound

20th, King George's coronation, 21 falcons, 4 minions, 7 [...], 33 pounds

Expense for the guard, 10 pounds

Sent to the Plantation House in shot, 8 [...], 21 falcons, 4 minions, 7 [...], 43½ pounds

Delivered to the guard, musket balls, 2 pounds

Delivered to Mr Slaughter, ensign, pistol balls, 1 pound

Delivered to Captain Goodwin, sponge staves, ¼

Delivered to the guard, flints, 1

Cartridge paper for the guard, 1 quire

Match, 15 pounds

Signed by John French

Total, 15 falcons, 1 minion, 15 [...], 13¾ pounds

The Governor reported that the slave Sutton had attended him this day and been paid 18s as satisfaction for three turkeys belonging to the Fort, which a slave of his had killed about a fortnight earlier.

About two in the afternoon the ship Swallow arrived, under Captain George Pitt, from [...].

Captain Goodwin brought in his account of store goods sold and delivered to the inhabitants during October, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

Falcons and minions were small cannon of light bore, and their names were used to reckon powder charges by the weight each gun required. The account measures expenditure by these units alongside plain weights of powder, so that the record shows both the occasion of firing and the quantity spent.

The heaviest charge fell on 20 October for the salute marking King George's coronation, an annual ceremonial firing the gunner recorded against the powder store. Such salutes and the daily guard consumed the bulk of the month's powder, with smaller issues of shot, flints, match and cartridge paper supporting the routine of the garrison.

The payment to the slave Sutton is notable, since the Company compensated one of its own people for a loss caused by another man's slave. This treated the killing of the Fort's turkeys as a matter for settlement in money rather than punishment, an unusual instance of a slave receiving cash satisfaction from the Governor.

445

341

Nov:r

41.3/8 Gall: Arrack

13 2 1/8

295 lb Sugar

22 7 6

13 lb Candy

— 10 —

1688 lb Bread

17 8 3.1/4

513 lb Flower

6 15 3

41 lb Soap

— 12 —

8 Catties Green Tea

1 8 6

4.3/4 Gallon Trayne Oyle

— 2 9.1/4

1 Quart Sweet ditto

— 8 —

1 Gall: Linsed d:o

— 2 —

1/2 Gall: Vineger

— 5 3

7 lb Sneed

— 5 —

2 lb Pepper

— 3 —

1 Shod Shovell

— 5 6

1 ditto

— 5 —

1 Sett Tile Locks

— 8 10.1/2

3 d:o Small Hinges N:o 1

— 1 8

1 d:o Chest d:o

— 2 4

1 Mawle W:t 14 lb

— 9 1

2 Hoy Stones

— 1 4

1 Small Grindstone

— 6 2

12 Cups & Saucers

— 8 —

8 Large Cups

— 8 —

31 Small d:o

— 5 2

8 Sneakers

— 2 —

6 Ivory Knives & Forks

— 12 8

4 d:o

— 9 2

1 Browning Knive

— 1 6

4 Lanthorn Horns

— 4 6

11 P:s White Gurrah

6 1 —

2 d:o Desotees

1 5 —

4 Blew ditto

10 3 6

1 Servand

3 3 —

1.1/2 P:s Fine Long Cloth

4 10 —

4.1/2 Coarse d:o

3 8 —

6 P:s Chelloe

Carried Over 92 6 3.1/2

Margin Notes:

Store Acc:t for Oct:r

41 3/8 gallons of arrack, £13 2s 1½d

295 pounds of sugar, £22 7s 6d

16 pounds of candy, £0 10s 0d

1,688 pounds of bread, £17 8s 3d

513 pounds of flour, £6 3s 1d

41 pounds of soap, £2 18s 0d

3 catties of green tea, £1 8s 6d

4¾ gallons of train oil, £0 2s 9¼d

1 quart of sweet oil, £0 8s 0d

1 gallon of linseed oil, £0 2s 0d

1½ gallons of vinegar, £0 6s 0d

7 pounds of sugar candy, £0 3s 0d

2 pounds of pepper, £0 3s 6d

1 shod shovel, £0 3s 6d

1 shovel, £0 5s 0d

1 pair of gilt locks, £0 8s 10½d

3 small hinges, no 1, £0 1s 8d

1 pair of chest hinges, £0 9s 6d

1 maul weighing 14 pounds, £0 9s 1d

2 gray stones, £0 4s 4d

1 small grindstone, £0 6s 4d

12 cups and saucers, £0 8s 0d

8 large cups, £0 8s 0d

31 small cups, £0 5s 2d

8 sneakers, £0 2s 0d

6 ivory knives and forks, £0 12s 8d

1 [...], £0 2s 6d

1 carving knife, £0 1s 6d

4 lanthorn horns, £0 4s 6d

11 pieces of white gurrahs, £6 1s 0d

2 pieces of dosooties, £1 3s 0d

4 pieces of blue gurrahs, £3 2s 6d

1 piece of servants' cloth, £0 3s 0d

1½ pieces of fine long cloth, £4 10s 0d

4¾ pieces of coarse long cloth, £3 8s 0d

6 pieces of chintz, £[...]s [...]d

Carried over, £92 6s 3½d

Interpretations

Train oil was oil rendered from the blubber of whales or seals, burned in lamps and used in dressing leather. Its low price here marks it as a common utility oil, distinct from the sweet oil listed for the table and the linseed used on timber and paint.

The account carries a run of Indian cotton piece-goods now obscure by name. Gurrahs were plain coarse cotton from Bengal, sold in white and blue by the piece. Dosooties were a stout calico, long cloth a plain-woven cotton in fine and coarse grades, and chintz a printed or painted cotton. These fabrics reached the island on the homeward India ships and were resold to the inhabitants at a margin.

Lanthorn horns were thin translucent sheets of scraped horn used as windows in lanterns, before glass became cheap enough for the purpose. Their sale through the store shows the settlement drawing basic household fittings from imported stock in the absence of local manufacture.

The mauls, shovels, grindstones and hinges among the goods mark the store's role as the island's only source of finished ironmongery and tools. A remote settlement without a supplier of such wares depended on the Company's imports for building, digging and daily repair.

446

342

1724

14 White Shirts a 2/6

92 5 3.1/2

4 d:o 4/6

1 5 —

1 Chelloe d:o

— 18 —

5 P:s Cotton Stocking

3 1 6

1/4 P:o Bengale Taffety

— 16 —

2 P:s Surat Chints

— 18 —

8 yards Purdnee

— 12 —

6 yards Flannele

1 1 —

64 yards Honey

5 10 —

1 P:o Dungy

2 11 8

5 yards Serge

— 4 —

21 yards Shalloon

17 6

16 y:d Vittory

— 5 6

1 Lanthorn

1 9 —

58 lb Rope

— 11 —

4 Slitt Deals

1 7 —

12 Common d:o

1 7 —

7 Oz China Silk

2 4 —

9 M Pin 1/2

— 4 —

8 d:o 1/4

— 3 —

9 d:o 1/8

— 9 —

2 oz Thread 1/1

— 2 2

3 oz d:o 1/3

— 3 9

1 oz d:o

— 1 —

2 d:o 1/7

— 3 2

1 d:o

— 1 —

9 d:o 5:d

— 10 —

1.1/4 Col:d & Brown Thread

— 5 6.1/2

2.1/3 Whited Brown N:o 5

— 6 2

1 d:o 8

— 5 —

1/2 lb d:o 9:d

— 3 6

2 P:s Tape 9:d

— 4 —

4 d:o 1/4

— 3 —

3 d:o 1/6

— 3 —

2 Red d:o

— 2 —

1 Col:d d:o

— 1 —

1 Oz Gold Twist 4/2

— 7.1/2

7 yards Ferrit 3:d

— 1 10

1.1/2 y:d Ribbon 3:d

— — —

2 d:o

1 2 —

2 Laces 7:d

2 3 —

56 y:d Galloon

Carried Over 116 12 9.1/4

14 white shifts at 2s 6d, £[...] 5s 3½d

4 white shifts at 4s 6d, £1 5s 8d

1 chintz shift, £0 18s 0d

5 pieces of cotton stockings, £0 12s 6d

1 piece of Bengal taffeta, £0 16s 0d

2 pieces of Surat chintz, £0 18s 0d

8 yards of purdnee, £0 12s 0d

6 yards of flannel, £1 1s 0d

66 yards of penny, £5 10s 0d

1 piece of duffield, £0 11s 8d

5 yards of serge, £0 4s 0d

20 yards of shalloon, £0 17s 6d

15 yards of vitery, £0 5s 6d

1 lanthorn, £1 9s 0d

5 pounds of rosin, £0 3s 11d

4 slit deals, £0 7s 0d

12 common deals, £1 7s 0d

7 ounces of China silk, £0 12s 4d

2 [ounces] of nun's thread at 1s 2d, £0 3s 4d

3 [ounces] at 1s 4d, £0 3s 8d

2 ounces of thread at 1s 1d, £0 2s 2d

3 ounces of the same at 1s 3d, £0 3s 0d

1 ounce of the same at 1s 7d, £0 1s 0d

2 [ounces] of the same, £0 1s 0d

2 [ounces] of the same at 5d, £0 [...]s [...]d

1¼ pounds of coloured and brown thread, £0 6s 2d

2 pounds and 13 [ounces] of white and brown, no 5, £0 9s 4d

10 pounds of the same at 8d, £0 5s 4d

1½ pounds of the same, £0 3s 6d

2 pieces of tape at 9d, £0 [...]s [...]d

4 pieces of the same at 1s 4d, £0 4s 0d

3 pieces of the same at 1s 6d, £0 3s 0d

2 [pieces] of red tape, £0 2s 8d

1 coloured [piece] of the same, £0 7s 1½d

7 yards of twist at 4s 6d, £1 12s 10d

1½ yards of ribbon at 3s, £0 [...]s [...]d

2 [pieces] of the same, £0 2s 9d

2 laces at 7s, £0 2s 13d

2 laces at 7s, £0 2s 3d

56 yards of galloon, £[...]s [...]d

Carried over, £116 12s 9¾d

Interpretations

Bengal taffeta was a fine plain-woven silk from Bengal, and shalloon a light twilled woollen cloth used chiefly for garment linings. Purdnee and penny were further imported cloths, sold by the yard for making up into clothing. These fabrics reached the island on the homeward India ships and passed to the inhabitants through the store.

Galloon was a narrow woven braid of silk, wool or metal thread, used to trim and bind the edges of garments. Twist was a thread of twisted silk or gilt filament for decorative work. Both belonged to the haberdashery that closed the account, alongside tape, ribbon and lace for finishing and fastening clothes.

Slit deals were sawn softwood boards split to a thinner gauge, and common deals the standard planks of pine or fir. Their sale marks the store as the island's source of imported timber, a scarce material on a settlement whose own woods were under constant protection against felling and stripping.

Nun's thread was a fine white linen sewing thread of high grade, sold by the ounce at graded prices. It sat among the coarser coloured, brown and white threads that supplied the settlement's domestic sewing and repair.

447

343

Nov:r

B:t Over 116 12 9.1/4

1 Horn Book

— 1 9

1 Spelling Book

— 6 8

1 Bible

— — 6

1 Horn Comb

— 1 —

1 Ivory d:o

14 8 3

4.1/2 lb Shoe Thread

— 1 6

2 Shoe Knives

1 16 —

8 P:s Womens Calves Leather Shoes 4/6

— 11 6

8 P:s Spanish Leath:r 5/9

4 — —

8 Boys Calves Leather

— 6 8

2 Mens d:o

— 8 —

2 Girles d:o

— 6 —

1 d:o Turkey

2 1 6

2 P:s Childens Stockings

— 3 —

2 Soldier d:o

— 8 8

4 Womens d:o 2/4

— 12 —

1 d:o

— 3 6

2 d:o Boy

— 4 10

8 Mens Knitt d:o

9 9

1 d:o

— 4 2

1 d:o

— 11 6

2 d:o

— 2 —

6.1/2 Oz Worsted Sorted

1 — 10

45 doz Hooks Sorted

1 10 10

4.1/2 Lines d:o

17 3

1/2 P:s Chishett N:o 1

1 1 —

2 Barrells Lamb black

— 1 —

1 M Holes

1 5 10

10 yards Turking 2/7

3 11 6

26 y:d d:o 3/4

5 —

1 P:s d:o

— 3 —

3 lb 2:d Nailes

— 3 9

4 P:s 3:d

— 11 2

14 4:d

— 6 —

2.1/2 20:d

4 8.3/4

2 Battin Beads

— 3 4

3 Porringers 1/6

— 4 6

3 Boys Hatts N:o 1

— 18 —

1 d:ty Spoons

— 3 9

Carried Over 138 7 1.1/4

Brought over, £116 12s 9½d

1 horn book, £0 4s 9d

1 spelling book, £0 6s 8d

1 bible, £0 [...]s 6d

1 horn comb, £0 1s 0d

1 ivory comb, £0 [...]s [...]d

4½ pounds of shoe thread, £0 [...]s 3d

2 shoe knives, £0 1s 6d

2 pairs of women's coloured leather shoes at 4s 6d, £1 16s 0d

3 pairs of Spanish leather shoes at 5s 9d, £0 11s 0d

1 pair of boys' calico leather shoes, £0 4s 0d

1 pair of men's calico leather shoes, £0 6s 8d

1 pair of men's shoes, £0 8s 0d

2 pairs of girls' shoes, £0 6s 0d

1 pair of turkey [leather shoes], £0 2s 6d

2 pairs of children's stockings, £0 1s 0d

1 pair of soldiers' stockings, £0 3s 0d

2 pairs of women's stockings at 2s 4d, £0 8s 8d

4 pairs of women's stockings at 2s 4d, £0 12s 0d

1 pair of the same, £0 3s 6d

1 pair of the same, £0 4s 10d

2 pairs of boys' stockings, £0 9s 9d

3 pairs of men's knit stockings, £0 4s 2d

1 pair of the same, £0 11s 6d

1 pair of the same, £0 2s 9d

2 pairs of the same, £0 [...]s [...]d

6½ ounces of worsted assorted, £1 0s 10d

45 dozen hooks assorted, £1 10s 10d

4 pieces of lace of the same, £0 17s 3d

1½ pieces of chintz, no 1, £1 1s 0d

2 barrels of lampblack, £0 [...]s [...]d

1 [...] helve, £1 6s 10d

10 yards of ticking at 2s 7d, £3 11s 6d

26 yards of the same at 4s 9d, £2 5s 0d

1 pair of the same, £0 [...]s [...]d

3 pounds of 20d nails, £0 3s 9d

4 pounds of 30d nails, £0 3s 3d

14 pounds of the same, £0 11s 2d

[...] pounds of 6d nails, £0 6s 6d

2½ pounds of 20d nails, £0 4s 8¾d

2 barrels of beads, £0 3s 4d

3 porringers at 1s 6d, £0 4s 6d

3 boys' hats, no 1, £0 18s 0d

1 [...] spoons, £0 3s 9d

Carried over, £138 7s 1½d

Interpretations

The books at the head of the account were basic instruments of literacy and devotion. A horn book was a single printed sheet of the alphabet and the Lord's Prayer mounted on a wooden tablet and covered with thin horn, used to teach young children their letters. Its sale with a spelling book and a bible shows the store supplying the means of schooling to a settlement without a bookseller.

The account carries a wide range of imported footwear in graded leathers. Turkey leather was a fine tanned goatskin, and Spanish leather a soft dressed hide, both prized above the plainer calico leather. These shoes came ready-made on the Company's ships and passed to the inhabitants through the store, the island having no supplier of finished footwear of its own.

Ticking was a strong closely-woven linen or cotton used to case mattresses and bolsters, and lampblack a fine soot gathered from burning oil, used as a black pigment in paint and ink. Both belonged to the household and utility stock the settlement drew from imported supply.

The nails are graded by the old penny system, where 6d, 20d and 30d denoted length rather than price, a larger number meaning a longer nail. Their sale alongside a helve for an axe or tool marks the store as the island's source of the ironmongery needed for building and repair.

448

344

1724

B:t Over 138 7 1.1/4

1 P:o Stay

1 10 6

1 d:o

1 9 —

1 P:o Jump

— 6 6

1 Bodice

12 9

1 Quilt

— 15 —

1 Cask Beefe

10 — —

1 Large Sea Kettle

— 18 —

1 Brass Skimmer

— 5 —

2 Lamps

— 3 4

1 Coffee Pott

— 3 4

2 Sauce Pans

— 3 4

1 Pint Fonnell

— 7 —

1 Scrubbing Brush

— 3 4

4 Wooden Bowles

— 6 —

Sum Tot:l to y:e Inhab:t 159 — 7.1/4

Diet Expences

2 Q:t Sweet Oyle

— 4 4.1/2

16 lb Sugar

4 3 6

1 Cask Sten G:r Beef

14 11 —

1 d:o Sweet

6 4 —

15.8 Gall: Arrack

50 — 8

448 lb Bread

4 13 6

1 Catties Bohea Tea

— 6 —

2 lb Pepper

— 2 8

2 Gall: Vineger

— 8 —

Gen:l Charges

1 Q:t Sweet Oyle

2 2 1/4

38 doz Corks

— 9 6

2 Sheet Tin

— 1 4

6 Cups & Saucers

— 3 —

24 Plates

1 4 —

1/2 lb Thread N:o 5

— 2 6

1 Spring Lock

— 8 3

Plantation

6 Stone Hoes

— 18 —

12 Helves

— 12 —

Carried over 245 14 8

Brought over, £138 7s 11¼d

1 pair of stays, £1 10s 6d

1 pair of the same, £1 9s 0d

1 jump, £1 6s 6d

1 bodice, £0 12s 9d

1 quilt, £0 15s 0d

1 cask of beef, £10 0s 0d

1 large sea kettle, £0 18s 0d

1 brass skimmer, £0 5s 0d

2 lamps, £0 3s 4d

1 coffee pot, £0 2s 3d

2 sauce pans, £0 4s 0d

1 pint funnel, £0 7s 0d

1 scrubbing brush, £0 3s 4d

4 wooden bowls, £0 6s 0d

Sum total to the inhabitants, £159 0s 7¼d

Diet expenses

2 quarts of sweet oil, £0 4s 4½d

167 pounds of sugar, £4 3s 6d

1 cask and 40 pounds of fresh beef, £14 11s 0d

1 cask of the same, salt, £6 4s 0d

158 gallons of arrack, £50 8s 0d

448 pounds of bread, £4 13s 6d

1 catty of bohea tea, £0 6s 0d

2 pounds of pepper, £0 2s 0d

2 gallons of vinegar, £0 8s 0d

Total, £2 2s 1½d

Charges

1 quart of sweet oil, £0 9s 6d

38 dozen [...], £0 1s 4d

2 sheets of tin, £0 1s 3d

6 cups and saucers, £1 4s 0d

24 plates, £0 2s 6d

½ pound of thread, no 5, £0 8s 3d

1 spring lock, £0 18s 0d

Plantation

6 stone hoes, £0 12s 0d

12 helves, £[...]s [...]d

Carried over, £243 14s 8d

Interpretations

Stays, jumps and bodices were shaped and stiffened women's undergarments. Stays were laced and reinforced with whalebone or cane to support the torso. A jump was a looser, softer stay worn for comfort or during pregnancy. Their sale marks the store as the settlement's source of ready-made clothing carried on the Company's ships.

The account groups spending under separate heads for the inhabitants, diet, charges and the plantation. Each head is totalled apart. This let the council charge goods to their proper accounts, keeping sales to the free planters distinct from provisions consumed and materials issued for work on the grounds.

Arrack again formed the largest single charge on the diet account. The distilled spirit from Batavia and India passed through the store under the Company's liquor monopoly. That same control was enforced against the coxswain Caleb Davis on 04 Mar 1724.

Bohea tea was a black tea from the Wuyi hills of China, sold by the catty of about a pound and a third. It reached the island on the homeward China ships and served as a small comfort drawn from the store. Stone hoes and helves supported the plantation labour, a helve being the wooden handle fitted to an axe or tool.

449

345

Nov:r 1724

B:t Over £ 245 14 8

Fortification D:o

— 10 —

13 Helves

— 3 9

1 Wood Ax

— 12 —

18 lb 10:d Nailes

— 4 6

6 lb 6:d

— 4 9

16 lb Rape Oyle

— 7 —

2 lb Brimstone

D:o

Garrison D:o

— 2 2.1/4

1 Q:t Sweet Oyle

— 2 —

5 Gall: Rape & Trayne d:o

1 10 —

18 Catties Green Tea

3 9 —

4 Barrells Lamp Black

— 1 8

1 lb Tack

— 1 2

1 Tin Sauce Pan

— 1 6

19 Squares Glass 10 & 12

1 8 6

1 P:o Small Hinges

— — 7.1/2

1 P:o Ordinary Long Cloth

1 — —

Honble Comp:y Blacks

Two Casks Wheat

6 3 —

4 Beef

53 — —

5333 lb Rice

66 10 —

4 P:s Mens Shoe

1 2 —

8 P:s Wom:n Stock:s N:o 7

— 8 —

6 P:s Herry 189 y:d

17 12 6

9 P:s Blew Gurrah

12 —

3 lb Col:d Thread

— 13 —

21 Red Tape

— 4 2

8 doz Brass Buttons

— 12 9

2 Midling Blankets

— 15 6

6.1/2 doz Hooks Sorted

— 2 4

134 Lines Sorted

— 5 2

2 lb Twine

— 4 4

154 lb Rope

8 17 —

40 lb Lead

— — 10

Sum Totall £ 415 10 4.3/4

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

Brought over, £243 14s 8d

Fortification

13 helves, £0 13s 0d

1 wood axe, £0 3s 8d

18 pounds of 10d nails, £0 12s 0d

6 [pounds of] 8d [nails], £0 4s 6d

16 pounds of rape oil, £0 4s 9d

2 pounds of brimstone, £0 [...]s 7d

Garrison

½ quart of sweet oil, £0 2s 2¼d

5 gallons of rape and train oil, £0 10s 0d

16 catties of green tea, £1 3s 0d

4 barrels of lampblack, £0 2s 0d

1 pound of pitch, £0 1s 8d

1 tin sauce pan, £0 1s 2d

19 squares of glass at 10d and 12d, £1 8s 6d

19 small hinges, £0 [...]s 7½d

1 piece of ordinary long cloth, £1 0s 0d

Honourable Company's blacks

2 casks of wheat, £6 9s 3d

40 pounds of beef, £0 5s 0d

5,332 pounds of rice, £66 10s 0d

4 pieces of men's shoes, £1 0s 0d

1 piece of women's stockings, no 7, £0 2s 8d

6 pieces of penny at 189 yards, £17 12s 6d

9 pieces of gingham, £0 13s 0d

9 [pieces of] coloured thread, £0 4s 2d

2 [pieces of] red tape, £0 4s 9d

8 dozen brass buttons, £0 16s 6d

2 middling blankets, £0 [...]s [...]d

6½ dozen hooks assorted, £0 5s 2d

134 lines assorted, £0 5s 4d

2 pieces of twine, £0 4s 4d

154 pounds of rope, £6 17s 0d

40 pounds of lead, £0 10s 0d

Sum total, £415 10s 4¾d

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The account divides spending under heads for the fortification, the garrison and the Company's blacks, each totalled before the sum total is struck. This let the council charge tools, provisions and clothing to their proper accounts. It kept the materials of the works distinct from the diet and dress of the slave force.

The single heaviest charge falls on 5,332 pounds of rice supplied to the Company's blacks. This bulk of imported grain reflects the famine relief drawn from the homeward India ships. The long drought had cut the island's own crops and forced reliance on rice to feed the slaves.

Rape oil was pressed from the seed of the rape plant, and train oil rendered from the blubber of whales or seals. Both were burned in lamps and used in dressing timber and leather. Their issue to the works and garrison marks the daily utility supply the store provided.

Lampblack was a fine soot gathered from burning oil, used as a black pigment in paint and ink. Gingham was a checked or striped cotton, and penny an imported cloth sold by the yard for making up into clothing. These fabrics reached the island on the Company's ships and were issued to clothe the slaves against the cool season.

450

346

Blank page

451

347

Nov:r

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 17th day of

Nov:r 1724 at Plantation House

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

The Governour Reports that he has received the foll:

Letter from Richard Beale Planter

Oct:r 30:th 1724

Worshipfull Sir

My Spouse was taken yesterday Evening very ill & is

now in Expectation of being deliverd every moment & being

very Unprovided at h:me so unexpected I sent to the Store

for Arrack flour & Bread & Sent Money for them. Mr

Hawkes was in the Stores when the bearer got there which

was as far tells me about eleven o Clock & tho:s the Note was

directed to John Bezett & he not there Mr Hawkes sent my

Slave away empty, which I am obliged to hire, without any

Consideration, which I did not imagine that they would Stand

upon their Cruelties in Serving the Hon:ble Comp:s Goods out

for Money. I humbly beg Your Worship would give an Order

for the abovem the abovementioned Especially a little Flour, for

I have not had any since it came, I am

To the Worshipfull Jn:o Smith Worshipfull Sir

Esq:r Governor Present Your Most obed:t Serv:t

Richard Beale

Mr Hawkes presented the following Petition

The Petition of Benj: Hawkes

Sheweth

That forasmuch as on Tuesday the 3 instant at a Consultation

held at the Plantation House the Gov:r had a Copy drawn up &

Read wherein your Petitioner was charged with Neglect of Duty

in refusing to Serve the Hon:ble Comp:s Goods to several

on their Request & at the same time giving them such Language

not fitting to be made use of, for which your Petitioner was im:

mediatly Suspended from acting in any Employ in the Hon:ble

Comp:s Service, That your Petitioner was treated any on with

ill Language he absolutely denies & as to Refusing the Serving

Richard Beale & Charles Steward Esq:r Col: humbly conceive that

Margin Notes:

R:d Beals Lett:r ag:t Mr. Hawkes

Petition of Mr. Hawkes ab:t Serving Goods

At a consultation held on Tuesday 17 November 1724 at the Plantation House.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

Governor Smith reported that he had received the following letter from Richard Beale, planter, dated 30 October 1724.

Beale wrote that his wife had been taken very ill the previous evening and now lay in danger of delivery at any moment. Being unprepared, he had sent his slave to the store in good time for arrack, flour and bread, with money to pay for them. Mr Hawkes had been in the store when the bearer arrived at about eleven o'clock, and although the note was directed to John Bazett, who was not present, Hawkes had sent the slave away empty. Beale complained that he had been forced to hire the slave without any return, and had not imagined the store would refuse to supply his needs when he sent ready money for the Honourable Company's goods. He asked the Governor to grant an order for the goods set out above, and especially a little flour, which he had not had since it first came in. He subscribed himself the Governor's most obedient servant.

Mr Hawkes then presented his own petition to the council. He set out that at the consultation held on Tuesday 3 November his conduct had been charged with neglect of duty, in refusing to serve the Honourable Company's goods to several people and in giving them foul language, and that he had been immediately suspended from acting in any employment in the Company's service. Hawkes absolutely denied that he had treated anyone with such language. As to the refusal to serve Richard Beale and Charles Steward, he began to set out what he humbly conceived [...].

Interpretations

The letter from Richard Beale gave the council direct evidence for the complaint against Benjamin Hawkes already recorded on 03 Nov 1724. A named planter set out a specific refusal at a stated hour, giving the general charge against Hawkes a particular instance the council could weigh.

Hawkes held the post of assistant to the storekeeper, which placed him at the point where the settlement drew its imported provisions. His refusal to serve a note directed to John Bazett, the storekeeper proper, turned on whether an assistant was bound to supply goods in the principal's absence.

The petition marks Hawkes answering the disciplinary charge in his own defence. He denied the foul language outright but sought to justify the specific refusals, a division that let the council separate the question of his manner from the question of his duty to serve.

452

348

1724

that his said Refusal was Conformable to an Order of Counsill

published on the 28th of Oct: last in an Advertizement wherein it

is Ordered that your Petitioner & Mr Bazett should in their turns

Serve Goods out of the Hon:ble Comp:s Store every day in the Week

from the hour of ten to twelve in the afternoon & that such a

should come for Goods after the said hour of twelve might Expect

to loose their Labour, in Obedience to which Order Mr Bozette

at his own Store Undertook to give his Attendance in the Store

the first Week, but on Friday the same Week about a quarter

past Eleven, Richard Bingham to your Petitioner Saying his

Wife was Sick & that he desired a few Necessaries for her, by

Petitioner told the said Long that Mr Bazett had undertaken

had Undertaken to Serve that Week & was in the Stores waiting

for such as wanted, to which he Replied he had been enquiring

for Mr Bazette & had been informed he was gone into the Country

this being the first Knowledge your Petitioner had of Mr Bazette

absence, who immediately went with the said Long to the Stores

where he served him & several other tile very near the hour of twelve

after which he returned to his Apartment to lock up the Key as

usual, when a Servant of Rich:d Beale came to your Petitioner

desiring some Good for his Master (tho not Mentioning any

Extraordinary Occasion his Master had for them) your Pet: told

the Fellow he was that Minuit come from the Store & had not

time to Serve him before Dinner, neither would he Serve him in the

afternoon it being contrary to his Instruction, the same day

after Dinner Charles Steward wanted some Goods out of the

Stores which Your Pet: refused at that time to Serve Refusing to

the proper being appointed in the Advertizement abovementioned,

Your Petitioner cant help thinking that the Gov:r to

whom he doth always Endeavour to pay all Due Respect would

not have carried his Resentment of any Slendon Offence so

very fair had he not by som Mis Reports been prejudiced ag:t

him, Since from the first arrival of the Governour tile som

short time after the arrival of the Storeship following he

thought himself very happy in the Governor Favour & by what

means he then lost that friendship he had so much valued is

unknown to your Pet: un less for his desiring to Possession of

the four Flatts built on purpose for the Comp: Counsill & which

your Petitioner humbly presumed that the Goodness of his Hon:ble

Masters upon the Gov:r & at Recommendation had given him

a just Tile to.

your

Hawkes set out that his refusal had been in keeping with an order of council published on 28 October, which directed that he and Mr Bazett should serve goods out of the Honourable Company's store by turns, every day of the week, from ten in the morning until noon. Anyone coming for goods after twelve would lose the labour of the slaves for the afternoon. He undertook to give his attendance in the store the first week, but on the Friday of that week, about a quarter past eleven, Richard Bingham came to him saying his wife was ill and that he wanted a few necessaries for her.

Hawkes told Bingham's man that Mr Bazett had undertaken to serve that week and was in the store attending to those who wanted goods. The man replied that he had been enquiring for Bazett and had been told he had gone into the country. This was the first Hawkes knew of Bazett's absence, and he went at once with the man to the store and served him, along with several others up to about noon. He then returned to his apartment to lock up the key as usual.

A slave of Richard Beale then came to Hawkes asking for goods for his master, without mentioning any special need his master had for them. Hawkes told the slave he had come from the store and had no time to serve him before dinner, and that in any case he could not be served in the afternoon under his instruction. The same day, after dinner, Charles Steward wanted goods out of the store, which Hawkes again refused at that time, on the ground that the proper hours had been fixed in the order set out above.

Hawkes added that he could not help thinking the Governor, to whom he had always paid every respect, would not have taken his slight offence so seriously had he not been prejudiced against him by some false reports. He traced this back to the arrival of a store ship shortly after the Governor took up his post. He had once thought himself secure in the Governor's favour, but by some means unknown to him he had since lost the friendship he had valued. He asked to inspect the four leases built on purpose for the [...], and humbly represented that the goodness of the Honourable Masters, upon the [...] recommendation, had given him a just title to [...].

Interpretations

Hawkes rested his whole defence on the order of council of 28 October, which confined the serving of goods to a fixed morning window. He argued that each refusal fell outside those hours, so that his conduct followed the council's own rule rather than any neglect of duty.

The petition names three separate applicants turned away in a single day, Bingham's man, Beale's slave and Charles Steward. Hawkes drew a distinction between them, showing that he served Bingham once he learned of Bazett's absence but refused the others as coming outside the appointed hours.

Hawkes moved beyond the immediate charge to suggest a personal cause behind it. He alleged that false reports carried since the arrival of a store ship had turned the Governor against him, an attempt to reframe a disciplinary matter as the product of lost favour rather than proven fault.

453

349

Nov:r

your Petitioner desire to Appeal to Cap:t Goodwin, under

whom he has acted in the Stores ever since the Death of Gov:r

Johnson whether he has not both willingly & faithfully at

all times appointed for serving of Goods discharged his Duty

to the best of his Ability, & is still very willing to Act as

before if permitted, but if not thought worthy of so great a

favour Your Petitioner desire to have a Copy of that

Charge for which he was Suspended that the said may be

Proved against him & that this his Petition may be Entered

in Consultation in Order to go home for the Approbation of

his Hon:ble Master

And as in Duty bound shall ever Pray,

Nov:r 17: 1724

Benj:a Hawkes

Ordered that he have a Copy of the Charge Exhibited ag:t

him as he desires & that an Answer to his Petition be prepared

against Tuesday

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

Hawkes asked to appeal to Captain Goodwin, under whom he had assisted in the store ever since the death of Governor Johnson, whether he had not at all times both willingly and faithfully discharged his duty in serving goods, to the best of his ability. He remained very willing to act as before if permitted. Should he not be thought worthy of so great a favour, he asked to have a copy of the charge for which he had been suspended, so that it might be proved against him. He asked that his petition be entered in the consultation, so that he might go home for the approval of his Honourable Masters. The petition was dated 17 November 1724 and subscribed by Benjamin Hawkes.

The council ordered that Hawkes have a copy of the charge brought against him, as he wished, and that an answer to his petition be prepared for the following Tuesday.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

Hawkes appealed to Captain Goodwin as the officer under whom he had served since the death of Governor Johnson on 16 Feb 1723. By calling on his immediate superior to vouch for his conduct, he sought a witness within the establishment against the Governor's charge.

The request for a written copy of the charge marks a claim to formal defence. Hawkes wanted the accusation set down so it could be tested, and he asked to carry the whole matter home to the directors for their judgement rather than rest on the council's decision.

The council granted both requests, supplying the copy and deferring its answer to the following Tuesday. This gave Hawkes the record he sought while reserving the council's formal reply, a measured handling of a councillor contesting his own suspension.

454

350

1724

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 24:th day of Nov:r

1724 at Plantation House

Present Jn:o Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Bisfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

The Govern:r in Answer to the Petition of Mr Hawkes

del:d on Tuesday last, made the following Report & produced the

two following affidavits of Richard Long & Michael Doocton

by which it plainly appears, that Mr Hawkes has been really Guilty

of those Crimes laid to his Charge in the Gov:r Report of the

3:d instant

The Governour Report that Mr Hawkes having on

Tuesday last troubled the Board with a Long Petition equally false &

frivolous in which he either denies or evades the several matters laid to

his Charge mentioned in the Governours Report of the 3:d instant, he

has nevertheless taken Notice of several matters & will produce a

sufficient Proof that he has really been guilty of those misdemean:r

The Govern:r Report that having received repeated

Complaints from the Inhabitants of the Inconveniencie to which they

have frequently been exposed by being denied to be served by Mr

Hawkes with goods out of the Store though they applyed to

him at seasonable time & tendered ready Money it made for And to

prevent these Complaints for the future, That Mr Hawkes and Mr

Bezette should by their turn attend in the Store two hours in the

daily to serve Good to such as should want to be supplyed, but he

grossly Mistaking this Indulgence has since refused to Serve several

People who applyed to him with ready Money upon extraordinary

Occasions under pretence that they didnt come within the time

limitted (tho the contrary will appear in several instance) thereby

entirely perverting the meaning & design of the said Order w:h

was Intended as a help to the Inhabitants upon all common

Occasions, & wonders how any one could be so grosly Stupid

as to imagine that because People didnt exactly Wish the

time they therefore were not to be served though even in the Cases

of Sickness or other Extremity, & the Governours think the reason

he has given to Excuse himself is trifling & Evasive & no ways

Satisfactory but rather aggravates than lessens his Offence.

And this continuing to misbehave himself he

Provoked the Inhabitants to make fresh Complaints against him,

Margin Notes:

Gov:r Answer to Mr Hawkes Petition

At a consultation held on Tuesday 24 November 1724 at the Plantation House.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

Governor Smith answered the petition Mr Hawkes had presented the previous Tuesday. He made the following report and produced two affidavits of Richard Long and Michael Doveton, which showed plainly that Hawkes had been guilty of the offences charged against him in the Governor's report of 3 November.

The Governor reported that Hawkes had troubled the council the previous Tuesday with a long petition, equally false and frivolous, in which he had either denied or evaded the several matters charged against him in the report of 3 November. He had nevertheless taken notice of several particulars and would now produce sufficient proof that Hawkes had indeed been guilty of that misbehaviour.

The Governor reported that he had received repeated complaints from the inhabitants of the inconvenience they had frequently suffered by being refused service by Mr Hawkes. They had applied to him for goods out of the store at reasonable hours and tendered ready money. To prevent such complaints in future, the council had ordered that Hawkes and Mr Bazett should attend the store by turns, two hours each day, to serve goods to any who wanted supply. Hawkes had since grossly misused this arrangement, refusing to serve people who applied with ready money on any extraordinary occasion, on the pretence that they had not come within the appointed hours. The contrary appeared in several instances, and Hawkes had entirely perverted the meaning of the order, which had been intended as a help to the inhabitants on all common occasions.

The Governor wondered how anyone could be so foolish as to imagine that because people had not exactly kept the hours they should not be served, even in cases of sickness or other extremity. He thought the reason Hawkes had given to excuse himself was trifling and evasive, and in no way satisfactory, and that it aggravated rather than lessened his offence.

The Governor added that Hawkes, by continuing to misbehave, had provoked the inhabitants to make fresh complaints against him.

Interpretations

The Governor answered the petition with sworn evidence, producing affidavits from Richard Long and Michael Doveton. This moved the matter from assertion to proof, giving the council two named witnesses to weigh against Hawkes's denials of 17 Nov 1724.

The dispute turned on how the order of 28 October was to be read. Hawkes treated the fixed hours as a strict limit, while the Governor held they were meant as a help to the inhabitants and did not bar service in cases of sickness or genuine need.

The Governor stressed that the complaints were repeated and general rather than isolated. By showing that Hawkes had provoked fresh grievances even after the charge was laid, he built the case that the misconduct was continuing and required a firm decision from the council.

455

351

Nov:r

to remedy these Evills effectually for the time to come the

Gov:r made a Report on the 3:d instant about this affair, w:ch

being then taken into Consideration & Mr Hawkes found

highly Culpable he was dismist from ever attending in the

Store & Suspended from Councile.

The following Letter from Richard Beale & the

Affidavits of Richard Long & Michael Doveton, besides

the Evidence of several other People will sufficiently

Support the Inhabitants Complaints & Justifie the

Proceedings against him.

To the Worshipfull Jn:o Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Worshipfull Sir

My Spouse was taken yesterday Evening very ill,

& is now in Expectation of being deliverd every moment, &

being very unprovided at h:me so unexpected I wrote to the Store

for Arrack Flour & Bread & sent Money for them. Mr Hawkes

was in the Stores when the bearer got there which was as he tell

me about Eleven o Clock & because the & Wife was directed to

John Bazett & he not there, Mr Hawkes sent my Slave away

Empty, which I am obliged to hire without any Consideration,

which I did not imagine that they would Stand upon their Cruelties

in serving out the Hon:ble Comp:s Store for Money

I humbly beg Your Worship would give an Order for

some the abovementioned especially Flour, for I have not had any

since it came, I am

Worshipfull Sir

30:th Oct:r 1724

Yr most obed:t Serv:r

Richard Beale

The Deposition of Richard Long

This Deponent being Examined declareth upon Oath that

soon after Notice was given that Mr Hawkes & Mr Bazett

were Ordered to attend in the Store by turn everyday in the

Week from ten to twelve in the afternoon this Deponent

applyed himself on or about the 29th of Oct: last Mr

Bazett being absent, to Mr Hawkes within the said hour

of Ten & twelve to be served with several things out of the

Hon:ble Comp:s Store, this Deponents Wife ask, then told Mr

Hawkes being very ill, & tendered ready Money for what he

wanted, but Mr Hawkes with abundance of Oaths & Curse

refused to serve this Deponent, tho he came out of the Country

on purpose to get several things for the Releife of his Wife

Margin Notes:

Copy of Rich:d Beals Lett:r ag:t Mr. Hawkes

Deposition of Rich:d Long

The Governor asked the council to check these evils for the future. His report of 3 November on the affair had now been taken into consideration, and Mr Hawkes being found highly to blame, he was dismissed from ever attending in the store and suspended from the council.

The Governor added that the following letter from Richard Beale, together with the affidavits of Richard Long and Michael Doveton and the evidence of several other people, would sufficiently support the inhabitants' complaints and justify the proceedings against Hawkes.

Richard Beale wrote to Governor Smith, in a letter dated 30 Oct 1724, that his wife had been taken very ill the previous evening and now lay in danger of delivery at any moment. Being unprepared, he had sent to the store for arrack, flour and bread, with money to pay for them. Mr Hawkes had been in the store when the bearer arrived, at about eleven o'clock, but because the note was directed to John Bazett, who was not present, Hawkes had sent his slave away empty. Beale complained that he had been forced to hire the slave without any return, having not imagined the store would refuse to supply his needs when he sent ready money for the Honourable Company's goods. He asked the Governor to grant an order for the goods set out above, and especially flour, which he had not had any of. He subscribed himself the Governor's most obedient servant.

Richard Long gave the following deposition. Being examined, he declared on oath that soon after notice was given that Mr Hawkes and Mr Bazett were ordered to attend the store by turns, every day of the week from ten until noon, he had applied on or about 29 Oct 1724. Mr Bazett being absent, he had gone to Mr Hawkes within the appointed hours to be served with several things out of the Company's store. His wife being very ill, Long had then told Hawkes what he wanted and tendered ready money. Hawkes had refused to serve him amid a stream of oaths and curses. Long added that he had come out of the country on purpose to get several things for the relief of his wife, who [...].

Interpretations

The report records the formal outcome of the case against Benjamin Hawkes. Found highly to blame on the charge first laid on 03 Nov 1724, he was both dismissed from the store and suspended from the council, the two penalties marking the gravity of the matter.

The Beale letter and the Long deposition supplied the sworn detail behind the general charge. Each named a specific refusal within the appointed hours, backed by ready money tendered and a wife lying ill, giving the council concrete instances rather than broad complaint.

Both accounts stress that the applicants had travelled from the country in genuine need. This countered Hawkes's defence of 17 Nov 1724 that he had refused only those coming outside the fixed hours, since Long swore he had applied within them and still been turned away.

456

352

1724

who at that time was in a bad Condition. And the said Mr Hawkes

did at the same time say that though there was an Order for his

attendance in the Store, yet damn his Soule he wouldnt be a Foole

to any body, let the Consequence be what it would. And this Depon:t

tarried tile Cap:t Goodwin accidentally sent for Goods out of the

Stores for his own Use that Mr Hawkes would not have served

him

Coram me 23: die Novemb:r 1724 Richard Long

Jurat John Smith

The Deposition of Michael Dovton

This Deponent being Examined declareth upon Oath that

about the 29th of Oct: last in the fore part of the day & to the

best of this Deponents Remembrance between the hour of

ten & twelve he applyed to Mr Hawkes, who was then in the Store

with ready Money for a Quart of Arrack this Deponent telling the

said Mr Hawkes that it was for the Use of Luck then

Sick in the Country, but Mr Hawkes absolutely refused to

Serve this Examinant & at the same time swore very much

The Mark

Michael Doveton

The Governour forbear to trouble You with any Remarks

upon Mr Hawkes Ribaldry & Nonsense mentiond in Long

affidavit but the Expression used by Mr Hawke refusing

immediatly to the Order made in Consultation for his attendance

in the Store is so gross a Reflection as well as insult to all Authority

& is done with such a Peculiar Air of Assurance that it impossible

it should Appear without Notice.

The Governour Report that he cant forbear taking

Notice of the Mention Mr Hawke has made in his Petition

about a House & is at a Loss to Judge whether his Weakness

or Insolence is most worthy Observation for he knew very well

that the House had a long time stood empty, & the Governour

thinks it had better be lett for the Advantage of the Hon:ble Comp:s

than continue longer uninhabited did accordingly lett it for so

long befor Mr Hawkes was of Gunn: for a time certain & this long befor

Councile, & therefor he couldnt have any Pretence to it tile the time

was Expired no even then but by the Governour & Gov:r or a positive

Order from the Company, which the Gov:r thinks he will never be

able to obtain, he already having a decent convenient Apartm:t

consisting of a Couple of Rooms beg enough to hold himself

Margin Notes:

Deposition of Michael Doveton

Governour remarks on Mr Hawkes Pet:r

Long added that his wife was at that time in a bad condition. Hawkes had admitted the same day that there was an order for his attendance in the store, yet swore that he would not be a fool to anybody, whatever the consequence. Long declared on oath that he really thought, had he not by chance found Captain Goodwin sending for goods out of the store for his own use, Hawkes would not have served him. The deposition was sworn before John Smith on 24 November 1724 and subscribed by Richard Long.

Michael Doveton gave the following deposition. Being examined, he declared on oath that about 29 Oct 1724, in the forepart of the day and to the best of his remembrance between ten and noon, he had applied to Mr Hawkes with ready money for a jar of arrack. He had told Hawkes it was for the use of a person then sick in the country, but Hawkes had absolutely refused to serve him and had sworn very much at the same time. The deposition was subscribed by the mark of Michael Doveton.

Governor Smith declined to trouble the council with the abusive language and nonsense set out in Hawkes's petition. He rested instead on the plain point that Hawkes's refusal to obey the order made in council for his attendance was a gross neglect of duty and an insult to all authority, done with such an air of assurance that it could not be passed over.

The Governor reported that he could not overlook the point Hawkes had raised in his petition about a house. He thought it beneath his dignity to judge whether Hawkes's weakness or his insolence was the more remarkable. He knew very well that the house had stood empty a long time, and had thought it better let out for the advantage of the Honourable Company than left uninhabited any longer. He had accordingly let it, for a fixed term and long before Hawkes was of the council, so that he could not now pretend to it. The Governor had given no order then, nor since, except by the Company's positive direction, which he thought Hawkes would never obtain. Hawkes already had a decent apartment of his own, of a couple of rooms, big enough to hold himself [...].

Interpretations

The two depositions closed the evidence against Benjamin Hawkes with a consistent pattern. Both Long and Doveton swore they had applied within the appointed hours with ready money for the relief of the sick, and both had been refused amid heavy swearing.

Long's account of Captain Goodwin exposed the inconsistency in Hawkes's conduct. Hawkes had served goods to his own superior at the same time he turned away a planter, undercutting his defence of 17 Nov 1724 that the fixed hours barred all afternoon service.

The Governor answered the separate grievance Hawkes had raised over a house. He set out that he had let the empty dwelling for the Company's advantage on a fixed term before Hawkes joined the council, denying that Hawkes held any claim to it and reducing the complaint to a private grievance without foundation.

457

353

Nov:r

& Mistress & the Child he lately had by her besides a

Black Wench while they all ley for some time, & therefore

the Governour think he has no Occasion for a House unless

it be that he might then have an Opportunity with greater

Security & less Notice & Observation to carry on his

Scandalous Amours & Intreague.

The Gov:r finding by the said Petition that Mr

Hawke refers himself by way of Justification to the

Testimony of Cap:t Goodwin he who asked about his

Behaviour, who far from Mentioning any thing to

his Advantage only said that when he Ordered him to do

any thing he did it, but couldnt Answer for his Misbehaviour

to other People which is the very thing Objected & Proved

against him.

As to the Notice he takes of the Loss of the

Governour favour, if he looks upon it as a Misfortune he

must thank himself for it, it is what every one will forfeit

who Neglects the Hon:ble Companies Business so Notoriously

as he has done

24:th Nov: 1724:

Mr Hawkes being present & acquainted

with the said Report & Affidavit endeavoured to make

a Slender Defence & presented the following Petition

The Petition of Benj: Hawkes

Sheweth

That Whereas on Tuesday the 17 instant

Your Petitioner deliverd in a Petition wherein he expressed the

earnest desire of being Restored to the Employ which the

Goodness of the Hon:ble had been lately pleased to appoint

him, but find it not practicable unless Your Petitioner

can submit himself to acknowledge faults he has never

been Guilty of which Your Petitioner hopes when his Hon:ble

Masters have the true State of his Case will not think him

culpable of the heavy Charge exhibited by the Gov:r ag:t him

who has no hope of any Redress, therefore humbly desires

Your Worship & Councile will consider the Uneasiness Your Pet:

is likely to suffer by his being under the frowns of the Gov:r a

That those People who would willingly, receive Your Pet:

into their Houses are afraid they should under the Gov:r

Displeasure as in the Case of Mr Armstrong, therefore humbly

pray leave hopes Yr Pet: may obtain leave to go home to his Hon:ble Masters

in Order to be Redressed by them, therefore Your Petitioner desires

that as he has given the Security Required by Law in his

Margin Notes:

Pet: of Benj: Hawkes.

pray:s leave to go home.

The Governor continued that Hawkes had room enough for his mistress and the child he had lately had by her, besides a black woman with whom they had all lived for some time. He thought Hawkes had no cause for a house unless it were that he might then have an opportunity, with greater secrecy and less notice, to carry on his scandalous affairs and intrigue.

The Governor observed that Hawkes rested his defence on the testimony of Captain Goodwin about his behaviour. Yet far from mentioning anything to his advantage, Goodwin had only said that when Hawkes was ordered to do a thing he did it, but could not answer for his misbehaviour to other people, which was the very thing objected and proved against him.

As to the notice Hawkes took of the loss of the Governor's favour, the Governor said that if Hawkes looked on it as a misfortune he must thank himself for it. It was what anyone would forfeit who neglected the Honourable Company's business as notoriously as he had done.

Mr Hawkes, being present and made acquainted with the report and the affidavits, tried to make a slender defence and presented the following petition.

Hawkes set out that on Tuesday 17 November he had delivered a petition asking to be restored to the employment which the goodness of the Honourable Company had lately been pleased to appoint him. He found this not practicable unless he could bring himself to acknowledge faults he had never been guilty of. He hoped that when his Honourable Masters had the true state of his case they would not think him to blame for the heavy charge brought against him, who had no hope of any remedy. He therefore hoped the Governor and council would consider the unhappiness he was likely to suffer by being under the Governor's displeasure, so that people who would willingly receive him into their houses were afraid to do so, as in the case of Mr Ormston. He humbly hoped he might have leave to go home to his Honourable Masters, to be redressed by them. Since he had given the security required by law in his [...].

Interpretations

The Governor turned Hawkes's own request for a house against him. He read the demand as a wish for privacy to continue the affair with the widow Margaret Tovey, the connection already recorded in the paternity order of 09 Jul 1724.

The Governor stripped away the value of Captain Goodwin's testimony. Goodwin had confirmed only that Hawkes obeyed direct orders, not that he served the public well, leaving the central charge of misconduct toward the inhabitants untouched.

Hawkes shifted his ground from defence to escape. Unable to admit fault without conceding the charge, he sought leave to carry the matter home to the directors, citing the example of Ormston as a man driven out by the Governor's displeasure.

458

354

1724

his Unhappy Case he may if can settle his Debts & get in his

Debts on the Island he may obtain leave to take Passage to

England in the Ship now for the Road

And as in Duty bound &c:a

24:th Nov: 1724

Benj: Hawkes

In Answer to which the Gov:r refer himself to the above

mentioned Affidavits to prove that he is charged with nothing

but what is really True, & the said Hawkes Insinuating that

the Inhabitants were intimidated & afraid to Entertain him

least they should incur the Gov:r displeasure, & Hawkes having

intimated that several People had received such Notice given

them & seeming to think it was done by the Gov:r delusion

the sev:l Person: mentioned by Mr Hawkes to have received

this Intimation were sent for whose Examination & deposition

are as follows

The Deposition of Benj: Hawkes

This Deposeth that Mr Grange did tell this Depon:t that

John Long Planter did say to him the said Grange that if the said

Grange did Entertain this Deponent at his House the Governour

would turn him the said Grange out of the Hon:ble Comp:s Service

Coram me

Jurat

24 die Nov: 1724

Benj: Hawkes

The Deposition of John Long Planter

This Examinant being asked whether he did tell Mr Grange or

any one else that the Governour should say to this Examinant that

if Mr Grange did Entertain Mr Hawkes at his House, that the

Gov:r would turn the said Mr Grange out of the Hon:ble Comp:s Service

Answereth & declareth upon Oath that he this Examinant did never

hear the Gov:r use any such Expression to this Examinant no did this

Examinant ever tell the said Grange so

Coram me

Jurat

John Long

24: die Nov: 1724

Jn:o Smith

The Examination of Francis Grange taken upon

Oath before me the 24:th day of Nov: 1724

This Examinant being asked whether the Governour

did ever tell this Exam:t that if neither Exam:t did Entertain Mr Hawkes

that the Gov:r would turn him this Examinant out of the Hon:ble

Comp:s Service declareth upon Oath that he this Examinant did never

hear the Gov:r say any such thing whatso to him this Exam:t or to

any one else, or mention any thing to that purpose

And this Exam:t being farther asked whether Rich:d

Long Planter did tell him this Exam:t that if to this Exam:t did

entertain Mr Hawkes the Gov:r would turn him this Exam:t out of the

Hon:ble Comp:s Service declareth upon Oath that he the said R:d Long

Margin Notes:

Gov:r Answer & Reply to aforesaid affidavits

Persons to be Exam:d

Mr Hawkes Deposition

Jn:o Longs Deposition

Examination of Fra: Grange

Hawkes closed his petition by asking that, if he could settle his affairs and clear his debts on the island, he might have leave to take passage to England in the ship then in the road. The petition was dated 24 November 1724 and subscribed by Benjamin Hawkes.

In answer, Governor Smith rested on the affidavits set out above, which proved that Hawkes had been charged with nothing but the plain truth. He held that the inhabitants had been intimidated and afraid to deal with Hawkes, for fear of incurring the Governor's displeasure. Hawkes had suggested that several people had been given such notice, and seemed to think the whole was done by the Governor's contrivance. The persons Hawkes named as having received this hint were therefore sent for and examined, and their depositions ran as follows.

Benjamin Hawkes gave the following deposition. He declared that Mr Funge had told him that John Long, planter, had said to him that if Funge entertained Hawkes at his house, the Governor would turn Funge out of the Honourable Company's service. The deposition was sworn before John Smith on 24 November 1724 and subscribed by Benjamin Hawkes.

John Long gave the following deposition. Being examined whether he had ever told Funge, or anyone else, that the Governor would say to him that if Funge entertained Hawkes at his house the Governor would turn Funge out of the Honourable Company's service, Long declared on oath that he had never heard the Governor use any such expression to him. He had never said anything of the kind to Funge. The deposition was sworn before John Smith on 24 November 1724 and subscribed by John Long.

Francis Funge gave the following examination on oath. Being asked whether the Governor had ever told him that if he entertained Hawkes the Governor would turn him out of the Honourable Company's service, Funge declared on oath that he had never heard the Governor say any such thing to him, nor mention anything to that purpose. Being asked further whether Richard Long, planter, had told him that the Governor would turn him out of the Honourable Company's service, Funge declared on oath that Richard Long [...].

Interpretations

Hawkes had alleged that the Governor set the inhabitants against him by threatening their livelihoods. The Governor met this by summoning the very men Hawkes named, turning the accusation into a question the witnesses could answer directly on oath.

The depositions of Long and Funge contradicted the claim outright. Both swore they had never heard the Governor threaten to dismiss anyone for entertaining Hawkes, leaving his charge of contrivance without support.

The chain of the allegation matters to the record. Hawkes cited Funge as his source, Funge pointed to Long, and both denied it under oath, so the council could trace the rumour to its origin and find it empty.

459

355

Nov:r 1724

did never tell him this Exam:t any such thing, but only

intimated to this Exam:t as his private Opinion that if this Exam:t

did entertain Mr Hawkes he believed he would do himself, meaning

this Deponent no good

And being farther asked this Exam:t declareth

upon Oath that he never did tell Mr Hawkes that Rich:d Long

told this Exam:t that if this Exam:t entertaind him the s:d Mr

Hawkes, that the Gov:r would turn this Exam:t out of the

Honble Comp:s Service

Francis Grange

Coram me

Jurat

24: die Novemb:r 1724

The Deposition of Jn:o Bagley Jun:r

This Exam:t being asked whether the Gov:r did ever say to this

Examinant that he was Angry with this Exam:t for being

Security, to indemnifie the Inhabitants from any Charge

they might hereafter be at upon the Score of a Bastard Child

Reported by Mr Hawkes, this Exam:t declareth upon Oath

that the Gov:r did never Express the least Anger to him upon

that Head but this Exam:t was told by Mr French as his

Private Opinion that he had done himself no Good by it, &

that when this Exam:t asked the Gov:r about his being Security

the Gov:r Answerd take Care & Save Yourself

Coram me

Jurat

John Bagley Jun:r

24: die Nov: 1724

He desire to go to England is Granted Provided he

will either take the Child along with him or deposite a Sum sufficient

to Indemnifie the Inhabitants from any Charge they may hereafter

be at upon Acc:t of the said Child

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Deposition of Jn:o Bagley Jun:r

Mr Hawkes leave to go for Engl:d upon proviso

Funge added that Richard Long had never told him any such thing, but had only offered his own private opinion that if Funge entertained Mr Hawkes he believed he would do himself harm. Being asked further, Funge declared on oath that he had never told Hawkes that Long had said the Governor would turn Funge out of the Honourable Company's service. The examination was sworn before John Smith on 24 November 1724 and subscribed by Francis Funge.

John Bagley junior gave the following deposition. Being asked whether the Governor had ever said to him that he was angry with him for giving security to indemnify the inhabitants against any charge from the child reported by Mr Hawkes, Bagley declared on oath that the Governor had never shown the least anger to him over the matter. Bagley had instead been told by Mr French that in French's private opinion he had done himself no good by it. When Bagley had asked the Governor about his giving security, the Governor had answered only that he should take care and see for himself. The deposition was sworn before John Smith on 24 November 1724 and subscribed by John Bagley junior.

The council granted Hawkes leave to go to England, provided he either took the child with him or left a sum sufficient to indemnify the inhabitants against any charge from the child in future.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The examinations of Funge and Bagley closed the inquiry into Hawkes's claim of a conspiracy. Both traced their doubts to private remarks by Long and French, not to any threat from the Governor, which left the charge of contrivance without foundation.

The condition attached to Hawkes's leave tied the grant to the maintenance of his child. The council required either that he carry the child to England or leave money to secure the parish, guarding the inhabitants against the future cost recorded in the paternity order of 09 Jul 1724.

The council resolved the case by allowing Hawkes to depart rather than forcing a prolonged discipline. His suspension stood, but the grant of leave on terms let a contested councillor leave the island while protecting the Company and the parish from further burden.

460

356

Dec:r 1724

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 2:d

Day of Dec:r 1724 at Plantation House

Pres:t John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

On Sunday last the 29:th Nov: Sailed hence for England

the Swallow field Cap:t George Litt Commander

Yesterday Morning about d:o We had an Alarm for

one Ship about Seven Leagues distant off Dry Gutt & in the

Evening about Six arrived the Prince Frederick Cap:t Will:m

Hayne Comm:r last from Maddras & brought us from

Bombay for the Use of this Island 82 Bags of Wheat qty

12 Candy amounting to Rupees 151:2 qr

Ordered that the usual Letter be wrote & deliverd to

the Cap:t for heaving his Ship nearer in to the Shore on all

Alarms during his Stay here

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

Margin Notes:

An Alarm

Ship Prince Frederick Arriv:d

Goods rec:d fro: Maddras

At a consultation held on Tuesday 02 December 1724 at the Plantation House.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

The ship Swallow, under Captain George Pitt, sailed from the island for England on Sunday 29 November.

An alarm was raised the previous morning about six o'clock for a ship about seven leagues distant off Dry Gut. About six the same evening the Prince Frederick arrived, under Captain William Hayne, last from Madras. She had brought from Bombay, for the use of the island, 82 bags of wheat, 12 candy in weight, amounting to 151 rupees, 2 annas.

The council ordered that the usual letter be written and delivered to the captain, requiring him to bring his ship nearer to the shore on every alarm during his stay.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The wheat carried by the Prince Frederick from Bombay continued the supply that kept the island fed through the long drought. Grain from the western Indian ports made up for the shortfall in the settlement's own crops and its reduced herds.

The candy was a unit of weight used in the India trade, of several hundred pounds, here reckoning the bulk of the wheat priced in rupees and annas. The Company accounted such India cargoes in Indian currency before charging them to the island's stores.

The letter to Captain Hayne applied the standing rule that ships in the road moor close in and stand ready on every alarm. This let the Company's own shipping serve the defence of the road, the same practice pressed on the homeward captains during the crowded season of 1724.

461

357

Dec:r

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 8:th day of

Dec:r 1724 at Plantation House

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

John Bradley presented two Petition in the first

of which he Prays that Sergeant Wood might be Ordered

to Prove his Title to, Land an Acre of Land lying under

Sandy Bay Ridge formerly Granted to first part Cleared

by the Pet: but since Claimed by the said Wood

In the other, he Prays to become Tenant for about

an Acre of the Hon:ble Comp:s Waste Lying between the Land hire

by Sam:o Vaughan & the Lower Lime Kiln in Sandy Bay

Valley which will be very advantageous to himself & no

detriment as he can conceive to any Person inhabiting the

said Valley

Ordered that Sergeant Wood do attend next

Consultation day & bring the Lease with him for the Land

he Possess in Sandy Bay under the Main Ridge, & that

Cap:t Goodwin do view the Land, the now Petition for & Bradley

make Report accordingly, but he is not to have One Acre

of Prime Land without some indifferent with it,

Whereas We have had sev:l frivolous Complaints made to us

relating to Land that hath ben Granted to sev:l Person: lying

contiguous one to the other which to prevent for the future,

Ordered that no Person whatsoever do hereafter presume

to Fence in or Clear any Land lett to them before the Same

is sett out & Measured to him or them & have Lease for

the same accordingly.

Mr Byfeld brought in & deliverd an Acc:t

of the Hon:ble Companies Stock of Live Cattle &c:a for

the Month of November last which was Examined

Approved & is as follows viz:t

Acc:t

Margin Notes:

Jn:o Bradleys Pet:r

Wood to prove his Title to Land

Bradley prays to rent affsd Land.

Wood Ord:d to Attend

Land to be viewd before granted

Compl:ts ab:t Land

None to be Fenc:d before Measured & Leases granted

Mr Byfelds Acc:t for Nov:r

At a consultation held on Tuesday 08 December 1724 at the Plantation House.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

John Bradley presented two petitions. In the first he asked that Sergeant Wood be ordered to prove his title to a piece of land lying under Sandy Bay Ridge, formerly granted to Bradley and cleared by him, but now claimed by Wood.

In the second petition Bradley asked to become tenant of about an acre of the Honourable Company's waste, lying between his own land and the lower lime kiln in Sandy Bay valley. He set out that the parcel would be of great advantage to him and no harm to any other person living in the valley.

The council ordered Sergeant Wood to attend the next consultation day and bring with him the lease for the land he possessed in Sandy Bay under the Main Ridge. It ordered Captain Goodwin to view the land in Bradley's second petition and report accordingly, but directed that Bradley was not to have an acre of the Company's land without some indifferent width kept beside it.

The council noted that it had often received frivolous complaints about land granted to several people lying next to one another. To prevent such disputes in future, it ordered that no person was to fence in or clear any land let to them before the parcel had been set out and measured to them and a lease granted accordingly.

Mr Byfield brought in his account of the Honourable Company's stock of live cattle for November, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

The first petition set two rival claimants against the same parcel under Sandy Bay Ridge. The council did not decide between them but called on Wood to produce his lease, treating the written grant as the test of title over Bradley's claim of clearing the ground.

The order against fencing before measurement addressed a recurring source of dispute. By requiring land to be set out and leased before any tenant enclosed it, the council aimed to fix boundaries in advance and stop the overlapping claims that had brought repeated complaints.

The condition that Bradley leave an open width beside his new parcel protected access across the Company's waste. The council granted the land but guarded against a holding that would block the ground or the water used by others in the valley.

462

358

1724

Mr Byfeld likewise brought in & del:d an Acc:t of the Live Stock & Deliverd in the Month

of November 1724 w:ch was Examined approved & is as follows

Neat Cattle

Bullock

Remain ult:o Oct:r 6

Increased in November in d:o 1

Killed for the Table d:o 7

Sold to Ship Swallow field 7

Dead in ditto —

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 6

Cowes

Remain ult:o Oct:r 36

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 36

Sold to Ship Swallow field 35

Dead in ditto 1

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 34

Heifers

Remain ult:o Oct:r 11

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 11

Sold to Ship Swallow field 11

Dead in ditto —

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 11

Steers

Remain ult:o Oct:r 3

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 3

Sold to Ship Swallow field 3

Dead in ditto —

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 3

Yearling

Remain ult:o Oct:r 5

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 5

Sold to Ship Swallow field 5

Dead in ditto —

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 5

Calves

Remain ult:o Oct:r 40

Increased in November in d:o 1

Killed for the Table d:o 41

Sold to Ship Swallow field 41

Dead in ditto —

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 41

Bulls

Remain ult:o Oct:r 2

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 2

Sold to Ship Swallow field 2

Dead in ditto —

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 2

Totall

Remain ult:o Oct:r 103

Increased in November in d:o 1

Killed for the Table d:o 105

Sold to Ship Swallow field 104

Dead in ditto 1

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 102

Sheep

Ewe

Remain ult:o Oct:r 31

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 31

Sold to Ship Swallow field 31

Dead in ditto —

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 31

Withers

Remain ult:o Oct:r 11

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 11

Sold to Ship Swallow field 11

Dead in ditto —

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 11

Lamb

Remain ult:o Oct:r 14

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 14

Sold to Ship Swallow field 14

Dead in ditto —

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 14

Ram

Remain ult:o Oct:r 6

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 6

Sold to Ship Swallow field 6

Dead in ditto —

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 6

Totall

Remain ult:o Oct:r 62

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 62

Sold to Ship Swallow field 62

Dead in ditto —

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 62

Goate

Ewe

Remain ult:o Oct:r 94

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 94

Sold to Ship Swallow field 94

Dead in ditto —

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 94

Wither

Remain ult:o Oct:r 13

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 13

Sold to Ship Swallow field 12

Dead in ditto 12

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 12

Kide

Remain ult:o Oct:r 25

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 26

Sold to Ship Swallow field 25

Dead in ditto 25

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 25

Ram

Remain ult:o Oct:r 13

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 13

Sold to Ship Swallow field 13

Dead in ditto 13

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 13

Totall

Remain ult:o Oct:r 145

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 146

Sold to Ship Swallow field 144

Dead in ditto 144

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 144

Hogs

Sowe

Remain ult:o Oct:r 10

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 10

Sold to Ship Swallow field 10

Dead in ditto 10

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 10

Shoate

Remain ult:o Oct:r 3

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 3

Sold to Ship Swallow field 3

Dead in ditto 3

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 3

Boars

Remain ult:o Oct:r 1

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 1

Sold to Ship Swallow field 1

Dead in ditto 1

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 1

Pig

Remain ult:o Oct:r 12

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 12

Sold to Ship Swallow field 12

Dead in ditto 12

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 12

Totall

Remain ult:o Oct:r 26

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 26

Sold to Ship Swallow field 26

Dead in ditto 26

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 26

Poultry

Turkey

Remain ult:o Oct:r 47

Increased in November in d:o 7

Killed for the Table d:o 54

Sold to Ship Swallow field 53

Dead in ditto 5

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 48

Fowle

Remain ult:o Oct:r 146

Increased in November in d:o 26

Killed for the Table d:o 146

Sold to Ship Swallow field 120

Dead in ditto 120

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 120

Duck

Remain ult:o Oct:r 10

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 10

Sold to Ship Swallow field 10

Dead in ditto 10

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 10

Geese

Remain ult:o Oct:r 12

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 12

Sold to Ship Swallow field 12

Dead in ditto 12

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 12

Asses

Remain ult:o Oct:r 6

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 6

Sold to Ship Swallow field 6

Dead in ditto 6

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 6

Horses

Hogs

Remain ult:o Oct:r 5

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 5

Sold to Ship Swallow field 5

Dead in ditto 5

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 5

Mares

Remain ult:o Oct:r 2

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 2

Sold to Ship Swallow field 2

Dead in ditto 2

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 2

Totall

Remain ult:o Oct:r 7

Increased in November in d:o —

Killed for the Table d:o 7

Sold to Ship Swallow field 7

Dead in ditto 7

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 7

Yams Expended at the Several Plantation 28085 lb

D:o del:d Fort Blacks 6400

Totall Yams 34485

Cap:t Goodwin likewise brought in & del:d an Acc:t of Store Goods sold & deliverd in the Month

of November 1724 w:ch was Examined approved & is as follows

Arrack

Mr Byfield brought in his account of the Honourable Company's stock of live cattle for November, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Neat cattle

Remaining last October: 6 bullocks, 36 cows, 11 heifers, 3 steers, 5 yearlings, 40 calves, 2 bulls, total 103

Increased in November: 1 calf, total 1

Killed for the table: 1 bullock, 1 calf, total 1

Sold to the ship Swallow: 1 cow, 1 calf, total 1

Dead in November: 1 heifer

Remaining last November: 6 bullocks, 34 cows, 11 heifers, 3 steers, 5 yearlings, 41 calves, 2 bulls, total 102

Sheep

Remaining last October: 31 ewes, 11 wethers, 14 lambs, 6 rams, total 62

Increased in November: none

Killed for the table: none

Sold to the ship Swallow: none

Dead in November: none

Remaining last November: 31 ewes, 11 wethers, 14 lambs, 6 rams, total 62

Goats

Remaining last October: 94 ewes, 13 withers, 25 kids, 13 rams, total 145

Increased in November: 1 kid

Killed for the table: none

Sold to the ship Swallow: none

Dead in November: 1 kid

Remaining last November: 94 ewes, 12 withers, 25 kids, 13 rams, total 144

Hogs

Remaining last October: 10 sows, 3 shoats, 1 boar, 12 pigs, total 26

Increased in November: none

Killed for the table: none

Sold to the ship Swallow: none

Dead in November: none

Remaining last November: 10 sows, 3 shoats, 1 boar, 12 pigs, total 26

Poultry

Remaining last October: 47 turkeys, 146 fowls, 10 ducks, 12 geese, total 215

Increased in November: 7 turkeys, 26 fowls

Killed for the table: 5 fowls

Sold to the ship Swallow: 5 fowls

Dead in November: 1 turkey

Remaining last November: 48 turkeys, 120 fowls, 10 ducks, 12 geese, total 190

Asses and horses

Remaining last October: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7 horses

Increased in November: none

Killed for the table: none

Sold to the ship Swallow: none

Dead in November: none

Remaining last November: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7 horses

Yams expended at the several plantations, 28,085 pounds

Yams delivered to the Fort blacks, 6,400 pounds

Total yams, 34,485 pounds

Captain Goodwin brought in his account of store goods sold and delivered during November, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

The account tracks the Company's live stock month by month under fixed heads, showing the opening number, any increase, the beasts killed for the table, those sold to the Swallow, those dead and the closing number. This let the council follow the herds and flocks as a running asset and separate natural loss from slaughter and sale.

The sale of a cow, a calf and five fowls to the Swallow marks the island's supply of fresh provisions to a departing ship. The Company drew on its own stock to victual the vessel for the homeward passage, an added column set beside the usual slaughter for the table.

The yam figures record the staple food of the slave force, split between the several plantations and the Fort blacks. The large monthly total of 34,485 pounds shows the scale of the provision, drawn from the Company's own grounds while the drought kept the island short of other crops.

463

359

Dec:r 2: 1724

121.3/4 Gall: Arrack

28 8 8.1/2

1308 lb Sugar

32 14 —

17 lb Candy

— 17 —

2123 lb Bread

22 2 3.1/2

1028 lb Flower

12 16 6

12.1/4 Gall: Rape Oyle

3 13 6

3.1/4 d:o Sweet

— 6 6.1/2

16.1/2 d:o Linsed

4 4 —

2 Bottles Florence d:o

— 15 —

34 lb Soap

1 14 —

18 lb Starch

— 10 6

12 lb Pepper

— 18 —

5 lb Tea

1 10 —

6 lb Hair Powder

— 6 —

58 lb Rozin

4 6 —

133/4 Gall: Vineg:r

2 11 11

23 doz Pipes

1 5 6

20 lb Wax

1 5 —

6.1/2 P:s Fine Long Cloth

10 13 —

4 Coarse d:o

4 — —

17.1/2 P:s Chelloe

9 17 6

3 Chintz

1 15 —

2 d:o Chints

— 18 —

1 Maddras d:o

1 3 —

1 Maddras Gingham

2 12 6

6 Desotees

2 10 —

1 White Gurrah

— 6 —

8 White Shirt

1 4 6

21 d:o 4/6

4 14 6

2 Chelloed

— 6 —

5 P:s Cotton Stocking

— 12 6

36 P:s Blew Gurrah

1 17 6

2 d:o Desotees

1 10 —

2 Cask Beefe

26 — —

3 d:o

45 — —

6 d:o

— 15 —

154 lb Rope

9 15 6

2 Barrells Lamb Black

— 1 —

30 doz Corks

7 —

2 P:s Dukeys

4 — —

248 13 9.1/4

Margin Notes:

Store Acc:t for Nov:r

121¾ gallons of arrack, £28 8s 8½d

1,308 pounds of sugar, £33 14s 0d

17 pounds of candy, £0 17s 0d

2,123 pounds of bread, £22 2s 3½d

1,026 pounds of flour, £12 16s 6d

12¼ gallons of rape oil, £0 6s 6d

3¼ gallons of sweet oil, £0 6s 6¾d

16½ gallons of linseed oil, £4 4s 0d

2 bottles of Florence oil, £0 15s 0d

34 pounds of soap, £1 14s 0d

18 pounds of starch, £0 10s 6d

12 pounds of pepper, £0 18s 0d

5 pounds of tea, £1 10s 0d

6 pounds of hair powder, £0 6s 0d

58 pounds of rosin, £0 4s 6d

12¾ gallons of vinegar, £2 11s 0d

23 pounds of pitch, £0 5s 6d

20 pounds of wax, £1 5s 0d

6½ pieces of fine long cloth, £10 13s 0d

4 pieces of coarse long cloth, £4 0s 0d

17½ pieces of chintz, £9 17s 6d

3 quilts, £0 15s 0d

2 pieces of chintz, £0 18s 0d

1 piece of Madras chintz, £1 3s 0d

1 piece of Madras gingham, £0 12s 6d

6 pieces of dosooties, £2 10s 0d

1 piece of white gurrahs, £0 6s 0d

8 white shifts, £1 14s 6d

21 shifts at 4s 6d, £4 14s 6d

2 pieces of chintz, £0 6s 0d

5 pieces of cotton stockings, £0 12s 6d

36 pieces of blue gurrahs, £1 17s 6d

2 pieces of dosooties, £1 10s 0d

2 casks of beef, £26 0s 0d

3 casks of the same, £45 0s 0d

6 pieces of the same, £0 15s 0d

1 pound of rope, £2 15s 6d

2 barrels of lampblack, £0 1s 0d

30 dozen [...] cups, £[...] 2s 6d

2 [...] ducks, £4 [...]s [...]d

Total, £248 13s 9¾d

Interpretations

Hair powder was a fine scented starch dusted on wigs and natural hair to whiten and hold them. Its sale marks a small article of personal fashion drawn from the store by the settlement's better households.

The account carries a long run of Indian cotton piece-goods now obscure by name. Gurrahs were plain coarse cotton from Bengal, sold in white and blue by the piece. Dosooties were a stout calico, long cloth a plain-woven cotton in fine and coarse grades, and chintz a printed or painted cotton, here from Madras. Gingham was a checked or striped cotton of the same origin. These fabrics reached the island on the homeward India ships and passed to the inhabitants at a margin.

Florence oil was a fine olive oil shipped from the Tuscan port of Livorno, distinct from the sweet oil listed for ordinary table use. Rape, linseed and train oils served for lamps and the dressing of timber and leather, marking the store's supply of both fine and utility oils.

Wax and pitch supported sealing, caulking and the making of candles and lights. The two heavy parcels of cask beef, priced far above the island's fresh meat, mark salted provisions drawn from imported stock rather than from the reduced herds.

464

360

B:t Over 248 13 9.1/4

2 lb 2:d Nailes

— — 6.1/4

28 4:d

1 3 6

31 6:d

— 8 8

12 8:d

— 8 8

2 lb 20:d

— 1 8

3 8:d

— 1 9

7 24:d

8 8

1 30:d

— 3 —

2 lb Gunp:r d:o

— 3 4

4 lb Grapp:r d:o

2 17 10.1/2

117 doz hooks Sorted

5 10 11.1/2

193 Lines d:o

Iron Ware

2 Axes

— 5 8

1 Shod Shovell

5 3 3

1 d:o Chest Hinges

1 3 6

1 Plate Lock

2 6 8

2 d:o

6 5 6

3 Cupboard Lock

5 6 —

1 d:o

2 — 7.1/2

1 d:o Tile Hinges

2 13 6

2 d:o

— 8 4

54 Iron

8 3 4

8 Adzes

— 4 —

2 Mawles W:t 35 lb

1 15 4

1 Aletree & Winch

— 3.1/2

5.1/2 Slit Deals

— 5 4

2 Whole d:o

Shoots

8 P:s Womens Leather d:o

3 6 —

15 d:o Calve

5 6 —

1 Girles Turkey d:o

1 2 —

8 d:o

— 6 —

1 Calve d:o

2.1/2 17 6

10 Wom:s Spanish Leather

4 17 —

22 d:o Calve

4 4 —

4 Boop d:o

5.1/2 6 —

1 d:o

7 16 —

1 d:o

— 6 —

2 d:o W:d Torretting a 2/10

5.1/2 1 6.3/4

41 W:d d:o

— 10 —

15 y:d d:o

— 3 4

4 d:o

294 16 5.1/4

Brought over, £248 10s 9¾d

2 pounds of 20d nails, £0 6s 4d

28 pounds of the same, £1 3s 6d

31 pounds of 6d nails, £0 8s 8d

12 pounds of 20d nails, £0 8s 8d

2 pounds of 20d nails, £0 1s 8d

3 pounds of 6d nails, £0 1s 9d

7 pounds of 24d nails, £0 8s 0d

[...] pounds of 30d nails, £0 3s 4d

2 pounds of pump nails, £0 3s 4d

4 pounds of scupper nails, £0 17s 10½d

117 dozen hooks assorted, £2 10s 11½d

193 lines assorted, £0 [...]s [...]d

Ironware

2 axes, £0 5s 8d

1 shod shovel, £0 3s 6d

1 pair of chest hinges, £0 1s 8d

1 plate lock, £0 3s 8d

2 of the same, £0 6s 6d

3 cupboard locks, £0 6s 8d

1 of the same, £0 2s 7½d

1 pair of gilt hinges, £0 13s 6d

2 of the same, £0 [...]s [...]d

54 [...], £0 8s 4d

8 adzes, £0 3s 0d

2 mauls weighing 35 pounds, £0 4s 4d

1 alabaster and flint, £0 15s 3½d

5½ slit deals, £0 4s 0d

2 whole deals, £0 [...]s [...]d

Shoes

8 pairs of women's leather shoes, £0 6s 6d

15 pairs of calico shoes, £0 6s 6d

1 pair of girls' turkey shoes, £0 1s 2d

5 pairs of the same, £0 6s 0d

1 pair of calico shoes, £2 17s 6d

10 pairs of women's Spanish leather shoes, £4 17s 6d

2 pairs of calico shoes, £0 4s 4d

4 pairs of boys' shoes, £0 5s 6d

1 pair of the same, £0 7s 6d

1 pair of the same, £0 16s 3d

2 pairs of the same, forwarding at 2s 10d, £0 5s 6d

41 pairs of the same, £0 1s 10d

15 pairs of the same, £0 3s 4d

4 pairs of the same, £[...]s [...]d

Total, £294 16s 5¼d

Interpretations

The account carries a heavy run of nails graded by the old penny system, where 6d, 20d, 24d and 30d denoted length rather than price. Pump nails and scupper nails were specialised types for fitting ships' pumps and drainage holes. Their sale marks the store as the island's source of the ironware needed for building and for the upkeep of boats.

The alabaster among the ironware is notable given the island's own discovery of the mineral. A large piece was laid bare in the Fort Valley watercourse by the flood of 02 May 1719, and the council then offered a reward to trace its quarry. The piece sold here was probably a worked article rather than raw stone.

The account groups its footwear by leather grade. Turkey leather was a fine tanned goatskin, and Spanish leather a soft dressed hide, both prized above the plainer calico leather. These shoes came ready-made on the Company's ships, the island having no supplier of finished footwear of its own.

Slit deals were sawn softwood boards split to a thinner gauge, and whole deals the standard planks of pine or fir. Their sale marks the store as the island's source of imported timber, a scarce material on a settlement whose own woods stood under constant protection against felling.

465

361

Dec:r Hosiers Ware B:t Over 294 16 5.1/4

1 P:o Mens Silk Stock:s

— 13 —

1 yarn d:o

— 11 6

2.1/2 P:s Knitt d:o

8 12 6

9 Wove 4/2

— 4 6

1 d:o

— 15 11

3 d:o

2 1.1/2 —

9 d:o

— 7 6

10 Wom:s d:o 2/2

— 1 8

2 d:o

1 7 —

9 d:o

— 11 —

11 d:o

2 1 3

1 Child d:o

— 1 3

5 d:o

— 6 —

5 d:o

— 3 —

1 d:o

1 3 6

3 d:o

— 6 —

3 d:o

— 7 —

6 d:o

7 14 6

5 d:o

— 15 —

1 d:o

— 3 4

1 d:o

— 7 8

1 d:o

— 2 9

7 Oz Worsted

— 5 5.1/4

6 P:s Stays 33/

9 18 —

5 d:o

7 12 6

3 P:s Jump

1 7 —

3 P:s Bodice

3 19 6

1 d:o

— 10 9

6 lb Shoe Thread

— 15 —

2 lb Twine

— 4 4

Cutlery Ware

1.1/2 doz Spoon

— 6 —

1.1/2 d:o

7 5 7.1/2

1.1/2 d:o

3 3 6

1 doz Knives & Forks

— 5 8

1 d:o

1 1 —

18 d:o Ivory

1 16 —

4 d:o Square

9 2 —

3 Shoe Knive

— 3 —

2 Browning Knive

— 2 6

12 Whitt Back Spring d:o

6 9 6

6 Butcher ditto

— 10 —

1 Roping d:o

9 2 —

1 d:o

— 2 6

1 d:o

— 5 —

346 9 2.1/2

Brought over, £294 16s 5¼d

Hosiery ware

1 pair of men's silk stockings, £0 13s 0d

1 yarn pair of the same, £0 11s 6d

2½ dozen knit pairs of the same, £8 12s 6d

9 pairs of the same at 4s 6d, £0 14s 6d

1 pair of the same, £0 15s 11d

3 pairs of the same, £2 1s 6d

9 pairs of the same, £0 7s 6d

10 women's pairs of the same at 2s 6d, £1 5s 0d

2 pairs of the same, £0 8s [...]d

9 pairs of the same, £1 7s 1d

11 pairs of the same, £2 1s 3d

1 child's pair of the same, £0 1s 6d

5 pairs of the same, £0 3s 6d

5 pairs of the same, £0 6s 6d

1 pair of the same, £0 3s 0d

3 pairs of the same, £0 7s 14d

6 pairs of the same, £0 15s 0d

5 pairs of the same, £0 [...]s 4d

1 pair of the same, £0 7s 2d

1 pair of the same, £0 [...]s 9d

7 ounces of worsted, £0 5s 14d

6 pairs of stays at 3s, £0 18s 0d

5 pairs of the same, £9 12s 6d

3 jumps, £7 13s 0d

2 bodices, £3 19s 6d

1 of the same, £0 10s 9d

6 pounds of shoe thread, £0 15s 0d

2 pounds of twine, £0 5s 4d

Cutlery ware

1½ dozen spoons, £0 7s 6d

1½ dozen of the same, £0 5s 7½d

1⅛ dozen of the same, £0 3s 6d

1 dozen knives and forks, £0 1s 0d

16 of the same, £1 1s 0d

18 dozen of the same, sorry, £1 16s 0d

4 dozen and 8 squares, £0 9s 2d

3 stove knives, £0 2s 3d

2 carving knives, £0 2s 6d

12 white-back spring knives, £0 6s 9d

6 butchers' knives of the same, £0 10s 0d

1 roping knife, £0 9s 2d

1 of the same, £0 2s 0d

1 of the same, £0 1s 6d

Total, £346 9s 2½d

Interpretations

The account groups its goods under heads for hosiery ware and cutlery ware, each totalled apart. This let the council charge finished imports to their proper class, keeping stockings and undergarments distinct from knives and eating utensils.

The hosiery covers stockings in silk, yarn and worsted, graded by material and by wearer, with separate rates for men's, women's and children's pairs. These knitted goods came ready-made on the Company's ships and passed to the inhabitants through the store, the settlement having no supplier of its own.

Stays, jumps and bodices were shaped and stiffened women's undergarments. Stays were laced and reinforced with whalebone or cane, while a jump was a looser, softer stay worn for comfort or during pregnancy. Their sale at high rates marks them among the costlier articles of imported clothing.

Roping knives and butchers' knives were heavy blades for cutting cordage and dressing meat, distinct from the finer white-back spring knives that folded for the pocket. The store's range of cutlery supplied both the working needs and the table of the settlement.

466

362

Dec:r B:t Over 346 9 2.1/2

9 Bowles

1 2 6

8 Sneakers

— 4 6

9 Tea Pott

— 10 6

24 Cups & Saucers

— 12 —

25 Large Cupps

— 8 4

38 Small d:o

— 6 4

Hatts

8 Boy d:o

2 8 —

3 d:o

1 4 9

8 Mens d:o 12/6

5 6 —

6 Laced d:o 22/6

8 15 —

45.1/2 Rozey

8 15 9

7.3/4 Serge

— 10 6

9.1/2 lb Camlett

1 3 11.1/2

13 y:d Durane

— 19 6

5.1/2 Shaloon

— 11 —

12 y:d Norwich Stuff

— 16 6

38 y:d Vitory

1 15 4

3 P:o Holland Duck

— 9 6

1/2 P:s Suffian

— 18 6

1/2 P:o d:o 5

— 4 —

1 Chishett N:o 1

1 6 4

20.1/4 y:d Broad Cloth

2 12 3.3/4

4 P:o d:o

4 16 6

1.1/2 y:d d:o

— 8 —

12 y:d Flannele

— 2 6

4 Simmer

— 6 8

1 Bible Book

— 1 6

2 Horn Book

1 1 —

24 Wooden Spoon

1 1 6

1 Bowse

— 1 —

1 Simming & Staining Dish

1 16 —

2 Sea Kettles

— 15 —

1 d:o

— 10 —

6 Lamp

— 5 6

1 Watering Pott

10 8

1 Watering Pott

— 4 4

2 Tin Skittles

— 7 —

2 Coffee Potts

— 1 3

6 Sauce Pans Sorted

— 5 —

6 d:o Funnele

— 8 3

1 Brass Skimmer

1 d:o Kettle

395 15 8.3/4

Brought over, £346 9s 4½d

9 bowls, £0 2s 6d

8 sneakers, £0 4s 6d

3 teapots, £0 10s 6d

24 cups and saucers, £0 12s 6d

25 large cups, £0 8s 4d

38 small cups, £0 6s 4d

Hats

8 boys' hats, £2 8s 0d

3 of the same, £1 4s 9d

8 men's hats at 12s 6d, £5 0s 0d

6 laced hats at 22s 6d, £8 15s 0d

45½ yards of kersey, £8 15s 9d

7¾ yards of serge, £0 10s 5d

9½ yards of camlet, £1 3s 11½d

13 yards of durance, £0 19s 6d

5½ yards of shalloon, £0 11s 0d

12 yards of Norwich stuff, £0 16s 6d

38 yards of vitery, £1 15s 4d

3 pieces of Holland duck, £0 9s 6d

½ piece of fustian, £0 12s 9d

1½ pieces of the same, no 5, £0 18s 0d

1 piece of the same, £0 4s 6d

1 piece of chintz, no 1, £1 6s 4d

20¾ yards of broadcloth, £2 12s 3¾d

4 yards of the same, £4 16s 6d

1½ yards of the same, £0 9s 0d

12 yards of flannel, £0 8s 0d

4 skimmers, £0 6s 8d

1 bible, £0 1s 6d

2 horn books, £0 1s 6d

24 wooden spoons, £0 1s 6d

1 bolster, £0 1s 0d

1 skimming and straining dish, £1 16s 0d

2 sea kettles, £0 15s 0d

1 of the same, £0 10s 0d

6 lamps, £0 5s 6d

1 washing pot, £0 10s 8d

1 watering pot, £0 4s 4d

2 tin skimmers, £0 7s 3d

2 coffee pots, £0 5s 3d

6 sauce pans assorted, £0 8s 3d

6 of the same funnels, £0 [...]s [...]d

1 brass skimmer, £0 [...]s [...]d

1 of the same kettle, £[...]s [...]d

Total, £395 15s 8¾d

Interpretations

Kersey was a coarse ribbed woollen cloth, and camlet a fine fabric of wool mixed with silk or hair. Durance and Norwich stuff were durable worsted cloths, and shalloon a light twilled woollen used for linings. These warm textiles suited the cool season of the island's southern-hemisphere winter and reached the settlement on the Company's ships.

Fustian was a stout cloth of cotton and linen with a slight nap, and Holland duck a strong plain linen used for sails and rough garments. Broadcloth was a fine dense woollen finished to a smooth face, the costliest of the cloths listed and sold by the yard for good outer wear.

The hats span plain boys' and men's styles and costlier laced hats trimmed with braid. These came ready-made through the store, the settlement having no hatter of its own. Their graded prices mark the range from everyday to dress wear among the inhabitants.

Horn books and a bible again appear among the goods. A horn book was a printed sheet of the alphabet and the Lord's Prayer mounted on a tablet under thin horn, used to teach children their letters. Their sale shows the store supplying the means of schooling and worship to a settlement without a bookseller.

467

363

Dec:r B:t Over 395 15 8.3/4

2 Salt

— 3 6

1 y:d Decantor

— 5 6

2 d:o d:o

— 3 6

1 Silk Glass

9 — —

30 Squares Glass

— 8 3

Pewter

1 Ladle

— 4 6

3 Porringers

— 7 6

2 Basons

— 6 9

1 d:o

1 13 4

8 Chamber Pott

— 2 6

Combs &c:a

15 Thimbles

2 3 —

8 Horn Combs

4 1 6

4 Ivory d:o

— 8 6

2 d:o

— 11 —

4 d:o

— 11 6

Haberdashery Ware

1 lb Whited Brown Thread

— 13 3

2 d:o Brown & Blew

1 5 8

1/2 d:o

— 9 7

1 d:o

— 6 —

1/2 d:o

— 10 —

11.1/2 Coloured & Brown Thread

2 6 —

10 Oz Nuns Thread

— 10 10

11 d:o 1/9

— 13 9

15 d:o 1/7

1 3 —

6.1/2 d:o 1/8

— 10 —

2 d:o 2/1

— 4 2

1 d:o

— 2 6

1 d:o

— 3 —

1 d:o

— 8 9

12 M Pin 5

— 10 —

5 M Pin 1/2

— 6 10

12 M d:o 1/4

— 16 —

3 M d:o

— 3 —

1 M d:o 7/11

— 5 11

1 P:o Fuming Glass

— 6 9

6 Holland d:o

— 6 —

13 Broad d:o

— 19 4

1 White d:o

— 1 6

1 d:o

— 3 4

2 Red d:o

— 4 2

2 Coloured d:o

— 11 8

4.1/2 Oz Eng: Silk

1 8 3

28.1/2 China d:o

404 4 7.3/4

Brought over, £395 15s 8¾d

2 salts, £0 3s 6d

1 quart decanter, £0 5s 6d

2 of the same, £0 3s 6d

1 half-pint glass, £0 [...]s 6d

30 squares of glass, £9 8s 3d

Pewter

1 ladle, £0 4s 6d

3 porringers, £0 7s 6d

2 basins, £0 5s 9d

1 of the same, £1 8s 4d

8 chamber pots, £0 [...]s [...]d

Combs, thread

15 thimbles, £0 3s 0d

3 horn combs, £0 1s 4d

4 ivory combs, £0 1s 6d

2 of the same, £0 1s 8d

4 of the same, £0 [...]s [...]d

2 of the same, £0 11s 6d

Haberdashery ware

1 pound of white and brown thread, £0 13s 3d

2 pounds of the same, £1 5s 8d

½ pound of the same, £0 2s 7d

1 pound of the same, £0 [...]s 7d

½ pound of the same, £0 10s 0d

11½ pounds of coloured and brown thread, £2 6s 0d

10 ounces of nun's thread, £0 10s 10d

11 ounces of the same at 1s 3d, £0 13s 9d

15 ounces of the same at 1s 4d, £1 3s 0d

2 ounces of the same at 1s 7d, £0 10s 0d

2 ounces of the same at 2s 1d, £0 4s 2d

1 ounce of the same, £0 2s 6d

1 ounce of the same, £0 3s 6d

2 pounds of the same, no 5, £0 15s 0d

6 [ounces] of tape at 1s 2d, £0 6s 10d

19 [ounces] of the same at 1s 4d, £0 16s 6d

3 [ounces] of the same, £0 5s 0d

1 ounce of the same at 7d, £0 5s 11d

16 pieces of trimming lace, £0 6s 9d

6 pieces of Holland lace, £0 [...]s 4d

13 pieces of broad lace, £0 19s 4d

1 piece of white lace, £0 1s 6d

1 of the same, £0 1s 3d

2 pieces of red lace, £0 2s 3d

2 pieces of coloured lace, £0 4s 3d

4⅛ ounces of gold twist, £1 11s 8d

28½ [ounces] of China silk, £[...]s [...]d

Total, £404 4s 7¾d

Interpretations

Nun's thread was a fine white linen sewing thread of high grade, sold by the ounce at graded prices. It sat among the coarser coloured, brown and white threads that supplied the settlement's domestic sewing and repair.

Gold twist was a thread of twisted gold wire or gilt filament, used for decorative trimming and embroidery on better garments. It closed the haberdashery among the costlier articles of the account.

Trimming lace, Holland lace and broad lace were narrow woven braids used to edge and finish clothing, graded here by width and origin. China silk was raw or spun silk from the homeward China ships, sold by the ounce for fine sewing and trim. These reached the island on the Company's ships and passed to the inhabitants through the store.

Squares of glass were pre-cut window panes drawn from imported stock, a costly item on a settlement without a glazier's supply of its own. Pewter porringers, basins and chamber pots supplied the plain household ware the store provided in the absence of local manufacture.

468

364

1724 B:t Over 404 4 7.3/4

18 y:d Torretting 3:d

— 4 6

17 d:o 4

— 5 8

14 d:o 4/2

— 3 6

2.1/2 y:d Shirt Button

— 7 6

1/2 y:d d:o

— 5 10

14 Ordinary Silk Laces

1 9 8

3 d:o 3

9 8

2 d:o 4:d d:o 3

— — —

1 lb Hole Bone

7 11 9

7.1/2 doz Coat Buttons

— 7 9

15.1/2 Breast d:o

— 8 4

8 Sham Mohair

— 8 4.1/2

225 Needle

— 2 —

9 yard Gartring

— 3 10

6 d:o

— 3 —

1 P: Gloves

— 3 —

3 y:d Ribbon

— 2 7.1/2

100.1/2 d:o

Sum Totall to Inhab:t £ 422 19 7.1/4

Diet Expences D:o

160 lb Sugar

4 4 —

336 lb Flower

4 1 —

1 lb Pepper

— 2 2.1/2

1 y:d Sweet Oyle

Plantation D:o

2 yard Trayne Oyle

4 4 —

6 lb Nayle

— 3 4

4 8:d

— 3 2

4 20:d

— 12 8

1 Mawle W:t 16

— 18 —

18 Helves

— 3 4

1 Felling Ax

— 3 8

1 Hatchet N:o 0

— 3 6

1 Shod Shovell

Gen:l Charges

50 lb Soap

8 10 10

3 lb Tea

— 18 —

1 lb Twine

— 2 2

1 P: Sneezedomes

— 5 5

2 lb Glasse

1 — —

24 China Plates

— 10 —

4 d:o Bowle

£ 421 15 4

Brought over, £404 4s 7¾d

18 yards of trimming at 3s, £0 [...]s 4d

17 yards of the same at 4s, £0 4s 8d

14 yards of the same at 4s 6d, £0 5s 8d

2½ gross of shirt buttons, £0 3s 6d

½ gross of the same, £0 [...]s 2d

14 ordinary silk laces, £0 5s 10d

3 pieces of the same, £0 9s 9d

2 pieces and 4 yards of the same, £0 9s 8d

1 pound of whalebone, £0 7s 11d

7½ dozen coat buttons, £0 [...]s 9d

15½ [dozen] breast buttons, £0 7s 9d

8 skeins of mohair, £0 8s 4d

225 needles, £0 8s 4½d

9 yards of gartering, £0 2s 0d

6 of the same, £0 [...]s 10d

1 pair of gloves, £0 3s 0d

3 yards of ribbon, £0 2s 7½d

100½ yards of the same, £[...]s [...]d

Sum total to the inhabitants, £422 19s 7¼d

Diet expenses

160 pounds of sugar, £4 4s 0d

336 pounds of flour, £1 2s 0d

1 pound of pepper, £0 2s 2½d

1 quart of sweet oil, £[...]s [...]d

Plantation

2 yards of train oil, £0 4s 4d

6 pounds of nails, £0 3s 2d

4 [pounds] of the same, £0 8s 0d

4 [pounds] of the same, £0 1s 9d

1 maul weighing 16 pounds, £0 18s 0d

18 adzes, £0 3s 8d

1 felling axe, £0 3s 6d

1 hatchet, no 0, £0 [...]s [...]d

1 shod shovel, £0 [...]s [...]d

General charges

50 pounds of soap, £0 10s 10d

3 pounds of tea, £0 18s 0d

1 pound of twine, £0 2s 2d

1 piece of superfine [cloth], £0 5s 5d

2 half-pint glasses, £1 [...]s [...]d

24 China plates, £0 10s 0d

4 bowls, £[...]s [...]d

Total, £441 15s 4d

Interpretations

Whalebone was the flexible plate of baleen taken from the mouths of certain whales, used to stiffen stays, bodices and other shaped garments. Its sale supplied the material that gave imported and locally made undergarments their form.

The account groups spending under heads for the inhabitants, diet, the plantation and general charges, each totalled apart. This let the council charge goods to their proper accounts, keeping sales to the free planters distinct from provisions consumed and tools issued for work on the grounds.

Mohair was a fine yarn spun from the hair of the Angora goat, used here in skeins for sewing and trimming. Silk laces, coat and breast buttons, gartering and ribbon rounded out the haberdashery that closed the inhabitants' account, the small wares of fastening and finishing clothes.

Felling axes, adzes and mauls charged to the plantation supported the clearing and dressing of timber. Their issue marks continuing labour on the Company's grounds and the woods, drawn from the store as the island's source of finished tools.

469

365

Dec:r 1724 B:t Over £ 421 15 4

Honble Comp:s Blacks D:o

33 10 6

2694 lb Rice

30 — —

3 Cask Beife

36 — —

8 d:o Pork

12 6 —

4 d:o Wheat

59.1/2 P:s Herry

5 — 9

7 P:s Blew Gurrah 12/6

4 7 6

6 d:o Sundorrin

1 10 —

1 Cambay Gingham

— 5 6

5 Petticoats

1 7 6

1 P:s Mens Stock:s

— 13 3

8 P:s Mens Shoe 5/9

— 17 3

2 Wm Calve Sea

— 9 2

2 lb Coloured Thread

— 8 —

2 lb Coloured Thread

— 4 6

1/2 lb Whited Brown N:o 7

— 4 —

1 Gro:s Shirt Buttons

— 2 1

1 Coloured Tape

2 14 —

1/2 P:s Extra Chint

Garrison D:o

5 Gall: Rape Oyle

1 10 —

18 Catties Green Sea

2 8 —

3 lb Soap

— 4 —

1 Line N:o 9

— — 11

Sum Totall 584 11 4

Brought over, £441 15s 4d

Honourable Company's blacks

2,694 pounds of rice, £33 10s 6d

3 casks of beef, £30 0s 0d

3 casks of pork, £36 0s 0d

4 casks of wheat, £12 6s 0d

59½ pieces of penny, £5 0s 9d

7 pieces of blue gurrahs at 12s 6d, £4 7s 6d

6 pieces of dosooties, £1 10s 0d

1 piece of Cambay gingham, £0 5s 6d

5 pieces of petticoats, £1 7s 6d

1 piece of men's stockings, £0 13s 3d

8 pairs of men's shoes at 5s 9d, £0 17s 3d

2 white calico shifts, £0 8s 0d

2 pounds of coloured thread, £0 4s 6d

½ pound of white and brown, no 7, £0 [...]s 4d

7 gross of shirt buttons, £0 2s 1d

1 piece of coloured tape, £2 14s 0d

½ piece of extra chintz, £[...]s [...]d

Garrison

5 gallons of rape oil, £1 10s 0d

12 catties of green tea, £2 8s 0d

3 pounds of soap, £0 4s 0d

1 line, no 9, £0 [...]s 11d

Sum total, £584 11s 4d

Interpretations

The account divides spending under heads for the Company's blacks and the garrison, each closing with the sum total. This let the council charge provisions and clothing to their proper class, keeping the diet and dress of the slave force distinct from the garrison's supply.

The single heaviest charge falls on 2,694 pounds of rice supplied to the Company's blacks, with further bulk in beef, pork and wheat. This weight of imported grain and salted meat reflects the famine relief drawn from the homeward India ships during the long drought.

The Indian cotton piece-goods carry trade names now obscure. Penny was an imported cloth sold by the yard, gurrahs plain coarse cotton from Bengal, and dosooties a stout calico. Gingham was a checked or striped cotton from Cambay in western India, and chintz a printed or painted cotton. These fabrics clothed the slaves against the cool season.

Petticoats, stockings, shoes and calico shifts among the account were ready-made garments issued to the slave force. Their supply through the store marks the Company clothing its people from imported stock rather than local manufacture.

470

366

Blank page

471

367

Dec:r

Gunner French brought in & deliverd an Acc:t of

Gunners Store Expended in the Month of Nov:r last

which was Examined approved & is as follows viz:t

5 Musterday Day

— — 10

d:o An Alarm Ship Swallow field

4 4 4

Deld Mr Allis to Alarm Sandy Bay

11 11 11

25 Deld for the use of the Castle

— — 1.1/4

26 To Answer a Salute of the Swallow field

11 11 11

29 Departed the Swallow field for England

11 11 11

Expence of the Guard

— — 12

37 37 60.1/4

Rammer Rods deld for the Castle

3

Flint deld for d:o

6

Ditto deld Cap:t Cawson

6 60 —

Sheep Skins Expended

6

Rammer Head

12

Cartridge Paper

Line 1

Match

25

25 1 12 6 56 8

Jn:o French

Mr Crisp brought in & deliverd an Acc:t of the Expence

of the General Table for the Month of Nov:r last w:ch

was Examined approved & is as follows

23 P:o Salt Beef

2 17 6

16 d:o Pork

2 5 4

128 lb Bread

1 12 —

180 lb Sugar

4 10 —

80 Gall: Arrack

26 6 8

31 Bottles Mountain

4 13 —

21 Bottles Port

2 12 6

13 Bottles Cape

— 13 —

26 lb Soap

1 15 5

23 lb Candles 2/6

2 17 6

6 Doz Fowles

5 8 —

150 lb Flower

1 19 9

381 lb Beefe

4 15 3

107 lb Pork

2 13 6

1 Goat

— 10 —

1 Kid

— 6 —

4 Turkeys

1 4 —

15 lb Butter

— 15 —

30 Day Greens

1 10 —

140 Eggs

— 11 8

68 16 1

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Margin Notes:

Gunners Acc:t of Expences for Nov:r 1724

Gunner French brought in his account of gunner's stores expended during November, which the council examined and approved as follows.

5th, muster day, 10 pounds

An alarm, 4 falcons, 4 minions, 2 pounds

Arrived the ship Swallow, 11 falcons, 11 minions, 11 pounds

Delivered to Mr Allis to alarm Sandy Bay, 1¼ pounds

25th, delivered for the use of the castle

26th, to answer a salute of the Swallow, 11 falcons, 11 minions, 11 pounds

29th, departed the Swallow for England, 11 falcons, 11 minions, 11 pounds

Expense of the guard, 12 pounds

Total, 37 falcons, 37 minions, 60¼ pounds

Rammer rods delivered for the castle, 3

Flint delivered for the same, 6

The same delivered to Captain Cason, 6, 60

Sheep skins expended, 12

Rammer head, 1

Cartridge paper, fine, 1 [quire]

Match, 25 pounds

Total, 25, 1, 12, 6, 56, 8

Signed by John French

Mr Crisp brought in his account of the expense of the General Table for November, which the council examined and approved as follows.

23 pounds of salt beef, £2 17s 6d

166 pounds of pork, £2 5s 4d

128 pounds of bread, £1 12s 0d

180 pounds of sugar, £4 10s 0d

80 gallons of arrack, £26 6s 8d

31 bottles of mountain wine, £4 13s 0d

21 bottles of port, £2 12s 6d

13 bottles of Cape wine, £0 13s 0d

26 pounds of soap, £1 15s 5d

23 pounds of candles at 2s 6d, £2 17s 6d

6 dozen fowls, £5 8s 0d

150 pounds of flour, £1 19s 9d

381 pounds of beef, £4 15s 3d

107 pounds of pork, £2 13s 6d

1 goat, £0 10s 0d

1 kid, £0 6s 0d

4 turkeys, £1 4s 0d

15 pounds of butter, £0 15s 0d

30 days' greens, £1 10s 0d

140 eggs, £0 11s 8d

Total, £68 16s 1d

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield and John Alexander.

Interpretations

Falcons and minions were small cannon of light bore, and their names were used to reckon powder charges by the weight each gun required. The account measures powder by these units alongside plain weights, showing both the occasion of firing and the quantity spent.

The heaviest charges fell on the arrival, salute and departure of the Swallow. The gunner recorded the powder spent in greeting and seeing off the homeward ship, alongside the muster day, the alarm and the daily guard that made up the routine of the garrison.

Mountain wine was a sweet white wine from Malaga, and Cape wine a produce of the Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. Both joined the port on the General Table that fed the Governor and councillors, marking the officers' diet against the plainer garrison ration.

Arrack again stood as the largest single charge on the table by value. The distilled spirit from Batavia and India passed through the store under the Company's liquor monopoly, the same control enforced against the coxswain Caleb Davis on 04 Mar 1724.

472

368

1724

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 15:th day of

December 1724 at Union Castle

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

On Saturday last about three in the Afternoon We had an

Alarm & the next day about Eight o'Clock in the

Morning arrived the Ship London Cap:t Boothe Com:r from

Mocha but last from Cochin who Reports that the Prince

Augustus, sailed from Bance the same day on which he arrived

there which happend on the 27th of Sep: last

Elizabeth Swallow Widow presented her Petition Praying

that effectual Measure might be taken to Secure her in the

Possession of such Land as by the Laws & Constitution of this

Island justly belong to her she being appointed pue leest her

Son Richard Swallow should us dispose of the same,

Ordered that the said Richard Swallow be Summond to attend

on Tuesday next

Richard Ray Soldier being very antient & infirm & inform Presented

a Petition desiring leave to go to England

Granted, he first Paying his Debts,

Sergeant Wood pursuant to the Order of last Consultation

attended to Answer to the Complaint of Jn:o Bradley concerning

his Title to about an Acre of Land formerly Granted to him

the said Bradley, but now Claimed by the said Wood

Ordered that Cap:t Goodwin do view & Measure all the Land

Possessed by the said Sergeant Wood that lyes contiguous to the

Land now in dispute between them the said Wood & Bradley &

make Report accordingly & that the Lease be Produced against

Tuesday next

Stephen Crisp Pledgard attended to answer the Complaint of

Rich:d Mason who charges the said Pledgard with taking £ 3:13:6

in part of Payment for a Beast which the said Pledgard sold the said

Mason, but the said Pledgard has since sold the Beast to an other, & even

the said Pledgard does not deny the Receipt of the Money, but

says he borrowed & did not agree to Sell him a Beast

The said Rich:d Mason having Suffered opening & Tipling

in his House at Unseasonable Hours contrary to the Instructions

mentioned in his License, the s:d Mason is Ordered to Deliver up his

License & take his sign down

Mathew

Margin Notes:

Ship London Arrival.

Pet:n of Eliz: Swallow for Security of Land.

Her Son to Attend.

R:d Ray prays leave to go Off. Granted.

Serj:t Wood Attends.

His Land to be measured.

Lease to produced.

R:d Masons Compl:t ag:t Crisp Pledgard.

Pledgard denys the Bargaine.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 15 December 1724 at Union Castle.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

An alarm was raised the previous Saturday about three in the afternoon. About eight the next morning the ship London, under Captain Boothe, arrived in the road, last from Cochin. Boothe reported that the Prince Augusta had sailed from Cochin the same day he arrived there, which had happened on 27 Sep 1724.

Elizabeth Swallow, widow, presented a petition asking that effective measures be taken to secure to her the property that lawfully belonged to her by the laws and constitution of the island. She set out that her son Richard Swallow intended to take possession of it. The council ordered Richard Swallow to attend on the following Tuesday.

Richard Ray, soldier, presented a petition asking for leave to go to England. The council granted it, provided he first cleared his debts.

Sergeant Wood attended under the order of the previous consultation to answer John Bradley's complaint over his title to a piece of land under Sandy Bay Ridge, formerly granted to Bradley but now claimed by Wood. The council ordered Captain Goodwin to view and measure all the land Wood held next to Bradley's, along with the parcel in dispute between the two, and to report accordingly. It ordered that Wood's lease be produced on the following Tuesday.

Stephen Cledger attended to answer the complaint of Richard Mason, who charged him with owing 13s 6d as part payment for a beast Cledger had sold him. Cledger did not deny receiving the money but said he had never agreed to sell the beast, having since sold it to another man. Richard Mason, having suffered opening and tippling in his house at unseasonable hours contrary to instructions, was ordered to deliver up his [...].

Interpretations

The arrival of the London from Cochin continued the run of Company shipping through the road at the turn of the year. Its master carried news of the Prince Augusta, showing the island's role as a point where ships exchanged intelligence of the eastern trade.

Elizabeth Swallow's petition set a widow against her own son over property she claimed under the island's law. The council did not decide the right but summoned Richard Swallow to answer, treating the matter as a contest of title to be heard before the bench.

Sergeant Wood's dispute with John Bradley turned on written title against a claim of prior grant. The council rested the question on Wood producing his lease and on a survey of the ground, making the document and the measurement the test rather than the parties' assertions.

473

369

Dec:r 1724

Mathew Mudge Presented a Bill of Sale from Jos: Cole of

thirty Acres of Land to him the said Mudge & desired the same

might be Registred

Ordered that the same be accordingly Registred

Ordered that no Person do henceforth Presume to draw up

any Deed Lease Bill of Sale, Assignment, or any other Paper or Instrum:t

but that all such Writings be drawn up by the Secretary or his

Assistants, & that all Papers & Writings drawn up contrary to this

Order shall be deemed Null & void, & that no Person shall make

any Out Cry without first obtaining Leave from the Governour

& that every thing exposed to Sale by such Out Cry shall be Set

up by the Marshall & by no other Person

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 29:th day

of December at Plantation House

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

On Wednesday the 23:d instant Sailed hence for

Great Britain the London Cap:t Boothe & the

Prince Frederick Captain Haynes

No other Business Occuring Wee Adjourned

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Bill of Sale of Matt: Mudges Presented & Regist:d

Three for hither been Duplicated & sent to England & Sunderland

No Writings to be made but by y:e Sec:y or his Assist:t

Ships Departure

Matthew Mudge presented a bill of sale from John Coles for 30 acres of land conveyed to him, and asked that it be registered. The council ordered it registered accordingly.

The council further ordered that no person should in future draw up any deed, lease, bill of sale, assignment or other writing about land, but that all such writings be drawn up by the secretary or his assistant. Any paper or writing drawn up contrary to this order would be deemed void. No person was to hold any public sale without first obtaining leave from the Governor, and everything offered at public sale was to be set up by the marshal and by no other person.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 29 December 1724 at the Plantation House.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

On Wednesday 23 December the ship London, under Captain Boothe, and the Prince Frederick, under Captain Haynes, sailed from the island for Great Britain.

No other business arising, the council adjourned.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The order confining the drafting of land writings to the secretary asserted the Company's control over property records. By making any deed drawn up otherwise void, the council fixed a single official channel for conveyances and guarded against forged or defective titles.

The rule that no public sale proceed without the Governor's leave, and that only the marshal set up goods, brought private auctions under official oversight. This gave the government a check on the disposal of property and the collection of any dues on it.

The departure of the London and the Prince Frederick together for Great Britain followed the standing practice of homeward ships sailing in company. This gave mutual protection on the passage, the same concern that had governed the convoy of shipping through the crowded season of 1724.

474

370

January 1724/5

At a Consultation held on Tuesday Thursday &

Friday the 5:th 7:th & 8:th of Jan:y 1724/5 at Plantation House

Present John Smith Esq:r Govern:r

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

On the first instant arrived the Ship Prince

Augustus Cap:t William Jekton Commander from Mocha

but last from the Cape, We dispatched her yesterday

Evening & this Morning She Sailed for England

Pursuant to an Advertizement issued out on the

30:th of Dec: last We mett this day in Order to Reckon

with the Garrison & Souldiers for the Quarter past, &

otherwise with the Inhabitants & to Say off the Persons

that have any Money due to them, & are not Indebted to

the Hon:ble Company

Transfers viz:t

Sundry D:o to Gile Smith viz:t

Henry Walsh Souldier having Salary due to him £ 6.7.6 £ s d

Robert Zell ditto 6.10.9 11.18.3

Gile Smith D:o to his Acc:t of Bonds &c:a in full

Payment of the Interest with the Interest dated the february 1723 33.—.—

John Funcke Sen:r paid in full Payment of

his Acc:t of Bonds with the Interest 34.—.—

John Bagley Jun:r Standing indebted to the Hon:ble Comp:s

in the Sum of 96.3.8.1/4 & being called upon to Pay the Same

produced Mr Wrangham for Security Acc:t who Promise to

Oblige himself to Pay the said Debt by m:o within two years

from the date hereof & is charged to his Mr Wranghams

Acc:t according:y 96.3.8.1/4

Sundry D:o to Tho:s Allis viz:t

Mr Cozens £ 6.4.6

Willam Allis 6.—.6

Towards lessening his Debt 1723 £ 12.5.0

Margin Notes:

Ship Prince Augustus Arriv:d

Reckoning w:th the Garrison & Inhab:ts

Transfers to Sundry Persons.

At a consultation held on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 5, 7 and 8 January 1725 at Union Castle.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

The ship Prince Augusta, under Captain William Jolton, arrived on the first of the month from Mocha but last from the Cape. The council saw her off the previous evening, and she sailed for England that morning.

Under an advertisement issued on 30 Dec 1724, the council met on these days to reckon with the garrison and others for the past quarter, and with the inhabitants, and to pay off those with money due to them who were not indebted to the Honourable Company.

The following transfers were made.

Sundry debtors to Giles Smith

Henry Walsh, soldier, having salary due to him, £0 7s 6d

Robert Lush, the same, £0 3s 0d, £0 10s 9d, £11 18s 3d

Giles Smith, debtor to his account of bonds, paid in full with interest, dated 8 February, £33 0s 0d

John Fluke senior, paid in full payment of his account of bonds with interest, £34 0s 0d

John Bagley junior, standing surety to the Honourable Company for £96 3s 8¼d, being called upon to pay, produced Mr Wrangham for security, who promised to oblige himself to pay the debt within two years from this date, charged to his account of Mr Wrangham, £96 3s 8¼d

Sundry debtors to Thomas Allis

Mr Coleave, £6 4s 6d

William Ellis, towards clearing his debt, £6 0s 0d, £12 5s 6d

Interpretations

The quarterly reckoning cleared the accounts between the Company, the garrison and the inhabitants. By paying off those who were owed money and held no debt, the council settled its books and kept the balance of credit under control.

The transfer for John Bagley junior turned an unsecured surety into a fresh obligation on a new guarantor. Mr Wrangham took on the debt with a two-year term, so the liability passed from Bagley to a solvent party without loss to the Company.

The device of moving debts between named parties let the council settle obligations through book entries rather than cash. This suited a remote settlement short of coin, where credit was managed on paper across the store's accounts.

475

371

January

Cap:t Goodwin Paid in Cash towards his Acc:t of Bond £ 100.—

Sundry D:o to Ensign Will:m Slaughton viz:t

John Hardy £ 4:16:9

John Nate 4:16:9 £ 9:13:6

The Petition of John French Gunner was Presented Praying

to become Tenant to the Hon:ble Company for about 2 Acres of

their Waste Land adjoyning to that he formerly hired Situate

in Stone Top Valley, which if Granted to any other Person will

be of very great Prejudice to him Wherefore We have Granted his

Petition & that the Surveyour do Measure the Same accordingly

& a Lease to be made for 21 years at the Rent of 5/ P Acre.

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 19:th

day of Jan:y 1724 at Union Castle in James Valley

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

No Business Offering was the Reason We held no

Consultation last Week,

On Saturday Morning about 8 o'Clock Wee

had an Alarm for One Ship to the Eastward about 6 Leagues

distant & in the Evening arrived the Assiento Cap:t Tizard Com:r

from Angola & bound for Bueynos Ayres with Slaves

Mr Byfeld brought in & deliverd his Monthly Acc:t of

the Hon:ble Comp:s Live Stock & Expence for the Month of

December last as also a Gen:l Acc:t with the Live Stock, Rem:n

24:th Dec: 1724 which was Examined & approved & is as follows

Margin Notes:

Jn:o French Pet:r to hire 2 Acres Land

Granted.

Ships Assiento Arriv:d

Mr Byfelds Acc:t for Dec:r & Gen:l Acc:t

Captain Goodwin paid in cash towards his account of bond, £100 0s 0d.

Sundry debtors to Captain William Slaughter

John Hardy, £4 16s 9d

John North, £4 16s 9d, £9 13s 6d

John French, gunner, presented a petition to become tenant of about 2 acres of the Honourable Company's waste land, adjoining land he had formerly hired, lying in Stone Top Valley. He set out that it would be of great harm to him if the parcel were granted to any other person. The council granted the petition and ordered the surveyor to measure the parcel accordingly, with a lease to be made for 21 years at a rent of 5s 0d per acre.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 19 January 1725 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

No business arising was the reason no consultation was held the previous week.

An alarm was raised on Saturday morning about eight o'clock for a ship to windward about 6 leagues distant. In the evening the Asiento, under Captain Girard, arrived from Angola bound for Buenos Aires with slaves.

Mr Byfield brought in his monthly account of the Honourable Company's live stock and its expense for December, together with a general account of the live stock remaining on 24 Dec 1724, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

The grant to John French secured a serviceable holding against loss to a rival. The council fixed a 21-year term at a set rent per acre, giving the gunner a stable tenancy on the standard form used for the Company's waste.

The arrival of the Asiento marked a South Sea slaving voyage touching the island on its passage from Angola to the Spanish American market. Its name reflected the asiento contract that supplied slaves to the Spanish colonies, a trade distinct from the Company's own eastern shipping.

476

372

1724/5

Neat Cattle

Bullocks

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 6

Bought in December 4

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 10

Sold to Ship in ditto 10

Dead in ditto 10

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 10

Cowes

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 34

Bought in December 1

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 35

Sold to Ship in ditto 35

Dead in ditto 35

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 35

Heifers

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 11

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 11

Sold to Ship in ditto 11

Dead in ditto 11

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 11

Steers

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 3

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 3

Sold to Ship in ditto 2

Dead in ditto 2

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 2

Yearlings

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 5

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 5

Sold to Ship in ditto 5

Dead in ditto 5

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 5

Calves

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 41

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 41

Sold to Ship in ditto 41

Dead in ditto 41

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 41

Bulls

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 2

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 2

Sold to Ship in ditto 1

Dead in ditto 1

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1

Totall

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 102

Bought in December 5

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 107

Sold to Ship in ditto 106

Dead in ditto 105

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 105

Sheep

Ewes

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 31

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 31

Sold to Ship in ditto 31

Dead in ditto 31

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 31

Withers

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 11

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 11

Sold to Ship in ditto 10

Dead in ditto 10

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 10

Lambs

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 14

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 14

Sold to Ship in ditto 14

Dead in ditto 14

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 14

Rams

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 6

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 6

Sold to Ship in ditto 6

Dead in ditto 6

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 6

Totall

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 62

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 62

Sold to Ship in ditto 61

Dead in ditto 61

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 61

Goates

Ewes

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 94

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 94

Sold to Ship in ditto 93

Dead in ditto 91

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 91

Withers

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 12

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 12

Sold to Ship in ditto 12

Dead in ditto 6

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 6

Kids

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 25

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 25

Sold to Ship in ditto 25

Dead in ditto 25

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 25

Rams

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 13

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 13

Sold to Ship in ditto 13

Dead in ditto 13

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 13

Totall

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 144

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 144

Sold to Ship in ditto 143

Dead in ditto 135

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 135

Hogs

Sows

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 10

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 10

Sold to Ship in ditto 10

Dead in ditto 10

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 10

Shoates

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 3

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 3

Sold to Ship in ditto 3

Dead in ditto 3

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 3

Boars

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 1

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 1

Sold to Ship in ditto 1

Dead in ditto 1

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1

Pigs

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 12

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 12

Sold to Ship in ditto 12

Dead in ditto 12

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 12

Totall

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 26

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 26

Sold to Ship in ditto 26

Dead in ditto 26

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 26

Poultry

Turkeys

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 48

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 48

Sold to Ship in ditto 39

Dead in ditto 39

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 36

Fowles

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 120

Bought in December 4

Increased in ditto 123

Killed for the Fort in d:o 247

Sold to Ship in ditto 231

Dead in ditto 241

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 241

Ducks

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 10

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 10

Sold to Ship in ditto 10

Dead in ditto 10

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 10

Geese

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 12

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 12

Sold to Ship in ditto 12

Dead in ditto 12

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 12

Asses

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 6

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 6

Sold to Ship in ditto 6

Dead in ditto 6

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 6

Horses

Asses

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 5

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 5

Sold to Ship in ditto 5

Dead in ditto 5

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 5

Mares

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 2

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 2

Sold to Ship in ditto 2

Dead in ditto 2

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 2

Totall

Rem:n ult:o Nov: 7

Bought in December —

Increased in ditto —

Killed for the Fort in d:o 7

Sold to Ship in ditto 7

Dead in ditto 7

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 7

Yams Expended 24825 lb

Mr Byfield brought in his account of the Honourable Company's stock of live cattle for December, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Neat cattle

Remaining last November: 6 bullocks, 34 cows, 11 heifers, 3 steers, 5 yearlings, 41 calves, 2 bulls, total 102

Bought in December: 4 bullocks, 1 cow, total 5

Increased in December: none

Killed for the Fort: 1 heifer, total 1

Sold to the ship: 1 cow, 1 calf, total 1

Dead in December: 1 bull

Remaining last December: 10 bullocks, 35 cows, 11 heifers, 2 steers, 5 yearlings, 41 calves, 1 bull, total 105

Sheep

Remaining last November: 31 ewes, 11 wethers, 14 lambs, 6 rams, total 62

Bought in December: none

Increased in December: none

Killed for the Fort: 1 wether, total 1

Sold to the ship: 1 wether, total 1

Dead in December: none

Remaining last December: 31 ewes, 10 wethers, 14 lambs, 6 rams, total 61

Goats

Remaining last November: 94 ewes, 12 withers, 25 kids, 13 rams, total 144

Bought in December: none

Increased in December: none

Killed for the Fort: 1 ewe, total 1

Sold to the ship: 2 ewes, 6 withers, total 8

Dead in December: none

Remaining last December: 91 ewes, 6 withers, 25 kids, 13 rams, total 135

Hogs

Remaining last November: 10 sows, 3 shoats, 1 boar, 12 pigs, total 26

Bought in December: none

Increased in December: none

Killed for the Fort: none

Sold to the ship: none

Dead in December: none

Remaining last December: 10 sows, 3 shoats, 1 boar, 12 pigs, total 26

Poultry

Remaining last November: 48 turkeys, 120 fowls, 10 ducks, 12 geese, total 190

Bought in December: 4 fowls, 123

Increased in December: none

Killed for the Fort: 9 turkeys, 16 fowls

Sold to the ship: 3 fowls

Dead in December: 3 turkeys

Remaining last December: 36 turkeys, 241 fowls, 10 ducks, 12 geese, total 299

Asses and horses

Remaining last November: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7 horses

Bought in December: none

Increased in December: none

Killed for the Fort: none

Sold to the ship: none

Dead in December: none

Remaining last December: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7 horses

Yams expended, 24,825 pounds

Interpretations

The account tracks the Company's live stock month by month under fixed heads. It shows the opening number, purchases, any increase, the beasts killed for the Fort, those sold to the ship, those dead and the closing number. This let the council follow the herds and flocks as a running asset.

The purchase of four bullocks and a cow in December marks a rare addition to the herd. The Company bought in stock rather than drawing solely on its own beasts, a sign that it sought to rebuild the cattle thinned by the long drought.

The sale of stock to the ship shows the island victualling a departing vessel from the Company's own flocks. A cow, a calf, sheep and goats went to supply the ship for the homeward passage, set beside the usual slaughter for the Fort.

477

373

January

Neat Cattle

Bullocks

Rem:n 25:th March 99

Bought from d:o a 247 17

Encreased from d:o to d:o 3

Killed for Fort in d:o 52

Sold to Ship in d:o 52

Dead in Ditto 11

Stole in d:o 10

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 10

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 10

Cowes

Rem:n 25:th March 96

Bought from d:o a 247 7

Encreased from d:o to d:o 3

Killed for Fort in d:o 45

Sold to Ship in d:o 43

Dead in Ditto 35

Stole in d:o 36

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 35

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 36

Heifers

Rem:n 25:th March 20

Bought from d:o a 247 3

Encreased from d:o to d:o 3

Killed for Fort in d:o 26

Sold to Ship in d:o 22

Dead in Ditto 11

Stole in d:o 11

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 11

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 11

Steers

Rem:n 25:th March 16

Bought from d:o a 247 1

Encreased from d:o to d:o —

Killed for Fort in d:o 17

Sold to Ship in d:o 16

Dead in Ditto 5

Stole in d:o 4

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 4

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 2

Yearlings

Rem:n 25:th March 9

Bought from d:o a 247 6

Encreased from d:o to d:o 3

Killed for Fort in d:o 8

Sold to Ship in d:o 6

Dead in Ditto 5

Stole in d:o 5

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 5

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 5

Calves

Rem:n 25:th March 45

Bought from d:o a 247 4

Encreased from d:o to d:o 2

Killed for Fort in d:o 62

Sold to Ship in d:o 51

Dead in Ditto 51

Stole in d:o 50

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 50

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 41

Bulls

Rem:n 25:th March 6

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o —

Killed for Fort in d:o 7

Sold to Ship in d:o 7

Dead in Ditto 2

Stole in d:o 1

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 1

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1

Totalls

Rem:n 25:th March 156

Bought from d:o a 247 37

Encreased from d:o to d:o 14

Killed for Fort in d:o 207

Sold to Ship in d:o 197

Dead in Ditto 120

Stole in d:o 116

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 116

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 105

Sheep

Ewes

Rem:n 25:th March 32

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o —

Killed for Fort in d:o 32

Sold to Ship in d:o 31

Dead in Ditto 31

Stole in d:o 31

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 31

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 31

Withers

Rem:n 25:th March 19

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o —

Killed for Fort in d:o 19

Sold to Ship in d:o 11

Dead in Ditto 11

Stole in d:o 10

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 10

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 10

Lambs

Rem:n 25:th March 3

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o 12

Killed for Fort in d:o 15

Sold to Ship in d:o 14

Dead in Ditto 14

Stole in d:o 14

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 14

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 14

Rams

Rem:n 25:th March 6

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o —

Killed for Fort in d:o 6

Sold to Ship in d:o 6

Dead in Ditto 6

Stole in d:o 6

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 6

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 6

Totalle

Rem:n 25:th March 60

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o 12

Killed for Fort in d:o 72

Sold to Ship in d:o 62

Dead in Ditto 62

Stole in d:o 61

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 61

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 61

Goates

Ewes

Rem:n 25:th March 94

Bought from d:o a 247 1

Encreased from d:o to d:o —

Killed for Fort in d:o 94

Sold to Ship in d:o 93

Dead in Ditto 91

Stole in d:o 91

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 91

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 91

Withers

Rem:n 25:th March 23

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o —

Killed for Fort in d:o 23

Sold to Ship in d:o 12

Dead in Ditto 6

Stole in d:o 6

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 6

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 6

Kid

Rem:n 25:th March 27

Bought from d:o a 247 1

Encreased from d:o to d:o —

Killed for Fort in d:o 28

Sold to Ship in d:o 25

Dead in Ditto 25

Stole in d:o 25

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 25

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 25

Rams

Rem:n 25:th March 14

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o —

Killed for Fort in d:o 14

Sold to Ship in d:o 13

Dead in Ditto 13

Stole in d:o 13

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 13

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 13

Totall

Rem:n 25:th March 158

Bought from d:o a 247 1

Encreased from d:o to d:o —

Killed for Fort in d:o 159

Sold to Ship in d:o 143

Dead in Ditto 135

Stole in d:o 135

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 135

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 135

Hogs

Sows

Rem:n 25:th March 10

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o 3

Killed for Fort in d:o 13

Sold to Ship in d:o 13

Dead in Ditto 13

Stole in d:o 13

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 10

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 10

Shoates

Rem:n 25:th March 10

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o —

Killed for Fort in d:o 10

Sold to Ship in d:o 10

Dead in Ditto 10

Stole in d:o 6

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 6

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 3

Boars

Rem:n 25:th March 1

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o —

Killed for Fort in d:o 1

Sold to Ship in d:o 1

Dead in Ditto 1

Stole in d:o 1

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 1

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1

Pig

Rem:n 25:th March 1

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o 14

Killed for Fort in d:o 15

Sold to Ship in d:o 15

Dead in Ditto 15

Stole in d:o 12

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 12

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 12

Totall

Rem:n 25:th March 22

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o 17

Killed for Fort in d:o 39

Sold to Ship in d:o 39

Dead in Ditto 39

Stole in d:o 32

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 29

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 26

Poultry

Turkeys

Rem:n 25:th March 45

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o 21

Killed for Fort in d:o 66

Sold to Ship in d:o 50

Dead in Ditto 50

Stole in d:o 36

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 36

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 36

Fowles

Rem:n 25:th March 100

Bought from d:o a 247 8

Encreased from d:o to d:o 217

Killed for Fort in d:o 325

Sold to Ship in d:o 247

Dead in Ditto 247

Stole in d:o 235

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 231

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 231

Ducks

Rem:n 25:th March 13

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o —

Killed for Fort in d:o 13

Sold to Ship in d:o 11

Dead in Ditto 11

Stole in d:o 10

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 10

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 10

Geese

Rem:n 25:th March 12

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o —

Killed for Fort in d:o 12

Sold to Ship in d:o 12

Dead in Ditto 12

Stole in d:o 12

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 12

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 12

Asses

Rem:n 25:th March 6

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o —

Killed for Fort in d:o 6

Sold to Ship in d:o 6

Dead in Ditto 6

Stole in d:o 6

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 6

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 6

Horses

Asses

Rem:n 25:th March 4

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o —

Killed for Fort in d:o 5

Sold to Ship in d:o 5

Dead in Ditto 5

Stole in d:o 5

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 5

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 5

Mares

Rem:n 25:th March 2

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o 1

Killed for Fort in d:o 2

Sold to Ship in d:o 2

Dead in Ditto 2

Stole in d:o 2

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 2

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 2

Totall

Rem:n 25:th March 6

Bought from d:o a 247 —

Encreased from d:o to d:o 1

Killed for Fort in d:o 7

Sold to Ship in d:o 7

Dead in Ditto 7

Stole in d:o 7

Cattle & Hogs Grown in ditto 7

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 7

Yams Expended at the Sev:ll Plantacons 104274 lb

Ditto del:d Fort Blacks 43274

Totall Yams 147,548 lb

Neat cattle

Remaining 25 March: 32 bullocks, 35 cows, 20 heifers, 16 steers, 9 yearlings, 45 calves, 5 bulls, total 156

Bought from that date to 24 July: 17 bullocks, 7 cows, 3 heifers, 1 steer, 6 yearlings, 4 calves, total 37

Increased from that date to date: 3 bullocks, 3 cows, 3 heifers, 3 yearlings, 2 calves, total 14

Killed for the Fort: 52 bullocks, 45 cows, 26 heifers, 17 steers, 8 yearlings, 62 calves, 7 bulls, total 207, less 10

Sold to the ship: 52 bullocks, 43 cows, 22 heifers, 16 steers, 6 yearlings, 51 calves, 7 bulls, total 197, less 41 bullocks, 8 cows, 11 heifers, 11 steers, 1 yearling, 2 calves, 5 bulls, total 77

Dead in the same: 11 bullocks, 35 cows, 11 heifers, 5 steers, 5 yearlings, 51 calves, 2 bulls, total 120, less 4

Stolen in the same: 10 bullocks, 36 cows, 11 heifers, 4 steers, 5 yearlings, 50 calves, 1 bull, total 116

Cattle and hogs grown in the same: 10 bullocks, 35 cows, 11 heifers, 4 steers, 5 yearlings, 50 calves, 1 bull, total 116, less 11

Remaining last December: 10 bullocks, 36 cows, 11 heifers, 2 steers, 5 yearlings, 41 calves, 1 bull, total 106

Sheep

Remaining 25 March: 32 ewes, 19 wethers, 3 lambs, 6 rams, total 60

Bought from that date to 24 July: none

Increased from that date to date: 12 lambs, total 12

Killed for the Fort: 32 ewes, 19 wethers, 15 lambs, 6 rams, total 72, less 1 ewe, 8 lambs, 1 ram, total 10

Sold to the ship: 31 ewes, 11 wethers, 14 lambs, 6 rams, total 62, less 2 ewes

Dead in the same: 31 ewes, 11 wethers, 14 lambs, 6 rams, total 62, less 1 wether

Stolen in the same: 31 ewes, 10 wethers, 14 lambs, 6 rams, total 61

Cattle and hogs grown in the same: 31 ewes, 10 wethers, 14 lambs, 6 rams, total 61

Remaining last December: 31 ewes, 10 wethers, 14 lambs, 6 rams, total 61

Goats

Remaining 25 March: 94 ewes, 23 withers, 27 kids, 14 rams, total 158

Bought from that date to 24 July: 1 kid, total 1

Increased from that date to date: 3 withers, total 3

Killed for the Fort: 94 ewes, 23 withers, 28 kids, 14 rams, total 159, less 1 ewe, 11 withers, 3 kids, 1 ram, total 16

Sold to the ship: 93 ewes, 12 withers, 25 kids, 13 rams, total 143, less 2 ewes, 6 withers, total 8

Dead in the same: 91 ewes, 6 withers, 25 kids, 13 rams, total 135

Stolen in the same: 91 ewes, 6 withers, 25 kids, 13 rams, total 135

Cattle and hogs grown in the same: 91 ewes, 6 withers, 25 kids, 13 rams, total 135

Remaining last December: 91 ewes, 6 withers, 25 kids, 13 rams, total 135

Hogs

Remaining 25 March: 10 sows, 10 shoats, 1 boar, 1 pig, total 22

Bought from that date to 24 July: none

Increased from that date to date: 3 sows, 14 pigs, total 17

Killed for the Fort: 13 sows, 10 shoats, 1 boar, 15 pigs, total 39

Sold to the ship: 13 sows, 10 shoats, 1 boar, 15 pigs, total 39

Dead in the same: 13 sows, 10 shoats, 1 boar, 15 pigs, total 39, less 4

Stolen in the same: 13 sows, 6 shoats, 1 boar, 12 pigs, total 32, less 3

Cattle and hogs grown in the same: 10 sows, 6 shoats, 1 boar, 12 pigs, total 29, less 3

Remaining last December: 10 sows, 3 shoats, 1 boar, 12 pigs, total 26

Poultry

Remaining 25 March: 45 turkeys, 100 fowls, 13 ducks, 12 geese, total 170

Bought from that date to 24 July: 8 fowls

Increased from that date to date: 21 turkeys, 217 fowls, total 1

Killed for the Fort: 66 turkeys, 325 fowls, 13 ducks, 12 geese, less 16 turkeys, 78 fowls, 2 ducks

Sold to the ship: 50 turkeys, 247 fowls, 11 ducks, 12 geese, less 14 turkeys, 12 fowls, 1 duck

Dead in the same: 36 turkeys, 235 fowls, 10 ducks, 12 geese, less 4 fowls

Cattle and hogs grown in the same: 36 turkeys, 231 fowls, 10 ducks, 12 geese

Remaining last December: 36 turkeys, 231 fowls, 10 ducks, 12 geese

Asses and horses

Remaining 25 March: 6 asses, 4 horses, 2 mares, total 6

Bought from that date to 24 July: none

Increased from that date to date: 1 horse, total 1

Killed for the Fort: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Sold to the ship: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Dead in the same: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Stolen in the same: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Cattle and hogs grown in the same: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Remaining last December: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Yams expended at the several plantations, 104,274 pounds

Yams delivered to the Fort blacks, 43,274 pounds

Total yams, 147,548 pounds

Interpretations

The account carries the whole year forward from 25 Mar 1724, tracking the Company's live stock under fixed heads across purchases, increase, slaughter, sale, death and theft. This running record let the council follow the herds and flocks as an asset and account for every loss against the opening number.

The yearly totals stand far above the monthly figures, the yams alone reaching 147,548 pounds across the plantations and the Fort blacks. This scale marks the weight of the Company's provision for its slave force, drawn from its own grounds through the long drought.

A separate line for beasts stolen in the year sets theft apart from natural death and slaughter. This distinction let the council measure the loss to predation and pilfering, the same concern behind the Sandy Bay goat thefts recorded in 1722 and the game and dog orders of the summer of 1724.

478

374

1724/5

Cap:t Goodwin likewise deliverd an Acc:t of Store Goods Sold in the

Month of Dec: last which was Examined approved & is as follows viz:t

129.3/4 Gall: Arrack

41 4 9

1196 lb Sugar

29 18 3

7 lb Candy

— 7 —

1924 lb Bread

20 7 10

30 lb Flower

— 7 6

16.1/2 lb Soap

1 1 6.1/2

2 lb Starch

— 1 6

9 lb Hair Powder

— 9 —

2 Catties Green Tea

— 8 —

18 Q:s Blew d:o

— 3 —

3 yards Rape Oyle

— 18 —

1/4 P:o Bengale Taffety

2 5 —

6 Maddras Gingham

2 5 —

9 White Desotees

1 10 —

1 Surat Chint

— 9 —

1.1/2 Ordinary Long Cloth

1 10 —

1 P:o White Gurrah

10 6

1 P:o Cotton Chints

1 — —

7 White Shirt

— 17 6

11 P:o Woven Stocking

1 7 6

6 China Bowles

— 15 —

114 Small Cup

— 19 —

12 P:o Widdey Stockings Cups & Saucers

— 6 —

2 P:o Womens Stocking

— 4 6

2 d:o

— 6 4

1 Boop ditto

— 6 6

2 Mens Knitt d:o

— 5 —

9 d:o

— 4 —

1 Girles Knitt

— 4 6

1 Ditto

— 3 6

1 d:o

— 9 6

3 Soldiers d:o

— 4 3.3/4

3.1/4 lb Worsted

1 16 —

8 P:o Womens Calve Leather Shoes

— 6 8

1 Mens d:o

— 11 6

2 Womens Spanish d:o

— 8 3

1 Mens d:o

— 4 6

1 Boys d:o

— 9 —

1 d:o

— 6 —

1 d:o

— 3 —

1 Ladle

— 6 —

4 Porringers

116 4 2.1/2

Captain Goodwin delivered his account of store goods sold during December, which the council examined and approved as follows.

129 9/4 gallons of arrack, £41 1s 2d

1,961 pounds of sugar, £29 15s 3d

7 pounds of candy, £0 7s 0d

2,924 pounds of bread, £20 7s 10d

30 pounds of flour, £0 7s 6d

16½ pounds of soap, £1 0s 6½d

2 pounds of starch, £0 1s 6d

9 pounds of hair powder, £0 9s 0d

2 catties of green tea, £0 8s 0d

18 [ounces] of Bohea, the same, £0 3s 0d

3 gallons of rape oil, £0 18s 0d

1 piece of Bengal taffeta at 4s, £2 8s 0d

6 pieces of Madras gingham, £2 5s 0d

9 pieces of white dosooties, £1 10s 0d

1 piece of Surat chintz, £0 9s 0d

1½ pieces of ordinary long cloth, £1 10s 0d

1 piece of white gurrahs, £0 10s 0d

1 piece of calico chintz, £1 0s 0d

7 white shifts, £0 17s 6d

11 pieces of woven stocking, £1 7s 6d

6 China bowls, £0 15s 0d

114 small cups, £0 19s 0d

12 pieces of woven stockings, cups and saucers, £0 6s 0d

2 pairs of women's stockings, £0 4s 6d

2 pairs of the same, £0 2s 6d

1 pair of boys' the same, £0 6s 6d

2 pairs of men's knit the same, £0 5s 0d

2 pairs of the same, £0 4s 6d

1 pair of green knit the same, £0 4s 6d

1 of the same, £0 3s 6d

1 pair of soldiers' the same, £0 4s 3¾d

3 pairs of the same, £0 4s 3¾d

3½ pounds of worsted, £1 16s 0d

8 pairs of women's coloured leather shoes, £0 6s 8d

1 pair of men's the same, £0 11s 6d

2 pairs of women's Spanish the same, £0 8s 3d

1 pair of men's the same, £0 4s 6d

1 pair of boys' the same, £0 2s 0d

1 pair of the same, £0 6s 0d

1 pair of the same, £0 3s 6d

1 ladle, £0 6s 0d

4 porringers, £[...]s [...]d

Total, £116 4s 2½d

Interpretations

Hair powder was a fine scented starch dusted on wigs and natural hair to whiten and hold them. Its sale marks a small article of personal fashion drawn from the store by the settlement's better households.

The account carries a run of Indian cotton piece-goods now obscure by name. Gurrahs were plain coarse cotton from Bengal, and dosooties a stout calico. Long cloth was a plain-woven cotton, chintz a printed or painted cotton from Surat, and gingham a checked or striped cotton from Madras. Bengal taffeta was a fine plain-woven silk. These fabrics reached the island on the homeward India ships and passed to the inhabitants at a margin.

Bohea was a black tea from the Wuyi hills of China, and green tea a lighter cured leaf, both sold by the catty of about a pound and a third. They reached the island on the homeward China ships and formed a small comfort drawn from the store.

The account groups its footwear by leather grade. Spanish leather was a soft dressed hide, prized above the plainer coloured leather. These shoes came ready-made on the Company's ships, the settlement having no supplier of finished footwear of its own.

479

380

January

Brought Over £ 115 4 2.1/4

5 lb 4:d Nailes

— 6 2

8 6:d

— 1 1

1 lb 3:d

— 1 —

3 Hornbooks

— 1 —

2 Simmer

— 1 6

2 doz Hooks

— 1 8

1 Line

— 5 —

9 lb Shoe Thread

— 3 6

1 Spinning Dish

— 6 6

1 Barrel Lamb Black

— 6 —

1 Boy Hatt

— 6 6

2 Soldiers d:o

— 11 6

1 P:o Bodice

— 3 3

1 Tin Pepper Box

— 1 3

1 Glass Cruet

— 4 8

1 y:d Bennets

— 15 9

6.1/2 yard Serge

4 8 9

3.1/4 y:d Broad Cloth

1 7 3

17.1/2 y:d Durane

1 1 6

1 P:o Suffian N:o 0

1 17 —

1.1/2 d:o 2

— 8 1

3 Small Hinges

— 4 4

1 d:o Grind Stone

— 2 6

1 Frying Pan

— 1 —

1 Adz Stone

6 9

18 yards Torretting

— 3 4.1/2

1.1/2 d:o Thread 1/11

— 6 —

2 oz d:o 1/9

— 3 6

2 d:o

— 5 9

1 d:o

— 3 7

1 lb Whited Brown Thread N:o 5

— 4 8

1/2 d:o

— — —

1.1/4 Coloured d:o

— 5 11

2 yard Galloon

— 2 10

12 Lace 5:d d:o

— 12 —

5 d:o 7

— 4 —

5 d:o 10

— 2 6

12.1/2 oz China Silk

— 1 3

13.1/4 Eng: d:o

— 4 4.1/2

2 M Pin 7/4

— 4 8

3.1/2 M d:o

— 3 6

2 M d:o

— 1 3

5 yards Ribbon

— 4 6

4 d:o

— 2 6

2 d:o

— 5 4

4 Sham Mohair

— 3 3

100 Needles

— 2 —

9 yards Gartring

— 1 3

1 P: Wm Glove

2 15 1.1/2

16 oz Silke Twist

£ 132 16 1.1/2

Brought over, £115 4s 2¼d

5 pounds of nails, £0 4s 2d

8 pounds of 6d nails, £0 6s 1d

1 pound of 3d nails, £0 4s 1d

3 horn books, £0 1s 0d

2 primers, £0 1s 6d

2 dozen hooks, £0 1s 8d

1 line, £0 5s 0d

9 pounds of shoe thread, £0 6s 6d

1 skimming dish, £0 6s 6d

1 barrel of lampblack, £0 6s 6d

1 boys' hat, £0 6s 6d

2 soldiers' the same, £0 11s 6d

1 pair of bodices, £0 5s 3d

1 tin pepper box, £0 1s 6d

1 glass cruet, £0 4s 8d

4 gilt bonnets, £0 15s 6d

6½ yards of serge, £0 4s 9d

84 yards of broadcloth, £4 3s 9d

17 yards of durance, £1 7s 3d

1 piece of fustian, no 0, £1 17s 6d

1½ [pieces] of the same, no 2, £1 4s 0d

3 small hinges, £0 4s 4d

1 large grindstone, £0 4s 4d

1 frying pan, £0 2s 6d

1 wig stone, £0 1s 6d

18 yards of trimming, £0 9s 4½d

1½ [ounces] of thread at 1s 11d, £0 3s 10d

2 [ounces] of the same at 1s 9d, £0 5s 0d

1 pound of white and brown thread, no 5, £0 5s 9d

½ pound of the same, £0 3s 7d

1¼ pounds of coloured the same, £0 4s 8d

2 yards of galloon, £0 5s 9d

12 laces at 5d each, £0 11s 0d

5 [laces] at 7d, £0 [...]s 10d

[...] at 10d, £0 12s 0d

12½ ounces of China silk, £0 4s 4½d

1¾ ounces of the same, £0 4s 8d

2 [ounces] of nun's the same at 2s 4d, £0 4s 6d

3½ ounces of the same, £0 3s 6d

2 ounces of the same, £0 [...]s [...]d

5 yards of ribbon, £0 4s 3d

4 [yards] of the same, £0 4s 6d

2 [yards] of the same, £0 5s 3d

4 skeins of mohair, £0 4s 6d

100 needles, £0 3s 6d

9 yards of gartering, £0 [...]s [...]d

1 pair of men's gloves, £0 2s 6d

16 ounces of silk twist, £[...] 1s 9¾d

Total, £132 15s [...]d

Interpretations

Broadcloth was a fine dense woollen finished to a smooth face, the costliest of the cloths listed and sold by the yard for good outer wear. Durance and serge were durable worsted cloths, and fustian a stout mix of cotton and linen. These warm textiles suited the cool season of the island's southern-hemisphere winter.

A wig stone was a smooth stone used to shape and press wigs, and gilt bonnets were caps trimmed with gilt braid. Both marked small articles of personal grooming and fashion drawn from the store by the settlement's better households.

Galloon, ribbon, trimming and lace were narrow woven braids used to edge and finish clothing, graded here by width and price. China silk was raw or spun silk from the homeward China ships, and mohair a fine yarn from the Angora goat. These reached the island on the Company's ships and passed to the inhabitants through the store.

Horn books and primers again appear among the goods. A horn book was a printed sheet of the alphabet and the Lord's Prayer mounted on a tablet under thin horn, used to teach children their letters. Their sale shows the store supplying the means of schooling to a settlement without a bookseller.

480

380

February 1724/5

Cap:t Goodwin Report that pursuant to the Order of Consultation

the 8th of Dec: last he has viewed the Land Petitiond for by

Jn:o Bradley & that Letting the Same will be no ways Prejudicial

Ordered that the Same be Measured accordingly,

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 2:d Day of

February 1724/5 at Union Castle in James Valley

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

The Petition of John Bezett was presented Praying to become

Tenant to the Hon:ble Company for about three Acres of their Waste

Land lying in Dropth Valley, at a Place called the two Waters

Ordered that Cap:t Goodwin do view the said Land & Report

whether Letting the same will be prejudicial to the Neighbourhood

Was this day Executed two Leases for Land, One to Thomas

Greentree for One Acre & an other to Edmond Nichols for One

Acre in Sandy Bay Valley for 21 years

Yesterday about two o'Clock Wee had an Alarm for One

Ship about 9 Leagues Distant off Dry Gutt & this day arrived afternoon

arrived the Sudden Land Cap:t William Hutchinson Com:r from Fort

St George & brought the following Goods for the Use of this Island viz:t

Rice C:o Cask of 4:t 1 Gorse

40

Sugar 246 C:o Bags for Cost 6:1 m:d 6:d P:d 11:8 Candy 60:22:26 100 29:25

Chelgus Merchandrize

Gunny 100 Corge for Bags a P:o 5 P 100 5:—:—

6 Salem 1 Maund for d:o —:18:—

Boat & Cooley —:25:— 6 7:—

Pagodas 106 29:25

Ordered

Margin Notes:

Report of Land Pet: for by Jn:o Bradley

To be measured.

Jn:o Bezetts Pet:r for Land.

To be viewed

2 Leases Executed

Ship Sudden Land Arriv:d

Goods rec:d from Madrass

Captain Goodwin reported that under the order of the consultation of 08 Dec 1724 he had viewed the land John Bradley had petitioned for, and that letting it would do no harm to any neighbour. The council ordered the parcel measured accordingly.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 02 February 1725 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

John Bazett presented a petition to become tenant of the Honourable Company for about three acres of its waste land in Dropsy Valley, at a place called the Two Waters. The council ordered Captain Goodwin to view the land and report whether letting it would harm the neighbourhood.

Two leases for land were made out this day, one to Thomas Greentree for one acre and one to Edmond Nichols for one acre in Sandy Bay valley, both for 21 years.

An alarm was raised the previous day about two o'clock for a ship about nine leagues distant off Dry Gut. This afternoon the Sunderland, under Captain William Hutchinson, arrived from Fort St George. She brought the following goods for the use of the island.

1 cask of the same, 40 [...]

Sugar, 246 bags at 6s 1d per bag, £75 0s 0d, and candy 60 at 22 pagodas 25, 100 at 29 pagodas 25

Bulse merchandise

Gunny, 100 pieces for bags at 5s per 100, £5 0s 0d

1 [...] and 1 maund for the same, £0 18s 0d

Boat and cooly, £0 25s 0d, £6 7s 0d

Pagodas, 106, 29 pagodas 25

Interpretations

Gunny was a coarse sacking woven from jute, imported here in pieces to make up into bags for the Company's goods. Its supply from Fort St George marks the practical stock the island drew from the Indian trade for storing and moving provisions.

A maund was an Indian unit of weight, and a bulse a package of goods reckoned as one lot for trade. The cargo from Fort St George was priced in pagodas, the gold coin of the Madras coast, before being charged to the island's accounts.

The lease to Bazett for waste in Dropsy Valley followed the council's practice of letting Company ground by formal grant on view. It required a survey and a report on any harm to neighbours before the parcel was fixed, the same care shown in the Bradley grant of 08 Dec 1724.

481

381

February

Ordered that the Usual Letter for heaving the Ship

nearer in on Alarm be wrote & Sent to Cap:t Hutchinson

the Evening. Pursuant to the Order of the preceeding

Consultation relating to the Land Mentioned in Serj:t

Gurlings Petition the Consultation of the 15th Jan:y 1714/5 to

hath been Examined & therein appears that the said Richard

Gurling besides several other of the Inhabitants, did then appear

& proved his Title to the Pea Lands he had in Cofession &

that in Consultation of the 8th of July 1713 We find an

Advertisement Entred giving Publick Notice, that on

Sunday the 5th of August following Deeds & Leases

would be deliverd out to those Persons who had proved their

Title to their respective Lands & that if any Person had

any Objection to make why such Persons should not be

Confirmed in the Same they were to appear & make their

Claim or else own again to be Voided & Wholly debarred, &

that no Pretentions afterwards to be Received Null & void,

And forasmuch as the said Richard Gurling then appearing

with Sundry other Persons Named in the said Advertisement in

Obedience thereto & in Order to the Receiving, & taking up Deeds

for their Lands & no Objection made thereto by any Person

& the said Gurling having been ever Since in Peaceable &

Quiet Cofession of the Acre of Land now in dispute, It is

Our opinion that the said Richard Gurling Title is Good &

Good it being of the same Nature & Tenure by which the

rest of the Inhabitants hold their Lands to them & their

Heirs pursuant to Our Hon:ble Masters Instructions

touching Land & Titles more fully Set forth in the 4th

Paragraph of their Gen:l Letter dated the 30th of 9ber 1704.

Cap:t Goodwin Report that he has view:d the Land

Petitiond for by Serj:t Wood in the foregoing Consultation

& that the Letting of it will be no ways Prejudicial to any body

Ordered that the same be accordingly Measured

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Consultations Recited about the Land Claimed by Sarah Southen

R:d Gurlings Title made out

and Lookt on to be Good & Valid

Co:s Ord:r recited.

Report of Land Pet: for by Serj:t Wood

& to be measured

The council ordered the usual letter written to Captain Hutchinson, requiring him to bring his ship nearer in on every alarm, and delivered to him that evening.

Under the order of the previous consultation about the land claimed by Sarah Southen, the council examined the consultation of 15 Jan 1725 touching her petition. It appeared that Richard Gurling, along with several other inhabitants, had proved his title to the free lands he held in possession.

The council traced Gurling's title through the consultation of 08 Jul 1713. By an advertisement of that date, public notice had been given that on the following 05 August all deeds and leases would be delivered out to the persons holding the several lands. Any person with an objection was to appear on that day and show why the holder should not be confirmed in his title, or else the grant would be void and the land wholly returned to the Company, with no later claim allowed.

Richard Gurling had then appeared with several others under that advertisement, to receive and take up the deeds for their lands, and no objection had been made against him by anyone. Gurling having ever since been in peaceable and quiet possession of the acre of land now in dispute, the council held his title good and valid. The land was of the same nature and tenure by which the rest of the inhabitants held their own, under the Honourable Masters' instructions on land and title set out in the fourth paragraph of their general letter dated 30 Nov 1704.

Captain Goodwin reported that he had viewed the land John Bradley had petitioned for, and set out in the previous consultation, and that letting it by gum wood would do no harm to anybody. The council ordered the parcel measured accordingly.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The council settled Sarah Southen's claim against Richard Gurling by resting on the public deed-delivery of 05 Aug 1713. It treated the earlier advertisement as a bar to any later objection, since the time to contest title had passed without challenge.

Gurling's long and undisturbed possession of the parcel was decisive. The council took quiet enjoyment over many years as confirmation of a valid title, holding his land of the same tenure by which every other inhabitant held their own.

The reference to the fourth paragraph of the directors' letter of 30 Nov 1704 anchored the island's land law in the Company's standing instructions. This gave the council a written authority for the form of tenure by which the settlement held its ground.

482

378

1724/5

Diet Expences Ditto 132 16 5.3/4

16.3/8 Gall: Arrack

53 4 —

656 lb Sugar

7 16 6

1 Cask Beef

13 — —

1 lb Bengale Pork

8 — —

1 Bottle Florence oyle

— 7 6

2 Gall: Vineger

— 8 —

2 lb Pepper

— 2 —

Garrison D:o

12 Catties Green Tea

2 8 —

5 lb Rape oyle

1 13 —

1 P:o Ordinary Long Cloth

1 — —

1 Gall: Arrack

— 6 4

1 lb Ruff Tobacco

— 2 6

1 lb Soap

— 1 5

1 Shirt

— 8 6

Fortification 2 Lines

— 4 10

Great Wood 6 lb 10:d Nails 4

6 6:d 4/6

— 8 6

Plantation D:o

6 lb Cordage

— 8 —

1 Auditor

— 2 6

1 P:o Small Hinges

— — 7.1/2

Gen:l Charges

4 lb Bohea Tea

1 4 —

4 Gro:s Corke

— 12 —

2 Sheet Tin

— 2 —

1 lb Pack Thread

— 2 6

1 P:o Bellows N:o 5

— 10 —

1 Soldiers Hatt

— 3 3

1 P:o Working Knitt

— 3 3

1 P:o Brass Candle Stick

— 11 —

1 d:o

— 8 4

3 Tea Potts

— 7 —

12 Cups & Saucers

— 10 —

25 Plates

— — 11.1/2

£ 226 14 4.3/4

Diet expenses

Brought over, £128 16s 5¾d

168 gallons of arrack, £53 4s 0d

660 pounds of sugar, £7 16s 6d

1 cask of beef, £13 0s 0d

1 pound of Bengal pork, £8 0s 0d

1 bottle of Florence oil, £0 7s 6d

2 gallons of vinegar, £0 8s 0d

2 pounds of pepper, £0 2s 0d

Garrison

12 catties of green tea, £2 8s 0d

5 gallons of rape oil, £1 13s 0d

1 piece of ordinary long cloth, £1 0s 0d

1 gallon of arrack, £0 6s 4d

1 pound of cut tobacco, £0 2s 6d

1 pound of soap, £0 1s 5d

1 shirt, £0 2s 6d

Fortification

2 lines, £0 1s 10d

Great Wood

6 pounds of 10d nails at 4d, and 6 pounds of 6d nails at 4d, £0 8s 6d

Plantation

6 pounds of cordage, £0 8s 0d

1 auger, £0 2s 6d

1 pair of small hinges, £0 0s 7½d

General charges

2 pounds of bohea tea, £1 4s 0d

4 grow cups, £0 12s 0d

2 sheets of tin, £0 2s 0d

1 pound of pack thread, £0 2s 6d

1 pair of bellows, no 5, £0 10s 0d

1 soldiers' hat, £0 3s 8d

1 pair of worsted knit stockings, £0 3s 3d

1 pair of brass candlesticks, £0 11s 4d

1 of the same, £0 8s 4d

2 teapots, £0 10s 0d

12 cups and saucers, £[...]s [...]d

25 nails, £0 [...]s 11½d

Total, £226 14s 4¼d

Interpretations

The account divides spending under heads for the diet, the garrison, the fortification, the Great Wood, the plantation and the general charges. Each head stands apart before the total is struck. This let the council charge provisions and materials to their proper accounts across the several branches of the establishment.

Arrack again formed the largest single charge on the diet account. The distilled spirit from Batavia and India passed through the store under the Company's liquor monopoly. That same control was enforced against the coxswain Caleb Davis on 04 Mar 1724.

Bohea and green tea were teas from China, the first a black cured leaf and the second lighter, both sold by the catty of about a pound and a third. They reached the island on the homeward China ships and served as small comforts drawn from the store.

The nails charged to the Great Wood supported the fencing and repair of the island's woodland. Their issue marks continuing labour on the enclosure and protection of scarce timber, the standing concern behind the fencing order of 23 Jun 1724 and the game law of 28 Jul 1724.

483

379

January

Honble Comp:s Blacks Brought Over 226 15 4.3/4

13 — —

1 Cask Beef

24 — —

2 d:o Pork

20 — —

2 d:o Hoyhide

15 17 6

5 Casks Wheat

3 7 6

5 d:o from Indiaz or 9 Bush a 7/6

37 4 6

3978 lb Rice a 25 P Cost

12 12 —

366 P:o Blew 6:s of Cap:t Boddam 7:s

2 17 6

10 P:o Shoes

— 8 6

1 P:o Womens Leather

— 3 —

2 P:o Wom:s Stockings

6 — —

6 P:o Coarse Long Cloth

— 6 —

1 P:o Cotton Stocking

— 2 6

1 White Shirt

— 18 —

6 Chelloe d:o

Cash P:d for 6 P:o Patna Chint 1:6

d:o for 6 P:o Luriscurios 1:10

d:o 8 P:o Chelloe 5:—:—

d:o 10 P:o Cambay Ginghams 2:15:— 10 11 —

Haberdashery Ware

4.1/2 Whited Brown Thread

1 2 6

2.1/2 Gro:s Shirt Buttons

— 10 —

2 Laces

— 1 3

1 d:o Tape

— 2 8

£ 375 — 2.3/4

Wee Executed to day the following Leases, To Cap:t Jn:o Goodwin

2 Leases, One for Eight Acres & the other for two Acres, One to Mr

Wingham, on the behalf of Jn:o Greentree, Orphan, for Seven

Acres adjoyning to Ten Acres Jos: Greenwood, & one to Cap:t

John Alexander for Seven Acres & half in Sandy Bay Valley all

for twenty One years at the Usual Rent of 5/ P Acre.

The Sev:l Persons following Presented Petition viz:t

John Bradley Praying to become Tenant to the Hon:ble

Company for about three Acres of their Waste Land lying under the

Main Ridge Adjoyning to the Land now in the Cofession of Serj:t Wood

Ordered that the Land be Measured by Cap:t Goodwin, & he to

Report whether Letting the Same will be Prejudicial to any body else

or not

Margin Notes:

Sundry Leases Executed

Jn:o Bradleys Pet:r for Land

To be viewed

Brought over, £226 15s 4¾d

Honourable Company's blacks

1 cask of beef, £13 0s 0d

2 casks of pork, £24 0s 0d

2 casks of hogshead, £20 0s 0d

5 casks of wheat, £15 17s 6d

5 casks of the same from India, at 9 bushels at 7s 6d, £3 7s 6d

397 pieces of blue gurrahs at 25 per cask, £37 4s 6d

366 pieces of blue the same, from Captain Boddam, at 7s, £12 12s 0d

10 pieces of the same shoes, £2 17s 6d

1 piece of women's leather, £0 6s 6d

2 pieces of women's stockings, £0 3s 0d

6 pieces of coarse long cloth, £6 0s 0d

1 piece of cotton stockings, £0 2s 6d

1 white shift, £0 2s 6d

6 chillo the same, £0 18s 0d

Cash paid for 6 pieces of Patna chintz, £1 6s 0d

Cash paid for 6 pieces of Turedeeries, £1 10s 0d

Cash paid for 8 pieces of chillo, £5 0s 0d

Cash paid for 10 pieces of Cambay gingham, £2 15s 0d, £10 11s 0d

Haberdashery ware

4½ pounds of white and brown thread, £1 2s 6d

2½ gross of shirt buttons, £0 10s 0d

2 laces, £0 1s 2d

1 piece of tape, £0 2s 8d

Total, £375 0s 2¾d

Two leases were made out this day. One to Captain Goodwin for eight acres, and the other to Mr Wingham on behalf of John Flanerloe's orphans for three acres adjoining John Flanerloe's free gumwood. One to Captain John Alexander for seven acres, and a half in Sandy Bay valley, all for 21 years at the usual rent of [...] per acre.

John Bradley presented a petition to become tenant of the Honourable Company for about two acres of its waste land under the Main Ridge, adjoining land now in the possession of the Great Wood. The council ordered the land viewed by Captain Goodwin, who was to report whether letting it would harm anybody or not.

Interpretations

The account groups its bulk provisions and cloth under the head of the Company's blacks. Casks of beef, pork and wheat sit beside pieces of Indian cotton, marking the store's supply of both food and clothing to the slave force.

Gurrahs were plain coarse cotton from Bengal, and chillo a printed or checked cotton. Patna chintz was a painted cotton from the Bengal city of Patna, and Cambay gingham a striped or checked cloth from western India. These fabrics reached the island on the homeward ships and clothed the slaves against the cool season.

The leases continued the council's practice of letting Company waste by formal grant for a fixed term. Each parcel went out on a 21-year lease at a set rent, one made on behalf of orphans to guard their share of the family ground.

484

380

[Text loss along the right-hand edge, affecting the ends of several lines in the upper and middle portions of the page.]

1724/5

Sarah Southen Setting forth that she thinks her Self Intitled to

an Acre of Land Claimed by Richard Gurling & praying the Same

might be Examined into.

Upon which Richard Gurling Produced a Deed for all his

Pea Land Granted to him in the Year 1713 by Gov:r Boucher & the same

Councile, in which Deed it precisely Mentiond that the said Serj:t Gurlings

Title to all the Land then in Cofession was proved & Entred in Consultacion

of the 15th of Jan:y 1713. Whereupon Ordered that the s:d Consultacion

be Examined by the next Consultation Day that We may have more

Light into this Matter

Orlando Bagley Jun:r Praying to become Tenant for

Some of the Hon:ble Comp:s Waste Land adjoyning to Some Land now

in Cofession of the Petitioner Father lying under the Main Ridge

Rejected for the Reasons Mentiond in Consultacion of the 15th

of Oct:r 1723, but if any Ley the Pet: to have the Refusees of it, it

lying adjoyning to his Fathers Land

Jonathan Bigham Jun:r Praying leave to Sell

his Estate & Effects & go off the Island

We having Granted an Additional Number of three Acres of Land

to the s:d Bigham for the better Maintainance of himself & Family Wee

dont think fit to Grant his Petition

Joseph Lufkin Praying leave to Sett Seven Acres of

Land held by Lease of the Hon:ble Comp:s

Granted provided We approve of the Tenant that Shall purchase

the said Land

Sergeant Wood Praying to become Tenant to

the Hon:ble Comp:s for about twelve three Acres of their Waste Land

lying in Prosperous Bay Valley under the high Water Fall.

Ordered that Cap:t Goodwin do view the Said Land &

make Report accordingly

Gunner French likewise brought in an Acc:t of

Gunners Stores Expended in the Month of Dec: last which was

Examined Approved & is as follows viz:t

Margin Notes:

Sarah Southen Claim to an Acre of Land.

R:d Gurlings Deed to be further Examined

Or: Bagley Jun: Pet: for Land

Rejected.

Jon: Bigham Pet: for Leave to Sell his Effects

Rejected & why

Jos: Lufkin request to Sell 7 Acres Comp:s Land

Granted on Condition

Serj:t Woods Pet: for Land in Prosp: Bay Valley

To be viewed

Gun:rs Acc:t Deliv:d in for Dec:r

Sarah Southen presented a claim, setting out that she thought herself entitled to an acre of land now held by Richard Gurling, and asked that the matter be examined.

Richard Gurling produced a deed for all his free land, granted to him in 1713 by Governor Boucher and the council. The deed expressly mentioned that his title to all the land then in his possession had been proved and entered in the consultation of 15 Jan 1713. The council ordered the matter examined by the next consultation day, so that more light might be had on it.

Orlando Bagley junior presented a petition to become tenant of some of the Honourable Company's waste land, adjoining land now in his father's possession under the Main Ridge. The council rejected it for the reasons set out in the consultation of 15 Oct 1723, but if it saw fit to grant the refusal of the parcel, it lay next to his father's land.

Jonathan Higham junior asked leave to sell his estate and effects and to leave the island. Having granted him an additional three acres of land for the better maintenance of himself and his family, the council did not think fit to grant the petition.

Joseph Lufkin asked leave to sell seven acres of land he held by lease of the Honourable Company. The council granted it, provided it approved of the tenant who was to buy the land.

Sergeant Wood asked to become tenant of the Honourable Company for about 12 or three acres of its waste land in Prosperous Bay valley, under the high water fall. The council ordered Captain Goodwin to view the land and report accordingly.

Gunner French brought in his account of gunner's stores expended during December, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

Sarah Southen's claim revived the same dispute over Richard Gurling's acre already weighed at the consultation of 02 Feb 1725. The council again rested the question on Gurling's deed of 1713 and its record in the consultation book, treating the written grant as the test of title.

Jonathan Higham's request marks the council refusing leave to depart to a man it had lately provided for. Having granted him extra land to support his family, the council held him to the island rather than let him sell up and go.

The grants and refusals turned on the Company's control over its waste land and its tenants. The council let parcels only on view and on approval of the buyer, guarding the tenure by which the settlement held its ground.

485

381

January 1724/5

Gunners Acc:t for Dec:r 1724

Dec: 1 An Alarm

4 4 4

2 Arrived Prince Frederick Cap:t Haynes Com:r

9 9 9

Muster Day

— — 12

13 An Alarm

4 4 4

d:o Arrived the London Cap:t Boothe

9 9 9

23 Departed the London & Prince Frederick

22 22 22

Expence for Guard & on Alarm

— — 13

48 48 73

Rammer Rods

11

Spunge Heads

6

Sheep Skins

3

Cartridge Paper

1

d:o for the Guard Expence

8 1

Rammer deld Cap:t Cason

3

Ditto Expended

21

28 2 3 6 11

Mr Crisp Likewise deliverd an Acc:t of the Expence of the

Gen:l Table for the Month of Dec: last w:ch was Exam:d approved & is

as follows viz:t

21 C:o Salt Beef

3:17:6

21 d:o Pork

2:19:6

105 lb Bread

4:6:9

230 lb Sugar

5:15:—

79 Gall: Arrack 6/4

24:10:4

34 P:o d:o Mountain 3:s

5:2:—

15 d:o Cape

—:15:—

13 d:o Port

1:12:6

30 Fowls

2:5:—

2 Turkey

2:14:—

6 Cap:o

1:16:—

140 lb Flower

1:16:—

30 d:o Candle

3:5:—

5 C:o lb Spring Ben

—:6:0

2 Quart Florence Oyle

7/6

4 d:o Vineger

—:2:—

2 lb Pepper

—:2:—

26 lb Corg

1:15:5

1 Goat

—:10:—

1800 lb d:o

—:15:—

476 lb Beef

5:19:—

1 Sheep

—:4:—

8 lb Shad Butter

—:—:8

£ 69:14:03

Gunner French brought in his account of gunner's stores expended during December, which the council examined and approved as follows.

1st, an alarm, 4 falcons, 4 minions, 4 pounds

2nd, arrived the Prince Frederick, Captain Haynes, 9 falcons, 9 minions, 9 pounds

Muster day, 12 pounds

15th, an alarm, 4 falcons, 4 minions, 4 pounds

16th, arrived the London, 9 falcons, 9 minions, 9 pounds

23rd, departed the London and Prince Frederick, 22 falcons, 22 minions, 22 pounds

Expense for the guard and on alarms, 13 pounds

Total, 48 falcons, 48 minions, 73 pounds

Rammer heads, 11

Sponge heads, 6

Sheep skins, 3

Cartridge paper, 1 quire

The same for the guard's expense, 1 quire

Flint delivered to Captain Cason, 8, 3, 51

The same expended, 3

Signed by John French

Total, 28 rammer heads, 2 sponge heads, 3 sheep skins, 6 quires of cartridge paper, 11 flints

Mr Crisp delivered his account of the expense of the General Table for December, which the council examined and approved as follows.

31 pounds of salt beef, £3 17s 6d

21 pounds of pork, £2 12s 6d

105 pounds of bread, £4 6s 9d

230 pounds of sugar, £5 15s 0d

79 gallons of arrack at 6s 4d per gallon, £24 10s 4d

54 bottles of mountain wine at 3s, £5 2s 0d

15 bottles of Cape wine, £0 15s 0d

13 bottles of port, £1 12s 6d

30 fowls, £2 5s 0d

2 turkeys, £2 14s 0d

6 dozen [eggs], £1 16s 0d

140 pounds of flour, £1 16s 0d

30 pounds of candles, £3 15s 0d

5 pounds of strong pork, £0 6s 0d

2 quarts of Florence oil, £0 7s 6d

4 gallons of vinegar, £0 3s 0d

2 pounds of pepper, £0 2s 0d

26 pounds of soap, £1 15s 5d

1 goat, £0 10s 0d

1,800 pounds of the same, £0 15s 0d

47 pounds of beef, £5 19s 0d

1 sheep, £0 7s 4d

8 pounds of shad, taken, £0 0s 8d

Total, £69 14s 3d

Interpretations

Falcons and minions were small cannon of light bore. Their names served to reckon powder charges by the weight each gun required. The account measures powder by these units alongside plain weights, showing both the occasion of firing and the quantity spent.

The heaviest charges fell on the arrivals and the joint departure of the Prince Frederick and the London. The gunner recorded the powder spent in greeting and seeing off the two homeward ships, alongside the muster day, two alarms and the daily guard.

Mountain wine was a sweet white wine from Malaga, and Cape wine a produce of the Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. Both joined the port on the General Table that fed the Governor and councillors, marking the officers' diet against the plainer garrison ration.

Arrack again stood as the largest single charge on the table by value. The distilled spirit from Batavia and India passed through the store under the Company's liquor monopoly, the same control enforced against the coxswain Caleb Davis on 04 Mar 1724.

486

382

1724/5

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 9th

Day of February at Plantation House

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

James Vaughan & Jonathan Bigham Land Severally Petitioned for

Land lying in Sandy Bay Valley amounting in the whole to about

two Acres, Ordered that Cap:t Goodwin view the said two Parcells of

Land & make Report on Tuesday next

John Coulson Planter Petitiond for Leave to Sell his Estate &

Effects & go off the Island

Granted provided he give Security to go off the Island in the

next Storeship otherwise the Creditors to debark whatever they

buy of him or else he & his family will Soon lett up the Creditors

at every & have nothing left to Maintain themselves & become

burthensome to the Island

Cap:t Goodwin Reports that he has Measured the s:d Land

Petitiond for in the foregoing Consultation for Serj:t Wood & find it to

be four Acres Rough & Smooth

Ordered that a Lease be made accordingly for 21 years at

the Usual Rent of 5/ P Acre

And likewise Reports that he has Viewed the Land

Petitiond for by John Bezette Entered in the s:d Consultation

& that Letting the same is no way detrimental to the Neighbourhood

Ordered that the Same be Measured accordingly

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Vaughn and Bigham Pet: for Land.

To be Viewed.

Jn:o Coulson Pet: for to Sell his Effects.

Granded on Condition

Land Measured for Serj:t Wood 4 Acres.

Report ab:t Land Pet: for by Jn:o Bezett

to be measured

At a consultation held on Tuesday 09 February 1725 at the Plantation House.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

James Vaughan and Jonathan Higham each presented a petition for land lying in Sandy Bay valley, amounting in all to about two acres. The council ordered Captain Goodwin to view the two parcels and report on the following Tuesday.

John Coles, planter, petitioned for leave to sell his estate and effects and to leave the island. The council granted it, provided he gave security to go off the island in the next shipping. Otherwise his creditors would be left to recover whatever they could of him. If he and his family soon set up as creditors and had nothing left to maintain themselves, they would become a burden to the island.

Captain Goodwin reported that he had measured the land set out in the previous consultation for gum wood, and found it to be four acres or thereabouts. The council ordered a lease made accordingly, for 21 years at the usual rent of 4s 0d per acre.

Captain Goodwin further reported that he had viewed the land John Bazett had petitioned for, entered in the previous consultation, and that letting it would do no harm to the neighbourhood. The council ordered the parcel measured accordingly.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The condition on John Coles's leave guarded the island against a departing family becoming a charge. The council required security that he sail in the next shipping, so that his creditors and the parish would not bear the cost if he lingered without means.

The grants and views turned on the Company's control over its waste land. The council let each parcel only after a survey and a report on any harm to neighbours, fixing the bounds and rent before the tenancy was confirmed.

The lease for gum wood at a set rent per acre tied the grant to the planting of timber. This continued the island's long effort to protect and renew its scarce woodland, the standing concern behind the fencing order of 23 Jun 1724.

487

383

February

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the

16th day of February 1724/5 at Union Castle

Present

John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

Cap:t Goodwin Report that he has viewed the

two Parcells of Land Petitiond for by James

Vaughn & Jonathan Bigham Jun:r the last Consultation

& that Letting the Same to them will be no ways detrimental

to the Publick

Ordered that the s:d two Parcells be accordingly Measured

Mr Byfeld brought in & deliverd an Acc:t of the

Hon:ble Companies, Live Stock of Cattle Sheep Goate

Hoggs &c:a for the Month of January 1724/5 w:ch

was Examined approved & is as follows

viz:t

Margin Notes:

Report of Land Pet: for by Vaughn & Bigham

and to be measured

Mr Byfelds Acc:t for Jan:y

At a consultation held on Tuesday 16 February 1725 at Union Castle.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

Captain Goodwin reported that he had viewed the two parcels of land set out in the previous consultation for James Vaughan and Jonathan Higham junior, and that letting them would do no harm to the public. The council ordered the two parcels measured accordingly.

Mr Byfield brought in his account of the Honourable Company's live stock of cattle, sheep, goats and hogs for January, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

The council let the two parcels only after a survey confirmed no harm to the public. This continued its standing care over the Company's waste land, fixing the bounds before any tenancy was granted.

488

384

1724/5

Neat Cattle

Bullock

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 10

Bought in Jan:y 9

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 19

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 19

Stole in ditto 1

Dead in ditto 18

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 18

Cowes

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 36

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 35

Stole this Week 1

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 34

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 34

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 34

Heifers

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 11

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 11

Stole this Week 1

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 10

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 10

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 10

Steers

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 2

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 2

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 2

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 2

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 2

Yearling

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 5

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 5

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 5

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 5

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 5

Calves

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 41

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto 6

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 47

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 47

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 47

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 47

Bulls

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 1

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 1

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 1

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 1

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 1

Totall

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 105

Bought in Jan:y 9

Increased in ditto 6

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 120

Stole this Week 2

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 118

Stole in ditto 1

Dead in ditto 117

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 117

Sheep

Ewes

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 31

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 31

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 31

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 31

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 31

Withers

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 10

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 10

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 10

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 10

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 10

Lamb

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 14

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 14

Stole this Week 1

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 13

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 13

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 13

Rams

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 6

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 6

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 6

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 6

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 6

Total

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 61

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 61

Stole this Week 1

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 60

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 60

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 60

Goates

Ewes

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 91

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 91

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 91

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 91

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 91

Withers

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 6

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto 9

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 15

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 15

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 15

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 15

Kid

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 25

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto 8

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 33

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 33

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 33

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 33

Rams

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 13

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 13

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 13

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 13

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 13

Totall

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 135

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto 17

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 152

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 152

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 152

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 152

Hogs

Sows

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 10

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 10

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 10

Stole in ditto 1

Dead in ditto 9

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 9

Shoats

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 3

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 3

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 3

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 3

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 3

Boars

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 1

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 1

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 1

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 1

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 1

Pig

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 12

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto 26

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 38

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 38

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 38

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 38

Totall

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 26

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto 26

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 52

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 52

Stole in ditto 1

Dead in ditto 51

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 49

Poultry

Turkeys

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 36

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto 19

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 55

Stole this Week 20

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 55

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 55

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 55

Fowls

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 231

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 231

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 211

Stole in ditto 2

Dead in ditto 18

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 193

Ducks

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 13

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 40

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 40

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 40

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 40

Geese

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 12

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 12

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 12

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 12

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 12

Asses

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 6

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 6

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 6

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 6

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 6

Horses

Asses

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 5

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 5

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 5

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 5

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 5

Mares

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 2

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 2

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 2

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 2

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 2

Totall

Rem:n ult:o Dec: 1724 7

Bought in Jan:y —

Increased in ditto —

Killed in Fort in d:o Cows 7

Stole this Week —

Sold to Ship Prince Augustus 7

Stole in ditto —

Dead in ditto 7

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 7

Yams Expended at the Sev:ll Plantation 23749 lb

Gunner French likewise brought in & del:d an Acc:t of Gunners Stores Expended in the Month Jan:y

1724/5 which was Examined approved & is as follows

Neat cattle

Remaining last December: 10 bullocks, 35 cows, 11 heifers, 2 steers, 5 yearlings, 41 calves, 1 bull, total 105

Bought in January: 9 bullocks, total 9

Increased in January: 6 calves, total 6

Killed in the same and taken for the Fort: 19 bullocks, 35 cows, 11 heifers, 2 steers, 5 yearlings, 47 calves, 1 bull, total 120, less 1 cow, 1 heifer, 2 calves, total 4

Sold to the ship Prince Augusta: 19 bullocks, 34 cows, 10 heifers, 2 steers, 5 yearlings, 47 calves, 1 bull, total 118, less 1 bullock, 1 calf, total 1

Stolen in the same: 18 bullocks, 34 cows, 10 heifers, 2 steers, 5 yearlings, 47 calves, 1 bull, total 117

Dead in the same: 18 bullocks, 34 cows, 10 heifers, 2 steers, 5 yearlings, 47 calves, 1 bull, total 117

Remaining last January: 18 bullocks, 34 cows, 10 heifers, 2 steers, 5 yearlings, 47 calves, 1 bull, total 117

Sheep

Remaining last December: 31 ewes, 10 wethers, 14 lambs, 6 rams, total 61

Bought in January: none

Increased in January: none

Killed in the same and taken for the Fort: 31 ewes, 10 wethers, 14 lambs, 6 rams, total 61, less 1 lamb, total 1

Sold to the ship Prince Augusta: 31 ewes, 10 wethers, 13 lambs, 6 rams, total 60

Stolen in the same: 31 ewes, 10 wethers, 13 lambs, 6 rams, total 60

Dead in the same: 31 ewes, 10 wethers, 13 lambs, 6 rams, total 60

Remaining last January: 31 ewes, 10 wethers, 13 lambs, 6 rams, total 60

Goats

Remaining last December: 91 ewes, 6 withers, 25 kids, 13 rams, total 135

Bought in January: 9 withers, 8 kids, total 17

Increased in January: none

Killed in the same and taken for the Fort: 91 ewes, 15 withers, 33 kids, 13 rams, total 152

Sold to the ship Prince Augusta: 91 ewes, 15 withers, 33 kids, 13 rams, total 152

Stolen in the same: 91 ewes, 15 withers, 33 kids, 13 rams, total 152, less 1

Dead in the same: 91 ewes, 15 withers, 33 kids, 13 rams, total 152, less 2

Remaining last January: 91 ewes, 15 withers, 33 kids, 13 rams, total 152

Hogs

Remaining last December: 10 sows, 3 shoats, 1 boar, 12 pigs, total 26

Bought in January: none

Increased in January: 26 pigs, total 26

Killed in the same and taken for the Fort: 10 sows, 3 shoats, 1 boar, 38 pigs, total 52

Sold to the ship Prince Augusta: 10 sows, 3 shoats, 1 boar, 38 pigs, total 52

Stolen in the same: 10 sows, 3 shoats, 1 boar, 38 pigs, total 52, less 1

Dead in the same: 9 sows, 3 shoats, 1 boar, 38 pigs, total 51, less 2

Remaining last January: 9 sows, 1 shoat, 1 boar, 38 pigs, total 49

Poultry

Remaining last December: 36 turkeys, 231 fowls, 13 ducks, 12 geese, total 190

Bought in January: 26 turkeys, 19 fowls, total 27

Increased in January: none

Killed in the same and taken for the Fort: 52 turkeys, 231 fowls, 40 ducks, 12 geese, less 20

Sold to the ship Prince Augusta: 55 turkeys, 211 fowls, 40 ducks, 12 geese

Stolen in the same: 55 turkeys, 211 fowls, 40 ducks, 12 geese

Dead in the same: 55 turkeys, 193 fowls, 40 ducks, 12 geese, less 18

Remaining last January: 55 turkeys, 193 fowls, 40 ducks, 12 geese

Asses and horses

Remaining last December: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Bought in January: none

Increased in January: none

Killed in the same and taken for the Fort: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Sold to the ship Prince Augusta: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Stolen in the same: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Dead in the same: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Remaining last January: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Yams expended at the several plantations, 23,749 pounds

Gunner French brought in his account of gunner's stores expended during January, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

The account tracks the Company's live stock month by month under fixed heads. It shows the opening number, purchases, increase, the beasts killed for the Fort, those sold to the ship, those stolen and dead, and the closing number. This let the council follow the herds and flocks as a running asset.

The purchase of nine bullocks and further goats in January marks a continued effort to rebuild the herd. The Company bought in stock rather than drawing solely on its own beasts, a sign of the recovery sought after the long drought.

The sale of cattle, sheep, goats and hogs to the Prince Augusta shows the island victualling a departing ship from its own flocks. This supplied the vessel for the homeward passage, set beside the usual slaughter for the Fort.

489

385

February

Gunners Acc:t

1724

Jan:y 1 An Alarm Cap:t Jobson

4 4 4

Arrived the Prince Augustus Cap:t Jobson

9 9 9

Deld John Worrale to Alarm Sandy Bay

— — 1

To Answer a Salute from Prince Augustus

7 7 7

Deld to the Prince Augustus ten Bomells Powder

— — 200

Departed Prince Augustus

7 7 12

6 Musterday

4 4 4

16 An Alarm

15 15 15

d:o Arrived the Assiento Cap:t Edward Tizard

— — 1

26 Expended at the Funnal of George Bryan

— — 18

To Making & fixing Grenadier Couches

— — 10

Expence for the Guard

Line 46 46 288

Cartridge Paper for the Guard

1

Sent to On France Bay Spunge Staves Fort

1

Spunge Staves & broken on the Line

1

Expence of Match

16 14 —

Sheep Skin

1

1 14 2 1

Signed John French

Cap:t Goodwin likewise brought in & deliverd an

Acc:t of Store Goods Sold & deliverd in the Month

of January last which was Examined Approved & is

as follows viz:t

Chelloes

Gunner French brought in his account of gunner's stores expended during January, which the council examined and approved as follows.

1st, an alarm, 4 falcons, 4 minions, 4 pounds

Arrived the Prince Augusta, Captain Jolton, 9 falcons, 9 minions, 9 pounds

Delivered to John Worrall to alarm Sandy Bay, 1 pound

To answer a salute from the Prince Augusta, 7 falcons, 7 minions, 7 pounds

Delivered to the Prince Augusta ten barrels of powder, 200 pounds

Departed the Prince Augusta, 7 falcons, 7 minions, 7 pounds

6th, muster day, 12 pounds

16th, an alarm, 4 falcons, 4 minions, 4 pounds

Arrived the Asiento, Captain Edward Girard, 15 falcons, 15 minions, 15 pounds

26th, expended at the funeral of George Bryan, 1 pound

For melting and fixing grenade trunks, 18 pounds

Expense for the guard, 10 pounds

Total, 46 falcons, 46 minions, 288 pounds

Cartridge paper for the guard, 1 quire

Sent to Prosperous Bay, sponge staves, 1

Sponge staves broken on the line, 1

Expense of match, 14 pounds

Sheep skins, 1

Total, 1, 14 pounds, 2 sponge staves, 1 quire

Signed by John French

Captain Goodwin brought in his account of store goods sold and delivered during January, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

Falcons and minions were small cannon of light bore. Their names served to reckon powder charges by the weight each gun required. The account measures powder by these units alongside plain weights, showing both the occasion of firing and the quantity spent.

The single heaviest charge was ten barrels of powder delivered to the Prince Augusta. This supply of ammunition to a passing ship went well beyond the routine salutes and alarms, marking the island as a source of naval stores for the Company's shipping.

Grenade trunks were hollow tubes packed with powder and shot, thrown or fired as small explosive charges. The powder spent in melting and fixing them shows the garrison preparing its own munitions from the magazine's stock.

490

386

1724/5

50.5/8 Gall: Arrack

16 — 7.1/2

605 lb Sugar

15 2 9

731 lb Bread

7 12 9

31 lb Flower

— 7 9

6 Candy

— 6 —

20.1/2 lb Soap

1 9 1/2

13/4 Gall: Grape Oyle

— 10 6

2 Q:t Vinegar

— 1 —

8 White Shirt

1 1 —

1 G: Maddras Chint

1 1 3

1 P:o Surat d:o

— 18 —

3 G: White Desotees

1 10 —

1 P:o Gingham 7/6

1 10 —

2 Gurrah 9/6

— 19 —

34 y:d Broad Cloth

10 6 9

5.1/2 doz Hooks Sorted

— 8 —

5 P:o d:o

— 18 9

5 Pewter Basons

1 6 —

1 Porringer

— 8 4.1/2

1 P:o Brass Candle Stick

— 9 8

7 Small Cups

— 6 —

29 Large d:o

— 10 —

12 Cups & Saucers

— 9 1/2

4 Bowles

— 9 —

3.1/2 y:d Bed Tuking

— 12 10

6 d:o Durane

— 3 5

5 y:d Kettle

— 6 3

3 6:d

— 4 8

10 lb 8:d

— 4 7.1/2

7 10:d

— 1 1/2

1 lb 20:d

— 4 —

2 lb 30:d

— 1 1/2

1 Catties Green Tea

— — 6

1 d:o Bohea

— 11 6

1 P:o Womens Spanish Lea Shoe

— 4 6

1 P:o Calves

— 3 6

1 d:o Boy

— 2 6

6 d:o Mens Stockings

— 2 6

1 Wom:s d:o

— 8 —

1 Youths d:o

— — —

1 Child d:o

£ 57 9 5

50 5/8 gallons of arrack, £16 0s 7½d

605 5/8 pounds of sugar, £15 2s 9d

731 pounds of bread, £7 12s 0d

31 pounds of flour, £0 7s 9d

6 pounds of candy, £0 6s 0d

20½ pounds of soap, £1 9s 0½d

1¾ gallons of rape oil, £0 10s 6d

2 gallons of vinegar, £0 1s 0d

8 white shifts, £1 14s 0d

1 piece of Madras chintz, £1 1s 3d

1 piece of Surat the same, £0 18s 0d

3 pieces of white dosooties, £1 10s 0d

1 piece of gingham at 7s 6d, £1 10s 0d

2 pieces of gurrahs at 9s 6d, £0 19s 0d

34 yards of broadcloth, £10 9s 9d

5½ dozen hooks assorted, £0 3s 0d

5 pieces of the same, £0 18s 9d

5 pewter basins, £1 6s 0d

1 porringer, £0 8s 4d

1 pair of brass candlesticks, £0 9s 8d

7 small cups, £0 9s 0d

29 large the same, £0 10s 8d

12 cups and saucers, £0 9s 0d

4 bowls, £0 9s 0½d

3½ yards of bed ticking, £0 12s 10d

6 yards of durance, £0 5s 3d

5 pounds of the same nails, £0 6s 8d

3 pounds of 6d nails, £0 3s 8d

10 pounds of 8d nails, £0 4s 0d

7 pounds of 10d nails, £0 1s 7½d

1 pound of 20d nails, £0 1s 2d

2 pounds of 30d nails, £0 1s 0½d

2 catties of green tea, £0 0s 6d

6 pounds of bohea, £0 11s 6d

1 pair of women's Spanish leather shoes, £0 4s 6d

18 pairs of calico the same, £0 6s 6d

1 pair of boys' the same, £0 3s 6d

6 pairs of men's stockings, £0 2s 6d

1 women's pair of the same, £0 8s 0d

1 youths' pair of the same, £0 [...]s [...]d

1 child's pair of the same, £0 [...]s [...]d

Total, £57 9s 5d

Interpretations

Broadcloth was a fine dense woollen finished to a smooth face, the costliest of the cloths listed and sold by the yard for good outer wear. Durance was a durable worsted cloth, and bed ticking a strong closely-woven linen used to case mattresses and bolsters.

The account carries a run of Indian cotton piece-goods now obscure by name. Gurrahs were plain coarse cotton from Bengal, and dosooties a stout calico. Chintz was a printed or painted cotton, here from Madras and Surat, and gingham a checked or striped cotton. These fabrics reached the island on the homeward ships and passed to the inhabitants at a margin.

Bohea and green tea were teas from China, the first a black cured leaf and the second lighter, both sold by the catty of about a pound and a third. They reached the island on the homeward China ships and served as small comforts drawn from the store.

The nails are graded by the old penny system, where 6d, 8d, 10d, 20d and 30d denoted length rather than price. Their sale, with pewter basins, candlesticks and cups, marks the store as the island's source of the ironware and household goods a remote settlement drew from imported stock.

491

387

February B:t Over £ 57 9 5

3 Gro:s Cork

— 9 —

1 lb Twine

— 2 6

1 lb Shoe Thread

— 4 8

3 yards Flannel

Haberdashery Ware

7.1/2 Oz China Silk

— 7 6

2 Gr: Broad Holland Tape

— 2 8

4 Midling d:o

— 4 —

1 Neming d:o

— 9 —

5 M Pin

— 5 10

3 M d:o 1/4

— 3 6

2 M d:o 1/2

— 8 —

2 lb Coloured Thread

— 12 6

21 lb Whited Brown d:o

— 5 3

1 2 d:o

— 4 —

2 Oz Thread

— 1 —

6 y:d Ribbon a 3

— 1 6

9 Thimbles

— — 6

2 Sham Mohair

— — 10

100 Needles

1 — —

2 Laces

— — 10

Sum Totale to Inhab:t 63 5 5

Diet Expences D:o

16.5/8 Gall: Arrack

50 10 4

1620 lb Sugar

4 1 6

1 Bottle Florence oyle

— 7 6

2 lb Pepper

— 2 —

1 Cask Bread

4 13 6

1 d:o Flower

4 4 —

Gen:l Charges

5 lb Soap

8 10 10

3 lb Tea

— 18 —

6 Cups & Saucers

— 3 —

5 doz China Plates

8 — —

6 Bowles

— 15 —

9 Doze Knives & Forks N:o 3

5 14 —

2 Glass Salt

— 3 3

2 Large Glass

5 5 —

1 Gro:s Corke

5 — —

6 G:o White Desotees

8 — —

6 P:o Large Chest Hinge

— 15 6

2 lb 3:d Nails

— 2 2

1 Oz China Silk

— 1 8

1 Line N:o 12

— — 2

116 6 2 8

Brought over, £57 9s 5d

3 gross of corks, £0 9s 6d

1 pound of pepper, £0 2s 6d

1 pound of shoe thread, £0 4s 8d

3 yards of flannel, £0 2s 0d

Haberdashery ware

7½ ounces of China silk, £0 7s 6d

2 pieces of broad Holland tape, £0 2s 8d

4 pieces of middling the same, £0 2s 4d

1 piece of hemming the same, £0 5s 9d

5 pounds of tape, £0 13s 10d

3 pieces of the same at 1s 4d, £0 3s 6d

2 pieces of the same at 1s 2d, £0 8s 6d

2 pounds of coloured thread, £0 12s 6d

21 pounds of white and brown the same, £0 5s 3d

1½ pounds of the same, £0 4s 0d

2 ounces of thread, £0 1s 6d

6 yards of ribbon at 3d, £0 1s 6d

9 thimbles, £0 0s 10d

2 skeins of mohair, £0 1s 6d

100 needles, £0 0s 10d

2 laces, £0 [...]s [...]d

Sum total to the inhabitants, £63 5s 5d

Diet expenses

160 gallons of arrack, £50 13s 4d

1,620 pounds of sugar, £4 1s 6d

1 bottle of Florence oil, £0 7s 6d

2 pounds of pepper, £0 2s 0d

1 cask of bread, £4 13s 6d

1 cask of flour, £4 4s 0d

General charges

50 pounds of soap, £0 10s 11d

3 pounds of tea, £0 18s 0d

6 cups and saucers, £0 3s 0d

5 dozen China plates, £0 15s 0d

6 bowls, £0 5s 14d

2 dozen knives and forks, no 3, £0 5s 3d

2 glass salts, £0 5s 0d

2 large glasses, £0 5s 0d

1 gross of corks, £0 15s 6d

6 pieces of white dosooties, £0 9s 2d

2 large chest hinges, £0 1s 8d

5 pounds of 30d nails, £0 1s 0d

1 ounce of China silk, £0 8s 2d

1 line, no 12, £[...]s [...]d

Total, £116 2s 8d

Interpretations

Nun's-grade China silk was raw or spun silk carried on the homeward China ships. It sold by the ounce as a costly material for fine sewing and trimming, drawn from the store alongside the coarser threads and tapes.

The account carries the small wares of the haberdashery in graded lots. Broad, middling and hemming Holland tape were flat woven linen bands used to bind and finish garments. Mohair was a fine yarn from the Angora goat, and ribbon and lace narrow braids for trimming clothes.

The account groups its spending under heads for the inhabitants, the diet and the general charges. Each head stands apart before its total is struck. This let the council charge goods to their proper accounts, keeping sales to the free planters distinct from provisions consumed by the establishment.

Arrack again formed the largest single charge on the diet account. The distilled spirit from Batavia and India passed through the store under the Company's liquor monopoly. That same control was enforced against the coxswain Caleb Davis on 04 Mar 1724.

492

388

1724/5

Fortification D:o B:t Over 146 2 8

14 9.1/2 y:d Vittory

8 14 1.1/2

3 lb Twine Thread

— 6 6

1/2 lb Shoe Thread

— 1 8

1 Largest Grindstone

— 11 6

Garrison D:o

4 Catties Green Tea

2 4 —

3 Gall: Trape Oyle

— 18 —

6 lb Brimstone

— 3 —

Plantation D:o

4 Gall: Trayne Oyle

1 4 —

1 Cupboard Lock N:o 9

— 15 4

1 P:o Tile Hinge

— 1 4

6 lb 10:d Nails

— 4 2

2 lb 3:d

— 2 2

Honble Comp:s Blacks D:o

2 Casks Wheat

15 — —

1093 lb d:o

27 12 6

22 lb Rice

42 — —

3 Casks Pork

13 — —

232 lb d:o

8 10 —

4 lb Beef

17 P:s Blew Gurrah

— 2 6

1/2 lb Whited Brown Thread

— 5 —

1.1/4 Coloured d:o

— 2 6

1/2 Gro:s Shirt Button

— 2 —

2.1/2 Oz China Silk

2 3 —

70 Lines Sorted

1 7 6

37 doz Hooks d:o

— 9 6

1 lb Shoe Thread

— 2 6

1 P:o Wom:s Stock: N:o 17

— 4 6

1 d:o Calve Leather Shoe

— 11 11

6.1/2 y:d Kersey

Sum Totall £ 273 4 4.1/2

Mr Crisp Likewise deliverd an Acc:t of the Expence of the Gen:l

Table for the Month of Jan:y last which was Examined approved

& is as follows

viz:t

Fortification

Brought over, £146 2s 8d

14 9/14 yards of vitery, £8 14s 1½d

3 pounds of twine thread, £0 6s 6d

½ pound of shoe thread, £0 1s 8d

1 largest grindstone, £0 11s 6d

Garrison

4 catties of green tea, £2 4s 0d

3 gallons of rape oil, £0 18s 0d

6 pounds of brimstone, £0 3s 0d

Plantation

4 gallons of train oil, £1 4s 0d

1 brass lock, no 9, £0 15s 4d

1 pair of side hinges, £0 1s 4d

6 pounds of 10d nails, £0 4s 2d

2 pounds of 6d nails, £0 [...]s [...]d

Honourable Company's blacks

2 casks of wheat, £15 0s 0d

1,093 pounds of the same, £27 12s 6d

2,240 pounds of rice, £42 0s 0d

3 casks of pork, £13 0s 0d

232 pounds of the same, £8 10s 0d

403 pounds of beef, £0 [...]s [...]d

17 pieces of blue gurrahs, £2 6s 0d

1½ pounds of white and brown thread, £0 [...]s [...]d

1¼ pounds of coloured the same, £0 2s 6d

½ gross of shirt buttons, £0 2s 6d

2½ ounces of China silk, £0 3s 0d

70 lines assorted, £1 7s 0d

37 dozen hooks the same, £0 9s 6d

1 pound of shoe thread, £0 2s 6d

1 piece of women's stockings, no 17, £0 4s 6d

1 piece of calico leather shoes, £0 11s 11d

6½ yards of kersey, £0 [...]s [...]d

Sum total, £273 4s 4½d

Mr Crisp delivered his account of the expense of the General Table for January, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

The account divides spending under heads for the fortification, the garrison, the plantation and the Company's blacks. Each head stands apart before the sum total is struck. This let the council charge tools, provisions and clothing to their proper class across the branches of the establishment.

The single heaviest charge falls on the rice and wheat supplied to the Company's blacks. This bulk of imported grain reflects the famine relief drawn from the homeward India ships during the long drought.

Vitery was a light plain-woven cloth used for sacking and rough garments, and kersey a coarse ribbed woollen. Blue gurrahs were plain cotton from Bengal. These fabrics served the works and clothed the slave force against the cool season.

Brimstone was sulphur, used in matches, in treating skin complaints in livestock and people, and in fumigation. Train oil, rendered from whale or seal blubber, and rape oil served for lamps and the dressing of timber and leather.

493

389

February

28 C:o Salt Beef

3 10 —

27 d:o Pork

3 19 —

128 lb Bread

1 20 —

146 lb Sugar

3 18 —

72 Gall: Arrack

23 16 —

56 Bottles Mountain

8 5 —

20 lb Port

2 17 6

24 d:o Cape

1 4 —

3 Bottle Strong Ben

— 6 9

50 Fowles

3 15 —

9 Turkey

— 18 —

447 lb Beef a 25:th P C:o killed by a Boar

5 11 9

8 Cape

— 13 —

1 Lamb

— 1 7

27 lb Butter

— 14 —

170 Egg

2 12 6

210 lb Flower

4 — —

32 lb Candle

1 15 5

25 lb Soap

— 7 6

2 Quart Florence oyle

— 7 6

2 lb Pepper

— 2 6

6 Q:t Vineger

Rich:d Haynes 70 17 10

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Gen: Table Expence for Jan:y

Mr Crisp delivered his account of the expense of the General Table for January, which the council examined and approved as follows.

28 pounds of salt beef, £3 10s 0d

27 pounds of pork, £3 19s 0d

128 pounds of bread, £1 12s 0d

146 pounds of sugar, £3 13s 0d

72 gallons of arrack, £22 16s 0d

58 bottles of mountain wine, £8 5s 0d

20 bottles of port, £2 17s 6d

24 dozen of the same, £1 4s 0d

3 bottles of strong pork, £0 12s 9d

50 fowls, £3 15s 0d

3 turkeys, £0 18s 0d

447 pounds of beef at 25s per hundredweight, killed by a bear, £5 11s 9d

8 goats, £0 12s 0d

1 lamb, £0 7s 0d

27 pounds of butter, £0 14s 0d

170 eggs, £2 12s 6d

210 pounds of flour, £4 0s 0d

32 pounds of candles, £1 15s 0d

25 pounds of soap, £0 7s 6d

2 quarts of Florence oil, £0 7s 6d

2 pounds of pepper, £0 2s 6d

6 gallons of vinegar, £0 [...]s [...]d

Total, £70 17s 10d

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The General Table was the common table of the establishment. It fed the Governor and councillors rather than the garrison or the slaves. Its provisions mix imported salt meat, wine and oil with fresh island beef, goat, lamb, fowls, butter and eggs.

Mountain wine was a sweet white wine from Malaga in southern Spain. It joined the port on the officers' table, marking their diet against the plainer garrison ration.

One entry records 447 pounds of beef from a beast killed by a bear. This unusual note marks a loss to a predator, the meat still salvaged and charged to the table at the standard rate.

Arrack again stood as the largest single charge on the table by value. The distilled spirit from Batavia and India passed through the store under the Company's liquor monopoly. That same control was enforced against the coxswain Caleb Davis on 04 Mar 1724.

494

390

1724/5

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 23 day

of February 1724/5 at Plantation House

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

Yesterday Evening the Ship Sunderland Sailed

hence for Great Britain

Cap:t Goodwin Report that he has Measured the

two Parcells of Land Petitiond for by Jam:s Vaughn

& Jonathan Bigham Jun:r pursuant to the Order of the

foregoing Consultation & contain as follows viz:t

1/2 an Acre for James Vaughn &

2 Acres for Jonathan Bigham

John Worrall Presented a Petition Praying to

become Tenant to the Hon:ble Comp:s for about fourteen

Acres of their Waste Land lying in Deep Valley, most part

of it being contiguous either to his Leased or hired Land

This Acre of Land being very well known to the Board,

that the said Worrall have at Least thereof & that the Same be

Measured accordingly

Cap:t Goodwin presented a Bill of Bargain & Sale

from Richard Gurling for a Dwelling House & twenty three

of Acre & that with them Article of Agreement relating

to the said Cap:t Goodwins hiring & Maintaining the

said Richard Gurling two Daughters desiring the

Same might be Registred

Ordered that the said Writings be Registred accordingly

Cap:t Goodwin Reports that theres a Parcell of Blankets

in the Store that has been there about 12 or 13 years, so

very much Damaged by Moth, that no One Cares to buy

them at the present Settled Price but believe if the Price was

lowered he could Sell them to the Inhab:t for their Blacks

Ordered

Margin Notes:

Ship Sunderlands Departure.

Land Measured for Vaughn & Bigham

Jn:o Worralls Pet: for Waste Land.

Granted.

R:d Gurlings Bill of Sale &c: & agreem:t w:th Cap:t Goodwin presented.

& to be Registred

Report of Damaged Blankets

At a consultation held on Tuesday 23 February 1725 at the Plantation House.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

The ship Sunderland sailed from the island for Great Britain the previous evening.

Captain Goodwin reported that he had measured the two parcels of land set out in the previous consultation for James Vaughan and Jonathan Higham junior, which came to half an acre for James Vaughan and 2 acres for Jonathan Higham.

John Worrall presented a petition to become tenant of the Honourable Company for about 14 acres of its waste land in Deep Valley, the greater part of it adjoining land he already held by lease. The parcel being well known to the council, it ordered that Worrall have at least part of it and that the whole be measured accordingly.

Captain Goodwin presented a bill of bargain and sale from Richard Gurling for a dwelling house and 20 acres of land, together with articles of agreement about Captain Goodwin maintaining Richard Gurling's two daughters, and asked that these be registered. The council ordered the writings registered accordingly.

Captain Goodwin reported that a parcel of blankets in the store had been much damaged by moth, so that no one cared to buy them at the settled price. He thought that if the price were lowered he could sell them to the inhabitants for their slaves.

Interpretations

The bill of sale from Richard Gurling tied the conveyance of a house and 20 acres to the maintenance of his two daughters. This linked the transfer of property to a duty of care, securing the children through the same registered agreement that passed the land to Captain Goodwin.

The report on the moth-damaged blankets marks the council managing a loss on its store stock. By proposing a lower price to move the goods, it sought to recover some value from spoiled provisions rather than hold them at a rate no buyer would meet.

The grant to John Worrall turned on the council's control over its waste land. It let the parcel only after a survey, fixing the bounds before the tenancy was confirmed, the same care shown in the recent grants to Vaughan and Higham.

495

391

February

Ordered that he Sell them as Soon as he can, abating

1/3 of the Settled Price which will be near Prime Cost

Jonathan Bigham Jun:r humbly prayed to become

Purchaser for the House formerly Built for the Work Cattle

that Burnd & Lime, & Lift Stone in Sandy Bay Valley, & that

Wee would Grant him leave to take down the old Lime

Kiln the Same having been Useless for Sev:ll years past,

In consideration that the said House & Lime Kiln

have been of no Use for the Hon:ble Comp:s & being so

very indifferent & no ways Useful Since the New

Lime Kiln built at Sandy Bay Beach

Ordered that the s:d House be Viewed & Valued by

Cap:t Alexander & Cap:t Goodwin & to make Report next

Consultation day, & the said Lime Kiln is of no Use

the s:d Bigham is at Liberty to take the Same down

James Vaughn & Jonathan Bigham Jun:r Severally

Petitioned for Leave to Resign their old Leases for the

Parcells of Land they hold of the Hon:ble Comp:s in Sandy

Bay Valley & that a New One may be Granted to each

of them for the whole

Granted provided they Pay each one Years Rent

as a fine to the Hon:ble Company

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

Margin Notes:

1/3 of y:e Selling Price to be abated.

Jon:d Bigham Pet: to purchase a House in Sandy Bay Valley &c:

the Same haveing been Useless

Ord:r to be Viewed & Valued

Lime Kiln.

Vaughn & Bigham Pet: for new Leases.

Granted paying a fine

The council ordered Captain Goodwin to sell the blankets as soon as he could, abating a third of the settled price, which would come to about prime cost.

Jonathan Higham junior asked to buy the house formerly built for the woodcutters, used for cutting stone in Sandy Bay valley, and asked leave to take down the old lime kiln, which had lain useless for several years past.

The house and lime kiln having been of no use to the Honourable Company, and the kiln standing very ill placed and useless since the new lime kiln was built at Sandy Bay beach, the council ordered the house viewed and valued by Mr Alexander and Captain Goodwin, who were to report on the following consultation day. As the lime kiln was of no use, Higham was at liberty to take it down.

James Vaughan and Jonathan Higham junior each petitioned for leave to surrender the old leases they held of the Honourable Company in Sandy Bay valley, and asked that a new one be granted to each of them for the whole. The council granted it, provided they each paid one year's rent as a fine to the Honourable Company.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The sale of the moth-damaged blankets at a third off the settled price marks the council cutting its loss on spoiled stock. It set the price near prime cost to move goods no buyer would take at the full rate.

Jonathan Higham's request to take down the old lime kiln followed its replacement by the newer kiln at Sandy Bay beach. The council released the useless structure for its materials, having no further use for it.

The regrant of the leases on surrender required a fine of one year's rent. This let the council renew the tenants' titles on fresh terms while drawing a payment for the favour, guarding the Company's interest in its Sandy Bay ground.

496

392

1724/5

At a Consultation held on Wednesday the 3:d of March

1724/5 at Plantation House

Pres:t John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

Cap:t Goodwin Report that he has Measured the Land

Petitiond for by John Bradley in Consultation the 15th of Janu:y

last & that it contains 3 Acres, Also the Land Petitiond for

by John Bezett the 2:d of February last w:ch Contain 3.1/2 Acres

Likewise the Land Petitiond for by Jn:o Worrale the foregoing

Consultation which is two Parcells & Contain 10.1/2 Acres

Ordered that Leases be made out accordingly for the

Sev:l Parcells of Land beforementiond for the Term of 21 y:s

at the Usual Rent of 5/ P Acre & 1 Shitt Duty & that none

of them are to take Cofession of the Same before they come &

take up their Leases

Cap:t Alexander & Cap:t Goodwin Report that Pursuant

to the Order in the preceeding Consultation they have Viewd the

House Petitiond for by Jonathan Bigham Jun:r lying in Sandy

Bay valley at the Upper Limekiln & find the Same to be very Small

& indifferent & very little better than a Shed & have therefore

Valued the Same at Eight Pound & think it rather more than

it worth, & have Ordered the s:d Bigham when he pulls down the

Old LimeKiln to Save all the Bars of Iron for the Hon:ble Comp:s

Use.

Ordered That an Advertisement be Published on Saturday next

for all the Inhabitants to give an Acc:t in Writing of all the Land

they have in Cofession & of their Respective Families both Whites

& Blacks & of their Neat Cattle in their Sev:l Number as Usual, & by

the 20th instant

Likewise that Notice be theirn given that the Gov:r &

Councile to Expect immediate Payment, of their Rents & &

Revenues for the Year Ending the 25th instant Vall: that those

Persons who Stand Indebted to the Hon:ble Comp:s do by that

time Appear, & make Proposals for the Payment of their Debts

no person from this time forward being Suffered to Runn any

more in Arrear

Mr Van Nesson

Margin Notes:

Report of Sundry Parcells of Land Measured.

Leases to be Made for Each thereof

Old Lime Kiln House Vallued at £ 8.

Acc:t of Land & families &c: to be given.

Rents &c: to be paid

Proposals to pay old Debts

At a consultation held on Wednesday 03 Mar 1725 at the Plantation House.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

Captain Goodwin reported that he had measured the land John Bradley had petitioned for in the previous consultation, and found it to contain 6 acres. He had also measured the land John Bazett petitioned for on 23 Feb 1725, which came to 3½ acres, and the land John Worrall petitioned for in the previous consultation, two parcels amounting to 10½ acres.

The council ordered leases made out accordingly for the several parcels, each for a term of 21 years at the usual rent of 4s 0d per acre and 1 shilling duty. None of the tenants was to take possession before taking up his lease.

Mr Alexander and Captain Goodwin reported that, under the order of the previous consultation, they had viewed the house Jonathan Higham junior had petitioned for in Sandy Bay valley at the upper lime kiln. They found it very small and poor, little better than a shed, and valued it at £8 0s 0d. The council ordered Higham to have the house at that price, and to pull down the old lime kiln to save all the bars of iron for the Honourable Company's use.

The council ordered an advertisement published on Saturday next, requiring all the inhabitants to give in writing an account of their families, both white and black, and of their neat cattle, in their several numbers, by 20 Mar 1725.

The council further ordered notice given that the Governor intended to require immediate payment of the Company's revenues for the year ending 25 Mar 1725. Those indebted to the Honourable Company were to appear by that time and make proposals for the payment of their debts, no person being allowed from then on to run further into arrears.

Interpretations

The order for a written return of families and cattle set the base for the year's account. It required each inhabitant to declare white and black household members and neat cattle, furnishing the ground for the church rate, the labour levy and the report home.

The demand for immediate payment of the Company's revenues tied the year-end reckoning to a firm cut-off. By barring any further arrears, the council pressed the indebted to settle or make terms before the books closed on 25 Mar 1725.

The valuation of the shed at £8 0s 0d and the order to save the iron bars from the old kiln show the council recovering worth from disused structures. It sold the poor building at a fixed price and reserved the metal for the Company's own use.

497

393

February 1724/5

Report that the Books of Acc:t for the Year 1723 are

made up, Ordered that they be Examined accordingly

in Order to be Sent home by the next Shipping

John Long Planter presented a Petition Praying

leave to go off the Island & take his Family with him, &

that he might have leave to dispose of his Estate & Effects

Granted both as to One, & the other he first Paying his Debts

Mary Shrew Widow likewise presented a

Petition praying leave to dispose of 5 Acre of Leased

Land lying in Sandy Bay

Granted provided Wee approve of the Purchaser

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Books for 23 made up.

& to be Examined.

Pet:r of Jn:o Long to go off & Sell his Effects.

Granted paying his Debts

Mary Shrew Pet: for leave to Sell her Lease

Granted on proviso.

The council received a report that the account books for 1723 were now made up. It ordered them examined accordingly, so that they could be sent home by the next shipping.

John Long, planter, presented a petition for leave to leave the island and take his family with him, and asked that he might dispose of his estate and effects. The council granted both requests, on condition that he first cleared his debts.

Mary Shrew, widow, presented a petition for leave to dispose of half an acre of leased land lying in Sandy Bay. The council granted it, provided it approved of the buyer.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The order to examine and send home the 1723 account books marks the close of a long delay in the Company's bookkeeping. It tied the finished accounts to the next shipping, so that the directors received the year's reckoning without further loss of time.

The condition on John Long's leave guarded the island against a departing family becoming a charge. The council required that he settle his debts before selling up and going, protecting his creditors and the parish.

The grant to Mary Shrew turned on the council's control over its leased land. It let her sell the parcel only if it approved the buyer, keeping the tenure of the Company's ground under its own oversight.

498

394

March 1724/5

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 9th day of

March 1724/5 at Plantation House

Present John Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

Joseph Lufkin Petitiond the 15th Jan:y last, &

for leave to dispose of the Lease he had of the Hon:ble Comp:s

for 7 Acres of Land Rented of the Hon:ble Comp:s by his

Wife deceased Father Robert Bell which was accordingly

Granted provided Wee approved of the Tenant, & the said

Lufkin was at the Same time Ordered to give immediate

Notice of the Tenant after he had Sold the Said Lease, but

contrary to this Caution the said Lufkin Sold the Lease

near a Month Since to Benjamin Pledgard Soldier &

Planter without giving any Acc:t to Us of the said Sale tile

this day, & they both acknowledging themselves faulty Wee

figue for their said Contempt & Neglect fined the said

Joseph Lufkin in the Sum of ten Shilling & the Said

Pledgard five Shilling, to the Use of the Hon:ble Comp:s

The said Lufkin & Pledgard Praying the Said

Pledgard may be accepted Tenant for the said Land & that

for the Remainder of the Lease, he is accepted accordingly

Ordered that the Lease formerly Granted to the said

deceased Robert Bell be Assigned & Sett over to the said Benj:

Pledgard for the Remainder of the Term therein Mentiond being

21 years from the 25th instant Under the Same Conditions

& Provisoes therein Specified & more fully Sett forth in the

said Lease.

Wee this day Granted two Leases for two

Parcells of Land belonging to the Hon:ble Company, One to

James Vaughn for Seven Acres & the other to Jonathan

Bigham Jun:r for Seven Acres & half pursuant to the

Order of Consultation of the 23:d February last

Mr Wrangham presented a Bill of Sale,

for

Margin Notes:

Jos: Lufkin & Benj: Pledgard fined for Contempt of Ord:r

Pledgard Accepted Tenant in Lufkins stead.

Lease formerly granted to Bell to be Assigned to B: Pledgard.

New Leases Deliv:d to Jam:s Vaughn & Jon:d Bigham

At a consultation held on Tuesday 09 Mar 1725 at the Plantation House.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

Joseph Lufkin had petitioned on 15 Jan 1725 for leave to dispose of the lease he held of the Honourable Company for 7 acres of land, formerly his deceased father-in-law Robert Bell's. The council had granted it, provided it approved of the tenant, and had ordered Lufkin to give immediate notice of the buyer after he had sold. Contrary to that direction, Lufkin had sold the lease near a month before to Benjamin Pledger, soldier and planter, without giving any account of the sale until this day. Both men acknowledging themselves at fault, the council fined Joseph Lufkin 10s 0d and Pledger 1 shilling, to the use of the Honourable Company, for the contempt and neglect.

Lufkin and Pledger asked that Pledger be accepted as tenant for the land, and take it for the remainder of the lease. The council accepted him accordingly. It ordered the lease formerly granted to Robert Bell, deceased, assigned and set over to Pledger for the remainder of the term, being 4 years from 25 Mar 1725, under the same conditions and covenants set out in the lease.

The council granted two leases this day for two parcels of land belonging to the Honourable Company. One went to James Vaughan for 7 acres and the other to Jonathan Higham junior for 7 acres and a half, under the order of the consultation of 23 Feb 1725.

Mr Wrangham presented a bill of sale for [...].

Interpretations

The fine on Lufkin and Pledger enforced the council's control over transfers of leased land. Lufkin had sold without giving the required notice, so the council penalised the breach before confirming the very assignment he had failed to report.

The assignment of Robert Bell's lease to Pledger passed the tenancy for the four years left of the term. It bound the new tenant to the same conditions as the old, keeping the Company's covenants intact through the change of holder.

The grants to Vaughan and Higham carried forward the surveys and terms fixed at the consultation of 23 Feb 1725. The council let each parcel on a formal lease, holding to its practice of measuring and setting terms before a tenancy took effect.

499

395

March

for 11.1/2 Acres Free Land he lately bought of John

Bagley Jun:r Praying the Same might be Registred for

better Security thereof

Ordered that the Said Bill of Sale be accordingly

Registred.

Ordered that the following Advertisement be

Published on Saturday next

Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God to

Send us so fine & Beneficial a Rainy Season which hath put the

Island once may into a flourishing Condition, Wee hope & doubt not

of the whole Inhabitants being thoroughly touched with a deep

Sense of the Providential Goodness & that every one of them will

Embrace so good an Opportunity in Shewing themselves diligent

& Industrious in the Manuring & Cultivating their Several

Plantations as well to raise Provisions of all Sort for the

Supply of Shipping as for the Subsistence of their own Families

And Whereas Fire Wood in general having been Usually

destroyed by the former distraining of Arrack on the Island, &

which hath not only Lett in the Bleak & blasting Winds to the

manifest hurt & destruction of all Manner of Fruit Trees, as

well as to Sundry Sort of Provisions for want of Such Shelter

But hath Blown the best of the Sole in great Quantities into

the Valley, & from the Bare of those few Trees that were Left

Standing thereby making the Hills Barren, Yet by the Barks

being so very well Sowld by so many Moderate Showers they hath

Sprung up abundance of young Gumwood Plants from Seed

in many Part & Places of the Island which if Some Method

is not Used as an Expedint to preserve the Major part, Wee gen

they will Soon be destroyd

Wherefore These are Earnestly to Recommend so

Useful & commendable a Work, We as it, & to Entreat & that they

will willingly & gladly make Use of so good a Season, by

Planting young Plants of Gumwood Trees, round their Fences,

where it will best grow & in them inclosd Land as well Free as

Leasd, & to preserve all they possibly can by keeping of their

Estate or Cattle from Barking, Browzing, or any other way

destroying them, for the Sake of the Island, for Clearing, Preserving,

keeping up & Maintaining One Acre in every ten Acres, (as Live

Wood) cannot nor will not be dispenced with on any Acc:t whatever

but entirely & punctually kept up & must be duely Observed by

all the Inhabitants it being one of the Covenants by which they

Margin Notes:

Bill of Sale from Bagley to Mr Wrangham for Land &c:

pray:s are regist:y

Advertisement for preserving Wood, & keeping up y:e Barks

and Planting young trees

Goats to be kept off.

Mr Wrangham presented a bill of sale for 11½ acres of free land he had lately bought of John Bagley junior, and asked that it be registered for better security of his title. The council ordered the bill of sale registered accordingly.

The council ordered the following advertisement published on Saturday next.

It set out that Almighty God had blessed the island with a mild and fruitful season, which the council hoped and did not doubt would in time bring it into a flourishing condition. The whole body of inhabitants being made deeply aware of God's providence, the council hoped that each of them would gladly seize so good an opportunity by showing themselves diligent in cultivating their several plantations, both to raise provisions for the supply of the shipping and for the support of their own families.

The advertisement recited that the island's timber had been generally destroyed by the former distilling of arrack, which had let in the bleak and blasting winds. This had not only harmed and destroyed all manner of fruit trees but had, for want of shelter, hurt many kinds of provisions. Yet from the stock of the few trees left standing, and the bark and leaves of those cut down, the hills though left barren had, being to windward and much exposed to moderate showers, sprung up an abundance of young gumwood plants from seed in many parts of the island. If some method were not taken to preserve the greater part, these would be lost and destroyed.

The advertisement therefore recommended, as a useful and commendable work, that everyone willingly and gladly make use of so good a season by planting young gumwood plants, fencing them round, and preserving them as far as they could by keeping the goats and cattle from barking, browsing or otherwise destroying them. For want of timber the island was decaying, and the keeping and maintaining of one acre of wood in every ten acres of live wood could no longer be dispensed with. This was to be duly and punctually kept up, and enforced upon all the inhabitants, being one of the covenants by which they [...].

Interpretations

The advertisement tied the island's recovery to the deliberate planting of gumwood. It framed timber not as a natural resource but as a crop the inhabitants were bound to raise, fence and protect from grazing stock.

The recital blamed the distilling of arrack for the loss of the island's woods. It traced the barren hills and blasted fruit trees to the felling of timber for that trade, giving a specific cause for the shelter the settlement now lacked.

The rule requiring one acre of wood kept in every ten of live wood turned a general aim into a binding covenant. By making it a term of the inhabitants' tenure, the council could enforce timber-planting as a condition of holding land, continuing the standing protection of the island's woods behind the fencing order of 23 Jun 1724.

500

396

1724/5

they Cofess & had their respective Lands, And whereas these the most

ready & willing to comply, upon this Notice may be Sure to meet with

Marks of Esteem & be distinguished from those who are found less

deserving, & all Defaulters may assuredly Expect to be discountenanced

& called to Account for Contemning the wholsom & good Laws before

Mentioned, of which (God Willing) Wee intend to Remind the

Inhabitants on all Suitable Occasions, Wee at present apprehending

no One Article more for the Advantage & general Good of the Island

than Planting & Maintaining of Wood, Wherefore need & this

Chearfull Compliance is Expected the Worshipfull the Gov:r & Coun:l

being fully determined to Oblige all Person to a Strict Observance

of the Several Suit & Service which they have found themselves to

Coperform by Covenant in their Respective Leases particularly

with Relation to the Planting of Wood, & all Person who Shall

Omitt to Plant Wood as above Directed must Expect to Answer

the contrary at their Perile.

The following Advertisement was likewise Published

Whereas Several of the Inhabitants have Lately presumed to

Purchase Slaves out of Shipping without Leave or Lycense from

the Gov:r from whence great Inconveniencie may happen to arise not

only to particular persons but to the generality of the Inhabitants

& in time may even expose the Island to Danger if Such an

unbounded Liberty should be Longer Suffered

These are therefore to give Notice that from & after

the day of the date hereof All Persons are Strictly forbid buying

or Receiving any Slave of either Sex from any Person whatsoever

out of any Ship that may happen to touch here without first

Obtaining Leave in Writing from the Worshipfull the Gov:r

& that all Such Slaves as Shall be bought contrary to this

Prohibition are & Shall be deemed forfeited to the Hon:ble Comp:s

& Shall be accordingly Seized for their Use & all Persons acting

contrary to this Order Severely fined.

March 13th 1724/5

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Blacks forbid to be bought

& not bought out of Ships shipping.

The advertisement continued that the inhabitants held their several lands by that covenant. Those most ready and willing to comply might be sure to meet with encouragement, while defaulters would be marked out from the rest and called to account for neglecting the wholesome and good laws already set out. The council intended, God willing, to remind the inhabitants of this on every suitable occasion. It apprehended no single article more for the advantage and good of the island than the planting and maintaining of wood. It therefore desired ready compliance, being fully determined to hold every person to a strict observance of the several duties and services they were bound by covenant to perform. Anyone who neglected to plant wood as directed would answer for the failure at his own cost.

The council ordered a second advertisement published, as follows.

It set out that several of the inhabitants had lately presumed to buy slaves out of the shipping without leave or licence from the Governor. Great inconvenience might follow from this, not only to particular persons but to the general body of the inhabitants, and it might even put the island in danger if such unbounded liberty were allowed.

The advertisement gave notice that from and after the day of its date, all persons were strictly forbidden to buy or receive any slave of either sex from any person whatever, out of any ship that might touch at the island, without first obtaining leave in writing from the Governor. Any slave bought contrary to this prohibition would be deemed forfeited to the Honourable Company, and seized accordingly for its use. Every person acting against the order would be severely fined.

The advertisement was dated 13 Mar 1725. The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The first advertisement bound timber-planting to the tenure of land. It made the raising and keeping of wood a covenant of every holding, so that neglect became a breach the council could punish rather than a mere failure of good practice.

The second advertisement asserted the Governor's control over the island's slave trade. By requiring written leave for any purchase from a passing ship, it barred private dealing and reserved the entry of new slaves to official licence.

The threat to forfeit unlicensed slaves to the Company gave the prohibition its force. This penalty struck at the buyer's investment, deterring private purchase by putting the slave itself at risk of seizure.

501

397

March

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 16th day of

March 1724/5 at Plantation House

Present Jn:o Smith Esq:r Gov:r

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Jn:o Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

Gile Smith Planter, Executor with Ezra Hayne N:o

Executry of the last Will & Testament of George Bryan dec:d

lately deceased presented the said Will Praying the Same

might be Proved which was accordingly done upon the Oaths

of Richard Beale, John Funck & Joseph Hayes

Ordered that the said Will be approved & Registred

& Copies given when desired

Richard Beale presented a Bill of Sale of ten

Acres of Free Land & ten Acres of Leased Land he lately

bought of Richard Swallow Praying the Same might be

Registred for the better Security thereof

Ordered that the Said Bill of Sale be Registred

accordingly.

Wee this day Executed the following Leases viz:t

One to Isaac Wood Sergeant for four Acres of Leased Land

in Prosperous Bay Valley

One to Robert Gurling for One Acre Situate in

Broad Gutt at the Bottom of Ceash Gutt

Two Leases more to John Bradley Soldier, for

four Acres under the Main Ridge next Sandy Bay And

three Acres at the Lower end of Sandy Body Valley being

7 Acres in both Parcells

Mr Byfeld brought in & deliverd his

Monthly Acc:t of the Hon:ble Comp:s Live Stock &

Expence in the Month of Feb:y last w:ch was Exam:d app

& is as follows viz:t

Margin Notes:

The last Will & Testam:t of Geo: Bryan dec:d Proved.

& to be Regist:d

Bill of Sale Presented by Rich:d Beale pray:s a Registry

Ord:r Accordingly

Sundry Leases Executed for Leased Lands.

Mr Byfelds Acc:t for Feb:y

At a consultation held on Tuesday 16 Mar 1725 at the Plantation House.

Present: John Smith Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield; John Alexander; John Goodwin.

The previous consultation was read and approved.

Giles Smith, planter, executor with Grace Hayes of the last will and testament of George Bryan, lately deceased, presented the will and asked that it be proved. This was done on the oaths of Richard Beale, John Knipe and Joseph Hayes. The council ordered the will approved and registered, with a copy given when required.

Richard Beale presented a bill of sale for 10 acres of free land and 10 acres of leased land he had lately bought of Richard Swallow, and asked that it be registered for better security of his title. The council ordered the bill of sale registered accordingly.

Three leases were made out this day for leased lands. One went to Isaac Wood, sergeant, for 4 acres of leased land in Prosperous Bay valley. One went to Robert Gurling for 1 acre lying in Broad Gut at the bottom of Cash Gut. Two more went to John Bradley, soldier, for 4 acres under the Main Ridge next Sandy Bay and 3 acres at the lower end of Sandy Bay valley, being 7 acres in both parcels.

Mr Byfield brought in his monthly account of the Honourable Company's live stock and its expense for February, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

The proving of George Bryan's will on the oaths of three witnesses fixed its legal force. This let the executors act on it and gave the estate a registered record the council could rely on in any later dispute.

The registration of Richard Beale's bill of sale secured his title to the land he had bought. By entering the conveyance in the Company's books, the council gave him a documentary defence against any rival claim to the parcels.

The leases carried forward the council's practice of letting Company land by formal grant. Each parcel went out on a fixed tenancy, keeping the tenure of the settlement's ground under the council's oversight.

502

398

1724/5

Neat Cattle

Bullocks

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 18

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 18

Sold to Ship Sundland 17

Dead in d:o 15

Hogs Grown in d:o 15

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 15

Cows

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 34

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 34

Sold to Ship Sundland 34

Dead in d:o 34

Hogs Grown in d:o 34

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 34

Heifers

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 10

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 10

Sold to Ship Sundland 10

Dead in d:o 10

Hogs Grown in d:o 10

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 10

Steers

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 2

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 2

Sold to Ship Sundland 2

Dead in d:o 1

Hogs Grown in d:o 1

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 1

Yearling

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 5

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 5

Sold to Ship Sundland 5

Dead in d:o 5

Hogs Grown in d:o 5

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 5

Calves

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 47

B:t in Feb:y 1

Encreased in ditto 6

Killed in d:o 53

Sold to Ship Sundland 53

Dead in d:o 53

Hogs Grown in d:o 53

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 53

Bulls

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 1

B:t in Feb:y 1

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 2

Sold to Ship Sundland 2

Dead in d:o 2

Hogs Grown in d:o 2

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 2

Totall

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 117

B:t in Feb:y 1

Encreased in ditto 6

Killed in d:o 124

Sold to Ship Sundland 123

Dead in d:o 120

Hogs Grown in d:o 120

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 120

Sheep

Ewes

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 31

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 31

Sold to Ship Sundland 31

Dead in d:o 31

Hogs Grown in d:o 31

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 31

Withers

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 10

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 10

Sold to Ship Sundland 9

Dead in d:o 9

Hogs Grown in d:o 9

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 9

Lambs

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 13

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 13

Sold to Ship Sundland 13

Dead in d:o 13

Hogs Grown in d:o 13

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 13

Rams

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 6

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 6

Sold to Ship Sundland 6

Dead in d:o 6

Hogs Grown in d:o 6

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 6

Totall

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 60

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 60

Sold to Ship Sundland 59

Dead in d:o 59

Hogs Grown in d:o 59

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 59

Goates

Ewes

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 91

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 91

Sold to Ship Sundland 91

Dead in d:o 91

Hogs Grown in d:o 91

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 91

Withers

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 15

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 15

Sold to Ship Sundland 15

Dead in d:o 15

Hogs Grown in d:o 15

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 15

Lambs

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 33

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto 26

Killed in d:o 59

Sold to Ship Sundland 58

Dead in d:o 58

Hogs Grown in d:o 58

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 58

Rams

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 13

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 13

Sold to Ship Sundland 13

Dead in d:o 13

Hogs Grown in d:o 13

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 13

Totall

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 152

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto 26

Killed in d:o 178

Sold to Ship Sundland 177

Dead in d:o 177

Hogs Grown in d:o 177

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 177

Hogs

Sowes

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 9

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto 1

Killed in d:o 10

Sold to Ship Sundland 10

Dead in d:o 10

Hogs Grown in d:o 10

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 10

Shoates

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 1

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto 13

Killed in d:o 14

Sold to Ship Sundland 14

Dead in d:o 14

Hogs Grown in d:o 14

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 10

Boars

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 1

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 1

Sold to Ship Sundland 1

Dead in d:o 1

Hogs Grown in d:o 1

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 1

Pigs

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 38

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto 2

Killed in d:o 40

Sold to Ship Sundland 40

Dead in d:o 40

Hogs Grown in d:o 39

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 25

Totall

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 49

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto 16

Killed in d:o 65

Sold to Ship Sundland 65

Dead in d:o 61

Hogs Grown in d:o 60

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 46

Poultry

Turkeys

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 55

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 55

Sold to Ship Sundland 53

Dead in d:o 53

Hogs Grown in d:o 47

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 47

Fowles

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 193

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 193

Sold to Ship Sundland 164

Dead in d:o 164

Hogs Grown in d:o 164

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 164

Ducks

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 40

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 40

Sold to Ship Sundland 36

Dead in d:o 36

Hogs Grown in d:o 26

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 26

Geese

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 12

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 12

Sold to Ship Sundland 12

Dead in d:o 12

Hogs Grown in d:o 12

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 12

Asses

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 6

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 6

Sold to Ship Sundland 6

Dead in d:o 6

Hogs Grown in d:o 6

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 6

Horses

Hogs

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 5

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 5

Sold to Ship Sundland 5

Dead in d:o 5

Hogs Grown in d:o 5

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 5

Mares

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 2

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 2

Sold to Ship Sundland 2

Dead in d:o 2

Hogs Grown in d:o 2

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 2

Totall

Rem:n ult:o Jan:y 7

B:t in Feb:y —

Encreased in ditto —

Killed in d:o 7

Sold to Ship Sundland 7

Dead in d:o 7

Hogs Grown in d:o 7

Rem:n ult:o Feb:y 7

Yams Expended at the Sev:ll Plantations 12922 lb

Cap:t Goodwin likewise brought in & deliverd an Acc:t of Store Goods Sold in the Month of Feb:y

last which was Examined approved & is as follows viz:t

Arrack

Neat cattle

Remaining last January: 18 bullocks, 34 cows, 10 heifers, 2 steers, 5 yearlings, 47 calves, 1 bull, total 117

Bought in February: none

Increased in February: 6 calves, total 6

Killed in the same: 18 bullocks, 34 cows, 10 heifers, 2 steers, 5 yearlings, 53 calves, 2 bulls, total 124, less 1 calf, total 1

Sold to the ship Sunderland: 17 bullocks, 34 cows, 10 heifers, 2 steers, 5 yearlings, 53 calves, 2 bulls, total 123, less 2 bullocks, 1 heifer, total 3

Dead in the same: 15 bullocks, 34 cows, 10 heifers, 1 steer, 5 yearlings, 53 calves, 2 bulls, total 120

Hogs grown in the same: 15 bullocks, 34 cows, 10 heifers, 1 steer, 5 yearlings, 53 calves, 2 bulls, total 120

Remaining last February: 15 bullocks, 34 cows, 10 heifers, 1 steer, 5 yearlings, 53 calves, 2 bulls, total 120

Sheep

Remaining last January: 31 ewes, 10 wethers, 13 lambs, 6 rams, total 60

Bought in February: none

Increased in February: none

Killed in the same: 31 ewes, 10 wethers, 13 lambs, 6 rams, total 60, less 1

Sold to the ship Sunderland: 31 ewes, 9 wethers, 13 lambs, 6 rams, total 59

Dead in the same: 31 ewes, 9 wethers, 13 lambs, 6 rams, total 59

Hogs grown in the same: 31 ewes, 9 wethers, 13 lambs, 6 rams, total 59

Remaining last February: 31 ewes, 9 wethers, 13 lambs, 6 rams, total 59

Goats

Remaining last January: 91 ewes, 15 withers, 33 kids, 13 rams, total 157

Bought in February: none

Increased in February: 26 kids, total 26

Killed in the same: 91 ewes, 15 withers, 59 kids, 13 rams, total 178, less 1

Sold to the ship Sunderland: 91 ewes, 15 withers, 58 kids, 13 rams, total 177

Dead in the same: 91 ewes, 15 withers, 58 kids, 13 rams, total 177

Hogs grown in the same: 91 ewes, 15 withers, 58 kids, 13 rams, total 177

Remaining last February: 91 ewes, 15 withers, 58 kids, 13 rams, total 177

Hogs

Remaining last January: 9 sows, 1 shoat, 1 boar, 38 pigs, total 49

Bought in February: none

Increased in February: 1 sow, 13 pigs, total 16

Killed in the same: 10 sows, 14 shoats, 1 boar, 40 pigs, total 65, less 4

Sold to the ship Sunderland: 10 sows, 14 shoats, 1 boar, 40 pigs, total 65, less 4

Dead in the same: 10 sows, 1 shoat, 1 boar, 40 pigs, total 61, less 1 boar, 6

Hogs grown in the same: 10 sows, 1 shoat, 1 boar, 39 pigs, total 60, less 14

Remaining last February: 10 sows, 1 shoat, 1 boar, 25 pigs, total 46

Poultry

Remaining last January: 55 turkeys, 193 fowls, 40 ducks, 12 geese, total 49

Bought in February: none

Increased in February: none

Killed in the same: 55 turkeys, 193 fowls, 40 ducks, 12 geese, less 2 turkeys, 29 fowls, 4 ducks

Sold to the ship Sunderland: 53 turkeys, 164 fowls, 36 ducks, 12 geese

Dead in the same: 53 turkeys, 164 fowls, 36 ducks, 12 geese, less 1 turkey, 6 fowls, 10 ducks

Hogs grown in the same: 47 turkeys, 164 fowls, 26 ducks, 12 geese

Remaining last February: 47 turkeys, 164 fowls, 26 ducks, 12 geese

Asses and horses

Remaining last January: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Bought in February: none

Increased in February: none

Killed in the same: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Sold to the ship Sunderland: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Dead in the same: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Hogs grown in the same: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Remaining last February: 6 asses, 5 horses, 2 mares, total 7

Yams expended at the several plantations, 12,922 pounds

Captain Goodwin brought in his account of store goods sold during February, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

The account tracks the Company's live stock month by month under fixed heads. It shows the opening number, purchases, increase, the beasts killed for the Fort, those sold to the ship, those dead and the closing number. This let the council follow the herds and flocks as a running asset.

The sale of cattle, sheep, goats and hogs to the Sunderland shows the island victualling a departing ship from its own flocks. This supplied the vessel for the homeward passage, set beside the usual slaughter for the Fort.

The yams expended at the several plantations fell to 12,922 pounds this month. This lower figure reflects the fresh crop coming in after the mild season, easing the heavy draught on the Company's stock through the drought.

503

399

March

53.3/8 Gall: Arrack

16 17 10.1/2

579 lb Sugar

14 6 7.1/2

51 lb Bread

— 10 6

162 lb Flower

2 2 —

7 Catties Bohea Tea

— 4 —

7 d:o Green d:o

4 5 8

4 lb Soap

1 4 —

3 Gall: Linsed Oyle

— 15 —

3.1/2 d:o Rape d:o

— 10 —

4 White Shirt

— 3 —

1 Chelloe d:o

1 10 —

8 Cotton Stocking

1 10 —

4 P:o White Desotees

1 18 —

1 P:o Maddras Gingham

1 1 3

1 P:o Comm:s Long Cloth

— 8 —

1 P:o Midd:s Chint

3 8 —

4 P:o Bengal Taffety

4 P:o Chelloe

— 9 9

3 P:o Mens Stocking 3/8

— 4 6

3 Soldiers d:o

— 6 6

3 Womens d:o

— 2 9

1 Youths d:o

— 4 4

1 d:o

— 2 4

1 Girles d:o

— 4 4

1 Mens d:o

9 Bowles

1 2 6

86 Large Cupps

1 8 8

13 Small d:o

— 2 2

4 Cupps & Saucers

— 2 —

1 Chrishian N:o 5

1 16 6

9 yards Durance

— 13 6

2 Lanthorns

— 3 6

1 Common

— 2 6

3 lb 20:d Nails

— 1 10.1/2

3 10:d

— 2 9

9 6:d

— 2 6

3 4:d

— 7 1/2

2.3/4 yards Ticking

— 12 —

8 Wooden Bowles

— 11 6

2 Pewter Basons

£ 58 19 4

53 3/8 gallons of arrack, £16 17s 10½d

573 pounds of sugar, £14 6s 7½d

51 pounds of bread, £2 6s 6d

162 pounds of flour, £2 2s 6d

7 catties of bohea tea, £0 4s 6d

7 catties of green tea, £0 5s 8d

4 pounds of soap, £1 4s 0d

3 gallons of linseed oil, £0 15s 0d

5½ gallons of rape oil, £0 10s 0d

1 white shift, £0 3s 0d

1 chintz the same, £1 10s 0d

8 pieces of coloured stockings, £1 10s 0d

3 pieces of white dosooties, £1 18s 0d

1 piece of Madras gingham, £1 1s 3d

1 piece of coarse long cloth, £0 8s 0d

1 piece of Madras chintz, £0 8s 0d

1 piece of Bengal taffeta, £3 8s 0d

1 piece of chillo, £0 9s 9d

3 pairs of men's stockings at 3s, £0 4s 6d

3 pairs of soldiers' the same, £0 6s 6d

3 pairs of women's the same, £0 2s 6½d

1 pair of youths' the same, £0 2s 4d

1 pair of the same, £0 2s 4½d

1 pair of girls' the same, £0 2s 6d

1 pair of men's the same, £0 2s 6d

9 bowls, £1 2s 6d

86 large cups, £1 8s 8d

13 shoat the same, £0 2s 2d

4 cups and saucers, £0 2s 0d

1 piece of fustian, no 5, £1 16s 6d

9 yards of durance, £0 13s 6d

2 testaments, £0 3s 6d

1 comb, £0 2s 6d

3 pounds of 20d nails, £0 1s 10½d

3 pounds of 10d nails, £0 2s 9d

9 pounds of 6d nails, £0 2s 6d

3 pounds of 4d nails, £0 [...]s [...]d

2¾ yards of ticking, £0 7s 1½d

8 wooden bowls, £0 1s 6d

2 pewter basins, £0 11s 6d

Total, £58 19s 4d

Interpretations

Bohea and green tea were teas from China. The first was a black cured leaf and the second lighter, both sold by the catty of about a pound and a third. They reached the island on the homeward China ships and served as small comforts drawn from the store.

The account carries a run of Indian cotton piece-goods now obscure by name. Gurrahs were plain coarse cotton from Bengal, and dosooties a stout calico. Chintz was a printed or painted cotton, here from Madras, and gingham a checked or striped cotton. Bengal taffeta was a fine plain-woven silk. These fabrics reached the island on the homeward ships and passed to the inhabitants at a margin.

Fustian was a stout cloth of cotton and linen with a slight nap, and durance a durable worsted. Ticking was a strong closely-woven linen used to case mattresses and bolsters. These textiles served the settlement's clothing and bedding, drawn from imported stock.

The nails are graded by the old penny system, where 4d, 6d, 10d and 20d denoted length rather than price. Their sale, with pewter basins and wooden bowls, marks the store as the island's source of the ironware and household goods a remote settlement drew from imported supply.

504

400

1724/5

Brought over 58 19 4

1 P:o Mens Island Shoes

— 3 —

1 P:o Womens Leather d:o

— 3.1/2 9

1 Girles d:o

— 4 —

2 Large Frying Pans

— 14 2

1 Hatchet N:o 2

— 2 1

1 P:o Small Hinges

— 1 6

1 Pewter Porringer

— 1 6

10 Doz Hooks Sorted

— 4 7

18 Lines

— 8 9

1 Shoe Knife

— 1 2

1 M Pin

— 4 9

1 P:o Neming Tape

— 2 9

3 d:o Broad

— 4 —

1 Midling Holland d:o

— 1 —

125 Needles

— 1 10.1/2

2 lb Whited Brown Thread

— 10 —

2 lb Coloured d:o

— 8 6

3 oz Nuns Thread

— 3 3

2 d:o

— 3 10

1 d:o

— 1 8

2 d:o

— 6 —

1/2 lb Whited Brown N:o 6

— 3 9

1/2 d:o

— 5 3

15 3/4 Oz China Silk

— 15 9

3 yards Gartering

— 1 6

10 Laces 5:d

— 5 6

8 d:o y:d Neming 2/2

— 2 6.3/4

14 y:d Neming 2/2

— — 3

8 d:o d:o

— 2 1

12 lb Shoe Thread

— — 3

Diet Expences

1 Bottle Florence Oyle

— 7 6

166 lb Sugar

4 3 —

2 lb Pepper

— 2 —

1 Cask Beef

6 — —

1 d:o Flower

4 4 —

1 d:o Peak

5 4 5

Fortification D:o

6 lb Coopers Rivett

— 4 6

1 Rag Stone

— 2 6

Garrison D:o

8 Catties Green Tea

1 12 —

3 Gall: Rape Oyle

— 18 —

1 Q:t Sweet d:o

— 3 —

1 P:o Coarse Long Cloth

2 — —

91 8 9.1/2

Brought over, £58 19s 4d

1 pair of men's calico shoes, £0 3s 4d

1 pair of women's leather the same, £0 3s 4d

1 pair of girls' the same, £0 2s 9d

2 large frying pans, £0 14s 2d

1 hatchet, no 2, £0 2s 1d

1 pair of small hinges, £0 1s 6d

1 pewter porringer, £0 1s 6d

10 dozen hooks assorted, £0 4s 7d

18 lines, £0 8s 8d

1 shoe knife, £0 1s 9d

1 comb, £0 2s 9d

1 pound of hemming tape, £0 4s 9d

3 pieces of broad the same, £0 4s 0d

1 middling Holland the same, £0 1s 0d

125 needles, £0 1s 10½d

2 pounds of white and brown thread, £0 10s 0d

2 pounds of coloured the same, £0 8s 6d

3 ounces of nun's thread, £0 3s 3d

2 ounces of the same, £0 3s 10d

2 ounces of the same, £0 1s 8d

2 ounces of the same, £0 6s 5d

2 ounces of the same, £0 3s 9d

1 pound of white and brown, no 6, £0 5s 3d

½ pound of the same, £0 3s 0d

15¾ ounces of China silk, £0 10s 0d

3 yards of gartering, £0 1s 6d

16 laces at 5d, £0 6s 6d

8 pieces of the same, £0 3s 0d

14 yards of trimming at 2s 6d, £0 6s 3d

8 pounds of the same, £0 2s 0d

12 pounds of shoe thread, £0 1s 3d

Diet expenses

1 bottle of Florence oil, £0 7s 6d

166 pounds of sugar, £4 3s 0d

2 pounds of pepper, £0 2s 0d

1 cask of beef, £6 6s 0d

120 pounds of flour, £4 5s 0d

1 pound of soap, £0 5s 0d

Fortification

6 pounds of copper rivets, £0 4s 6d

1 rag stone, £0 2s 6d

Garrison

8 catties of green tea, £1 12s 0d

3 gallons of rape oil, £0 18s 0d

1 quart of sweet the same, £0 3s 0d

2 pieces of coarse long cloth, £2 0s 0d

Total, £91 8s 0½d

Interpretations

Nun's thread was a fine white linen sewing thread of high grade, sold by the ounce at graded prices. It sat among the coarser coloured, brown and white threads that supplied the settlement's domestic sewing and repair.

China silk was raw or spun silk carried on the homeward China ships, sold by the ounce for fine sewing and trimming. Hemming tape, broad tape, gartering, lace and trimming were narrow woven braids used to bind and finish clothing.

The account groups its spending under heads for the diet, the fortification and the garrison. Each head stands apart before the total is struck. This let the council charge goods to their proper accounts across the branches of the establishment.

A rag stone was a coarse stone used to sharpen tools and rub down metal, and copper rivets were fastenings for repairing kettles and copper vessels. Both belonged to the practical stock the fortification drew from the store for its works.

505

401

March

Plantation Brought Over 91 3 3.1/2

6 lb 8:d Nailes

— 4 6

4 lb 4:d

— 3 4

6 lb 10:d

— 3 3

6 lb 20:d

— 3 6

Gen:l Charges

3 lb Bohea Tea

— 18 —

1 lb Pack Thread

— 2 9

1 Decantor

— 5 —

1 Midling Lanthorn

— 6 —

Honble Comp:s Blacks

4 Casks Wheat

12 6 —

22 Bushar

8 5 —

107 lb d:o

4 17 6

3558 lb Rice

44 9 6

4 Casks Pork

52 — —

30 lb Beef

— 15 —

14 P:o Comm:s Long Cloth

11 8 —

2 P:o White Gurrah

— 19 —

2 Blew 6:s Cap:t Boddam

1 — —

Cash 6 P:o Curiescurios

1 10 —

2 P:o English Shoes

— 11 6

56 d:o d:o

— 12 6

2 lb Whited Brown Thread N:o 5

— 10 —

2 Oz China Silk

— 2 —

3 d:o Lines Sorted

— 16 8

30 doz Hooks

— 10 5

Totall £ 236 1 9.1/2

Grace Hayes Widow presented her Petition Praying to become

Tenant to the Hon:ble Company, for ab:t two Acres of their Wast Land

lying at the upper end of Bilberte Valley.

Granted & the Surveyor to Measure the Same accordingly

Ordered that an Advertizement be Published for the Choosing

Parish officers on Easter Monday next as Usual, to Succeed the

Present Church Wardens & overseers of the Highways

Mr Hawkes presented the following Complaint against

Mr Wigneo the Surgeon.

Worshipfull Sirs

Being

Margin Notes:

Grace Hayes Widow Pet: for Land

Granted

Parish Officers

Mr Hawkes

Plantation

Brought over, £91 3s 3½d

6 pounds of nails, £0 4s 6d

4 pounds of the same, £0 3s 4d

6 pounds of 10d nails, £0 3s 2d

6 pounds of 20d nails, £0 3s 2d

General charges

3 pounds of bohea tea, £0 18s 0d

1 pound of pack thread, £0 2s 9d

1 decanter, £0 5s 6d

1 middling lanthorn, £0 5s 6d

Honourable Company's blacks

4 casks of wheat, £12 6s 0d

22 bushels of the same, £8 5s 0d

1,076 pounds of the same, £4 17s 6d

3,558 pounds of rice, £44 9s 6d

4 casks of pork, £52 0s 0d

30 pounds of beef, £0 15s 0d

1½ pounds of the same, £11 8s 0d

2 pieces of coarse long cloth, £0 19s 0d

2 pieces of white gurrahs, £1 0s 0d

2 pieces of the same from Captain Boddam, £1 10s 0d

6 pieces of Turedeeries at 6, £0 11s 6d

2 pieces of English shoes, £0 12s 6d

6 pairs of the same, £0 10s 0d

2 pounds of white and brown thread, no 5, £0 2s 0d

2 ounces of China silk, £0 16s 3d

30 lines assorted, £0 [...]s [...]d

30 dozen hooks the same, £0 10s 5d

Total, £236 1s 9½d

Grace Hayes, widow, presented a petition to become tenant of the Honourable Company for about two acres of its waste land, lying at the upper end of Chapel valley. The council granted it and ordered the surveyor to measure the parcel accordingly.

The council ordered an advertisement published for the choosing of parish officers on Easter Monday next, so that a vestry might be held to elect the present churchwardens and overseers of the highways.

Mr Hawkes presented the following complaint against Mr Wignell, the surgeon.

Interpretations

The account divides spending under heads for the plantation, the general charges and the Company's blacks. Each head stands apart before the total is struck. This let the council charge tools, provisions and clothing to their proper class across the branches of the establishment.

The single heaviest charge falls on the rice, wheat and pork supplied to the Company's blacks. This bulk of imported grain and salted meat reflects the famine relief drawn from the homeward India ships during the long drought.

The order for a vestry on Easter Monday set the annual choosing of parish officers. It fixed the day for electing churchwardens and highway overseers, the standing machinery by which the settlement managed its church rate and road labour.

506

402

1724/5

being the two Preceeding Weeks very much out of Order

which was attended with a Violent Looseness did on Saturday was

Sennight last send three times for Mr John Hodgskinson to be Sent

me word he would immediatly, wait on me & the day following did

request, & go & See if he would come & See me his Answer was he

had Something for me to take & would come to me presently, the

same day another Spoke to him & received the same Answer, but

notwithstanding all the Promise as well as the just Debt above

(never once came near me) Did forbear Sending for Mr Wignell

the Chief Surgeon there not being that Mutual agreement betwixt

us that Should with there was Between me & all Mankind, Mr

Hodgskinson informed me that Mr Wignel was constantly at

the Punch House & was Seldom ever Sober therefor with the

Reason above thought him an unproper Person to apply to, &

cant help acquainting your Worship &c that on Saturday last

in the Evening as I was walking cross the Valley, Mr Wignel came

to me & gave me all the abusive Language he could Invent as Sorry

Dog Rascale & too many ill Names to trouble your Worship &c

with, I am convinced I have not Exchanged with him ten Words

this four months I am at a Loss to know what it Should proceed

from, I cant help thinking it not come hard as well as Cruel in

both the Gent Employed by the Hon:ble Company & receive their

Salary for looking after the Garison never once to come near me nor

send me any one Medicin to help & relieving

I am very far from Troubling it with your Worships

Approbation or Order to that You will Suffer me to be & Insulted

by any one tho at this time unhappily under Your frown which

they think will bear them out in any thing they can do with me but

as use my Self You will not Suffer to Yr Worships & to hind

Consideration & Regulation of the differences as I will as heartily

oblige Worshipfull Sir & Gen:t

Yr Obed:t humble Serv:t

March 16th 1724/5

Benjamin Hawkes

Mr Wignea being called in, Says he was in a great Cofession or

else should not have given Mr Hawkes such abusive Language

Ordered that the said Mr Wignels acknowledge his fault

& to desire Mr Hawkes to Exust his Baseness which he did

Mr French & Mr Crisp deliverd each of them their

Monthly Acc:t for February last which was Examined approved

& are as follows

viz:t

Margin Notes:

Complt ag:t Mr Wignell Surg:n

Mr Wignells Passion & acknowledges his fault

Mr French Mr Crisps Acc:ts Deliv:d

Benjamin Hawkes complained against Mr Wignell, the surgeon, in a letter dated 16 Mar 1725. He set out that during the two preceding weeks he had been very ill, out of order and troubled with a fever attended by a violent looseness. On Saturday fortnight he had sent three times for Mr Hodgkinson to the Fort, who had promised to wait on him at once, but the next day had failed to come. When Hawkes sent again to ask if Hodgkinson would come and see him, the answer was that he had said he would come to see him presently. The same day Hawkes spoke to another man, who received the same answer, yet despite all the promises Hodgkinson never once came near him.

Hawkes had then declined to send for Mr Wignell, the chief surgeon, there being no good understanding between them, and no love lost between the two of them or all mankind. Hodgkinson had told him that Wignell was constantly at the punch house and seldom ever sober, so that for the reason set out above Hawkes thought him an improper person to apply to. He added that on the Saturday before, in the evening, as he was walking across the valley, Wignell had come up to him and given him all the abusive language he could think of, calling him a sorry dog and a rascal, too tedious to trouble the Governor with. Hawkes was convinced he had not exchanged ten words with Wignell in four months, so he was at a loss to know what it should proceed from. He could not help thinking it hard that both men, employed by the Honourable Company and drawing their salary for looking after the garrison, would never once come near him nor send him any medicine to relieve him.

Hawkes was very far from troubling the Governor with the matter except for his approval or order, so that he might not be insulted by anyone while he lay unhappily under the Governor's displeasure, which they thought would bear them out in anything they could do to him. He assured the Governor he would not trouble him except for his consideration and regulation of the matter, and would remain his most obedient servant. The letter was subscribed by Benjamin Hawkes and dated 16 Mar 1725.

Mr Wignell, being called in, said he had been in a great passion, or else would not have given Mr Hawkes such abusive language. The council ordered Wignell to acknowledge his fault and to ask Mr Hawkes's pardon, which he did.

Mr French and Mr Crisp each delivered their monthly account for February, which the council examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

The complaint set out a double failure by the two Company surgeons. Neither Hodgkinson nor Wignell had attended a sick man who drew on their service, exposing a gap in the medical care the garrison was meant to receive.

Hawkes tied the neglect to his standing under the Governor's displeasure, recorded in the affair of his suspension in November 1724. He framed the surgeons' conduct as emboldened by his loss of favour, casting a medical grievance as part of his wider quarrel with the government.

The council settled the matter by requiring Wignell to acknowledge his fault and beg Hawkes's pardon. This treated the surgeon's abusive language as a breach to be corrected by submission, rather than a cause for heavier discipline.

507

403

March

Gunners Stores Expended in Feb:y 1724/5

1724/5

February

1 An Alarm

4 4 4

2 Arrived the Sunderland Cap:t Hutchinson

9 9 9

3 Muster Day

— — 12

20 To Answer a Salute from the Sunderland

11 11 11

22 Departed the Sunderland

9 9 9

Expence for the Guard

33 33 56

Spunge Staves broke on the Line

1

Sheep Skin

2

Tompkins

4

Musquet Balls for the Use of Castle

200 15

Cartridge Paper for Guard

1

Match

24

24 1 12 4 2 1

Expence of Gen:l Table in Feb:y 1724/5

23 P:o Salt Beef 2/6

3 10 —

15 d:o Pork 2/10

2 2 6

120 lb Bread

1 10 —

160 lb Sugar

4 — —

104 lb Flower

1 6 —

380 lb Beefe 25 P Cost

4 15 —

1 Sheep

1 4 —

4 Ducks

— 8 —

1 Kid

— 6 —

49 Fowle

3 13 6

4 Cap:o

1 4 —

5 Turkeys

1 10 —

84 lb Veale

2 2 —

83 lb Pork

2 2 6

63 Gall: Arrack 6/4

19 19 —

6 Bottle Mountain 3

10 7 —

4 d:o Port

— 10 —

60 lb Butter

3 — —

36 lb Candles 2/6

4 10 —

25 lb Soap

— 15 5

3 Q:t Oyle

— 11 10

2 Gall: Vinegar

— 8 —

2 lb Pepper

— 2 —

68 15 11

John: Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jn:o Alexander

Gunner French brought in his account of gunner's stores expended during February, which the council examined and approved as follows.

1st, an alarm, 4 falcons, 4 minions, 4 pounds

2nd, arrived the Sunderland, Captain Hutchinson, 9 falcons, 9 minions, 9 pounds

3rd, muster day, 12 pounds

20th, to answer a salute from the Sunderland, 11 falcons, 11 minions, 11 pounds

22nd, departed the Sunderland, 9 falcons, 9 minions, 9 pounds

Expense for the guard, 11 pounds

Total, 33 falcons, 33 minions, 56 pounds

Sponge staves broke on the line, 1

Sheep skins, 2

Tompions, 4

Musket balls for the use of the castle, 19

Cartridge paper for the guard, 1 quire

Match, 24 pounds

Total, 24, 1, 4, 2, 1

Mr Crisp delivered his account of the expense of the General Table for February, which the council examined and approved as follows.

83 pounds of salt beef at 2s 6d, £3 10s 0d

15 pounds of pork at 2s 10d, £2 2s 6d

120 pounds of bread, £1 10s 0d

160 pounds of sugar, £4 0s 0d

104 pounds of flour, £1 6s 0d

380 pounds of beef at 25s per hundredweight, £4 15s 0d

1 sheep, £0 8s 0d

4 ducks, £0 6s 0d

1 kid, £0 6s 0d

49 fowls, £3 13s 6d

4 pigs, £1 4s 0d

5 turkeys, £1 10s 0d

84 pounds of veal, £2 2s 0d

83 pounds of pork, £2 2s 6d

63 gallons of arrack at 6s 4d per gallon, £19 19s 0d

69 bottles of mountain wine at 3s, £10 7s 0d

4 bottles of port, £0 10s 0d

60 pounds of butter, £3 0s 0d

36 pounds of candles at 2s 6d, £4 10s 0d

25 pounds of soap, £1 15s 5d

3 gallons of oil, £0 11s 0d

2 gallons of vinegar, £0 8s 0d

2 pounds of pepper, £0 2s 0d

Total, £68 15s 11d

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield and John Alexander.

Interpretations

Falcons and minions were small cannon of light bore. Their names served to reckon powder charges by the weight each gun required. The account measures powder by these units alongside plain weights, showing both the occasion of firing and the quantity spent.

Tompions were plugs fitted into the muzzle of a gun to keep out rain and spray. Their issue marks the routine care of the ordnance, protecting the guns of the line between firings.

Mountain wine was a sweet white wine from Malaga in southern Spain. It joined the port on the General Table that fed the Governor and councillors, marking the officers' diet against the plainer garrison ration.

Arrack again stood as the largest single charge on the table by value. The distilled spirit from Batavia and India passed through the store under the Company's liquor monopoly, the same control enforced against the coxswain Caleb Davis on 04 Mar 1724.

508

404

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 23d day of

March 1724/5 at Plantation House

Present John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfeld

John Goodwin

John Alexander

The last Consultation read & approved

Were this day Executed two Leases for two Parcells of

Land Non ble Companys Wast Land vizt

One to John French Gunner for three Acres Situate in

Stone Top valley, the other to John Bazette for three Acres & half

in Fishers valley for the Term of twenty One Year each, at the

usual Rent of Four Doll. p Ann

Joseph Bates Planter Presents the following Petition

The Petition of Joseph Bates

Most humbly Sheweth

That your Petitionr for Severall Misdemeanours hath

justly incurred the Displeasure of the present Government whose ill

Behaviour towards the Same justly Drew upon him a Prosecution for

his offence of which he Stand convicted by his Country & was

accordingly fyned in the Severall Summ of Five Pounds & Fifty

Shillings & his Recognizance of Fifty Pound become Forfeited

to the Hon ble Company, but your Petitionr humbly begs leave

to acquaint your Wollhip & Councile that the Severall Crimes of

which he has been Guilty & which with Shame he Acknowledg[...]

& for which he most heartely begs Pardon was Occasioned by

the Effects of Liquor with which he at that time was unhappily

overcome.

Your Petitionr therefore most humbly Prays Your

Worship & Councile will be pleased to take the

Premisses into Consideration & intercede with the

Hon ble Company for a Mitigation of his Fines

the full Payment of which will not only be

highly detrimentell to your Petitionr but likewise

to his innocent Family who will thereby become

great Sufferers

And yr Petr Shall &c

Joseph Bates

Margin Notes:

Jno French

Jno Bazette

Leases Ex-

ecuted

Petn of Jos

Bates concern-

ing his fines

and prays

Intercession

for a Mitiga-

tion thereof

At a consultation held on Tuesday 23 March 1725 at the plantation house.

Present: Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Goodwin and John Alexander.

The council read and approved the record of the previous meeting.

The council granted two leases this day for two parcels of the Company's waste land. The gunner John French took the first, three acres in Stone Top Valley. John Bazett took the second, three and a half acres in Fisher's Valley. Each ran for a term of 21 years at the usual rent of 4s 0d per acre.

Joseph Bates, a planter, brought in the following petition.

Bates set out that his several misdeeds had justly drawn the displeasure of the present government. That displeasure had led to a prosecution against him for his offence. He had been found guilty and fined 50s 0d to the Honourable Company, and his recognizance of £50 0s 0d had been forfeited. He begged leave to appeal to Doctor Walsh, who could confirm the several crimes of which he had been guilty. He acknowledged them with shame and heartily begged pardon, laying his conduct to the effects of drink that had overcome him at the time. He asked the Governor and council to consider his case and to intercede with the Honourable Company for a reduction of the fine, whose full payment would harm not only himself but also his innocent family, who would become great sufferers through it.

Interpretations

A recognizance was a formal bond binding a person to the Crown or the Company in a fixed sum, forfeited on breach of a stated condition such as good behaviour. Bates had lost £50 0s 0d under such a bond on top of his 50s 0d fine, so his plea addressed two separate liabilities at once.

The petition asked the council to act as an intermediary rather than as the deciding authority. The council could not itself remit a penalty imposed for a criminal offence, so Bates sought its recommendation to the directors in England, the only body able to grant relief on the forfeited bond.

Bates has a long record in these consultations. He was tried on three indictments at the sessions of 31 August 1724 and convicted of a seditious libel of 28 April 1724 addressed to Commodore Thomas Matthews, fined 50s 0d for it, and his peace bond of 29 May 1724 enforced. This petition seeks to soften those same penalties.

Speculations

Bates rested his whole appeal on the plea of drunkenness rather than denying the offences. The obvious course for a man seeking relief would have been to dispute his guilt or minimise the acts. He instead conceded every charge and offered his family's ruin as the ground for mercy, calculating that open submission stood a better chance with the directors than a fresh denial from a man already convicted of falsehood.

509

405

March

The Petitioner was called in & Answerd that the Governr had

formerly given the Hon ble Company an Acct of his Case Since

but according to his humble desire & Submission Wee will by the

next Ship transmitt a Copy of his said Petition to the Hon ble

Company & we beg of them to Mitigate or Forgive the Fine

as they in their great Prudence shall think

fit, But as for the Small Sum of Fine Pounds & Fifty

Shillings Wee expect he Pay them at the next Reckoning day

the 24th instant & give his Bond for the aforesaid Fifty Pd

till Wee hear farther from our Hon ble Masters

The Comittee of the Councile Report that in Pursuance

to the order of Councile of the third instant they have Exam d

the Books of Rates for the year 1723 & find the said

Books to agree with the said Books

Capt Goodwin Reports that he has Measured the

Land Petitioned for by John Long in Consult of 29th & Kept

& that Petitioned for by Grace Sh ayes in the last Consultation

& find the former to contain 2½ Acres & the Later 4½ acres

Ordered that Leases be made out for twenty One years

at the Usual Rent of 4r p Acre

Ordered that an Advertizement be issued out Tomorrow

to give Notice that Wee intend to begin to Reckon & make up

Acct with the Garison & Freemen upon the Quarter part on

Wednesday next being the 30th instant, that the Freemen do

do their Rents & Revenues for the whole year & we do Expect

they Pay the same immediately as well as to clear their old

Debts due to the Hon ble Company for years past

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Petitioners

Answer

Copy hereof to

be transmitted

Fine & Fine Shills

be paid duly &

£50 to lye in

Suspence

Books of Rates

for 1723

Exam d

Report of ye

Acres Land

Measured

Leases Ord d

Days of Reckoning

appointed

Rents to Cease

also Old Debts

The council called the petitioner Joseph Bates back in and answered him. The Governor had earlier given the Honourable Company an account of his poor state, but at his humble request would, by the next ship, send the directors a copy of his petition. The council would ask them to reduce or remit the fine of £50 0s 0d as they in their great wisdom should think fit. Meanwhile the council would take the small matter of the fine of 50s 0d, which it expected Bates to pay at the next reckoning day on 24 March 1725, when he was also to give his bond for the £50 0s 0d until the Honourable Masters' pleasure was known.

Captain Goodwin, one of the council, reported that under the council's order of 3 March 1725 he had examined the account books for the year 1723 and found the fair books to agree with the foul books.

Captain Goodwin further reported that he had measured the land petitioned for by John Long at the consultation of 23 March 1725 and that petitioned for by Grace Hayes at the same meeting. He found the first to contain 2 and a half acres and the second 2 and a half acres.

The council ordered that leases be drawn for both parcels for 21 years at the usual rent of 4s 0d per acre.

The council ordered an advertisement issued the next day. It gave notice that the council intended to begin the yearly reckoning and make up accounts with the garrison and the country on the following Wednesday 30 March 1725. Every inhabitant was to bring in his rent and revenue for the whole year, and no person was to run further into arrears. Each was to pay at once and to clear any old debt owed to the Honourable Company for years past.

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

A recognizance of £50 0s 0d bound Bates to the Company in that sum, separate from the 50s 0d fine, and the council split the two liabilities in its answer. It collected the small fine at once but referred the far larger bond to the directors, since only they could release a forfeited penalty of that size.

The distinction between fair and foul books was a routine control on the Company's accounts. The foul books held the rough daily entries, and the fair books the clean final version copied from them, so that agreement between the two confirmed nothing had been altered in the transfer.

The annual reckoning fixed the point at which the settlement squared its accounts with every inhabitant. The advertisement pressed for immediate payment of rent and the clearing of old debt, tying the year-end audit to a general demand that no one fall further behind.

510

406

1725

At a Consultation held on Thursday &

Fryday the 31th March & 1 & 2d of April 1725 at ye House

Present John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfeld

John Goodwin

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

Wee mett to Reckon with the Garison & Workmen for the

Quarter part & with the Inhabitants for Rent & ca for the

whole year & to hear any thing that might occur

John Bagley junr presented a Petition Praying

leave to Sett his Estate & go off to England

granted he first Paying his Debt Provided We approve of

the Tenant

The Hon ble Companies Plantation at the Hutts

being very indifferent Land & very much exposed to the bleak

Winds Wee find by Experience that it would be more for the

Companies interest to make up that Land into Pasture

than continue it for a Plantation

Ordered that the Same be accordingly broke up &

& laid into Pasture which will both Save the Charge of an

overseer & give an Opportunity for the Blacks to be employed

to greater Advantage elsewhere

The Governr made the following Report against

Thomas Wignell the Surgeon vizt

The Governr Reports that it very Uneasie to

him to take Notice of Peoples Misbehaviour but his Patience

has bin so grossly abused that he can no longer forbear to

acquaint the Board with the Scandalous Behaviour of the

Wignell the Surgeon. Its needless to Mention his Disobedience

every one having observed as will as my self that he has

frequently come Scandalously Drunk to Table, & is very

often disguised with Liquor which is bad in all Men but the

Margin Notes:

Reckoning

begun

Jno Bagley junr

Petn to Sell his

Estate & go for

England

Granted on

Condition

Hutts Plantn

being very

Indifferent

to lye only for

Pasturage

Govr Report

ag t Mr Wignell

for coming often

Drunk and

Neglecting

his business

At a consultation held on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 30 March and 1 and 2 April 1725 at the plantation house.

Present: Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The council read and approved the record of the previous meeting.

The council met to reckon with the garrison and the country for the quarter past, and with the inhabitants for their rent and revenue for the whole year, and to settle anything else that might arise.

John Bagley junior brought in a petition asking leave to sell his estate and go off to England. The council granted the request, on condition that he first pay his debts and that it approve the incoming tenant.

The council turned to the Honourable Company's plantation at the Hutts. The land there was very poor and much exposed to the black winds. Captain Goodwin's survey found that the Company's interest lay in laying the land into pasture rather than keeping it as a plantation. The council ordered it accordingly given up and laid into pasture. This would both save the charge of an overseer and free the slaves to be employed to better advantage elsewhere.

The Governor made the following report against Thomas Wignell, the surgeon.

The Governor reported that it was very uneasy to him to take notice of Wignell's misbehaviour, but his patience had been so grossly abused that he could no longer forbear to lay the matter before the council. There was no need to mention the surgeon's disobedience, since everyone had observed as well as the Governor himself that he was frequently drunk at table and very often the worse for liquor, which was bad in all men but the [...]

Interpretations

The black winds were the strong, cold southerly gusts that swept across the exposed uplands of St Helena. Their effect on the Hutts plantation made the ground unsuitable for growing yams, which drove the decision to convert it to grazing.

The Governor framed his complaint against Wignell as a reluctant public duty rather than a personal grievance. This positioning let him bring a serving Company officer before the council for drunkenness while presenting himself as forbearing, so that the record showed provocation on Wignell's side and restraint on his own.

Speculations

The council gave up the Hutts as a plantation rather than persist with it. The obvious course for land already cleared and planted was to keep it in cultivation, since abandonment wasted the earlier investment. Captain Goodwin's survey showed the poor soil and exposure to the black winds made continued planting a losing effort, so the council chose to save an overseer's cost and redirect the slaves elsewhere.

511

407

March 1725

the more odious & Intollerable in one of his Profession because

it must of necessity render him incapable of his Duty & ye

leds him into Misbehaviour & Extravagancies & in one

of those drunken fitts he beat the Sentry in the Castle upon his

Post which being immediately Complained of the Govr Ordered

him to be confined upon Guard but being very troublesome

so confine More he was removed thence to a more Proper tho

less Reputable Place, & this Action of his is the more inexcusable

because he is very well acquainted with the Rules of Garrison &

knew the Danger & irregularity of such an Attempt, but

nevertheless he seemed rather to justifye than shew

any concern for his Crime till humbled by a Gentle Confinement

& then he wrote the following Letter & upon Promise to

mend his Manners I ordered him to be sett at Liberty

Worshipfull Sr

I am under the greatest Unhappiness I was ever Sensible

of, to be obliged to write to your Worship from this wretched

Place of my Confinement. I can no way think of Extenuating

my Crime or vindicating my Self having no Room for a

Justification of my Self whatever Provocations I might think

to have received. I am really very much ashamed after the many

Favours have received from your Worship to throw my self once

more at your Worships Feet, but relying

more on your Worships Goodness than on my Deserts humbly

beg you would be pleased to add the Favour of Pardoning

this Crime the committing of which will carefully avoid for the

future & it shall ever be most humbly & gratefully acknowledged

by Sr Yr Worships

Most obedient & humble Servt

P Wignell

To the Worshipfull

John Smith Esqr Govr

of St Helena

The Governr farther Reports that he has received

frequent Complaints against him for neglecting his Duty & as

often Advised & Cautioned him to Mind & be more Carefull but

hitherto to little effect

Mr Byfeld Reports that a Black Wench Named

Jenny at the Beak was brought to Bed last Week of a Girle Named

Mary

Jno Alexander John Smith

Jno Goodwin Edward Byfeld

Margin Notes:

Beating a Century

Mr Wignells Lre

to ye Govr

Govr farther

Reports

a Girle born

at ye Beak

Mary

Drunkenness was the more offensive and intolerable in a man of Wignell's profession, since it left him unfit for his duty. His excesses were one of those drunken fits in which he beat the sentry in the castle over the sentry's post. The Governor heard the complaint at once and ordered Wignell confined to the guard, but he proved so troublesome that he was moved to a less reputable place. This action was the more inexcusable because Wignell knew the rules of the garrison well and understood the danger and irregularity of such an attempt. The Governor nonetheless chose to be lenient rather than strict. He held Wignell under gentle confinement until he humbled himself, and on Wignell's written promise to mend his manners, ordered him set at liberty.

The council then read the petition of Thomas Wignell to the Governor.

Wignell set out that it was the greatest unhappiness he had ever felt to be obliged to write to the Governor from the wretched place of his confinement. He could see no way to lessen his crime or clear himself, having no ground on which to justify what provocations he thought he had received. He was truly ashamed after the many favours he had once received from the Governor, and now relied more on the Governor's goodness than on any merit of his own. He humbly begged the Governor to grant him the favour of pardon for this crime, which he would carefully avoid committing in future, and which he would ever gratefully acknowledge. Signed by Thomas Wignell, addressed to the Governor John Smith of St Helena.

The Governor further reported that he had received frequent complaints against Wignell over his neglect of duty, and had often warned and cautioned him to mind it and be more careful, but to little purpose.

Mr Byfield reported that a black woman named Mary was brought to bed at the Peak of a child of a fair complexion.

Interpretations

The surgeon's assault on a sentry at his post struck at the discipline of the garrison, since the sentry stood as the point where the settlement's guard was kept. This made the offence a breach of military order rather than a private quarrel, which is why the Governor treated it as a matter of confinement rather than a fine.

The Governor recorded his own leniency in detail, describing a graded confinement that softened once Wignell submitted. This built a record showing measured authority rather than harshness, useful should the directors later weigh the Governor's handling of a Company officer against the surgeon's own conduct.

Bringing to bed meant giving birth. The note that Mary's child was of fair complexion carried a plain implication of a white father, which is why the council thought the birth worth entering on the record at all.

512

408

Aprill 1725

At a Consultation held on Fryday the 6th day of Aprill

1725 at Plantation House

Present John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

John Bagley junr appeared & acquainted Us that he had

offered & disposed of the Estate Last mentioned in the foregoing Consultation

to Elenor & John Bowers Taylor desiring We would accept of them as

Tenant for the said

Ordered that the said John Bowers who is a Sober carefull

Man be accepted as Tenant to the Hon ble Company for the 3½ Acres

of Land mentioned in the said Bagleys Petition & that his Rent

commence from the 25th of March last

John Bagley junr Presented a Bill of Sale from Richard

Greenwood & vesting for so & Acres of Freeland & Six Acres of Leased Land

Praying the same might be Registred for better Security thereof

Likewise John Bowers Presented an other Bill of Sale

for the aforesaid Premisses he side Purchased of the said John Bagley

junr Praying the same might also be Registred for better Security

thereof

Ordered that the two Bills of Sale abovementioned be

both Registred accordingly

The Governr wrote the following Letter to William Beale

You cant be insensible of the Promises you have made from time to time

of Paying your Debt due to the Hon ble Company from Quarter to Quarter

& the last time you assured me you would Pay Same on the last part of

it at the End of the Quarter last past but you having had no Regard

to your Word I send you this to lett you know that I expect you do

immediately make Proposals of Payment or else you may expect farther

trouble from

Yr Yr friend John Smith

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Jno Bagley

offered his Estate

to Elenor & John

Bowers

Jno Bowers

Accepted

Tenant for

ye Land

Jno Bagley

presented a

Bill of Sale

prays it may

be Registry

Jno Bowers

presented a

Bill of Sale

thereof

may be entry

both to be

Registred

Govr Letter

to W Beale

for Paymt of

his Debt

Aprill

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 13th day

of Aprill 1725 at Union Castle

Present John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

On Wednesday last arrived the Ship Aislabie

Capt Wilson Commr from Bengall but last from Fort

St Davids yesterday about Noon arrived the Stretham

Capt Westcott & the Frances Capt Hinton, both themselves

from Bengall & brought the following Sorts & Quantities

of Goods & Merchandizes for the Use of this Island vizt

40 Bags Rice con. 80 Bags. is 58:2:19

Ca. 2. 20. p Bagg p the Chest

32 -

3, 3. 3 35: 3. 3

15 Bags Sugar con. 30: is 22. 20:8:9m

115: -

140: -

p Aislabie Charges Merchandize vizt

75 Bags Rope & ca 7. 11:6

Wattea 1: 8:6 9: 12: 9

Boat Hire -

Rupees 150: -

Por Frances

40 Bags Rice cont. 80 Bags. 1st 28:2:19 Do. 2d 24: 26 Mds Nagee: 85:196

10 Bag Trefindo Suf vizt 20. Bag 10:14:2:18 a 3 Rug: 9 pm 70: -

5 Chest Wax Candle 197 10. 2d Sect. 24 or 6:2:18 a 27:10 9: 2 76:11:6

Charges Merchdze vizt 385:13:6

40 Bags Wattea 3: 6: 3

5 Chests & Packing 7:10:6

Wattea 1:10:9

Boat Hire 6:6 13. 2

Rupees 398:15:6

Por Stretham vizt

At a consultation held on Tuesday 13 April 1725 at Union Castle.

Present: Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The council read and approved the record of the previous meeting.

The ship Aislabie, Captain Wilson commander, arrived on the previous Wednesday from Bengal but last from Fort St David. The Stretham, Captain Westcott commander, and the Frances, Captain Hinton commander, arrived the previous day about noon, both homeward bound from Bengal. They brought the following sorts and quantities of goods and merchandise for the use of the island.

Goods received by the Aislabie:

40 bags of rice containing 80 bags at 58 rupees 2 annas 19 [...], 32 rupees [...], 35 rupees 3 annas 3 [...]

[...] 2 rupees 20 [...] rupees per candy, 3 rupees 3 annas 3

15 bags of sugar containing 30 [...] at 22 rupees, 23 rupees 8 [...], 105 rupees

140 rupees

Charges on merchandise:

75 bags of rope, 7 rupees 11 annas 6

matting, 1 rupee [...]

boat hire, 8 annas 6, 9 rupees 12 annas 9

Rupees 150

Goods received by the Frances:

40 bags of rice containing 80 bags at [...] rupees per Madras weight, 85 rupees 9 annas 6

10 bags of refined sugar containing 20 bags at 14 rupees 2 annas 18 at 3 rupees per [...], 70 rupees

5 chests of wax candles at 27 rupees 10 [...], 276 rupees 11 annas 6

385 rupees 13 annas 6

Charges on merchandise:

40 bags, 3 rupees 6 annas 3

5 chests and packing, 7 rupees 10 annas 6

matting, 1 rupee 10 annas 9

boat hire, 6 annas 6, 13 rupees 2 annas

Rupees 398 rupees 15 annas 6

Goods received by the Stretham:

Interpretations

The three ships all came home from Bengal but were last from Fort St David, a Company settlement on the Coromandel coast of India south of Madras. Their cargoes of rice, sugar and wax candles supplied the island directly, the goods valued in the Bengal money of account of rupees, annas and pies.

The accounts separate the prime cost of each cargo from the charges on it. The charges cover rope, matting, packing and boat hire, the handling and landing costs added to the value of the goods themselves before the total was struck.

Wax candles were a valued import on St Helena, since the island produced only crude tallow lights from marine-animal fat. A supply of ready-made wax candles was reserved for the Honourable Company's own table and its senior establishment rather than sold generally.

513

409

Aprill

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 13th day

of Aprill 1725 at Union Castle

Present John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

On Wednesday last arrived the Ship Aislabie

Capt Wilson Commr from Bengall but last from Fort

St Davids yesterday about Noon arrived the Stretham

Capt Westcott & the Frances Capt Hinton, both themselves

from Bengall & brought the following Sorts & Quantities

of Goods & Merchandizes for the Use of this Island vizt

40 Bags Rice con. 80 Bags. is 58:2:19

Ca. 2. 20. p Bagg p the Chest

32 -

3, 3. 3 35: 3. 3

15 Bags Sugar con. 30: is 22. 20:8:9m

115: -

140: -

p Aislabie Charges Merchandize vizt

75 Bags Rope & ca 7. 11:6

Wattea 1: 8:9

Boat Hire 1: 8:6 9: 12: 9

Rupees 150: -

Por Frances

40 Bags Rice cont. 80 Bags. 1st 28:2:19 Do. 2d 24: 26 Mds Nagee: 85:196

10 Bag Trefindo Suf vizt 20. Bag 10:14:2:18 a 3 Rug: 9 pm 70: -

5 Chest Wax Candle 197 10. 2d Sect. 24 or 6:2:18 a 27:10 9: 2 76:11:6

Charges Merchdze vizt 385:13:6

40 Bags Wattea 3: 6: 3

5 Chests & Packing 7:10:6

Wattea 1:10:9

Boat Hire 6:6 13. 2

Rupees 398:15:6

Por Stretham vizt

At a consultation held on Tuesday 13 April 1725 at Union Castle.

Present: Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The council read and approved the record of the previous meeting.

The ship Aislabie, Captain Wilson commander, arrived on the previous Wednesday from Bengal but last from Fort St David. The Stretham, Captain Westcott commander, and the Frances, Captain Hinton commander, arrived the previous day about noon, both homeward bound from Bengal. They brought the following sorts and quantities of goods and merchandise for the use of the island.

Goods received by the Aislabie:

40 bags of rice containing 80 bags at 58 rupees 2 annas 19 [...], 32 rupees, 35 rupees 3 annas 3

[...] at 2 rupees 20 [...] per candy, 3 rupees 3 annas 3

15 bags of sugar containing 30 [...] at 22 rupees, 23 rupees 8 [...], 105 rupees

140 rupees

Charges on merchandise:

75 bags of rope, 7 rupees 11 annas 6

matting, 1 rupee 8 annas 9

boat hire, 8 annas 6, 9 rupees 12 annas 9

Rupees 150

Goods received by the Frances:

40 bags of rice containing 80 bags at 28 rupees 3 annas 14 per Madras weight, 85 rupees 9 annas 6

10 bags of refined sugar containing 20 bags at 14 rupees 2 annas 18 at 3 rupees per [...], 70 rupees

5 chests of wax candles at 27 rupees 10 [...], 276 rupees 11 annas 6

385 rupees 13 annas 6

Charges on merchandise:

40 bags, 3 rupees 6 annas 3

5 chests and packing, 7 rupees 10 annas 6

matting, 1 rupee 10 annas 9

boat hire, 6 annas 6, 13 rupees 2 annas

Rupees 398 rupees 15 annas 6

Goods received by the Stretham:

Interpretations

The three ships all came home from Bengal but were last from Fort St David, a Company settlement on the Coromandel coast of India south of Madras. Their cargoes of rice, sugar and wax candles supplied the island directly, the goods valued in the Bengal money of account of rupees, annas and pies.

The accounts separate the prime cost of each cargo from the charges on it. The charges cover rope, matting, packing and boat hire, the handling and landing costs added to the value of the goods before the total was struck.

Wax candles were a valued import on St Helena, since the island produced only crude tallow lights from marine-animal fat. A supply of ready-made wax candles was reserved for the Honourable Company's own table and its senior establishment rather than sold generally.

514

410

1725

Per Stretham vizt

Rice vizt

47 Bags cont. 94 Bags Mds or 68. 3. 23 a

2. 10. p Madras Rupee 44. 12. 6

Batta 10 p Cent 4. 2. 9 45: 15: 3

Sugar Tresendo

10 Bags is 20 bags Mds or 14. 2. 18 a Rs 3. 2 pm 70: -

Wax Candles

5 Chests 197 to the Fact. 2d or 6. 2. 18 a 27. 10. 9 pm 2 76. 11. 6

392: 10. 9

Charges Merchandize

104 Bags & ca 8. 7. 3

5 Chests & Packing 7. 10. 6

Wattea 1. 13. 6

Boat Hire 6. 18. 5. 3

Rupees 411: -

Capt Byfeld, Capt

Goodwin, Mr French & Mr Griffe delivered

each of them their Monthly Accts for March last

for which were Examined & Approved & are as

follow

Goods received by the Stretham:

Rice:

47 bags containing 94 bags Madras weight at 68 rupees 3 annas 23 [...], 2 rupees 10 [...] per Madras rupee, 44 rupees 12 annas 6

batta at 6 per cent, 4 rupees 2 annas 9, 45 rupees 15 annas 3

Sugar of Tresinda:

10 bags containing 20 bags Madras weight at 14 rupees 2 annas 18 at 3 rupees 7 [...] per Madras weight, 70 rupees

Wax candles:

5 chests brought to the factory at 7 [...] at 6 rupees 2 annas 18 at 27 rupees 10 annas 9 per Madras weight, 276 rupees 11 annas 6

392 rupees 10 annas 9

Charges on merchandise:

104 bags, 8 rupees 7 annas 3

5 chests and packing, 7 rupees 10 annas 6

matting, 1 rupee 13 annas 6

boat hire, 6 annas, 18 rupees 5 annas 3

Rupees 411

Captain Byfield, Captain Goodwin, Mr French and Mr Crispe each brought in their monthly accounts for March 1725. The council examined and approved them, and they are as follows.

Interpretations

Batta was an allowance or premium added in the exchange between different rupee reckonings on the Coromandel coast. The Stretham account charged it at 6 per cent on the rice, adjusting the Madras valuation before the total was struck.

Tresinda sugar came from Bengal and was a recurring line in the island's supply from the eastern settlements. It was priced here by the Madras weight, the rice, sugar and wax candles all reckoned in the money of account of rupees, annas and pies.

The four monthly accounts came from the officers who each ran a distinct branch of the establishment. Captain Byfield held the plantations and live stock, Captain Goodwin the stores, Mr French the gunner's stores and Mr Crispe the General Table, so that each rendered his own returns for the council to audit together.

515

411

March 1724/5

Neat Cattle Sheep Goates Hogs Poultrey Horses

Bullock Cowe Heifer Steer Yearling Calve Cattell Totale Ewe Wither Lamb Ram Totale Ewe Wither Kid Ram Totale Sowe Shoat Boar Pig Totale Turkey Fowle Duck Geese Ape Doves Mare Totale

Remn Ult. Feby

15 34 10 1 5 53 2 120 34 9 13 6 59 91 15 58 13 177 10 10 1 25 46 47 164 26 12 4 5 2 7

Bt in March

5 2 - 22 - 12 2 9 31 11 11 - - 22 - 8 10 - 18 - - - - - - - - - - - - 7

Increased in Do

4 2 22 9 - 12 5 31 42 20 19 6 81 91 23 68 13 195 10 10 1 25 46 47 164 26 12 4 5 2 7

24 38 32 10 5 66 5 180 42 20 19 6 81 91 23 68 13 195 10 10 1 25 46 47 164 26 12 4 5 2 7

Killed in Do

- - - - - 1 - 1 - 1 - - 1 - - - - - 2 - - 2 - 30 - - - - - 7

24 38 32 10 5 65 5 179 42 19 19 6 80 91 23 68 13 195 10 8 1 25 44 47 134 26 12 4 5 2 7

Dead in Do

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 1 - 2 4 - 6 8 - - - - 7

24 38 32 10 5 65 5 179 42 19 19 6 80 91 23 68 13 195 9 7 1 23 40 47 128 18 12 4 5 2 7

Stole in Do

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6 5 - - - - - - - 7

Cattle Sheep & Goats 24 38 32 10 5 65 5 179 42 19 19 6 80 91 23 68 13 195 9 7 1 18 35 47 128 18 12 4 5 2 7

Cutt & Grown in Do

- - - - - 39 - 39 - - 6 3 9 - - 8 8 - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7

Remn Ult. Mar 24 38 32 10 5 26 5 140 42 19 7 3 71 91 23 68 5 187 9 7 1 18 35 47 128 18 12 4 5 2 7

Yams Expended at the Seo Co Plantations 22568 lb

Margin Notes:

Mr Byfelds

Acct for

March

Mr Byfield's account for March 1725. The account of the Honourable Company's live stock at the several plantations for March 1725.

Neat cattle: bullock, cow, heifer, steer, yearling, calve, cattle, total

Remaining last month: 15, 34, 10, 1, 5, 53, 2, 120

Bought in March: 5, 2, [...], 22, 9, [...], 12, 9, 31

Increased in March: 4, 2, 22, 9, [...], 12, 5, 31

[Subtotal]: 24, 38, 32, 10, 5, 66, 5, 180

Killed in March: [...], [...], [...], [...], [...], 1, [...], 1

[Subtotal]: 24, 38, 32, 10, 5, 65, 5, 179

Dead in March: [...]

[Subtotal]: 24, 38, 32, 10, 5, 65, 5, 179

Stolen in March: [...]

Cattle, sheep and goats: 24, 38, 32, 10, 5, 65, 5, 179

Cut and grown in March: [...], [...], [...], [...], [...], 39, [...], 39

Remaining last of March: 24, 38, 32, 10, 5, 26, 5, 140

Sheep: ewe, wether, lamb, ram, total

Remaining last month: 34, 9, 13, 6, 59

Bought in March: 11, 11, [...], [...], 22

Increased in March: 42, 20, 13, 6, 81

[Subtotal]: 42, 19, 13, 6, 80

Killed in March: [...], 1, [...], [...], 1

[Subtotal]: 42, 19, 13, 6, 80

Dead in March: [...]

[Subtotal]: 42, 19, 13, 6, 80

Cut and grown in March: [...], [...], 6, 3, 9

Remaining last of March: 42, 19, 7, 3, 71

Goats: fire, wether, kid, ram, total

Remaining last month: 91, 15, 58, 13, 177

Bought in March: [...], 8, 10, [...], 18

Increased in March: 91, 23, 68, 13, 195

[Subtotal]: 91, 23, 68, 13, 195

Killed in March: [...]

[Subtotal]: 91, 23, 68, 13, 195

Dead in March: [...]

[Subtotal]: 91, 23, 68, 13, 195

Cut and grown in March: [...], [...], [...], 8, 8

Remaining last of March: 91, 23, 68, 5, 187

Hogs: sow, shoat, boar, pig, total

Remaining last month: 10, 10, 1, 25, 46

Bought in March: [...]

Increased in March: 10, 16, 1, 25, 46

[Subtotal]: 10, 8, 1, 25, 44

Killed in March: [...], 1, [...], [...], 2

[Subtotal]: 9, 7, 1, 23, 40

Dead in March: [...], 6, [...], [...], 6

[Subtotal]: 9, 7, 1, 18, 35

Remaining last of March: 9, 7, 1, 18, 35

Sundry stock: turkey, fowl, duck, peacock, ass, goose, total

Remaining last month: 47, 164, 26, 12, 4, 6, 7

Bought in March: [...]

Increased in March: 47, 164, 26, 12, 4, 5, 7

[Subtotal]: 47, 134, 26, 12, 4, 5, 7

Killed in March: [...], 30, [...], [...], [...], [...]

[Subtotal]: 47, 128, 18, 12, 4, 5, 7

Remaining last of March: 47, 128, 18, 12, 4, 5, 7

Yams expended at the several plantations, 22,568 pounds.

Interpretations

The table tracked the Company's herds and flocks month by month through births, purchases, kills, deaths and losses. Each class of stock ran from the count carried over to the count remaining at the end of March, so the council could see at a glance how the plantations had gained or lost.

Neat cattle meant ordinary horned cattle, the term distinguishing them from other livestock. The account broke each herd into its component kinds, so bulls, cows, heifers, steers, yearlings and calves were counted apart before the total was struck.

The yam figure recorded the fodder and provision consumed across the plantations in the month. At 22,568 pounds it measured the running cost of feeding the establishment's slaves and stock, the yam being the island's staple crop.

516

412

1725

Collection of Store Goods Sold in the Month of March 1725

62¼ Gale Arrack

19 15 10

544½ Sugar

3 12 3

11 lb Candy

11 -

96 lb Bread

1 - -

15 lb Flower

3 9

8 lb Soap

4 4

3 Quart Raps Oyle

18

18 Cattee Bohea Tea

4 10 -

1 Do Greene

4

4 China Bowles

10 -

1 Tea Pott

3 6

48 lame Cupps

16

2 Ithald Do

4

2 doz hooks Sorted

6 6

216 ins Do

9 6 2½

16 Mens Shoe

6 9

4 Do Girles Turkey Do

4

16 Mens Stocking

5 9

8 Womans Do

6 8

4 Do Youth Do

9 10

3 Childrens Do

7

3 Cotton Stockings

17 6

7 Whitte Shirt

17 6

3½ Ps Chillae

2 19 6

2 Ps Blew Gingham

11 6

1 Madrapa Do

7

2 Whitt Gurhee

19 6

1 Blew Do

12 6

1½ Ps fine Long Cloth

1 1 -

1 Muslin Do

7

2 Coar flannee

4 6

2 Do flannee

4 6

3 Canvas

3 6

1 & ½ Kersey

1 4 6

2½ Serge

6 6

3 Clear Dimotty

4 8

2 lb Rozin

6 6

1 Brass Hatt

8 9

5 Large Newford Basons

3

2 Porringers

60 14 9½

Margin Notes:

Store Acco

for March

Captain Goodwin's store account for March 1725. A record of the store goods sold in March 1725.

62 and a quarter gallons of arrack, £19 15s 10d

544 and a half pounds of sugar, £8 12s 3d

11 pounds of candy, £0 11s 0d

96 pounds of bread, £1 0s 0d

15 pounds of flour, £0 3s 0d

8 pounds of soap, £0 4s 4½d

3 gallons of rape oil, £0 18s 0d

14 catties of bohea tea, £4 10s 0d

1 catty of green tea, £0 4s 0d

4 China bowls, £0 10s 0d

1 tea pot, £0 3s 6d

48 lamp suckers, £0 16s 0d

2 [...], £0 0s 4d

2 dozen hooks sorted, £0 0s 6d

21 coins [...], £0 9s 6½d

1 dozen mens shoes, £0 6s 0d

4 dozen girls turkeys [...], £0 0s 4d

1 dozen mens stockings, £0 5s 9d

8 womens stockings, £0 6s 8d

4 youths stockings, £0 9s 10d

2 [...] stockings, £0 8s 10d

3 childrens stockings, £0 7s 0d

3 pairs of cotton stockings, £0 17s 6d

7 white shirts, £0 17s 6d

3 and a half pieces of chelloe, £2 19s 6d

2 pieces of blue gingham, £0 11s 6d

1 madrapore [...], £0 7s 6d

2 white gurrahs, £0 19s 6d

1 [...] blue [...], £0 12s 6d

1 and a half pieces of Guinea long cloth, £1 1s 0d

1 muslin [...], £0 12s 7d

2 coars [...] flannel [...]

2 pieces of flannel, £0 4s 6d

30 [...] canvas, £1 3s 6d

1 and a half pieces of kersey, £0 4s 6d

2 and a half [...] serge, £0 6s 6d

3 pieces of clean dimity, £0 4s 8d

2 pounds of rosin, £0 0s 6d

1 brass pot, £0 8s 9d

5 large New York basins, £0 0s 3d

2 porringers, [...]

Sum total, £60 14s 9½d

Interpretations

Bohea and green tea were both China teas, priced here by the catty, a Chinese weight of about a pound and a third. The account listed them apart because green tea was a finer and dearer grade than the darker bohea.

The list gathered several Indian cotton cloths sold from the store. Chelloe, gurrahs and madrapore were piece goods woven in India and shipped through the Company's eastern settlements, while Guinea long cloth was a plain calico traded across the Atlantic circuit.

Lamp suckers were the wicks fitted to oil lamps, sold alongside the rape oil that fuelled them. Their appearance together in the account shows the store supplying both the lighting apparatus and its fuel to the island's households.

517

413

1725

Collection of Store Goods Sold in the Month of March 1725

62¼ Gale Arrack

19 15 10

544½ Sugar

3 12 3

11 lb Candy

11 -

96 lb Bread

1 - -

15 lb Flower

3 9

8 lb Soap

4 4

3 Quart Raps Oyle

18

18 Cattee Bohea Tea

4 10 -

1 Do Greene

4

4 China Bowles

10 -

1 Tea Pott

3 6

48 lame Cupps

16

2 Ithald Do

4

2 doz hooks Sorted

6 6

216 ins Do

9 6 2½

16 Mens Shoe

6 9

4 Do Girles Turkey Do

4

16 Mens Stocking

5 9

8 Womans Do

6 8

4 Do Youth Do

9 10

3 Childrens Do

7

3 Cotton Stockings

17 6

7 Whitte Shirt

17 6

3½ Ps Chillae

2 19 6

2 Ps Blew Gingham

11 6

1 Madrapa Do

7

2 Whitt Gurhee

19 6

1 Blew Do

12 6

1½ Ps fine Long Cloth

1 1 -

1 Muslin Do

7

2 Coar flannee

4 6

2 Do flannee

4 6

3 Canvas

3 6

1 & ½ Kersey

1 4 6

2½ Serge

6 6

3 Clear Dimotty

4 8

2 lb Rozin

6 6

1 Brass Hatt

8 9

5 Large Newford Basons

3

2 Porringers

60 14 9½

Margin Notes:

Store Acco

for March

Captain Goodwin's store account for March 1725. A record of the store goods sold in March 1725.

62 and a quarter gallons of arrack, £19 15s 10d

544 and a half pounds of sugar, £8 12s 3d

11 pounds of candy, £0 11s 0d

96 pounds of bread, £1 0s 0d

15 pounds of flour, £0 3s 0d

8 pounds of soap, £0 4s 4½d

3 gallons of rape oil, £0 18s 0d

14 catties of bohea tea, £4 10s 0d

1 catty of green tea, £0 4s 0d

4 China bowls, £0 10s 0d

1 tea pot, £0 3s 6d

48 lamp suckers, £0 16s 0d

2 [...], £0 0s 4d

2 dozen hooks sorted, £0 0s 6d

21 coins [...], £0 9s 6½d

1 dozen mens shoes, £0 6s 0d

4 dozen girls turkeys [...], £0 0s 4d

1 dozen mens stockings, £0 5s 9d

8 womens stockings, £0 6s 8d

4 youths stockings, £0 9s 10d

2 [...] stockings, £0 8s 10d

3 childrens stockings, £0 7s 0d

3 pairs of cotton stockings, £0 17s 6d

7 white shirts, £0 17s 6d

3 and a half pieces of chelloe, £2 19s 6d

2 pieces of blue gingham, £0 11s 6d

1 madrapore [...], £0 7s 6d

2 white gurrahs, £0 19s 6d

1 [...] blue [...], £0 12s 6d

1 and a half pieces of Guinea long cloth, £1 1s 0d

1 muslin [...], £0 12s 7d

2 coars [...] flannel [...]

2 pieces of flannel, £0 4s 6d

30 [...] canvas, £1 3s 6d

1 and a half pieces of kersey, £0 4s 6d

2 and a half [...] serge, £0 6s 6d

3 pieces of clean dimity, £0 4s 8d

2 pounds of rosin, £0 0s 6d

1 brass pot, £0 8s 9d

5 large New York basins, £0 0s 3d

2 porringers, [...]

Sum total, £60 14s 9½d

Interpretations

Bohea and green tea were both China teas, priced here by the catty, a Chinese weight of about a pound and a third. The account listed them apart because green tea was a finer and dearer grade than the darker bohea.

The list gathered several Indian cotton cloths sold from the store. Chelloe, gurrahs and madrapore were piece goods woven in India and shipped through the Company's eastern settlements, while Guinea long cloth was a plain calico traded across the Atlantic circuit.

Lamp suckers were the wicks fitted to oil lamps, sold alongside the rape oil that fuelled them. Their appearance together in the account shows the store supplying both the lighting apparatus and its fuel to the island's households.

518

414

1725

Brought Over 149 14 11

Garrison Dr

3 Gallr Raps Oyle

18 -

8 Cattee Green Tea

1 12 -

Plantation Dr

3 Gallr Trayne Oyle

18 -

4 Soap

18 -

1 Boole

1 6

2 lb Rope

4 6

Genll Charge

4 Cattee Bohea Tea

6 -

3 lb

18 -

2 Ps Toosey

5 - -

1 Ps Jubooth Sled Cheet Hinges

7 6

Great Wood

12 Helves

12 -

29 lb Roap

14 6

2 Lines No 10

2 1

Fortification

1 Line No 14

9 4

12 Helves

12 -

Hon ble Camps & Blacks

3 Casks Oate

30 - -

50 lb Pork Beefe

3 - -

15 lb Beefe

13 5 7

5 Casks Wheat

15 7 4

266 lb Rio

33 5 9

2 Ps Mens Shoes

11 6

2½ Womans Sled Do

9 -

18 lb Cold Bread

4 -

Summ Totall 264 15 1

Gunnor Wignell

Brought over, £149 4s 11d

Garrison:

3 gallons of rape oil, £0 18s 0d

8 catties of green tea, £1 12s 0d

Plantation:

3 gallons of train oil, £0 18s 0d

4 pounds of soap, £0 18s 0d

1 bowl, £0 1s 6d

2 pounds of rope, £0 4s 6d

General charges:

4 catties of bohea tea, £0 6s 0d

3 [...], £0 18s 0d

2 pounds of rosin, £5 [...]

1 [...] cloth for cartridges, £0 7s 6d

Great Wood:

12 helves, £0 12s 0d

29 pounds of rope, £0 14s 6d

2 loads number 10, £0 2s 1d

Fortification:

1 line number 14, £0 9s 4d

12 helves, £0 12s 0d

Honourable Company's blacks:

3 casks of oatmeal, £0 0s 0d

50 pounds of pork beef, £0 8s 0d

1 [...] of pork beef, £13 [...]

15 pounds of beef, £6 5s 7d

5 [...] of wheat, £15 7s 4d

966 pounds of rice, £33 5s 9d

2 [...] mens shoes, £0 17s 6d

2 and a half [...] womens slaves clothes, £0 9s 0d

1 [...] cold bread, £0 4s 0d

Sum total, £264 15s 1d

Signed by the gunner French.

Interpretations

Train oil was rendered from the fat of marine animals and served the island for lighting and lubrication. It appeared here alongside rape oil, a lighter oil pressed from rapeseed, both drawn from the store for the plantation and garrison.

The account divided the store's issues by the branch each supplied, from the garrison and plantation to the Great Wood, the fortifications and the Company's slaves. This let the council charge every quantity of goods against the department that consumed it before the total was struck.

Helves were the wooden handles fitted to axes and other tools, issued to the Great Wood and the fortifications where felling and heavy labour went on. Their supply with rope and cordage shows the store equipping the settlement's timber and building work.

519

415

Aprill

Gunrs Stores Expended in Mar 1725

Muster Day

12

Expence for Guards

12

24

Hand Spikes broke in Mooring Rocks

4

Spunge Staves for Mundens Point

2

Scowring Rods

Since 2

Ship Chins

1

Cartridge Paper for Guards&

14 0

Match

14 2 2 2 2 4

Expence of the Genll Table in the Month March 1725

39 lb Salt Beefe 2/6

4 17 6

29 do Pork 2/10

4 2 2

125 lb Bread

13 3 6

121 lb Sugar 6

13 3 6

60½ Gallr Arrack 6/4 p Gale

19 3 2

2½ Bottle Mountain

12 -

10 do Madera

10

74 lb Oyle

1 17

1 Sheep

1 4

108 lb Pork

2 14

50 lb Rio

3 12

140 lb Flower

1 15

20 lb Candles 2/6

2 10

25 lb Soap 4/2 p Ott

1 15 6

3 Bottle Oyle 7/6

1 2 6

2 Gale Vineg

8

3 lb Pepper

6

3 Eggs

18

8 lb Butter

15 -

75 lb Butter

4

2 Duck

58 14 6

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Gunrs Acco

for Mar

Govr Table

Expence for

Mar

The account of the gunner's stores expended in March 1725.

muster day, 12 pounds of powder

expense for guards, 12 pounds of powder

handspikes broke in moving rocks, 4 handspikes, 24 pounds of powder

sponge staves for Munden's Point, 2 sponge staves

scouring rods, 2 scouring rods

sheep skins, 1 sheep skin

cartridge paper for guards, 14 sheets of cartridge paper

match, 14 pounds of match

The account of the expense of the General Table in March 1725.

396 pounds of salt beef at 2s 6d, £4 19s 6d

29 pounds of pork at 2s 10d, £4 2s 3d

125 pounds of bread, £1 11s 6d

121 pounds of sugar, £3 3s 6d

60 and a half gallons of arrack at 6s 4d per gallon, £19 3s 2d

2 and a half bottles of mountain wine, £0 12s 6d

10 bottles of Madeira, £0 10s 0d

7 and a half gallons of Goa arrack, £1 17s 6d

1 sheep, £1 4s 0d

108 pounds of pork, £2 14s 0d

50 fowls, £3 12s 0d

140 pounds of flour, £1 15s 0d

20 pounds of candles at 2s 6d, £2 10s 0d

25 pounds of soap at 1s 6d per pound, £1 15s 6d

3 bottles of oil at 7s 6d, £1 2s 6d

2 gallons of vinegar, £0 8s 0d

3 pounds of pepper, £0 6s 0d

3 dozen eggs, £0 18s 0d

75 pounds of butter, £8 15s 0d

2 ducks, £0 4s 0d

Sum total, £58 14s 6d

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The gunner's account charged the powder-room stores consumed on muster day and in guard duty. Handspikes, sponge staves and scouring rods were the tools for moving and cleaning the great guns, while match was the slow-burning cord used to fire them.

The General Table account recorded the provisions consumed at the Honourable Company's own table over the month. It mixed imported salt beef, arrack, wine and Madeira with fresh island produce such as sheep, fowls, eggs and butter, arrack standing as the single largest charge.

Mountain wine was a strong sweet wine from the hills around Malaga in southern Spain. It appeared here beside Madeira and Goa arrack as one of several imported drinks stocked for the senior establishment.

520

416

1725

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 20th day of

Aprile 1725 at Union Castle

Present John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

On Fryday the 16th instant arrived the Ship Heathcott

Capt Joseph Tolson Commr from Bengale & Maddras with the

Hon ble Govr Pitts Alders on board but last from the Cape &

brought Us the following Supply of Goods for the Use of this

Island vizt

50 lb Bag Rice qtty 100. Bags is 73. 1. 9

a 2. 2 Md p Mad. Rd

40: -

Batta 10 p Cent

4: - 44: - -

15 Bag qt 30 Md is 22. 20 3. 8. p Md

103: - -

Charge Merchandize

14 9: - -

4. 13:

Rupees 160. 12

On Saturday the 17th instant there were Seen to the SW

Part of the Island 25 Sail of Dutch Ships that Sailed out

of the Cape the day before the Heathcott

Richard Harding Soldier Presented a Bill of Bargain &

Sale for 13 Acres Land he lately bought of his Brother

John Harding Planter desiring the same may be Registred

for better Security thereof

Ordered that the said Bills of Sale be Registred

accordingly

Mr Hawkes Presented the following Petition

To the Worshipfull John Smith Esqr Govr & the Councile

The humble Petition of Benjamin Hawkes

most humbly

Sheweth That whereas your Petitionr did Sometime before

the Departure hence of the Ship Swallow said for England wait on

the Governr desiring he would be pleased to restore Yr Petitionr

to the Employ he had lately Suspended him from, The Govr Answer

Margin Notes:

Ship

Heathcott

Arrival

with Govr

Elwick

Goods

rec d

25 Sail

Dutch

Ships

Rd Harding

Bill of Sale

presented

prays it

be Registry

Ord d to be

Mr Hawkes

Petn

At a consultation held on Tuesday 20 Apr 1725 at Union Castle.

Present: Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The council read and approved the record of the previous meeting.

The ship Heathcote, Captain Joseph Tolson commander, arrived on Friday 16 Apr 1725 from Bengal and Madras with the Honourable Governor Elwick on board, but last from the Cape. She brought the following supply of goods for the use of the island.

Goods received:

50 bags of rice containing 100 bags at 73 rupees 1 anna 9, at 2 rupees 2 annas per Madras rupee, 40 rupees

batta at 6 per cent, 4 rupees, 44 rupees

15 bags of [...] at 30 Madras at 22 rupees 23 rupees 8 annas per Madras rupee, 105 rupees

charges on merchandise, 14 rupees 9 annas

7 rupees 12 annas

Rupees 160 rupees 12 annas

The council recorded that on Saturday 17 Apr 1725 twenty-five sail of Dutch ships were seen to the south-east of the island, having sailed out of the Cape the day before the Heathcote.

Richard Harding, a soldier, brought in a bill of bargain and sale for 13 acres of land he had lately bought of his brother John Harding, a planter, and asked that it be registered for his better security. The council ordered the bill of sale registered accordingly.

Mr Hawkes brought in the following petition to the Governor and council.

Hawkes set out that at the time the ship Swallow sailed for England, he had asked the Governor to restore him to the post from which he had lately been suspended. The Governor had answered [...]

Interpretations

Batta was an exchange allowance added between differing rupee reckonings on the Indian coast. The Heathcote account charged it at 6 per cent on the rice, adjusting the Madras valuation before the total was struck. The whole cargo of rice and other goods was reckoned in the money of account of rupees, annas and pies.

A bill of bargain and sale was the written deed transferring land from one party to another. Registration entered it in the Company's books as public record, so that Harding's title to the 13 acres bought from his brother stood proof against any later dispute.

The sighting of twenty-five Dutch sail off the island reflected the constant watch kept over the road. A large foreign fleet passing close by was noted on the record as a matter of the settlement's security, its movement tied to the ships then coming in from the Cape.

521

417

Aprill

was that if your Petitionr had applyed to him Sooner that no

Complaint should have gone home against him, but as everything

was Copyed out it must now go home, asking your Petitionr at

the same time whether he had wrote to the Hon ble Company, who

Replyed to the Governr he had wrote but had not given it to any one Upon

which the Governr desired your Petitionr not to Send any thing

home & he would write to the Hon ble Company to acquaint their

Honours that he had restored your Petitionr & accordingly gave

your Petitionr his Hand & Word of Honour that in a little time

he would Comply with his Promise, but your Petitionr having

waited patiently upwards of five Months, thinking if he was

continually pressing the Govr it would be taken as an Affront

therefore forbore his Solicitations

Your Petr therefore humbly Presumes to

to renew his former Request in hopes of the Governrs Complyance

with his said Promise which favour will engage

Yr Petitionr as in Duty bound to Pray &c

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

abt his

Suspension

renews his

request to be

Restored

The Governor had answered that if Hawkes had applied to him sooner, no complaint would have gone home against him. Everything had now been copied out and must go home, and the Governor asked Hawkes at the same time whether he had written to the Honourable Company. Hawkes replied to the Governor that he had written but had not given the letter to anyone. On this the Governor asked him to send nothing home, undertaking to write to the Honourable Company himself to tell the directors that he had restored Hawkes. He gave Hawkes his hand and his word of honour that in a little while he would comply with his promise. Hawkes had waited patiently upwards of 5 months, but thinking that if he kept pressing the Governor it would be taken as an affront, he had held back from asking further.

Hawkes now renewed his former request in hopes that the Governor would honour his promise, and asked that the favour be granted.

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The Governor's word of honour served in place of any formal instrument to restore Hawkes. This bound the Governor personally rather than through a recorded order, which is why Hawkes had no remedy but to petition again when the promise went unfulfilled for 5 months.

The timing of a complaint against an officer decided whether it reached the directors. The Governor explained that Hawkes had applied too late to stop the papers going home, since the record had already been copied out for transmission to England.

522

418

1725

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 27th day of

Aprile 1725 at Union Castle

Present John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

The Governr made the following Reply to Mr Hawkes Petition

Presented on Tuesday last

Gentlemen I have Perused & Considered of Mr Hawkes Petition

Presented on Tuesday last & find it from one end to the other to be

so false & frivolous that I can hardly think it worthy of an Answer

but as I observe there are some Strokes in it which carry an Uncommon

Air of Assurance relating to what passed when he made Application

to me to be restored, I shall once for all State the Case by which you

will be the better able to judge of his Prudence Gratitude & abilitie &

whether he has the least Pretention to the Favour he asks

You are all very well acquainted with the Share I had in

his Preferment & with the Ingratefull Returns he has since made me

howsoever being away weak Men Persuaded at his Failing & Suffered

him to go on his own way till after Repeated Admonition for

Neglect of the Hon ble Companies Business he he justly incurred my

Resentment but even Since his Suspension I indulged him in

Severall Matters Seldom or never allowed Certain in his Circumstances

on purpose to give him an Opportunity to consider & Mend before

it was too late, particularly I allowed him the Benefit of the Table

the Use of an Apartment & a Servant to attend him of all which

People in his Condition here been Usually Strict, but for from

acknowledging this as a Favour he has spoke of it by way of

Reproach & in such Terms as no Governr besides my Self would

Suffer nor yet Hereafter

As to what he says relating to his being Restored I believe

did say something to that Effect & designed too if he had Left

Ground for it, but utterly deny as false Scandalous Malicious &

Impudent that I ever gave him myst Hand & Word of Honour to

Restore him I never desired him not to write about his Suspension

tho if I had given him my Word in the manner he says (which

I did not) his ill Manner & behaviour to me Since has been so

Margin Notes:

Govr Reply

to Mr Hawkes

Petn

At a consultation held on Tuesday 27 Apr 1725 at Union Castle.

Present: Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The council read and approved the record of the previous meeting.

The Governor made the following reply to Mr Hawkes's petition, which was brought in the previous Tuesday.

The Governor had read and weighed the petition and found it false and groundless from beginning to end. He could hardly think it worth an answer, but noticed some passages in it that carried an unusual air of impudence about what had passed when Hawkes applied to be restored. The Governor set out the case so the council might judge Hawkes's prudence, gratitude and ability, and whether he had the least claim to the post he sought.

The council knew well the part the Governor had taken in seating Hawkes. In return Hawkes had made no better return than to leave his weak and doubtful conduct at his station and to go on his own way, after repeated warnings for neglecting the Honourable Company's business. Hawkes had justly drawn the Governor's displeasure, yet ever since his suspension the Governor had shown him indulgence in several matters. The Governor had seldom or never allowed such favour before, and now let it be seen so it should not later be said he had passed over Hawkes too readily. He had granted Hawkes the use of an apartment and a servant to wait on him at the table, though people in his position had usually been treated more strictly. Far from acknowledging this favour, Hawkes had spoken of it by way of reproach, in terms no governor besides the Governor himself would suffer nor should suffer thereafter.

As to Hawkes's claim about being restored, the Governor believed he had said something to that effect, and had meant it had Hawkes deserved it.

Start of crossed out section

did not

End of crossed out section

The Governor utterly denied as false, scandalous, malicious and impudent that he had ever given Hawkes his hand and word of honour to restore him. He had never asked Hawkes not to write about his suspension, in the manner Hawkes had set out, and had not given him his word in the way described. Hawkes's conduct and behaviour towards the Governor had been so [...]

Interpretations

The dispute turned on whether a governor's spoken word of honour bound him to act. Hawkes had rested his petition on such a promise, and the Governor's reply denied any promise was ever given, leaving Hawkes with no recorded instrument to enforce.

The Governor set out his own indulgences in detail before the council. By recording the apartment and the servant granted to a suspended officer, he built a case that showed leniency on his side and ingratitude on Hawkes's, useful should the matter reach the directors in England.

Speculations

The Governor answered a petition he called unworthy of any reply rather than letting it pass in silence. The obvious course for a document he judged false from end to end was to ignore it. He chose instead to enter a full rebuttal on the record, so that no later reader could say he had let Hawkes's account of a promised restoration stand unchallenged.

523

419

Aprill

so Notorious that it has quite defaced the Kindness I once had

for him, & therefore Since he has not only grossly abused my

Favour but given himself over to Idleness & Folly & been in

constant Cabale & Intreague with People of the worst Repute

upon the Island, I think him unfitt for my Company, and

inconsistent with the common Rules of Prudence & Honour

ever to Suffer a Person of his Principles to come near me, nor

will I ever Restore him but look upon him as one altogether

unfitt to be employed in the Hon ble Companie Service

On Fryday Evening the 23d instant the four foregoing

Ships Sailed hence for Great Britain vizt

1 The Heathcott Capt Tolson

2 Aislabie Capt Wilson

3 Frances Capt Hinton &

4 Stretham Capt Westcott

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

4 Ships

Departure

Hawkes's behaviour had grown so notorious that it destroyed any goodwill the Governor had once held for him. He had not only grossly abused the Governor's favour but given himself over to idleness and folly, keeping constant company with the most disreputable people on the island. The Governor thought him unfit for his company, and held it against every rule of prudence and honour to allow a man of his principles near him, still less to restore him. He looked on Hawkes as wholly unfit to be employed in the Honourable Company's service.

On Friday evening 23 Apr 1725 the following four ships sailed for Great Britain.

1: The Heathcote, Captain Tolson

2: The Aislabie, Captain Wilson

3: The Frances, Captain Hinton

4: The Stretham, Captain Westcott

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The Governor closed his reply by declaring Hawkes wholly unfit for the Company's service. This shifted the matter beyond the immediate dispute over a promised post, framing Hawkes as a man whose character barred him from any future employment rather than merely one office.

The four ships all sailed together for Britain on the same evening. The Company's homeward vessels commonly left in company for mutual safety on the long passage, the record noting the Heathcote, Aislabie, Frances and Stretham departing as a group.

524

420

May 1725

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 4th day

of May 1725 at Union Castle

Present John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

The Governr made the following Report against Thos Wignell

the Surgeon

The Governr Report that Eliz: Swallow Widow

has been with him complaining that Thomas Wignell the

Surgeon came into her House this Morning without any

manner of Provocation to justifie such an Outrage called her

old Bitch, old Baud telling her he could Prove her one, upon

which the Governr sent for him in Order to Examine him observing

the Difference, but when he came the Governr observing him to

be in Liquor & unfitt to be asked any Questions the Govr has

Ordered him to be confined upon Guard till he grows Sober

The Governr farther Reports that he cant forbear

observing with equall Wonder & Surprize that notwithstanding

he has bin often endeavoured both by the gentle Methods of

Reason & Perswasion as well as by rougher Means to prevaile with

Mr Wignell to forbear Drinking to Keep yet it has hitherto

been to no Effect & he still continues his old Course of Drinking

& Quarrelling

Eliz: Swallow Widow Presented her Petition

Setting forth That Thos Wignell the Surgeon without any

Provocation given him on the Part of the Petitionr came into her

House this Morning & abused her in a very gross & Scandalous

manner calling her old Bitch, old Baud & gave the Petr abundance

of other ill Language, likewise saying he could Prove the Petr

to be an old Baud

Humbly Praying that Since

her Reputation has been Traduced in so Publick & Scandalous

a manner, Mr Wignell be obliged to prove his Words to be

true or otherwise to make the Petitionr Satisfaction

Suitable to so great an Injury

Mr Wignell Sent in the following Letter

Margin Notes:

Govr Report

ag t Mr Wignell

upon a Complt

of Mr Swallow

Petn of Eliz

Swallow

ag t Mr Wignell

At a consultation held on Tuesday 4 May 1725 at Union Castle.

Present: Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The council read and approved the record of the previous meeting.

The Governor made the following report against Thomas Wignell, the surgeon.

The Governor reported that Elizabeth Swallow, a widow, had come to him complaining that Wignell had come into her house that morning without any provocation. He had insulted her without cause, calling her an old bitch and an old bawd and telling her he could prove she was one. The Governor sent for Wignell to settle the quarrel, but found him drunk and unfit to be asked any questions when he came, and ordered him confined to the guard until he grew sober.

The Governor further reported that he observed with equal wonder and surprise that no gentle method of reason and persuasion, nor any sharper means, could bring Wignell to abstain from drinking to excess. Every effort had failed, and he still kept up his old course of drinking and quarrelling.

Elizabeth Swallow, the widow, brought in her petition.

Swallow set out that Wignell had come into her house that morning without any provocation on her part and abused her in a very gross and scandalous manner, calling her an old bitch and an old bawd and using much other foul language, and saying besides that he could prove her to be an old bawd.

Swallow asked that, since her reputation had been attacked and scandalised in such a manner, Wignell be obliged to prove his words true or else make her satisfaction suitable to so great an injury.

Wignell sent in the following letter.

Interpretations

The widow's petition sought to shift the burden of proof onto Wignell. She asked the council to compel him either to prove his accusation or to make her satisfaction, treating an unproven slander against her reputation as a wrong the bench should remedy.

The Governor recorded Wignell's drunkenness as beyond any remedy he had tried. By setting out that reason, persuasion and sharper means had all failed, he built a case that the surgeon's conduct was incorrigible rather than a single lapse, useful for any move to remove him from the Company's service.

525

421

May

Worshipfull Sir

The Occasion that has offerd this Morning wch has

caused my Confinement, as it proceeds from the Complaint of

an old Brimstone Whore & (and I believe I may say as

old a Baud) I think so trifling that I take no Notice of it

The utmost of my concern is that Your Worship is

so Susceptible of the least Occasion that is offerd to my

Prejudice, when indeavours beyond my Power to go through the

Companies, & Worships & every One Servace upon the Island

I am very willing to continue my Endeavours but humbly Submitt

entirely to Your Worship either to continue my Confinement

having convenient necessarie or to be disposed as Your Worship

Pleases till such time as the Storeship arrives & shall always

Profess my Self Yr Worships Most obedt & humble Servt

Thos Wignell

The Govr Sent for Mr Wignell & asking him how he could

prove the said Eliz: Swallow to be a Baud made Reply he wd

very easily prove her to be a Baud & his own Oath & desired his

Affidavit might be taken, the Govr therefore to See what

he would write bid him draw up his own Affidavit himself wch

he immediatly did & is as follows

To the Worshipfull Jno Smith Esqr Govr

& a Councile

The Affidavit of Thos Wignell

Humbly Sheweth That Eliz: Swallow Widow proposed to

the said Thos Wignell some Eleven or Twelve Months past that

rather than he should be without any Womans Flesh, that the

said Eliz: Swallow would procure for him, whether she meant

her Island: Daughter or any body else this Deponent can no

way say being Unwilling to make Use of her in that way of

Trade

The said Wignell having abused the sd Eliz: Swallow

in every Scandalous Manner as Sett forth by what she tells this

affidavit as well as in his Letter aforesaid, Wee leave the said Govr

Wignell to Prosecute the said Wignell as she shall think fitt the Doar

of Justice being open to every Body

The said Eliz: Swallow Presented the following Bill

Margin Notes:

Mr Wignells

Lre to ye Govr

Mr Wignell

replyes he

Govr Question

bid his own the

Affidavit

P Wignells

Affidavit

Eliz Swal

Swallow to

Prosecute him

for his Scandall

Wignell wrote to the Governor. The quarrel that morning had led to his confinement, and it arose from his complaint about an old Brixton whore whom he believed he could rightly call an old bawd. His chief concern was that the Governor should be troubled by the least offence given to his prejudice, when it lay beyond Wignell's own power to keep clear of such company. As the Governor's very obedient servant on the island, Wignell was willing to continue his efforts, but he submitted himself entirely to the Governor, either to remain in confinement while he had convenient necessaries or to be disposed of as the Governor pleased until the store ship arrived. Signed by Thomas Wignell, 4 May 1725.

The council sent for Wignell and asked him how he could prove Elizabeth Swallow to be a bawd. He replied that he could prove it very easily by his own oath, and asked that his affidavit be taken. The Governor, to see what Wignell would put to it, had him draw up his own affidavit, which he did at once, as follows.

The affidavit of Thomas Wignell, addressed to the Governor John Smith and council.

Wignell set out that Elizabeth Swallow, a widow, had proposed to him some 11 or 12 months earlier that, rather than he should be without any woman's flesh, she would procure some for him, whether he meant her island daughter or anybody else, this being something he could in no way say she was unwilling to make use of her in that way of trade.

Since Wignell had abused Elizabeth Swallow in a scandalous manner, as set out both in his affidavit and in his letter, the council left it to her to prosecute him as she thought fit, the door of justice being open to everybody.

Elizabeth Swallow then brought in the following bill.

Interpretations

An affidavit was a written statement sworn on oath before the council. Wignell offered his own oath as the sole proof of his accusation, and the Governor had him set the charge down in that form so it might stand as testimony rather than mere abuse.

The council declined to punish Wignell itself and instead left the widow to bring her own suit. This treated the slander as a private wrong between the parties rather than a public offence, opening the ordinary course of law to her rather than the bench acting on her behalf.

Speculations

The Governor had Wignell commit his accusation to a sworn affidavit rather than dismissing his drunken words at once. The obvious course, given the surgeon's condition, was to disregard the outburst as worthless. The Governor instead drew the charge onto the record in Wignell's own hand, so that the man's own oath fixed the slander and left the widow a clear ground to prosecute.

526

422

1725

delivered to her this Morning by Mr Wignell desiring We would

regulate the same which We thinking very Unreasonable & Unjust have

taken off 20s & think him very well paid for his Attendance &

Medicins

For Dressing & Cure of the Child Face

10 -

Bleeding of Self

3 -

Cost

6 -

Drops

5 -

Volatile Drops

5 -

Sudorifick Bolus

3 -

Sudorifick for do

3 -

Cost

6 -

Bleeding

3 -

Balsamick Electuary

10 -

Cost

6

Taken from this Bill

3 - -

2 - -

The following Complaint was presented by Capt John

Alexander

To the Worshipfull John Smith Esqr Govr &

Councile of the Island St Helena

The Complaint & Declaration of John Alexander 3 of Councile

against John Long Planter

Setteth forth & Sheweth That Whereas the said John Long who is too

well known to be a Person of a Malicious Refractory & Turbulent Tempr

did on Sunday the 21th March last in the afternoon come into your

Complaintant & drank in Sandy Bay & did therein vein the Yards after going to

the said House Insult & abuse your said Complainant with Opprobrious &

Injurious Language calling him Rascall, Vellain, Sorry Dogg, with sundry

other degrading & Villifieing Names & did with the loud & profane Threaten to

Strike & beat your said Complainant therewith making Severall Motion

& Grimaces to provoke your Complainant to Strike him the said Long

first, Saying & likewise abusive Hectoring Domineering Manner

If you should Strike me, I would beat thrash Here you Dog you was never so

Caned in your Life & bound those & Such like his Baudy & Insulting Expressions

with sondry other repeated Provocations, All which Gross & Insuferable abuse &

Impudent Insults of his the said John Long has & Grievous Insulting

to the Destruction of the whole Government of this Island the forgetting

of the Duty due to the Hon ble Company as well as the Obedience duly due to the

Governr & Councile thereof & is a Manifest Breach of the Peace, an open

Margin Notes:

Bill produced

as abovsd

Capt Alexanders

Complaint ag t

Jno Long

Elizabeth Swallow delivered this bill that morning through Wignell, asking that the council settle it. The council thought the charges very unreasonable and unjust, and struck 20s off his account for his attendance and medicines.

For dressing and curing the child once, £0 10s 0d

Bleeding once, £0 3s 0d

A visit, £0 6s 0d

Drops, £0 5s 0d

Volatile drops, £0 5s 0d

A sudorific bolus, £0 3s 0d

Another sudorific bolus, £0 3s 0d

A visit, £0 6s 0d

Bleeding, £0 3s 0d

A balsamic electuary, £0 10s 0d

A visit, £0 6s 0d

Taken from this bill, £3 1s 0d

£2 1s 0d

The following complaint was brought in by Captain John Alexander, addressed to the Governor John Smith and council of the island of St Helena.

The complaint and declaration of John Alexander, one of the council, against John Long, planter.

Alexander set out that John Long, well known to be a man of a rebellious and turbulent temper, came into his house drunk on Sunday 30 May 1725 in the afternoon. Long fired at Alexander in Sandy Bay and, on the very way there, going to the house, insulted and abused him with foul words, calling him a rascal, a villain, a sorry dog and other degrading names. Long did all he could to provoke Alexander into a quarrel and to break the peace, using threatening and violent language. He said that if Alexander should strike him he would beat the strength of his heart out, that he would bind Alexander wherever he caught him and take his life, and he repeated these insults with further impertinent and provoking words.

Alexander held that these insults were an act tending to destroy the whole government of the island, that they forgot the duty owed to the Honourable Company as well as the obedience due to the Governor and council, and that they were a plain breach of the peace and an open [...]

Interpretations

The bill itemised each medical service Wignell had charged the widow, from dressings and bleedings to the compounded remedies he supplied. A bolus was a large soft pill, a sudorific one made to promote sweating, while an electuary mixed medicine with syrup into a paste, the balsamic kind intended as a soothing tonic.

The council intervened to cut a private surgeon's bill it judged excessive. By striking 20s from Wignell's charges, the bench acted as an arbiter of fair fees between the surgeon and his patient rather than leaving the sum to stand as billed.

Alexander framed Long's abuse as an assault on the government itself rather than a personal insult. A councillor cast a drunken quarrel as a breach of the peace and a threat to the Company's authority, which brought a private affront within the reach of the bench.

527

423

May

open Violation of the Laws & Constitutions of this said Island

& is an high Contempt of the Trust & Authority Reposed in &

Committed to the Care & Sole management of the Worshipfull the

Governr & Councile of this Island by Instructions & Commissions

from the Hon ble the Lords Proprietors for the Government of the sd

Island & Inhabitants thereof

Wherefore ye Complaint humbly Submitts

his Case to the Prudent Consideration of Yr Worship & Councile

Praying the said Long may Suffer according to his Desmerit

of his offence & abuses

And as in Duty bound shall Pray

Jno Alexander

Ordered that the sd Jno Long be Summond to attend next Consulta

tion to Answer the sd Complaint

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 11th day of May at

Union Castle in James Valley

Present John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

Elizabeth Swallow Widow presented the last Will & Testamt

of her deceased Son John Swallow late of this Island for the

desiring the same might be proved wch was accordingly done upon

the Oath of Dan ll Griffith & Mary Swallow, the other Witness they

Were being not able to appear

Ordered that the said Will be approved & Registred accordingly

John Bazette presented a Bill of Sale for four Acres of Freeland

Land he lately bought of Matthew Meadow who bought the Same

of John Wagrall Planter desiring the sd Bill of Sale might be

Registred for better Security thereof

Ordered that the said Bill of Sale be accordingly Registred

John Smith Edward Byfeld

Capt Goodwin, Mr French & Mr Griffe delivered in

each their Monthly Accts for Aprile last which were Severall Examd

Margin Notes:

Jno Long not

attending Summd

ag n to Answer the sd Complaint

The Last Will of

Mr Swallow

proved

& Registred

Bill of Sale

presented

Brought &

a Registry

Ord accordingly

Rec d for the

Registrin

Long's conduct broke openly the laws and constitution of the island. It amounted to a high contempt of the authority and management vested in the Governor and council by the instructions and commission that the Honourable Lords Proprietors had given for the government of the island and its inhabitants.

Alexander submitted his complaint to the prudent judgement of the Governor and council, asking that Long suffer according to his offence and abuses.

The council ordered that Long be summoned to attend the next consultation to answer Alexander's complaint.

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

At a consultation held on Tuesday 11 May 1725 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present: Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The council read and approved the record of the previous meeting.

Elizabeth Swallow, a widow, brought in the last will and testament of her deceased son John Swallow, late of the island, and asked that it be proved. The will was proved on the oath of Daniel Griffith and Mary Swallow, since the other witnesses were not able to agree, and the council ordered it approved and registered.

John Bazett brought in a bill of sale for four acres of land he had lately bought of Matthew Mudge, who had bought the same land from John Wograffe, a planter, and asked that it be registered for his better security. The council ordered the bill of sale registered.

Captain Goodwin, Mr French and Mr Crispe brought in their monthly accounts for April, which were examined and approved, as follows.

Interpretations

Alexander cast Long's abuse as an attack on the authority the Lords Proprietors had delegated to the Governor and council. This tied a private quarrel to the chartered structure of the island's government, making the affront a matter for the bench rather than an ordinary dispute between two men.

Proving a will required the sworn testimony of its witnesses before the council. The will passed on the oath of two witnesses because the others could not agree, showing the bench admitting a reduced proof rather than rejecting the document outright.

528

424

1725

are as follow vizt

Neat Cattle Sheep Goates Hogs Poultrey Horses

Bullock Cowe Heifer Steer Yearling Calve Bulls Totall Ewe Wither Lamb Ram Totall Ewe Wither Kid Ram Totall Sowe Shoate Boar Pig Totall Turkey Fowle Duck Geese Ape Doves Mare Totall

Remn Ult. March

24 38 32 10 5 26 5 140 42 19 7 3 71 91 23 68 5 187 9 7 1 18 35 47 128 18 12 4 5 2 7

Increased in Aprile

- - - - - 8 - 8 - 3 - - 3 27 16 - 2 45 - - - - - - 34 - - - - - 7

24 38 32 10 5 34 5 148 42 22 7 3 74 118 39 68 7 232 9 7 1 18 35 47 162 18 12 4 5 2 7

Killed in do

1 - - - - 2 - 3 - - - - - 5 - - 5 - - - - - - 4 30 4 - - - - 7

23 38 32 10 5 32 5 145 42 22 7 3 74 118 34 68 7 227 9 7 1 18 35 45 132 14 12 4 5 2 7

Sold to Ships in do

5 2 - - - 7 - - - - - - - - 4 - - 4 - - - - - 6 - - - - - - 7

18 36 32 10 5 32 5 138 42 22 7 3 74 118 34 68 7 227 9 7 1 18 35 39 132 14 12 4 5 2 7

Goats grown in do

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4 - - 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - 7

18 36 32 10 5 32 5 138 42 22 7 3 74 118 34 64 7 223 9 7 1 18 35 39 132 14 12 4 5 2 7

Dead & Stole in do

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 2 - - - - - 7

Remn Ult. Aprile

18 36 32 10 5 32 5 138 42 22 7 3 74 118 34 64 7 223 9 7 1 18 35 38 130 14 12 4 5 2 7

Yams Expended at the Seo Co Plantacons 32701 lb

Margin Notes:

Mr Byfelds

Acco for Aprill

Mr Byfield's account for April 1725. The account of the Honourable Company's live stock at the several plantations for April 1725.

Neat cattle: bullock, cow, heifer, steer, yearling, calve, bull, total

Remaining last of March: 24, 38, 32, 10, 5, 26, 5, 140

Increased in April: -, -, -, -, -, 8, -, 8

[Subtotal]: 24, 38, 32, 10, 5, 34, 5, 148

Killed in April: 1, -, -, -, -, 2, -, 3

[Subtotal]: 23, 38, 32, 10, 5, 32, 5, 145

Sold to ships in April: 5, 2, -, -, -, 7, -, 7

[Subtotal]: 18, 36, 32, 10, 5, 32, 5, 138

Goats grown in April: -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -

[Subtotal]: 18, 36, 32, 10, 5, 32, 5, 138

Dead and stolen in April: -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -

Remaining last of April: 18, 36, 32, 10, 5, 32, 5, 138

Sheep: ewe, wether, lamb, ram, total

Remaining last of March: 42, 19, 7, 3, 71

Increased in April: -, 3, -, -, 3

[Subtotal]: 42, 22, 7, 3, 74

Killed in April: -, -, -, -, -

[Subtotal]: 42, 22, 7, 3, 74

Sold to ships in April: -, -, -, -, -

[Subtotal]: 42, 22, 7, 3, 74

Goats grown in April: -, -, -, -, -

[Subtotal]: 42, 22, 7, 3, 74

Dead and stolen in April: -, -, -, -, -

Remaining last of April: 42, 22, 7, 3, 74

Goats: fire, wether, kid, ram, total

Remaining last of March: 91, 23, 68, 5, 187

Increased in April: 3, 27, 16, -, 2, 45

[Subtotal]: 118, 39, 68, 7, 232

Killed in April: -, 5, -, -, 5

[Subtotal]: 118, 34, 68, 7, 227

Sold to ships in April: -, -, -, -, -

[Subtotal]: 118, 34, 68, 7, 227

Goats grown in April: -, -, 4, -, 4

[Subtotal]: 118, 34, 64, 7, 223

Dead and stolen in April: -, -, -, -, -

Remaining last of April: 118, 34, 64, 7, 223

Hogs: sow, shoat, boar, pig, total

Remaining last of March: 9, 7, 1, 18, 35

Increased in April: -, -, -, -, -

[Subtotal]: 9, 7, 1, 18, 35

Killed in April: -, -, -, -, -

[Subtotal]: 9, 7, 1, 18, 35

Sold to ships in April: -, -, -, -, -

[Subtotal]: 9, 7, 1, 18, 35

Goats grown in April: -, -, -, -, -

[Subtotal]: 9, 7, 1, 18, 35

Dead and stolen in April: -, -, -, -, -

Remaining last of April: 9, 7, 1, 18, 35

Sundry stock: turkey, fowl, duck, peacock, ass, goose, mare, total

Remaining last of March: 47, 128, 18, 12, 4, 5, 2, 7

Increased in April: -, 34, -, -, -, -, -

[Subtotal]: 47, 162, 18, 12, 4, 5, 2, 7

Killed in April: 2, 30, 4, -, -, -, -

[Subtotal]: 45, 132, 14, 12, 4, 5, 2, 7

Sold to ships in April: 6, -, -, -, -, -, -

[Subtotal]: 39, 132, 14, 12, 4, 5, 2, 7

Goats grown in April: -, -, -, -, -, -, -

[Subtotal]: 39, 132, 14, 12, 4, 5, 2, 7

Dead and stolen in April: 1, 2, -, -, -, -, -

Remaining last of April: 38, 130, 14, 12, 4, 5, 2, 7

Yams expended at the several plantations, 32,701 pounds.

Interpretations

The table followed each class of the Company's stock through the month by births, purchases, kills, sales to shipping, deaths and losses. Every herd and flock ran from the count carried over at the end of March to the count remaining at the end of April.

The sales to ships marked the drawing-down of live stock to victual the homeward vessels. Cattle, goats and poultry were sold off for the passage, which explains the fall in the neat cattle and the sundry stock across the month.

The yam figure recorded the fodder and provision consumed across the plantations. At 32,701 pounds it measured the running cost of feeding the establishment's slaves and stock, the yam being the island's staple crop.

529

425

May

87 7/8 Gale Arrack

27 16 6½

267 lb Sugar

41 8 6½

14½ lb Roap

1 6

4 Qt Raps Oyle

6

18 lb Cattee Bohea Tea

3 12

12 Cattee Bohea Tea

3 12

1 Cattee Green Tea

3 4

1½ Ship Bread

3 9

1 lb Pepper

7

1 lb Pepper

11

58 lb Bread

4½

6 lb Flower

6

4 Ps White Gurhee

1 18

6 Chillae

5 3

3 Coars Long Cloth

2

½ Do fine do

1

10 White Shirt

1 5

3 Cotton Stockings

5

5 doz Doe Sorted

1 8

11 ins Sorted

6 7½

2 lb Mens Stockings

11 6

1 Silk do

6

1 do Womans Worked

13

1 do

6 3

1 do

3 6

10½ lb Red Tick

1 7 1½

1½ lb Lambskitt

13 6

1 lb Wine Spanish St Modo

9 6

1 lb Salve

3 6

1 do

6 6

1 Cutlers Knife

6 9

1 Ship Bell Spring do

9 8

2 Gimblett

1

21 China Cupp & Saucers

10 6

2 Teapotts

12

2 Bowles

5 4

2 Small Cupps

3 6

1 Tea Pott

6

1 Copper Box

8 6

1 Dropping Pan

1 2

1 Sauce Pan

64 18 7

Margin Notes:

Store Acco for

Aprell

Captain Goodwin's store account for April 1725. A record of the store goods sold in April 1725.

87 and 7/8 gallons of arrack, £27 16s 6½d

267 pounds of sugar, £4 8s 6½d

14 and a half pounds of soap, £1 6s 0d

4 gallons of rape oil, £0 6s 0d

1 dozen lamp suckers, £0 1s 0d

12 catties of bohea tea, £3 12s 0d

1 catty of green tea, £0 3s 0d

1 and a half pounds of thread, £0 3s 9d

1 pound of pepper, £0 1s 0d

58 pounds of bread, £0 11s 4½d

6 pounds of flour, £0 1s 6d

4 pieces of white gurrahs, £1 18s 0d

6 chelloe, £5 2s 0d

3 pieces of Guinea long cloth, £1 1s 0d

half a piece of ditto, £1 5s 0d

40 white shirts, £1 5s 0d

2 pairs of cotton stockings, £0 1s 8d

5 dozen hooks sorted, £0 6s 7½d

11 lines sorted, £0 11s 6d

2 dozen mens stockings, £0 11s 6d

1 silk [...], £0 13s 6d

1 pound of sewing silk worsted, £0 6s 3d

1 [...], £0 3s 6d

10 and a half yards of red cloth, £1 7s 1½d

1 and a half yards of lambskin, £0 13s 9d

1 pair of Spanish shoes for [...], £0 6s 6d

1 [...] salve, £0 3s 6d

1 [...], £0 6s 6d

1 butcher's knife, £0 6s 9d

1 sheep bell spring, £0 3s 8d

2 timblets, [...]

21 China cups and saucers, £0 10s 6d

2 sneakers, £0 12s 6d

2 bowls, £0 5s 1d

2 small cups, £0 3s 6d

1 tea pot, £0 6s 6d

1 copper box, £0 6s 2d

1 dropping pan, £0 8s 6d

1 sauce pan, £0 1s 2d

Sum total, £64 18s 7d

Interpretations

Bohea and green tea were both China teas, priced here by the catty, a Chinese weight of about a pound and a third. Green tea sold at a higher rate than the darker bohea, marking it as the finer grade.

The account gathered several Indian cotton cloths sold from the store. Chelloe and gurrahs were piece goods woven in India and shipped through the Company's eastern settlements. Guinea long cloth was a plain calico traded across the Atlantic circuit.

Sneakers were small drinking cups or bowls, sold here among the China ware alongside the cups, saucers and tea pot. Their appearance with the copper box and pans shows the store supplying household and kitchen goods as well as cloth and provisions.

530

426

1725

Brought Over

64 18 7½

7 Wooden Bowles

8 6

1 Scimming Dish

6

1 Straining Dish

6

1 Ladle

6

1 Trimmer

1 do 6d Nailes

9

3. do

1 9

3. 20

1 9

8. 20

3 Oz China Silk

8 3

2½ Cir

8 3

1 do

1 2

2 do

1 9

1 Oz Thread

3 9

1 do

5 9

1 do

2 6

1 do

1 6

2 do

2 6

1 do Sled brown Thread

10 8

1 do

7 4

1½ do

6 7

3 Ps 18d Holland Tape

1 1

1 Inckling do

4

2 Coars do

1 9

1 Colared Tape

2 6

4 Ps Tortotting

1 6

4 Ps Gartering

1 6

1 Sleam & chair

1½ Doz Breast Button

9 6

2 doz Laces 7d

4 6

Diet Cattell

126 lb Sugar

3 2 6

1 Cask Flower

4 4 6

1 Bottle Flower Oyle

7

Plantation

4 Gallr Trayne Oyle

1 4

166 lb Rio

2 6 6

81 1 3½

Brought over, £64 18s 7½d

7 wooden bowls, £0 8s 0d

7 skimming dishes, £0 6s 6d

1 straining dish, £0 6s 6d

1 ladle, £0 6s 6d

1 trimmer, [...]

1 dozen 6 nails, £0 2s 6d

3 dozen ditto, £0 1s 10d

3 dozen ditto, £0 1s 6d

8 dozen 20 ditto, £0 2s 6d

3 ounces of China silk, £0 8s 3½d

2 and a half dittos, £0 8s 3½d

1 ditto, £0 2s 3d

2 dittos, £0 1s 9d

1 ditto, £0 2s 6d

1 ounce of thread, £0 3s 9d

1 ditto, £0 5s 6d

1 ditto, £0 2s 4d

1 ditto, £0 1s 6d

2 ditto, £0 6s 6d

1 pound of white brown thread, £0 10s 8d

1 ditto, £0 7s 6d

half a ditto, £0 6s 7d

3 dozen 13 Holland tape, £0 4s 4d

1 middling ditto, £0 2s 9d

2 coarse ditto, £0 1s 9d

1 coloured tape, £0 2s 1d

4 dozen garttering, £0 4s 6d

8 dozen garttering, £0 4s 6d

1 skein of hair, [...]

1 and a half dozen breast buttons, £0 2s 9½d

2 dozen laces, [...]

Diet Charges:

[...] pounds of sugar, £8 2s 6d

126 pounds of sugar, £4 4s 6d

1 cask of flour, £0 7s 0d

1 bottle of flower oil, [...]

Plantation:

4 gallons of train oil, £1 4s 0d

166 pounds of rice, £0 2s 6d

Sum total, £81 1s 3d

Interpretations

Skimming and straining dishes were kitchen wares for separating liquids and solids in cooking. They appeared here among wooden bowls, ladles and other utensils drawn from the store for domestic use.

Holland tape and garttering were narrow woven bands used to fasten and trim clothing. Their sale alongside thread, buttons and laces shows the store supplying the materials of dress and mending.

Train oil was rendered from the fat of marine animals and served the island for lighting and lubrication. It was drawn here for the plantation, priced by the gallon alongside the rice and other plantation goods.

531

427

May

Bt Over

81 1 3½

Garrison

16 Cattee Green Tea

3 - -

4 Cattee Raps Oyle

4 8 6

31 lb Coars Camerdoth

13 6

6 lb Rope

4 6

2 lb Rope

1 8

6. 20

3 4½

1 doz Brin Glass

6 6

Genll Charges

56 lb Soap

3 10 10

8 Squares Glass

4 6

1 Cattee Bohea Tea

6

1 Box Ironware & Rope

2 17 -

2 large Aprons

5

2 doz China Plates

1 4

6 Bowles

15

12 Sneakers

6

12 Coffee Cups

4

1 Helve

1 6

1 Copper Sauce Pan

8 4

Hon ble Comp Blacks Dr

1 Cask Beefe

13 -

1 do Pork

12

6 Ps Rio

80 13 9

2 White Shirt

5

3 Ps Mens Shoes 5/9

17 3

4 Ps do Stocking

4 11

Cutt in Storehouse 130 lb

3 5 -

32½ Doz hooks Sorted

13 6½

40 ins Sorted

4 5½

Fortification

3 Ps blew Bunting 12/6

6 8 11

2 White do 9d

4 7 2¼

1 Red do 9/45

2 19 9¾

1 lb Colared Thread

4 3

3 lb 6d Nailes

2 3

1 Qt Raps Oyle

2 6

6 lb Iron

6 3

6 lb 20d Nailes 3/½

225 2 7

Brought over, £81 1s 3½d

Garrison:

16 catties of green tea, £3 4s 6d

4 gallons of rape oil, £1 8s 6d

31 pounds of coarse camboys, £0 13s 6d

6 pounds of ditto, £0 4s 6d

2 pounds of ditto, £0 1s 8d

6 pounds of ditto, £0 3s 4½d

2 dozen horn glass, £0 6s 6d

General charges:

56 pounds of soap, £3 10s 10d

8 catties of squabs green tea, £0 4s 6d

1 catty of bohea tea, £0 6s 0d

1 box of knives and forks, £2 17s 0d

2 large tea pots, £0 5s 0d

2 dozen China plates, £1 4s 0d

6 bowls, £0 15s 0d

12 sneakers, £0 6s 4d

12 coffee cups, £0 4s 0d

1 helve, £0 1s 6d

1 copper sauce pan, £0 8s 4d

Honourable Company's blacks:

1 cask of beef, £13 0s 0d

1 ditto pork, £12 0s 0d

6 pieces of shirt, £80 13s 9d

2 white shirts, £0 5s 0d

3 pairs of mens shoes at 6s, £0 17s 3d

4 pairs of stockings, £0 4s 11d

cut in stock, keep 130 [...], £3 5s 0d

32 and a half dozen hooks sorted, £0 13s 6½d

40 lines sorted, £0 4s 6½d

Fortification:

3 pieces of blue bunting, 126 [...], £6 8s 11d

2 white ditto, ditto, £4 7s 2¼d

1 red ditto, 45 [...], £2 19s 9¾d

1 pound of coloured thread, £0 4s 2d

3 dozen 6 nails, £0 2s 3d

1 gallon of rape oil, £0 2s 6d

6 pounds of ditto at 10s 3½d, £0 6s 3d

Sum total, £225 2s 7d

Interpretations

Bunting was a light woollen cloth used to make flags and signal ensigns. The blue, white and red pieces drawn to the fortification supplied the material for the fort's colours.

Sneakers and coffee cups were small drinking vessels sold among the China ware. Their supply with tea pots, plates and bowls shows the store furnishing a full service of table goods.

Camboys were a coarse Indian cotton cloth. The garrison drew it in graded quantities, the rougher grades sold cheaply for common use.

532

428

1725

Gunners Store Expended in Aprile

1725

Muster Day

An Alarm

4 - - 4 4

Arrived the Aislabie Capt Wilson

9 - - 9 9

For Governr Jennings coming on Shoar

7 - 4 13 17

An Alarm

14 - - 14 14

An Alarm

4 - - 4 4

Arrived the Stretham Capt Westcott

9 - - 9 9

Arrived the Frances Capt Hinton

11 - - 11 11

An Alarm

4 - - 4 4

Arrived the Heathcott Capt Tolson

9 - - 9 9

For Govr Elwick coming on Shoar

21 1 4 16 39

To Answer Salute from the Aislabie

9 - - 9 9

Do from the Stretham

9 - - 9 9

Do from the Frances

9 - - 9 9

For Govr Elwick going on board

21 1 4 16 39

For Govr Jennings going on Board

17 - - 17 17

Departed the Aislabie for England

9 - - 9 9

Do the Frances for Do

9 - - 9 9

Do the Stretham

9 - - 9 9

Expence for the Guards

15

Priming of the Gun

12

Sum 184 2 12 170 271

Cartridge Paper Expended

3

Do for the Guards

28

Match

Expence of the Genll Table in Aprile 1725

9 12 6

23 lb Salt Beefe 2/6

2 8 4

10 do Pork 2/10

1 8 -

137 lb Bread

1 14 8

145 lb Sug

3 12 6

67 Gale Arrack

21 4 4

38 Bottle Mountain

5 14 -

11 do Cyder 2/6

7 6

40 do Beef 25 p 100

8 3

513 lb Beef 25 p 100

6 6 -

27½ Veale

6 10 -

5 Goate

1 4 -

4 Turkey

10 6

12 Duck

6 15 -

89 Fowles

6 15 -

40 lb Pork

1 7 6

135 lb Butter

1 15 5

35 lb Candle

1 15 -

25 lb Coar Oyle

8

2 Bottle Oyle

10

2 lb Pepper

1

2 Gale Vinegar

30 Doz Green

82 17 1

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Gunrs Stores

Expended in

Aprille

Govr Table

Expences for

Aprill

The account of the gunner's stores expended in April 1725.

6 April, muster day, 4 pounds of powder

7 April, an alarm, 4 pounds of powder

ditto, arrived the Aislabie, Captain Wilson, 9 pounds of powder

ditto, for Governor Jennings coming on shore, 4 pounds, 13 pounds of powder

12 April, an alarm, 14 pounds of powder

ditto, an alarm, 4 pounds of powder

ditto, arrived the Stretham, Captain Westcott, 9 pounds of powder

ditto, arrived the Frances, Captain Hinton, 11 pounds of powder

16 April, an alarm, 4 pounds of powder

ditto, arrived the Heathcote, Captain Tolson, 9 pounds of powder

ditto, for Governor Elwick coming on shore, 21 pounds, 1 pound, 4 pounds, 16 pounds, 39 pounds of powder

22 April, to answer salute from the Aislabie, 9 pounds of powder

ditto, ditto from the Stretham, 9 pounds of powder

ditto, ditto from the Frances, 9 pounds of powder

23 April, for Governor Elwick going on board, 21 pounds, 1 pound, 4 pounds, 16 pounds, 39 pounds of powder

ditto, for Governor Jennings going on board, 17 pounds of powder

ditto, departed the Aislabie for England, 9 pounds of powder

ditto, ditto the Frances for ditto, 9 pounds of powder

ditto, ditto the Stretham, 9 pounds of powder

expense for the guards, 15 pounds of powder

priming of the gun, 12 pounds of powder

Sum, 184 pounds, 2 pounds, 12 pounds, 170 pounds, 271 pounds of powder

cartridge paper expended, 3 sheets

ditto for the guards, 29 sheets

match

The account of the expense of the General Table in April 1725.

23 pounds of salt beef at 2s 6d, £2 19s 6d

101 pounds of pork at 2s 10d, £1 8s 4d

137 pounds of bread, £1 14s 0d

145 pounds of sugar, £3 12s 6d

67 gallons of arrack, £21 4s 4d

38 bottles of mountain wine, £5 14s 0d

11 bottles of Goa arrack at 2s 6d, £1 7s 6d

40 bottles of ditto beef at 2s 5d [...], £0 8s 3d

513 pounds of beef, £6 16s 0d

27 and a half pounds of veal, £2 10s 0d

5 goats, £1 10s 0d

4 turkeys, £0 13s 6d

12 ducks, £1 6s 0d

89 fowls, £6 15s 6d

40 pounds of pork, £1 15s 0d

135 pounds of butter, £15 15s 0d

35 pounds of candles, £0 15s 0d

25 pounds of Goa oil, £0 8s 0d

2 bottles of pepper, £0 10s 0d

2 pounds of pepper, £0 10s 0d

2 gallons of vinegar, £0 1s 0d

30 dozen greens, [...]

Sum total, £82 17s 1d

Signed by John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The gunner's account charged the powder spent on alarms, salutes and the honours paid to two governors passing through the road. Governor Elwick of Fort St George and Governor Jennings each drew a heavy salute coming ashore and going aboard.

The powder columns separate the charges by weight against each occasion. The grouped figures on the Elwick lines are the several gun-charges combined into the day's total rather than distinct commodities.

The General Table account recorded the provisions consumed at the Honourable Company's own table over the month. It mixed imported salt beef, arrack, mountain wine and Goa oil with fresh island produce. Arrack stood as the single largest charge by value.

533

429

May 1725

At a Consultation held on Wednesday the 19th day

of May 1725 at Union Castle

Present John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

On Sunday last the 16th instant We had an Alarm from

about three o Clock in the Afternoon for One Ship & the next

Morning arrived the Maidstead Capt Hudson Commr from

Maddrass & brought Us Advice a Letter & Invoice containing

the following Goods vizt

Rice 5 Bag qty 10 Bags

Cags 30: - -

Factors Provisions

Sugar 4 Ca 16 Md is 8. 18 & Candy

40. 33. 56

Charges Merchandize

7 do 33.56

7 2. 28. 40

Cags 7 3. 26. 16

The Govr Reports that he has received the following

Letter from Mr Wignell the Surgeon

Worshipfull Sir

Tho so often having Offended your Worship

as it is a most Sensible Concern to me, & it adds to the Unhappyness

& Shame of my faults, & so Fate have Plunged me into &c does me

in a manner past hope of Yr Worships Excuse

I have no manner of Reason to Blame any body but

my Self having undoubtedly been the Sole Author of my own

Misfortunes & be brought of which render them very grievous in supporting

to me & am not perfectly Sensible what Insight have wrote or

Said to your Worship when before You on Tuesday, & humbly begs

if there was any Sentence or Expression made Use of by me that was any

way reflecting on Your Worship or any of the Councile present that,

Your Worship would be pleased to Excuse it

Margin Notes:

Ship

Maidstead

Arrival

from China

Goods rec d

Mr Wignells

Lre to ye Govr

Acknowledging

his faults

At a consultation held on Wednesday 19 May 1725 at Union Castle.

Present: Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The council read and approved the record of the previous meeting.

On Monday 16 May 1725 the island had an alarm about 3 o'clock in the afternoon for one ship, and the next morning the Macclesfield, Captain Hudson commander, arrived from Madras. She brought the invoice, a letter and a licence to procure, carrying the following goods.

Goods received:

Rice, 5 bags of the shore, 30 pagodas

Factors' provisions:

Sugar, 4 candy 16 Madras at 8 pagodas 18 [...], candy, 40 pagodas 33 [...] 56 [...]

73 pagodas 33 [...] 56 [...]

Charges on merchandise, 72 pagodas 28 [...] 40 [...]

73 pagodas 26 [...] 16 [...]

The Governor reported that he had received the following letter from Wignell, the surgeon.

Wignell wrote to the Governor. He had so often offended the Governor that it was the most unhappy matter to him, adding to his sorrow and shame at his fault, and he would rather have flung himself into the sea than affront the Governor's authority in such a manner. He had no reason to blame anybody but himself, having undoubtedly been the sole author of the offences, brought on by too much liquor. He was fully aware of the weight of what he had said to the Governor the previous Tuesday, and humbly begged pardon if any sentence or expression he had used reflected on the Governor or on any of the council then present, asking that the Governor be pleased to excuse it.

Interpretations

Factors' provisions were goods laid in for the Company's officers at its Indian settlements. The Macclesfield carried sugar and rice under that head, valued in the Madras money of pagodas, fanams and cash.

Wignell cast his whole offence as the work of drink and his own fault alone. He offered a full submission rather than any defence, seeking the Governor's pardon after his conduct at the earlier consultation.

534

430

May 1725

Sincerely assure & Promise Your Worship if the Removal of the

Cause of my frequent Misbehaviour & Miscarriages & my real Promise & indeavors

am very ready & willing solemnly to Promise an entire Abstinence

from all Sort of Strong Liquor which has been the only Cause of

that has Precipitated me in these Misfortunes, gained me into with

the utmost Concern in the Word so far as I your Worships Displeasure

& may say my Entire Ruin

Your Worships Goodness I have so often had Instances

of, & so much Misused it, I can hardly hope for Excuse without Your

Pity, into this time I have Compassion on me who otherwise that intirely

think my Self ruined & fling my Self Entirely at Your Worships

Feet in hopes of Pardon & shall ever acknowledge my Self

Yr Worships

Most obedt & obliged humble Servt

Thos Wignell

To which the Govr Sent the following Answer

Mr Wignell I have received Your Letter and am glad to hear You designe

to Reform, its high time You Do, for You must certainly be Sensible that

no Man Living besides my Self would have allowed the tenth Part of that ill

Behaviour & Neglect with which You have treated me nor have given myself

the trouble to admonish You of Your Offence so Often as I have done, but

instead of Advice & Softness I would have used other Methods to Reclaim

You, but as You now Seem to be Sensible of Your Error I acquiesce

I discern I abhor of Scandalous & gross Extravagancies into which You

have been frequently led by Keep of Liquor & Promise an entire

Abstinence from all things Strong & Intoxicating for the time to come

I forgive for the Present & lay by my Resentment upon Condition You punctually

keep Your Word & comply with the following Terms

First that You Drink no Strong Liquor

Secondly that You forbear to go any more to Hubbard

Thirdly that You make Mrs Swallow Satisfaction for Slandering of her

Observe these Directions & You may still find way to my Favour

but Remember this is the last time of Tryale. Trifle with me nor Your

Self any more or Depend upon it if You Provoke my Patience again

I will putt it out of Your Power ever to do the like hereafter. Consider

Your Self & Your Friends in England for whose Sake as well as Your

own I have bore much. I am Yr Friend John Smith

Margin Notes:

Govr Answer

to Mr Wignells

Lre

3 Articles

for him to

Comply with

Wignell gave the Governor a sincere assurance and promise. If the cause of his frequent misbehaviour were removed, his real promise of diligence in his business would earn one more visit of the Governor's excuse. He was ready and willing to bind himself solemnly to an entire abstinence from all strong liquor, which had been the only cause of his troubles and had brought him into the utmost concern in the world. He feared the Governor's displeasure and might well say it meant his entire ruin.

Wignell had so often felt the Governor's goodness that he could hardly hope for favour without his pity in this matter. He begged the Governor to have compassion on him, and flung himself entirely on the Governor's mercy in hopes of pardon, promising to acknowledge himself the Governor's most obedient and obliged humble servant. Signed by Thomas Wignell, 6 May 1725.

The Governor sent Wignell the following answer.

The Governor had received Wignell's letter and was glad to hear he intended to reform while he had time. No person living besides himself would have shown Wignell the tenth part of the ill behaviour and neglect with which Wignell had treated him, nor have taken the trouble to admonish him for his offences so often. Instead of anger and ill usage the Governor had used other methods to reclaim him. As Wignell now seemed sensible of his errors, deeply concerned for all his scandalous and gross excesses, into which he had been frequently led by too much liquor, the Governor promised an entire indulgence for the present. He would forgo his resentment on condition that Wignell keep his word and comply with the following terms.

First, that Wignell drink no strong liquor. Secondly, that he forbear to go any more to Hubbard. Thirdly, that he make Elizabeth Swallow satisfaction for slandering her often.

If Wignell observed these directions he might still find his way to the Governor's favour. Should he provoke the Governor any more or depend upon his patience again, the Governor would put it out of his power to do him further favour. He counselled Wignell for his own sake and that of his friends in England, whose regard for him, as well as his own conduct, weighed much. Signed by John Smith, 6 May 1725.

Interpretations

The Governor set three plain conditions on his pardon. He bound Wignell to abstain from strong liquor, to keep away from Hubbard, and to make the widow Swallow amends for the slander.

The exchange bound Wignell by his own written promise rather than by any formal sentence. His pledge of total abstinence became the term on which the Governor stayed his hand, so a fresh lapse would forfeit the indulgence at once.

535

431

May

The Govr made the following Report against Thos Wignell Surgeon

The Governr Report that he has again received fresh Complaint

of an Extraordinary Nature agt Thos Wignell Surgeon who

notwithstanding he has been so often Advised & Reprimanded for

his Drunken & Extravagant Behaviour & as often Solemnly

Promised Reformation & Amendment yet has no longer Since than

Sunday Last he got into the Old Castle very Drunk & in his

after had like to have killed John Hubbard Corporale who in the

Evening after Drunk beat came to the Governr & Complained

that Mr Wignell whome he had often forbid going to his House

was nevertheless got there taking the Opportunity of the Corporals

Absence upon Guard, but hearing that the sd Wignell was at his

House & Refused to be gone, obtained leave to go up in Order

to gett him out but he for a long time refused to go &

unperceived by the Complainant drew his Sword & made Sever

Thurst at him the Point of which at the third Case I trust

against the Button of the Complainant Coat which happen

to be Brass or otherwise & Might have Killed him, the Govr

thereupon Sent for Mr Wignell but when he came finding

him Scandalously Drunk the Govr Ordered him to be Confined

upon Guard. The particulars of the Quarrele are Set forth in

the following Examination of Samuel Bazate who was

present from the beginning to the End of the Fray

The Examination of Samuel Bazate taken the

13th day of May 1725 before me John Smith Esqr Govr of the

Island St Helena

This Examinant being asked about the Disturbance

that happend at the House of John Hubbard Corpl on Sunday Night

Last Deposeth that Thos Wignell the Surgeon came into the said

Hubbards House between Nine & ten o Clock the same Evening &

continued there after Drum Beat Soon after which the said Hubbard

he being received Notice from his Wife (as this Exam t believes) that

Mr Wignell was at his House & refused to go away, came in himself

& finding Mr Wignell there Strike him one blow with his Fist

Saying You Villain what do you do at my House after theave

& after forewarned you, desiring the said Wignell to be gone

but he refused to go away & they both went to Boxing & were Sev

times Corked by this Examinatr & at length Mr Wignell consented

to go away but first desired his Sword & his might be delivered

him, which this Examinant not thinking he designed to do

Mischief accordingly did, which Mr Wignell immediatly drew

and just as Hubbard was got out of the Door & Standing therein

Margin Notes:

Govr farther

Report agt Mr

Wignell for his

Drunken Beha-

viour at the

House of John

Hubbard

Examination of

Saml Bazate

The Governor made a further report against Thomas Wignell, the surgeon.

The Governor reported that he had again received a fresh complaint of an extraordinary nature against Wignell. Wignell had so often been asked to reform, and had solemnly promised amendment, yet could no longer be borne with. On Sunday 16 May 1725 he got into the old castle very drunk. In the evening after the drumbeat he would have killed John Hubbard, a corporal. Hubbard came to the Governor and complained that Wignell, whom he had often forbidden to enter his house, had nonetheless got in, taking the chance of Hubbard's absence at the guard. On hearing Wignell was in his house and refusing to leave, Hubbard obtained leave to go up and put him out. Wignell for a long time refused to go, and, unnoticed by Hubbard, drew his sword. He made three thrusts at Hubbard, the point of the third striking against a button on Hubbard's coat, which perhaps saved him from being killed. The Governor sent for Wignell, but on finding him scandalously drunk, ordered him confined to the guard. The particulars of the quarrel are set out in the following examination of Samuel Bazett, who was present from beginning to end.

The examination of Samuel Bazett, taken 19 May 1725 before the Governor John Smith of the island of St Helena.

Bazett, being asked about the disturbance at John Hubbard's house on Sunday night 16 May 1725, deposed as follows. Wignell came into Hubbard's house between 9 and 10 o'clock that evening, after the drumbeat, and stayed there. Hubbard, on receiving word from his wife that Wignell was in his house and refused to leave, came in himself. Finding Wignell there, Hubbard struck him one blow with his fist, saying he would teach him what he meant by coming to his house after being forewarned. Wignell refused to go, and the two fell to boxing, Bazett parting them several times. At length Wignell seemed ready to leave, but first felt for his sword so that he might do Hubbard a mischief. As Wignell drew it and Hubbard was getting out of the door, Bazett stood between them.

Interpretations

An examination was a witness statement taken on oath before the Governor and set down for the record. Bazett's account fixed the course of the quarrel as an eyewitness, supporting the Governor's report of a drunken assault.

The button on Hubbard's coat turned the point of the third thrust. This chance detail marked the difference between an assault and a killing, which is why the record dwelt on it.

The Governor moved against Wignell despite the surgeon's recent written promises of reform. A fresh and graver offence, an armed attack days after the pardon, showed the pledges worthless and pushed the matter towards removal from the Company's service.

536

432

1725

not perceiving Mr Wignells Sword was drawn) made three Passes

at him the said Hubbard & at the third Case the Point of his Sword

Struck against One of the Buttons of the said Hubbards Coat

which happned to be Brass or else this Examinent believes the

Sword would have Entred into his Body but to prevent farther

Mischief this Exam t with other help took his Sword from him

Samuel Bazette

John Long attended according to Summons to answer to

the Complaint of Capt Alexander entred last Consultation day

who being Examined acknowledged himself to be much to blame

for what he had done & Said & is very willing & desirous to ask

Capt Alexanders Pardon promising to behave himself Civilly &

Respectfully towards the sd Capt Alexander for the time to come

Ordered that the said Long do accordingly ask Capt

Alexanders Pardon & that if he do any more give Capt Alexander

just Cause to Complain of his Rude & Abusive Behaviour that

he be fined the Sum of Five Pound & bound to his good Behaviour

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Jno Long

attendance

to Complt of

Capt Alexander

Long fined

upon 2d offence

The examinant did not perceive that Mr Wignall's sword was drawn. Wignall made three passes at Hubbard. At the third pass the point of his sword struck one of the buttons of Hubbard's coat. That button happened to be brass. Otherwise the sword would have entered the examinant's body. To prevent further mischief the examinant, with the help of others, took the sword from him. This deposition was given by Samuel Bazett.

John Long attended according to summons. He came to answer the complaint of Captain Alexander entered at the last consultation. On being examined he acknowledged himself much to blame for what he had done and said. He was very willing and desirous to ask Captain Alexander's pardon. He promised to behave himself civilly and respectfully towards Captain Alexander for the time to come.

It was ordered that Long should accordingly ask Captain Alexander's pardon. If he should any more give Captain Alexander just cause to complain of his rude and abusive behaviour, he was to be fined the sum of £5 and bound to his good behaviour.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The two entries record the close of a single dispute between John Long and Captain John Alexander. Long had been the subject of a complaint at the previous meeting. His submission and apology allowed the Council to settle the matter without heavier punishment. The threatened fine of £5 marked the standard penalty for a repeat offence of this kind.

The Bazett deposition concerns a separate affray involving drawn swords. The brass button that turned the sword point saved the examinant from a serious or fatal wound. The Council recorded the detail to establish how narrowly injury had been avoided.

Speculations

The Council chose a bond and a suspended fine rather than immediate punishment. This arrangement gave Long an incentive to keep the peace while sparing him present loss. It suggests a deliberate preference for securing future good conduct over exacting retribution.

537

433

Names

Whites for 1724 to May Blacks

List for ye year 1724

Cap: Jno Alexander

Whites: Women 1. Maidens 2. Boys 2. Girles 2. Totall 7.

Blacks: Frees Blacks 8. Men 4. Women 6. Boys Girles 4. Totall 21.

Capt Jno Goodwin

Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 2. Totall 5.

Blacks: Frees Blacks 4. Men 8. Women 2. Boys Girles 5. Totall 19.

Lieut. Thos Cason

Whites: Girles 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Men 1. Women 1. Totall 2.

Ensign Will: Slaughter

Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Women 2. Totall 2.

Benjn Hawkes

Whites: Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men 4. Women 2. Boys 1. Girles 2. Totall 9.

Jno French Gunr & Mr Storr

Whites: Women 1. Girles 1. Boys 4. Totall 7.

Jno Bazette

Whites: Totall 1.

Jno Hodgkinson

Whites: Women 1. Totall 1.

Isaac Wood

Whites: Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men 5. Women 2. Boys 2. Girles 2. Totall 11.

Willm Simpson

Whites: Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Robert Wallington

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

John Young

Whites: Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 3.

John Hubbard

Whites: Women 1. Totall 2.

Jno Des Fountain & 1 Orphn

Whites: Women 1. Girles 3. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Totall 4.

Isaac Leech Gunrs Mate

Whites: Women 1. Girles 3. Totall 5.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Giles Hayes 2 & Do

Whites: Women 1. Girles 2. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Wm Worrall 3 & Mr Servt

Whites: Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 2. Totall 6.

Blacks: Men 3. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 7.

Thos Watts & 1 Orphn

Whites: Girles 2. Boys 1. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Ebenezr Leech

Whites: Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Thos Clew

Whites: Women 1. Girles 2. Totall 3.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Matthew Mudge

Whites: Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Francis Funge

Whites: Women 1. Girles 5. Totall 6.

Blacks: Frees Blacks 1. Men 2. Girles 1. Boys 1. Totall 5.

Andrew Bergue

Whites: Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Caleb Davis

Whites: Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Stephen Audward

Samell Doveton 2

Whites: Girles 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Jonathn Higham Bn

Whites: Girles 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Richd Harding

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Willm Coales

Whites: Boys 2. Totall 2.

Jno Bordley

Whites: Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 2.

Thos Harper

Whites: Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Girles 1. Totall 2.

Jno Knipe & Mr Servt

Whites: Women 1. Boys 3. Girles 1. Totall 6.

Blacks: Men 1. Women 1. Totall 3.

Ralph Orne

Whites: Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 2. Totall 5.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 4.

Jno Furling

Whites: Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men 3. Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 6.

Benjn Pledger & Servt

Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 2. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Totall 3.

Rd Swallow Junr

Whites: Totall 1.

Blacks: Women 1. Totall 2.

Joseph Luffkin

Whites: Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 2.

Jno Thwaites

Whites: Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 2. Totall 5.

Blacks: Men 1. Women 1. Totall 2.

Jno Aldrick

Whites: Girles 1. Totall 1.

William Lee

Blacks: Women 2. Totall 2.

For 1724 to May.

This page forms the yearly list of inhabitants for the year 1724, drawn up in May 1724. The heading and the margin note together fix the date, though no exact day of the month is given.

Captain John Alexander had 1 white woman, 2 white youths, 2 white maidens and 2 white boys, totalling 7 white people. He also held 8 free black men, 4 black women, 6 black boys and 4 black girls, totalling 21 black people.

Captain John Goodwin had 1 white woman, 1 white maiden and 2 white boys, totalling 5 white people. He held 4 free blacks, 8 black men, 2 black women and 5 black boys, totalling 19 black people.

Lieutenant Thomas Cason had 1 white man, totalling 3 white people [...]. He held 1 black man and 1 black woman, totalling 2 black people.

Ensign William Slaughter had 1 white woman and 1 white maiden, totalling 2 white people. He held 2 black boys, totalling 2 black people.

Benjamin Hawkes had 1 white maiden and 1 white boy, totalling 1 white person [...]. He held 4 black men, 2 black women, 1 black boy and 2 black girls, totalling 9 black people.

John French, gunner and married, had 1 white woman, 1 white maiden and 4 white boys, totalling 7 white people. No black people were entered against him.

John Bazett had 1 white person entered as his total, with no black people.

John Hodgkinson had 1 white woman, with no black people entered.

Isaac Wood had 1 white woman and 1 white maiden, totalling 2 white people. He held 5 black men, 2 black women and 2 black boys, totalling 11 black people.

William Simpson had 1 white woman and 1 white boy, totalling 3 white people [...]. He held 1 black man, totalling 1 black person.

Robert Wallington had 1 black person entered, with no white household.

John Young had 1 white woman and 1 white boy, totalling 2 white people. He held 1 black man and 1 black girl, totalling 3 black people.

John Hubbard had 1 white woman, totalling 2 white people [...], with no black people entered.

John Des Fountain and orphans had 3 white maidens, totalling 4 white people. He held 2 black men and 1 black woman, totalling 2 black people [...].

Isaac Leech, gunner's mate, had 1 white maiden, totalling 3 white people [...]. He held 1 black man, totalling 2 black people [...].

Giles Hayes, second of the two, had 2 white boys, totalling 4 white people [...]. He held 1 black man, totalling 1 black person.

William Worrall, third and married, servant, had 1 white maiden and 2 white boys, totalling 6 white people [...]. He held 3 black men, 2 black women and 1 black boy, totalling 7 black people.

Thomas Watts and orphans had 2 white boys, totalling 4 white people [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person.

Ebenezer Leech had 1 white boy, totalling 2 white people [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person.

Thomas Clew had 2 white boys, totalling 3 white people [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person.

Matthew Mudge had 1 white boy, totalling 2 white people [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person.

Francis Funge had 5 white boys, totalling 6 white people [...]. He held 1 black man, 2 black women, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 5 black people.

Andrew Bergue had 1 white woman, totalling 1 white person. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person.

Caleb Davis had 1 white woman, 1 white boy and 1 white girl, totalling 3 white people. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person.

Stephen Audward had no household entered.

Samuel Doveton had 1 white boy, totalling 1 white person, with no black people entered.

Jonathan Higham, planter, had 1 white person entered [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person.

Richard Harding had 1 black person, with no white household.

William Coales had 2 white maidens, totalling 2 white people, with no black people entered.

John Bordieu had 1 white woman, totalling 2 white people [...], with no black people entered.

Thomas Harper had 1 white woman, totalling 1 white person. He held 1 black girl, totalling 2 black people [...].

John Knipe and married servant had 1 white woman, 3 white maidens and 1 white boy, totalling 6 white people. He held 1 black man and 1 black woman, totalling 3 black people [...].

Ralph Orne had 2 white boys, totalling 5 white people [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 4 black people [...].

John Gurling had 2 white maidens and 1 white boy, totalling 4 white people. He held 3 black men, 1 black woman, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 6 black people.

Benjamin Pledger and servant had 1 white woman and 2 white maidens, totalling 4 white people. He held 2 black men and 1 black boy, totalling 3 black people.

Robert Swallow, junior, had 1 black man, totalling 1 black person [...], with no white household.

Joseph Luffkin had 1 white woman, totalling 1 white person [...]. He held 1 black man and 1 black woman, totalling 2 black people [...].

John Thwaites had 2 white maidens, totalling 5 white people [...]. He held 1 black man and 1 black woman, totalling 2 black people.

John Aldrick had 1 white maiden, totalling 1 white person, with no black people entered.

William Lee had 2 black boys, totalling 2 black people, with no white household.

538

434

1725

Cattle Land

Cap: Jno Alexander

Cattle: Bulls 2. Cowes 12. Heifers 8. Calves 8. Totall 30.

Land: Acres of Free Land 46½. Acres of Hird Land 62½. Totall 109.

Capt Jno Goodwin

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 8. Bullocks 1. Heifers 10. Steers 2. Calves 2. Totall 24.

Land: Acres of Free Land 89½. Acres of Hird Land 29¾. Totall 178¾.

Lieut. Thos Cason

Land: Acres of Free Land 10. Acres of Hird Land 3. Totall 13.

Ensign Will: Slaughter

Cattle: Cowes 2. Heifers 1. Steers 1. Totall 4.

Benjn Hawkes

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 6. Calves 1. Totall 7.

Land: Acres of Free Land 10. Acres of Hird Land 26. Totall 36.

Jno French Gunr & Mr Storr

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 4. Heifers 1. Steers 1. Calves 3. Totall 10.

Land: Acres of Free Land 5. Totall 5.

Jno Bazette

Jno Hodgkinson

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 7. Heifers 5. Calves 3. Totall 16.

Land: Acres of Free Land 78. Acres of Hird Land 34. Totall 112.

Isaac Wood

Willm Simpson

Robert Wallington

John Young

Cattle: Cowes 3. Bullocks 1. Yearlings 3. Totall 7.

Land: Acres of Free Land 45. Totall 45.

John Hubbard

Cattle: Cowes 2. Heifers 2. Calves 4.

Land: Acres of Free Land 5. Acres of Hird Land 8½. Totall 13½.

Jno Des Fountain & 1 Orphn

Cattle: Cowes 1. Yearlings 1. Totall 2.

Isaac Leech Gunrs Mate

Cattle: Heifers 4. Steers 3. Calves 3. Totall 10.

Land: Acres of Hird Land 40. Totall 40.

Giles Hayes 2 & Do

Land: Totall 50.

Wm Worrall 3 & Mr Servt

Thos Watts & 1 Orphn

Cattle: Cowes 2. Heifers 1. Calves 3.

Land: Acres of Free Land 30.

Ebenezr Leech

Cattle: Cowes 1. Heifers 2. Yearlings 2. Totall 5.

Land: Acres of Free Land 15. Acres of Hird Land 15.

Thos Clew

Matthew Mudge

Francis Funge

Cattle: Cowes 1. Heifers 1. Totall 2.

Andrew Bergue

Caleb Davis

Stephen Audward

Samell Doveton 2

Jonathn Higham Bn

Richd Harding

Willm Coales

Jno Bordley

Cattle: Bulls 1. Yearlings 1. Calves 2.

Land: Acres of Free Land 7½. Acres of Hird Land 7½.

Thos Harper

Cattle: Cowes 4. Calves 3. Totall 7.

Land: Acres of Free Land 10. Acres of Hird Land 29½. Totall 39½.

Jno Knipe & Mr Servt

Land: Acres of Free Land 10. Totall 19.

Ralph Orne

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 11. Heifers 1. Calves 2. Totall 16.

Land: Acres of Free Land 25. Acres of Hird Land 21. Totall 46.

Jno Furling

Cattle: Cowes 4. Heifers 2. Calves 1. Totall 7.

Land: Acres of Free Land 10. Acres of Hird Land 16. Totall 26.

Benjn Pledger & Servt

Cattle: Cowes 2. Steers 1. Calves 1. Totall 3.

Land: Acres of Free Land 5. Acres of Hird Land 32. Totall 37.

Rd Swallow Junr

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 1. Steers 1. Calves 1. Totall 4.

Land: Acres of Free Land 10. Acres of Hird Land 27. Totall 37.

Joseph Luffkin

Cattle: Cowes 3.

Jno Thwaites

Jno Aldrick

William Lee

The neat cattle columns run: bulls, cows, bullocks, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and total. The land columns run: acres of free land, acres of hired land, total, and a final column for ground in James Valley.

Captain John Alexander held 2 bulls, 12 cows, 8 heifers and 8 calves, totalling 30 neat cattle. He held 46.5 acres of free land and 62.5 acres of hired land, totalling 109 acres.

Captain John Goodwin held 1 bull, 8 cows, 1 bullock, 10 heifers, 2 steers and 2 calves, totalling 24 neat cattle. He held 89 acres of free land and 29.75 acres of hired land, totalling 118.75 acres [...].

Lieutenant Thomas Cason held no neat cattle. He held 10 acres of free land and 3 acres of hired land, totalling 13 acres.

Ensign William Slaughter held 2 cows, 1 heifer and 1 steer, totalling 4 neat cattle. He held 3 acres of hired land, totalling 13 acres [...].

Benjamin Hawkes held 1 bull, 6 cows and 3 calves, totalling 7 neat cattle [...]. He held 10 acres of free land and 26 acres of hired land, totalling 36 acres.

John French held 1 bull, 4 cows, 1 bullock, 1 heifer and 3 calves, totalling 10 neat cattle [...]. He held 5 acres of free land, totalling 5 acres.

John Bazett had no neat cattle or land entered.

John Hodgkinson had no neat cattle or land entered.

Isaac Wood held 1 bull, 7 cows, 5 heifers and 3 calves, totalling 16 neat cattle. He held 78 acres of free land and 34 acres of hired land, totalling 112 acres.

William Simpson had no neat cattle or land entered.

Robert Wallington had no neat cattle or land entered.

John Young had no neat cattle or land entered.

John Hubbard held 3 cows, 1 heifer and 3 steers, totalling 7 neat cattle [...]. He held 45 acres of free land, totalling 45 acres.

John Des Fountain held 2 cows and 2 heifers, totalling 4 neat cattle. He held 5 acres of free land and 8.5 acres of hired land, totalling 13.5 acres.

Isaac Leech held 1 cow and 1 steer, totalling 2 neat cattle [...]. No land was entered against him.

Giles Hayes held 4 cows, 3 heifers and 3 calves, totalling 10 neat cattle. He held 40 acres of hired land, totalling 40 acres.

William Worrall had no neat cattle entered. He held 50 acres in a single figure [...].

Thomas Watts had no neat cattle or land entered.

Ebenezer Leech held 2 cows and 1 heifer, totalling 3 neat cattle. He held 30 acres of hired land, totalling 30 acres [...].

Thomas Clew held 1 cow, 2 bullocks and 2 calves, totalling 5 neat cattle. He held 15 acres of free land and 15 acres of hired land [...].

Matthew Mudge had no neat cattle or land entered.

Francis Funge held 1 cow and 1 heifer, totalling 2 neat cattle [...]. No land was entered against him.

Andrew Bergue had no neat cattle or land entered.

Caleb Davis had no neat cattle or land entered.

Stephen Audward had no neat cattle or land entered.

Samuel Doveton had no neat cattle or land entered.

Jonathan Higham had no neat cattle or land entered.

Richard Harding had no neat cattle or land entered.

William Coales held 1 cow, 1 steer and 1 calf, totalling 2 neat cattle [...]. He held 7.5 acres of hired land, totalling 7.5 acres [...].

John Bordieu held 4 cows and 3 calves, totalling 7 neat cattle [...]. He held 10 acres of free land and 29.5 acres of hired land, totalling 39.5 acres.

Thomas Harper held no neat cattle. He held 10 acres of free land, totalling 19 acres [...].

John Knipe held 1 bull, 11 cows, 1 heifer and 2 calves, totalling 16 neat cattle [...]. He held 25 acres of free land and 21 acres of hired land, totalling 46 acres.

Ralph Orne held 4 cows, 2 bullocks and 1 calf, totalling 7 neat cattle. He held 10 acres of free land and 16 acres of hired land, totalling 26 acres.

John Gurling held 2 cows and 1 steer, totalling 3 neat cattle [...]. He held 5 acres of free land and 32 acres of hired land, totalling 37 acres.

Benjamin Pledger held 1 cow, 1 heifer and 1 calf, totalling 4 neat cattle [...]. He held 10 acres of free land and 27 acres of hired land, totalling 37 acres.

Robert Swallow had no neat cattle or land entered.

Joseph Luffkin had no neat cattle or land entered.

John Thwaites had no neat cattle or land entered.

John Aldrick had no neat cattle or land entered.

William Lee had no neat cattle or land entered.

539

435

May Whites Blacks

Brought Over

Addis 3 Orph

Whites: Boys 2. Totall 2.

Thos Allin

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 4. Girles 1. Totall 7.

Blacks: Men 1. Boys 1. Totall 2.

Bridget Bazett No 3

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men 5. Women 3. Boys 2. Totall 10.

Jno Bagley Junr

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 2. Totall 6.

Blacks: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Totall 5.

Orlando Bagley

Whites: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 2.

John Bagley Junr

Whites: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

John Bagley Minor

Whites: Girles 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Joseph Bates

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 7. Girles 2. Totall 8.

Blacks: Men 7. Women 2. Boys 3. Girles 2. Totall 14.

Richard Beale

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men 1. Women 2. Boys 1. Totall 4.

John Bowers

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Jno Toulson

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 5.

Blacks: Men 1. Women 1. Totall 3.

Jno & Thos Bradley

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 5.

Blacks: Men 1. Women 1. Totall 2.

Wm Beale

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 6.

Blacks: Boys 1. Totall 1.

Mary Conaway Wid

Whites: Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 1.

Mrs Le Corque No 2

Whites: Women 1. Girles 2. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men 8. Women 6. Totall 17.

Isaac Doulson

Whites: Men 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men 1. Women 2. Boys 3. Girles 1. Totall 7.

Jno Doveton

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 2. Totall 9.

Blacks: Men 8. Women 3. Boys 6. Girles 3. Totall 20.

Jam: Draper & Orph

Whites: Men 1. Boys 1. Girles 2. Totall 8.

Blacks: Men 3. Totall 3.

Ann Frances Orph

Whites: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men 5. Women 2. Boys 1. Totall 10.

Rich: Fisher

Whites: Men 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 2.

Thos Filde

Whites: Men 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men 1. Women 1. Totall 2.

Elias Greenfeild

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 3. Totall 9.

Blacks: Men 3. Women 2. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 8.

Rd Furlong

Whites: Men 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Boys 1. Totall 1.

Robt Greentree

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 2. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men 1. Women 2. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 7.

Rob Furling

Whites: Men 1. Boys 4. Girles 2. Totall 7.

Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 6.

Benj Greentree & Orph

Whites: Men 1. Boys 2. Girles 2. Totall 6.

Blacks: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Totall 5.

Griffe Orph

Whites: Men 1. Totall 1.

Robt Hodgkinson

Whites: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 2.

Jon: Hyden Junr

Whites: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men 2. Totall 2.

Jno Harding Bn

Whites: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Men 1. Girles 1. Boys 1. Totall 2.

Doz: Hansford Boy

Whites: Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Giles Hayes 10 Ps

Whites: Men 1. Boys 3. Girles 3. Totall 8.

Blacks: Men 4. Boys 2. Totall 6.

Sam Hayes Jnr & Orph

Whites: Men 1. Boys 2. Girles 3. Totall 9.

Blacks: Men 4. Boys 2. Totall 6.

Josh Jackson

Whites: Men 1. Boys 7. Girles 2. Totall 5.

Blacks: Men 5. Women 2. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 10.

Sultan & Slave

Whites: Men 1. Boys 3. Girles 3. Totall 8.

Blacks: Men 1. Women 2. Girles 1. Totall 4.

Abro Leech

Whites: Men 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Bran Leech

Whites: Men 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Jam: Leech

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Women 1. Totall 1.

Jno Long

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 2. Totall 6.

Blacks: Men 1. Women 2. Boys 2. Girles 2. Totall 9.

Rd Long

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 2. Totall 2.

Jeph Luffkin

Whites: Men 1. Totall 1.

Matt Mudge

Whites: Men 1. Girles 2. Totall 2.

Blacks: Boys 1. Totall 2.

Elias Mardo & W Bradley 2

Whites: Men 2. Girles 2. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men 3. Boys 1. Totall 6.

Rd Mason

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 3. Totall 7.

Blacks: Men 2. Boys 1. Totall 3.

The census page is headed "May", set out under two headings, Whites and Blacks. The white columns run: men, women, youths, maidens, boys from 1 to 13 and 14 if sold, girls from 1 to 12 and 13, and total. The black columns run: free blacks, men, women, boys, girls, and total. The first line is the brought-over line carrying figures forward from the previous page.

Brought over.

Addis and orphans had 2 white maidens, totalling 2 white people. No black people were entered.

Thomas Allis had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 4 white maidens and 1 white boy, totalling 7 white people. He held 1 black man and 1 black girl, totalling 2 black people.

Bridget Bazett, in the third house, had 1 white woman, 1 white youth, 1 white maiden and 1 white boy, totalling 14 white people [...]. She held 5 black men, 3 black women and 2 black boys, totalling 10 black people.

John Bagley, senior, had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 5 white maidens and 2 white boys, totalling 6 white people [...]. He held 1 black man, 1 black woman and 1 black boy, totalling 5 black people [...].

Orlando Bagley had 1 white man, 1 white woman and 1 white boy, totalling 3 white people [...]. He held 1 black man and 1 black woman, totalling 2 black people [...].

John Bagley, junior, had 1 white man and 1 white maiden, totalling 3 white people [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person [...].

John Bagley, minor, had 1 white man and 1 white maiden, totalling 1 white person [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person.

Joseph Bates had 1 white man, 2 white women, 3 white maidens and 2 white boys, totalling 8 white people. He held 7 black men, 2 black women, 3 black boys and 2 black girls, totalling 14 black people.

Richard Beale had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden and 1 white boy, totalling 4 white people. He held 7 black men, 1 black woman and 2 black boys, totalling 10 black people [...].

John Bowers had 1 white man, 1 white woman and 1 white maiden, totalling 4 white people [...]. He held 7 black men, totalling 7 black people.

John Coulson had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white maidens and 1 white boy, totalling 5 white people. He held 1 black man and 1 black woman, totalling 3 black people [...].

William Beale had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden and 1 white boy, totalling 6 white people [...]. He held 1 black woman and 1 black boy, totalling 2 black people [...].

Mary Conaway, widow, had 1 white woman and 1 white maiden, totalling 1 white person [...]. No black people were entered.

Mrs Carne, in the second house, had 1 white woman, totalling 2 white people [...]. She held 8 black men, 6 black women and 3 black boys, totalling 17 black people.

Isaac Coulson had 1 white man, totalling 1 white person [...]. He held 1 black man, 2 black women and 3 black boys, totalling 7 black people [...].

Isaac Sanderson had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white youth, 2 white maidens and 3 white boys, totalling 9 white people. He held 8 black men, 3 black women, 6 black boys and 3 black girls, totalling 20 black people.

Jeremiah Draper and orphans had 1 white man, 2 white maidens and 4 white boys, totalling 8 white people. He held 3 black men, totalling 3 black people [...].

Henry Frances and orphans had 1 white man, 1 white maiden and 1 white boy, totalling 2 white people [...]. He held 5 black men, 2 black women and 1 black boy, totalling 10 black people [...].

Richard Taylor had 1 white man, totalling 2 white people [...]. He held 1 black man and 1 black woman, totalling 2 black people [...].

Thomas Reed had 1 white man, totalling 2 white people [...]. He held 1 black man and 1 black woman, totalling 2 black people [...].

Edward Greentree had 1 white man, 2 white maidens and 3 white boys, totalling 9 white people [...]. He held 3 black men, 2 black women and 1 black boy, totalling 8 black people.

Richard Gurling had 1 white man, totalling 1 white person [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person.

Nathaniel Greentree had 1 white man, 2 white maidens, 1 white boy and 1 white girl, totalling 2 white people [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person [...].

Robert Gurling had 1 white man, 4 white maidens and 2 white boys, totalling 7 white people. He held 2 black men, 1 black woman and 2 black boys, totalling 6 black people [...].

Benjamin Greentree and orphans had 1 white man, 2 white maidens and 2 white boys, totalling 6 white people. He held 1 black man, 1 black woman and 2 black boys, totalling 5 black people [...].

Griffiths and orphans had 1 white man, totalling 1 white person [...]. No black people were entered.

Robert Hodgkinson had 1 white man, 1 white boy and 1 white girl, totalling 1 white person [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person [...].

Jonathan Hyde, junior, had 1 white man, totalling 2 white people [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 2 black people [...].

John Harding, junior, had 1 white man, 1 white maiden and 1 white boy, totalling 3 white people [...]. He held 1 black man and 1 black boy, totalling 2 black people [...].

Daniel Hansford, junior, had 1 white man and 1 white boy, totalling 2 white people [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person [...].

Giles Hayes, senior, had 1 white man, 1 white youth, 3 white maidens, 3 white boys and 1 white girl, totalling 8 white people [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person [...].

Samuel Sanderson and orphans had 1 white man, 2 white maidens and 4 white boys, totalling 9 white people [...]. He held 2 black men and 2 black boys, totalling 6 black people [...].

Joshua Jefferson had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 7 white maidens and 2 white boys, totalling 5 white people [...]. He held 5 black men, 2 black women, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 10 black people [...].

Sultan Ashley had 1 white man, 3 white maidens and 3 white boys, totalling 8 white people [...]. He held 1 black man, 2 black women and 1 black boy, totalling 4 black people [...].

Thomas Leech had 1 white man, totalling 1 white person [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person [...].

Edward Leech had 1 white man, totalling 1 white person [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person [...].

James Leech had 1 white man, 1 white woman and 1 white boy, totalling 3 white people [...]. He held 1 black woman and 1 black boy, totalling 1 black person [...].

John Long had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white maidens and 2 white boys, totalling 6 white people. He held 1 black man, 2 black women, 2 black boys and 2 black girls, totalling 9 black people [...].

Richard Long had 1 white man, 1 white woman and 2 white boys, totalling 2 white people [...]. No black people were entered.

Joseph Luffkin had 1 white man, totalling 1 white person [...]. No black people were entered.

Matthew Thorn had 1 white man, totalling 2 white people [...]. He held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person [...].

Edward Marsh and William Bradley had 2 white men, totalling 2 white people [...]. He held 3 black men and 2 black boys, totalling 6 black people [...].

Richard Mason had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white maidens and 3 white boys, totalling 7 white people [...]. He held 2 black men and 1 black woman, totalling 3 black people [...].

540

436

1725

Cattle Land

Brought Over

Addis 3 Orph

Cattle: Cowes 2. Heifers 1. Steers 3. Calves 2. Totall 8.

Land: Acres of Free Land 18. Acres of Hird Land 30. Totall 48.

Thos Allin

Cattle: Cowes 4. Steers 3. Calves 3. Totall 8.

Land: Acres of Free Land 18. Acres of Hird Land 30. Totall 48.

Bridget Bazett No 3

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 11. Heifers 5. Steers 3. Calves 10. Totall 30.

Land: Acres of Free Land 36. Acres of Hird Land 28½. Totall 63½.

Jno Bagley Junr

Cattle: Cowes 2. Heifers 5. Yearlings 4. Calves 4. Totall 11.

Land: Acres of Free Land 36. Acres of Hird Land 3. Totall 39.

Orlando Bagley

Cattle: Cowes 2. Steers 1. Yearlings 3. Calves 4. Totall 11.

Land: Acres of Free Land 29. Totall 76.

John Bagley Junr

Cattle: Cowes 3. Calves 2. Totall 4.

Land: Acres of Free Land 10. Acres of Hird Land 6. Totall 16.

John Bagley Minor

Cattle: Bulls 2. Cowes 14. Heifers 6. Steers 9. Calves 5. Totall 36.

Land: Acres of Free Land 30. Acres of Hird Land 51½. Totall 81½.

Joseph Bates

Cattle: Bulls 2. Cowes 3. Heifers 1. Steers 3. Totall 16.

Land: Acres of Free Land 22. Acres of Hird Land 10. Totall 32.

Richard Beale

Cattle: Cowes 1. Steers 2. Totall 2.

Land: Acres of Free Land 32. Totall 32.

John Bowers

Cattle: Cowes 1. Steers 1. Calves 2. Totall 2.

Land: Acres of Free Land 10. Acres of Hird Land 3. Totall 13.

Jno Toulson

Cattle: Cowes 2. Yearlings 2. Calves 1. Totall 5.

Land: Acres of Free Land 5. Acres of Hird Land 15. Totall 20.

Jno & Thos Bradley

Cattle: Cowes 8. Heifers 1. Steers 4. Yearlings 6. Calves 5. Totall 24.

Land: Acres of Free Land 89. Acres of Hird Land 46. Totall 135.

Wm Beale

Cattle: Cowes 4. Heifers 3. Steers 3. Calves 2. Totall 12.

Land: Acres of Free Land 25. Acres of Hird Land 5. Totall 30.

Mary Conaway Wid

Cattle: Bulls 2. Cowes 16. Heifers 3. Steers 3. Yearlings 9. Calves 16. Totall 49.

Land: Acres of Free Land 142¾. Acres of Hird Land 17. Totall 159½.

Mrs Le Corque No 2

Cattle: Cowes 3. Yearlings 2. Calves 6. Totall 24¾.

Land: Acres of Free Land 24¾. Acres of Hird Land 5. Totall 29¾.

Isaac Doulson

Cattle: Cowes 1. Heifers 1. Calves 2. Totall 23.

Land: Acres of Free Land 23. Acres of Hird Land 25. Totall 48.

Jno Doveton

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 14. Heifers 4. Steers 6. Yearlings 5. Calves 30. Totall 46½.

Land: Acres of Free Land 64. Acres of Hird Land 52. Totall 116.

Jam: Draper & Orph

Cattle: Cowes 4. Steers 3. Yearlings 4. Calves 6. Totall 20.

Land: Acres of Free Land 15. Acres of Hird Land 32. Totall 47.

Ann Frances Orph

Cattle: Cowes 4. Heifers 1. Calves 2. Totall 7.

Land: Acres of Free Land 20. Acres of Hird Land 12½. Totall 32½.

Rich: Fisher

Cattle: Cowes 1. Heifers 1. Calves 1. Totall 3.

Thos Filde

Elias Greenfeild

Land: Acres of Free Land 7½. Acres of Hird Land 7½.

Rd Furlong

Cattle: Bulls 3. Cowes 9. Heifers 5. Steers 2. Calves 7. Totall 26.

Land: Acres of Free Land 34. Acres of Hird Land 27. Totall 61.

Robt Greentree

Cattle: Cowes 2. Calves 4. Totall 30.

Land: Acres of Free Land 30. Totall 30.

Rob Furling

Cattle: Cowes 4. Steers 1. Yearlings 5. Calves 10. Totall 64½.

Land: Acres of Free Land 64½. Acres of Hird Land 20½. Totall 85.

Benj Greentree & Orph

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 7. Heifers 1. Steers 6. Calves 18. Totall 64.

Land: Acres of Free Land 64. Acres of Hird Land 39. Totall 103.

Griffe Orph

Cattle: Cowes 3. Yearlings 2. Calves 5. Totall 22.

Land: Acres of Free Land 22. Acres of Hird Land 5. Totall 27.

Robt Hodgkinson

Cattle: Heifers 1. Totall 10.

Land: Acres of Free Land 10. Totall 40.

Jon: Hyden Junr

Cattle: Cowes 1. Steers 2. Totall 2½.

Jno Harding Bn

Cattle: Cowes 3. Heifers 2. Steers 1. Calves 6. Totall 11.

Land: Acres of Free Land 11. Acres of Hird Land 5. Totall 16.

Doz: Hansford Boy

Cattle: Cowes 1. Steers 2. Calves 4. Totall 10.

Land: Acres of Free Land 10. Acres of Hird Land 10. Totall 20.

Giles Hayes 10 Ps

Cattle: Cowes 1. Totall 1.

Sam Hayes Jnr & Orph

Cattle: Cowes 2. Steers 3. Yearlings 2. Calves 2. Totall 9.

Land: Acres of Free Land 40. Acres of Hird Land 9. Totall 49.

Josh Jackson

Cattle: Yearlings 7. Totall 7.

The neat cattle columns run: bulls, cows, bullocks, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and total. The land columns run: acres of free land, acres of hired land, total, and a final column for ground in James Valley.

Addis and orphans held 2 cows, 1 bullock and 2 calves, totalling 8 neat cattle [...]. He held 18 acres of free land and 60 acres of hired land, totalling 78 acres.

Thomas Allis held 4 cows, 3 heifers and 3 calves, totalling 8 neat cattle [...]. No land was entered against him.

Bridget Bazett held 1 bull, 11 cows, 5 heifers and 10 calves, totalling 30 neat cattle. She held 36 acres of free land and 28.5 acres of hired land, totalling 63.5 acres [...].

John Bagley, senior, held 2 bulls, 5 cows and 4 heifers, totalling 11 neat cattle [...]. He held 36 acres of free land and 3 acres of hired land, totalling 39 acres [...].

Orlando Bagley held 5 cows and 4 calves, totalling 11 neat cattle [...]. He held 29 acres of hired land, totalling 76 acres [...].

John Bagley, junior, held 2 cows, totalling 4 neat cattle [...]. He held 10 acres of free land and 6 acres of hired land, totalling 16 acres.

John Bagley, minor, held 2 bulls, 14 cows, 6 heifers, 9 steers and 5 calves, totalling 36 neat cattle [...]. He held 30 acres of free land and 51.5 acres of hired land, totalling 81.5 acres [...].

Joseph Bates held 7 cows, 2 bullocks, 3 heifers, 1 steer and 3 calves, totalling 16 neat cattle [...]. He held 22 acres of free land and 10 acres of hired land, totalling 32 acres.

Richard Beale held 1 cow, totalling 2 neat cattle [...]. He held 32 acres of free land, totalling 32 acres [...].

John Bowers held 2 cows, totalling 2 neat cattle [...]. He held 10 acres of free land and 3 acres of hired land, totalling 13 acres.

John Coulson held 2 cows and 2 bullocks, totalling 5 neat cattle [...]. He held 5 acres of free land and 15 acres of hired land, totalling 20 acres.

William Beale held 8 cows, 1 bullock, 4 heifers, 6 steers and 5 calves, totalling 24 neat cattle. He held 89 acres of free land and 46 acres of hired land, totalling 135 acres.

Mary Conaway, widow, held 4 cows, 3 bullocks, 3 heifers and 2 calves, totalling 12 neat cattle [...]. She held 25 acres of free land and 5 acres of hired land, totalling 30 acres.

Mrs Carne held 2 bulls, 16 cows, 3 bullocks, 3 heifers, 9 steers and 16 calves, totalling 49 neat cattle [...]. She held 142.75 acres of free land and 17 acres of hired land, totalling 159.5 acres [...].

Isaac Coulson held 3 cows and 2 heifers, totalling 6 neat cattle [...]. He held 24.5 acres of free land and 5 acres of hired land, totalling 29.5 acres [...].

Isaac Sanderson held 1 cow, 1 heifer and 2 calves, totalling 2 neat cattle [...]. He held 23 acres of free land and 25 acres of hired land, totalling 48 acres.

Jeremiah Draper and orphans held 1 bull, 14 cows, 4 heifers, 6 steers and 5 calves, totalling 30 neat cattle [...]. He held 46.5 acres of free land and 23.5 acres of hired land, totalling 70 acres [...].

Henry Frances and orphans held 4 cows, 3 heifers, 4 steers and 6 calves, totalling 20 neat cattle [...]. He held 15 acres of free land and 32 acres of hired land, totalling 47 acres.

Richard Taylor held 4 cows, 1 heifer and 2 calves, totalling 7 neat cattle [...]. He held 20 acres of free land and 12.5 acres of hired land, totalling 32.5 acres [...].

Thomas Reed held 1 cow and 1 heifer, totalling 3 neat cattle [...]. No land was entered against him.

Edward Greentree held 3 bulls, 9 cows, 5 heifers, 2 steers and 7 calves, totalling 26 neat cattle. He held 34 acres of free land and 27 acres of hired land, totalling 61 acres [...].

Richard Gurling held 2 cows, totalling 4 neat cattle [...]. He held 30 acres of free land, totalling 30 acres.

Nathaniel Greentree held 4 cows, 1 steer and 5 calves, totalling 10 neat cattle [...]. He held 64.5 acres of free land and 20.5 acres of hired land, totalling 85 acres.

Robert Gurling held 1 bull, 7 cows, 1 bullock, 6 heifers and 4 calves, totalling 18 neat cattle [...]. He held 64 acres of free land and 39 acres of hired land, totalling 103 acres.

Benjamin Greentree and orphans held 3 cows and 2 calves, totalling 5 neat cattle [...]. He held 22 acres of free land and 5 acres of hired land, totalling 27 acres [...].

Griffiths and orphans held 1 bull, totalling 10 neat cattle [...]. He held 40 acres of hired land, totalling 40 acres [...].

Robert Hodgkinson held 1 cow, totalling 2 neat cattle [...]. No land was entered against him [...].

Jonathan Hyde, junior, held 3 cows and 2 bullocks, totalling 6 neat cattle [...]. He held 11 acres of free land and 5 acres of hired land, totalling 16 acres.

John Harding, junior, held 1 bull and 2 bullocks, totalling 4 neat cattle [...]. He held 10 acres of free land and 10 acres of hired land, totalling 20 acres.

Daniel Hansford, junior, held 2 cows, 3 bullocks and 2 heifers, totalling 9 neat cattle [...]. He held 40 acres of free land and 9 acres of hired land, totalling 49 acres [...].

The neat cattle columns run: bulls, cows, bullocks, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and total. The land columns run: acres of free land, acres of hired land, total, and a final column for ground in James Valley.

Addis and orphans held 2 cows, 1 bullock and 2 calves, totalling 8 neat cattle [...]. He held 18 acres of free land and 60 acres of hired land, totalling 78 acres.

Thomas Allis held 4 cows, 3 heifers and 3 calves, totalling 8 neat cattle [...]. No land was entered against him.

Bridget Bazett held 1 bull, 11 cows, 5 heifers and 10 calves, totalling 30 neat cattle. She held 36 acres of free land and 28.5 acres of hired land, totalling 63.5 acres [...].

John Bagley, senior, held 2 bulls, 5 cows and 4 heifers, totalling 11 neat cattle [...]. He held 36 acres of free land and 3 acres of hired land, totalling 39 acres [...].

Orlando Bagley held 5 cows and 4 calves, totalling 11 neat cattle [...]. He held 29 acres of hired land, totalling 76 acres [...].

John Bagley, junior, held 2 cows, totalling 4 neat cattle [...]. He held 10 acres of free land and 6 acres of hired land, totalling 16 acres.

John Bagley, minor, held 2 bulls, 14 cows, 6 heifers, 9 steers and 5 calves, totalling 36 neat cattle [...]. He held 30 acres of free land and 51.5 acres of hired land, totalling 81.5 acres [...].

Joseph Bates held 7 cows, 2 bullocks, 3 heifers, 1 steer and 3 calves, totalling 16 neat cattle [...]. He held 22 acres of free land and 10 acres of hired land, totalling 32 acres.

Richard Beale held 1 cow, totalling 2 neat cattle [...]. He held 32 acres of free land, totalling 32 acres [...].

John Bowers held 2 cows, totalling 2 neat cattle [...]. He held 10 acres of free land and 3 acres of hired land, totalling 13 acres.

John Coulson held 2 cows and 2 bullocks, totalling 5 neat cattle [...]. He held 5 acres of free land and 15 acres of hired land, totalling 20 acres.

William Beale held 8 cows, 1 bullock, 4 heifers, 6 steers and 5 calves, totalling 24 neat cattle. He held 89 acres of free land and 46 acres of hired land, totalling 135 acres.

Mary Conaway, widow, held 4 cows, 3 bullocks, 3 heifers and 2 calves, totalling 12 neat cattle [...]. She held 25 acres of free land and 5 acres of hired land, totalling 30 acres.

Mrs Carne held 2 bulls, 16 cows, 3 bullocks, 3 heifers, 9 steers and 16 calves, totalling 49 neat cattle [...]. She held 142.75 acres of free land and 17 acres of hired land, totalling 159.5 acres [...].

Isaac Coulson held 3 cows and 2 heifers, totalling 6 neat cattle [...]. He held 24.5 acres of free land and 5 acres of hired land, totalling 29.5 acres [...].

Isaac Sanderson held 1 cow, 1 heifer and 2 calves, totalling 2 neat cattle [...]. He held 23 acres of free land and 25 acres of hired land, totalling 48 acres.

Jeremiah Draper and orphans held 1 bull, 14 cows, 4 heifers, 6 steers and 5 calves, totalling 30 neat cattle [...]. He held 46.5 acres of free land and 23.5 acres of hired land, totalling 70 acres [...].

Henry Frances and orphans held 4 cows, 3 heifers, 4 steers and 6 calves, totalling 20 neat cattle [...]. He held 15 acres of free land and 32 acres of hired land, totalling 47 acres.

Richard Taylor held 4 cows, 1 heifer and 2 calves, totalling 7 neat cattle [...]. He held 20 acres of free land and 12.5 acres of hired land, totalling 32.5 acres [...].

Thomas Reed held 1 cow and 1 heifer, totalling 3 neat cattle [...]. No land was entered against him.

Edward Greentree held 3 bulls, 9 cows, 5 heifers, 2 steers and 7 calves, totalling 26 neat cattle. He held 34 acres of free land and 27 acres of hired land, totalling 61 acres [...].

Richard Gurling held 2 cows, totalling 4 neat cattle [...]. He held 30 acres of free land, totalling 30 acres.

Nathaniel Greentree held 4 cows, 1 steer and 5 calves, totalling 10 neat cattle [...]. He held 64.5 acres of free land and 20.5 acres of hired land, totalling 85 acres.

Robert Gurling held 1 bull, 7 cows, 1 bullock, 6 heifers and 4 calves, totalling 18 neat cattle [...]. He held 64 acres of free land and 39 acres of hired land, totalling 103 acres.

Benjamin Greentree and orphans held 3 cows and 2 calves, totalling 5 neat cattle [...]. He held 22 acres of free land and 5 acres of hired land, totalling 27 acres [...].

Griffiths and orphans held 1 bull, totalling 10 neat cattle [...]. He held 40 acres of hired land, totalling 40 acres [...].

Robert Hodgkinson held 1 cow, totalling 2 neat cattle [...]. No land was entered against him [...].

Jonathan Hyde, junior, held 3 cows and 2 bullocks, totalling 6 neat cattle [...]. He held 11 acres of free land and 5 acres of hired land, totalling 16 acres.

John Harding, junior, held 1 bull and 2 bullocks, totalling 4 neat cattle [...]. He held 10 acres of free land and 10 acres of hired land, totalling 20 acres.

Daniel Hansford, junior, held 2 cows, 3 bullocks and 2 heifers, totalling 9 neat cattle [...]. He held 40 acres of free land and 9 acres of hired land, totalling 49 acres [...].

The visible cattle and land rows run from the brought-over line at Addis down to Daniel Hansford, junior. Counting upwards from the foot, they cover the households from Addis to Daniel Hansford. The lines from Giles Hayes, senior, downwards are cut off at the bottom of the page.

Please supply the missing lower strip so I can complete those remaining households.

541

437

May Whites Blacks

Brought Over

Edmd Nicholls

Whites: Men 1. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 6.

Mary Nicholls & Sistr

Whites: Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men 2. Girles 1. Totall 4.

Gab Powell

Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 3. Girles 1. Totall 6.

Blacks: Men 9. Women 2. Boys 5. Girles 4. Totall 20.

Jam Ryder

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 3.

Blacks: Men 1. Women 2. Boys 4. Girles 1. Totall 8.

Martha Robinson

Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 2. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 6.

Phill Rowland F B

Blacks: Men 2. Girles 1. Boys 1. Totall 4.

Wm Seale

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 2. Totall 4. Girles 9.

Blacks: Men 3. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 6.

Elez Smith

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 3. Totall 7.

Blacks: Men 2. Women 2. Totall 4.

Richd Swallow Junr

Whites: Men 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men 2. Women 2. Totall 6.

Charles Steward

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 1. Girles 1. Totall 4.

Blacks: Men 2. Boys 3. Girles 1. Totall 6.

Sar: Southon Wo

Whites: Women 1. Girles 1. Boys 1. Girles 3. Totall 6.

Blacks: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 2.

Mary Threeve Wo

Whites: Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 2.

Eliz: Swallow Wo & Gr Daughr

Whites: Women 1. Girles 1. Girles 3. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men 2. Girles 1. Totall 3.

Thos Steward Orph

Blacks: Men 3. Girles 1. Totall 5.

Eliz: Fish Orph

Whites: Girles 1. Girles 1. Totall 1.

Blacks: Girles 1. Totall 1.

Mary: Forby Wo

Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 3. Totall 3.

Blacks: Men 3. Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 6.

Sarah Fussler

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 4. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Capt Tinfedy Jnr Orph

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 3.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Ct Wrangham

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 3. Totall 7.

Blacks: Men 7. Women 2. Boys 6. Girles 3. Totall 18.

Jno Worrall

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 5. Totall 9.

Blacks: Men 3. Women 3. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 8.

Mercy Whaley Wid

Whites: Women 1. Girles 2. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Eliz Ormston

Whites: Men 1. Boys 1. Girles 2. Totall 2.

Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1.

Mary Smith Orph

Whites: Girles 1. Girles 1. Totall 1.

Jane Vaughn

Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 3. Totall 3.

Blacks: Girles 1. Totall 1.

Totall

Whites: Men 44. Women 77. Youths 3. Maidens 37. Boys 96. Girles 110. Totall 367.

Blacks: Frees Blacks 21. Men 178. Women 66. Boys 95. Girles 61. Totall 421.

The census page is headed "May", set out under two headings, Whites and Blacks. The white columns run: men, women, youths, maidens, boys from 1 to 13 and 14 if sold, girls from 1 to 12 and 13, and total. The black columns run: free blacks, men, women, boys, girls, and total. The first line is the brought-over line carrying figures forward from the previous page.

Brought over.

Edmund Nicholls had 1 white man, 1 white boy and 1 white girl, totalling 4 white people [...]. He held 2 black men, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 6 black people.

Mary Nicholls and sister had 1 white woman, 2 white maidens and 1 white girl, totalling 4 white people [...]. She held 2 black men, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 4 black people.

Gabriel Powell had 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 3 white boys and 1 white girl, totalling 6 white people. He held 9 black men, 2 black women, 5 black boys and 4 black girls, totalling 20 black people.

James Ryder had 1 white man, 1 white woman and 1 white girl, totalling 3 white people [...]. He held 1 black man, 2 black women, 4 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 8 black people.

Martha Robinson had 1 white woman, 2 white boys and 1 white girl, totalling 4 white people [...]. She held 2 black men, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 6 black people.

Philip Rowland, free black, had no white household. He held 2 black men, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 4 black people.

William Beale had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 2 white boys and 4 white girls, totalling 9 white people [...]. He held 3 black men, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 6 black people.

Elizabeth Smith had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white boys and 3 white girls, totalling 7 white people [...]. She held 2 black men and 2 black women, totalling 4 black people.

Richard Swallow, senior, had 1 white man, 2 white boys and 1 white girl, totalling 4 white people [...]. He held 2 black men, totalling 2 black people.

Charles Steward had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white boy and 1 white girl, totalling 4 white people. He held 2 black men, 3 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 6 black people [...].

Sarah Southen, widow, had 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 1 white boy and 3 white girls, totalling 6 white people [...]. She held 1 black man and 1 black boy, totalling 2 black people.

Mary Shreeve, widow, had 1 white woman and 1 white girl, totalling 1 white person [...]. She held 1 black man and 1 black boy, totalling 2 black people [...].

Elizabeth Swallow, widow, and daughter had 1 white woman, 1 white boy and 3 white girls, totalling 3 white people [...]. She held 2 black men and 1 black boy, totalling 3 black people [...].

Thomas Steward and orphans had no white household. He held 3 black men and 1 black boy, totalling 5 black people [...].

Elizabeth Sich and orphans had 1 white maiden, totalling 1 white person [...]. She held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person [...].

Mary Torby, widow, had 1 white maiden, 1 white boy and 3 white girls, totalling 6 white people [...]. She held 3 black men and 1 black boy, totalling 5 black people [...].

Rebecca Fassler had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white boys and 4 white girls, totalling 4 white people [...]. She held 2 black men, totalling 3 black people [...].

Captain Timperley and orphans had 1 white man, 1 white woman and 3 white girls, totalling 3 white people [...]. He held 1 black woman, totalling 1 black person [...].

Francis Wrangham had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white boys and 3 white girls, totalling 7 white people [...]. He held 7 black men, 2 black women, 6 black boys and 3 black girls, totalling 18 black people.

John Worrall had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white boys and 5 white girls, totalling 9 white people. He held 3 black men, 3 black women, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 8 black people [...].

Mercy Whaley, widow, had 1 white woman and 2 white girls, totalling 4 white people [...]. She held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person [...].

Elizabeth Ormston had 1 white man, 1 white boy and 2 white girls, totalling 2 white people [...]. She held 1 black person, totalling 1 black person [...].

Mary Smith and orphans had 1 white boy and 1 white girl, totalling 1 white person [...]. No black people were entered.

Jane Vaughan had 1 white man, 1 white woman and 3 white girls, totalling 3 white people [...]. She held 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 1 black person [...].

The closing totals line records 44 white men, 77 white women, 3 white youths, 37 white maidens, 96 white boys and 110 white girls, totalling 367 white people. It records 21 free blacks, 178 black men, 66 black women, 95 black boys and 61 black girls, totalling 421 black people.

542

438

Cattle Land

Brought Over

Edmd Nicholls

Cattle: Cowes 2. Heifers 7. Yearlings 3. Calves 1. Totall 7.

Land: Acres of Free Land 20. Acres of Hird Land 12. Totall 22. Grand 64.

Mary Nicholls & Sistr

Cattle: Cowes 5. Heifers 45. Steers 12. Yearlings 13. Calves 15. Totall 40. Girles 130.

Land: Acres of Free Land 25. Totall 25.

Gab Powell

Cattle: Cowes 2. Heifers 10. Steers 4. Yearlings 2. Calves 6. Totall 24.

Land: Acres of Free Land 27¾. Acres of Hird Land 32. Totall 33½. Grand 30.

Jam Ryder

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 7. Heifers 1. Steers 6. Calves 3. Totall 18.

Land: Acres of Free Land 31. Acres of Hird Land 2½. Totall 33¼.

Martha Robinson

Land: Acres of Free Land 10. Acres of Hird Land 25. Totall 35.

Phill Rowland F B

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 8. Steers 6. Yearlings 1. Calves 4. Totall 20.

Land: Acres of Free Land 50. Acres of Hird Land 17. Totall 67.

Wm Seale

Cattle: Cowes 3. Yearlings 1. Calves 4. Totall 10.

Land: Acres of Free Land 10. Totall 40.

Elez Smith

Cattle: Cowes 7. Heifers 3. Steers 3. Calves 6. Totall 19.

Land: Acres of Free Land 18. Acres of Hird Land 18. Totall 36.

Richd Swallow Junr

Cattle: Bulls 8. Cowes 2. Steers 5. Calves 3. Totall 20.

Land: Acres of Free Land 20. Acres of Hird Land 22. Totall 42.

Charles Steward

Cattle: Cowes 1. Steers 2. Yearlings 1. Totall 4.

Sar: Southon Wo

Land: Acres of Hird Land 6. Totall 6.

Mary Threeve Wo

Cattle: Cowes 1. Steers 1. Calves 1. Totall 3.

Eliz: Swallow Wo & Gr Daughr

Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 9. Steers 9. Calves 8. Totall 27.

Land: Acres of Free Land 20. Acres of Hird Land 41. Totall 61.

Thos Steward Orph

Cattle: Cowes 3. Yearlings 1. Calves 2. Totall 6.

Land: Acres of Free Land 70. Acres of Hird Land 8. Totall 78.

Eliz: Fish Orph

Cattle: Cowes 4. Yearlings 1. Calves 1. Totall 2. Girles 8.

Land: Acres of Hird Land 36. Totall 36.

Mary: Forby Wo

Cattle: Cowes 1. Calves 1. Totall 2.

Land: Acres of Free Land 29. Totall 29.

Sarah Fussler

Cattle: Cowes 2. Steers 1. Calves 2. Totall 5.

Land: Acres of Free Land 8. Totall 8.

Capt Tinfedy Jnr Orph

Cattle: Bulls 2. Cowes 19. Steers 9. Yearlings 5. Calves 12. Totall 47.

Land: Acres of Free Land 123. Acres of Hird Land 41. Totall 164.

Ct Wrangham

Cattle: Cowes 3. Yearlings 3. Calves 6. Totall 16.

Land: Acres of Free Land 12. Acres of Hird Land 23. Totall 35.

Jno Worrall

Cattle: Cowes 2. Heifers 1. Yearlings 2. Calves 5. Totall 13.

Land: Acres of Free Land 13. Totall 13.

Mercy Whaley Wid

Eliz Ormston

Cattle: Cowes 2. Heifers 1. Totall 3.

Mary Smith Orph

Jane Vaughn

Land: Totall 7. Grand 7.

Totall

Cattle: Bulls 33. Cowes 374. Bullocks 36. Heifers 163. Steers 58. Yearlings 25. Calves 238. Totall 927.

Land: Acres of Free Land 2093. Acres of Hird Land 1278. Totall 3371.

The neat cattle columns run: bulls, cows, bullocks, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and total. The land columns run: acres of free land, acres of hired land, total, and a final column for ground in James Valley.

Edmund Nicholls held no neat cattle or land entered.

Mary Nicholls and sister held 2 cows, 3 heifers and 1 steer, totalling 7 neat cattle [...]. She held 12 acres of free land and 22 acres of hired land, totalling 34 acres.

Gabriel Powell held 5 cows, 4 bullocks, 5 heifers, 12 steers and 13 calves, totalling 40 neat cattle [...]. He held 130 acres of free land and 25 acres of hired land, totalling 25 acres [...].

James Ryder held 2 cows, 10 heifers, 4 steers and 2 calves, totalling 24 neat cattle [...]. He held 6 acres of free land, 27.5 acres of hired land and 32 acres, totalling 33.5 acres, with 30 acres of ground in James Valley [...].

Martha Robinson held 1 bull, 7 cows, 1 bullock and 6 heifers, totalling 18 neat cattle [...]. She held 3 acres of free land, 31 acres of hired land and 21.5 acres, totalling 33.5 acres [...].

Philip Rowland held no neat cattle. He held 10 acres of free land and 25 acres of hired land, totalling 35 acres [...].

William Beale held 1 bull, 8 cows, 6 heifers, 1 steer and 4 calves, totalling 20 neat cattle [...]. He held 50 acres of free land and 17 acres of hired land, totalling 67 acres.

Elizabeth Smith held 3 cows, totalling 4 neat cattle [...]. She held 10 acres of free land, totalling 40 acres [...].

Richard Swallow, senior, held 7 cows, 3 bullocks and 6 calves, totalling 19 neat cattle [...]. He held 18 acres of free land and 18 acres of hired land, totalling 36 acres.

Charles Steward held 8 cows, 2 bullocks, 5 heifers and 5 calves, totalling 20 neat cattle [...]. He held 20 acres of free land and 22 acres of hired land, totalling 42 acres.

Sarah Southen, widow, held 1 cow, 2 heifers and 1 calf, totalling 4 neat cattle [...]. No land was entered against her.

Mary Shreeve, widow, held no neat cattle. She held 6 acres of hired land, totalling 6 acres [...].

Elizabeth Swallow, widow, held 1 cow, 1 heifer and 1 calf, totalling 3 neat cattle [...]. No land was entered against her.

Thomas Steward and orphans held 1 bull, 9 cows, 9 heifers and 8 calves, totalling 27 neat cattle [...]. He held 20 acres of free land and 41 acres of hired land, totalling 61 acres.

Elizabeth Sich and orphans held 3 cows and 1 heifer, totalling 6 neat cattle [...]. She held 70 acres of free land and 8 acres of hired land, totalling 78 acres.

Mary Torby, widow, held 4 cows, 1 heifer, 1 steer and 2 calves, totalling 8 neat cattle [...]. She held 36 acres of hired land, totalling 36 acres.

Rebecca Fassler held 1 cow, totalling 2 neat cattle [...]. She held 29 acres of free land, totalling 29 acres [...].

Captain Timperley and orphans held 2 cows, 1 heifer and 2 calves, totalling 5 neat cattle [...]. She held 8 acres of hired land, totalling 8 acres [...].

Francis Wrangham held 2 bulls, 19 cows, 9 heifers, 5 steers and 12 calves, totalling 47 neat cattle [...]. He held 123 acres of free land and 41 acres of hired land, totalling 164 acres.

John Worrall held 3 cows and 3 calves, totalling 6 neat cattle [...]. He held 12 acres of free land and 23 acres of hired land, totalling 35 acres.

Mercy Whaley, widow, held 2 cows, 1 heifer and 2 calves, totalling 5 neat cattle [...]. She held 13 acres of free land, totalling 13 acres.

Elizabeth Ormston held no neat cattle or land entered.

Mary Smith and orphans held 2 cows and 1 bullock, totalling 3 neat cattle [...]. No land was entered against her.

Jane Vaughan held no neat cattle. She held 7 acres of free land and 7 acres of hired land, totalling 7 acres [...].

The closing totals line records 33 bulls, 374 cows, 36 bullocks, 163 heifers, 58 steers, 25 yearlings and 238 calves, totalling 927 neat cattle. It records 2,093 acres of free land, 1,278 acres of hired land and a grand total of 3,371 acres.

543

439

May

List of the Hon ble Compas Blacks Male & Females with their ages & Employmts

Men Slaves at Plantation House

Names age Employmt Qualifications

Robin 29 Grand Plantation

Stepney 24 Do

Dick Price 29 Do

Peter 32 Do

Jack Cook 36 Do

Charles 32 Do

Cesar 22 Do

Benjamin 22 Do

Mahomet 29 Do

Ottau 20 Do

Favonius 20 Do

Drake 39 Do

Frank 31 Do

Harry 18 Do

Emanuel 34 Do

Lewis 28 Do

Hanniball 34 Do

Sanney 22 Do

Harry 33 Tanner

Toffey 26 Do

Jack 30 Do

Sam 30 Butcher

Ben 31 Gardner

Scipio 29 Do

Daniel 34 Do

George 26 Do

Lighthouse 22

Toney 22

Dick 22

Mercury 27

Cato 26

Daniel 24

Long Cesar 26

Jaunsey 23

Mercury 27

Barrow 38

This page is headed a list of the Honourable Company's blacks, male and female, with their ages and employments, dated May. A sub-heading reads "Men slaves at Plantation House". The columns run: names, ages, employments and qualifications.

Robin, aged 29, was employed at the grand plantation.

Stepney, aged 24, was employed likewise.

Dick Price, aged 29, was employed likewise.

Peter, aged 32, was employed likewise.

Jack Cook, aged 36, was employed likewise.

Charles, aged 32, was employed likewise.

Caesar, aged 22, was employed likewise.

Benjamin, aged 22, was employed likewise.

Michael, aged 29, was employed likewise.

Allan, aged 20, was employed likewise.

Xavopius, aged 20, was employed likewise.

Drake, aged 39, was employed likewise.

Frank, aged 31, was employed likewise.

Harry, aged 18, was employed likewise.

Emanuel, aged 34, was employed likewise.

Lewis, aged 28, was employed likewise.

Hannibal, aged 34, was employed likewise.

Tanney, aged 22, was employed likewise.

Harry, aged 33, was employed as a tanner.

Toffey, aged 26, was employed likewise.

Jack, aged 30, was employed likewise.

Sam, aged 30, was employed as a butcher.

Ben, aged 31, was employed as a gardener.

Scipio, aged 29, was employed likewise.

Daniel, aged 34, was employed likewise.

George, aged 20, was employed likewise.

Lighthouse, aged 22, had no employment entered.

Toney, aged 22, had no employment entered.

Dick, aged 22, had no employment entered.

Mercury, aged 27, had no employment entered.

Cato, aged 26, had no employment entered.

Daniel, aged 24, had no employment entered.

Long Caesar, aged 26, had no employment entered.

Johnson, aged 23, had no employment entered.

Mercury, aged 27, had no employment entered.

Barrow, aged 38, had no employment entered.

544

440

1725

Women Slaves at Plantation House

Names Age Employmt Qualification

Catherine 29

Abigale 28

Hellen 26

Bridget 28

Magdelena 26

Sarah 26

Mary 19

Agnes 22

Rose 26

Priscilla 24

Rebecca 24

Margaret 24

Old Mary 49 Washer Woman

Mary her Daughtr 26 Do

Margaret 26 Do

Mary Gunor 26 Do Helper

Sarah 26 Do

Sabon 34 Dary Maid

Sarah 20 Do

Grace 28 Wait on Mr Byfeld

Betty Myers 29 Look after Poultry

Sarah 20

Betty Robin 30

Betty Sims 29

Nanny 26

Betty Broom 22

Men Slaves at Perkins

Overy 36

Archer 29

Islington 28

Cato 34

Will 27

Green 24

Daniel 24

Women Slaves at Ditto

Sarah 29

Hellen 26

Men slaves at the Hutts

John Figura, aged 34.

Horsham, aged 29.

Ship, aged 20.

Harry, aged 22.

Will Benjar, aged 24.

Belvidere Jack, aged 26.

Women slaves at ditto

Ding, aged 24.

Alice, aged 24.

Men slaves at the Peak

Augustine, aged 34.

Saltop, aged 22.

Women slaves at ditto

Jenney, aged 24.

Men slaves at the Lime Kiln

Mingo, aged 39.

John, aged 29.

Coie, aged 27.

Blake, aged 24.

Men slaves in the Fort Garden

Benjamin.

Harry.

Antonio.

Men slaves in the House

Caesar, aged 30.

Navarro, aged 53.

Jonas Myott, aged 33.

Bello, aged 28.

Women slaves in ditto

Ellen, aged 33.

Sarah, aged 24.

Short Ellen, aged 23.

Patt, aged 10.

545

441

May

Men Slaves at the Hutts

John Figura 34

Horsham 29

Sam 20

Harry 22

Will Benjor 24

Belvedere Jack 26

Women Slaves at Ditto

Ding 24

Alice 24

Men Slaves at the Peak

Augustine 34

Salton 22

Women Slaves at Ditto

Jenney 24

Men Slaves at the Lime Kiln

Mingo 39

Symon 29

Coie 27

Blake 24

Men Slaves in the Fort Garden

Benjamin

Harry

Antonio

Men Slaves in the House

Cesar 30

Navario 53

Sance Myots 33

Bello 28

Women Slaves in Ditto

Ellen 33

Sarah 24

Short Ellen 23

Patt 10

Men slaves at the Hutts

John Figura, aged 34.

Horsham, aged 29.

Ship, aged 20.

Harry, aged 22.

Will Benjar, aged 24.

Belvidere Jack, aged 26.

Women slaves at ditto

Ding, aged 24.

Alice, aged 24.

Men slaves at the Peak

Augustine, aged 34.

Saltop, aged 22.

Women slaves at ditto

Jenney, aged 24.

Men slaves at the Lime Kiln

Mingo, aged 39.

John, aged 29.

Coie, aged 27.

Blake, aged 24.

Men slaves in the Fort Garden

Benjamin.

Harry.

Antonio.

Men slaves in the House

Caesar, aged 30.

Navarro, aged 53.

Jonas Myott, aged 33.

Bello, aged 28.

Women slaves in ditto

Ellen, aged 33.

Sarah, aged 24.

Short Ellen, aged 23.

Patt, aged 10.

546

442

1725

Men Slaves at Great Wood

Ned 30

Stephen 34

Amon 22

Cymona 29

Abdella 30

Jupiter 32

Harry 26

Chatham 24

Moses 27

Congohile 25

Jack Cook 26

Wampey 29

Cato 29

James 24

Joseph 25

Whito 25

James 24

Bille 24

Davis 26

Lewis 26

Sambo 34

Will 27

Addam 24

Jerry 26

Noah 27

Leo 25

Monroe 26

Diamond 26

Matthos 24

Ditto

Men Slaves at Fortifilations

Jack 29

Danielo 24

Ally 33

Pippin 30

Cato 31

Blackwale 44

Jacob 30

Boston Jack 25

Cadego Jack 20

Cesar

Women Slaves at Ditto

Old Mary 49

Mercy 23

Bess 23

Nancy 23

Cesar Girie

Men slaves at Great Wood

Ned, aged 30.

Stephen, aged 34.

Amon, aged 22.

Cymona, aged 29.

Abdella, aged 30.

Jupiter, aged 32.

Harry, aged 26.

Chatham, aged 24.

Moses, aged 27.

Coweghile, aged 25.

Jack Cook, aged 26.

Wormsly, aged 29.

Cato, aged 29.

James, aged 24.

Joseph, aged 25.

Whito, aged 25.

James, aged 24.

Will, aged 24.

Davis, aged 26.

Lewis, aged 26.

Sambo, aged 34.

Will, aged 27.

Addam, aged 24.

Jerry, aged 26.

Noah, aged 27.

Leo, aged 25.

Monroe, aged 25.

Diamond, aged 26.

Matthias, aged 24.

Men slaves at Fortifications

Jack, aged 29.

Daniell, aged 21.

Kelly, aged 33.

Pippin, aged 30.

Cripp, aged 31.

Blackwall, aged 33.

Jacob, aged 44.

Boston Jack, aged 30.

Cudgeo Jack, aged 25.

Caleb, aged 20.

Women slaves at ditto

Old Mary, aged 49.

Mercy, aged 23.

Bess, aged 28.

Nancy, aged 23.

Caesar Cloie, aged [...].

547

443

May

Men Slaves belonging to Long Boat

Coire 27

Dick 26

Jemmy 25

Blackheath 27

Marcus 25

James 23

Pompy 14

Men Slaves belong g to Fishing Boats

Mordu 54

Cymon 24

Corydon 29

Joseph 34

Martin 26

Daniel 22

Frank 34

Leander 29

Superannuated Superannuated

4 Men 1 Dead 4 Women

1 Do

Boys Born from 1 & 7

Harry

Jack

Jack

Robin

Tipe

Gabriel

Toney

Stephen

Jack

Tom

John

Jack

Tille

Toby

Neptune

Ned

Harry

Phill

Dick 19

Tille

Betty

Mercy

Betty

Betty

Margaret

Mary

Margaret

Margaret

Hannah

Sarah

Mercy

Cymon

Magdelena

Mary

Betty

Mercy

Margaret

Betty

Mercy

Martha

Bess

Sarah

Martha

Sarah

Nanny

Mary 26

Wille

Sam

Sam

Harry

Stepney

Jack 6

Men slaves belonging to Long Boat

Cesar, aged 27.

Dick, aged 26.

Jemmy, aged 25.

Blackheath, aged 27.

Marcus, aged 25.

James, aged 23.

Pompey, aged 14.

Men slaves belonging to Fishing Boats

Mordu, aged 54.

Cymon, aged 24.

Corydon, aged 29.

Joseph, aged 24.

Martin, aged 26.

Daniel, aged 22.

Frank, aged 34.

Leander, aged 29.

Superannuated

4 men, 1 dead, 1 ditto.

Superannuated

4 women.

Born from 1 to 7

Harry, Will.

Jack, Sam.

Jack, Sam.

Robin, Harry.

Tijy, Stepney.

Gabriel, Jack.

Toney, 6.

Stephen.

Jack.

Tom.

John.

Jack.

Chile.

Toby.

Neptune.

Ned.

Harry.

Phik.

Dick, 19.

Chile.

Betty.

Mercy.

Betty.

Betty.

Margaret.

Mary.

Margaret.

Margaret.

Hannah.

Sarah.

Mercy.

Cym.

Magdelena.

Mary.

Betty.

Mercy.

Margaret.

Betty.

Mercy and Martha.

Bess.

Sarah.

Martha.

Sarah.

Jenny.

Mary, 26.

548

444

1725

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 25th

day of May 1725 at Union Castle

Present John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

Severall Orders having been lately given for the better

Preservation of the Great Wood that no Person should Cut Downe

to Cutt down any Green Tree till the Dead Wood should be

first Used, but Serjeant Wallington having Since the said

Prohibition Cutt down Severall in the Great Wood and

Clandestinely dryed the Same, about the Valley, & acknowledging

the Same to be true the Govr has fyned him 40s for the Use

of the Hon ble Company & so if ever he does the like again to be

Dismist the Compys Service & forfeit five Pound

Sutton Blaze Planter Presented an Assignment in the

Nature of a Bill of Sale for a House he bought of Messrs

John Harding & Benjamin Greentree on behalf of the

Orphans of Richard Swallow deceased desiring the Same

might be Registred

Ordered that it be accordingly Registred

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Serjt Wallington

fined 40s for his

Clandestine

Wood stelling &

Same

an Assignment

Presented by Sutton

Blaze for a House

to be Registred

At a consultation held on Tuesday 25 May 1725 at their castle.

Present: Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The last consultation was read and approved.

Several orders had lately been given for the better preservation of the Great Wood. No person was to cut down any green tree until the dead wood should be first used. Sergeant Wallington had since the prohibition cut down several trees in the Great Wood. He had clandestinely done the same about the valley. He acknowledged the same to be true. The Governor fined him 40s for the use of the Honourable Company. If ever he did the like again he was to be dismissed the Company's service and to forfeit £5.

Sutton, a slave planter, presented an assignment in the nature of a bill of sale for a house. The house was bought of Messrs John Harding and Benjamin Greentree on behalf of the orphans of Richard Swallow deceased. He desired that the same might be registered.

It was ordered that it should accordingly be registered.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

Interpretations

The Council enforced a standing conservation order protecting the Great Wood. Wallington had breached the ban by felling green timber before the dead wood was used. His fine of 40s marked a first penalty, with dismissal and £5 threatened for any repeat.

The margin notes confirm both matters. One records Wallington fined for his clandestine cutting of wood. The other records the assignment presented by Sutton for a house, ordered to be registered.

The Swallow orphans appear again in the island records. Their guardians Harding and Greentree managed the sale of property on their behalf. The registration gave the transaction legal standing before the Council.

Speculations

The graduated penalty shows a deliberate effort to deter further damage to the Great Wood. A modest fine met the first offence, while a heavier forfeit and loss of employment guarded against repetition. This structure aimed to secure the timber supply through fear of escalating loss.

549

445

June

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 8th day of

June 1725 at Union Castle in James Valley

Present John Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

On Monday the 31 May last in the Evening the Ship

Maidsfield Sailed hence for England Capt Hudson Commr

Francis Wrangham Petitioned for leave to dispose

of 28 Acres of Land lying in Deep Gutt which he present

holds by lease from the Hon ble Compy

Granted Provided We approve of the Purchaser

Mr Richd Goodwin, Son of Mrs Frances Carne presents

a Deed of Gift from his Mother for the half or Moiety of her

whole Estate Praying the same may be Registred

Ordered that the said Deed of Gift be Registred accordingly

Order that an Advertizement be Published to Remind

the Inhabitants to Plant Young Wood as well upon the Lands

they Lease of the Hon ble Compy as upon their own Freeland

& Expence to Plant Firewood upon them, hence to Warm &

Shelter their Provisions & Cattle this being the most proper

time of the Year for Planting, & those Persons who do not

Observe & Comply herewith may Expect to be fyned for Neglect

& that as an Exact Performance of this Order is highly

Necessary & Commendable We shall Cause a Survey to be

made & inspected the Planting Season, to See whether every

Person on that hath Planted his due Proportion

Mr Byfeld, Capt Goodwin, Mr French & Mr

Griffe delivered each their Monthly Accts for May last

which were Severally Examined approved & are as follow

vizt

Margin Notes:

Ship Maidsfield

Departure

Petn Fra Wrangham

to dispose of certain

Leased Land

Granddon Frances

R Goodwin pre-

sented a Deed of

Gift pray a Re-

gistry thereof

Granted

Memdm that

Compys do

to be left

out to be plant-

Mr Advertizemt

Sent at length

Ord d for planting

Young Wood

& Firing

Monthly Accts

delivd in for

May

At a consultation held on Tuesday 8 June 1725 at Union Castle in James Valley.

Present: Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The last consultation was read and approved.

On Monday 31 May last, in the evening, the ship Macclesfield set sail for England. She had first said here for England, and thence for company.

Francis Wrangham petitioned for leave to dispose of 28 acres of land lying in Deep Gut. He then held that land by lease from the Honourable Company. Leave was granted, provided the Council approved of the purchaser.

Mr Richard Goodwin, son of Mr Francis Carne, presented a deed of gift from his mother. The deed conveyed the half or moiety of her whole estate. He prayed that the same might be registered. It was ordered that the deed of gift should accordingly be registered.

An order was made for an advertisement to be published. It required the inhabitants to plant young wood upon their leased Company land and their own freehold land. They were to plant trees around them to warm and shelter their provisions and cattle. This was the most proper time of the year for planting. Persons who did not observe and comply might expect to be fined for neglect. Exact performance of the order was held highly necessary and commendable. A survey would be made and the planting inspected during the season. The survey would see whether every person had planted the due proportion.

Mr Byfield, Captain Goodwin, Mr French and Mr Draper delivered each their monthly accounts for May last. These were severally examined and approved as follows.

Interpretations

The Council recorded the departure of the Macclesfield for England on 31 May 1725. The entry fixed the date of sailing for the homeward passage. Ship movements of this kind marked the rhythm of the island's contact with London.

Two property matters passed the Council on the same day. Wrangham gained conditional leave to dispose of 28 acres in Deep Gut. Richard Goodwin secured registration of his mother's deed of gift conveying half her estate.

The planting order renewed the Council's drive to protect timber and shelter crops. It bound both leaseholders and freeholders to plant young wood in season. The threat of fines and a promised survey gave the measure real force.

Speculations

The Council chose the planting season deliberately as the moment to compel tree planting. It paired a clear duty with the threat of fines for neglect. The promised survey turned a general exhortation into an enforceable and measurable obligation.

550

446

1725

Neat Cattle Sheep Goates Hogs Poultry Horses

Bullock Cowe Heifer Steer Yearling Calves Cattle Totall Ewe Wethers Lambs Rams Totall Ewe Wethers Kids Rams Totall Sowe Shoate Boar Pig Totall Turkey Fowles Duck Geese Cocks Peene Horse Mare Totall

Remn Ult. May

18 36 32 10 5 32 5 138 42 22 7 3 74 118 34 64 7 223 9 7 1 18 35 38 130 14 12 4 5 2 7

Encreased in May

- - - 2 - 2 - 2 - - 7 - 7 1 21 1 - 23 - - - - 7 2 66 - - - - - 7

18 36 32 10 5 34 5 140 42 22 14 3 81 119 55 65 7 246 9 7 1 25 42 40 196 14 12 4 5 2 7

Killed in ditto

- - - - - 1 - 1 - - 1 - 1 - 2 - - 2 - - - - 1 - 14 4 - - - - 7

18 36 32 10 5 33 5 139 42 21 14 3 80 119 53 65 7 244 9 6 1 25 41 40 182 10 12 4 5 2 7

Sold Ship Maidesfield

- - 1 - - - - 1 - 2 - - 2 - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - 7

18 35 32 10 5 33 5 138 42 19 14 3 78 119 53 65 7 244 9 6 1 25 41 40 182 10 12 4 5 2 7

Dead & Stolen in do

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - 7

18 35 32 10 5 33 5 138 42 19 14 3 78 119 53 65 7 244 9 6 1 25 40 40 182 9 12 4 5 2 7

Goate Cutt & Grown in do

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 22 - - 22 - - - - - - - - - - - - 7

Remn Ult. May

18 35 32 10 5 33 5 138 42 19 14 3 78 119 53 43 7 222 9 5 1 25 40 40 182 9 12 4 5 2 7

Yams Expended for the Hogs & Poultry 3576 lb

Margin Notes:

Mr Byfeles

Acco for

May

Mr Byfield's account of the Company's live stock for May 1725.

Remaining in store: 18 bullocks, 36 cows, 32 heifers, 10 steers, 5 yearlings, 32 calves and 5 cattle, totalling 138 neat cattle; 42 ewes, 22 wethers, 7 lambs and 3 rams, totalling 74 sheep; 118 ewes, 34 wethers, 64 kids and 7 rams, totalling 223 goats; 9 sows, 7 shoats, 1 boar and 1 pig, totalling 18 hogs; 35 turkeys, 38 fowls, 130 ducks and 14 geese, totalling 12 poultry [...]; and 4 horses, 5 mares, totalling 2 horses [...].

Increased in May: 2 heifers and 2 calves; 7 lambs; 1 wether, 21 kids and 1 ram, totalling 23 goats; 7 shoats; 2 ducks, totalling 66 poultry [...].

Killed in May: 18 bullocks, 36 cows, 32 heifers, 10 steers, 5 yearlings, 34 calves and 5 cattle, totalling 140 neat cattle; 42 ewes, 22 wethers, 14 lambs and 3 rams, totalling 81 sheep; 119 ewes, 55 wethers, 65 kids and 7 rams, totalling 246 goats; 9 sows, 7 shoats, 1 boar and 1 pig, totalling 25 hogs; 42 fowls, totalling 196 poultry [...].

Sold to the ship Macclesfield: 1 calf; 1 lamb and 2 wethers; 2 wethers among the goats [...].

Dead and stolen: 18 bullocks, 35 cows, 32 heifers, 10 steers, 5 yearlings, 33 calves and 5 cattle, totalling 138 neat cattle; 42 ewes, 19 wethers, 14 lambs and 3 rams, totalling 78 sheep; 119 ewes, 53 wethers, 65 kids and 7 rams, totalling 244 goats; 9 sows, 6 shoats, 1 boar and 1 pig, totalling 25 hogs; 41 turkeys, totalling 182 poultry [...].

Goats castrated and gelded: 22 wethers, totalling 22 [...].

Remaining at the end of May: 18 bullocks, 35 cows, 32 heifers, 10 steers, 5 yearlings, 33 calves and 5 cattle, totalling 138 neat cattle; 42 ewes, 19 wethers, 14 lambs and 3 rams, totalling 78 sheep; 119 ewes, 53 wethers, 43 kids and 7 rams, totalling 222 goats; 9 sows, 5 shoats, 1 boar and 1 pig, totalling 25 hogs; 40 turkeys, 40 fowls, 182 ducks and 9 geese, totalling 12 poultry [...]; and 4 horses, 5 mares, totalling 2 horses [...].

Yams expended for the hogs and poultry: 357.

Interpretations

The account tracks the Company's live stock through May 1725 in seven stages. It opens with the stock in store and closes with the balance at the month's end. Between these it records increase, slaughter, sales, losses and gelding.

The largest herds lay in the goats and neat cattle. The goats fell from 223 to 222 across the month after heavy slaughter and fresh births. The sale to the Macclesfield took only a few beasts to victual the homeward ship.

The closing note fixes the feed cost for hogs and poultry. It records 357 yams expended on those animals during the month. This detail shows the Company measuring the cost of keeping its stock.

Speculations

The account was cast to reconcile opening and closing stock through every gain and loss. Each row isolated one cause of change, from birth to theft to slaughter. This method let the Council check the balance and trace any discrepancy to its source.

551

447

June

79 7/8 Gale Arrack

25 1 1½

458 lb Sugar

11 9 15

15 lb Candy

15

112 lb Bread

1 3 4

20 lb Flower

8

11 lb Soap

15 7

29½ Gale Raps Oyle

16 6

8 Cattee Green Tea

1 12

3 do Bohea

18

29½ lb do

16 6

65 Sneakers

1 12 6

5 Bowles

12 6

46 Small Cupps

7 8

14 Cupp & Saucers

7

4 Ps Maddras Gingham

1 10

7 Ps Challoe 17

5 19

1 Ps fine Long Cloth

2 2

1 Coars do

1

2 Ps White Gurhee

19

2 Ps Maddras Chints

2 2 6

½ Ps Bengale Taffety

16

3 Ps White Deftees

1 10

1 White Shirt

2 6

3 Ps Cotton Stocking

7 6

1 Ps Richset

4 3

1 Ps flannen No 2

1 11 8

8 Ps flannen

4 6

14 Ps Kersey

11

½ Ps Broad Cloth

11 2

7 Ps Cotton

8

1 Craning Cupp

4 3

1 Small Cannister Coars Bath

1 8

1 Madras Hat

3 3

1 Sm Porringer

2 Trimmers

1 Box Iron

4 lb 6d Nailes

1 Horn Comb

1 Ps Wine Spanish Leath & Wood

4 do Calves & ca

3 lb Han Powder

1 lb Corn Yarn

Carried Over

Margin Notes:

Store Acco

Storekeeper's account for June 1725.

The account lists goods sold with their prices in £ s d.

79.5 gallons of arrack, £25 1s 1½d.

458 pounds of sugar, £11 9s 15d.

15 pounds of candy, £3 4d.

112 pounds of rice, 8s.

20 pounds of flower, 15s 7d.

11 pounds of soap, 16s 6d.

29.5 gallons of rape oil, 12s.

8 catties of green tea, 18s.

3 pounds of bohea, 16s 6d.

29.5 pounds of ditto, 12s 6d.

65 sneakers, £1 12s 6d.

5 bowls, 7s 8d.

46 small cups, 7s.

14 cups and saucers, £1 10s.

4 pieces of madras gingham, 5s 19d.

7 pieces of chintz, £2 2s.

1 piece of fine long cloth, 19s 6d.

1 piece of loonge, £2 2s 6d.

2 pieces of white cuttanee, 16s.

2 pieces of madras chintz, £1 10s.

0.5 piece of Bengal taffety, £1 2s 6d.

3 pieces of white doosootie, £1 7s.

1 white shirt, £1 4s 8d.

3 pairs of cotton stockings, 11s 6d.

0.5 piece of pinchest, £1 4s 6d.

1 piece of cotton, number 3, 11s.

8 pieces of romals, 8s.

0.5 piece of broad cloth, 4s 3d.

7 pieces of ozenbrigs, 4s 8d.

1 frying pan, 3s.

1 small common prayer book, and 1 [...].

1 pewter porringer.

2 trimmers.

1 box iron.

4 pounds of eight-penny nails.

1 horn comb.

1 pair of women's Spanish leather boots.

4 dozen calves' feet.

3 pounds of hair powder.

1 pound of edging yarn.

Carried over.

552

448

1725

Bt Over

7 1 1½

1 Ps Mens Worked Stock

4 4

1 Boys do

2 6

1 do

2 6

1 Wooden Bowle

1 6

1 do

3 6

1 Peive

1 6

1 doz Hooks

1 6

17 Lins Sorted

9 11½

1 Brest Skillett

8 3

4 lb Coloured Thread

16

1 lb Sled Brown

7 6

1 do

10 8

1½ do

19

1 Oz Sewing Thread

1 8

1 do

3 6

2 do

10

9 Oz China Silk

9

3 Oz Sewing do

4 6

3 yds Ribbon

2 6

21½ do

2 8½

1 yd do Sewing

8 11

4 Ps Holland Tape

4 2

4 White

1 6

1 do

4

2 Ps Womans Gloves

4

3 doz Shirt Buttons

9

2 Ps Rio a 1/9

4½

3½ yd do 4/4

1 8

1 do do

1 9

Sum Total to Jacob

77 7 8

Diet Expenses

170 Gale Arrack

53 16 8

1 Cask Bread

4 13 6

1 Ps Browne Oyle

7

2 lb Pepper

58 19 8

Garrison

8 Cattee Green Tea 1/12

3 Gale Raps Oyle 18

1 Qt Sweet Oyle 1/6

1 lb Brimstone 1/6

2 13 -

Great Wood

12 Ottaes 2/12/6

18 Sled Noorecords 3/3

12 Helves 12

6 7 6

145 7 10

Margin Notes:

Store Acco

Storekeeper's account for 1725, continued.

Brought over, £77 1s 1½d.

1 piece of new worked stuff, £1 1s [...].

1 bag of ditto, 4s [...].

1 ditto, 2s 6d.

1 wooden bowl, 1s 6d.

1 ditto, 1s 6d.

1 sieve, 1s.

1 dozen hooks, 1s 6d.

17 lines, coated, 9s 11½d.

1 breast skillet, 8s 3d.

4 pounds of coloured thread, 16s.

1 pound of gilt brown, 7s 6d.

1 ditto, 10s 8d.

1.5 ditto, 19s.

1 ounce of sewing thread, 1s 8d.

1 ditto, 3s 6d.

2 ditto, 10s.

9 ounces of china silk, 9s.

3 ounces of sewing, 4s 6d.

3 yards of ribbon, 2s 9½d.

21.5 ditto, 2s 1½d.

1 yard of ditto, 8s 11d.

1.5 dozen smoothing irons, [...].

4 pieces of holland tape, 1s 2d.

4 whited, 1s.

1 ditto, 1s 6d.

1 ditto, 4s.

2 pairs of women's gloves, 4d.

3 dozen shirt buttons, 9½d.

2 pieces of ditto, and a half, 4s 8d.

3.5 ditto, at 4d, 1s 9d.

1 ditto, 1s 3d.

Sum total to Jacob, £77 7s 8d.

Outward-bound expenses.

170 gallons of arrack, £53 16s 8d.

1 hand of bread, £4 13s 6d.

1 pound of brown oil, 9½d.

2 ditto of pepper, [...].

Sum, £58 19s 8d.

Garrison.

8 catties of green tea, at 1s 12d.

3 jars of rape oil, at 18d.

1 pint of sweet oil, at 1s 6d.

1 pound of brimstone, at 4s 6d.

Sum, £2 13s.

Great Wood.

19 axes, at £2 12s 6d.

18 shod shovels, at £3 3s.

12 helves, at 12d.

Sum, £6 7s 6d.

Total, £145 7s 10d.

553

449

June

Brought Over

145 7 10

Fortification Dr

18 Bitare 95 Wt

3 19 2

24 Ps Blue

1 4

6 Sugar Shovels

7

16 Smooth Sled Chest Hings

7 9

6 lb 20d Nailes

8 9

7 lb 10d do

4 8

½ Tacks

4 10

8 lb White Lead

8

1 lb Tack Thread

1 6

1 Qt Boan Oyle

4

2 Lb Cording

Hon ble Comp Blacks

7 11 5

9 835 lb Rio 122. 18. 9

1 Ps Mens Shoa 5. 9

4 Doz hooks Sorted 5. 4

28 Lines do 16. 1½

124 5 11½

Hon ble Comp Plantations

8 Helve 8

4 Ottara 18

2 Aoa 6. 4

1 Mawle & bed 12

116 lb Rio 17

42 lb Rope 1. 1

56 do 2. 8

4 5 -

Genll Charges Dr

56 lb Soap 3. 10. 10

1 Horn Lanthorn 8

2 lb Tack Thread 3. 6

1 lb Twine 2. 2

1 Horn Qt Ott 7. 6

2 yd Fishing & ca 5. 2

1 lb Cold Bread 1

3 yd do Trolling 1 1½

1 Box Candle 1. 7

1 Qt Arrack 1. 7

2 lb Sugar

1 Scrubbing Brush 3. 4

2 Shoe 1

1 Doull Cattee Can 12

5 18 2½

287 8 5

Margin Notes:

Wm Cutt of lb

1. 3. 16

Storekeeper's account for June 1725, continued.

Brought over, £145 7s 10d.

Fortification.

18 axes, at £3 19s 2d.

24 shovels, at £1 4s.

6 sugar shovels, [...].

16 smooth-headed spikes, at 7s 9d.

6 and 20 nails, at 8s 9d.

7 ditto, at 4s 8d.

1.5 tacks, at 4s 10d.

1 pound of white lead, at 8s.

1 pound of tack thread, at 1s 6d.

1 pound of brown oil, at 4s.

2 pounds of edging, [...].

Sum, £8 19s 2d.

Honourable Company's blacks.

9 and 835 pounds of rice, at £122 18s 9d.

1 pair of men's shoes, at 5s 9d.

4 dozen hooks, corked, at 5s 4d.

28 lines, ditto, at 16s 1½d.

Sum, £124 5s 11½d.

Honourable Company's plantations.

8 shovels, at 8s.

4 axes, at 18s.

2 hoes, at 6s 4d.

1 mattock, at 12s.

116 pounds of rice, at 17s.

42 pounds of rope, at £1 1s.

1 ditto, at 2s 8d.

Sum, £4 5s.

General charges.

59 pounds of soap, at £3 10s 10d.

1 horn lanthorn, at 8s.

2 pounds of tack thread, at 3s 6d.

1 pound of twine, at 2s 2d.

1 horn of oil, at 7s 6d.

2 yards of fishing gut, at 5s 2d.

0.25 pound of gold thread, at 1s.

3 yards of edging, at 1s 1½d.

1 box candle, at 1s 7d.

1 quart of arrack, at 1s 7d.

2 pounds of sugar, [...].

1 scrubbing brush, at 3s 4d.

2 shoes, at 1s.

1 double calico gown, at 12s.

Sum, £5 18s 2½d.

Total, £287 8s 5d.

A margin note records William's account at £1 3s 16d.

554

450

1725

Ordered that the following Advertizemt be Published

Whereas Severall Advertizements have been lately

Published to Enjoyne the Inhabitants to Plant Young Wood

not only in their Free Land but also in Second & 3d Land they

hold by Lease of the Hon ble Company & likewise to Plant

Firewood round their Fences & Plantations the better to preserve

& Shelter their Provisions from the Bleakness of the Weather

& to prevent Cattle from Browsing & destroying of Young

Wood, the Increase & Preservation of which is of the greatest

Consequence & Importance to the Island

These are therefore Strictly to Charge & Command

all Inhabitants having Plantations that will Deep for Setts &c

they immediately Sett about Planting Young Wood in

Proportion to the Quantity of Land they have in Possession

not only in their Free Land but also, in & about the Land

they hold by Lease of the Hon ble Compy pursuant to the

Severall Clause Condition & Covenants in their respective

Deed & Etc, & also to Plant Firing round about the

Fences of their Plantations

And to the End that no Person who shall Neglect

to Plant Young Wood as above Desired may Plead & pretend

deceive himself that no farther are we to within 15

enforce Obedience to this Order & thereby hope to Escape

Punishment justly & desiredly due to such as shall Omitt to Plant

as aforesaid

These are therefore to give Notice that the

Worshipfull the Govr & a Councile will Order a Survey to

be taken of each Mans Plantation at the Expiration of the

Planting Season in Order to discern who have been careless

& Remiss in the Premisses, & such as shall be found to have

been Negligent in Planting Young Wood & Firing &

Improving their Plantations will be severely fyned, the

Worshipfull the Govr & a Councile being justly Resolved

to Exert from all Persons a Strict Performance & Obedience

to this Order equally beneficial both to Particular Persons

as the Publick & the Inhabitants in mass as to be Planted

in Gule

Gunner

Margin Notes:

Advertizemt to

remind the In-

habitants to Plant

Young Wood

& Firing & the

better to Improve their

Plantations

as well on Leased

as Free Lands

to Plant End

Survey to be

afterwards

taken

It was ordered that the following advertisement be published.

Several advertisements had lately been published to encourage the inhabitants to plant young wood. These called for planting not only upon their freehold land but also upon land held by lease of the Honourable Company. The inhabitants were likewise to plant trees around their fences and plantations. The purpose was to preserve their provisions from the weather and to shelter them. A further purpose was to prevent cattle from browsing. The increase and preservation of young wood was of the greatest consequence and importance to the island.

These presents were therefore strictly to charge and command all inhabitants having plantations. Each such person was immediately to set about planting young wood. The planting was to be in proportion to the quantity of land they held in possession. This applied not only to their freehold land but also to the land they held by lease of the Honourable Company. It was to follow the covenant and conditions in their respective deeds and leases. They were also to plant trees round about the fences of their plantations.

No person who neglected to plant young wood was to deceive himself. None was to think that any excuse would save him. The Council would enforce obedience to the order. Punishment was assuredly due to such as should omit to plant.

Notice was therefore given that the Worshipful the Governor had ordered a survey. The survey would inspect each man's plantation at the ending of the planting season. Its purpose was to discern who had been careful and diligent in the business. Those found negligent in planting young wood and improving their plantations would be severely fined. The Governor was firmly resolved to spare no person. A strict performance of and obedience to the order was equally beneficial to every planter. The measure was as much to their advantage as to be planted in general.

Signed by the gunner.

Interpretations

This advertisement set out in full the planting order agreed by the Council. It bound every planter to sow young wood on both freehold and leased land. The duty followed the covenants already written into their deeds and leases.

The order joined shelter and conservation in a single measure. Trees round the fences would guard provisions from weather and cattle alike. The wider aim was to secure the island's supply of young timber.

The Council backed the order with a promised survey and fines. Each plantation would be inspected at the close of the planting season. The Governor resolved to spare no negligent planter from penalty.

Speculations

The order tied the planting duty to the existing terms of each lease and deed. This linked a new obligation to covenants the planters had already accepted. It gave the Council firm legal ground on which to enforce compliance.

555

451

June

Gunrs Stores Expended in May

1725

Muster Day

10

An Alarm

4 - - 4 4

Arrived the Maidsfield Capt Hudson

11 - - 11 11

King Georges Birth Day

42 2 8 32 78

To Answer Salute from Maidsfield

11 - - 11 11

Departed the Maidsfield

11 - - 11 11

Expence for Priming

6

Expence for the Guard

13

79 2 8 69 143

Cartridge Paper for Guard

5

Do for Cartridges

8

Colohuni Style deld Mr Crip

6

Spunge Staves broke

2

Do for the Castle

7

Match

17

17 3 6 3

Expence Genll Table in May 1725

26 lb Salt Beef

3 5 4

29 lb Salt Pork

3 13 9

35 lb Bread

1 3 6

120 lb Flower

15 6

151 lb Sugar

14 8 6

46½ Gale Arrack for Table

12 6

24 do to Labouring & Sick Blacks

7 5 -

43 Bottle Port

5 11 -

7 do Mountain

6 12 -

7 doz & ½ Fowles

16 -

8 Ducks

12

9 Turkey

9 1 6

166 lb Beef

1 6 6

93 lb Veale

11 4

62 lb Pork

1 1 4

1 Beefe

9 Goate

117 lb Butter

1 5 1

31 lb Sugar

17 6

1 Bottle Flowree Oyle

7

2 lb Pepper

8

2 Gale Vineg

15 6

25 lb Soap

1 4

39 lb Candles

17 9

117 Egg

9

73 17 5

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Margin Notes:

Gunrs Stores Ex-

pended in May

Govr Table Expence

in May

Gunner's stores expended in May 1725.

On 4 May, Muster Day, 10 [...].

On 5 May, an alarm, 4s 4d [...].

On 17 May, the Macclesfield arrived and provisions were fired for, £4 1s 11d [...].

On 28 May, King George's birthday, £42 2s 8d 32s 78d [...].

On 29 May, an answering salute was fired to the Macclesfield, 11s 11d [...].

On 31 May, the Macclesfield departed, 11s 11d [...].

Expense for firing, 6d [...].

Expense for the guard, 13d [...].

Sum, £79 2s 8d 69s 143d [...].

Cartridge paper for the guns, [...].

Ditto for cartridges, 6d [...].

Colonel Style delivered the master of the ship, 6d [...].

Sponge staves broken, [...].

Ditto for the castle, [...].

Match, 17s [...].

Sum, £17 3s 6d 3d [...].

Governor's table expenses in May 1725.

26 pounds of salt beef, £3 5s 4d [...].

29 pounds of salt pork, £2 13s 9d [...].

35 pounds of bread, £1 15s 6d [...].

120 pounds of flower, [...].

151 pounds of sugar, £8 12s 6d [...].

45.5 pounds of arrack for the table, £14 12s 6d [...].

24 pieces for labouring and sick blacks, 7s [...].

43 bottles of port, 5s 11d [...].

7 ditto of mountain, £6 12s [...].

7 dozen and 4 fowls, 16s [...].

8 ducks, 12s [...].

9 turkeys, [...].

166 pounds of beef, £1 6s 6d [...].

93 pounds of veal, 11s 4d [...].

62 pounds of pork, £1 4s [...].

1 beef, [...].

9 goats, [...].

117 pounds of butter, £5 17s 6d [...].

31 pounds of green tea, 7s 6d [...].

1 bottle of flower oil, 8s [...].

2 pounds of pepper, 6d [...].

9 pounds of rice, £15 16s 5d [...].

25 pounds of soap, £14 17s 9d [...].

39 pounds of candles, [...].

117 eggs, 9d [...].

Sum, £73 17s 5d.

Signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

556

452

1725

At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 15th day June 1725 at

Union Castle

Present Jno Smith Esqr Govr

Edward Byfeld

John Alexander

John Goodwin

The last Consultation read & approved

On Saturday last the 12th instant a doubtfull Alarm

was made about Six in the Morning for five Ships to the Windward of

the Island there away passing by the SE & SbE Part & by Noon

were out of Sight & I suppose them to be Dutch Ships

Capt Orne made Complaint against Richard Swallow Planter

for Denying to Pay him for a Berry Wall that under their Garden on

the said Part of their House in the first Valley contrary to his Promise

when the said Orne acquainted him he intended to make higher for

the Security of both their Gardens

Richard Swallow appeared & Said the sd Orne has made

an unreasonable Charge in his said & that when he said Orne told him

he designed to raise the Wall higher he told him he would help build it

at any time upon a Notice, but instead of Sending to him the said

Orne has Compleated Such Wall Now & Demand what he thinks a very

unreasonable Part of the Wall down again & Sending a Notice as he Must Now

After some farther Debate at both Sides they desired the

Determination of the Difference may be left to be Judged the next Consulta

tion

Ordered that the Decision of this Dispute be left to a Jury

according to their desire

The Govr being talking to Mr Orne about his

former Case in which he has been very troublesome to the Hon ble Company

reminding him of the Governrs Advising him their Consequence desiring to

this affair & then advising him the said Orne there should be at Reckoning

of his Case & giving him Notice to prepare himself against the Objections

when held the Govr Expected the said Orne to attend due according

to his Promise but not seeing him there the Govr Sent the Marshale

to tell him the Court waited his coming in upon which the Marshale

returned & Said Mr Orne gave his Service to the Governr but was

not prepared for a Reckoning Mr Orne his Chief Evidence being

gone for England, which the Govr now telling of Mr Orne of he

Denyed he ever Said any Such thing upon which the Marshale was

called in & Confirmed the said Orne to have forgot it, the Govr told him

the said Orne so far by of the Same Excuse he made to him, in Saying

he was not prepared in Saying the only reason was because Mr

Margin Notes:

5 Ships seen

passing by

Mr Orne

Complaint agt

R Swallow

No 2

Swallows

Objections

they desire

Difference

Decided by Jury

Ord d accordingly

Govr remds

Orne of his

Consequence

to former

Case

Govr Report

of R Swallow

At a consultation held on Tuesday 15 June 1725 at Union Castle.

Present: Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

The last consultation was read and approved.

On Saturday last, the 12th instant, a doubtful sail appeared off the island in the morning. She bore away, passing by the north-east point and by Nook. She had first appeared out of sight. She was supposed to be a Dutch ship.

Mr French made complaint against Richard Swallow, planter. Swallow had denied him a certain walk that ran before their garden. French then held the fifth house in the first valley. This was contrary to his commission. French acquainted Swallow that he intended to make higher fences to both their gardens.

Richard Swallow appeared and said that French had made an unreasonable purchase in his stead. This was what French had told him. Swallow designed to keep the walk higher. He told French he would help build it at any time upon notice. Instead of tending to the said trade, French had employed such men and chapmen where he pleased. Swallow might keep breeding for much loss. He desired a fair, honest part of the wall down again if French gave notice, as for that man.

After some further debate about their trade, the parties left the determination of the difference to the Council. The matter might be left to be tried at the next consultation.

It was ordered that the decision of this dispute be left to a jury, according to their desire.

The Governor was talking to Mr French about his former case. In that case French had been very troublesome to the Honourable Company. The Governor reminded French of the trouble, alleging that their controversy was still pending. He then advised French that the said walk should be at his choosing. He gave French notice to prepare himself against the objections. The Governor expected French to attend according to his promise. French did not desire that any of their objections should be told to the Governor.

Mr French waited on the Governor. The Governor asked him whether he was coming in. The manservant returned and said Mr French was coming. French gave his service to the Governor. He was not prepared for attending. Mr French's chief controversy being gone to England, the Governor now told French of the case. French denied it and said any such thing upon which the manservant was called in and confirmed the said French, who thereupon replied further tonight. French said he had forgot it. The Governor telling the said French so, French faulted of the same excuse he made to French, in saying the only reason was because French was not prepared.

Interpretations

The Council recorded the sighting of a doubtful sail on 12 June 1725. She passed the island without stopping and was thought to be Dutch. Such sightings were logged as a matter of coastal watch.

The chief business was a boundary dispute between Mr French and Richard Swallow. It concerned a walk and fence running before their adjoining gardens in the first valley. Each man gave his account, and the Council referred the matter to a jury.

The closing passage records a tense exchange between the Governor and French. It touched on an earlier case in which French had troubled the Company. The account is confused, but shows friction between French and the Governor.

Speculations

The Council chose to settle the fence dispute by jury rather than direct order. This referred a contested matter of fact to a body of the planters' peers. It spared the Council from ruling on a quarrel between two neighbours.

557

453

June

Mr Cowde his best Evidence was gone to England & Mr Greentree

Dead, denie now he ever said any such thing, which being a most

impudently Lye of the said Orne who not only told the Governr so,

but also Sent the Same Answer by the Marshale went Sent to

acquaint the said Orne that the Court waited his coming, Wee

are all therefore of Opinion that neither the said Orne Word or

Writing ought hereafter to be the least Regarded; for any Man

that will Deny his own Word in his own affair wont Scruple to

Say any thing or Trump up any Story

Mr Wrangham attended & Informd Us that he the sd he Sold the twenty

Eight Acres of Land which he Petitioned for Leave to dispose of

on Tuesday last to Capt Jno Goodwin Praying he might be

accepted Tenant for the Same

Ordered that the sd Capt Goodwin be accepted Tent

accordingly for the Remainder of the Term yet to come in the sd Lease

Edmond Nicholls Planter, presented a Petition for leave to

become Tenant for the Hon ble Company for about an Acre & half

of their Wast Land lying in Sandy Woman Valley, which if he ever begs the

your Petr promising to leave out the head of the Spring for the

benefit of Such to have have Occasion to Use the Same

Ordered that Capt Goodwin do view the said Land & make

Report on Tuesday next

Whereas Credible information hath been this day given

that Sunday times before that Thos Orne who hath a Lycence to

Retale Strong Liquors doth keep a Common Bawdry Alley & so

Suffer Lewd & other unlawfull Games to be used in his House Munday

& Nights & Innocall Lewd Persons Belonging to the Garrison as

Planters & hath Entertained them Sabb Nights & Day together

particularly Richard Furling One of the Hon ble Compys Overseers

& Martin Day Cocker & Looking to the Accompt part Office

thereby Unlawfully Sleepping & Detaining them from their

Duty & Employ but Causeth them to Spend & Squander away their

Part of their Substance; besides the Inconveniency & Danger

that attend Such pernicious Practices

Wherefore it is Ordered

that the said Thos Orne be not hereafter Suffered or Permitted

to keep any Ninepin Alley, or to Suffer any other Sort of Gaming

therein or in his House or to entertain any Person belonging to the Hon ble

Comp Service at any unseasonable Hours upon Pain of Being fined at

the Pleasure of the Govr & a Councile & Deprived of the benefit he at present

Enjoys by Selling Punch & other Strong Liquors

Jno Alexander John Smith

Jno Goodwin Edward Byfeld

Margin Notes:

Mr Wrangham

has Sold his

Land to Capt

Goodwin

Edmond Nicholls

Petn for a

Parcell Wast

Land

Thos Orne

Suffered before

us all this day

in Consultation

that R Furling

had Six Bowles

Punch at his

House which

he lost when

Drunk Playing

being the 5th

instant

Order agt

Thos Orne

for Keeping

an unlawfull

Ninepin

Alley &c

Mr Cowse, his chief controversy having gone to England, and Mr Greentree being dead, French now denied that he ever said any such thing. This being most impudent of French, the manservant not only told the Governor so but also gave the same answer by which the manservant went. French was sent to acquaint the said French that the Council waited his coming. The Council were all therefore of opinion that neither the said French's word nor writing ought hereafter to be the least regarded. Any man that will deny his own word in his own affair will not scruple to say anything or trump up any story.

Mr Wrangham attended. He informed the Council that he sold the 28 acres of land for which he petitioned for leave to dispose of on Tuesday last. He sold it to Mr Goodwin. He prayed that Goodwin might be accepted tenant for the same. It was ordered that Captain Goodwin be accepted tenant accordingly, for the remainder of the term yet to come in the lease.

Mr Edmund Nicholls, planter, presented a petition for leave to become tenant for the Honourable Company. He asked for about an acre and a half of their Company's Wort Land, lying above the widow Tovey's. He prayed for a new lease. He promised in his petition to leave out the head of the spring, for the benefit of such as should have occasion to use the same. It was ordered that Captain Goodwin should view the said land and make report on Tuesday next.

Credible information had this day been given to the Council. On the Sunday two before that, Mr French, who had a licence to retail strong liquors, did keep a common brandy shop. He suffered card and other unlawful games to be used in his house. Sundry idle persons belonging to the garrison and planters were entertained. He kept them tippling night and day together. Richard Gurling in particular, one of the Honourable Company's overseers, and Martin Day, cooper of the accountant's office, were kept there. He thereby unlawfully tempted and detained them from their duty and employ. He caused them to spend and squander away part of their substance. Beside this ran the inconvenience and danger that attended such pernicious practices.

It was therefore ordered that the said Mr French should not hereafter be suffered or permitted to keep any tippling in his alley. He was not to suffer any other sort of gaming therein or in his house. He was not to entertain any person belonging to the Company's service at unseasonable hours upon pain of being fined at the pleasure of the Governor and Council. He was deprived of the benefit he at present enjoyed by selling punch and other strong liquors.

The consultation was signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

A memorandum records that there are three several leases for those 28 acres bought by Captain Goodwin of Mr Wrangham.

A further memorandum records what Mr French declared before the Council this day. He declared that Mr Gurling had six bottles of punch at his house. Gurling lost these when drunk, playing at nine pins the last time he was there. This memorandum bears the date of the 5th instant.

Interpretations

The Council resolved to disregard all further word or writing from Mr French. He had denied his own statement before the Governor and a witness. The entry marks a decisive collapse of French's credit with the board.

Two land matters passed the same day. Wrangham's 28 acres in Deep Gut were transferred to Captain Goodwin as tenant. Edmund Nicholls sought a fresh lease of Company Wort Land above the widow Tovey's.

The chief order struck at French's tippling house in the first valley. He had kept a brandy shop and allowed unlawful gaming there. The Council barred him from selling drink and entertaining Company servants.

Speculations

The Council paired the ban on French's tippling house with a clear threat of fines. It named the specific abuses of gaming, drink and the neglect of Company servants. This targeted remedy aimed to protect both discipline and the men's wages.

558

454

1725

Indent of Goods & Stores wanting on the Island St Helena

Cutlery Ware vizt

6 M Batt hooks

2 M Machprolld

2 M do larger

10 M Small Broom

10 M do larger

20 Grose Corque

20 Grose Hooks

Much wanted Sevle

of the Inhabitants living

chiefly upon Fish & are

very Serviceable in all

Families for their Blacks

15 6 Doz Lines Sorted from No 1 to 5 of 4 yd Sorts

20 lb Casle Twines

6 Doz good Scissars Sorted

4 Doz good Penknives Sorted Some Clesp

2 Doz good Razors in Cases

Brazier Ware vizt

4 doz Tea Kettles

2 doz Candlesticks with Snuffers

1 doz Trimmers

1 doz Copper Sauce Pans Sorted

Hatts

3 Doz Mens fine Cloth

3 doz do Beavers Edged with Lace

3 doz large Boys Hatts

Haberdashery Ware

4000 M Needles Sorted some very fine

12 Doz Ivory Combs

6 Doz Pockett horn Combs

12 Doz Womens Thimbles

4 Doz Stays Sorted

3 doz Childrens Coats Sevle Sizes

100 lb White Sled Thread very good & Sevle Sizes

20 lb Nuns Thread Sorted from 6 to 2 doz

100 lb Coloured Thread & beg it may be better

which was so Coarse & Rotten there was no Working it

200 lb Hair Powder

300 lb Starch

Stockings

60 do Mens Knitt of all 4 or 5 Ps

12 do Mens Silk Sorted

Ironmongers Ware

6 Doz Stock Locks Sorted

18 Doz Chest ditto

6 Doz Iron Rimb do for Main Doors

6 Spatt Box Locks for Hand Escrutores with

brass Scutcheon Handles & Sconces

10 doz Splinter Locks Sorted

50 Double headed Mawles well Steeled

at both Ends to Weigh from 16 to 24

Ironmongers Ware bt forward

10 Doz Wood Shovells Sorted

3 Doz Chafing Dishes

3 doz Small hand Hammers

20 Small Iron Pott from 1 to 5 Gale

4 doz Frying Pans Sorted

4 do best Sort hand Screws much Wanted

3 doz Box Hinges

3 doz Chest Hinges

1 doz Box Iroho Sorted best Sort

1 Grose Warding Files

1 Grose filed Sorted

1 Doz Rubbers & hand Files

Catt Gutt for Drile Bow Strings

Naval Stores

30 Barrells Tar in tight Casks to

prevent Wast

15 do Pitch

5 do Rozin

20 do Turpentine

2 Cwt Red Lead

2 Cwt Yellow Oaker

30 lb Indigo & 500 Barrls Lamp Black

We have a Sufficient Qty White Lead already

Paint Brushes Sorted

White Wash Brushes

24 Hair Brooms

3 Doz hard hand Brushes fastend with Wire

2 doz large Wooden Bowles

2 doz large do Trays

Cordage vizt

6 Coyles of Thread Ratline

6 do

12 do 1½ Inch Rope

12 do 2 do do

10 do 2¼ do

10 do 2½ ditto

6 do 3 Inch do

3 do 4 Inch Coliar Hawser Layed

for Moorings for Long Boat 60 Fath Ea

10 Rhoads for the fishing Boats of

2½ Inch

Hawser large of 60 Fath much wanted

Tin Ware

4 doz Tin Coffee Potts Sorted

6 doz Sauce Pans do

6 doz Lamps

1 doz Glass Crown Lanthorns to hang up

4 do do hand

3 doz horn for ditto

4 doz Kettles Sorted

2 doz Quart Gunnells

1 doz Patty Pans

12 doz Patty Pans

Indent of goods and stores wanting on the island of St Helena, 1725.

Cutlery ware, namely:

6,000 bath hooks.

2,000 mackerel ditto.

2,000 ditto, larger.

10,000 small bream.

10,000 ditto, larger.

20 gross of corks.

20 gross of hooks.

These were much wanted by several of the inhabitants living chiefly upon fish. They were very serviceable in all families for their blacks.

156 dozen lines, sorted from number 1 to 5 of two several sorts.

20 ounces of castle twine.

6 dozen good scissors, sorted.

4 dozen good penknives, sorted, some clasp.

2 dozen good razors in cases.

Brazier ware, namely:

4 dozen tea kettles.

2 dozen candlesticks with snuffers.

1 dozen trimmers.

1 dozen copper sauce pans, sorted.

Hats:

3 dozen men's fine cloth.

3 dozen ditto, beavers edged with lace.

3 dozen large boys' hats.

Haberdashery ware:

4,000 needles, sorted, some very fine.

12 dozen ivory combs.

6 dozen pocket horn combs.

12 dozen women's thimbles.

4 dozen stays, sorted.

3 dozen children's coats, several sizes.

100 pounds of white thread, very good and several sizes.

20 pounds of nuns' thread, sorted from 6 to 2 per dozen.

100 pounds of coloured thread. The Council begged it might be better, the last being so gouty and rotten there was no working it.

200 pounds of hair powder.

300 pounds of starch.

Stockings:

60 dozen men's, knit, of about 4 or 5 pins.

12 dozen men's silk, sorted.

Ironmonger ware:

6 dozen stock locks, sorted.

18 dozen chest ditto.

6 dozen iron rims ditto for main doors.

6 small box locks for hand escritoires with brass escutcheon handles and springs.

10 dozen splinter locks, sorted.

50 double-headed mauls, well steeled at both ends, to weigh from 16 to 24.

Ironmonger ware, brought forward:

10 dozen shod shovels, sorted.

3 dozen chafing dishes.

3 dozen small hand hammers.

20 small iron pots, from 1 to 5 gallons.

4 dozen frying pans, sorted.

4 dozen, but a sort of hand screws, much wanted.

3 dozen box hinges.

3 dozen chest hinges.

1 dozen box irons, sorted, best sort.

1 gross of warding files.

1 gross of files, sorted.

1 dozen rubbers and hand files.

Catgut for drill bow strings.

Naval stores:

30 barrels of tar in tight casks, to prevent waste.

15 ditto of pitch.

5 ditto of rosin.

20 ditto of turpentine.

2 hundredweight of red lead.

2 hundredweight of yellow ochre.

30 hundredweight of indigo and 500 barrels of lamp black.

The Council had a sufficient quantity of white lead already.

Paint brushes, sorted.

Whitewash brushes.

24 hair brooms.

3 dozen hard hand brushes, fastened with wire.

2 dozen large wooden bowls.

2 dozen large tongs.

Cordage, namely:

6 coils of two-thread ratline.

6 ditto of three ditto.

12 ditto of 1.5-inch rope.

12 ditto of 2-inch ditto.

10 ditto of 2.25-inch ditto.

10 ditto of 2.5-inch ditto.

6 ditto of 3-inch ditto.

3 ditto of 4-inch ditto.

One coil of hawser laid for moorings for the long boat, of 60 fathoms.

10 rhoads for the fishing boats, of 2.5-inch ditto.

A hawser, large, of 60 fathoms, much wanted.

Tin ware:

4 dozen tin coffee pots, sorted.

6 dozen sauce pans ditto.

6 dozen lamps.

1 dozen glass crown lanthorns to hang up.

1 dozen ditto, hand.

3 dozen horns for ditto.

4 dozen kettles, sorted.

2 dozen quart gunnels.

1 dozen patty pans.

12 dozen patty pans.

559

455

June

Pewter

2 doz large Basons to hold 2 or 3 Gale

6 doz Dishes Sorted Some Soupe

20 doz Plates ditto

36 doz Pewter Spoons

1½ doz Pewter Sauce Pans

Shoes

50 do Mens Spanish Lea

5 do Selves do

50 Womens Spanish Leather

12 do with Brits

50 do Calves Leather

12 doz Shoe Lasts of all Sort & Sizes

for Men Women & Children

6 do Stretchers

Stationary Ware

4 Ledgers

4 Journals

4 Alphabets

4 Black Books for Consultations

2 do In lesser Letters

6 Smaller do for Sundry Uses

2 Rheam fine Pott

2 do Demy

2 do Royall

3 do Coppy Paper for Consultations

½ do Blew Caper

12 do Crpatrian

6 do London Arms

12 Ivory handle Penknives

4 do doz Ink Glasses Some Fountain

12 Doz Black Lead Pencills

1000 Dutch Quills has Sufft Ordinary

1 Gall Red Ink

1 doz good Hoans

24 lb best Sealing Wax

6 Ledgers 2 Quires ea Small Caper

6 Johns & 1 Quire do

1 Rheam Cort Caper Gilt for Letters

1 doz Pocket Books blue Parchmt Covers

4 Pair Goaers for Ordn Ps

draw of Stones in Gt Wood

Was not Sent

p Cart

4 do Light Cart Wheels for do

4 hand Plows with furniture

Do

20 Ps Duroy with Suitable Trimming to

20 do Sagathia each peice

1 do fine Scarlet Cloth if not Sent p Cart

6 Ps best Black & White Crape ditto

3 Ps fine Black Crape for Mourning

Fustians

10 Ps Superfine for Mens Cloths with Suitable

10 Ps Richsett do Trimming

60 Ps Strong Kersey for Blacks Cloths

Anchors 2 abt 3 Cwt each Qr with Iron

Stock & Chain of 20 fathom ea to Moor

the Long Boats if not Sent p Cart

2 Barrell or Tub Engines to throw Water

in Case of Fire if not Sent p Cart

6 doz Cane Chairs

10 Ovall Tables Sorted

if not Sent p

Cart

Glass Ware

4000 Squares Wind Glass 6 & 8

2000 do 8 & 10

500 do 10 & 12

if not

Sent p

Cart

2 Grose Small Wine Glasses

8 doz Cruets for Oyle & Vineger

Bunting

5 Ps Red do

5 Ps White do

10 Ps Blew do

Garrison Stores

50 Fire Arms with Bayonett & 100 Spare Scutcheons

6 Halberts

3 Drums with Spare heads & Cords

60 Loose Coats

40 plain Coats

60 Grenadier Caps

100 Soldiers Hatts

100 Belts

50 Musquet with Bayonett & Spare Scabbard

100 Grenadier Combs

Gunners Stores

20 Ps Wheels for Demi Cannon & 12

Ps for ea that they may be Shifted if

not Sent p Cart

12 Ps do for Six Demi Culverin if not Sent

50 lb Wire for Priming Wire

Deales & Timber

1500 Dram Deales 10 & 12 feet long

100 Baulks fit for Girders

200 Double Ufers for Rafters

100 Spars

50 Ps Oaule Oars

if not

Sent p

Cart

Inquire ben

left

Indent of goods and stores wanting on the island of St Helena, June 1725, continued.

Pewter:

2 dozen large basons to hold 2 or 3 gallons.

6 dozen dishes, sorted, some soup.

20 dozen plates ditto.

36 dozen pewter spoons.

1.5 dozen pewter sauce pans.

Shoes:

50 pairs of men's Spanish leather.

5 hundred pairs of calves' ditto.

50 women's Spanish leather.

12 ditto with ties.

50 ditto of calves' leather.

12 dozen shoe lasts of all sorts and sizes, for men, women and children.

6 dozen stretchers.

Stationery ware:

4 ledgers.

4 journals.

4 alphabets.

4 black books for consultations.

2 ditto for invoice letters.

6 smaller ditto for sundry uses.

2 reams of fine pot.

2 ditto of demy.

2 ditto of royal.

3 ditto of copy paper for consultations.

0.5 ream of blue paper.

12 ditto of propatria.

6 ditto of London arms.

12 ivory-handled penknives.

4 dozen ink glasses, some fountain.

12 dozen black lead pencils.

1,000 Dutch quills, having sufficient ordinary.

1 gallon of red ink.

1 dozen good hones.

24 pounds of best sealing wax.

6 ledgers of 2 quires, each in small paper.

6 journals of 1 quire ditto.

1 ream of copy paper, gilt for letters.

1 dozen pocket books with blue parchment covers.

4 pairs of hooks for oxen, to draw stones in the Great Wood.

4 pairs of light cart wheels, ford ditto.

4 hand ploughs with furniture.

20 pieces of duroy with suitable trimming to each piece.

20 pieces of sagathy, each piece.

1 piece of fine scarlet cloth, if not sent by cart.

6 pieces of best black and white crape ditto.

3 pieces of fine black crape for mourning.

Fustians:

10 pieces of superfine for men's cloth, with suitable trimming.

10 pieces of thickset ditto.

60 pieces of strong kersey for blacks' clothes.

Anchors:

2 anchors of about 3 hundredweight each, with iron stock and chain of 20 fathoms each, to moor the long boats, if not sent by cart.

2 barrels or tub engines to throw water in case of fire, if not sent by cart.

6 dozen cane chairs, if not sent by cart.

10 oval tables, sorted, if not sent by cart.

Glass ware:

4,000 squares of window glass of 6 by 8, if not sent by cart.

2,000 ditto of 8 by 10, if not sent by cart.

500 ditto of 10 by 12, if not sent by cart.

2 gross of small wine glasses.

2 dozen cruets for oil and vinegar.

Bunting:

5 pieces of red ditto.

5 pieces of white ditto.

10 pieces of blue ditto.

Garrison stores:

50 firearms with bayonets and 100 spare, scattering.

6 halberts.

3 drums with spare heads and cords.

60 loose coats.

40 plain coats.

60 grenadier caps.

100 soldiers' hats.

100 belts.

50 muskets with bayonets and spare scabbard.

100 grenadier combs.

Gunnery stores:

20 pairs of wheels for demi-cannon, with carriages for each, that they may be shifted, if not sent by cart.

12 pairs of ditto for six demi-culverin, if not sent.

50 pounds of wire for priming wire.

Deals and timber:

1,500 dram deals of 10 and 12 feet long.

100 baulks fit for girders.

200 double ufers for rafters.

100 spars.

50 pairs of oars.

A margin note records that the plough tackle, cart wheels, hand ploughs and duroy were not sent by cart. A further note against the deals and timber reads that Mr Vane had not left enough.

560

456

1725

Deales & Timber Continued

300 Foot full Inch Wainscott Deal &

300 Foot of ½ Inch Oak Plank

350 Foot full Inch Elm

4 Grille Blocks of 5 Inch

2 Do do 4½ Inch 5. 6

Provisions vizt

30 Cumheons Bread

30 Barrells Flowr

15 Do Pease

20 Do Wheat

1 Cask Seed Pease

1 Do Seed Broad Garden Beans

30 Cumheons Rice

20 Ditto Pork

2 Barrell Oatmeale

Oyles

200 lb 15 or Gallr Linseed

20 Gallr Good Flowr

Wine

4 Chest Mountain

4 Ditto Port

Beer 6 Cumheons Midling

2 Pendulum Clock much Wanted

that which is here being very old &

wore out

200 doz Earthen Cans to Sett with in

Iron

1 Ton of Flatt Iron

1 Ton of Square of 1 & 2 Inches

1 Cagg of Sled Wood Stove

4 Norway Gawles if not Sent

1 Doghd of White Indigo for

the Use of the Table

Sent p Maidsfield 31 May 1725

John Smith

Edward Byfeld

Jno Alexander

Jno Goodwin

Indent of goods and stores wanting on the island of St Helena, 1725, continued.

Deals and timber, continued:

800 feet of half-inch wainscot board.

300 feet of three-quarter-inch oak plank.

350 feet of half-inch elm.

4 grille blocks of three-quarter-inch.

2 dozen of three-quarter and 1.5-inch ditto.

Provisions, namely:

30 hundredweight of bread.

30 barrels of flower.

15 ditto of peas.

20 ditto of wheat.

1 hundredweight of seed peas.

1 hundredweight of broad Windsor beans.

30 hundredweight of rice.

20 ditto of pork.

2 barrels of oatmeal.

Oils:

100 pounds and 15 ounces of linseed.

20 gallons of good olive.

Wine:

4 chests of mountain.

4 ditto of port.

Beer:

6 hundredweight of middling.

2 pendulum clocks, which stand very old and worn out.

2 or 3 dozen earthen chamber pots to set with them.

Iron:

1 ton of flat iron.

1 ton of square iron of 1 and 2 inches.

1 ragged iron store.

4 Norway anvils, if not sent.

1 double set of two indigos for the use of the table.

Sent by the Macclesfield, 31 May 1725.

Signed by Governor John Smith, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin.

561

457

Blank page

562

458

Blank page

563

459

Book cover

564

460

EAP 1364 St Helena

Document Name and Date St Helena Records 1723-1725

Dimensions (height x width x depth) (cm) 38cm x 26.5cm x 7cm

No. written pages: 556

No. blank pages:

Spine and cover Good Condition

Inside pages Pages Tattered on some Edges

Foxing throughout Volume

Some Pages Coming Loose

Additional comments Numbering goes from 1-199

then back to 100

Pages 380/381 inserted between

375 & 376. Maybe a Mistake when

Rebound

Page 96 repeats in numbering with

Different Content. No Page 133

Time taken to photograph (hours) 4 hours