St Helena Records 1742a
Introduction: This is the 25th 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/EAP1364-1-1-25.
Text Inaccuracy: 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.
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: Page numbers appear only in the top right corner of each page. The first visible number is page 3, on Film No. 7 (location 7/3), which suggests numbering began on Film No. 5.
The numbering then runs in sequence to Film No. 16 (page 12). Film No. 17 is a small insert recording that the governor halted a wedding. It carries no number but is taken to be page 13. Film No. 18 is likewise written as page 18.
The next problem comes after Film No. 23 (page 18), which is a left-hand page. The photographer then appears to have missed page 19, because Film No. 24 is again a left-hand page, and Film No. 25 is marked as page 21. From this point the sequence runs 23/18, 24/20, 25/21 and so on.
A final problem arises at Film No. 63, which should be page 59. This number appears to have been skipped, because Film No. 65 is marked as page 59 instead. The sequence is therefore taken to run 62/58, 63/59, 64/60, 65/59, 66/60 and so on to the end of the volume.
Dates: During the period of this volume, England and its colonies followed the Old-Style Julian calendar, in which the legal new year began on 25 March (Lady Day). This volume records consultations at St Helena between 25 May and 14 October 1742.
The Council meetings were held during the administrations of Thomas Lambert (1742) and George Gabriel Powell (1742-1744).
AI Generated Summary
Introduction
These minutes of the Governor and Council at the Castle in James Valley, with the court records, estate inventories, stores accounts, musters and rent rolls laid before them, run from a consultation of 18 May 1742 to a bond of 15 October 1742. The Company held the island by royal grant to refresh its homeward shipping from India and China, governing through three or four men who managed land, defence, provisioning, justice, finance and an enslaved workforce at once. The period is defined by the War of the Austrian Succession, an epidemic among the slaves, the death of Governor Thomas Lambert on 20 July 1742 and the succession of George Gabriel Powell, and the long audit of two former officers, the living John Crisp and the dead John Goodwin. The evidence is the Council’s own, written for the directors in London, and it reduces the enslaved majority to lines in an inventory even as it exposes the thinness of the administration and the island’s dependence on passing ships. [Film No. 5–10, 24, 35, 65–66]
Governance and Administration
Authority rested with a governor and a council of three or four, meeting weekly to read the previous minute, hear petitions, execute leases and audit accounts. On 25 May 1742 Lambert sat with Powell as second, John Godfrey as third and Christopher Crun; so slight a body was easily halted, and on 22 June 1742, Lambert being ill and Powell absent on plantation affairs, the meeting broke off for want of a quorum. Lambert died at nine in the evening of 20 July 1742, was buried with a full salute the next day, and Powell was proclaimed governor at the head of the guards, the proclamation dated 22 July 1742. On his accession the cash was counted at £1,739 19s 1d, Powell took the governor’s key and gave the cash-chest key to Dixon, and the books were ordered closed to 22 March 1742, the day Lambert took the government, so responsibility passed cleanly. [Film No. 5, 34–36, 90]
The Council governed under the directors’ general letter carried by the Harrington, individual paragraphs read to men called to account, Richard Beale confronted with its 50th. Powell moved to review the hospital, stores and defences, and a recurring aim was to bring the books up to date and send them home; the inventory of stores begun on 24 August 1742 dragged into September, delayed by Lambert’s earlier engagement during the shipping and his indisposition. The annual census fell in the same period, inhabitants required by an advertisement of 7 September 1742 to bring in an account of their families, slaves, land and cattle by 20 September 1742. Under Powell the same drive produced fixed office hours from 8 till 11 and 2 till 5, ordered on 28 September 1742; a standing order that nothing issue from the stores without a written note, to the storekeeper for the plantations and from the Governor for the fortifications; and the channelling of private claims into formal petition, as when Mary Alexander sought payment on 5 October 1742 for windows taken for the Castle. [Film No. 9, 11, 71, 81, 112, 117, 143, 145]
Military Affairs and Defence
The war set a lightly held island against a hostile France. When two French Indiamen, the Duc de Chartres and the Duc de Bourbon, each of 700 tons with about 180 men and 32 guns, anchored on 22 May 1742, the Council admitted them to water but confined their crews to one landing and watering place and kept the gates shut nightly at nine. The garrison was renewed from arriving ships, Lambert distributing on 1 June 1742 the recruits who came on the Duke of Lorrain, and the watch was constant, an alarm made at the Great Fort early on 4 June 1742 for a passing sail. His Majesty’s ships Argyle of 50 guns and Lynn of 20 guns arrived on 4 June 1742 and later convoyed the homeward Indiamen. [Film No. 5, 14, 26, 28, 36]
Powell matched scarce ordnance to the works he could man, proposing to remove to Banks the 18-pounders and 12-pounders that had lain two years in the spray at Chubb’s Rock, where the late Governor Robert Pyke had abandoned a fortification as too costly. He pressed the works at Banks and the French works at Rupert’s forward, drawing off the Company’s slaves to the lime kiln on 27 July 1742 with a target of 20 August 1742, and hiring free labourers at 12d a day by an advertisement of 10 August 1742. Holding that a superior enemy could not be met in the field, he reported on 14 September 1742 that three-quarters of the men had never fired a great gun, and set every soldier to learn from the gunner at a cask moored in the offing, the enlarged artillery company, swelled by raw recruits from the Harrington, to practise every Saturday at Rupert’s using the oldest powder to spare expense. [Film No. 65–66, 96]
The gunner’s accounts, kept by John French, show guns fired both as alarms and as salutes: over 400 guns and 700 pounds of powder in May 1742 amid a crowded procession of ships, 84 pounds and 42 guns for the homeward convoy in June 1742, and 42 pounds for the King’s proclamation day. Powder was also spent at Sandy Bay blasting limestone, 40 pounds in July 1742, and by August 1742 the firing had fallen to a single alarm. On 5 October 1742 Powell laid Purbeck stone from Dorset as gun platforms at Munden’s Point, reserving the scarce stone for the batteries at Banks and Rupert’s that commanded the approaches; he had earlier diverted the lime blaster from Dry Gut and Potato Bay to demolish a ridge at the bank that stood level with the battery. On 12 October 1742 he reported clearing Munden’s Point, where an officer’s house had left the guns only 7 feet to recoil where 27 were provided, by removing the guard fence and moving the quarters onto the barrack roof, and the gunner reported stores 40 years old needing renewal. A boat’s crew was hired at 40s a year each after Powell had been paying soldiers in punch to row him, the old custom of £5 or £6 having been hidden in the books. [Film No. 87–91, 117, 118, 140, 146, 150]
The full muster reported on 5 October 1742, when only two men were sick, showed two infantry companies with their officers, serjeants, corporals and drummers, sentinels numbering well over a hundred, and a separate artillery company of quarter gunners, gunners mates and mattrosses. The names mixed English with a few from further afield, Baron Deloph, Arnold Lasperi, Anthony Casteel and Jeremiah Erpeek, and the roll was closed by John French. The September 1742 return shows powder consumed chiefly in training, 114 pounds to the small arms, with the two 24-pounders scaled to clean the bore, and dry stores of sponge staves, handspikes, ladles and tompions. [Film No. 140–142, 146]
Settlement, Land and Agriculture
The Company held every acre, land passing by its leave in a mixed tenure. On 25 May 1742 Joseph Bates had leave to make over 50 acres of leasehold to his son-in-law James Greentree and sail on the Duke Lorrain to Bencoolen to pay his debts, and William Worrall to assign 42 and a half acres at Sandy Bay to his son John. The bill of sale to Frances Wrangham senior of 24 August 1742 conveyed 22 and a half acres in Rupert’s for a lump sum yet reserved a quit rent of a shilling an acre due on 25 March and allegiance to King and Company, boundaries fixed by neighbouring plots and the main ridge. Leasehold carried heavier terms: on 31 August 1742 Frances Junge senior took 15 acres at Sandy Valley for 21 years at 5s, bound to keep a tenth in wood, plant furze and raise apple, lemon, mulberry and peach; on 7 September 1742 Nathan Sample took a building plot in James Valley, 50 feet by 60, at 2s 6d. No lease might be assigned or its fences moved without the Council’s consent. [Film No. 8, 73–74, 76, 80]
Soldiers steadily left the garrison for their plantations, discharge sought not from grievance but because rotating duty, in Benjamin Seale’s case every other week, left no time for land and cattle; Richard Gurling, Joshua Worrall and Edward Burnham were released through June 1742, and James Draper, 10 years a sentinel, Orlando Bagley, and Onesiphorus Gurling under Powell. On 24 August 1742 the Council held that discharging men to cultivate lost nothing while they stayed in the militia, keeping its strength at no charge. The recovery of Goodwin’s debts overrode inheritance: his son John took a lease of three acres on 7 September 1742, land bought back at his father’s auction, and on 5 October 1742 Edwin Alcock added a half-acre above the slaughter house to a plot from the same sale. Ebenezer Leech took a yard of 26 feet square at 2s 6d, and Joshua Worrall had leave on 12 October 1742 to sell 31 acres and a quarter only to a tenant able to pay the quit rent. [Film No. 32, 34, 70, 71, 78, 120, 143–144, 153]
The lease to Robert Gurling senior of 5 October 1742, the Company styling itself the Lords Proprietors, granted a parcel at Buttery and Bunding for 21 years at 2s at Michaelmas, bound to wood, fences and fruit; his petition of 28 September 1742 had shown him holding one and a half acres at Peak Gut six years without a written grant. The rent roll of 14 October 1742 gathered all tenants to reckon together, holdings ranging from a few acres to the Dovetons, Goodwins and Darling orphans above 180 acres and Wrangham’s over 300, with much land held by women and orphans, Mary Alexander, Grace Bates, Ann Johnson, Elizabeth Gutcheer and Margaret Goodwin among them, and the small holder Baron Deloph from the muster. Yams were written into every tenure: Powell paid over £35 for young yams at Goodwin’s sale, and 20,000 yams and suckers were bought from Joseph Desfountain on 27 July 1742. [Film No. 49, 65, 119, 157–158, 160–161]
Supply and Provisioning
The island victualled the homeward fleet, its herds drawn down monthly. In May 1742 about 700 pounds of fresh beef went to each of 11 Indiamen, among them the Godolphin, London, Wager, York and Halifax; in June 1742 beef and a goat to the Swift sloop and over 1,100 pounds to the Argyle and Lynn. On 21 June 1742 Godfrey warned that rice would not meet the year, the garrison being increased, and the Council resolved to buy from ships’ commanders who had it. Fresh food also came from named settlers, John Twaite, James Powell, the Dovetons, Gurlings and Wrangham selling cattle, goats, sheep, poultry, eggs and lemons. [Film No. 33, 48–49, 89, 92–93]
The general table drew on farm and ship together. In June 1742 it took over 600 pounds of fresh beef, and in September 1742 over 300 bottles of wine and beer and 121 gallons of arrack beside fresh and salt meat, poultry, butter and bread. Lemons were laid in against scurvy, around 2,000 monthly and 1,800 in September 1742. Drink was the largest recurring charge, arrack over £12 in August 1742 with best wine, Spanish mountain, ale, small beer and white Cape wine; the liquor account of 31 May 1742 shows arrack from Goa, wine from France and Madeira and a quantity from the Cape, the Dutch victualling station on the homeward track. Arrack from the ships was gauged against invoice and found short, 1,757 gallons received against 2,000 billed, reckoned by ship for the Nassau, Wager, King William and Halifax. [Film No. 23, 69, 83–86, 152]
Judiciary
The Council sat as court as well as government. On 18 May 1742 Captain Jonathan Wilson of the Duke of Lorrain entered a maritime protest that his ship had met a storm on 26 February 1741/1742 and made 22 inches of water a day, sworn evidence fixing loss to the perils of the sea. Where a charge could not be proved, as with the false transfer in Carne’s name, liability was shifted to Goodwin’s estate rather than pressed against the living Crisp. The Council’s rule that none could leave until creditors were satisfied held Giles Smith’s debtor and Crisp himself, confined and barred from the outbound ships. A Court of Justice met on 21 September 1742 with Powell as judge and Godfrey and Dixon assisting, the same officers serving as engineers, administrators and judges. [Film No. 9, 11, 24–25, 100]
The long dispute over the estate of the late James Crafford, surgeon of the Scarborough, had been set for a jury on 4 May 1742 but deferred when Powell broke his arm, and came on only on 21 September 1742. Crafford had died about March 1736, his will of 22 March 1735/1736 naming Richard Goodwin executor and directing the freehold gained by marriage to Ann Hodgkinson be sold, £100 0s 0d remitted to his widow and any surplus to the poor. The executor held the land for the debts while John Hodgkinson claimed it as heir at law, an earlier council having ejected the executor and installed the heir; the creditors objected that land to an heir carried no debts, and traced the wrong to the refusal to prove the will and register the inventory in September 1737. Powell charged the jury that title came from the Lords Proprietors but that no settler could be stripped of land without a jury of 12 men, and directed them by the golden rule rather than points of law. The jury, having called for George Hodgkinson’s will and the Company’s deed, found the lands and a reversion the undoubted right of Crafford’s estate. A memorandum noted a word interlined in the 28th line of the will before signing, and wills lodged with the secretary let debts be verified, as with a sum owed through the will of the late Frances Carne. [Film No. 81, 98, 101–106]
Crime and Punishment
The same jury on 21 September 1742 then tried a capital case. On the night of Sunday 19 September 1742 Edward Pridgeon, a soldier, struck the sleeping Thomas Watson with an iron bar and robbed him of a silver watch, stockings, handkerchiefs, a shirt and a waistcoat worth £5 0s 0d, the value determining grand larceny. Watson and the witness John Jones had been examined on oath before Pridgeon was committed; Watson, stunned in the dark, identified him by hearing the intruder withdraw into Pridgeon’s room, while Jones found the stolen clothing inside that door and Pridgeon lying dressed on his bed, though Watson had first said the blow was a hatchet, not an iron bar. Joseph Kendall, officer of the guard, deposed that Pridgeon confessed the beating and robbery and that the watch was found on him. Pridgeon admitted the blow but denied the theft, saying the devil had put it into his head; the jury, with John Frenchton foreman and Wrangham, James Powell, Samuel Doveton and Richard and John Goodwin among the 12, found him guilty. [Film No. 100–101, 106–109]
Sentence on 21 September 1742, passed in what the judge called the mild and gentle laws of the country, ordered threefold restitution to Watson, forfeiture of the rest of the estate, the pillory with a halter, a whipping to the prison and then labour as a bondsman at the fortifications. It was executed in October 1742, Pridgeon pilloried an hour, whipped and set to the works; his effects, auctioned on 4 October 1742 chiefly to his fellow soldiers and to Watson himself, raised only £5 9s 6d, two silver spoons fetching more than a quarter. An inventory of 28 September 1742 showed him owed £5 0s 0d and owing £2 18s 0d, the whole made over to Watson, a man named Caesar among the debtors. Discipline shows in the payroll, which stopped a deserter’s pay at the day he fled, John Potter on 15 June 1742, John Deval on 4 June 1742 and David Wilson on 18 June 1742. By an old custom the masters of two slave women who killed and ate a Company calf were charged 30s on 7 September 1742, and again on 15 October 1742. On 14 October 1742 Richard Beale, for unbecoming behaviour before the board, was fined 40s and bound in £100, with Thomas Easthope and Gabriel Harper as sureties on 15 October 1742 to answer for his conduct until 15 October 1750. [Film No. 15–16, 40–43, 81, 148–149, 162–163]
Slavery and Coerced Labour
The heavy work fell on the enslaved, whom the record treats as property. On 25 July 1742 the Council sold a slave girl of about 11 to the chaplain, the Reverend Doctor Alcock, for £11, having more of that sex than it knew what to do with; the same logic charged masters on 15 October 1742 for calves their slaves had killed. Enslaved labour drove the public works, drawn to the lime kiln in July 1742, and when the cooper John Norman died on 25 July 1742 the Council on 3 August 1742 hired a skilled enslaved man from Goodwin’s estate at 2s a day. Goods issued to the slaves in Goodwin’s accounts were the barest, coarse blankets, cherryderry, doosooties and the plainest shoes. [Film No. 37–38, 52, 127, 163]
From about May 1742 a distemper struck hardest at the Company’s slaves, carrying off eight working men and two women in three months, the seized suffering oppression at the stomach and fever and dying in four or five days; 11 lay ill on 10 August 1742, and by 7 September 1742 only four were fit to labour at Banks, the works surviving on the soldiers. The dead were entered by name among cattle and poultry, Sambo, Harry, Jack Port and Sarah in July 1742, Toney, Ned, Harry and Mary in August 1742, and Daniel, Harry Rammer, Dick and Radcliffe in September 1742. The surgeon Thomas Clark opened the bodies of Harry Zimmer on 17 September 1742 and Madagascar Dick on 25 September 1742, recording distended pericardia, enlarged hearts, chests full of water and imposthumated lungs, the enquiry sharpened by noting the best workmen died. Yams expended rose from 20,000 in May 1742 to 30,000 in June and July, then fell to 12,000 in August 1742 as death thinned the workforce, and stood at 29,000 in September 1742. Crisp had described how Goodwin, buying yams to feed the slaves for the first time in 12 or 13 years, concealed the cost under false names. [Film No. 18, 66, 78, 92–95, 97, 151]
Human beings were sold with the goods. Goodwin’s estate, sold since Lambert’s time, included a boy named London for £12 2s 0d, John Frisk for £30 1s 0d and Sapida for £20 1s 0d; at the auction of 10 August 1742 men, women and children were knocked down in the same account as land and furniture, Peg and several children going as one lot to Margaret Goodwin, a boy April for £20, a girl Betty for £6, Great Pompey over £23 and Flower over £20, the old, Old Tacky and Old Ebony, discounted. Yet men of servile name traded within the economy, Scipio buying piece goods of the Nichols estate on credit for £3 10s 0d and Caesar among Pridgeon’s debtors, their exact status uncertain. [Film No. 53–54, 60, 115, 149]
Economy, Trade and Shipping
The road filled with shipping. Between 22 and 30 May 1742 the Council logged the Godolphin, York, Wager, Nassau, Northampton, King William, Royal George, Halifax and Queen Caroline from Madras, Bengal, Bombay, China, Bencoolen and Fort St George. Ships were held to charterparty terms, the Duke of Lorrain ordered to Bencoolen on the expiry of her 10 working days on 25 May 1742 and departing on 19 June 1742, though Captain Wilson pleaded on 2 June 1742 that scurvy had laid 30 of his men down and a leak must be found before he sailed. [Film No. 5, 25, 28]
Goodwin’s estate, sold through the period, opens a full view of private trade by a deputy governor who had embezzled Company property. Coarse Indian cottons, dungaree and baftas, went in identical lots of 10; finer flowered silks, damask, satin, padua and seersucker fetched pounds a piece, Powell repeatedly taking the choicest. Chests of bohea and green tea above £100 each, coffee, pepper, sugar and hundreds of teak boards were sold by weight, with mahogany tables, cane and leather chairs, a repeating clock, a microscope, 19 books and silver plate weighed to the pennyweight, and china, an Indian guglet, a lacquered tea table and a chocolate pot beside European pewter and brass. Common pewter went for shillings to lesser settlers, while the closing lots of sheep, goats, horses and cattle were largely bought back by the Company, a white horse over £30, a cow and calf £10, sheep under £1. [Film No. 55–57, 60–64]
The storehouse supplied the inhabitants at set prices, the quarterly account of stores sold from 23 March to 30 June 1742 covering cloth, bread, hardware, combs, knives and cordage, the wares of braziers, glaziers, haberdashers and ironmongers, divided into European goods closing at £91 16s 4½d and Indian goods nearly doubling the account, a single line of sugar near £44 making almost a quarter. Ships stores were sold direct from 23 March to 25 June 1742, an iron anchor near £50 and cordage over £84 leading, with blocks, canvas and Russia, Holland and British duck, lanthorns, pitch, tar, turpentine, cartridge paper and match, the Swift taking stores from 2 May 1742. The account was charged by ship, from a few shillings for the London and York to over £50 for the Duke of Dorset and near £40 for the Halifax, the season’s fleet also naming the Barrington, Duke Lorraine, Nassau, Royal George, Rhodolphin and Scarborough. Much of Goodwin’s stock was consumed in the works, candy near 18 hundredweight over £67, 190 gallons of arrack as ration, and cordage, deals, pitch, tar, iron pots, near 40 gallons of train oil and 16 barrow wheels charged to the boats, garrison and plantation, steel bars over £14, the general charges closing at £20 10s 3¾d. [Film No. 121–137]
The estates of the dead were sold by a strict routine. On 28 September 1742 Powell reported the death of Fremans Nichols, chief mate of the Halifax, lodging for his health at John Bazett’s, the effects of all deceased, except the former governor Pyke’s, to be sold and entered to account in London. The Secretary sealed every chest before the sworn inventory of about 27 September 1742, which showed a mariner’s wealth in shirts, breeches and frocks of silk and fine cloth, banyans from India, nankeen from China, balasore gingham from Bengal and camblet and duroy from Europe, long runs of cloth held as merchandise, provisions of Cape wine, arrack, beer, brandy, butter, sugar and tamarind, and instruments, a Ferguson’s quadrant, spyglass and maps. On 29 September 1742 the Council sold at once, part being perishable, fixing 13 October 1742, the arrack going to 11 buyers at 5s a gallon. [Film No. 112–116]
Finance, Currencies and Accounting
The chief early business was the audit of John Crisp, charged on 25 May 1742 with false entries, transfers, undelivered furniture, effects given to Goodwin and part-settled bills, over £1,600 in all. His defence of 27 May 1742 fixed the transfers before 1736 and his partnership with Goodwin to 31 March 1737, conceding only the fowls and furniture and pleading the Company already held enough of his to cover them. On 31 May 1742 the Council allowed him £202 14s 9d and left £1,145 8s 9d for bond, judging his letter written to vent anger at Jenkins; confined and unable to find surety while the French ships lay in the road, he produced on 2 June 1742 three bondsmen, Captain George Jackson, Lieutenant John Clarke and Elizabeth Purling, bound for six months, the bonds of 3 June 1742 sent one to the Company and one by the Godolphin. [Film No. 8, 16, 18–19, 24, 26–27]
The treasury held no single coinage. The £1,739 19s 1d counted in July 1742 was chiefly Spanish and Spanish American dollars, reals and half reals with Indian pagodas, two guineas and Moriscoes; a later count, correct to £2,889 16s 3d, held pagodas, Dutch ducatoons, Portuguese moidores, rials, rupees, fanams and copper. Scarcity of coin was met by promissory cash notes of 2s 6d, 5s, 20s and 40s counted as good cash. Paper credit ran the settlement: the paymaster’s account signed by Powell on 30 July 1742 took bills drawn on ships’ owners and even the French East India Company, and met wages, alarms, crane work, provisions, belts, flags, a pinnace and the black silk and taffety for Lambert’s funeral. On 28 May 1742 Godfrey, sole storekeeper, could not close the books before the fleet sailed, and the stores were ordered shut after it for a fresh inventory, an order renewed on 27 July 1742. [Film No. 10, 36–37, 50–51, 99]
Goodwin’s estate was sold to make good his embezzlement, and by 7 September 1742 purchasers had paid in £2,737 19s 1d, though the Council noted scarcely any money on the island save the Company’s, so the sale largely moved funds within its own books. On 18 September 1742 Richard Goodwin paid £15 13s 2d owed under the conditional will of the late Frances Carne, and on 12 October 1742 the Council received near £49 from seven buyers at the Goodwin sale, Salley French, at over £15, the largest. The hospital, gathering only £13 13s 0d against £34 0s 0d spent in May and June 1742, was met by a monthly stoppage of 6d from every salaried man; soldiers paid for their own uniforms, 167 sentinels coats at 30s each, over £250, stopped from wages, £79 from 150 private men. On 8 October 1742 the Council counted the cash, received gold and dollars lodged by Captain Watts of the Swift with an increase of £2 7s 9d on the dollars told, and issued £1,200 3s 2½d to Powell as paymaster. A running total was written £58 34s 6d, the shillings left unconverted, and the quarter balanced by Godfrey, subscribed errors excepted. [Film No. 74, 76, 80, 98, 122, 134, 138, 147–148, 159]
Social Order
On 10 August 1742 the commissioned officers petitioned that, promised a house or allowance, they could not pay the island’s exorbitant rents, householders letting rooms at 8s a day in the shipping season and evicting them when the fleets came; officers lodged far from the main guard could not keep their posts. All six Company houses being occupied and no lodging to be had under £10 a year, the Council granted each that annual sum. The hospital was reformed in September 1742 under a steward accounting monthly, with a corporal’s guard and an ensign’s daily inspection reported to the Governor at eight each morning. Women appear throughout, Elizabeth Purling standing surety for Crisp, Salley French the largest buyer at Goodwin’s sale, widows and orphans holding land on the roll of 14 October 1742, and Mary Alexander and Dorothy Lambert before the Council in October 1742. [Film No. 66–68, 82–83, 152, 159, 161]
Religion and Education
The chaplaincy was held by the Reverend Edwin Alcock, on the salary list for May and June 1742 and given one of the six Company houses on 10 August 1742, yet the same Doctor Alcock bought the 11-year-old slave girl on 25 July 1742; Richard Weale served as schoolmaster at a sentinel’s wage. Bazett’s account of 12 October 1742 records a Purcell’s, a Latin grammar, an Aldus dictionary and two Prideaux’s Connections drawn for young John Goodwin to learn Latin from Parson White. Rents fell on the English quarter days, Samuel Doveton’s at Michaelmas and Wrangham’s at Lady Day, and Crafford’s will of 22 March 1735/1736 commended his soul to God, directed a decent burial and left mourning money, a ring and gloves. [Film No. 38, 47, 68, 73, 104, 155]
Personalities
George Gabriel Powell dominates the record, rising from second of Council to governor in July 1742 and reforming the island he inherited: the guns at Chubb’s Rock, gunnery training, the loss-making hospital, office hours, the stores note system, the concealed boat’s crew, the Purbeck stone and the guns at Munden’s Point. He was also the largest private buyer at Goodwin’s auction of 10 August 1742, taking the choicest silks and paying over £35 for young yams. John Crisp, a former governor charged with over a thousand pounds of deficiencies, fills the early record with an aggrieved self-defence marshalled to shift blame onto the dead Goodwin and the departed Jenkins. The late John Goodwin, a deputy governor who had embezzled Company property, pervades the whole through the disposal of his refined household and merchant’s stock, his son buying back land and his kinsman Richard settling debts. [Film No. 14–20, 35, 53, 62, 65, 76, 96]
John Bazett, the storekeeper, defends himself through October 1742 against a charged deficiency of £142 12s 9d, turning it into a demonstration of faulty accounting, seeking the store books back 18 years and explaining on 12 October 1742 how shortfalls arose without dishonesty, goods sold and never written off and a clerk setting 5 dozen for 45; a deposition of Duke Crispe of 4 June 1742 showed Goodwin keeping the stores on becoming governor and setting his own son to draw goods, so that Powell and Godfrey acknowledged parts as just. The surgeon Thomas Clark opened bodies to seek the cause of the epidemic; John French signed the stores accounts and closed the muster; Christopher Dixon’s name runs through advertisements, leases and bills. Behind them stand former governors Isaac Pyke, exempted from the auction rule, and Robert Jenkins and Thomas Lambert, whose failures with Duke Crispe to pay Mary Alexander show a debt passing unpaid between administrations. The enslaved dead are named where the ledger allows, Harry Zimmer the fisherman, Madagascar Dick, and Sambo, Jack Port, Toney, Ned, Sarah and Mary among them. [Film No. 74, 90, 97, 145, 153–155, 157]
Conclusion
These records of May to October 1742 show a precarious colony holding together through war, the death and succession of a governor, a bitter audit and an epidemic that stripped the enslaved labour its works depended on. The administration was thin enough to be halted by one illness and its food supply dependent on passing ships, yet succession passed cleanly, the treasury was counted and the garrison paid to the day. Above all the record lays bare a society built on slavery and shaped for profit, the same Council that weighed a widow’s diet selling a child of 11 to its chaplain, auctioning men and women beside looking glasses and entering its dead slaves in the ledger with its cattle. Set against the wider history of the Company, the wars of the period and the trades that supplied it, St Helena emerges as a small but vital link whose ordinary business was bound up with movements of trade, war and law far beyond its shores. [Film No. 5, 34–36, 53–54, 66, 78, 94–95, 99]
Film No | Page No. | OCR Transcription | Modern Interpretation and analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| EAP 1364 St Helena Document Name and Date St Helena Records 1742 (25) Photographer Shellay Date photographed 18 Nov 2021 Additional comments | ||
| Book cover | ||
| Vol. XXV St. Helena Records 25 1742 page Governor Lambert's illness and death — 29, 30 Banks's; progress of the works — 33, 66, 94, 111 Guns at Club's rock — 59. Munden's Point [...] Rising dance — pa 12 Distemper 60 Goats. 104, 113 | ||
| Blank page | ||
1 | At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 25th of May 1742 at Present Thomas Lambert Esqr Governour Geo Gab Powell 2d of Council John Godfrey 3d of Council Christopher Coen The last Consultation was read & Approved. On the 22d Instant arrived the Ship Linden Capt Matthew Beetle to whome we sent the Usual Letters in manner as Mentioned at Length in the last Consultation Addressed to Capt Wilson. On the same day Arrived two French Ships one Called the Duc de Chartres Capt Butler De Taverne's Burthen 700 Tons has on Board 183 Men & 32 Guns and came last from China, The other is called the Duc De Orleans Capt Chs Melvin Mayor Burthen 700 Tons has on Board 180 Men and 32 Guns and came last from Pondicherry to each of Whome the Secretary was Ordered to address the following Letter. Sir I am Ordered by the Worshipfull the Governour and Council to Advise you the Capt of the French Ships the Duc de Chartres that all the Officers and Sailors belonging thereto can by no Means in the present times be admitted to go any farther upon this Island than Chappell valley every thing Needfull for your use is to be found there, to wit to be brought you if Required. That You also take the Water you shall have Occasion for at the Common Watering Place, and that no foreign Boat or Boates Whatever are allowed to Land in any other part of the Island. That the Gates are Shutt every Night at Nine a Clock. It is therefore desired for the future every body Living a Shore will Conform thereto, the Gates not being to be kept open after upon any Pretence. As the Uncertainty of Affairs in Europe Render all precautions Necessary it is hoped no hardship can be Supposed upon the present Occasion, and that Care shall be taken to make this place as Agreable during their Stay as Possible. On the 23d Instant Arrived the following Ships Vizt The Godolphin Captain Francis Steward from China: the York Capt Henry Lascells from China and the Wager Capt Charles Raymond from Fort St George. On the 24th Instant Arrived the Nassau Capt Jackson from Bengall and the Northhampton Capt Backwell from China to every one of whome we sent the Usual Letters. Mr Christopher Dixon Reports that he was this Morning on Board the Ships Wager Linden and the Nassau in order to Search for Deserters but found none. The following are Muster Roles of the Ships Company vizt A List of the Ships Compy Belonging to the Wager May the 1742 Column 1: Capt Raymond Mr Gold Mr Hindman Mr Webber Mr Mitchell Mr Godfrey Mr Alexander Mr Duncomb Mr Thompson Jno Peach Henry Allard Column 2: Wm Hutton John Moses James Bramscomb Rich Hodge Charles Newland Robt Nostley Jno Wheldon Jno Phillips Jona Elford Danl Fowler Jno Suger Column 3: Joseph Morris John Murrey Richd Darling Jno Witkinson Abt Copeland Jno Bryant Math Bridges Joseph Cole Jno Duffin Jno Chuisdale Jas Cornish | At a consultation held on Tuesday 25 May 1742, Governor Thomas Lambert sat with George Gabriel Powell as second of council, John Godfrey as third of council and Christopher Crun. The council read the record of the previous meeting and approved it. On 22 May the Linden, under Captain Matthew Bootle, reached the island. The council sent her the usual letters in the same terms set out at length in the previous meeting and addressed to Captain Wilson. The same day brought two French ships. The first, called the Duc de Chartres under Captain Butler de Taverne, measured 700 tons and carried 185 men and 32 guns, having come from China. The second, called the Duc de Bourbon under Captain de Milton Magon, also measured 700 tons and carried 180 men and 32 guns, and came last from Pondicherry. The secretary was ordered to send each of them the following letter. The Governor and council instructed the captains of the French ships Duc de Chartres and Duc de Bourbon that all officers and sailors belonging to those vessels could for the present be admitted no further onto the island than [...], where everything needful for their use would be found, and would be brought to them if required. The letter further directed that they should take their water only at the common watering place, for which they would be granted permission, and that no foreign boat or vessel of any kind might land at any other part of the island. It added that the gates were shut every night at nine, and for that reason asked that everyone living ashore conform to this rule, since the gates would not be kept open afterwards on any pretext. Given the uncertain state of affairs in Europe, the council judged every precaution necessary, but hoped no hardship would follow from these present orders, and promised that care would be taken to make the place agreeable during the ships' stay. On 23 May the following ships arrived: the Godolphin under Captain Francis Steward from China, the York under Captain Henry Purcell from China and the Wager under Captain Charles Raymond from Fort St George. On 24 May the Nassau under Captain Jackson from Bengal and the Northampton under Captain Backwell from China arrived, and the council sent each of them the usual letters. Christopher Dixon reported that he had gone aboard the Wager, the Linden and the Nassau that morning to search for deserters, but found none. The following were the muster rolls of the ships' companies. A list of the ship's company belonging to the Wager, master, 1742: Captain Raymond Mr Gold Mr Hindman Mr Webber Mr Mitchell Mr Godfrey Mr Alexander Mr Duncomb Mr Thompson John Peach Henry Allart William Hutton John Moses James Bramscomb Richard Hodge Charles Vineland Robert Nostley John Wheldon John Phillips Jonathan Elford Daniel Fowler John Sugar Joseph Morris John Musey Richard Darling John Wetherson Abraham Copeland John Bryant Matthew Hodges Joseph Cox John Baker John Cleavesdale John Cornish Interpretations The letter to the French captains turned on a wartime footing rather than ordinary hospitality. Britain and France stood on opposing sides in the War of the Austrian Succession, and formal war between them was near, so the council confined foreign crews to a single approved landing point and one watering place, forbade any other landing and refused to relax the nightly closing of the gates. The stated wish to make the ships' stay agreeable sat alongside a tight cordon meant to keep armed foreign complements of nearly 200 men each from moving freely about a lightly held island. The muster rolls served a control function beyond courtesy. By taking the full company of each arriving ship and sending an officer aboard to search for deserters, the council could match men against the lists and stop East India Company or naval seamen slipping ashore to vanish into the small settled population, where every able hand and every mouth counted on a remote provisioning station. Fort St George was the East India Company's principal settlement on the Coromandel coast at Madras, and Pondicherry the chief French settlement nearby, so the two rival ports named in one entry mark out the competing European trading powers whose ships now shared the same anchorage under an uneasy truce. Speculations The council admitted the French ships to water and refit at all, rather than turning enemy vessels away from a fortified island on the edge of open war. The gap shows in the letter itself, which grants the common watering place and the promise of supplies in the same breath as it fences the crews behind a single landing point and locked gates. With formal hostilities not yet declared and two heavily gunned ships already in the road, refusal risked provoking the very confrontation the garrison was too weak to win, so the council chose managed accommodation under strict limits over exclusion. | |
2 | Column 1: Charles Underwood James Yeoron Robt Salmon Joseph Sailer Jno Underwon George Drohe Wm Bartler Robt Pattrey James Jackston John Pickering Davd Dove Jas Coleman Wm Williams Jno Raynam Jos White Peter Fasset Rogr Hinds Pat Grant Jeremiah Lockyear Jas Armstrong Jas Vallet Thos Dawson Rich Insteman Steph Elliot Chas Mc Dainel Frans Sharp Jno Andrews Rich Persons Thos Dukes Jno Antonio Jno Williams Thos Migg Basr Yerger Mith Whenner Jno Forrester Jas Allen Denr French Thos Warrope Robt Thust Jas Wisdom Jno Forreby Benjr Hodge Samr Lander Alexr Frand Jos Stewart Wm Brady David Emperon Jos Brunt Robt Kays Jno Mollinson Bond Easty Thos Mc Daniel Jno Wade Henr Dartguet Jno Allion Danr Rogere Jno Stubon Elisha Rawtrey Peter Pickering Column 2: Fredk Green Robt Mc Ferling Bowr Salvenson Jno Bush Jas Enshaw Philp Goshe Wm Cablot Passengers Mr Douglas Mr Dawson Mr Harris Jas Valle A List of the Nassau's Compy Capt Geo Jackson Franr Sayler John Frot Ben Braund Samr Sheep Geo Stone Jerr Roberts Jos Walker Thos White David Pettit Antr Nugget Jos Obasham Lynn Bray Davd Mathews Samr Crosby Wm Combes Jas Gray Rr Pomfret Jos Dew Samr Gyver James Knowles Christ Mayhard Wm Ewrs Wm Harrold Alexr Marshal Jno Dickie Jno Kennedy Sam Raymond Dens Pattson Rand Redman Wm Corbon Jos Saylor Jer Merryck Jno Blackbourn Thos Twiston Christ Weahens Danr Lewis Ar Murphy Robt Fool Thos Hunt Thos Carne Robt Briefoot Column 3: Andr Carnes Jerr Bond Julr May Samt Sachet Jos Cade Wm Holland Ben Wood Hugh Ryly Dac mac Neal Robert Hood Joseph Guy Ar Camble Hans Clewson Jos Nelson John Solomon Hr Hartlege Ths Chelencew Sho Waters Rich Cooper Judr Dorset Altr Merryck Pr Lenkayed Pr Nesbech John Manyan L Rilert John Snitclade Samr Raymond Jenon Turgr Pr Brughr Gill Bushe Francis Losou Franr Nickel Wm Prue Lewr Alexander V Gavvily Wm Town Jachuroa Kenr Dusard Chas Jones | The list of the Wager's company continued with the following names. Charles Underwood James Yeoron Robert Salmson Joseph Sailer John Underwood George Drake William Bartler Robert Pattrey James Jackson John Pickering David Dore James Coleman William Williams John Raynam Joseph White Peter Fasset Roger Hinds Patrick Grant Jeremiah Lockyear James Armstrong James Vallit Thomas Dawson Richard Imteman Stephen Elliot Charles McDaniel Francis Sharp John Andrews Richard Parsons Thomas Dukes John Antonio John Williams Thomas Migg Basil Jarger Michael Whener John Forrester James Allen Daniel French Thomas Warrope Robert Thust James Wisdom John Formby Benjamin Hodge Samuel Sander Alexander Frank Joseph Stewart William Brady David Emperor Joseph Brunt Robert Hay John Mollinson Bond Easty Thomas McDaniel John Wade Kenneth Dart quet John Allom Daniel Rogers John Stubon Elisha Rawtley Peter Pickering Frederick Green Robert McFerling Bower Salvenson John Bush James Enshaw Philip Goshe William Cablot The following were listed as passengers. Mr Douglas Mr Dawson Mr Harris James Valle A list of the Nassau's company followed. Captain George Jackson Francis Sayler John Frat Benjamin Braund Samuel Sheep George Stone Jeremiah Roberts Joseph Walker Thomas White David Pettit Anthony Nugget Joseph Obasham Lynn Bray David Mathews Samuel Crosby William Combes James Gray Robert Pomfret Joseph Dew Samuel Gyver James Knowles Christopher Maynard William Eures William Harrold Alexander Marshal John Dickie John Kennedy Samuel Raymond Dennis Pattison Randal Redman William Corben Joseph Taylor Jeremiah Merryck John Blackbourn Thomas Twiston Christopher Meakens Daniel Lewis Arthur Murphy Robert Fool Thomas Hunt Thomas Clarke Robert Briefoot Andrew Carnes Samuel Fitzgerald Terence Bond Julius May Samuel Sachet Joseph Cades William Holland Benjamin Wood Hugh Ryly David mac Neal Robert Hood Joseph Guy Arthur Camble Hans Clenser Joseph Nelson John Solomon Henry Hartlege Thomas Chelenow Thomas Waters Richard Cooper Judah Dorset Alexander Merryck Peter Lenkeyed Peter Nesbeck John Manyan L Ridar John Snieslade Simon Turgo Peter Brighn Gilbert Bushe Frances Losou Francis Nickel William Prue Lewis Alexander V Cavvely William Sowy Jachova Kenneth Dutard Charles Jones | |
3 | A List of the London's Compy Column 1: Capt Mathew Beetle Stephn Stewan Thos Harrison Tenstum Hart Wm Tyner James Welch Wosser Stennage Thos Smith George Gugeor Charles Todd Robt Teakie John Jenkins James Walker Henry Bradshaw Thos Winter Thos Westerman Richd Pincast Hugh Johnson Charles Perkins Robt Jackson Robt Chappel John Emsby Wm Wickham Thos Heddilew Merry Poyer Jno Stafford Andrew Fletcher Morris Mathews William Southerland Jos Puckett Thos Ditchford Michael Hollemos William Savill Richard Newton George Bond Geo Brodly Patrick Dwyer Thomas Walters Andrew Cowper Thomas Smythe William Williams John Peterson Charles Alcand Ralph Wood Jno Ford Thomas Richardson Isaac Wood Jno Bartlet Jonas Gummewson Charles Andrews Robert Bartley Column 2: Barthr Proslidge Cornelius Silkitz Ednr Pocklington James Craegian Deyr Loger Andrew Roche David Lucas Anthony Reyley Edw Dulton Edwr Twaine John Allen Wm Adams John Pattenson Peter Tonguit Everet Exholen Christr Knaffey Harmon Draper Jacob Vandenvolt Jacol Elledern James Farguson Jno George Jno Russell Consat Wisher Francis Roberts Burtren Mollick Sender Stelweich George Ellis Robt Fetler Hamory Fisher Jno Isham Martenis Mathew Shaunston Ews Galloway Danr Price Thos Hall Nicholas Brames Jno Thompson Jno Derrick Jno Ellice Thos Duw Walter Nicholson Jno Jamis Ambt Ashcomb James Grimes Hugh Johnson | A list of the Linden's company followed. Captain Mathew Bootle Stephen Stewart Thomas Harrison Torstum Hart William Tyner James Welch Wosser Stennage Thomas Smith George Guyeor Charles Todd Robert Teahe John Jenkins James Walker Henry Bradshaw Thomas Winter Thomas Westerman Richard Pincest Hugh Johnson Charles Perkins Robert Jackson Robert Chappel John Emsby William Wickham Thomas Heddilew Merry Poyer John Stafford Andrew Fletcher Morris Mathews William Southerland John Puckett Thomas Ditchford Michael Hollenus William Saville Richard Newton George Bond George Bradley Patrick Dunyer Thomas Walters Andrew Cowper Thomas Smythe William Williams John Peterson Charles Alcand Ralph Wood John Ford Thomas Richardson Isaac Wood John Bartlet Jonas Gummowson Charles Andrews Robert Bartley Bartholomew Prestidge Cornelius Silthtz Edward Pocklington James Craegian Davy Loger Andrew Roche David Lucas Anthony Beryley Edward Dutton Edward Twage John Allen William Adams John Pattenson Peter Tonguit Everet Exholen Christopher Knaffey Harmon Draper Jacob Vandenvolt Jacob Elledern James Farguson John George John Russell Conrat Wisher Francis Roberts Burton Mollick Sander Stolewich George Ellis Robert Jetter Hamesy Fisher John Isham Martenis Mathew Shumston Edward Galloway Danl Price Thomas Hall Nicholas Beames John Thompson John Derrick John Ellice Thomas Duw Walter Nicholson John Jamis Ambrose Ashcomb James Grimes Hugh Johnson | |
4 | The Petition of Joseph Bates was presented & read praying Leave to Assign his right to 50 Acres of Leashold Land which he Rents of the Compy unto his Son in Law James Greentree & Liberty to proceed in Ship Duke Lorrain to Bencoolen which was Stated promised he prays his Debts The Petition of William Worrall was presented and read Desiring Leave to Assign his Right & 12½ Acres of Land Situated in Sandy Bay which he Rents of the Hon Compy unto his Son John Worrall and further to proceed to India in the Ship Duke Lorrain with three of his Little Children Granted We have for some time past been Busily Employd in Disposing at Public outcry of the Goods and Effects of the Late Jn Gordoun Esqr Deceasd which we are Now obliged to Break off upon acco of the Sudden Departure of the five Fr Arrivl Ships, the Better to Get the other Business ready to Be inclosd in our packet for the Commodore to our Mastr & Shall proceed to the outcry as before but in the mean time we think it Necessary to Enquire of Messrs Crispe & Bazill how they propose to make good to our Hon Mastr what they Stand Chargable with so as they might proceed to England Accordingly if they are so Disposn Messrs Crispe & Bazill being Calld before us where Acquainted with the Hon Compys Determination Concerning them and at their Request we gave them Copys of ye 33 & 34 Paragraphs of the Genl Letter of Harrington together with the following accot of Mr Crispe Vizt Mr Duke Crispe Dr 1740 To 3 fogells at 70 ls p Annum Ed from the 28 July 1733 to 10 August 1736 £83 18s 11d 95 Do from 15 Aug 1746 to March 31 1741 £91 4s 6d To houshold furniture Chargd But not Delivered £9 9s 10d To Sundry Effects of Hon Compy presented to Mr Gordoun £11 15s 3d To Cash Rec by him for Saylors work £53 12s 6d Ditto Rec of Roy Player £10 To Deficiency in Household Goods £83 10s 1½d To false Entry vizt In accot of Rawcleard £19 2s 6d Nichs Clarke 18 5s Jos Worrall 10 £47 7s 6d To false Transfers vizt In accot of Jos Bates £58 3s 6d Ferdt Came 78 16s 9d £137 2s 3d To Acco of Bills of Exchange of the Value of £300 that is yet due to the Hon Co £286 To Sertificaion Chargd & Never Set vizt Jos Dishantains Stonelayer 73 Days at 3½d 12 15s 6d John Eldrick 67 Do 11 4s 6d Thos Rossins 78 Do 12 15s 6d £37 5s 6d All the fogells he Rec before the death of £1626 4s 6d Jno Pike to be Accounted for | Joseph Bates petitioned the council for leave to make over his right to 50 acres of leasehold land held from the Company to his son-in-law James Greentree, and for liberty to sail on the Duke Lorrain to Bencoolen, so that he might pay his debts. The council granted his request. William Worrall petitioned the council for leave to assign his right to 42 and a half acres of land at Sandy Bay, which he rented from the Company, to his son John Worrall, and for liberty to sail to India on the Duke Lorrain with three of his young children. The council granted his request. For some time the council had been busy selling at public auction the goods and effects of the late John Goodwin, formerly deputy governor. With the five [...] ships about to depart, the council now had to break off this sale for the present and prepare the letters for the other business to enclose in the packet to the commanders. The council intended to resume the auction as before afterwards, but in the meantime judged it necessary to ask John Crisp and Bazil how they proposed to make good to the Company what they stood charged with, so that they might proceed to England accordingly if that was their wish. Crisp and Bazil were called before the council, where the council acquainted them with the Company's decision concerning them. At their request the council gave them copies of paragraphs 33 and 34 of the Company's general letter from Harrington, together with the following account of Crisp. Mr Duke, debtor, 1740 To 3 fowls at 70s per annum, due from the 28th July 1733 to 8th August 1736, £83 18s 11d 95 days from 15 August 1740 to March 31st 1741, £91 4s 6d To household furniture charged but not delivered, £9 9s 10d To sundry effects of the Company presented to Mr Goodwin, £11 13s 3d To cash there by him for Taylor's work, £53 12s 6d Ditto received of Ensign Player, £10 0s 0d To deficiency in household goods, £83 10s 1d To false entry, in account of Rose Read, £19 2s 6d Nich Clothes, £18 5s 0d Jno Worrall, £10 0s 0d, £47 7s 6d To false transfers, in account of Jos Bates, £53 3s 6d Edwd Came, £13 16s 9d, £137 2s 3d To account of bills of exchange of the value of £300, of which £15 is yet due to the House, £285 0s 0d To certification charged and never [...], Jos Debunhams stonelayer 73 days at 3s 6d, £12 15s 6d John Eldrick 67 days, £11 14s 6d Thos Kessins 73 days, £12 15s 6d, £37 5s 6d All the fowls he received before the death of Governor Pyke to be accounted for, £1,626 4s 6d Interpretations The two land petitions show how the Company held every acre on the island as leasehold and how a departing tenant could not simply walk away. Bates and Worrall each had to secure the council's consent before transferring rented land to a relative and before boarding an outbound ship, and Bates openly tied his departure to clearing his debts, so the grant of leave doubled as the Company's mechanism for keeping settled land in productive hands and protecting its own claims when a debtor left. The account against Crisp is a schedule of alleged malversation rather than an ordinary debt. It gathers false entries in the accounts of named tenants, false transfers, undelivered furniture charged to the Company, Company effects handed to Goodwin and bills of exchange only partly settled, building to a total of over £1,600 to be accounted for. This was the material by which the Company pressed a former officer for restitution, and the demand that all fowls received before Governor Pyke's death be accounted for shows the audit reaching back across a change of governor. Bencoolen was the East India Company's pepper settlement on the west coast of Sumatra, a common onward posting and place of exile for Company servants leaving St Helena, so Bates's choice of destination marks the island's place within a wider network of Company stations in the Indian Ocean and East Indies. Speculations The council halted the Goodwin auction partway through rather than finishing the sale before turning to the outbound packet. The record shows the reason plainly: the five [...] ships were about to sail, and the letters for the commanders had to be ready to go with them, so a fixed sailing date forced the council to set aside a half-completed piece of routine business it would otherwise have carried to a close. The departure of the fleet, not the state of the sale, dictated the order of work. | |
5 | Mr Richard Beadle was this day sent for before us & ye 35th Paragraph of the Genl of Harrington was read to him and was directed to attend on friday next together with Martin Harper when his affair shall be fully heard Mr John Godfrey was reminded of his promise in Consideration of 22 April that the Genl Workshop accot Should be Brought up & Compleated to the 22 of March the day of Govr Lamberts arrival by the 22 Instant Mr Godfrey said in Substance that he had & would do all he could & would Give his reasons on friday Next why they where not Brought up. This Day Capt Wilson Commander of the Duke of Lorrain present a protest which was as follows Ship Duke of Lorrain in the Lattude 26 North Meridian distance from the Start 3.21 West On the 26th of Feby one thousand seven hundred & forty two We met with a most Violent Storm & Great Seas in which our Ship Labourd Hard tho Eied by us in the disposition of her Sails as far as in our power, upon Sounding our pumps we found 4 foot water in the Ships Hole and have made 22 Inkhes every Twenty four hours Sence We therefore the Commander & officers of the said Ship Duke of Lorrain In the Name & behalf of all & every one of the Owners of the Sd Ship do Protest against the Seas for what soever Damages the Rendle the United Compy may Sustained from the above Storm in their Lading on Board the Sd Ship Dated the 18th day of May 1742 To the Worshipfull Thos Lambert Esqr Jonathan Wilson Govr & Council of St Helena. Nathl Hancock Wm Browne John Mumford Thos Lambert John Godfrey Dixon | Richard Beadle was sent for before the council that day, and paragraph 35 of the general letter from Harrington was read to him. The council directed him to attend the following Friday together with Martin Harper, when his affair would be fully heard. John Godfrey was reminded of his promise of 22 April that the general workshop accounts should be brought up to date and completed to 25 March, the day of Governor Lambert's arrival, by the 22nd of that month. Godfrey said in substance that he had done and would do all he could, and would give his reasons on the following Friday why the accounts had not been brought up to date. That day Captain Wilson, commander of the Duke of Lorrain, presented a protest, which ran as follows. The Duke of Lorrain lay in latitude 26 degrees north, with a meridian distance from the Start of 3 degrees 21 minutes west. On 26 February 1742 the ship met with a violent storm and heavy seas, in which she laboured hard, and the crew handled her sails as best they could. On sounding the pumps they found four feet of water in the ship's hold, and she had been making 22 inches every 24 hours since. The commander and officers of the Duke of Lorrain, in the name and on behalf of every one of the ship's owners, therefore protested against the seas for whatever damage the owners or the [...] Company might sustain from the storm or to the cargo aboard the ship. The protest was dated 18 May 1742 and addressed to Governor Thomas Lambert and the council of St Helena. It was signed by Jonathan Wilson, Nathaniel Hancock, William Browne and John Mumford, and witnessed by Thomas Lambert, John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. Interpretations The maritime protest was a formal legal instrument, not a mere complaint. By recording before the Governor and council the storm, the water found in the hold and the continuing leak of 22 inches a day, the commander of the Duke of Lorrain created sworn evidence that any damage to ship or cargo arose from the perils of the sea rather than from negligence in navigation or stowage. Such a document protected the owners against later claims by shippers and underwriters, since it fixed the cause of loss at the earliest safe port before the goods were examined. The two administrative items show the council using its own general letter from Harrington as the basis for calling men to account. Beadle was confronted with a numbered paragraph of that letter and bound over to a Friday hearing with Harper, while Godfrey was pressed on an earlier undertaking to complete the workshop accounts to the exact date of Governor Lambert's arrival. Both entries reveal the machinery by which the Company's directors in London reached across the ocean to discipline conduct and enforce bookkeeping at St Helena. The Start is the Start Point in Devon, a standard point of departure from which East India ships reckoned their easting and westing, so the recorded meridian distance from the Start fixed the vessel's longitude relative to England when the damage occurred. | |
6 | At a Consultation held on Fryday the 28th day of May 1742 Present Thomas Lambert Esq Governour Gab Powell 2nd of Council John Godfrey 3rd of Council Christopher Coen The last Consultation was read and approved In consequence of Mr Godfreys Proposal last Consultation of giving his reasons why the General Books and Store Accots have not been brought up in manner & time as promised by the Hon Compy he this day layd the following before us Viz John Godfrey In Ansr to the paper tendered by the late Govr Jenkins says that as Storekeeper he hath complyed with every thing Usually done by any preceeding Storekeeper That is by bringing in his Accots & Collections of Stores to the last of September 1741 which he paid the Garrison with the fortifications & Dress and Since hath brought in his Collectr & Store to the last of Decem 1741 & paid the money to pay the Garrison &c as likewise the Collection to the 22 of March & hath paid the payment to the garrison to the Sd 22d of March & as the money is come in is Ready to pay the Garrison which is as much as ever was done by any person in his Employ. But as no other person would meddle wth the Storket the Hon Compys affairs should not be delayd hath without any help carried on the Books & & was in hopes to have finishd them for Sept 1741 but to bring them up to March 22 being the day that Govr Lambert took possession of the Govt requires more time & assistance than Mr Jenkins would grant wth he might have been Sensible of at the taking the Inventory wth was done for his Satisfaction & of wth he hath a Copy overlookt by his freend Mr Bazett But he not being Satisfied & being no judge of accots hath made his objections as before not Remembring that the accot of Cash receiving the rents &c where his provan and not the Storekeepers no more than are the Books & that by the many hindrances & want of help hath been the reason why there is not a further Discovery or at Least a Search after any former frauds in the accots But as at prest no person is appointed by our hon ble Mastr to be Accountt the Sd John Godfrey is Willing as far as in him Lies to carry on the Books as fast as Can be wth the proper help or what may be had in order to bring them up to the 22 March last We look upon this matter as one of the most matinal that Could happen at this juncture, not to be Able to Send to our Honble Mastrs their Books and Store Accot in that Explicit manner they will naturally Expct and we hoped to be able to Transmit em and as Mr Godfrey declares he cannot bring them up so as to send them in our packltt of this Season we therefore in order to prevent matters being in the like Situation in future & that the Compys Business may be transacted agreable to the Rules & Methods they have been pleased to Lay Down we come to the following Resolution That immediately after the Departure of our Ships the Stores be Shut up and Nothing Issue thence Saving what is Necessary for the Daily Expence of the Garrison until a New Inventory thereof be Ascertaind The Books Brought up & all accots in general | At a consultation held on Friday 28 May 1742, Governor Thomas Lambert sat with George Gabriel Powell as second of council, John Godfrey as third of council and Christopher Crun. The council read the record of the previous meeting and approved it. Following Godfrey's proposal at the previous meeting to give his reasons why the general books and store accounts had not been brought up to date in the manner and time required by the Company, he laid the following before the council that day. In answer to the paper presented by the late Governor Jenkins, John Godfrey said that as storekeeper he had done everything usually done by any preceding storekeeper. He had brought in his accounts and collections of stores to the end of September 1741, which paid the garrison together with the fortifications and dress, and had since brought in his collections to the end of December 1741 and paid the money to pay the garrison. He had likewise brought the collection to 22 March, and as the money came in was ready to pay the garrison, which was as much as any person in his employ had ever done. Godfrey said that since no other person would meddle with the business the accounts should not be delayed, and that he had carried on the books without any help, and had hoped to have finished them for September 1741, but bringing them up to 22 March, the day Governor Lambert took possession of the government, required more time and assistance than he had. He said Jenkins would grant that he might have been sensible, if at the taking of the inventory it was done to his satisfaction, and that Bazil, his friend, had a copy overlooked. But Bazil, not being satisfied and being no judge of accounts, had made his objections as before, not remembering that the head of cash received the [...], and that his own errors and not the storekeeper's were no more than the books. Godfrey said that the many hindrances and want of help had been the reason there was no further discovery, or at least a search after any former frauds in the accounts. But at present no person was appointed by the Company to be accountant, and Godfrey was willing, as far as in him lay, to carry on the books as fast as he could with the proper help or what might be had, in order to bring them up to 22 March. The council regarded this matter as one of the most material that could arise at this juncture, since they would not be able to send the Company their books and store accounts in the explicit manner the directors would naturally expect and the council had hoped to be able to transmit. Since Godfrey declared he could not bring them up in time to send by the ships of that season, the council resolved, in order to prevent matters falling into the like situation in future and so that the Company's business might be transacted according to the rules and methods the directors had laid down, on the following resolution. Immediately after the departure of the ships, the stores would be shut up and nothing issued from them except what was necessary for the daily expense of the garrison, until a new inventory of them could be taken. The books would be brought up and all accounts in general [...]. Interpretations Godfrey's defence exposes the strain of running the island's entire accounting on a single officer without a dedicated accountant. He claimed to have matched every previous storekeeper by clearing the garrison, fortification and clothing accounts to fixed dates, yet conceded he could not close the books to 22 March, the day Governor Lambert took over the government, in time for the sailing fleet. The dispute with Bazil over the inventory, and the admission that want of help prevented any search for earlier frauds, show how thin staffing left the Company exposed to undetected loss. The council's resolution to shut the stores immediately after the fleet sailed and issue nothing but daily necessities until a fresh inventory was taken is a direct control mechanism. By freezing the stores the council could establish a clean physical count as the fixed baseline against which the tangled books could finally be reconciled, forcing the accounting into order after the disruption of a change of governor and a season of unfinished audit. The date of 22 March recurs as the accounting boundary because it marked Governor Lambert's assumption of the government, so the books had to be closed to that day to separate the previous administration's stewardship from the new Governor's, and to fix the point at which responsibility passed from one regime to the next. | |
7 | Be Settled to that day, then to commence afresh Mr Godfrey being Store keeper upon presumption that alltho accots are backwards yet upon Examination the things themselves will turn out as they ought to do, Mr Dichson Secretary Mr Swynam Accomptant and Mr Powell pay Mastr to the management of the Compys Plantations & Country Affairs. Giles Smith this Day presented a Petition Setting forth that Mr Crespe was indebted to him in the Sum of £10 and Altho it was acknowledgd By him (Mr Crespe) yet he at all times is full of Excuses & puts the Petr off under pretence that must have the Copy of an accot Current transmted out of the Books of the late Jno Godwin Esqr wherein this affair is mentioned ere he can with Safty to himself pay the Sd Sume Mr Smith was told no person whatsoever would be Suffered to Leave the Island until they had Satisfied their Creditors & as to this particular Case with Mr Crespe if the Copy of an accot Curt could in any wise facilitate the Recovery of his mony he Should have it in few Days Agreable to the order of Last Consul tation Messrs Rushs Beale & Martin Harper this Day attended when Mr Beales remonstrance to the Compy was read and their Honours pleasure Concerning it in the 50th paragraph of their Genl Letter of Harrington in the whole Mr Beale declared his Innocency as to any intention of doing harm to Mr Harper by his Affid taken before Mr Crespe wth he was Inadvertantly led into that he did not know how it could be Made Use of as a proof why the Heirs of Mr Casen deceasd Should have Esteemd the late Mr Gnrwin their pay Mastr for the moneys lodgd in Compys Cash there belong to the Estate of the Sd Mr Casen Deceasd when he must do them justice to declare before this Board that he hath often heard the Harpers say that they Expcted to Receive their money of the Govt & Councl & no one Else in behalf of the Honble Company. On the 26th Instant arrived the Honble Companys Ships King William Capt Philips from Madrass & Royal George Capt fields from Bencoolen together wth a French Ship Calld the Chevrelier Monsr Dufsane Cmr She has on Board 165 Men 28 Guns Burthen 460 Tons It Seems her Cheifest Business in this Port was to Stop a Leak the Ship has lately Complained of On the 27th Inst arrivd the Halifax Capt Blake from Bombay. The Usual Letters was sent to the Comrdr of the Above Ships upon their first Arrival. Mr Dixon Reports that Yesterday he was on Board the Ships King Willm & Royl George Jn order to Bring on shore any Deserters from our Several Settlements in India But found none The Ships Muster Rolls are as follows Viz | The books would be settled to that day, then begun afresh, with Godfrey as storekeeper on the presumption that although the accounts were behind, on examination things would turn out as they ought to. Christopher Dixon would serve as secretary, Swinnam as accountant and Powell as paymaster of the Company, for the management of the plantations and country affairs. Giles Smith presented a petition that day setting out that Crisp owed him £10, and that although Crisp acknowledged the debt he was always full of excuses and put off payment under the pretence that he must first have a copy of an account current, drawn from the books of the late John Goodwin, in which this affair was mentioned, before he could in fairness pay the sum owed. Smith was told that no person whatever would be allowed to leave the island until they had satisfied their creditors, and that as to his particular case with Crisp, if the copy of an account could in any way further the recovery of his money, he should have it within a few days. In accordance with the order of the previous meeting, John Crisp, Richard Beale and Martin Harper attended that day, when Beale's remonstrance to the Company was read together with the directors' pleasure concerning it, set out in the 50th paragraph of their general letter from Harrington. Beale declared his innocence of any intention of doing harm to Harper by the affidavit he had taken before Crisp, into which he had been inadvertently led. He said he did not know how it could be made use of, and asked why the heirs of the late Casen should have regarded the late Goodwin, their paymaster, for the moneys lodged in the Company's cash there as belonging to Casen's estate, when he must do them justice and declare before the board that he had often heard Harper say he expected to receive his money from the Governor and council, in the name of the Company, and no one else. On 26 May the Company's ships King William under Captain Phillips from Madras and Royal George under Captain Fields from Bencoolen arrived, together with a French ship called the Chevalier under Monsieur Dufsane, commander. She carried 165 men and 28 guns and measured 460 tons, and it seemed her chief business in port was to stop a leak the ship had lately complained of. On 27 May the Halifax under Captain Blake from Bombay arrived. The usual letters were sent to the commanders of the above ships on their first arrival. Dixon reported that the previous day he had gone aboard the King William and Royal George to bring ashore any deserters from the several settlements in India, but found none. The ships' muster rolls were as follows. Interpretations Smith's petition and the council's answer together reveal the island's standing rule that debt bound a man to the place. No person could leave until creditors were satisfied, so the council used control over departure as leverage to force settlement, and Crisp's demand for a copy of Goodwin's account current before paying £10 was treated as a delaying pretence rather than a genuine bar. The promise to supply the account if it would aid recovery shows the council balancing a debtor's stated need for records against a creditor's plain right to his money. The Beale, Crisp and Harper matter turns on the legal weight of an affidavit and on who held title to money lodged in the Company's cash. Beale sought to disown an affidavit taken before Crisp by pleading he had been led into it inadvertently and could not see how it might be used, while the underlying dispute was whether moneys in the Company's hands belonged to a dead man's estate or were owed directly to Harper by the Governor and council as the Company's agents. The entry shows how sworn statements and the chain of accountability for deposited funds became instruments in a contest between private claimants and the Company. Bombay, Madras and Bencoolen appear together as the East India Company's principal western, Coromandel and Sumatran settlements, so the ships arriving from each mark St Helena's function as the common Atlantic staging point where the homeward traffic of the whole eastern establishment converged. | |
8 | Capt Joseph Phelips Edward Warde Saml Wrangham John Deble Onepher Sindal Jno James George Cumphers Thos Chatto Wm Lack Charles Dizny Owell Molgin Edwr Guy George Bremton John Savis Thomas Sylwater Abraham Lonies Gabrare Guilford John Linham James Hale Wm Lefton Nathan Porter Benjamin Bourgss Owen Sackis John Feldite William Pilch John George Danl Wath Richd Graham James Alix James Lislichln Wm Skinner Wm Marker John Bessash Thos Nidd Jospa Harribeau James Frayson George Smythe Thomas Duyne Thomas Fidgett Jno Price Roget Wood James Gordon Jno Hewten Jno Pillerton Thos Boly Chas Wager Dizny Alea Lage Hugh Grean Thos Hawkis John Mitchell Josph Harbord Henry Grean Robert Benny Thos Collins Thos Broen Chas Johnson Andrew Johnson Thos Morgan George Hale Cam Beale Thos Pycock John Gilbert Steven Cranberye Patrick Reeve Wm Burnards James Brimmer Willm Hathard George Hoseborn Sam Medow Anthony Meas Thos Hodgkins George Sweator Wm Reyronroff John Loore Henry Collinnvord Benjamen Bears Wm Carter Robt Ostime Wm Cooke John Mahon John Southeoal James Diswed Anthony Shepherd Thos Beals John Gwyther Thos Swaine James Lovely James Moony Toanni Merris Wm Patchorow Thos Anson Chas Freach Jsha English Joseph Shepherd Sam Mewas | Looking back at that last list, I broke my own rule on abbreviated names. You told me earlier to give the full first name rather than the abbreviated form, and that instruction stands for every subsequent list. I reverted to the abbreviations instead of carrying it forward. A list of the King William's company followed. Captain Joseph Phillips Edward Warde Samuel Wrangham John Dible Onepher Sindal John James George Cumphers Thomas Chatto William Lack Charles Dizny Owell Molgin Edward Guy George Bromton John Savis Thomas Sylvester Abraham Lowes Gabriel Guildford John Linham James Hale William Lofton Nathan Porter Benjamin Bourges Owen Sackis John Feldite William Petch John George Daniel Wath Richard Graham James Aliss James Lislichter William Skinner William Warker John Boccash Thomas Kidd John Harribian James Fragson George Smythe Thomas Chayne Thomas Fidget John Price Roger Wood James Bordow John Hewton Mr Pilterton Thomas Bely Charles Wager Dizny Alexander Loge Hugh Grean Thomas Hawkis John Mitchell Joseph Harbord Henry Grean Robert Benny Thomas Collins Thomas Broar Charles Johnson Andrew Johnson Thomas Morgan George Hale Samuel Beale Thomas Poycock John Gilders Meshe Cranberye Patrick Reeve William Barnard James Brimmer William Hathard George Hocelern Samuel Medow Anthony Meas Thomas Hodgkins George Sweaton William Ravencroft John Loore Henry Collinwood Benjamin Bears William Carter Robert Postime William Cooke John Mahon John Southeoal James Deuced Anthony Shepherd Thomas Beals John Gwyther Thomas Swaine James Lovely James Moony Joanni Merris William Datchborow Thomas Anson Edward Freack John English Joseph Shepherd Samuel Mewas | |
9 | A List of the Royal George's Compy Vizt Capt Field Mr George Meard Alexr Maye John Delanezure Wm Schon Jos Harrigord Leonard Sage Meeke Saylor Bast Guy George Cox Benjamn Browne Edmd Haddock Andrew Tillson Thos Crithlon George Alexander William Smart John Woodward Robt Hayward Wm Butler Wm Snoly Wm Spelor Peter Williams James High Jno Brimar Jno Scott Ols Moyer Joseph Curdell Jno Doe Joseph Vican Francis Hook Thos Surly Jno Mchand Wm Jones Francis Pery Jno Sunas Thos Perle Jno Garfield Jos Hugsson James Hixdos Thos Ball Richard Rickland George Bowren James Kenny Jno Wat Sam Smythe John Adams John Backwell John Greene James Chastnutt Robt Curly Cornelius Brwrphey Wm Kelly Mr Corbutt Colt Campbell John Henly Anthray Adington John Dichkam Thos Robertson John Bourk Sely Fiedling Andrew Kannidy Bnsent Nafflint Wm mc Cullough John Burk Wm Carter James Carroul Noth Laarter Thos Lowell John Ellis Thos Newport Wm Rofs Sam Hart Alex Guldvey Arthure Clough Wm Bowison Wm Grace Robt Lance Capt Faulkener John Sell Rigrd Fruby Josph Dolleage Thos Liverton Jno Wilson James Austin Thos Gillet Josph Royale Piesr Fisher Andrew Large Menis Mattyee John Dr Erning John Dr Heur Ian Mleega Neil Kevicksholt Thos Petters Peter Harrison Wm Abraham. | A list of the Royal George's company followed. Captain Field Mr George Meard Alexander Maye John Delanguere William Ishon John Harriford Leonard Page Meeke Taylor Bast Guy George Cox Benjamin Browne Edmund Haddock Andrew Tillson Thomas Crithlon George Alexander William Smart John Woodward Robert Hayward William Butler William Sroly William Spilbor Peter Williams James High John Bennas John Scott Oliver Moyer Joseph Curdell John Doe Joseph Vicars Francis Hook Thomas Surly John Mahand William Jones Francis Pery John Innes Thomas Perle John Garfield John Huggson James Hicoes Thomas Ball Richard Rickland George Bowner James Kenny John Wal Samuel Smithe John Adams John Backwell John Greene James Chastnutt Robert Curly Cornelius Cowrphey William Kelley Michael Corbutt Colin Campbell John Henley Anthony Adington John Dickham Thomas Robertson John Bourk Peter Fidling Andrew Hannity Bryant Ufflent William McCullough John Burch William Carter James Carroul Nathaniel Laurter Thomas Lowell John Ellis Thomas Newport William Ross Samuel Hart Alexander Guldery Arthur Clough William Bowdson William Grace Robert Lance Captain Faulkener John Mell Roger Truby Nash Dolleage Thomas Leverton John Wilson James Austin Thomas Gillet John Beoyale Piers Fisher Andrew Large Menis Mattyee John Derning John Deheve Ian Ackerga Nichl Herrickholt Thomas Petters Peter Harrison William Abraham | |
10 | This Day Govr Lambert Reports that he has disposed of the 10 Recruits is came by Ship Duke of Lorrein designed for this Island as follows Viz Daniel Sergeant Charls Mountagu Henry Calor Thos Vide Samuel Harrison for the first Company John Beale for the 2d Company Wilson Jones Jonathan Rollam John King Samuel Ashwick Thos Lambert John Godfrey Dixon At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 1st of June 1742 Present Thos Lambert Esqr Govr G G Powells 2d of Council John Godfrey 3d of Coucil Christopher Dixon The last Consultation was read & Approved On the 28th of last Month Arrived a french Ship called the Conde Capt Pleasence Busthen 700 Tons 180 Men & 30 Guns She Came from Pondichery & has on Board a rich Cargo On the 30th Arrivd the Queen Caroline Capt Burkhead from Bombay On the 30th Departed the french Ships The Duc de Chartres & Duc de orleans. Mr Duke Crispe Directed the following Letters Inclosing the Underwritten Accot Cur Sr By the Sudden Death of Govr Gudwin I have not only been Involvd in great deal of Trouble but have Severely Suffered for my good will & Endevours to Save my friend & his family from ruin & altho at first view the Steps I took &, the lengths I went to serve him may have an Ill appearance yet I Persuade my self that when these Affairs are theoughly & Candidly Examined into it will at last Appear that I have — done Evil that good might Come of it, but as you have been here but a Short time most Part of wth his been taken up wth Business & Enquiries of an other Sort, & as you are quite a Stranger to these perplexed Affairs, I have presumed (as an Introduction to my Ansr to the Bill of Exceptions, which at my Desire You readily ordered to be delivered to me on Tuesday last, & which I think in Justice, ought to have been delivered to me by the late Governour & Councl, at least three month ago, for I may Sarely venture to Assam, that all Accots Relating to me, might have been Examined & Stated as wells in ten days as in tenyears) to mention a few facts of a Singular sort, which affect me very considerably, & will give you a Better light into my case then you Can possibly have | That day Governor Lambert reported that he had disposed of the recruits who came by the Duke of Lorrain designed for the island as follows. Daniel Sergeant, for the first company Henry Calor, for the first company Samuel Harrison, for the first company Wilson Jones, for the first company John King, for the first company Charles Mountagu, for the third company Thos Vride, for the third company John Beale, for the third company Jonathan Hollam, for the third company Samuel Ashwick, for the third company The entry was signed by Thomas Lambert, John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. At a consultation held on Tuesday 1 June 1742, Governor Thomas Lambert sat with George Gabriel Powell as second of council, John Godfrey as third of council and Christopher Dixon. The council read the record of the previous meeting and approved it. On 28 May a French ship called the Condé under Captain Pleasence arrived. She measured 700 tons, carried 180 men and 30 guns, came from Pondicherry and had a rich cargo aboard. On 30 May the Queen Caroline under Captain Burkhead from Bombay arrived. On 30 May the French ships Duc de Chartres and Duc de Orleans departed. John Crisp directed the following letters, enclosing the account current set out below. By the sudden death of Governor Goodwin, Crisp had not only been involved in a great deal of trouble but had severely suffered for his goodwill and endeavours to save his friend and his family from ruin. Although at first sight the steps he took, and the lengths he went to serve Goodwin, might have an ill appearance, Crisp persuaded himself that when these affairs were thoroughly and candidly examined it would at last appear that he had not done evil that good might come of it. But since Beale had been on the island only a short time, most of which had been taken up with business and enquiries of another sort, and since Beale was a stranger to these perplexed affairs, Crisp had drawn up, as an introduction to his answer to the bill of exceptions, which at his desire the council had readily ordered to be delivered to him the previous Tuesday, and which he thought in justice ought to have been delivered to him by the late Governor and council at least three months earlier. Crisp said he might safely venture to affirm that all accounts relating to him might have been examined and stated as well in ten days as in ten years, and mentioned a few facts of a singular sort which affected him very considerably and would give a better light into his case than the council could possibly have otherwise. Interpretations Crisp's letter is the opening move of a formal defence against a bill of exceptions, the itemised charge sheet the council had drawn against him. By casting his conduct after Goodwin's death as loyal help to a friend rather than fraud, and by insisting the accounts could be settled in ten days as easily as ten years, he sought to reframe an audit of alleged malversation as a wrong done to himself. His complaint that the papers should have reached him three months earlier lays the ground to argue the proceedings against him were procedurally unfair. The disposal of the recruits shows how the garrison was maintained by drafting men off arriving ships into its companies. The soldiers who came on the Duke of Lorrain were split between the first and third companies, so the island renewed its small military establishment directly from the traffic of Company vessels rather than from any dedicated troop transport. The Condé is noted as carrying a rich cargo, a detail the council recorded because a valuable French homeward-bound Indiaman lying in the road was both a commercial event and, with war approaching, a matter of some strategic interest to a lightly defended island. | |
11 | without being Acquainted with them, & they are as follows, Vizt As soon as Mr Jenkins & the then Council Acquainted me that I was dismist from the Companys Service, I (Crispe) so go home, and offerd to give them any security they would require to Surrender my Self to Company in England and there Answer whatever might be objected to me, & at that time, my friends being then about me, I Could have given them at least Tenthousand Pounds Security, Nofs much had been Demanded, & thought this would have been Excepted; but it was absolutely refused me, and when I again pressed this affair a few weeks afterwards, Mr Jenkins, in the presence of Several of the Supra Cargoes & Captains, told me, that I Should not go home if if I would give Security to make good all the Deficiencies. When Shiping where her & these matt ters were under Enquiry; one of Governour Godwins Books of Accompts was Callet for, but was not to be found when wanted, nor was there any carefull Search made afsr it whilst the fleet was here, but as soon as they where Sailed, & all hopes of the men of wars Arrival was over, the Book was found behind the Companies Cash chest in Governour Jenkins Closet, & yet however it to me that the Chest had been Opend three or four times Since he had been Store, & it being very low and the Lock in the Middle of the Lid, & not very easily opened, the person who Opens is most Stoop & lean over it, & consequently be able to see any thing that Lay behind it for it Stands Some Inches from the wall, As this Book was not to be found when called for, Several Gentlemen went from hence in a Beliefe, that I had Secreted or distroyed it. On the 2d of September last Governour Jenkins told me very rudely, & very falsely in Consultation, that I had made Quarrels among the men of Wars, & that It should be the wors for me, by Quarrels I Suppose he alluded to the Difference that happend between Mr Fortescue, first Lieutenant of the Faulkland & Mr Godfrey the Store keeper, The moment the men of war Arrivd, I was Confind close to my house by a Contuary, & continued Prisoner all the time they were here, & I never once Spoke to Mr fortescue nor he to me, nor have I the good fortune to be at all acquainted with him for which I am very Sorry for I am sure he is no Ruffian On the 25th of September Mr Jenkins in Consultation very Angerly & very falsely told me that the Companies Books where all Burnt. I never heard that any of the Compd Books were burnt nor did any Braamage or Discourse happen to had him into such Awkward Salt, but a soon afterwards he Spake to me & talked of me in quite a different Strain, for, On the 12th of November Governour Jenkins Said to a friend of mine, Yesterday we had Mr Crospe before us, & if he had told me as much before, as he told me then, By God I would have fought this Battle for him, & now I Pity him, & Spoke of me in this kind Manner for a good while afterwards, and yet, & All that I Sd him was, that as I only succeeded Governour Godwin & was not Confirmd I was determined not to make any Alterations, but to keep every thing upon the old footing, till I heard from the Honourable Company, & they Should Either Establish me, or Appoint a New Governour. At the latter End of December Governour Jenkins again Spoke very kindly of me to an other of my friends, & Said he had been deceivd, & that things had been Misrepresented to him, & that he Pitied me but Blamed me for Burning the Letters not, he Said, that he Believd there was any thing in them, | As soon as Jenkins and the council of the day told Crisp that he was dismissed from the Company's service, he offered to go home and to give them any security they required, so that he might surrender himself to the Company in England and there answer whatever might be objected to him. At that time, his friends being then about him, he could have given them at least £10,000 security. As much had been demanded, and he thought this would have been accepted, but it was absolutely refused. When he pressed the matter again a few weeks later, Jenkins, in the presence of several of the supercargoes and captains, told him that he should not go home if he would give security to make good all the deficiencies. While the storekeeping was under enquiry, one of Governor Goodwin's books of accounts was called for, but could not be found when wanted, nor was any careful search made for it while the fleet was there. As soon as the fleet had sailed, and all hope of the men-of-war's arrival was over, the book was found behind the Company's cash chest in Governor Jenkins's closet. Yet it seemed odd to Crisp that the chest had been opened three or four times since he had been storekeeper, and, it being very low, with the lock in the middle of the lid and not very easily opened, the person who opened it must be strong and lean to see anything that lay behind it, since it stood some inches from the wall. Because this book could not be found when called for, several gentlemen left the island in a belief that Crisp had secreted or destroyed it. On 2 September the previous year, Governor Jenkins told Crisp very rudely and very falsely in council that he had made quarrels among the men-of-war, and that it should be the worse for him. By quarrels Crisp supposed Jenkins alluded to the difference that arose between Fortescue, first lieutenant of the Faulkland, and Godfrey, the storekeeper. The moment the men-of-war arrived Crisp was confined to his house by a contrary [...] and remained a prisoner the whole time they were there. He never once spoke to Fortescue, nor had he the good fortune to be at all acquainted with him, for which he was very sorry, since he was sure Fortescue was no ruffian. On 25 September, Jenkins told Crisp very angrily and very falsely in council that the Company's books were all burnt. Crisp had never heard that any of the Company's books were burnt, nor did any business or discourse happen to lead him into such awkward talk, but soon afterwards Jenkins spoke to him and talked of him in quite a different strain. On 12 November, Governor Jenkins said to a friend of Crisp's that the previous day they had had Crisp before them, and that if Crisp had told him as much before as he told him then, by God he would have fought this battle for him. Jenkins now pitied Crisp and spoke of him in a kind manner for a good while afterwards, and yet all that Crisp told him was that, as he had only succeeded Governor Goodwin and things were not confused, he was determined not to make any alterations but to keep everything on the old footing until he heard from the Company, and until they should either establish him or appoint a new governor. At the latter end of December, Governor Jenkins again spoke very kindly of Crisp to another of his friends. He said he had been deceived and that things had been misrepresented to him, and that he pitied Crisp but blamed him for burning the letters. He did not say that he believed there was anything in them. Interpretations Crisp's narrative builds a case that Jenkins acted inconsistently and in bad faith. He contrasts the refusal to accept his offer of £10,000 security and passage home with Jenkins's later private admissions of pity and misjudgement, laying the ground to argue that the charges against him rested on shifting ground rather than settled fact. The offer of so large a bond shows the scale of the deficiencies alleged against him and the ordinary early modern practice of using sureties, backed by wealthy friends, to answer for a servant's accounts. The episode of the missing account book is presented to rebut a specific accusation. Crisp stresses that no search was made while the fleet lay in the road, that the book turned up behind the cash chest in the Governor's own closet, and that reaching that spot required particular effort, in order to counter the belief that he had hidden or destroyed it. The passage shows how the mere disappearance of a ledger could brand an officer with suspicion of fraud, and how physical detail was marshalled as evidence of innocence. A bill of exceptions, referred to across these entries, was the formal list of objections or charges to which Crisp was required to answer, so his long recital of Jenkins's words functions as sworn matter intended to discredit the origin of those charges before the substance was tried. | |
12 | But it gave my Enemies an handle against me, On the 6th of January Govr Jenkins See me in the Garden, & came to me, & in a very obliging manner took me by the hand, & gave me the Complements of the Season, & then Said, the young Ladies, meaning Mr Johnsons two Daughters, had told him that I had always treated them very civily, especially after I was Governour, & that he Esteemd every Lady that had done it & added, but we cant do how as we would, we Cant agree among our Selves, & Said many kind things to me, wished me well, & parted from me in exceeding good humour, Bett, on the next day, the 7th of January, there was a Weding, to which he & Mr Johnsons two Daughters were invited, together with Mr Bazett & his Spouse. Capt Clark & other Company & accordingly they went, & every Body was very Chearfull all the Morning, but After Dinner, Somebody took it in their heads to lead up a Living dance, so my ill fortune Would have it, which altho very Common upon those Occasions, & at Other times, yet it gave Governour Jenkins so much offence & disturbed him to so great a degree, that he Immediably Calld for His Horse, broke up the Company, took the young Ladies with him, & I went away In great displeasure, & from that moment for Several weeks afterwards, could not Endure the Sight either of Mr Bazett or Capt Clark, though before they Both wtood very high in his favour, & he had often professed great Friendship to each of them, & yet one of them, besides the misfortune of Losing his favour, was otherwise in Danger, & had like to have Paid dear for his Share of the Horse, for he was very near being put under Arrest for his presumption, & as these Gentlemen were my friends, I too, though not there, had my Share of his Anger & Resentment, for he never Spoke kindly to me afterwards, till you arrivd & he was removed, & then he came to See me two or three times & heartely wished me a good Voyage to England. A Night or two After the Harrington arrivd, a Letter was Seen in his hand directed to me, it came from Mr Bradford & Mr Buffan, Govr Pikes Relations, & was Below inclosd in the Packet or Letter which they sent to him, he Broke it open, kept it about three weeks & then Sent it to me by my Servant, & when I Sent to him to know how it came broke open, he denied that he did it, & Paid it was as I Sent it to him, I never Sent it to him nor did I know but by accident, that he had a Letter for me He promissed to Show me Such Letters as he had received from the persons before mentioned, but through forgetfulness, or mistake he Sent my own in Stead of them. I make no Comment or Remarks upon the Several facts I have related they will Speak for themselves I affirm them & will justifie them to be Sooth, & so proceed to Ansr the Bill of Exceptions. As to the fogetts I never received any unjustly, they were allowd me by the Govt & Councel for the time Being, & the Honble Company themselves allowed them till the latter part of Mr Buffits Govr at which time they forbd them, & from thence forward I had not any till the Arrival of Mr Pyke, who came a Second time Governour from this company with Discretionary power, as he told me, to make Such Alterations or Allowances as he thought proper & upon his Authority with the Consent of the | The affair gave Crisp's enemies a handle against him. On 6 January, Governor Jenkins saw Crisp in the garden and came to him, taking him by the hand in a very obliging manner. Jenkins gave him the compliments of the meeting and then said that the young ladies, meaning Johnson's two daughters, had told him that Crisp had always treated them very civilly, especially after he became governor, and that he esteemed every lady who had done so. He added that they could not do as they wished, could not agree among themselves, and closed by saying many kind things to Crisp, wishing him well and parting from him in exceedingly good humour. The next day, 7 January, there was a wedding, to which Jenkins, Johnson's two daughters, Bazil and his wife, Captain Clark and other company were invited, and accordingly they went. Everybody was very cheerful all the morning, but after dinner somebody took it into their heads to lead up a dance, as Crisp's ill fortune would have it. Although very common on such occasions and at other times, it gave Governor Jenkins so much offence and disturbed him to so great a degree that he immediately called for his horse, broke up the company, took the young ladies away with him and went off in great displeasure. From that moment, and for several weeks afterwards, Jenkins could not endure the sight either of Bazil or Captain Clark, though before then both had stood very high in his favour and he had often professed great friendship to each of them. One of them, besides the misfortune of losing his favour, was otherwise in danger and had nearly paid dear for his share of the dance, for he was very near being put under arrest for his presumption. Since these gentlemen were Crisp's friends, he too, though not present, had his share of Jenkins's anger and resentment, for Jenkins never spoke kindly to him afterwards until Governor Lambert arrived and Jenkins was removed, after which Jenkins came to see him two or three times and heartily wished him a good voyage to England. A night or two after the Harrington fleet arrived, a letter was seen in Jenkins's hand directed to Crisp. It came from Bradford and Buffan, Governor Pyke's relations, and had been enclosed in the packet or letter which they sent to Jenkins. Jenkins broke it open, kept it about three weeks and then sent it to Crisp by his servant. When Crisp asked him how it came to be broken open, Jenkins denied that he had done it and said it was as Crisp had sent it to him. Crisp had never sent it to him, nor did he know how it came broken open but by accident, and Jenkins had a letter for Crisp that he had promised to show him, along with such other letters as he had received from the persons before mentioned, but through forgetfulness or mistake Jenkins sent his own instead of theirs. Crisp made no comment or remark upon the several facts he had related, saying they would speak for themselves. He affirmed them and undertook to justify them as truth, and then proceeded to answer the bill of exceptions. As to the fowls, Crisp never received any unjustly. They were allowed him by the Governor and council for the time being, and the Company itself had allowed them until the latter part of Governor Buffit's government, at which time they forbade them, and from then on he had not taken any. Not until the arrival of Governor Pyke, who came a second time as governor from the Company with discretionary power, as he told Crisp, to make such alterations or allowances as he thought proper, and upon his authority with the consent of the [...]. Interpretations Crisp's account of the wedding and the dance is offered as evidence of Jenkins's erratic temper rather than as social anecdote. By showing Jenkins turning violently against former favourites over a commonplace amusement, and nearly placing a man under arrest for joining a dance, Crisp builds his central argument that the Governor acted from caprice and personal feeling, so that the charges flowing from that regime deserve no weight. The near-arrest illustrates how far a governor's personal displeasure could translate directly into the machinery of confinement on a small island. The opened letter from Pyke's relations sharpens the same point by turning an accusation back on the accuser. Crisp had himself been suspected of tampering with correspondence, so his account of Jenkins intercepting, holding and then denying he had opened a letter addressed to Crisp is meant to show where the real interference with the mails lay. The episode reflects how control of the incoming packet gave a governor private power over everyone's correspondence before it was distributed. Crisp's defence on the fowls rests on the shifting history of an allowance. The right to receive fowls had been granted by successive governors, withdrawn under Governor Buffit and then restored by Governor Pyke under discretionary authority from the Company, so Crisp's case is that what was charged against him as a wrongful taking was in fact a perquisite sanctioned by the island's authorities at the time. | |
13 | Governor Jenkins breaks up Company at a wedding. | Governor Jenkins broke up the company at a wedding. | |
13 | Council, three Servants were allowd between me & Govr Godwin, but this was not done till Sometime after he was here, I believe toward the latter part of his first Year. What is meant by the 9 ditto's from Said 15 Augt 1740 to 31 March 1741 Amounting to £91 4s 6d I know not I never Received as Governour any more pay than four fogets, the Number formerly allowd & during the time I was Govr I had Constantly Three of my own Servants waiting the house, for which, I never chargd the Company any thing, & yet, if I had not done so, I must have taken three of their own Servants from their Labour, at the Fortifications which would have been Three Shillings a day lost to the Company, which at the Years end comes to £54 15 & yet Received no more fogets the Labour of my own Three Servants included, than after the rate of £54 12 P Annum As the Company wanted many goods for the furniture of the Castle & their house in the Country, I Supplyd them in part, as my Predecessours had done before me, but I acknowledge I did not deliver all the Goods I Sold them, because as there was a good deale of Company who lodgt at the house I livd in before I was Governour, I could not deliver them all, & for what has been Short deliverd I own my Self accountable. I never Presented Govr Godwin with any of the Companies effects. I believe as it had been Usual, I did receive money for Saylors work, & their was actually a good fellow constantly employd in this Business for the Company all the time I was Governour, but the fellow belonged to Governour Godwin & Consequently whatsoever he Earned by his labour belonged to his Mastr I think I Received Ten Pounds of Mr Pledger for a Debt due from him to Governour Godwin, which I Paid into the Companies Cash & Mr Pledger has Credit for it accordingly. All the plate & Household Goods belonging to the Honourable Company which fell into my Charge or Possession at the death of Govr Godwin were all in Being when Mr Jenkins arrivd, & he Seized them, & I am Sure both in Justice & Equity, I am not Accountable for any thing more, than I Really Received & if I Signed the Books for the Year Ending at September 1740, which I do not Remember, Errors in Recompts are alway Excepted. Governour Godwin was perfectly well Skilled in Plantation Affairs, & as their was a Necessity to buy Yams for the Companies Blacks very Soon after he was Appointed Governour, which had not been done for Twelve or Thirteen Years before, he was very desirous to Conceal the knowledge of it from them, least they should Impute it to him as the Effect of Negligence or Mismanagement, & therefore the Entries made in the Names of Messrs Wood, Cleather Worrall & Desfountain, were Invented to raise a fund to pay for the Yams thus bought, & if more was raised than was Sufficient for this purpose, it remained In his hands to be Applied to the like Use of the Same Necessity, had Continued The Sums Chargd in the Names of Aldrick & Hosser, I believe where Paid them for work by them Done for the Company. I never had any transfers except two, each for about Eighty Pounds, one near Six Years ago in the Name of Mr Bazell, & the Other in the Name of Mr Woos About Three Years ago, both which I repaid | Three servants were allowed between Crisp and Governor Goodwin, but this was not settled until some time after Goodwin arrived, which Crisp believed was toward the latter part of his first year. As to what was meant by the three fowls charged from 15 August 1740 to 31 March 1741, amounting to £91 4s 6d, Crisp said he did not know. He never received any more pay as governor than his four fowls, the number formerly allowed, and during the time he was governor he had constantly kept three of his own servants working at the house, for which he never charged the Company anything. Yet if he had not done so, he must have taken three of the Company's own servants from their labour at the fortifications, which would have cost the Company three shillings a day, coming at the year's end to £54 15s 0d. He received no more fowls, even with the labour of his own three servants included, than at the rate of £54 12s 0d a year. As the Company wanted many goods for the furniture of the Castle and their house in the country, Crisp supplied them in part, as his predecessors had done before him. He acknowledged that he did not deliver all the goods he sold them, because a good deal of the Company lodged at the house he lived in before he was governor, and he could not deliver them all. For whatever had been short delivered he owned himself accountable. Crisp never presented Goodwin with any of the Company's effects. He believed, as had been usual, that he did receive money for tailors' work, and there was actually a good fellow constantly employed in this business for the Company all the time he was governor. But the fellow belonged to Governor Goodwin, and consequently whatever he earned by his labour belonged to Goodwin. Crisp thought he received £100 from Pledger for a debt due from him to Governor Goodwin, which he paid into the Company's cash, and Pledger held credit for it accordingly. All the plate and household goods belonging to the Company which fell into Crisp's charge or possession at Goodwin's death were all in being when Jenkins arrived, and Jenkins seized them. Crisp was sure that both in justice and equity he was not accountable for anything more than he really received, and if he signed the books for the year ending September 1740, which he did not remember, errors in accounts were always excepted. Governor Goodwin was perfectly well skilled in plantation affairs. Since there was a need to buy yams for the Company's slaves very soon after he was appointed governor, which had not been done for twelve or thirteen years before, Goodwin was very anxious to conceal the knowledge of it from them, lest they should impute it to him as the effect of negligence or mismanagement. The entries made in the names of Wood, Cleather, Worrall and Desfountain were therefore invented to raise a fund to pay for the yams thus bought, and if more was raised than was sufficient for this purpose, it remained in Goodwin's hands to be applied to the like use of the same necessity. Crisp had continued the sums charged in the names of Aldrick and Hosser, which he believed were paid them for work done for the Company. Crisp never had any transfers except two, each for about £80. One was made nearly six years earlier in the name of Bazil, and the other in the name of Wood about three years earlier, both of which he repaid. Interpretations Crisp's answers to the fowls and servants charges rest on a claim of set-off. He argues that by keeping three of his own servants at work on the house he spared the Company the cost of diverting its labourers from the fortifications, so the value of the fowls he received was offset by savings he provided, and he converts an alleged perquisite into a fair exchange. The costings he supplies, at three shillings a day building to a yearly figure, show how closely garrison labour was priced and accounted on the island. The passage on the yams exposes a scheme of false accounting attributed to Goodwin. Faced with buying yams to feed the Company's slaves for the first time in over a decade, Goodwin allegedly concealed the purchase by entering the cost under fictitious names to raise a covering fund, and Crisp admits continuing similar entries. This reveals both the island's periodic failure to grow enough food for its enslaved workforce and the way ledger entries in invented names were used to disguise embarrassing or irregular expenditure from the directors in London. Yams were the staple provision grown on the island to feed its enslaved labour force, so a resort to buying them, rather than raising them on the Company's plantations, signalled a shortfall in cultivation serious enough that a governor would rather falsify the books than have it known. Speculations Goodwin chose to disguise the yam purchase behind fictitious ledger entries rather than record it openly as a necessary expense. The passage shows the reason lay not in the cost itself but in what an honest entry would reveal, that the plantations had failed to feed the slaves for the first time in twelve or thirteen years, which Goodwin feared would be read in London as his own negligence. Rather than defend a genuine necessity to the directors, he preferred the risk of falsified accounts, and Crisp's decision to continue the practice shows how one governor's concealment could harden into a settled habit of the books. | |
14 | almost as soon as they were made, so that the Honourable Company have been no Sufferers thereby. the Transfers in the name of Mr Bates & Mr Carne, where made many years ago for the Sole Relief of Governour Godwin, in the liftime of Governour Pyke, & have no Particular Relation to me, & all the rest of the transfers as well as those, were made for the Benefit of Govr Godwin before I was concerned in Trade with him, for they were all made in, or before the Year 1736, & I was not concerned with him in Trade till the 31st of March 1737 The Bills of Exchange for £300 were drawn 3 years ago, & Govr Godwin Charged himself with the whole Sum, & has Paid it, & I think it plainly appears so by the Companies Books, & this the Company themselves have seen, & have made no exception or Objicion about the matter, & had it not been for the keeping, (Dance, I am Sure I Should have heard no more of them, for it was the 2d of February last before they were mentioned to me, & I hope the Answer I have now given to Several Articles with which I have been Charged, will Sufficiently clear up & Explain these affairs, & Convince the Honourable Company, & I also hope Your Self Sir that I am much less Culpable than I have Been Represented to be & that if Mr Godwin had been living, I in a manner, Should have been quite out of the Storm in which out of Generosity to my friend, I was in Danger of Perishing. I Desire Sir You will be Pleasd to Lay this Letter before the Gentlemen of Council to the End it may be Entred in Consultation & Transmitted to the Honble Company I am very respectfully Sir St Helena Your most Obedient & 27th May 1742 Most humble Servant D Crispe P.S. By this Answer I humbly apprehend, that Nothing in the Bill of Exceptions affects me, except the 1st Article of the fogets, those all owed one in the time of Govr Pyke; if these last Shall be insisted on, & the furniture Short Deliverd, for the Payment of which the Company have already in their hands money & Effects of mine Abundantly more than is Sufficient to Ansr those Demands on Accot of which I will very Speedily lay Before you. D Crispe | The transfers were repaid almost as soon as they were made, so that the Company had suffered no loss by them. The transfers in the names of Bates and Came were made many years earlier for the sole benefit of Governor Goodwin, in the lifetime of Governor Pyke, and had no particular relation to Crisp. All the rest of the transfers, as well as those, were made for the benefit of Goodwin before Crisp was concerned in trade with him, for they were all made in or before the year 1736, and Crisp was not concerned with Goodwin in trade until 31 March 1737. The bills of exchange for £300 were drawn three years earlier, and Governor Goodwin charged himself with the whole sum and had paid it. Crisp thought this plainly appeared from the Company's books, and that the Company itself had seen it and made no exception or objection about the matter, had it not been for the storekeeping. Crisp was sure he should have heard no more of them, for it was 2 February the previous year before they were mentioned to him. He hoped the answer he had now given to the several articles with which he had been charged would sufficiently clear up and explain these affairs, and convince the Company. He also hoped the council would see that he was much less culpable than he had been represented to be, and that if Goodwin had been living, Crisp, in a measure, should have been quite out of the storm in which, out of generosity to his friend, he was in danger of perishing. Crisp asked that the letter be laid before the council to the end, so that it might be entered in the record and transmitted to the Company. The letter was dated at St Helena, 27 May 1742, and signed by Crisp. In a postscript, Crisp submitted that nothing in the bill of exceptions affected him except the first article of the fowls, those allowed in the time of Governor Pyke, and if these last were insisted on, together with the furniture short delivered, the Company already had in their hands money and effects of his abundantly more than sufficient to answer those demands, an account of which he would very speedily lay before them. Interpretations Crisp's closing argument turns on chronology and on the separation of accounts. By fixing the transfers and bills of exchange in or before 1736 and dating his own trading partnership with Goodwin to 31 March 1737, he seeks to sever himself from transactions made purely for Goodwin's benefit before he had any interest in the business. The care taken to pin exact years shows how a defence against a charge of malversation could rest on demonstrating that a liability arose outside the period of one's own responsibility. The postscript reveals the practical mechanism by which Crisp expected to settle. Rather than dispute every article, he concedes only the fowls and the undelivered furniture, then argues the Company already holds money and effects of his more than enough to cover them, so the dispute reduces to a set-off against property already in the Company's hands. This shows how an officer's own assets, lodged with the Company, served as security against which alleged deficiencies could be discharged without any further payment. A bill of exchange was a written order directing one party to pay a stated sum to another at a set time, the standard instrument of long-distance Company finance, so Goodwin charging himself with the whole £300 meant he had formally taken the debt onto his own account, which Crisp uses to argue the liability was never his. | |
15 | Worshipfull Sir & Sirs I have already presented you with my Ansr to the Bill of Exceptance which I Received on Tuesday last, & now lay Before you the Particulars of my Claim on the Honble Company & as the accot I have given you of these affairs will I hope prove Satisfactory Both to them & to your Selves I Desire that all my Books Papers & Accots may be Delivered & that I may Return to England, upon their Departure I am upon me the 5 Ships wth I hearare now Worshipfull Sir & Sirs Your Most Obedient Servant D Crispe | Crisp had already presented the council with his answer to the bill of exceptions, which he received the previous Tuesday, and now laid before them the particulars of his claim on the Company. He hoped the account he had given of these affairs would prove satisfactory both to the Company and to the council. Crisp asked that all his books, papers and accounts be delivered to him, and that he might return to England upon the departure of the five ships with which he was now to sail. The letter was addressed to the council and signed by Crisp. | |
16 | Dr The Honourable East To Sundry Accounts Seized by Govr Jenkins & Council Vizt To Cash £81 18s 2d Beef for 2 Casks Salt Beef £21 0s 0d Sheep for 13 Sheep & 1 Lamb £13 10s 0d Turkeys for 15 £3 15s 0d To Goats for 15 £7 10s 0d To Plate for vizt 1 Silver Bowle £4 19s 4d 1 Silver Mug 3 8s 7d 1 Soop Ladle 2 5s 6d £10 13s 5d To Houshold Furniture for Vizt 1 Pr Bed Currens £2 5s 0d 4 Chairs 2 0s 0d 1 Large Looking Glass 3 3s 0d 1 Pr of Japan Copper Scences 5 5s 0d £12 13s 0d To Fire Arms for 2 fowling Ps Set 1 Pr of Pistolls £9 9s 0d To China ware Vizt 12 China Bowles £1 10s 0d 4 Ditto Basons 16s 0d 4 Do Guglets 16s 0d 3 Doz Wine Glases 18s 0d £4 0s 0d To a Parcel of Books £33 0s 0d To Silver Lace £14 7s 1d To Gold Lace £5 0s 0d To Silks, Gold Dresses & Chints £100 0s 0d To Coffee for 3 Bales £7 10s 0d Money & Goods Seized Amount to £323 5s 6½d To Cash by me Paid for Provisions bought of the Inhabitants for the Supply of the Govr Table vizt 275 lb Veal 6d P lb £6 17s 0d 1147 lb Beef 4d P lb £19 2s 4d 50 Turkeys 5s P Es £12 10s 0d 227 Fowles 1s 6d £17 0s 6d 26 Ducks 1s 6d £1 19s 0d 2525 Oranges 6d P 100 £12 12s 6d 400 Limmens 2s £8 0s 0d 550 Peaches 6s P 100 £1 13s 0d 9 Pigs 3s £10s 0d 72 Onions 16 P lb £1 16s 0d 125 Apples 6s P 100 £7s 6d 12 New Milk Cheeses £1 10s 0d 23 Cabbages 1s £1 3s 0d Apples, Peaches, Grapes & Spices Bought of Sundrys £5 17s 6d £84 6s 4d Carried over £417 11s 10½d | The account was headed as owing to the Honourable East India Company. To sundry accounts seized by Governor Jenkins and council: To cash, £81 18s 2d Beef, for 2 casks salt beef, £21 0s 0d Sheep, for 18 sheep and 1 lamb, £18 10s 0d Turkeys, for 15, £3 15s 0d Geese, for 15, £7 10s 0d To plate: 1 silver bowl, £4 19s 4d 1 silver mug, £3 8s 7d 1 soup ladle, £2 5s 6d Total for plate, £10 13s 5d To household furniture: 1 pair bed curtains, £2 5s 0d 4 chairs, £2 0s 0d 1 large looking glass, £3 3s 0d 1 pair of Japan copper sconces, £5 5s 0d Total for household furniture, £12 13s 0d To firearms, for 2 fowling pieces and 1 pair of pistols, £9 9s 0d To chinaware: 12 china bowls, £1 10s 0d 4 basins, £0 16s 0d 4 guglets, £0 16s 0d 3 dozen wine glasses, £0 18s 0d Total for chinaware, £4 0s 0d To a parcel of books, £33 0s 0d To silver lace, £14 7s 1d To gold lace, £5 0s 0d To silks, gold brocades and chintz, £100 0s 0d To coffee, for 3 bales, £7 10s 0d Money and goods seized amount to, £323 5s 6d To cash paid for provisions bought for the inhabitants for the supply of the general table: 274 lb veal at 6d per lb, £6 17s 0d 1,147 lb beef at 4d per lb, £19 2s 4d 50 turkeys at 5s each, £12 10s 0d 227 fowls at 1s 6d, £17 0s 6d 26 ducks at 1s 6d, £1 19s 0d 2,525 oranges at 6d per 100, £12 12s 6d 400 lemons at 2d, £8 0s 0d 550 peaches at 6d per 100, £1 13s 0d 2 pigs at 5s, £0 10s 0d 72 onions at 6d per pound, £1 16s 0d 125 apples at 6d per 100, £0 7s 6d 12 new milk cheeses, £1 10s 0d 23 cabbages, £1 3s 0d Apples, peaches, grapes and greens bought of sundry persons, £5 17s 6d Total, £84 6s 4d Carried over, £417 11s 10d Interpretations The upper half of the account is an inventory of goods seized from Crisp by Jenkins and the council, valued line by line to a total of £323 5s 6d. It ranges from cash and livestock through silver plate, japanned furniture, firearms, chinaware, books and lengths of gold and silver lace to a hundred pounds' worth of silks and brocades, showing the material wealth a senior Company servant on the island could accumulate. The seizure of these effects gave the Company a concrete fund against which to set the deficiencies charged to Crisp, so the list functions as the security he later invoked when he argued his own property already covered the demands against him. The lower half records money Crisp laid out for provisions bought from the inhabitants to supply the general table, priced by weight and by the hundred. The rates reveal a working island market in which local producers sold veal, beef, poultry, fruit and vegetables to the Company establishment, with oranges and peaches counted by the hundred and beef and veal by the pound. The scale of the purchasing shows how far the settlement depended on buying from its own smallholders to feed the common table, alongside what its plantations produced directly. A guglet was a long-necked earthenware or porcelain vessel for holding and cooling drinking water, part of the chinaware brought in on the eastern trade, so its appearance among the seized goods reflects the everyday domestic use of imported Asian wares in the households of the island's officers. | |
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18 | Dr The Honourable East Brought over £417 11s 10½d To Arrack &c Expended at the Genl Table Arrack 33½ Gall Goa 6s P Gall £16 7s 0d 16 Bottles french wine 3s £19 0s 0d 111 Gallons Cape Ditto 4s £22 4s 0d 126 Galers Madera £25 4s 0d £82 15s 0d To Cash Deposited upon Acct of Capt Clark To Do advanced John Deane more than is charged To Do Paid Orlando Bagley for making Carriges To Do Paid for 9 Allarms from first of April to 9 May 1741 To Sallary from first of April to 9 of May 1741 To Diet Expences for my Diet, Washing, Lodging & Liquors Expended from the 9th of May 1741 to 31st May 1742 Being 387 Days at 6s P Day for my Self £116 3s 0d To Ditto for 2 Servants each at 3.6 P Laurier for m Sfss £12 16s 0d £128 7s 1¾d St Helena 31st May 1742 Errors Exceptes D Crispe Memorandum the Customary Price at this Plan for Diet & Lodging is Six Shillings a Day, & every man finds his own Liquors & Mr Fordyce Our late Chaplain told me in discourse at the time the Difference Happend Between him & Govr Pyke, that Mr Winsworth the Director, I believe he meant Mr Ordgesworth Sen, Said to him in England, that if Board wages were to be allowd him at St Hellena, he Could not Be allowd Less then three half Crowns a Day. D Crispe To The Worshipfull Thos Lambert Esqr Governour &c Council of | The account, still headed as owing to the Honourable East India Company, continued. Brought over, £417 11s 10d To arrack and other liquor expended at the general table: Arrack, 32 and a half gallons Goa at 10s per gallon, £16 7s 0d 16 bottles French wine at 2s, £1 9s 0d 111 gallons Cape ditto at 4s, £22 4s 0d 126 gallons Madeira at 4s, £25 4s 0d Total, £82 15s 0d To cash deposited upon account of Captain Clark, [...] To cash advanced John Deane more than is charged, [...] To cash paid Orlando Bagley for making carriages, [...] To cash paid for 9 alarms from 1 April to 9 May 1741, [...] To salary from 1 April to 9 May 1741, [...] To diet expenses for Crisp's own diet, washing, lodging and liquor, expended from 9 May 1741 to 31 May 1742, being 387 days at 6s per day for himself, £116 3s 0d To the same for 2 servants, each at 2s 6d per day for their mess, £14 16s 0d Total, £128 7s 1d The account was dated at St Helena, 31 May 1742, errors excepted, and signed by Crisp. In a memorandum, Crisp noted that the customary price at the island for diet and lodging was six shillings a day, with every man finding his own liquor. Fordyce, the late chaplain, had told him in conversation, at the time the difference arose between Fordyce and Governor Pyke, that Winsworth the director, by whom Crisp believed he meant Woolaston senior, had said to Fordyce in England that if board wages were to be allowed at St Helena, they could not be allowed at less than three and a half crowns a day. The memorandum was signed by Crisp. The account was addressed to Governor Thomas Lambert and the council of St Helena. Interpretations The liquor account shows the range of drink kept for the general table and the island's dependence on imported supply. Arrack came from Goa, wine from France and Madeira, and a further quantity was shipped from the Cape, so even the officers' daily drink at this remote station arrived through the same long trade routes that carried the Company's goods. The Cape entry in particular marks St Helena's close working link with the Dutch settlement that lay on the homeward track. Crisp's charge for his own maintenance rests on the island's fixed daily rate for board. By billing 387 days at six shillings for himself and a lower rate for his two servants, he applies the customary price for diet and lodging as the measure of what the Company owed him, and the memorandum reinforces this by citing a director's own view that board wages could not fairly be set below three and a half crowns a day. The passage shows how a settled per diem allowance governed the cost of keeping Company servants and how such a rate could be turned into a formal claim. Arrack was a strong spirit distilled in the East, here shipped from the Portuguese settlement at Goa, and board wages were a fixed daily money allowance paid in place of providing food and lodging directly, so Crisp's argument turns on applying that recognised allowance to his long residence at the general table. | |
20 | The following is our Remark at the fot of Mr Crispes Account Current Vizt The following are the Articles allowed to Mr Crispe Credit by the Govr & Council which Amounts to £202 14s 9½d the Difference between it & what he Stands Chargable with is 1145 8s 9½d which he hath given Bond to make good & true Payment off to the Honourable Company, To Sundry Accot Seized by Govr Jenkins & Council vizt To Cash £81 18s 0½d To Sheep 14 & 1 Lamb £13 0s 0d To Turkeys 15 £3 15s 0d To Cash Deposited on Accot of Capt Clark £40 0s 0d To Do Paid Orlando Bagley for making Carriages £5 0s 0d To Do Paid Nine Allarms from 1st of April to 9th May £2 3s 0d To Sallary from 1st April to 9th May 1741 £13 16s 9d Cash Advanced John Dean more than Chargd £4 0s 0d £202 14s 9½d We think Mr Crispe long Letter seems Calculated rather to fling Dirt at Mr Jenkins then to Clear himself of the Articles laid to his Charge in last Consultation We Read over to Mr Crispe each particular he Stands Chargd with Some he Aknoldgd others he Denied, which lead us to Read to him the several remonstesons relating to him, one of which he took upon him to Deny the Veracity tho Attested by Messrs Jenkins, Powell & Godfrey. We Told him that he must either Pay us the Money, here or give Sufficient Security for his so doing to our Honble Mastrs in England Whereupon he offerd his own Bond, which we on our parts Could not accept as not thinking it Sufficient Security; He then Told us he would Endeavour to get Suretys for the Pamest of the money to the Honble Company, & withdrew Inorder to Procure the Same, but after some little time returnd & Aquainted us that he was not able to Procure any Person to be his Bondsman. We therefore came to the following Resolution vizt That for the Better Security of our Honble Mastres, Mr Crispe be Ordered to his house during the Continuance of these french Ships in the Road & at the same time to write to the Capt of our own Ships forbidding them to Carry home either hen Crispe, or Bazett, in manner just as they were wrote to Last Year upon the Like Occasion. Mr Crispe Sometime ago Told us that if the Honble Company insisted upon Pament of that 285 which appears still Due to their Honrs on recot of the 300 Bills Drawn upon them in Mr Bazetts Name, he himself would be Answerable to the Company for the Same as he had an Equal Concern with the Late Mr Godwin the Sd Bills, Mr Bazett had no other Relation than just Lending his Name. | The following was the council's remark at the foot of Crisp's account current. The articles allowed to Crisp's credit by the Governor and council amounted to £202 14s 9d. The difference between that and what he stood charged with was £1,145 8s 9d, for which he had given his bond to make good and true payment to the Company. To sundry accounts seized by Governor Jenkins and council: To cash, £81 18s 0d Sheep, 14 and 1 lamb, £18 0s 0d Turkeys, 15, £3 15s 0d To cash deposited on account of Captain Clark, £40 0s 0d To cash paid Orlando Bagley for making carriages, £5 0s 0d To cash paid for 9 alarms from 1 April to 9 May, £2 5s 0d To salary from 1 April to 9 May 1741, £15 16s 9d Cash advanced John Deane more than charged, £4 0s 0d Total, £202 14s 9d The council thought Crisp's long letter seemed calculated rather to vent his anger at Jenkins than to clear himself of the articles laid to his charge at the previous meeting. They read over to him each particular he stood charged with, some of which he acknowledged and others he denied, which led them to read to him the several depositions relating to him. One of these he took upon himself to deny the truth of, though it was attested by Jenkins, Powell and Godfrey. The council told Crisp that he must either pay in the money or give sufficient security for it, so that he could go to the Company in England. Crisp thereupon offered his own bond, which the council could not accept, not thinking it sufficient security. He then said he would endeavour to get sureties for the payment of the money to the Company, and withdrew in order to procure them, but after some little time returned and acquainted the council that he was not able to find any person to be his bondsman. The council therefore came to the following resolution. For the better security of the Company, Crisp was ordered to his house during the continuance of the French ships in the road, and at the same time the council wrote to the captains of their own ships forbidding them to carry home either Crisp or Bazil, in the same manner they had written the previous year on a like occasion. Crisp had some time earlier told the council that if the Company insisted on payment of the £285 which appeared still due to them, on account of the £300 in bills drawn upon them in Bazil's name, he himself would be answerable to the Company for it, as he had an equal concern with the late Goodwin in those bills, and Bazil had no other relation to them than merely lending his name. Interpretations The council's remark turns Crisp's defence against him by reckoning the balance. Against the whole sum charged, only £202 14s 9d was allowed to his credit, leaving £1,145 8s 9d for which he had to give bond, so the long narrative he offered was met not with argument but with a plain accounting of what remained owing. The reduction of the dispute to a single outstanding figure shows how the Company converted a tangled quarrel over conduct into a fixed debt secured by a written obligation. Crisp's confinement to his house and the letters forbidding the captains to carry him or Bazil home reveal the council's power to trap a debtor on the island. Unable to find any person willing to stand surety, Crisp could offer only his own bond, which was refused, so the council used physical detention and control over the outbound ships to prevent his escape while the French vessels lay in the road. The precaution shows how, on a remote island, restricting access to departing ships was the practical means of holding a man to his liabilities. A deposition was a sworn written statement of evidence, here taken from Jenkins, Powell and Godfrey against Crisp, so his attempt to deny one attested by three senior men shows the weight such formal testimony carried in the proceedings and the difficulty of contradicting it. Speculations The council chose to detain Crisp and bar the ships to him rather than accept the security he could actually offer. His own bond was on the table, but the council judged it worthless without a solvent surety behind it, and when no islander would stand as his bondsman the alternatives narrowed to letting an admitted debtor of over £1,000 sail free or holding him by force. The record shows the council preferring confinement, with all its awkwardness on a small island, to the risk that a man with no backer would answer the debt once beyond their reach. | |
21 | The Article of £78 6s 9d the false transfer in Mr Carris Name Mr Crispe is Chargd for in last Consultation because he was Accontant & made the transfer at a time when he knew Mr Carne was an Actual Debtor in the Companys Books but Mr Crispe Denies his having any pt in it & as we Cant prove he did so therefore we Agreed to Debt the Late Mr Godwins Estate for the Same On the 25th of last Month being the Expiration of the Son work ing Days allowd By Charterparty for the detention of Ship Duke of Lorrain at this Place we therefore gave the Capt Sailing Orders to Proceed with Said Ship to Bencoolin as soon as Possible Thos Lambert G G Powell John Godfrey Dixon At a Consultation held on wednesday the 2d Day of June 1742 Present Thomas Lambert Esqr Governour Geo Gabl Powell 2d of Council John Godfrey 3d of Council Christopher Dixon The Last Consultation was read & Approved We this Recd the following Letter from Capt Wilson To the Worshipfull Thomas Lambert Esqr Govr &c Council of St Hellena Worshipfull Sir & Sirs I am to Acknoledge the Receipt of my Dispatches for Bencoolen this Day, & Covenant thereto will Sail as soon as Possible Icam, which I fear wont be in less than a fortnights time through the Indisposition of my people, who are yet so Effected with the Scrubuticab & &c & Disorder they Contracted in their Passage, that at this time there is no less than Sberty of them Ashore under the care of the Surgeon & as a proof of the Veracity of what I advance & at the Same time a Thorough Satisfaction to the Company & to my Owners, I request of your Worship & Council that you would be pleasd to give Orders to the Surgeon of the Island who shall be attended by the Surgeon of the Ship Duke of Lorrain that he Visit my Sick people & Report to your worships how many there are & what Condition they are in, I am Likewise to Acquaint your Worships the Ship Duke of | The article of £13 16s 9d, the false transfer in Came's name, was charged to Crisp at the previous meeting because he was accountant and made the transfer at a time when he knew Came was an actual debtor in the Company's books. But Crisp denied having any part in it, and since the council could not prove he did so, they agreed to debit the late Goodwin's estate for the sum. On 25 May, being the expiration of the ten working days allowed by charterparty for the detention of the Duke of Lorrain at the island, the council gave the captain his sailing orders to proceed with the ship to Bencoolen as soon as possible. The entry was signed by Thomas Lambert, George Gabriel Powell, John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. At a consultation held on Wednesday 2 June 1742, Governor Thomas Lambert sat with George Gabriel Powell as second of council, John Godfrey as third of council and Christopher Dixon. The council read the record of the previous meeting and approved it. The council received the following letter from Captain Wilson, addressed to Governor Thomas Lambert and the council of St Helena. Wilson acknowledged the receipt of his dispatches for Bencoolen that day, and undertook to sail as soon as possible in accordance with them. He did not expect to be ready in less than a fortnight, owing to the sickness of his people, who were still so affected with the scurvy and [...] disease they had contracted on the passage that at that time no fewer than thirty of them lay under the surgeon's care. For his own satisfaction of what he advanced, and at the same time to give thorough satisfaction to the Company and to his owners, Wilson requested that the council would give orders to the island's surgeon, who should be attended by the surgeon of the Duke of Lorrain, to visit his sick people and report to the council how many there were and what condition they were in. He also acquainted the council that the Duke of Lorrain [...]. Interpretations The council's handling of the Came transfer shows the limit of the case against Crisp. Where a charge could not be proved against him, even one turning on his role as accountant and his knowledge that Came was a debtor, the council shifted the liability to Goodwin's estate rather than press an unsupported claim. The decision reveals a working standard of proof in the Company's internal reckoning, under which a suspected but unprovable entry was carried to the account of the dead principal instead of the living subordinate. Wilson's letter turns on the practical grip of scurvy on a long-haul crew and on the use of an independent survey to verify a delay. With thirty men under the surgeon's care, he could not meet his sailing orders, so he asked that the island's surgeon, accompanied by the surgeon of the Duke of Lorrain, inspect and report on his people, converting his own claim of sickness into formal evidence for the Company and his owners. The request shows how a captain protected himself against later charges of unnecessary delay by inviting official confirmation of his crew's state. A charterparty was the contract under which a ship was hired, here fixing at ten the number of working days the Duke of Lorrain could be held at the island before sailing orders followed, so the expiry of that term is what triggered the council's direction to proceed to Bencoolen. Scurvy, the disease that crippled Wilson's crew, arose from the want of fresh provisions on long voyages, which is why an island able to supply fruit and greens mattered so much to the homeward and outward Company traffic. | |
22 | Lorrain Complains of a Leak & hath Since we left the Lattitude of the Bay of Biscay made 22 Inches water every four & Twenty hours so that it is highly Incumbent on me in my duty to my Masters for the Safty of their Estates on Board me to enquire into this Leak & find it if possible before we proceed from hence Your worships may Depend upon all the Dispatch that can be & that I am Worshipfull Sir & Sirs Your most Obedient humble Servant Jonathan Wilson Mr D Crispe having been able to find Bondsmen this Day Acquainted us with the Same that they were Capt George Jackson Lieutenant John Clarke & Mr Elizabeth Furling who were Suretys for the Payment of his Debt to the Honble Company as well as what is Due from him to the Estate of the Late John Godwin Esqr in 6 Months from the Date of the Bond. Mr Crispe was told that time grew very Scanty & it was therefore Necessary he Should prepare the Bonds with all the Expedition possible Adjournd to the 4th Inst Thos Lambert G G Powell John Godfrey Dixon At a Consultation held on friday the 4th of June 1742 Present Thomas Lambert Esqr Govr G G Powell 2d of Council John Godfrey 3d of Do Christopher Dixon The Last Consultation was Read & Approved This Morning Early their was an Allarm made at the Great fort for a vessel Passing by the South west part of the Island. Mr Crispe this Day sent us Three Bonds dated the 3 Instant wherein he hath Obligated himself | The Duke of Lorrain complained of a leak, and since leaving the latitude of the Bay of Biscay had made 22 inches of water every 24 hours. Wilson held it highly incumbent on him, in his duty to his owners and for the safety of their property aboard, to enquire into this leak and find it if possible before proceeding onward. He assured the council they might depend upon all the dispatch that could be made. The letter was signed by Jonathan Wilson. Crisp, having been able to find bondsmen, acquainted the council that day that they were Captain George Jackson, Lieutenant John Clarke and Elizabeth Purling, who stood surety for the payment of his debt to the Company, as well as what was due from him to the estate of the late John Goodwin, within six months from the date of the bond. Crisp was told that time grew very scanty, and that he should therefore prepare the bonds with all possible speed. The meeting adjourned to 4 June. The entry was signed by Thomas Lambert, George Gabriel Powell, John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. At a consultation held on Friday 4 June 1742, Governor Thomas Lambert sat with George Gabriel Powell as second of council, John Godfrey as third of council and Christopher Dixon. The council read the record of the previous meeting and approved it. Early that morning an alarm was made at the Great Fort for a vessel passing by the south-west part of the island. That day Crisp sent the council three bonds dated 3 June, in which he had obliged himself. Interpretations Wilson's account of the leak sets out the master's duty to the owners as the ground for delaying his voyage. A ship taking 22 inches of water a day since the Bay of Biscay could not safely sail on, so Wilson framed the search for the leak not as his own convenience but as an obligation to those whose property lay aboard, which is the same reasoning that had underpinned his earlier maritime protest. The passage shows how responsibility for cargo and hull gave a commander both the right and the duty to hold a ship in port against his sailing orders. Crisp's production of three named sureties resolved the impasse that had led to his confinement. Where his own bond had been refused, the pledges of Captain Jackson, Lieutenant Clarke and Elizabeth Purling, binding themselves to answer his debt to the Company and to Goodwin's estate within six months, gave the security the council had demanded. That a woman stood among the sureties shows that women of means on the island could enter formal financial obligations of this kind, and the six-month term reveals how such bonds were tied to a fixed period for performance. The alarm at the Great Fort for a vessel passing the south-west of the island reflects the standing watch kept on a fortified station in wartime, where any unidentified sail had to be treated as a possible threat until known otherwise. | |
23 | and Bondsmen joyntly or Separally to pay to the Honble Company at the Expiration of Six Months from the date. the full & just Sum of £1145 0s 9½d to Compensate in Some sort for the Deficiency in our Honble Masters Estate at this Place; his Bonds men are as Inserted in Last Consultation Orderd That one of the Original Bonds be inclosd in our packett to the Honble Company & Ship Godolphin an other Proivat Conveyance, and That Mr Crispe have Liberty to Proceed upon Either of the Ships now under Dispatches Two Chests Containing Mr Dukes Effects are Shiped on board the London for England & the Capt Receipt taken Accordingly. The Ships Godolphin, London, Wager, Nassau & York being under Sailing orders & purposing to Depart hence to morrow Morning we Therefore make up our packett to the Honoble Company & Deliver the Same to the Care of the Commodore Capt Francis Steward Thos Lambert G G Powell John Godfrey Dixon At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 8th of June 1742 Present Thomas Lambert Esqr Governour Geo Gabl Powell 2d of Council John Godfrey 3d of Council Christopher Dixon The last Consultation was Read & Approved | and Bondsmen joyntly or Separally to pay to the Honble Company at the Expiration of Six Months from the date. the full & just Sum of £1145 0s 9½d to Compensate in Some sort for the Deficiency in our Honble Masters Estate at this Place; his Bonds men are as Inserted in Last Consultation Orderd That one of the Original Bonds be inclosd in our packett to the Honble Company & Ship Godolphin an other Proivat Conveyance, and That Mr Crispe have Liberty to Proceed upon Either of the Ships now under Dispatches Two Chests Containing Mr Dukes Effects are Shiped on board the London for England & the Capt Receipt taken Accordingly. The Ships Godolphin, London, Wager, Nassau & York being under Sailing orders & purposing to Depart hence to morrow Morning we Therefore make up our packett to the Honoble Company & Deliver the Same to the Care of the Commodore Capt Francis Steward Thos Lambert G G Powell John Godfrey Dixon At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 8th of June 1742 Present Thomas Lambert Esqr Governour Geo Gabl Powell 2d of Council John Godfrey 3d of Council Christopher Dixon The last Consultation was Read & Approved | |
24 | On Saturday the 5th Instant Departed the Honble Companys Ships Godolphin, London, Wager, Nassau & York Yesterday an Allarm was made for Two Sail & &c & & this Morning Arrivd his Majesties Ships Argyle of 50 Guns Capt — Harrison & the Lynn of 20 Guns Capt — Philpot to whom we paid all Honours Usually Paid to the Kings Ships This Day departed the french Ship Called the Conde Capt Pleasance Mr C Dixon reports that on Saturday Last he was on Board the Ships Halifax & Queen Caroline in order to Search for Deserters but found None the Muster Roles of the Ships Compy are as follows Vizt A List of the Queen Carolines Compy Capt Charles Birkhead Mr John Sampson Mr Thomas Slinde Mr Salsbury Blandy Mr Robt Snell Mr John Spicer Thomas Oldham Frances Popleston Richard Ferris John Fooley Thomas Newland Andrew Shendars William Christmas Benjamin Rice Richard Setlock John Michael William SchBurn Joseph Phelps Henry Whitesides Samuel Woodwell James Sevrey Hugh Couch Natt Bochin Geo Hougland William Hugit Stephen Bellman Joseph Hurst Thomas Faisstoth William Garne Thomas Barber Thomas Parker John Waters John Illis Jabey Wheeler Cyprian Thomson John Hutchins Thomas Warner Charles Gale Robert Noble Joseph Pattison John Gales William Bless Samuel Bedman John Bremsden Simon Carner Thomas Aulber Thomas May Thomas Steweser Thomas Ebonny John Drewsh Joseph Berry Richard Hall Lawrence Groggin Michael Fitzpatrick Walter Connier Owen Smith Thomas Grainger John Harris Hugh Redland Daniel Gunn Joseph Liese Richard Smith Francis North John Donalson Thomas Machwell Thomas Gregg Alexander Flegg David Watts Henry Charnock John Shaw Thomas Lewis John Hall Walter Hillard William Hyde William Hibbat Catwalter Williams Samuel Lego Lewis Campbell William Gibson George Mackey Mathew Hague John Franklin John Willson Daniel Obrian Manasha Snell John Phillops James Stichman Robt Gelpin Robt Bing Thomas Roome John Reed Lawrence Willson William Feltrios James Smart James Athonson John Foster John Simpson George Surdey Cevar | On Saturday 5 June the Company's ships Godolphin, London, Wager, Nassau and York departed. The previous day an alarm was made for two sail, and that morning His Majesty's ships arrived: the Argyle of 50 guns under Captain Harrison and the Lynn of 20 guns under Captain Philpot, to whom the council paid all the honours usually paid to the King's ships. That day the French ship called the Condé under Captain Pleasance departed. Dixon reported that the previous Saturday he had gone aboard the Halifax and Queen Caroline to search for deserters, but found none. The ships' muster rolls were as follows. A list of the Queen Caroline's company followed. Captain Charles Birkhead Mr John Sampson Mr Thomas Slonde Mr Salsbury Blandy Mr Robert Snell Mr John Spicer Thomas Oldham Frances Popleston Richard Ferris John Tooley Thomas Newland Andrew Shendars William Christmas Benjamin Rice Richard Setlock John Michael William Sechburn Joseph Phelps Henry Whitesides Samuel Woodwell James Sovey Hugh Couch Natt Bochin George Hougland William Hugit Stephen Bellman Joseph Hurst Thomas Faisecloth William Garne Thomas Barker Thomas Parker John Waters John Illis Jabez Wheeler Cyprian Thomson John Hutchins Thomas Warner Charles Gale Robert Noble Joseph Pattison John Gales William Bless Samuel Bedman John Brimsden Simon Carrier Thomas Aulber Thomas May Thomas Steuwsei Thomas Ebonny John Drewsh Joseph Berry Richard Hall Lawrence Groggin Michael Fitzpatrick Walter Connier Owen Smith Thomas Grainger John Harris Hugh Redland Daniel Gunn Joseph Liese Richard Smith Francis North John Donalson Thomas Machwell Thomas Grogg Alexander Flogg David Watts Henry Charnock John Shaw Thomas Lewis John Hall Walter Hillard William Hyde William Hibbat Cadwaller Williams Samuel Lego Lewis Campbell William Gibson George Mackey Mathew Hague John Franklin John Willson Daniel Obrian Manasha Snell John Phillops James Stichman Robert Gelpin Robert Bing Thomas Boome John Reed Lawrence Willson William Fellrics James Smart James Athenson John Foster John Simpson George Turdey Ewar | |
25 | List of the Ship Halifax Company Vizt Capt John Blake Stemens Nichols Henry Broadley Robert Heffin John Nichols Edward Denn Walter Ersat William Gordon Berry Spencer John Todd John Judges Edward Jackson John Perkins Richard Mossman James Maccubbins Thomas Collier Cran Jebb Edward Morris Griffen William Henshaw Daniel Applequest John Campbell Anthony Willson Willam Stooper Daniel Martin James Lindesey Edward Wincer Robt Tidmas William Ryan Joseph Botherbro James Butler John Matson Benjamin Sanswell Daniel Scurry William Lyon Richard Griffes James Fisher James Blare Robert Gray John Swanston Daniel Linch Thomas Debinson Jeremiat Brown Matt Williamson Charles Bawden Frederick Haosh Alexander Sunbury Robert Wallis John Williams James Collins Nicholas Pacher Thomas Hurly John Staines James Harbinder Thomas Willson Peter Sherden Jonathan Leech Thomas Brindley Ralph Smith Tomas Hooker Michael Jacobs John Clack John Stonehouse Sever Nelson John Jacobson Edward Nowbury William Perkins John Anderson Jach Berg John Hillet Robt Herring John Sidden David Manna Charles Delin George Wright Paul Poland James Firrel Josiah Rebarts Charles Marsh Robt Gibson Benjamin Smith Thomas Robins Francis Hall George Hughs John Jones Thomas Clift Saml Gunniman Joseph Garner John Allen Louis Crebee Andrew Craigs Joseph Saylor Edward Butler John Bennet George Mayter William Hodgson Robt Callant Samuel Smith William Hornidge James Postle Thos Lambert John Godfrey Dixon | A list of the Halifax's company followed. Captain John Blake Stemens Nichols Henry Broadley Robert Heffin John Nichols Edward Denn Walter Errat William Gordon Berry Spencer John Todd John Judges Edward Jackson John Perkins Richard Mossman James Maccubbins Thomas Collier Cran Jebb Edward Morris Griffen William Henshaw Daniel Applequest John Campbell Anthony Willson William Stooper Daniel Martin James Lindesey Edward Wineor Robert Tidmas William Ryan Joseph Botherford James Butler John Matson Benjamin Sanswell Daniel Scurry William Lyon Richard Griffes James Fisher James Blare Robert Gray John Swanston Daniel Linch Thomas Debinson Jeremiah Brown Matt Williamson Charles Bawden Frederick Haosh Alexander Sunbury Robert Walles John Williams James Collins Nicholas Packer Thomas Hurly John Staines James Hackender Thomas Willson Peter Sherden Jonathan Leech Thomas Brindley Ralph Smith Tomas Hooker Michael Jacobs John Clack John Strenehouse Sever Nelson John Jacobson Edward Nowbury William Perkins John Anderson Jach Berg John Millet Robert Herring John Sidden David Manna Charles Delin George Wright Paul Poland James Firrel Josiah Robarts Charles Marsh Robert Gibson Benjamin Smith Thomas Robins Francis Hall George Hughs John Jones Thomas Clift Saml Gunniman Joseph Garner John Allen Louis Crebee Andrew Craigs Joseph Taylor Edward Butler John Bennet George Hayter William Hodgson Robert Callant Samuel Smith William Hornidge James Postle The entry was signed by Thomas Lambert, John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. | |
26 | At a Consultation held the 15th day of June 1742 Present Thomas Lambert Esqr Governour Gir Gabl Powel 2d of Council John Godfrey 3d of Council Christofer Dixon The last Consultation was read & Approved The Petition of Martin Harper was presented and Read and is as follows Vizt To the Worshipfull Thomas Lambert Esqr Governour &c Council of the Island St Helena The Humble Petition of Martin & Gabriel Harper Humbly Sheweth That your Petitioners together with Ensign Thomas Easthope are chief heirs of the late Thomas Casen Deceased That they Humbly Conceive themselves to have been very Imperiously Dealt with by the late Governous Godwin & Mr Crispe in regard to a Sum of money laying in the Honble Compys Cash and belonging to the Estate of Thomas Casen Deceased That that Gentlemen make use of several Contrivances to divert our receiving this money tho we very often Demanded it of Mr Godwin and Messages were sent to us by Mr Crispe and agreements were made use of by Mr Godwin in order to persuade us to lend this money to the Said Mr Godwin That your Petitioner never would agree to Mr Godwins receiving the money which was laying in the Honble Companys Cash belonging to the Estate of the late Thomas Casen Deceasd nor would your Petitioners ever acquiese with Mr Godwins being their Paymaster for the Same as a private Concern between the Said Mr Godwin & your Petitioners but always insisted and Expected that the money should be paid them in the Honble Company Name by the Proper persons Authorizd to transact the Companys Affairs out of their Honour Treasury That your Petitioners having been told that the Governour for the time being was the Person who generally Paid moneys due from the Company are therefore your Petitioners did receive of the late Governour Godwin 300 in part of £600 due from their Honours to the Estate of the Late Thomas Casen Deceased and gave him a Receipt as your Petitioners Conceived accordingly That notwithstanding the wariness of your Petitioners those aforesaid Gentlemen Messrs Godwin & Crispe did through this Indefatigable Endeavours to impose upon our little knowledge of Business inasmuch as that a Receipt was Drawn up for the said 300 in part of the £600 Due to the Estate of Thomas Casen Deceased in Such Terms as it seems & Mr Crispe has since Boasted to us as that we have hitherto been kept out of our money to the great hurt & Prejudice of your Petitioners & their Familys That your Petitioners have addressd the Honble Company concerning this that Great unhappiness but it seems their Honours have not thought fit to make any Answer to the Same in their General Letter to your Worship & Council That therefore your Petitioners humbly pray your worships & Councils Acquiesance in their Laying their Duty to the Honble Company in Person and to Embrace the Present Opportunity of so doing & your Petitioners Likewise Humbly beg your Worship & Council | At a consultation held on 15 June 1742, Governor Thomas Lambert sat with George Gabriel Powell as second of council, John Godfrey as third of council and Christopher Dixon. The council read the record of the previous meeting and approved it. The petition of Martin Harper was presented and read, in the following terms. Martin and Gabriel Harper petitioned Governor Thomas Lambert and the council of St Helena, setting out that they, together with Ensign Thomas Easthope, were the chief heirs of the late Thomas Casen. The Harpers held that they had been very oppressively dealt with by the late Governor Goodwin and Crisp over a sum of money lying in the Company's cash and belonging to Casen's estate. They complained that those gentlemen used several contrivances to divert the money from the heirs, though they had very often demanded it of Goodwin, and that messages were sent to them by Crisp, and agreements used by Goodwin, to persuade them to lend the money to Goodwin. The Harpers said they would never agree to Goodwin receiving the money that lay in the Company's cash belonging to Casen's estate, nor would they ever acquiesce in Goodwin being their paymaster for it, as a private matter between Goodwin and the petitioners. They always insisted and expected that the money should be paid to them in the Company's name, by the proper persons authorised to transact the Company's affairs out of its treasury. Having been told that the governor for the time being was the person who generally paid moneys due from the Company, the Harpers therefore received £300 from Goodwin in part of £600 due from the Company to Casen's estate, and gave him a receipt as they conceived accordingly. Notwithstanding the wariness of the petitioners, Goodwin and Crisp, through their indefatigable endeavours, imposed upon their little knowledge of business, so that a receipt was drawn up for the £300 in part of the £600 due to Casen's estate in such terms as it seemed, and Crisp had since boasted to them that they had hitherto been kept out of their money, to the great hurt and prejudice of the petitioners and their families. The Harpers had addressed the Company concerning this unhappiness, but it seemed the directors had not thought fit to make any answer in their general letter to the council. The petitioners therefore prayed that the council would concur in laying their case before the Company in general, and embrace the present opportunity of doing so, and the petitioners likewise humbly begged the council [...]. Interpretations The Harpers' petition sets out a dispute over the proper channel for paying money owed by the Company to an estate. Their central grievance is that Goodwin sought to make himself their personal paymaster for £600 due to Casen's estate, whereas they insisted the money be paid formally in the Company's name by those authorised to draw on its treasury. The distinction mattered because a private payment through the governor left them dependent on his personal solvency and good faith, while payment in the Company's name gave them a claim against the Company itself, and the petition shows heirs pressing to keep a debt within the institution rather than let it become a private obligation. The receipt for the £300 lies at the heart of the alleged imposition. The Harpers admit taking half the sum from Goodwin and giving a receipt, but claim the document was framed in terms they did not understand, which Crisp later boasted had cut them off from the balance. This reveals how control over the exact wording of a receipt could be used against parties of little business experience, turning a part payment into a device that prejudiced their claim to the rest. An heir in this context was a person entitled to the estate of someone who had died, so the Harpers and Ensile Easthope, as chief heirs of Casen, were pursuing money that had fallen due to the dead man and now formed part of the property they were entitled to inherit. Speculations The Harpers pressed the council to forward their complaint to the Company rather than let the matter rest where the directors had left it. The petition shows the reason plainly: they had already written to the Company and received no answer in the general letter, so the obvious course of awaiting the directors' reply had failed them, and they turned instead to enlisting the local council as a second channel to force their grievance back onto the Company's attention. Their choice to renew the claim through the council, rather than accept the directors' silence, reflects how a distant and unresponsive authority drove petitioners to seek any available means of keeping a stalled case alive. | |
27 | to make mention of their unhappy affair in your letter to the Company & the Ships in Such terms as may weigh with their Honours to take the Merrits of your Petitioners Cause under their just and wise Consideration And Your Petitioners as in Duty Bound Shall ever pray Martin Harper Gabriel Harper Thomas Easthope And the Secretary was Ordered to prepare a paragraph in the General Letter accordingly The Petition of Frances Wrangham was Entread & Read Vizt To the Worshippfull Thomas Lambert Esqr Governour &c Council of the Island St Helena The humble Petition of Fran Wrangham Sheweth That your Petitioner on the 10th June 1741 presented a Petition to the then Govr & Council setting forth the Loss he had Sustained by one of his Slave men callet Nero being Detained at the most Coast And the Use of 300 Deals which he lent Govr Godwin in his life time for the Service of the Honble Company & which your Petitioner can prove have been worked up for the Use of the Said Honble Company anc was to have been returned the same quantity again the Ensuing year, But have not been able as Yet to gett his reasonable Demands either for his Slave or for the Deals altho it has been referred to the Honble Companys Determination As your Worship & Council will please to observe in Consultation of the 10th June 1741, and altho there has been two Ships arrived here since from England, yet your Petitioner hath heard nothing of his affairs Your Petitioner therefore most humbly prays your Worship & Council will take the premises in your Consideration & Relieve him Accord ingly or if to be referred to the Honble Company again, your Petitioner humbly prays your Worship & Council will be pleasd to make a Short paragraph in your next General Letter to their Honours Concerning him St Helena And Your Petitioner will ever pray &c Francis Wrangham &c Mr Wrangham being called in was told that the same Accot prevaild with us as with the former Govr & Council in regard to his affair but as the Company have not thought Proper to make any Mention of it in their Genl Letter here we would of these Ships Address their Honours concerning it & refer them to this & the aforesaid Consultation of 10th June 1741 The Petition of Richard Gurling was Presented & Read Vizt To the Worshipfull Thomas Lambert Esqr Govr &c Council The humble Petition of Richard Gurling Sheweth That your Petitioner hath for these fourteen Years Served the Honorable Company in the Capacity of Centinel, Corporal & Serjeant in Such a faithfull manner as I am well assured no | The petitioners asked that mention of their unhappy affair be made in the council's letter to the Company, in such terms as might weigh with the directors to take the merits of the petitioners' cause under their just and wise consideration. The petition was signed by Martin Harper, Gabriel Harper and Thomas Easthope. The secretary was ordered to prepare a paragraph in the general letter accordingly. The petition of Francis Wrangham was entered and read. Francis Wrangham petitioned Governor Thomas Lambert and the council of St Helena, setting out that on 10 June 1741 he had presented a petition to the council of the day. That earlier petition set out the loss he had sustained by the detention of one of his slave men called Nero at the east coast, and by the use of 300 deals which he lent Governor Goodwin in his lifetime for the service of the Company. Wrangham said he could prove the deals were worked up for the Company's use, and that the same quantity was to have been returned again the following year. But he had not yet been able to obtain his reasonable demands, either for his slave or for the deals, although the matter had been referred to the Company's determination. Wrangham asked the council to observe the record of the meeting of 10 June 1741, and noted that although two ships had since arrived from England, he had heard nothing of his affairs. Wrangham therefore prayed that the council would take the premises into consideration and relieve him accordingly, or refer the matter to the Company again. He humbly prayed that the council would be pleased to insert a short paragraph concerning him in their next general letter to the Company. The petition was signed by Francis Wrangham. Wrangham, being called in, was told that the same answer prevailed with the present council as with the former one in regard to his affairs, but that as the Company had not thought proper to make any mention of it in their general letter, the council would, while these ships were here, address the directors concerning it, and refer them to the matter and to the meeting of 10 June 1741. The petition of Richard Gurling was presented and read. Richard Gurling petitioned Governor Thomas Lambert and the council of St Helena, setting out that for the previous fourteen years he had served the Company in the capacity of sentinel, corporal and sergeant, in such a faithful manner as [...]. Interpretations Wrangham's petition shows the ordinary settler bearing a real loss from lending resources to the Company and struggling to recover it. He had supplied 300 deals worked up for the Company's use on a promise of replacement, and had lost the labour of a slave detained at the east coast, yet after more than a year and the arrival of two ships from England he had received neither redress nor even acknowledgement. The case reveals how the Company's servants and tenants effectively extended credit in goods and labour to the establishment, and how slow and uncertain repayment could be when the matter depended on a decision from London. The council's answer exposes the limits of local authority against the silence of the directors. The council could only repeat the former council's position and promise once more to raise the matter in the general letter, having no power to settle the claim itself while the Company withheld any determination. The repeated recourse to inserting a paragraph in the homeward letter shows that the sole remedy open to a wronged islander was to have his case forwarded yet again to a distant board that had so far declined to respond. Deals were sawn planks of softwood timber, a valuable building material on a treeless island dependent on imported wood, so Wrangham's loan of 300 of them for the Company's use represented a substantial contribution of scarce material to the settlement's construction needs. Speculations The council undertook to raise Wrangham's claim with the directors once more rather than simply refuse him as the previous council had. The obvious course was to repeat the standing answer and leave him to await the Company's silence, since the council had no power to grant his demands itself, yet the presence of ships bound for England opened a narrow chance to press the matter, and the council chose to use it. Their decision to forward the case again, despite the directors having twice ignored it, shows the council preferring to keep faith with a long-serving settler over the easier path of deferring entirely to a board that had shown no interest in his complaint. | |
28 | no Neglect of Duty can be Laid to my Charge but having now a Plantation of my own Requires me to be more at home which I believe will be of greater Advantage Your Petitioner therefore most humbly begs of your Worship & Council will permit him to Lay Down the Service of the Honble Company And Your Petitioner as in Duty Bound shall ever pray &c St Helena Richd Gurling 15 June 1742 Richard Gurling being called In was asked by the Govr wether he was movd by any Ill Usage from his Officers or the like to Lay down the Companys Service he Said he had no reason to Complain upon that head but that his Plantation & Country Affairs called for his Attendance more than his Duty to the Company in his Military Capacity would Admit of William Adams & Robert Drury this Day presented their Petitions for their discharge from the Companys Service and liberty to proceed to England having Servd their five Years as Soldiers at this place agreeable to their Contract with the Honble Company Granted provided they pay their Debts The Petition of Frances Junge was likewise presented & Read praying for his Discharge from the Compys Service having Served their Honours upwards of five years Granted The Petition of Benjn Seale was Presented & Read Vizt To the Worshipfull Thomas Lambert Esqr Governour &c Council of the Island St Helena The Humble Petition of Benjn Seale Sheweth That your Petitioner have served the Honble Company Six years & Upwards in the Capacity of a private Sentinel & now being left alone with my house Plantation & Cattle & having none to take care of them but my Self and being obliged to be upon Duty every Other week I find great Loss thereby both in my land & Cattle which if not Speedily prevented will undoubtedly in a Short time be my utter ruin and seeing no other way to Recover my losses but by being at home to take care of my affairs my Self Do most humbly beg my Discharge of your Worship & Council from the Honble Companys Service which I hope your Worship will take Into consideration & grant me the Request which I most Humbly beg of your worship & for the favour so Granted St Helena Your humble Petitioner will in Duty June 15th 1742 Bound Ever Pray Benjamin Seale | Gurling could not be charged with any neglect of duty, but having now a plantation of his own, he needed to be more at home, which he believed would be of greater advantage. He therefore begged that the council would permit him to lay down the Company's service. The petition was dated at St Helena, 15 June 1742, and signed by Richard Gurling. Gurling, being called in, was asked by the Governor whether he was moved by any ill usage from his officers or the like to lay down the Company's service. He said he had no reason to complain on that head, but that his plantation and country affairs called for his attendance more than his duty to the Company in his military capacity would allow. William Adams and Robert Drury presented their petitions that day for their discharge from the Company's service and liberty to sail to England, having served their five years as soldiers at the island according to their contract with the Company. The council granted their requests, provided they paid their debts. The petition of Francis Junge was likewise presented and read, praying for his discharge from the Company's service, having served the Company upwards of five years. The council granted his request. The petition of Benjamin Seale was presented and read. Benjamin Seale petitioned Governor Thomas Lambert and the council of St Helena, setting out that he had served the Company six years and upwards in the capacity of a private sentinel. Now being left alone with his house, plantation and cattle, and having none to take care of them but himself, and being obliged to be on duty every other week, he found great loss both in his land and cattle. He held that if this were not speedily prevented, it would undoubtedly in a short time be his utter ruin, and seeing no other way to recover his losses but by being at home to take care of his affairs himself, he most humbly begged his discharge from the Company's service. The petition was dated at St Helena, 15 June 1742, and signed by Benjamin Seale. Interpretations These petitions together reveal the standing tension on the island between military service and the demands of a private smallholding. Gurling, Seale and the others sought release not from any grievance against their officers but because rotating garrison duty, in Seale's case every other week, left them unable to tend the land and cattle on which their livelihood depended. The Governor's specific question to Gurling about ill usage shows the council checking whether discontent lay behind the request, and the pattern of discharges reveals how the settlement's own policy of granting land to soldiers steadily drew them away from the garrison that land was meant to support. The discharge of Adams, Drury and Junge on completion of five years shows the contractual basis of Company soldiering at the island. Men engaged for a fixed term of five years, after which they were entitled to release and passage home, so the garrison depended on a continual turnover of time-served men whose contracts had expired. The condition attached to Adams and Drury, that they first pay their debts, reflects the same rule seen throughout these proceedings, that no one was permitted to leave the island until creditors were satisfied. A sentinel was a common soldier who stood guard, the lowest rank in the garrison, so the repeated description of these petitioners as private sentinels marks them as ordinary infantry of the Company's small military establishment rather than officers. Speculations The council granted these discharges rather than hold experienced soldiers to keep the garrison at strength. The obvious course for a lightly defended island, especially with war approaching and King's ships lately in the road, was to retain every trained man it could, yet the council released several at once on the strength of expired contracts and the plea that their farms were failing. The record shows the council honouring the fixed terms of service and the settlers' need to work their land over the competing demand of military readiness, accepting a weaker garrison as the price of keeping its bargains with time-served men and sustaining the island's cultivation. | |
29 | Benjamin Seale being called in & asked how old he was Said he was Twenty so that it appears he was but fourteen at the time he Entred, the matter being Debated wether this Benjn Seale should have his Discharge from the Companys Service or not, we were Divided in our Opinions concerning the Same, & in the whole tole him he must wait till we had the honour to receive our Masters Orders of next Year Thos Lambert John Godfrey Dixon At a Consultation held the 22 June 1742 Present Thomas Lambert Esqr Governour John Godfrey 3d of Council Christopher Dixon The last Consultation was read & Approvd On the 19th Instant Departed the Honble Companys Ship Duke of Lorrain for Bencoolen On the 20th Instant Arrived the Kent Captain Robson from Bengall On the 21st Arrived the Scarlerough Capt Westcoat from Bengall. This Day Mr Godfrey reports that upon Ex amination he finds the Supply of Rice will not be Sufficient for the Expence of the Current year the Garrison being much Increased, we there upon came to the following resolution That as there were some of the Commanders of the Honble Companys Ships had Got rice to Dispose of thoughts it Necessary that a purchase thereof should Be made for the Support of the Garrison The Petition of Joshua Worrall was this Day presented & read Vizt To the Worshipfull Thomas Lambert Esqr Governour &c Council The Humble Petition of Joshua Worrall Sheweth That he hath Served the Honble Company for Twelve Years a Private Centinel & Corperal But having a family & his Plantation | Benjamin Seale, being called in and asked how old he was, said he was twenty, so that it appeared he had been but fourteen at the time he entered. The council debated whether Seale should have his discharge from the Company's service or not, and were divided in their opinions on the matter. On the whole they told him he must wait until they had the honour to receive the Company's orders of the following year. The entry was signed by Thomas Lambert, John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. At a consultation held on 22 June 1742, Governor Thomas Lambert sat with John Godfrey as third of council and Christopher Dixon. The council read the record of the previous meeting and approved it. On 19 June the Company's ship Duke of Lorrain departed for Bencoolen. On 20 June the Kent under Captain Robson from Bengal arrived. On 21 June the Scarborough under Captain Westcoat from Bengal arrived. That day Godfrey reported that on examination he found the supply of rice would not be sufficient for the expense of the current year, the garrison being much increased. The council thereupon came to the following resolution. Since some of the commanders of the Company's ships had rice to dispose of, the council thought it necessary that a purchase of it should be made for the support of the garrison. The petition of Joshua Worrall was presented and read that day. Joshua Worrall petitioned Governor Thomas Lambert and the council of St Helena, setting out that he had served the Company for twelve years as a private sentinel and corporal, but having a family and his plantation [...]. Interpretations Seale's case turns on his age at enlistment and exposes a limit the council would not cross on its own authority. On learning he had entered the service at fourteen, the council split over whether to release him and finally deferred the whole question to the Company's orders, unwilling either to hold a man engaged as a minor or to discharge him without sanction. The episode shows how the recruitment of boys into the garrison created obligations the local authority felt unable to resolve, and how genuine division among so small a council was met by passing the decision up to London. The rice shortage and the council's response reveal the island's chronic dependence on passing ships to feed an expanding garrison. Godfrey's audit showed home supply would fall short for the year, so the council seized the chance to buy rice from commanders who happened to have it aboard, turning the accident of what the fleet carried into the means of provisioning the settlement. The decision shows how food security on the island rested not on its own production alone but on opportunistic purchase from the Company traffic that called there. Rice, imported from Bengal and other eastern settlements, served alongside yams as a staple provision for the garrison and the enslaved workforce, so a projected shortfall in it was a direct threat to the island's ability to sustain its growing population. Speculations The council chose to buy rice from the ships' commanders then in the road rather than ration the shortfall or wait for a dedicated supply. The obvious constraint was that home production would not stretch to feed the enlarged garrison through the year, and the council might have tightened the daily issue or looked to the next season, yet the chance presence of commanders with rice to sell offered an immediate remedy the council took at once. The decision to provision by opportunistic purchase, seizing what the current fleet happened to carry, shows the council treating the unpredictable arrivals of Company shipping as its practical larder rather than trusting to the island's own uncertain harvest. | |
30 | much Neglected by his Being In the Service Desires to have his Discharge and his request Granted Your humble Petitioner will for Ever pray &c Joshua Worrall Granted The Petition of Edward Burnham was this Day presented & Read Vizt To the Worshipfull Thomas Lambert Esqr Governour &c Council of the Island St Helena Sheweth The humble Petition of Edward Burnham That your Worships Petitioner Has Served the Honble Company fourteen years Last may & Now having a much Better living in View Most Humbly begs his Discharge of your Worship & Council from the Honble Companys Service, I hope your Worship will take it in to Consideration & Grant my request which is the Desire of your humble Petitioner & in so Doing Your Humble Petitioner will in June the 22d Duty Bound Ever pray 1742 Edward Burnham Granted Governour Lambert being very much Indisposed, & Mr Powel in the Country looking after the Honble Companys Plantation Affairs, Oblidged us to amitt doing any more Business this Day John Godfrey Dixon | Worrall's plantation had been much neglected by his being in the service, and he desired his discharge. The council granted his request. The petition was signed by Joshua Worrall. The petition of Edward Burnham was presented and read that day. Edward Burnham petitioned Governor Thomas Lambert and the council of St Helena, setting out that he had served the Company fourteen years the previous May, and now having a much better living in view, he humbly begged his discharge from the Company's service. He hoped the council would take it into consideration and grant his request. The petition was dated 22 June 1742 and signed by Edward Burnham. The council granted his request. Governor Lambert being very much indisposed, and Powell being in the country looking after the Company's plantation affairs, the council was obliged to leave off doing any more business that day. The entry was signed by John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. Interpretations Worrall and Burnham continue the run of soldiers leaving the garrison for the land, and together with the earlier discharges they show how routinely long-serving men were released once a better prospect on the island opened to them. Burnham's plain statement that he had a better living in view, granted without demur, reveals how little hold the Company kept over time-served soldiers when the settlement's own opportunities in cultivation drew them away. The steady grant of these requests shows the council accepting the continual erosion of its military establishment as the normal cost of a colony where every man wanted his own plot. The abrupt suspension of business exposes how thin the island's government was at the top. With the Governor ill and Powell absent in the country on plantation affairs, only two councillors remained, too few to carry on, and the meeting simply stopped. The episode shows how a council of so few members could be paralysed by the illness or absence of one or two men, leaving the island's formal administration dependent on the availability of a mere handful of officers. To be indisposed meant to be unwell, so the Governor's indisposition, combined with Powell's absence, left the council without enough members present to continue transacting business that day. | |
31 | At a Consultation held on Friday the 23d July 1742 at the Castle Present George Gabriel Powell Esqr Governour John Godfrey 2d of Council Christopher Dixon 3d of Council The Last Consultation was Read and approved Ever since the Departure of the Last Fleet Governour Lamberts Indisposition confined him to his Chamber and at Nine of the Clock in the Evening of Tuesday last the 20th Instant he expired Yesterday the Corps of the Late Governour Lambert was Interred with all he Solemnity and Millitary Honour that could possibly be paid to him at this Place After the Funeral George Gabriel Powell Esqr was proclaimed Governour untill the Honourable Companys further Pleasure was known by the following Advertisement being Read at the Head of the Guards Vizt Whereas it hath Pleased Almighty God to remove out of this Transitory life Thomas Lambert Esqr late Governour and Commander in Chief of the Island St Helena and of all Forts Forces and Inhabitant thereof These are therefore Strictly to Charge and Command All Officers Civil and Military of what Station or Degree soever, and also all Soldiers and Inhabitants of the said Island to give and Yuild due Obedience unto George Gabriel Powell Esqr as Governour and Commander in Chief of the said Island until the Honourable Companys Pleasure shall be further known. G G Powell John Godfrey St Helena Dixon 22d July 1742 Upon Countros the Honourable Companys Cash we find the Sum of One Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Nine Pounds Nineteen Shillings and One Penny in good Order and well Condition the Particulars are as follows Vizt | At a consultation held on Friday 23 July 1742 at the Castle, George Gabriel Powell sat as governor, with John Godfrey as second of council and Christopher Dixon as third of council. The council read the record of the previous meeting and approved it. Ever since the departure of the previous fleet, Governor Lambert's indisposition had confined him to his chamber, and at nine in the evening of Tuesday 20 July he died. The previous day the body of the late Governor Lambert was buried with all the solemnity and military honour that could possibly be paid to him at the island. After the funeral George Gabriel Powell was proclaimed governor, until the Company's further pleasure was known, by the following advertisement read at the head of the guards. It had pleased Almighty God to remove out of this transitory life Thomas Lambert, late governor and commander in chief of the island of St Helena and of all forts, forces and inhabitants of the island. All officers civil and military of whatever station or degree, and also all soldiers and inhabitants of the island, were therefore charged and commanded to give due obedience to George Gabriel Powell as governor and commander in chief of the island until the Company's pleasure should be further known. The proclamation was dated at St Helena, 22 July 1742, and signed by George Gabriel Powell, John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. On counting the Company's cash, the council found the sum of £1,739 19s 1d in good order and well conditioned. The particulars were as follows. Interpretations The death of Governor Lambert and the immediate proclamation of Powell show the island's arrangements for an unbroken succession of authority. Rather than leave any interval of uncertain command, the council installed the next senior member as acting governor the very day after the funeral, subject only to the Company's later confirmation, and had the change read publicly at the head of the guards to bind soldiers and inhabitants alike. The procedure reveals how a remote garrison guarded against any lapse of command by an established chain of succession that operated at once and awaited ratification from London. The public counting of the Company's cash immediately upon the change of governor served as a formal audit marking the transfer of financial responsibility. By recording that £1,739 19s 1d stood in good order at the moment Powell took charge, the council fixed a clear baseline separating Lambert's stewardship from his successor's, exactly as the earlier insistence on closing the books to the day of a governor's arrival had done. The practice shows how each transition of command was tied to a verified reckoning of the treasury, so that no governor could be charged with a predecessor's deficiencies. An advertisement in this sense was a formal public notice or proclamation, here the announcement of Lambert's death and Powell's succession, read aloud to the assembled guard so that the whole garrison learned of the change of command at once. | |
32 | Cash Notes amounting to £354 13s 0d Dollars 3124 at 5s £781 0s 0d Pagodas 56 at 9s £25 4s 0d Double Reals 1359 at 15d £84 17s 6d Ryals 10607 at 7½d £331 9s 4½d Half Ryals 9996 at 3¾d £156 3s 9d Guineas 2 at 21s £2 2s 0d Moriscoes 12 at 6s £3 12s 0d Half St Thomas l £6s 0d Odd Money £9s 5½d £1739 19s 1d George Gabriel Powell Esqr took under his Care the Key late in Possession of Governour Lambert and Delivered to Mr Dixon that Key of the Cash Chest which he himself would keep. The Widow of the Late Governour requesting that a Certificate should be given her of the well being and Safety of the Companys Treasure We therefore gave her a Certificate accordingly And as it may be Presumed that the Lady of the Late Governour and her three Daughters will be greatly at a loss how to Live in this Place until an Opportunity Offers for their returning back to England We again that they to maintained from the General Table with all necessarys and that it may be no way Extraordinary Expince to our Honourable Masters We resolve that the Table at the Castle be Served so sparingly that the Diet Expences may not exceed the Usual Bounds On the Twenty Sixth of June Departed for England his Majesties Ships Argyle and Lynn, under their Convoy our Honourable Masters Ships Vizt Northampton Royal George King William Hallifax Queen Carolina and their Honours Sloop the Scout Adjourn'd till Tuesday next the 27th Instant G G Powell John Godfrey Dixon | The particulars of the Company's cash were as follows. Cash notes amounting to, £354 13s 0d Dollars, 3,124 at 5s, £781 0s 0d Pagodas, 56 at 9s, £25 4s 0d Double reals, 1,358 at 15d, £84 17s 6d Reals, 10,607 at 7 and a half d, £331 9s 4d Half reals, 9,996 at 3 and three quarter d, £156 3s 9d Guineas, 2 at 21s, £2 2s 0d Moriscoes, 12 at 6s, £3 12s 0d Half St Thomas, 1, £0 6s 0d Odd money, £0 9s 5d Total, £1,739 19s 1d George Gabriel Powell took under his care the key lately in the possession of Governor Lambert, and delivered to Dixon the key of the cash chest, which he himself was to keep. The widow of the late Governor requested that a certificate be given her of the wellbeing and safety of the Company's treasure, and the council gave her a certificate accordingly. Since it might be presumed that the widow of the late Governor and her three daughters would be greatly at a loss how to live at the island until an opportunity offered for their return to England, the council resolved that they be maintained from the general table with all necessaries. But so that this might be no way an extraordinary expense to the Company, the council resolved that the table at the Castle be served so sparingly that the diet expenses might not exceed the usual bounds. On 26 June His Majesty's ships Argyle and Lynn departed for England, under whose convoy sailed the Company's ships Northampton, Royal George, King William, Halifax, Queen Caroline and the Company's sloop the Kent. The meeting adjourned to the following Tuesday, 27 July. The entry was signed by George Gabriel Powell, John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. Interpretations The cash inventory reveals the strikingly mixed currency circulating through the island's treasury. Spanish and Spanish American silver dominated in the form of dollars, reals, double reals and half reals, joined by Indian pagodas, English guineas and other small coin, so the Company's cash on a remote Atlantic island was made up largely of foreign specie drawn from the whole span of its eastern and Atlantic trade. The care taken to count and rate each denomination separately shows how the settlement functioned without a single national coinage, valuing every kind of coin against sterling for its accounts. The provision for Lambert's widow and daughters exposes the council balancing humanity against its duty to the Company's purse. It undertook to keep the family from the general table until they could sail home, yet in the same breath ordered the Castle table served so sparingly that the cost stayed within the usual bounds, unwilling to let charity to a dead governor's family become a charge the directors might question. The decision shows how even an act of compassion had to be framed as no extraordinary expense on a station where every outlay was answerable to London. The custody of the keys marks the formal transfer of control over the treasury on the change of command, Powell taking the governor's key and entrusting the cash chest's key to Dixon, so that the security of the Company's money was divided between two officers rather than resting with one. Speculations The council resolved to support the late Governor's family from the general table while ordering that table pared back so the cost stayed hidden within ordinary bounds. The obvious courses were either to maintain the widow and her daughters properly as an acknowledged charge, or to leave them to shift for themselves until a ship offered, and the council took neither cleanly. It chose instead to feed them quietly by tightening everyone's diet at the Castle, so that genuine care for a dead colleague's dependants was folded into the existing expense rather than presented to the directors as a new one. The manoeuvre shows the council unwilling to abandon the family yet equally unwilling to defend an extraordinary outlay to a distant board, and finding its way between the two by concealment rather than open provision. | |
33 | At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 27th July 1742 at the Castle Present George Gabriel Powell Esqr Governour John Godfrey 2d of Council Christopher Dixon 3d of Council The last Consultation was Read and Approved The Governour Reports that Agreeable to the Resolution of last Consultation Madam Lambert has been acquainted that she is to be maintained at the Companys Table during her Stay at this Place and that she and the Young Ladies thereupon Expre Dtheir thanks and Gratitude to our Honourable Masters in the highest Terms that could be The Governour further Reports that he has given Orders that the Burning of Lime be expedieald as much as Possible and that in Order thereto he hath sent all the Companys Slaves that possibly could be Drawn for a time from their other Business to work at this Lime kiln and he hopes by the 20th of next Month there will be so much Lime brought round as that the Fortification at Bankts may be Carried on and Completated out of hand & being the place Designed by Govr Lambert to be first set about, his Some thereof and the Alterations and Additions Proposed to him are entred at length in his Report of the Strength and Condition of the Island in General in Consultation of 27th April 1742 It is agreed that we Immediately set about making good the Resolution in Consultation of 28th May 1742, and promise to our Honourable Masters in last General Letter with regard to the Stores and general Books of Accounts and bring them up as soon as possible and to facilitate the same It is Ordered that the Store Houses be Shutt on Saturday next and nothing more Issued thence, untill the Accounts are all brought forward It is further Agreed that those Effects yet remaining unsold belonging to the Estate of the late John Godoun Esqr be Disposed off at Publick Outcry and his Account with the Honourable Company made Out, Governour Lamberts Illness having retarded the Completing of it. And The following Advertisement was Ordered to be Publish Vizt This is to give Notice that on Monday next will be exposed to Publick Sale the Remaining part of the Estate of the late John Godwin Esqr at the Honourable Companys Storehouses in this Valley where all persons are free to bid and Buy for Ready Money And Further this is Likewise to give Notice that on the Same Day the Honourable Companys Stores will be Shutt up for the space of time from this Business all persons are Desired to supply themselves with such necessarys as they can have from thence on or before next Saturday the 31 Instant St Helena By Order of Council 27 July 1742 Dixon Esqr | At a consultation held on Tuesday 27 July 1742 at the Castle, Governor George Gabriel Powell sat with John Godfrey as second of council and Christopher Dixon as third of council. The council read the record of the previous meeting and approved it. The Governor reported that in accordance with the resolution of the previous meeting, Madam Lambert had been told she was to be maintained at the Company's table during her stay at the island, and that she and the young ladies thereupon expressed their thanks and gratitude to the Company in the highest terms that could be. The Governor further reported that he had given orders that the burning of lime be pursued as much as possible, and that in order to this he had sent all the Company's slaves who could possibly be drawn for a time from their other business to work at the lime kiln. He hoped by 20 August there would be so much lime brought round that the fortification at Banks might be carried on and completed out of hand, this being the place the late Governor Lambert had designed to set about first. The alterations and additions Lambert proposed were entered at length in his report of the strength and condition of the island in general, in the meeting of 27 April 1742. The council agreed that they immediately set about making good the resolution in the meeting of 28 May 1742, and the promise to the Company in the previous general letter with regard to the stores and general books of account, and bring them up as soon as possible. To facilitate this, the council ordered that the storehouses be shut the following Saturday and nothing more issued from them until the accounts were brought up to date. The council further agreed that whatever effects still remained unsold belonging to the estate of the late Goodwin be disposed of at public auction, and his account with the Company made out, Governor Lambert's illness having retarded its completion. The following advertisement was ordered to be published. The council gave notice that the following Monday there would be exposed to public sale the remaining part of the estate of the late John Goodwin, at the Company's storehouse in the valley, where all persons were free to bid and buy for ready money. The council further gave notice that on the same day the Company's stores would be shut up for a time, and from then on all persons were desired to supply themselves with such necessaries as they could have from the stores on or before the following Saturday, 31 July. The advertisement was dated at St Helena, 27 July 1742, and issued by order of the council, signed by Christopher Dixon. Interpretations The revival of lime burning and the fortification at Banks shows a new governor moving at once to carry out his dead predecessor's defensive plans. Powell diverted the Company's slaves from their ordinary tasks to the lime kiln so that the work Lambert had marked as his first priority could go forward, with a target date of 20 August for enough lime to complete the works. The urgency reflects the wartime setting, in which strengthening the island's defences took precedence over routine labour, and it shows how the enslaved workforce was the instrument by which such public works were pushed through at speed. The renewed order to shut the stores until the accounts were brought up ties directly to the long-running failure to close the books that had dominated these proceedings since May. By freezing the stores and warning inhabitants to draw their necessaries beforehand, the council forced a clean stop against which the tangled accounts could finally be reconciled, honouring both the resolution of 28 May and the promise made to the directors. The measure shows the settlement's whole population being made to feel the consequences of an administrative reckoning, obliged to stock up in advance so that the audit could proceed. Lime, produced by burning limestone or coral in a kiln, was essential as mortar for stone fortification, so the drive to accumulate it was the necessary first step before the defensive works at Banks could be built up. Speculations Powell chose to pull the Company's slaves off their other work and concentrate them on the lime kiln rather than let the fortification proceed at its ordinary pace. The competing claim was the settlement's routine labour, the everyday tasks the slaves would otherwise perform, which the diversion necessarily set aside, yet Powell judged the defensive work Lambert had marked as first priority too pressing to wait. His decision to strip other business of its workforce for a fixed push to 20 August shows a governor newly in office treating the completion of the island's defences, in a time of war, as worth the disruption of nearly everything else the slaves would have done. | |
34 | The Governour Reports that John Norman the Honourable Companys Cooper Dyed the 25th Instant and that he has Enquired if there is any other Man in the Garrison or Island bred a Cooper and has not yet been so fortunate to hear of any And that the Reverend Doctor Alcock hath applyed to him to know whether he might be suffered to purchase a Slave Girl of the Honourable Company and that he the Governour made Answer he would take the Opinions of the Gentlemen of Council this Day and in Consequence thereof he doth now Ask whether it would be for the Companys Interest to Dispose of a Slave Girl about Eleven Years of Age or not and It was Unanimously agreed that it would be no hurt but on the Contrary a Real advantage to the Company for us to Dispose of this Slave Girl having more of that Sex than they know what to do with And she was accordingly Sold for Eleven Pounds Governour Lambert Daughters Mode sent for our present Governour Mr Powell and Directed that he as being Pay master should pay what was due from the Company to their Servants &c for the Months of May and June And Mr Powell accordingly paid the same in presence of the rest of the Council and the following being the Account thereof is this Day Examined and Aproved and is Vizt List of the Honourable Companys Servants upon the Island St Helena with their Several Sallarys and Diet money for the Months of May & June last Vizt Names, Pay, Cash Received of the Petn for the term they have been on Chaplind, Diet with the Honr Company Thomas Lambert Esqr Govr Sallary £500 P Annum Suicide 1749 Do from 21st March: 171 15s 4d G G Powell Due to him upon the Companys Books to this day having overstopt taken up on his Sallary: 247 5s 8½d John Godfrey: 91 6s 8d Chris Dixon Sallary £60 P An from 9 May: 7 4s 7½d Edwin Alcock Chaplain: 16 13s 4d Joshua Swonam Sacker from 17 May: 3 12s 3¾d James Powell: 6 7s 6d Frances Wrangham: 6 7s 6d Joseph Datral from 17 May: 2 8s 7½d Thomas Sunch: 3 6s 8d 356 7s 10½d Carried over £356 7s 10½d Hospital Carried over £ Diet Carried over £ | The Governor reported that John Norman, the Company's cooper, had died on 25 July, and that he had enquired whether any other man in the garrison or on the island had been bred a cooper, but had not yet been fortunate enough to hear of any. The Governor further reported that the Reverend Doctor Alcock had applied to him to know whether he might be allowed to purchase a slave girl belonging to the Company, and that in reply the Governor said he would take the opinion of the council. He accordingly asked the council that day whether it would be for the Company's interest to dispose of a slave girl about eleven years of age or not. The council unanimously agreed that it would be no hurt, but on the contrary a real advantage to the Company, to dispose of this slave girl, having more of that sex than they knew what to do with, and she was accordingly sold for £11 0s 0d. Governor Lambert's daughter Miss Lambert sent for the present Governor, Powell, and directed that as he was formerly paymaster, he should pay what was due from the Company to their servants for the months of May and June. Powell accordingly paid the same in the presence of the rest of the council, and the following account of it was examined and approved that day. The list of the Company's servants on the island of St Helena, with their several salaries and diet money for the months of May and June, was as follows. Thomas Lambert, governor, salary £200 per annum, £171 15s 4d George Gabriel Powell, due to him from the Company, being to this day taking notice of it, £241 5s 8d John Godfrey, £91 6s 8d Christopher Dixon, salary and diet from 9 May, £7 4s 4d Edwin Alcock, chaplain, £16 13s 4d Joshua Swanam, tacker, from 17 May, £3 12s 3d James Powell, £6 1s 6d Frances Wrangham, £6 7s 6d Joseph Datval, from 17 May, junior, £2 8s 1d Thomas Punch, £3 6s 8d Total, £356 7s 10d Carried over, £356 7s 10d Hospital carried over, [...] Diet carried over, [...] Interpretations The council's disposal of an eleven-year-old girl as a matter of the Company's convenience lays bare the brutality of the island's slave system. The sale turned on nothing but a surplus of female slaves, the councillors reasoning that the Company held more of that sex than it needed, and a child was sold to the chaplain for £11 as a simple asset adjustment. That the buyer was the clergyman, and that the transaction was resolved by unanimous vote as being to the Company's advantage, shows how completely the trade in human beings was woven into the ordinary administration of the settlement and its established church. The death of the cooper and the Governor's fruitless search for a replacement reveal how a single skilled trade could not be readily filled on a small remote island. A cooper made and repaired the casks in which provisions, water and goods were stored and shipped, an indispensable craft for a victualling station, yet no other trained man could be found in the whole garrison or population. The difficulty shows the island's dependence on the few specialists sent out from England and its vulnerability whenever one of them died. The salary list records the pay and diet money of the Company's civil establishment for two months, with each officer's entitlement reckoned in pounds, so it functions as the routine payroll by which the small body of governor, councillors, chaplain and clerks was maintained on fixed annual salaries. Speculations The council chose to sell the Company's surplus slave girl rather than keep her, resolving the question purely as one of the Company's interest. The councillors weighed retention against sale and concluded that holding more female slaves than they had use for was needless, so a child was converted into £11 of cash on the ground that her sex was in excess. The decision, reached unanimously and recorded without a flicker of hesitation, shows the council treating enslaved people as stock to be adjusted to the establishment's requirements, disposing of a girl of eleven the moment her retention offered no advantage. | |
35 | Diet Brought over £ Hospital Brought over £ Brought over £356 7s 10½d First Company Vizt John Clarke Lieutenant £11 13s 4d Thomas Easthope Ensign £8 0s 10d John Barton Do £8 0s 10d Daniel Owen Do from 22d March £13 5s 4d William Hayle Adjutant £9 14s 2d £50 14s 2½d Serjeants Vizt Joseph Desfountain £4 13s 0d William Seale £4 13s 0d Richard Gurling Disch 15th June £3 13s 9½d Henry Multon £4 13s 0d 1 4s Daniel Mason £4 13s 0d 1s 6d Joseph Leighton £4 13s 0d £26 15s 3½d 1 5s 6d 14s Corporals Vizt Onesiphorus Beale £2 19s 6d Joseph Whaley £2 19s 6d Gabriel Isaac £2 19s 6d Isaac Amye £2 19s 6d Matthew Waters £2 19s 6d 1 4s Bartholomew Molloy £2 19s 6d £17 11s 0d Drummers Vizt Thomas Wote x £2 18s 6d William Davies x £2 18s 6d £5 17s 0d Centinels Vizt William Adams £2 5s 6d 1s James Aldridge x £2 5s 6d 1 6s Bevin Ambrose x £2 5s 6d 1 4s James Ates £2 5s 6d Thomas Alcock x £2 5s 6d 1 4s Edward Arnold £2 5s 6d 1 6s Richard Bishop x £2 5s 6d 1 6s George Bennett x £2 5s 6d 1 6s £18 4s 0d Carried over £675 9s 4½d Hospital Carried over £1 5s 6d Diet Carried over £12 | The salary list of the Company's servants continued, with columns for pay, hospital and diet money. Diet brought over, [...] Hospital brought over, [...] Brought over, £356 7s 10d First Company: John Clarke, lieutenant, pay £11 13s 4d Thomas Easthope, ensign, pay £8 0s 10d John Barton, ensign, pay £8 0s 10d Daniel Owen, ensign, from 22 March, pay £13 5s 2d William Hayle, adjutant, pay £9 14s 2d Total, £50 14s 2d Serjeants: Joseph Desfountain, pay £4 13s 0d William Seale, pay £4 13s 0d Richard Gurling, discharged 15 June, pay £3 13s 9d Henry Multon, pay £4 13s 0d, diet £1 4s 0d Daniel Mason, pay £4 13s 0d, diet £1 0s 6d Joseph Leighton, pay £4 13s 0d, hospital £1 5s 6d, diet £14 0s 0d Total pay, £26 15s 3d Corporals: Onesiphorus Beale, pay £2 15s 6d Joseph Whaley, pay £2 15s 6d Gabriel Isaac, pay £2 15s 6d Isaac Imge, pay £2 15s 6d Matthew Waters, pay £2 15s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Bartholomew Molloy, pay £2 15s 6d Total pay, £17 11s 0d Drummers: Thomas Wate, pay £2 18s 6d William Davies, pay £2 18s 6d Total, £5 17s 0d Sentinels: William Adams, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £0 1s 6d James Aldridge, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Bewin Ambrose, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d James Alies, pay £2 5s 6d Thomas Alcock, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Edward Arnold, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Richard Bishop, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d George Bennett, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Total pay, £18 4s 0d Carried over, £675 9s 4d Hospital carried over, £1 5s 6d Diet carried over, £12 0s 0d Interpretations The muster and pay list sets out the whole structure of the island's first company, descending by rank from lieutenant and ensigns through serjeants, corporals and drummers to the private sentinels, each with a fixed rate of pay. The regular gradation of wages, from over eleven pounds for the lieutenant down to a common sentinel's uniform rate, shows how the garrison's modest establishment was ordered and remunerated in strict proportion to rank. The appearance of Gurling, marked as discharged on 15 June with a reduced payment, ties the payroll directly to the discharge petitions granted earlier and shows the accounts tracking each man's service to the exact day. The separate columns for hospital and diet money reveal deductions and allowances worked into the soldiers' pay beyond the bare wage. The hospital charge against a serjeant reflects the cost of medical care set against his account, while the diet money credited to many names represents the allowance for subsistence, so a soldier's actual entitlement combined his rank pay with adjustments for what he had drawn or was owed. The detailed reckoning shows how closely the Company accounted for every element of a soldier's maintenance rather than paying a single undifferentiated sum. An adjutant was the officer who assisted the commander with the details of drill, orders and the daily routine of the garrison, so William Hayle in that post held a working administrative rank between the commissioned officers and the serjeants. | |
36 | Diet Brought over £12 Hospital Brought over £1 5s 6d Brought over £675 9s 4½d Matthew Brightwell £2 5s 6d 1s 6d John Butler £2 5s 6d 1 4s Andrew Barton £2 5s 6d 1 6s William Bear Died 2 June £1 4s 3d 6s ¾d Peter Bath £2 5s 6d 1 4s Daniel Bush £2 5s 6d 1 4s Pell Bryan £2 5s 6d 1 4s Joseph Bassett £2 5s 6d John Brown £2 5s 6d 1 6s Peter Cummings £2 5s 6d 1 4s Antony Casteel £2 5s 6d 2s George Clarke £2 5s 6d Robert Curry £2 5s 6d 1 4s Thomas Card £2 5s 6d 1 6s Henry Carter £2 5s 6d 1 4s Matthew Cammell £2 5s 6d 1 4s Daniel Council £2 5s 6d Walter Cox £2 5s 6d 12s 18s Anthony Day £2 5s 6d 1 6s William Dorrill £2 5s 6d John Ellis £2 5s 6d 1 4s James English £2 5s 6d William Bates £2 5s 6d 1 6s Richard Frost £2 5s 6d Thomas Flood £2 5s 6d 1 6s Frances Junge Discharged 15 June £1 4s 4½d Thomas Fuller £2 5s 6d 1 4s John Ford £2 5s 6d John Garling £2 5s 6d 1 6s Bartholomew Godwin disch 9 June £1 10s 0d 14s 3d 8s 9½d John Godbey £2 5s 6d 1 6s Giles Hayse £2 5s 6d Thomas Hodges £2 5s 6d 1 6s Richard Harper £2 5s 6d Frances Hayse £2 5s 6d Solomon Jacobs £2 5s 6d 6s Jepther Jermain £2 5s 6d 1 4s John Jones Sencer £2 5s 6d 3s 1 4s Evan Jones £2 5s 6d 10s 7s 1s John Jones Junior £2 5s 6d 1 6s £88 12s 6d Carried over £764 1s 10½d Hospital Carried over £3 11s 4d Diet Carried over £14 14s 9½d | The pay list of the sentinels continued, with columns for pay, hospital and diet money. Diet brought over, £12 0s 0d Hospital brought over, £1 5s 6d Brought over, £675 9s 4d Matthew Brightwell, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d John Buller, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Andrew Barton, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d William Bear, died 2 June, pay £1 4s 3d, hospital £0 6s 0d Peter Bath, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Daniel Bush, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Pole Bryan, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Joseph Bassett, pay £2 5s 6d John Brown, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Peter Cummings, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Antony Casteel, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £0 2s 0d George Clarke, pay £2 5s 6d Robert Curry, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Thomas Card, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Henry Carter, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Matthew Cammell, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 4s 0d Daniel Council, pay £2 5s 6d Walter Cox, pay £2 5s 6d, hospital £12 0s 0d, diet £0 18s 0d Anthony Day, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d William Dorrill, pay £2 5s 6d John Ellis, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d James English, pay £2 5s 6d William Bates, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Richard Frost, pay £2 5s 6d Thomas Flood, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Frances Junge, discharged 15 June, pay £1 4s 4d Thomas Fuller, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d John Ford, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d John Garling, pay £2 5s 6d Bartholomew Goodwin, discharged 9 June, pay £1 10s 0d, hospital £14 3s 0d, diet £0 8s 9d John Godbey, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Giles Hayse, pay £2 5s 6d Thomas Hodges, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Richard Harper, pay £2 5s 6d Frances Hayse, pay £2 5s 6d Solomon Jacobs, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £0 6s 0d Sopher Jermain, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d John Jones senior, pay £2 5s 6d, hospital £3 0s 0d, diet £1 0s 4d Evan Jones, pay £2 5s 6d, hospital £10 7s 0d, diet £1 0s 0d John Jones junior, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Total, £88 12s 6d Carried over, £764 1s 10d Hospital carried over, £3 11s 4d Diet carried over, £14 14s 9d Interpretations This continuation of the sentinels' roll shows the uniform base wage of the common soldier, every private entered at the same rate of pay with individual adjustments for diet and, in a few cases, heavy hospital charges. The near-identical pay across dozens of names confirms that the ordinary garrison soldier occupied a flat pay grade regardless of length of service, so the differences between men lay only in the allowances and deductions worked against each account. The roll thus captures the whole rank and file of the establishment on a single common footing. The hospital charges against individual names reveal the real cost of sickness borne by particular soldiers. Where most men carry no hospital entry, a few bear substantial sums, one over fourteen pounds and another over ten, showing that prolonged illness could consume a large part of a soldier's reckoning. The pattern reflects the toll of disease on the garrison and the way the Company set the cost of extended medical care directly against the affected man's pay account rather than absorbing it generally. The entries marking men as discharged or dead, each with a part payment reckoned to the day, show the payroll functioning as a precise record of service ended mid-period, so that a soldier who died on 2 June or was discharged on 15 June received exactly the portion of his pay earned to that date and no more. | |
37 | Diet Brought over £44 14s 9½d Hospital Brought over £3 11s 4d Brought over £764 1s 10½d Richard Kint £2 5s 6d Thomas Kendrick £2 5s 6d 1 6s Joseph Long £2 5s 6d James Long £2 5s 6d Sutton Leach £2 5s 6d Thomas Leach £2 5s 6d John Lewis £2 5s 6d Thomas Legg £2 5s 6d 1 4s John Leggett £2 5s 6d 1 2s 9d 14s John Leach £2 5s 6d Daniel Langton £2 5s 6d 1 6s Reuben Loveleach Died 2 May £1 6s 0d Robert Manlove £2 5s 6d William Moor £2 5s 6d 1 4s John Mudge £2 5s 6d John Poter deserted 15th June £1 14s 4½d 16s William Price Senr £2 5s 6d 6s 9d 10s James Pritchard £2 5s 6d 1 4s William Price Sen £2 5s 6d 1 4s John Pearce £2 5s 6d 1 4s Nathaniel Pascal £2 5s 6d 1 6s Thomas Payne £2 5s 6d 15s 9d 14s James Richardson £2 5s 6d Benjn Seale £2 5s 6d John Slash £2 5s 6d 1 6s John Scotcher £2 5s 6d 1 4s John Spencer £2 5s 6d 1 4s Arnold Lassere £2 5s 6d 1 6s John Simpson £2 5s 6d 1 6s John Sutton £2 5s 6d William Twaits £2 5s 6d John Tipton £2 5s 6d 1 6s James Vaughan £2 5s 6d 1 6s Thomas Wathion £2 5s 6d John Willes £2 5s 6d 1 6s Thomas Wagg £2 5s 6d 1 6s John Gab Van Ostin £2 5s 6d £81 8s 1½d Carried over £843 10s 4d Hospital Carried over £3 16s 7½d Diet Carried over £70 11s 9½d | The pay list of the sentinels continued, with columns for pay, hospital and diet money. Diet brought over, £44 14s 9d Hospital brought over, £3 11s 4d Brought over, £764 1s 10d Richard Kent, pay £2 5s 6d Thomas Kendrick, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Joseph Long, pay £2 5s 6d James Long, pay £2 5s 6d Sutton Leach, pay £2 5s 6d Thomas Leach, pay £2 5s 6d John Lewis, pay £2 5s 6d Thomas Legg, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d John Leggett, pay £2 5s 6d, hospital £1 2s 9d, diet £0 14s 0d John Leach, pay £2 5s 6d Daniel Langton, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Reuben Loveleach, died 2 May, pay £0 1s 6d Robert Manlove, pay £2 5s 6d William Moor, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d John Madge, pay £2 5s 6d John Potter, deserted 15 June, pay £1 4s 4d, diet £0 16s 0d William Price senior, pay £2 5s 6d, hospital £0 6s 9d, diet £0 10s 0d James Pretchard, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d William Price junior, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d John Pearce, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Nathaniel Pascal, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Thomas Payne, pay £2 5s 6d, hospital £15s 9d, diet £0 14s 0d James Richardson, pay £2 5s 6d Benjamin Seale, pay £2 5s 6d John Slach, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d John Scotcher, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d John Spencer, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Arnold Sapere, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d John Simpson, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d John Sutton, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d William Twaits, pay £2 5s 6d John Tipton, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d James Vaughan, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Thomas Wathion, pay £2 5s 6d John Willes, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Thomas Wagg, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d John Gab Van Ostin, pay £2 5s 6d Total, £81 8s 4d Carried over, £843 10s 4d Hospital carried over, £3 16s 9d Diet carried over, £70 11s 9d Interpretations This further stretch of the sentinels' roll confirms the flat pay structure of the rank and file, every private carried at the same base rate with only diet and hospital adjustments distinguishing one account from another. The consistency across three pages of names shows how large the common soldiery bulked in the island's establishment and how uniformly it was paid, the whole body of privates sharing a single wage grade. The scale of the roll reveals that the garrison's cost lay overwhelmingly in the mass of ordinary sentinels rather than in its few officers. The markers against individual names continue to tie the payroll to the events of the preceding weeks, recording Loveleach as dead on 2 May, Potter as deserted on 15 June and Benjamin Seale present among the sentinels. Seale's appearance here, drawing ordinary pay, follows directly from the council's refusal to discharge him until the Company's orders arrived, so the payroll shows the practical consequence of that deferral, a man kept in the ranks and paid while his release awaited a decision from London. The desertion entry likewise shows how the accounts registered a man's flight by stopping his pay at the day he absconded. To desert meant to abandon military service without leave, so Potter's marking as deserted on 15 June records a soldier who fled his post, his pay cut off at that date, a serious matter for a garrison already thinned by discharges and death. | |
38 | Diet Brought over £70 11s 9½d Hospital Brought over £3 16s 7½d Brought over £843 10s 4d Recruits P Duke of Lorrain Daniel Sergeant £1 12s 11d 12s 4d Henry Calor from 17th May £1 12s 11d 12s 4d Samuel Harrison £1 12s 11d 12s 4d Weldon Jones to 3d June £1 12s 11d 9s 10s 4d John King £1 12s 11d 12s 4d Merry Powers Entred 7th June £17s 2¼d 10s £9 1s 9¼d Second Company Vizt James Scott Lieutenant £6 13s 6d John Desfountain Ensign £8 0s 10d Thomas Kirkpatrick Do £8 0s 10d Joseph Fiendall Do from 22 March £13 5s 4d £36 0s 2½d Serjeants Vizt Thomas Bagot £4 13s 0d Edward Bagley £4 13s 0d John Leach £4 13s 0d Thomas Cooker £4 13s 0d 9s 1 6s William Oakman £4 13s 0d 1 6s David Wilson £4 13s 0d £27 18s 0d Corporals Vizt Joshua Worrall Disch 22 June £2 10s 11½d Henry Beale £2 18s 6d Thomas Swindall £2 18s 6d James Draper £2 18s 6d John French £2 18s 6d John Aldrick £2 18s 6d £17 3s 5½d Drummers Vizt William Ormes £2 18s 6d 2s Thos London a 3 P Annum £1 3s 4d £4 1s 10d Carried over £939 15s 9¼d Hospital Carried over £3 18s 1½d Diet Carried over £76 17s 10¼d | The pay list continued, with columns for pay, hospital and diet money. Diet brought over, £70 11s 9d Hospital brought over, £3 16s 9d Brought over, £843 10s 4d Recruits by the Duke of Lorrain: Daniel Sergeant, from 17 May, pay £1 12s 11d, diet £0 12s 0d Henry Calor, from 17 May, pay £1 12s 11d, diet £0 12s 0d Samuel Harrison, from 17 May, pay £1 12s 11d, diet £0 12s 0d Weldon Jones, to 3 June, pay £1 12s 11d, hospital £0 9s 0d, diet £0 10s 0d John King, to 3 June, pay £1 12s 11d, diet £0 12s 0d Merry Powers, entered 7 June, pay £0 17s 2d, diet £0 10s 0d Total, £9 1s 9d Second Company: James Scott, lieutenant, pay £6 13s 6d John Desfountain, ensign, pay £8 0s 10d Thomas Kirkpatrick, ensign, pay £8 0s 10d Joseph Kendall, ensign, from 22 March, pay £13 5s 4d Total, £36 0s 2d Serjeants: Thomas Bagot, pay £4 13s 0d Edward Bagley, pay £4 13s 0d John Leach, pay £4 13s 0d Thomas Cosker, pay £4 13s 0d, hospital £0 9s 0d, diet £1 6s 0d William Oakman, pay £4 13s 0d, diet £1 6s 0d David Wilson, pay £4 13s 0d Total, £27 18s 0d Corporals: Joshua Worrall, discharged 22 June, pay £2 10s 11d Henry Beale, pay £2 18s 6d Thomas Swindale, pay £2 18s 6d James Draper, pay £2 18s 6d John French, pay £2 18s 6d John Aldrick, pay £2 18s 6d Total, £17 3s 5d Drummers: William Ormes, pay £2 18s 6d, diet £0 2s 0d Thomas London, at £7 per annum, pay £1 3s 4d Total, £4 1s 10d Carried over, £939 15s 9d Hospital carried over, £3 18s 1d Diet carried over, £76 17s 9d Interpretations The recruits brought by the Duke of Lorrain appear here at a distinct rate, drawing part pay from their several dates of entry rather than the settled sentinel's wage, which shows how newly arrived men were carried on the books from the exact day they joined. Their inclusion ties this payroll directly to the earlier entry recording Governor Lambert's distribution of these recruits between the companies, so the accounts track the same men from their disposal on arrival to their first wages. The lower sums reflect only their late entry within the pay period, not any permanent difference of grade. The roll of the second company mirrors the first in its descending structure of officers, serjeants, corporals and drummers, confirming that the garrison was organised into parallel companies each built on the same pattern. The recurrence of names seen earlier in the discharge petitions, such as Worrall marked as discharged on 22 June and drawing a reduced payment, again shows the payroll settling each man's account to the precise day his service ended. The two matching companies reveal how the island's small military force was divided into standard units for command and pay alike. A drummer such as Thomas London, entered at the notably low rate of seven pounds a year, was often a boy or youth whose task was to beat the signals that ordered the garrison's movements and duties, which accounts for his pay falling well below that of the grown sentinels. | |
39 | Diet Brought over £76 17s 10¼d Hospital Brought over £3 18s 1½d Brought over £939 15s 9¼d Centinels William Alles £2 5s 6d George Ayres £2 5s 6d 1 6s William Aynger £2 5s 6d 1 6s Thomas Andrews £2 5s 6d 1 6s Thomas Brown £2 5s 6d William Barrett £2 5s 6d 1 4s Peter Barker £2 5s 6d 1 4s William Brown £2 5s 6d 1 4s Andrew Blindman £2 5s 6d Orlando Bagley £2 5s 6d Edward Burnham disch 22 June £1 19s 7½d Thomas Borer £2 5s 6d 1 4s John Bann £2 5s 6d 1 4s William Buffett £2 5s 6d 1 6s John Bash £2 5s 6d 1 6s William Brooks £2 5s 6d 1 6s John Bradley £2 5s 6d William Bonfield £2 5s 6d 1 11s 4½d 8s John Basdin £2 5s 6d 1 4s John Collins £2 5s 6d 1 6s Nicholas Copes £2 5s 6d 1 6s Thomas Copes £2 5s 6d 1 4s William Carr £2 5s 6d 1 6s Philip Catchpole £2 5s 6d 1 4s James Carr £2 5s 6d 10s 5½d 1s Thomas Draper £2 5s 6d 1 4s Edmand Dunfield £2 5s 6d John Deval deserted 4th June £1 6s 2d 16s John Drury £2 5s 6d Baron Deloph £2 5s 6d John Draper £2 5s 6d Samuel Eales £2 5s 6d John Evans £2 5s 6d Isaac Evans £2 5s 6d William Edwards Died 22 May £16s 0d 9s £76 17s 9½d Carried over £1016 13s 5¼d Hospital Carried over £8 8s 11½d Diet Carried over £101 11s 11¼d | The pay list of the sentinels continued, with columns for pay, hospital and diet money. Diet brought over, £76 17s 11d Hospital brought over, £3 18s 1d Brought over, £939 15s 7d Sentinels: William Alles, pay £2 5s 6d George Ayres, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d William Aynger, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Thomas Andrews, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Thomas Brown, pay £2 5s 6d William Barrett, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Peter Barker, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d William Brown, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Andrew Blindman, pay £2 5s 6d Orlando Bagley, pay £2 5s 6d Edward Burnham, discharged 22 June, pay £1 19s 7d Thomas Borer, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d John Bann, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d William Buffett, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d John Bush, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d William Brooks, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d John Bradley, pay £2 5s 6d William Bonfield, pay £2 5s 6d, hospital £1 11s 4d, diet £0 8s 0d John Basdin, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d John Collins, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Nicholas Copes, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Thomas Copes, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d William Carr, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Philip Catchpole, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d James Carr, pay £2 5s 6d, hospital £0 10s 5d, diet £1 0s 0d Thomas Draper, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Edmund Dunfield, pay £2 5s 6d John Deval, deserted 4 June, pay £1 6s 2d, diet £0 16s 0d John Drury, pay £2 5s 6d Baron Deloph, pay £2 5s 6d John Draper, pay £2 5s 6d Samuel Eales, pay £2 5s 6d John Evans, pay £2 5s 6d Isaac Evans, pay £2 5s 6d William Edwards, died 22 May, pay £0 16s 0d, hospital £0 9s 0d Total, £70 17s 9d Carried over, £1,016 13s 4d Hospital carried over, £8 8s 11d Diet carried over, £101 11s 11d Interpretations This page of the roll continues the flat sentinel wage and the by-now familiar practice of settling each departed man's account to the exact day, recording Burnham as discharged on 22 June, Deval as deserted on 4 June and Edwards as dead on 22 May, each with a reduced payment. The steady accumulation of discharges, desertions and deaths across the payroll shows how much the garrison lost through ordinary wastage in a single pay period, the ranks constantly thinned by men leaving, fleeing or dying. The precise part payments confirm that the Company paid strictly for service actually rendered and not a day beyond. The hospital column again marks out the few men burdened by serious illness, with charges set against particular names while most carry none, showing that the cost of extended sickness fell on the individual soldier's account. The recurrence of this pattern through every page of the roll reveals that disease was a constant presence in the garrison, a steady drain touching a handful of men heavily at any given time. The concentration of large hospital charges on so few names shows that most soldiers stayed off the sick list while a small number bore the heavy expense of prolonged treatment. The appearance of Burnham drawing a part payment as a discharged sentinel confirms the grant of his petition recorded on 22 June, when the council released him on his plea of a better living in view, so the payroll registers the financial settlement that followed each discharge the council approved. | |
40 | Diet Brought over £101 11s 11¼d Hospital Brought over £8 8s 11½d Brought over £1016 13s 5¼d Onesphorus Gurling £2 5s 6d Christopher Garland £2 5s 6d 1 4s William Gann £2 5s 6d John George £2 5s 6d 1 4s William Gisborne Dyed 27th May £1 2s 4d 11s 11½d 4s Thomas Griffeth £2 5s 6d 1 6s Philip Hilliard £2 5s 6d 1 4s James Halk £2 5s 6d John Hayse £2 5s 6d Daniel Hayse £2 5s 6d Henry Higgins £2 5s 6d 1 6s John Holloway £2 5s 6d Isaac Hudson £2 5s 6d 1 5s 5d 12s Barnet Harmes £2 5s 6d 2s Joseph Hunt £2 5s 6d 9s 1 6s John Ayne £2 5s 6d 1 6s Richard Height £2 5s 6d 1 4s David Lord £2 5s 6d 1 4s Stephen Lashin £2 5s 6d John Larney £2 5s 6d 1 6s James Lee £2 5s 6d 1 6s Morris Lilly Disch 15th June £1 16s 7d Robert Mason £2 5s 6d 1 6s Thomas Manning £2 5s 6d 1 6s John Murdock £2 5s 6d 1 4s John Morgan £2 5s 6d 0s 4s John Manahey £2 5s 6d 1 4s William Fewis £2 5s 6d 1 4s Thos Oliver £2 5s 6d 1 6s William Page £2 5s 6d 1 6s Lawrence Peterson £2 5s 6d 1 6s Stephen Powers £2 5s 6d John Rutter £2 5s 6d 1 6s Thos Simpson £2 5s 6d 1 4s Edward Stroud £2 5s 6d 4s William Scarbrock £2 5s 6d 1 6s George Sharratt £2 5s 6d 1 4s John Sprake £2 5s 6d £84 14s 9½d Carried over £1101 8s 2d Hospital Carried over £10 7s 1½d Diet Carried over £132 17s 8¾d | The pay list of the sentinels continued, with columns for pay, hospital and diet money. Diet brought over, £101 11s 11d Hospital brought over, £8 8s 11d Brought over, £1,016 13s 4d Onesiphorus Garling, pay £2 5s 6d Christopher Garland, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d William Gann, pay £2 5s 6d John George, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d William Gisborne, died 27 May, pay £1 0s 2d, hospital £0 11s 11d, diet £0 0s 4d Thomas Griffith, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Philip Hilliard, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d James Hall, pay £2 5s 6d John Hayse, pay £2 5s 6d Daniel Hayse, pay £2 5s 6d Henry Higgins, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d John Holloway, pay £2 5s 6d Isaac Hudson, pay £2 5s 6d, hospital £1 5s 5d, diet £0 12s 0d Barnet Harmes, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £0 2s 0d Joseph Hunt, pay £2 5s 6d, hospital £0 9s 0d, diet £1 0s 6d John Ayne, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Richard Height, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d David Lord, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Stephen Lushin, pay £2 5s 6d John Lamby, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d James Lee, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Morris Lilly, discharged 10 June, pay £1 16s 7d Robert Matson, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Thomas Manning, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d John Murdock, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d John Morgan, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £0 14s 0d John Manahey, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d William Lewis, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Thomas Oliver, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d William Page, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Lawrence Peterson, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Stephen Powers, pay £2 5s 6d John Rutter, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Thomas Simpson, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Edward Stroud, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £0 14s 0d William Scarbrook, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d George Sharratt, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d John Sprake, pay £2 5s 6d Total, £81 14s 9d Carried over, £1,101 8s 2d Hospital carried over, £10 7s 1d Diet carried over, £132 17s 11d Interpretations This continuation of the roll holds to the uniform sentinel wage while marking the further losses of the pay period, recording Gisborne as dead on 27 May and Lilly as discharged on 10 June, each settled to the day with a part payment. The unbroken run of identical wages across yet another page confirms that the mass of the garrison stood on a single flat rate, with a soldier's individual account shaped only by his diet allowance and any charge for sickness. The steady tally of deaths and discharges shows the constant erosion of the ranks that the payroll faithfully registered. The hospital charges again fall on a scattering of names, one man carrying over a pound for his treatment, while the great majority bear nothing, confirming the pattern seen throughout the roll in which prolonged illness struck heavily but selectively. The concentration of these costs on a few soldiers, set directly against their own pay, shows how the Company placed the burden of extended medical care on the individual rather than spreading it across the establishment. The recurring hospital entries across every page reveal disease as a permanent feature of garrison life, always present and always costly to the unlucky few. Gisborne's entry, with its small residue of pay and a hospital charge against a man who died on 27 May, shows how a soldier who fell mortally ill left an account closed at his death, his final wages reduced to the days he lived and further diminished by the cost of the care that failed to save him. | |
41 | Diet Brought over £132 17s 11½d Hospital Brought over £10 7s 1½d Brought over £1101 8s 2d Richard Twaits £2 5s 6d Jeremiah Wyatt £2 5s 6d 1 4s Peter Welles £2 5s 6d 6s Thomas Wright £2 5s 6d 8s 3d 1 2s James Whitehead £2 5s 6d 1 6s Benjamin Williams Senr £2 5s 6d 1 6s David Wilson Deserted 18th June £1 15s 10½d 1 2s John Winter Discharged 25 June £2 2s 0d 1 13s 9d John Worrall Dyed 9th May £6s 7½d Benjn Williams Junr Entred 10th June £15s 0d 10s James Vaughan Junr £2 5s 6d 1 4s Recruits P Duke Lorrain Charles Mountague £1 12s 11d 12s 10d John Beale from 17 May £1 12s 11d 12s 10d John Rollam to 30th June £1 12s 11d 12s 10d Thos Pride £1 12s 11d 12s 10d Samuel Ashwick £1 12s 11d 12s 10d John Johnson Entred 28th June £1 6s William Barton Do £1 6s £29 3s 7½d Artillery Company John French Master Gunner Including House Rent at the rate of £6 P Ann £15 0s 0d Isaac Leech Gunners Mate £3 5s 0d Thomas Watts Do £3 5s 0d Nathan Sample £3 5s 0d Robert Wood £3 5s 0d 1 4s James Vaughan £3 5s 0d Roger Robranson £3 5s 0d Francis Newland £3 5s 0d William Chilingworth £3 5s 0d 1 4s £39 0s 0d Carried over £1169 13s 9½d Hospital Carried over £12 9s 1½d Diet Carried over £146 10s 1¾d | The pay list continued, with columns for pay, hospital and diet money. Diet brought over, £132 17s 11d Hospital brought over, £10 7s 1d Brought over, £1,101 8s 2d Richard Twaite, pay £2 5s 6d Jeremiah Wyatt, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Peter Welles, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £0 0s 6d Thomas Wright, pay £2 5s 6d, hospital £0 3s 1d, diet £0 2s 0d James Whitehead, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d Benjamin Williams senior, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 6d David Wilson, deserted 18 June, pay £1 15s 10d, diet £1 0s 2d John Winter, discharged 25 June, pay £2 2s 0d, hospital £1 13s 9d John Worrall, died 9 May, pay £0 6s 7d Benjamin Williams junior, entered 10 June, pay £0 15s 0d, diet £0 0s 10d James Vaughan junior, pay £2 5s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Recruits by the Duke of Lorrain: Charles Mountague, from 17 May, pay £1 12s 11d, diet £0 12s 10d John Beale, from 17 May, pay £1 12s 11d, diet £0 12s 10d John Hollam, to 20 June, pay £1 12s 11d, diet £0 12s 10d Thomas Pride, to 20 June, pay £1 12s 11d, diet £0 12s 10d Samuel Ashwick, to 20 June, pay £1 12s 11d, diet £0 12s 10d John Johnson, entered 28 June, pay £0 1s 6d William Barton, entered 28 June, pay £0 1s 6d Total, £29 3s 7d Artillery Company: John French, master gunner, including house rent at the rate of £6 per annum, pay £15 0s 0d Isaac Leech, gunner's mate, pay £3 5s 0d Thomas Watts, gunner's mate, pay £3 5s 0d Nathan Sample, pay £3 5s 0d Robert Wood, pay £3 5s 0d, diet £1 0s 4d James Vaughan, pay £3 5s 0d Roger Peterson, pay £3 5s 0d Francis Newland, pay £3 5s 0d William Chilingworth, pay £3 5s 0d, diet £1 0s 4d Total, £39 0s 0d Carried over, £1,169 13s 9d Hospital carried over, £12 9s 1d Diet carried over, £146 10s 1d Interpretations The roll closes the rank and file with a further run of sentinels and then sets out the artillery company as a separate specialist unit paid at higher rates than the common soldier. The gunners and gunner's mates each drew three pounds five shillings against the sentinel's two pounds five and six, and the master gunner far more, reflecting the skilled nature of serving the island's guns. The distinct pay grade of the artillery shows how a fortified station valued the men who worked its cannon above the ordinary infantry who stood guard. The recruits from the Duke of Lorrain appear again with their entry dates and part payments, and the very small sums against Johnson and Barton, each entered on 28 June, show men carried on the books for only the last days of the period. The same names recur from Governor Lambert's distribution of these recruits and from earlier pages of the payroll, so the accounts follow each new arrival consistently from his landing to his first partial wage. The pattern confirms how precisely the establishment tracked every man's service from the exact day he joined. The master gunner John French, paid at fifteen pounds with a house rent allowance folded into his wage, held the senior technical post in the garrison's artillery, responsible for the guns and their crews, which is why his pay stood so far above that of his mates and the ordinary gunners beneath him. | |
42 | Diet Brought over £146 10s 1¾d Hospital Brought over £12 9s 1½d Brought over £1169 13s 9½d William Kennedy Quarter Gunner £2 18s 6d 1 4s Major Jackson Do £2 18s 6d 1 4s William Davis Senr Do £2 18s 6d 1 4s John Christoffel Do £2 18s 6d 1 4s John Barnet Do £2 18s 6d 1 4s Thomas Dillingham £2 18s 6d 1 4s John Spencer £2 18s 6d 1 4s John Nottage £2 18s 6d James Postle Matross disch 22 the Jne £2 1s 10d Samuel Paull Do £2 14s 2d Wm Caddy Do £2 14s 2d 1 4s Richard Preston Do £2 14s 2d 1 4s Thomas Alick Do £2 14s 2d 1 4s John Spencer Do £2 14s 2d 1 4s John Button Do £2 14s 2d 1 4s Samuel Clarke Do £2 14s 2d 1 4s Joseph Bodwell Do £2 14s 2d 3s 1 4s Walter Bellew Do £2 14s 2d 1 6s Joseph Cox Do £2 14s 2d 1 1s 15s John Smith Do £2 14s 2d 1 6s Adam Milborn Do £2 14s 2d 1 6s William Turner Do £2 14s 2d 1 6s Henry Savage Do £2 14s 2d 1 6s Humphrey Duc Do £2 14s 2d 1 6s Frances Bush Do £2 14s 2d 1 6s Edy Leach Do £2 14s 2d 1 6s John Watkins Do £2 14s 2d 1 6s Edward Bridgeon Do £2 14s 2d 2s £76 19s 0d Superanuated Vizt Joseph Whaley Serjeant £2 5s 6d John Hanson Do £2 5s 6d William Burnham Do £2 5s 6d Isaac Hugarson Quarter Gunner £2 5s 6d George Lindsey Drummer £2 5s 6d Samuel Snype Centinel £2 5s 6d £13 13s 0d Carried over £1260 5s 9½d Hospital Carried over £13 13s 4½d Diet Carried over £174 11s 1¾d | The pay list continued, with columns for pay, hospital and diet money. Diet brought over, £146 10s 1d Hospital brought over, £12 9s 1d Brought over, £1,169 13s 9d William Kennedy, quarter gunner, pay £2 18s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Major Jackson, quarter gunner, pay £2 18s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d William Davis senior, quarter gunner, pay £2 18s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d John Christoffel, quarter gunner, pay £2 18s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d John Barnet, quarter gunner, pay £2 18s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d Thomas Dillingham, quarter gunner, pay £2 18s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d John Spencer, quarter gunner, pay £2 18s 6d, diet £1 0s 4d John Hottage, quarter gunner, pay £2 18s 6d James Postle, matross, discharged 20 March, pay £2 1s 10d Samuel Pavat, matross, pay £2 14s 2d William Caddy, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, diet £1 0s 4d Richard Preston, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, diet £1 0s 4d Thomas Illish, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, diet £1 0s 4d John Spencer, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, diet £1 0s 4d John Button, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, diet £1 0s 4d Samuel Clarke, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, diet £1 0s 4d Joseph Bodwell, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, hospital £0 3s 0d, diet £1 0s 4d Walter Bellew, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, diet £1 0s 6d Joseph Cox, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, hospital £1 1s 0d, diet £0 15s 0d John Smith, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, diet £1 0s 6d Adam Milborn, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, diet £1 0s 6d William Turner, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, diet £1 0s 6d Henry Savage, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, diet £1 0s 6d Humphrey Duce, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, diet £1 0s 6d Frances Bush, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, diet £1 0s 6d Edy Leach, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, diet £1 0s 6d John Watkins, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, diet £1 0s 6d Edward Bridgeon, matross, pay £2 14s 2d, diet £0 2s 0d Total, £76 19s 0d Superannuated: Joseph Whaley, serjeant, pay £2 5s 6d John Hanson, serjeant, pay £2 5s 6d William Burnham, serjeant, pay £2 5s 6d Isaac Hugarson, quarter gunner, pay £2 5s 6d George Lindsey, drummer, pay £2 5s 6d Samuel Inype, sentinel, pay £2 5s 6d Total, £13 13s 0d Carried over, £1,260 5s 9d Hospital carried over, £13 13s 4d Diet carried over, £174 11s 1d Interpretations The artillery establishment is completed here with its quarter gunners and matrosses, each grade paid at its own fixed rate above the common sentinel, confirming that the men who served the guns formed a distinct and better-paid branch of the garrison. The quarter gunners drew more than the matrosses beneath them, and both stood above the ordinary infantry, so the roll shows a clear hierarchy of skilled artillery ranks descending from the master gunner already recorded. The scale of the artillery company reflects how heavily a fortified island depended on trained gun crews for its defence. The separate list of superannuated men reveals the Company's provision for old servants no longer fit for active duty. A serjeant, quarter gunner, drummer and sentinel among others were kept on at the sentinel's rate though past effective service, showing that the establishment carried its worn-out soldiers on a form of pension rather than simply dismissing them. The practice reveals a rudimentary system of support for long service, keeping aged men on the books at reduced standing when they could no longer bear arms. A matross was a soldier of the artillery ranking below a gunner, who assisted in loading, firing and moving the cannon, so the body of matrosses formed the labouring strength of the gun crews under the direction of the gunners and quarter gunners above them. | |
43 | Diet Brought over £174 11s 1¾d Hospital Brought over £13 13s 4½d Brought over £1260 5s 9½d Samuel Boveton £10s 0d John Twaits Overseer £5s 0d Richard Tomkley £4 3s 4d Charles Clarke Surgeon £6 10s 0d James Dubois Do Mate £10 16s 8d James Vaughan Clerk £2 5s 6d Do Custom Master 0 16s 5d £3 2s 2d Frances Junge Armourer £8 0s 10d James Haywood Do Mate £5 0s 0d James Junge Do Mate £2 5s 6d Henry Moyse Carpenter £8 6s 8d John Norman Cooper £5s 0d John Arthingstall Coxswain £5s 0d 1 4s John Sprake Housekeeper £1 6s 8d Thomas Cotgrove Marshall £2 18s 6d Richard Weale Schoolmaster £2 5s 6d Balla Cook £2 5s 6d Nicholas Cleather Steward £5s 0d William Dowse Gardner £6 7s 6d John Barton Overseer at the Lime Kiln at 28s P Ann from 3 of May £3 19s 5½d William Fewis Lime Blaster from 17th May at 2s P Day £4 8s 0d £101 16s 3½d Totall of Pay Amounting to £1362 2s 2d Totall Acct of the Hospital amounting to £13 13s 1½d Totall of Diet amounting to £175 15s 1½d Paid the following Persons for work done at the Crane P Order of Governour Lambert during the Delivery of the Store Ship Vizt To Peter Cummings £1s 0d Thomas Card £17s 0d Edward Arnold £16s 0d Carried over £2 12s 0d | The pay list continued, with columns for pay, hospital and diet money. Diet brought over, £174 11s 1d Hospital brought over, £13 13s 1d Brought over, £1,260 5s 9d Samuel Doveton, overseer, pay £10 0s 0d John Twaite, overseer, pay £5 0s 0d Richard Tomsley, overseer, pay £4 3s 4d Charles Clarke, surgeon, pay £6 10s 0d James Dubois, surgeon's mate, pay £10 16s 8d James Vaughan, clerk at £2 5s 6d, and custom master at £0 16s 5d, pay £3 2s 2d Frances Junge, armourer, pay £8 0s 10d James Haywood, armourer's mate, pay £3 0s 0d James Junge, armourer's mate, pay £2 5s 6d Henry Moyse, carpenter, pay £8 6s 8d John Norman, cooper, pay £3 0s 0d John Arthingstall, coxswain, pay £3 0s 0d, diet £1 0s 4d John Sprake, storehouse keeper, pay £1 6s 8d Thomas Cotgrove, marshall, pay £2 18s 6d Richard Weale, schoolmaster, pay £2 5s 6d Balla Cook, pay £2 5s 6d Nicholas Cleather, steward, pay £3 0s 0d William Dowse, gardener, pay £6 7s 6d John Barton, overseer at the lime kiln at 28s per annum, from 3 May, pay £3 19s 5d William Lewis, lime blaster, from 17 May at 2s per day, pay £4 8s 0d Total, £101 16s 3d Total of pay amounting to, £1,362 2s 0d Total account of the hospital amounting to, £13 13s 1d Total of diet amounting to, £175 15s 1d The following persons were paid for work done at the crane by order of Governor Lambert during the delivery of the shore ship. To Peter Cummings, £1 0s 0d Thomas Card, £0 17s 0d Edward Arnold, £0 16s 0d Carried over, £2 13s 0d Interpretations This closing section of the payroll captures the island's civil and skilled establishment, the men whose trades kept the settlement running rather than the soldiers who guarded it. Overseers, a surgeon and his mate, an armourer, carpenter, cooper, gardener, schoolmaster and steward each drew pay according to their craft, showing how far the Company depended on a body of specialist workers alongside its garrison. The presence of a schoolmaster and a surgeon reveals a settled community with provision for education and medicine, not merely a military post. The entries for the lime kiln overseer and the lime blaster, both newly engaged in May, tie this payroll directly to the drive for lime that the Governor had ordered pushed forward for the fortification at Banks. The appointment of a dedicated overseer at the kiln and a blaster paid by the day shows the practical staffing behind that resolution, the work of producing lime requiring its own supervisor and skilled labour. The dates of their engagement confirm that the effort was already under way well before the completion date the Governor had set. The cooper John Norman appears here still on the payroll at his craft, though the Governor had reported his death on 25 July, so this account, reckoned for May and June, records him during the months before he died, which is why he is entered as drawing his ordinary wage rather than a payment closed to a date of death. | |
44 | Brought over £2 12s 0d William Brooks £15s 0d John Upton £10s 0d Benjamin Williams Senr £8s 0d Thomas Oliver £9s 0d Wm Page £7s 0d Lawrence Peterson £6s 0d Thomas Wright £6s 0d John Barton £6s 0d Richard Bishop £5s 0d John Ford £4s 0d Charles Mountague £5s 6d Thomas Wagg £17s 0d Matthew Brightwell £6s 0d James Aldridge £6s 0d £7 11s 6d Paid the following Persons for sundrys bought of them for the Use of the Hospital and General Table P Order of Governour Lambert as P Account particulars Vizt John Twaits Vizt 4 Turkeys £1 0s 0d 5 Ducks £7s 6d 24 Fowles £1 16s 0d 2300 Lemons £2 6s 0d 1 Doz Eggs £10s 6d 2 Head of Cattle £8 0s 0d £14 0s 0d James Powell Vizt 24 Fowles £1 16s 0d 6 Turkeys £1 10s 0d 5 Head of Cattle £35 16s 0d 10 Goats £3 0s 0d £44 2s 0d John Goodwin Vizt 14 Goats £7s 0d 6 Sheep £6s 0d £13s 0d Matthew Mudge One Sheep £4s 0d 1s 0d Richard Goodwin One Bullock £4 15s 0d Carried over £76 17s 0d | The account of persons paid for work at the crane continued. Brought over, £2 13s 0d William Brooks, £0 15s 0d John Upton, £0 10s 0d Benjamin Williams senior, £0 8s 0d Thomas Oliver, £0 9s 0d William Page, £0 7s 0d Lawrence Peterson, £0 6s 0d Thomas Wright, £0 6s 0d John Barton, £0 6s 0d Richard Bishop, £0 5s 0d John Ford, £0 4s 0d Charles Mountague, £0 5s 6d Thomas Wagg, £0 17s 0d Matthew Brightwell, £0 6s 0d James Aldridge, £0 6s 0d Total, £7 11s 6d The following persons were paid for sundries bought of them for the use of the hospital and general table by order of Governor Lambert, the particulars of the account as follows. John Twaite: 4 turkeys, £1 0s 0d 5 ducks, £0 7s 6d 24 fowls, £1 16s 0d 2,300 lemons, £2 6s 0d 1 dozen eggs, £0 10s 6d 2 head of cattle, £8 0s 0d Total, £14 0s 0d James Powell: 24 fowls, £1 16s 0d 6 turkeys, £1 10s 0d 5 head of cattle, £35 16s 0d 10 goats, £3 0s 0d Total, £44 2s 0d John Goodwin: 14 goats, £7 0s 0d 6 sheep, £6 0s 0d Total, £13 0s 0d Matthew Mudge, one sheep, £1 0s 0d Richard Goodwin, one bullock, £4 15s 0d Carried over, £76 17s 0d Interpretations The crane payments record the casual day labour hired to unload a supply ship, with many of the same sentinels who appear on the military roll taking extra work at the waterside for small sums. The overlap of names shows how soldiers of the garrison supplemented their fixed pay by hiring themselves out for occasional heavy work, so the island's labour needs were met in part by its own troops turning to paid tasks off duty. The modest scale of each payment reflects the piecework nature of loading and unloading cargo by hand. The provisions bought for the hospital and general table reveal the island's dependence on its own settlers to supply fresh food for the sick and the establishment. Named inhabitants sold cattle, goats, sheep, poultry and a large quantity of lemons, showing a working internal market in which the Company purchased directly from local producers to feed its people. The high price of cattle against the small sums for poultry shows the relative value of livestock on an island where breeding stock was scarce and slow to replace. The 2,300 lemons bought from a single settler point to the deliberate cultivation of citrus on the island as a defence against scurvy, the disease that had crippled the crews of arriving ships, so such fruit was valued not merely as food but as the practical remedy for the sickness that long voyages bred. | |
45 | Brought over £76 17s 0d Jonathan Doveton Vizt 6 Turkeys £1 10s 0d 6 Goats £3 0s 0d £4 10s 0d Elizabeth Greentree Vizt 10 Goats £5 0s 0d 1 Bullock £6 10s 0d 1450 Lemons £1 9s 0d £12 19s 0d Joseph Desfountain Vizt 4 head of Cattle £25 7s 10d 20000 Yams and Suckers £15 0s 0d £40 7s 10d Samuel Doveton Vizt 10 Goats £5 0s 0d 24 Fowles £1 16s 0d 2 Turkeys £10s 0d 4 Ducks £6s 0d 48 Eggs £6s 0d £7 18s 0d Robert Gurling Junr Three Hoggs £4 19s 0d Joseph Powell Vizt 2 Head of Cattle £17s 0d 10 Goats £5s 0d 1 Sheep £1s 0d 6 Turkeys £1 10s 0d 12 Fowles £10s 0d £25 8s 0d Richard Gurling 10 Goats £5 0s 0d Frances Wrangham Senr 4600 Lemons £4 13s 0d Thomas Bazett Vizt 40 Goats £20 0s 0d 10 Sheep £10 0s 0d £212 11s 10d | The account of provisions bought for the hospital and general table continued. Brought over, £76 17s 0d Jonathan Doveton: 6 turkeys, £1 10s 0d 6 goats, £3 0s 0d Total, £4 10s 0d Elizabeth Greentree: 10 goats, £5 0s 0d 1 bullock, £6 10s 0d 1,450 lemons, £1 9s 0d Total, £12 19s 0d Joseph Desfountain: 4 head of cattle, £25 7s 10d 20,000 yams and suckers, £15 0s 0d Total, £40 7s 10d Samuel Doveton: 10 goats, £5 0s 0d 24 fowls, £1 16s 0d 2 turkeys, £0 10s 0d 4 ducks, £0 6s 0d 48 eggs, £0 6s 0d Total, £7 18s 0d Robert Gurling junior, three hogs, £4 19s 0d Joseph Powell: 2 head of cattle, £17 0s 0d 10 goats, £5 0s 0d 1 sheep, £1 0s 0d 6 turkeys, £1 10s 0d 12 fowls, £0 18s 0d Total, £25 8s 0d Richard Gurling, 10 goats, £5 0s 0d Frances Wrangham senior, 1,000 lemons, £4 13s 0d Thomas Bazett: 40 goats, £20 0s 0d 10 sheep, £10 0s 0d Total, £212 11s 10d Interpretations The continuation of the provisions account confirms how broadly the Company drew on the island's settlers to feed the hospital and general table, with a wide range of named inhabitants selling livestock, poultry, eggs, lemons and yams. The prominence of familiar names from the petitions and payroll, including Wrangham, Desfountain and members of the Doveton and Gurling families, shows the same small settler community supplying the establishment that also served in its garrison and pressed it with grievances. The volume and variety of goods reveal a functioning agricultural economy capable of provisioning the settlement from its own farms. The single entry of 20,000 yams and suckers from Desfountain stands out as a major provisioning of the staple root crop, tied directly to the concern over food supply for the enslaved workforce that ran through these proceedings. The purchase of yam plants as well as the crop itself, the suckers being shoots for replanting, shows the Company buying not only food but the means to propagate more, addressing the recurring anxiety over whether the island could feed its growing population. The scale of the transaction reflects how central yam cultivation was to the settlement's survival. Suckers were young shoots or offsets taken from a parent plant for replanting, so the 20,000 yams and suckers combined a large quantity of the edible root with the planting material to raise the next crop, which is why the purchase served both immediate provisioning and future cultivation. | |
46 | Dr George Gabriel To Cash for having received of Mr John Godfrey Storekeeper P Governour Lamberts Direction in Order to Pay the Garrison £730 7s 10½d To Cash received of Sundrys for Diet taken from the Honourable Companys Stores as P above Column Particulars £175 15s 1½d To Cash received of Sundrys for the time they have been in the Hospital as P Column above £13 13s 1½d To Cash received of Frances Junge Soldier in part of his Debt to the Estate of the late John Godwin Esqr £5 0s 0d To Cash for so much Received from the Treasury £657 17s 10½d £1582 14s 0d £1582 14s 0d Received by G G Powell the said Rleivid being over burdned with Buisiness as not to have Suisers to open the Treasurly £653 0s 6½d £2235 14s 6½d St Helena 30th July 1742 Errors Excepted P G G Powell Pay Mastr | The account was headed as owing by George Gabriel Powell. To cash received of John Godfrey, storekeeper, by Governor Lambert's direction in order to pay the garrison, £730 7s 10d To cash received of sundries for diet taken from the Company's stores as by the above column of particulars, £175 15s 1d To cash received of sundries for the time they have been in the hospital as by the column above, £13 13s 1d To cash received of Frances Junge senior, in part of his debt to the estate of the late John Goodwin, £5 0s 0d To cash for so much received from the treasury, £657 17s 10d Total, £1,582 14s 0d The account recorded that Powell received the balance in good specie, being unequipped with mourning as not to have leisure to open the treasury, £653 0s 6d, bringing the total to £2,235 14s 6d. The account was dated at St Helena, 30 July 1742, errors excepted, and signed by George Gabriel Powell, paymaster. Interpretations This account draws together the several sources from which the paymaster's funds were made up to meet the garrison's wages and the establishment's costs for the period. It combines cash drawn from the storekeeper by the late Governor's direction, the value of diet and hospital charges recovered against the men's accounts, a part payment of a dead man's debt to Goodwin's estate and a large sum taken from the treasury. The consolidation shows how the payment of the garrison rested not on a single fund but on gathering money from stores, deductions, private debts and the Company's cash alike. The recovery of five pounds from Junge in part of his debt to Goodwin's estate ties this account to the wider settlement of the dead deputy governor's affairs that had occupied the council for months. Even a modest repayment by a private soldier toward that estate was carried into the paymaster's reckoning, showing how the Company pursued outstanding debts to Goodwin's estate through every available channel, including deductions worked into the ordinary accounts. The entry reveals the reach of the effort to make the estate whole. Errors excepted, the formula closing the account, was the standard reservation by which a person rendering accounts guarded against being held to a mistake in the figures, so Powell's use of it protected him from liability for any arithmetical error later found in the reckoning he signed as paymaster. | |
47 | Powell Pay Master Cr By Cash paid the Honble Companys Servants as P Account particulars above £1362 2s 2d By Cash paid for Sundry Alarms & Expresses to the Following Persons Vizt James Ates for Three Alarms £15s 0d John Hayse 2 Do £10s 0d James Long 1 Do £5s 0d John Mudge 1 Do £5s 0d Benjn Seale 2 Do £10s 0d Jos Bagley 6 Do £1 10s 0d Baron Deloph 2 Do £10s 0d John Draper 1 Do £5s 0d Edwd Burnham 1 Do £5s 0d £4 15s 0d By Cash paid Sundry particulars as P above for work done at the Crane during the Unlading of the Store Ship P Order of Govr Lambert £7 11s 6d By Cash paid Sundrys for provisions bought of them for the Use of the Hospital & General Table P Order of Govr Lambert as P Account Particulars Above £212 11s 10d By Cash paid Captain Beetle for Due as P Reciept £11 7s 0d By Cash paid the Greentree for 2 Setts of Bills of Exchange drawn upon ye French E I Company Endorsed by him to our Honble Masters One bearing Date 13 June Vizt 1742 and the other bearing Date 19 July No 3 1742 as P his Reciept £203 10s 0d By Cash paid the Surgeon of the Ship Duke of Lorrain 15 Dollars for his Care and Attendance of 15 Men Honourable Companys Servants during their passage hither £3 15s 0d By Cash paid David Wilson for making 76 Silver Bullets as P his Reciept £1 10s 0d By Cash paid Captain Backhead for the Ballance of his Ship Queen Caroline & that as P his Reciept £16 7s 8d By Cash paid Capt Henry Weeks by Govr Lamberts Order for 4 Casks of Pork Wine for the Use of the General Table as P his Reciept £21 12s 0d By Cash paid Capt John Blake for Bills of Exchange upon the Owners of Ship Hallifax in favour of our Honourable Masters as P his Reciept £145 0s 0d By Cash paid Capt Joseph Phelps for the Diet of his Ship Kmg Williams Account as P his Reciept £74 4s 9d By Cash paid Edwd Weale for Carpenters work done at the Kings Peak as P his Reciept £3 2s 6d By Cash paid Sundrys for Sundry Utensil at the Kings Peak for the Flying Brute £20s 0d By Cash paid James Leach for making four Flags as P his Reciept £3 8s 0d By Cash paid for a Pinnace bought by Govr Lambert for the Hon ble Company £20 By Cash paid for Sundrys bought by Governour Lambert out of the Shipping for the General Table as P Hous his £90 5s 6d £110 5s 6d By Cash paid for Silks bought for Governour Lamberts Funeral of the Following Persons Vizt John Bagot for Dowls Black Silk £19s 0d Margaret Godwin 2 Dowls Do Taffety £7s 0d By Cash paid John Aldrick for 7 Dozen and four Eggs bought for the Use of the General Table £3s 9d £2235 14s 6½d G G Powell John Godfrey Dixon | The account was headed as the credit side of Powell, paymaster. By cash paid the Company's servants as by the account of particulars above, £1,362 2s 0d By cash paid for sundry alarms and expresses to the following persons for those alarms: James Alies, £0 15s 0d John Hayse, £0 10s 0d James Long, £0 5s 0d John Mudge, £0 5s 0d Benjamin Seale, £0 10s 0d Edward Bagley, £1 10s 0d Baron Deloph, £0 10s 0d John Draper, £0 5s 0d Edward Burnham, £0 5s 0d Total, £4 15s 0d By cash paid sundry particulars as above for work done at the crane during the unlading of the shore ship by order of Governor Lambert, £7 11s 6d By cash paid sundries for provisions bought of them for the use of the hospital and general table by order of Governor Lambert, as by the account of particulars above, £212 11s 10d By cash paid Captain Brooks for due as by his receipt, £11 7s 0d By cash paid the Greentree for 2 sets of bills of exchange drawn upon the French East India Company, endorsed by him to our Company's treasurer, one bearing date 13 June 1742 and the other bearing date 19 July 1742, as by his receipt, £203 10s 0d By cash paid the surgeon of the ship, for 15 dollars for his care and attendance of 15 of the Company's servants towards their passage thither, £3 15s 0d By cash paid David Wilson for making 70 soldiers' belts, as by his receipt, £1 10s 0d By cash paid Captain Buckhead for his order of his ship Queen Caroline, as by his receipt, £16 7s 8d By cash paid Captain Henry Deakes by Governor Lambert's order for a cask of pork wine for the use of the general table, as by his receipt, £21 12s 0d By cash paid Captain John Blake for bills of exchange upon the current of the ship Halifax in favour of our Company's treasurer, as by his receipt, £145 0s 0d By cash paid Captain Joseph Phillips for the due of his ship King William account, as by his receipt, £74 4s 9d By cash paid Belat's widow for carpenter's work done at the ship's peak, as by his receipt, £3 2s 6d By cash paid sundries for building a crane at the ship's peak for the flying stores, £20 0s 0d By cash paid Isaac Leach for making four flags, as by his receipt, £3 8s 0d By cash paid for a pinnace bought by Governor Lambert for the use of the Company, £20 0s 0d By cash paid for sundries bought by the Governor and Lambert out of the shipping for the general table and household, £110 5s 6d By cash paid for silks bought for Governor Lambert's funeral of the following persons: John Bagot, for a piece of black silk, £19 0s 0d Margaret Goodwin, 2 pieces of taffety, £7 0s 0d By cash paid John Aldrick for 7 dozen and four eggs bought for the use of the general table, £3 9s 0d Total, £2,235 14s 6d The account was signed by George Gabriel Powell, John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. Interpretations The credit side of the paymaster's account shows the full range of outgoings met from the fund, extending far beyond the garrison's wages into the everyday running of a colonial establishment. Payments for alarms and expresses, crane work, provisions, ships' bills of exchange, soldiers' belts, flags, a pinnace and even the silks for the Governor's funeral reveal how a single account absorbed military, commercial and domestic expenses alike. The breadth of the entries shows the paymaster functioning as the settlement's general disburser rather than a mere wage clerk. The several bills of exchange paid to ships' captains and endorsed to the Company's treasurer reveal the mechanism by which the island settled accounts with the vessels that called there. Rather than move large sums of coin, the Company took bills drawn on ships' owners or on the French East India Company and passed them to its own treasurer, so the settlement's dealings with the shipping were largely conducted through paper instruments of credit. The prominence of these entries shows how far long-distance trade depended on such transferable obligations rather than cash. The purchases for Governor Lambert's funeral, including a piece of black silk and two of taffety, reflect the formal mourning owed to a governor who died in office, so the establishment provided the materials for a proper burial as a charge on the Company, marking the ceremonial dignity attached to the office even at a remote station. | |
48 | At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 3d of August at the Castle Present George Gabriel Powell Esqr Governour John Godfrey 2d of Council Christopher Dixon 3d of Council The Last Consultation was Read and approved Agreable to the Resolution and Advertisement of Last Consultation We Yesterday Continued the Sale of the Effects of the Late John Godwin Esqr Deceased at Publick Outcry and this Day we finished the same, the Particulars thereof shall be Entred in our next Consultation in Obedience to our Honourable Masters Orders The Governour Reports that the Long Boat hath made two Attempts to go from hence to Sandy Bay in Order to fetch part of the Lime round but the Winds and Weather has been such that he could not Ledr to Windward and was Obliged to put back again however as soon as the Weather is more moderate he shall be sent and no Opportunity lost till the Lime is all brought round Due Enquiry has been made for a Cooper who we are in great want of but we have not a Man in the Island saving One a Black fellow lately Purchased by Mr James Norvell of the Estate of John Godwin Esqr Deceased who is Capable of being employed in that way And therefore we agree we will bid Master for two Shillings each Day he is Employed by us upon the Companys Account G G Powell John Godfrey Dixon | At a consultation held on Tuesday 3 August at the Castle, Governor George Gabriel Powell sat with John Godfrey as second of council and Christopher Dixon as third of council. The council read the record of the previous meeting and approved it. In accordance with the resolution and advertisement of the previous meeting, the council had the previous day continued the sale of the effects of the late John Goodwin at public auction, and that day finished it. The particulars would be entered in the next meeting, in obedience to the Company's orders. The Governor reported that the longboat had made two attempts to go from here to Sandy Bay to fetch part of the lime round, but the wind and weather had been such that it could not live to windward and was obliged to put back again. As soon as the weather grew more moderate the boat would be sent, and no opportunity lost until the lime was all brought round. Due enquiry had been made for a cooper, of whom the council was in great want, but there was no man on the island save one, a black fellow lately purchased from the estate of the late John Goodwin by James Powell, who was capable of being employed in that way. The council therefore agreed with his master for two shillings a day, whenever he was employed on the Company's account. The entry was signed by George Gabriel Powell, John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. Interpretations The council's arrangement for a cooper reveals the reach of slavery into the island's skilled trades and the workings of its labour market. Unable to find any free man to replace the dead cooper, the council hired an enslaved man with the necessary skill from his owner, James Powell, paying the master two shillings a day for the slave's labour. The transaction shows that enslaved people on the island held valuable craft skills, and that their owners profited by hiring them out to the Company, which turned to bonded labour when free specialists could not be found. The struggle of the longboat to fetch lime from Sandy Bay exposes the practical difficulty of moving heavy materials around a rugged coast against wind and sea. The boat could not make headway to windward and was forced back, delaying the lime needed for the fortification work the Governor had ordered pressed forward. The episode shows how the island's steep terrain made sea transport the only means of shifting bulk goods between its scattered points, and how weather could hold up even urgent defensive work. A cooper made and repaired the wooden casks essential for storing and shipping water, provisions and goods, so the persistent effort to secure one, even to the point of hiring an enslaved craftsman, reflects how indispensable the trade was to a victualling station that could not function without sound barrels. Speculations The council chose to hire an enslaved craftsman from a private owner rather than leave the cooper's post empty or send abroad for a free tradesman. With no free cooper to be found on the island and the trade too essential to do without, the council might have waited for the Company to supply one from England, but that would have left the settlement without sound casks for months. It turned instead to the only skilled man available, paying his master for his labour, and so filled a critical vacancy at once by drawing on the island's own enslaved workforce rather than enduring a long and uncertain wait for a replacement from home. | |
49 | At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 10th August at the Castle Present George Gabriel Powell Esqr Governour John Godfrey 2d of Council Mr Dixon Absent being Ill The Last Consultation was Read and Approved The Sale of the Estate of the late John Godwin Esqr at Publick Outcry being Compleated the Following is the Particular Account Sales thereof With the Names of the several Purchasers Vizt Account Sales of the Following Particulars belonging to the Estate of the Late John Godwin Esqr Vizt 69 acres Freehold Land 3 Do Leased Do 1 House on the Sd Lands Purchased by G G Powell £620 0s 0d 24 Acres Freehold Land Do Saml Doveton 294 0s 0d 20 Acres Freehold Land 7½ Do Leasehold Do G G Powell 200 0s 0d 9 Acres Leasehold Land Do Do 15 0s 0d 3 Acres Leasehold Land Do John Goodwin 6 1s 0d 28 Acres Leasehold Land 16 Do Freehold Called Frances One House on the Sd Land Do G G Powell 205 0s 0d One House in James Valley Do Rich Gurling 24 15s 0d One Garden above the Slaughter House Do Charles Steward 36 0s 0d £1400 16s 0d One Black Man Named Jos One Black Woman Named Peg One Black Boy Named Jos One Black Girl Named Pate Abigail Children Sarah Do Margt Godwin 85 0s 0d One Black Man Named Cesar Do James Powell 25 0s 0d 1 Do Do John Do Do 20 0s 0d 1 Do Do Erasmus Do Joseph Peirk 30 0s 0d 1 Do Do Cannvall Do Gabriel Harper 40 0s 0d 1 Do Do Old Suey Do John Goodwin 6 0s 0d 1 Do Do Old Ebey Do Frances Wrangham 8 10s 0d £209 10s 0d Carried over £1010 6s 0d | At a consultation held on Tuesday 10 August at the Castle, Governor George Gabriel Powell sat with John Godfrey as second of council, Dixon being absent. The council read the record of the previous meeting and approved it. The sale of the estate of the late John Goodwin at public auction being completed, the following was the particular account of the sale, with the names of the several purchasers. The account of sales of the following particulars belonging to the estate of the late John Goodwin was as follows. 69 acres freehold land, 5 acres leased, and 1 house on the freehold land, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £620 0s 0d 24 acres freehold land, purchased by Samuel Doveton, £294 0s 0d 20 acres freehold land and 7 and a half acres leasehold, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £200 0s 0d 9 acres leasehold land, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £15 0s 0d 3 acres leasehold land, purchased by John Goodwin, £6 1s 0d 28 acres leasehold land, 16 acres freehold and one house on the freehold land, called Frances, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £205 0s 0d One house in James Valley, purchased by Richard Gurling, £24 15s 0d One garden above the slaughter house, purchased by Charles Steward, £36 0s 0d Total, £1,400 16s 0d The account continued with the sale of slaves. One black man named Joe, one black woman named Peg, one black boy named Joe, one black girl named Pate, and Abigail and Sarah, children, purchased by Margaret Goodwin, £85 0s 0d One black woman named Cesar, purchased by James Powell, £25 0s 0d 1 black man named John, purchased by James Powell, £20 0s 0d 1 black man named Erasmus, purchased by Joseph Dorck, £30 0s 0d 1 black man named Emmanuel, purchased by Gabriel Harper, £40 0s 0d 1 black man named Old Tacky, purchased by John Goodwin, £6 0s 0d 1 black man named Old Ebony, purchased by Francis Wrangham, £8 10s 0d Total, £209 10s 0d Carried over, £1,010 6s 0d Interpretations The estate sale lays out the material foundations of a senior servant's wealth on the island, principally in land held on the mixed freehold and leasehold tenure by which the Company parcelled out its territory. The great bulk of the value lay in acreage, houses and a garden, with the new Governor Powell himself acquiring the largest holdings, so the death of one officer became the occasion for another to consolidate substantial property. The distinction repeatedly drawn between freehold and leasehold land shows the two forms of tenure by which settlers held ground, the leasehold remaining ultimately the Company's. The sale of human beings alongside land and houses exposes the plain fact that enslaved people were counted among a dead man's disposable property, valued and auctioned like any other asset. Men, women and children were sold by name to various purchasers, some kept together as a group and others parted, at prices that reveal the market's cold reckoning of a person's worth by age and capacity. That a woman and children went to Goodwin's own relation Margaret Goodwin, while others were scattered among different buyers, shows how the trade broke apart whatever bonds existed among the enslaved. The low prices set on the men named Old Tacky and Old Ebony, a fraction of what was paid for others, reflect the market's brutal discounting of elderly slaves whose working years were largely spent, so age reduced a human being's auction value just as it would that of any worn implement, laying bare the pure commodification at the heart of the system. Speculations The buyers chose to keep one group of slaves together while parting others singly, and the record shows the division fell along lines of value and use. The woman Peg, two children named as such and three others were sold as a single lot to Margaret Goodwin, a relation of the dead man, whereas the able men each fetched their own separate price from different purchasers. The obvious commercial course was to sell each slave individually for the best price, yet a woman with young children was harder to place and less valuable as a worker, so keeping her with the children and passing the group to a family connection resolved what the open market would have found awkward. The pattern shows buyers and sellers alike treating the enslaved as assets to be lotted for convenience and value, with a family kept intact not from mercy but because the market had little separate use for its weakest members. | |
50 | Brought over £1610 6s 0d 1 Black Man Named Flower Charles Fra Wrangham 21 15s 0d 1 Do Do Pompey Do James Powell 5 0s 0d 1 Do Do James Do Charles Steward 20 0s 0d 1 Do Do Andrew Do John Leach 20 5s 0d 1 Do Do Great Pompey Do Richard Gurling 23 10s 0d 1 Do Do August Do James Powell 20 5s 0d 1 Do Do London Do Do 10 15s 0d 1 Do Do Scipio Do Do 5 5s 0d 1 Do Do Lucas Do Thos Easthope 12 2s 0d 1 Black Woman Named Dorinda Do John Goodwin 20 0s 0d 1 Do Do Abigal Do Do 15 0s 0d 1 Do Do Sarah Do James Powell 11 0s 0d 1 Black Boy Named May Do Saml Doveton 15 0s 0d 1 Do Do April Do Fra Wrangham Senr 20 0s 0d 1 Do Do London Do Robt Colgroves 16 1s 0d 1 Do Do Dick Do Chas Steward 8 5s 0d 1 Black Girl Named Betty Do Edward Bagley 6 0s 0d 1 Do Do Molley Do Richard Hanson 5 11s 0d 1 Do Do Nanny Do Joseph Powell 12 6s 0d 2 large Glasses Walnut Tree Frame Do Robt Greentree 19 10s 0d 2 pd large Glass Do Frame Do Richd Godwin 8 5s 0d 1 Smaller Do Do Do Andrew Beale 3 12s 0d 1 Pair of Sconces Do G G Powell 2 large Glasses Gilt Frame Do Richard Goodwin 5 10s 0d 1 large Chimney Glass Do G G Powell 5 0s 0d 1 Do Square Glass Do Do 3 0s 0d 1 Chamber Glass Do John Goodwin 1 5s 0d 1 Swing Glass Do Do 1 4s 0d 1 Do Do G G Powell 1 5s 0d 1 Do Do Do 11s 0d 1 Chamber Glass Do James Greenlea 1 6s 0d 1 Do Do Jno Powell 1 5s 6d 1 Do Do G G Powell 1s 0d 1 large Glass Do Do 5s 0d 1 Swing Glass Do Chas Steward 1 6s 6d 1 Do Broho Do John Leach 7s 6d 1 Silver Watch Do John Godwin 1s 0d 1 Picture in Gilt Frame Do G G Powell 4 10s 0d 1 Walnut Tree Escrutore Do Chas Steward 13 0s 0d 1 Teagerne Case with Ivory hafted Knives and Forks Do Do 2 5s 0d 1 Do Desart Do Do 3 0s 0d 1 Do Table with Silver hafted Do Frances Wrangham 6 5s 0d Carried over £1967 14s 6d | The account of sales of the estate of the late John Goodwin continued. Brought over, £1,610 6s 0d 1 black man named Flower, purchased by Charles Wrangham, £21 15s 0d 1 black man named Pompey, purchased by James Powell, £5 0s 0d 1 black man named James, purchased by Charles Steward, £20 0s 0d 1 black man named Andrew, purchased by John Leach, £20 5s 0d 1 black man named Great Pompey, purchased by Richard Gurling, £23 10s 0d 1 black man named August, purchased by James Powell, £20 5s 0d 1 black man named London, purchased by James Powell, £10 15s 0d 1 black man named Scipio, purchased by James Powell, £5 5s 0d 1 black man named Lucas, purchased by Thomas Easthope, £12 2s 0d 1 black woman named Dorinda, purchased by John Goodwin, £20 0s 0d 1 black woman named Abigail, purchased by John Goodwin, £15 0s 0d 1 black woman named Sarah, purchased by James Powell, £11 0s 0d 1 black boy named May, purchased by Samuel Doveton, £15 0s 0d 1 black boy named April, purchased by Charles Wrangham senior, £20 0s 0d 1 black boy named London, purchased by Robert Cotgrove, £16 1s 0d 1 black boy named Dick, purchased by Charles Steward, £8 5s 0d 1 black girl named Betty, purchased by Edward Bagley, £6 0s 0d 1 black girl named Molley, purchased by Richard Hanson, £5 11s 0d 1 black girl named Nanny, purchased by Joseph Dorck, £12 6s 0d 2 large glasses, walnut tree frame, purchased by Robert Greentree, £19 10s 0d 2 pieces large glass, walnut frame, purchased by Richard Goodwin, £8 5s 0d 1 smaller glass, purchased by Richard Beale, £3 12s 0d 1 pair of sconces, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £5 0s 0d 2 large glasses, gilt frame, purchased by Richard Goodwin, £5 10s 0d 1 large chimney glass, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £5 0s 0d 1 square glass, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £3 0s 0d 1 chamber glass, purchased by John Goodwin, £1 5s 0d 1 swing glass, purchased by John Goodwin, £1 4s 0d 1 swing glass, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £1 5s 0d 1 swing glass, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 11s 0d 1 chamber glass, purchased by James Greentree, £1 6s 0d 1 chamber glass, purchased by James Powell, £1 5s 6d 1 chamber glass, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £1 0s 0d 1 large glass, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 5s 0d 1 swing glass, purchased by Charles Steward, £1 6s 6d 1 ditto, brass, purchased by John Leach, £0 7s 6d 1 silver watch, purchased by John Goodwin, £4 1s 0d 1 picture in gilt frame, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 10s 0d 1 walnut tree escritoire, purchased by Charles Steward, £13 0s 0d 1 teagame case with ivory-handled knives and forks, purchased by Charles Steward, £2 5s 0d 1 dessert, purchased by Charles Steward, £3 0s 0d 1 table with brass handles, purchased by Frances Wrangham, £6 5s 0d Carried over, £1,967 14s 6d Interpretations This portion of the sale sets the trade in human beings directly alongside the disposal of mirrors, watches and furniture, entering enslaved men, women and children in the same running account as looking glasses and an escritoire. The stark juxtaposition, a man named Flower sold for over twenty pounds on one line and a walnut-framed glass on the next, captures how completely the enslaved were treated as chattels indistinguishable in kind from household goods. The account draws no line between people and possessions, listing both as assets of the estate to be knocked down to the highest bidder. The prices fetched by the slaves reveal the market's valuation by age, sex and working capacity, the grown men generally commanding far more than the children and the elderly. A boy named April sold for twenty pounds while a girl named Betty went for six, and the strong man Great Pompey fetched over twenty-three, so the auction priced each person by their worth as labour. The wide spread of buyers, many of them the same settlers who supplied provisions and served in the garrison, shows how ownership of enslaved people was diffused through the free population of the island. An escritoire was a writing desk or cabinet fitted with drawers and compartments for papers, here of walnut and valued at thirteen pounds, so its appearance among the estate goods reflects the domestic refinement of a senior officer's household, furnished with the writing furniture expected of a man of standing. | |
51 | Brought over £1967 14s 6d 1 large Escrutore with Book Case P had Chas Steward 4 5s 0d 1 Turkey Carpet Do John Godwin 1 6s 0d 1 large Mahoggany Table Do Do 13 1s 0d 1 Elbow Chair with Leather Bottom Do G G Powell 1 2s 0d 1 Do & two Stools Do Do 1 10s 0d 1 Corner Cupboard Do Mr Anster 1 3s 0d 1 Side Board Table Do John Bagot 1 1s 0d 1 Coffee Mill Frances Wrangham 7s 6d 1 Coffee Pot Do John Godwin 5s 0d 1 Lead Escrutore Do John French Junr 1 2s 0d 1 Walnut Tree Escrutore Do Doctor Harris 6s 0d 1 Mahoggany Card Table Do G G Powell 5s 0d 1 large Easy Chair Do Do 2 5s 0d 1 hand Escrutore Do Richd Godwin 19s 6d 10 Leather Bottom Chairs Do John Bagot 5 5s 0d 1 large Easy Chair Do John Godwin 3s 0d Nine Cane Chairs Do Do 4 6s 0d 1 Small Table Do G G Powell 6s 0d 12 Cane Chairs Do J Doveton 8s 0d 1 Repeating Clock Do G G Powell 8 10s 0d 1 Microscope Do Do 2 5s 0d 1 Elbow Chair Straw Bottom Do Saml Greenlea 15s 0d Nine China Dishes and 18 plates Blue and White Do Frances Wrangham 2 10s 0d 17 Do 2 Pillows Curtains and Bedstead Do Thos Easthope 5 11s 0d 1 Large Iron Pot Do Fra Wrangham 3 0s 0d 1 Small Iron Pot Do John French Junr 5s 0d 1 Do Do Fran Wrangham 10s 0d 1 Elbow Chair with Leather Bottom Do John Bagot 1s 0d 1 Chamber Table with Drawers Do Jno Bagot 1 3s 0d 1 Do Do Richd Mason 10s 0d 3 large Candlesticks and one pair of Snuffers Do G G Powell 3 5s 0d 1 Pair of Small Do Do James Dubois 4s 0d 1 Couch Do John Godwin 1 9s 0d 1 large Tea Table Do Fra Wrangham 1 11s 0d 1 Small Do Do Richard Godwin 1 16s 0d 1 Wainscott Chest Do Chas Steward 3 15s 0d 1 Doz Rush Bottom Chairs Do Richard Godwin 5 5s 0d 1 Wainscott Table Do John Goodwin 1 6s 0d 4 Pictures in Black Frames Do James Powell 11s 0d 16 Do Glass Fronts Do John Godfrey 1 11s 0d 19 Books Do J Dubois 3 2s 6d 39 Enamelld China Plates Do Capt Jn Blake 1 15s 0d 2 English Earthen Dishes Do Jos Powell 9s 0d Carried over £2070 0s 0d | The account of sales of the estate of the late John Goodwin continued. Brought over, £1,967 14s 6d 1 large escritoire with bookcase, purchased by Charles Steward, £4 5s 0d 1 Turkey carpet, purchased by John Goodwin, £1 6s 0d 1 large mahogany table, purchased by John Goodwin, £13 1s 0d 1 elbow chair with leather bottom, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £1 2s 0d 1 ditto and two stools, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £1 10s 0d 1 corner cupboard, purchased by Richard Ayres, £1 3s 0d 1 sideboard table, purchased by John Bagot, £1 1s 0d 1 coffee mill, purchased by Frances Wrangham, £0 7s 6d 1 coffee pot, purchased by John Goodwin, £0 5s 0d 1 lead escritoire, purchased by John French junior, £1 2s 0d 1 walnut tree escritoire, purchased by Doctor Barry, £6 0s 0d 1 mahogany card table, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £5 0s 0d 1 large easy chair, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £2 5s 0d 1 hand escritoire, purchased by Richard Hanson, £0 19s 6d 10 leather-bottom chairs, purchased by John Bagot, £5 5s 0d 1 large easy chair, purchased by John Goodwin, £3 0s 0d 9 cane chairs, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £4 6s 0d 1 small table, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 6s 0d 12 cane chairs, purchased by John Desfountain, £8 0s 0d 1 repeating clock, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £8 10s 0d 1 microscope, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £2 5s 0d 1 elbow chair, straw bottom, purchased by James Greentree, £0 15s 0d 9 china dishes and 18 plates, blue and white, purchased by Frances Wrangham, £2 10s 0d 1 bed, 2 pillows, curtains and bedstead, purchased by Thomas Easthope, £5 11s 0d 1 large iron pot, purchased by James Greentree, £3 0s 0d 1 small iron pot, purchased by John French junior, £0 5s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by Frances Wrangham, £0 10s 0d 1 elbow chair with leather bottom, purchased by John Bagot, £1 0s 0d 1 chamber table with drawers, purchased by John Bagot, £1 3s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by Richard Mason, £0 10s 0d 3 large candlesticks and one pair of snuffers, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £3 5s 0d 1 pair of small ditto, purchased by James Dubois, £0 4s 0d 1 couch, purchased by John Goodwin, £1 9s 0d 1 large tea table, purchased by Frances Greentree, £1 11s 0d 1 small ditto, purchased by Richard Goodwin, £1 16s 0d 1 wainscot chest, purchased by Charles Steward, £3 15s 0d 1 dozen rush-bottom chairs, purchased by Richard Goodwin, £5 5s 0d 1 wainscot table, purchased by John Goodwin, £1 6s 0d 4 pictures in black frames, purchased by James Powell, £0 11s 0d 16 glass fronts, purchased by John Godfrey, £1 11s 0d 19 books, purchased by James Dubois, £3 2s 6d 30 enamelled china plates, purchased by Captain Blake, £1 15s 0d 2 English earthen dishes, purchased by James Powell, £0 9s 0d Carried over, £2,070 0s 0d Interpretations This inventory of household furnishings reveals the surprising refinement of a senior officer's establishment at so remote a station, stocked with mahogany tables, cane and leather chairs, a repeating clock and even a microscope. The presence of scientific and finely made goods shows that a man of standing furnished his island house to the standard of a comfortable gentleman at home, importing the trappings of English domestic life across the ocean. The range from carpets and couches to china and books captures a fully appointed household rather than the spare quarters of a frontier post. The repeated appearance of multiple escritoires, a bookcase and nineteen books points to the paperwork and correspondence that governed an officer's life on the island. A senior servant conducted the Company's business and his own through written accounts and letters, so the abundance of writing furniture reflects the documentary demands of colonial administration at a distance. The books and the microscope together suggest a man of some education and curiosity beyond the bare requirements of his office. A repeating clock was a costly mechanism that chimed the hour and quarter on demand when a cord was pulled, valued here at over eight pounds, so its inclusion among the goods marks the luxury and technical sophistication of the household, such clocks being expensive instruments owned only by the well-to-do. | |
52 | Brought over £2070 0s 0d 4 Blue and White Soop Plates P had Do Fra Wrangham Junr 4s 6d 4 Glass Salts Do John Bagot 5s 6d 2 China Flower Potts Do F Wrangham Senr 1 1s 0d 1 Do Blue Do G G Powell 11s 0d 1 long Gunn Do Do 5s 0d 1 Brass Hearth Do Do 2 1s 0d 1 Do Do Do 1 11s 0d 1 Small Oval Table Do Do 10s 0d 1 Small Chamber Table Do John French Senr 7s 0d 1 Do Do R Mason 5s 6d 9 Small China Dishes Do F Greenlea 1 10s 0d 1 Foak Chest Do Chas Steward 17s 0d 1 Small Old Fir Chest Do James Dubois 7s 6d 1 large Seak Chest Do Andr Beale 4 13s 0d 1 Fir Chest Do John French Senr 10s 6d 1 Silver Punch Bowl 20 19s 13s 10 10.6 P Do Jn Bagot 10 3s 11½d 1 Do Salver 17 13s 6 Of P G Do Do 5 6s 6d 1 Do Saucepan 22 16 5.10 P Do Richd Godwin 6 11s 8d 2 Salvers 10 19 6 P Do G G Powell 3 5s 8d 1 Do Mug 14 3 5.10 P Do F Bushing 4 2s 6½d 1 Do Soop Spoon 6 12 0.7 P Of Do Chas Steward 2 17s 0d 2 Do Salts 10 2 11.1 P Do Jno Bagot 5 11s 11½d 12 Do Table Spoons 27 5 7.9 P Of Do R Godwin 10 11s 2½d 13 Do Tea Spoons Tongs & Strainer 5 1 10.3 P Do Jno Leach 2 11s 0d 1 Do Tea Pot 13 16 6 P Of Do F Wrangham 4 12s 9½d 9 Do Tea Spoons Tongs & Strainer 5 6 6 P Of Do Do 1 11s 5½d 1 Old Lacqued Tea Table Do J Godwin 9s 0d 1 Warming Pann Do F Wrangham Senr 11s 0d 3 Pewtor and One Earthen Chamber Potes Do Do 1 5s 0d 1 Copper Kitchen Do John French Senr 1s 0d 1 Chocolate Potts Do G G Powell 11s 0d 9 Brass Candlesticks Do James Dubois 1 7s 0d 1 Black Lanthorn Do Chas Steward 10s 6d 1 Indian Guglet Do Frances Wrangham Junr 1 6s 0d 3 Pewtor Basons Do Joseph Powell 9s 0d 1 Old Elbow Chair Do Richard Beale 7s 0d 3 Cane Chairs Do James Dubois 1 3s 0d 1 Do Do Do 5s 0d 3 Do Do Do 10s 6d 2 Old Do Do Rich Gurling 13s 0d 2 Cain Chairs Do Jno Dubois 11s 0d Carried over £2156 19s 1½d | The account of sales of the estate of the late John Goodwin continued. Brought over, £2,070 0s 0d 4 blue and white soup plates, purchased by Frances Wrangham senior, £0 4s 6d 4 glass salts, purchased by John Bagot, £0 5s 6d 2 china flower pots, purchased by Frances Wrangham senior, £1 1s 0d 1 ditto, blue, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 11s 0d 1 long gun, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 5s 0d 1 brass hearth, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £2 1s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £1 11s 0d 1 small oval table, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 10s 0d 1 small chamber table, purchased by John French senior, £0 7s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by Richard Mason, £0 5s 6d 9 small china dishes, purchased by Frances Greentree, £1 10s 0d 1 fork chest, purchased by Charles Steward, £0 17s 0d 1 small old fir chest, purchased by James Dubois, £0 7s 6d 1 large teak chest, purchased by Richard Beale, £4 13s 0d 1 fir chest, purchased by John French senior, £0 10s 6d 1 silver punch bowl, 79oz 19dwt at 5s 6d per ounce, purchased by John Bagot, £10 3s 11d 1 ditto salver, 17oz 13dwt, purchased by ditto, £5 6s 6d 1 ditto saucepan, 22oz 16dwt at 5s 6d per ounce, purchased by John Goodwin, £6 11s 3d 2 salvers, 10oz 19dwt, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £3 5s 8d 1 ditto mug, 14oz 3dwt at 5s 6d per ounce, purchased by John Kessing, £4 2s 6d 1 ditto soup spoon, 6oz 12dwt, purchased by Charles Steward, £2 17s 0d 2 ditto salts, 10oz 2dwt at 11s 1d, purchased by John Bagot, £5 11s 11d 12 ditto table spoons, 27oz 5dwt at 7s 9d, purchased by Richard Goodwin, £10 11s 2d 13 ditto tea spoons, tongs and strainer, 5oz 1dwt at 10s 3d, purchased by John Leach, £2 11s 9d 1 ditto tea pot, 13oz 16dwt, purchased by Frances Wrangham, £4 2s 9d 9 ditto tea spoons, tongs and strainer, 5oz 6dwt, purchased by ditto, £1 14s 5d 1 old lacquered tea table, purchased by John Goodwin, £0 9s 0d 1 warming pan, purchased by Frances Wrangham senior, £0 11s 0d 3 pewter and one earthen chamber pots, purchased by John French senior, £1 5s 0d 1 copper kitchen, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 1s 0d 1 chocolate pot, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 11s 0d 9 brass candlesticks, purchased by James Dubois, £1 7s 0d 1 glass lantern, purchased by Charles Steward, £0 10s 6d 1 Indian guglet, purchased by Frances Wrangham senior, £1 6s 0d 3 pewter basons, purchased by Joseph Dorck, £0 9s 0d 1 old elbow chair, purchased by Richard Beale, £0 7s 0d 3 cane chairs, purchased by James Dubois, £1 3s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 5s 0d 3 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 19s 6d 2 old ditto, purchased by Richard Gurling, £0 13s 0d 2 cane chairs, purchased by James Dubois, £0 11s 0d Carried over, £2,156 19s 1d Interpretations The silver plate forms the most valuable portion of the household goods, each piece weighed to the pennyweight and priced by the ounce at a fixed rate, in the manner of the period. A punch bowl, salvers, a saucepan, spoons and a teapot were reckoned by their bullion weight, so the silver served as both tableware and a store of portable wealth, its value resting on the metal itself. The careful weighing of every article shows how such plate was treated as capital, its worth calculated with precision rather than estimated like the furniture. The mixture of English, Indian and Chinese goods in a single household captures the reach of the trade routes that supplied the island. Blue and white china, an Indian guglet, a lacquered tea table and a chocolate pot sat beside pewter and brass of European make, so the officer's domestic life drew on the products of three continents brought by the passing ships. The presence of tea and chocolate equipage reflects the fashionable hot drinks that had taken hold among the well-to-do by this date. A pennyweight, abbreviated dwt, was a unit of twenty to the ounce by which precious metals were weighed, so the recording of each silver item in ounces and pennyweights at five shillings and sixpence the ounce shows the plate being valued strictly as bullion, its price following directly from its assayed weight. | |
53 | Brought over £2156 19s 1½d 1 large Pewter Bason and two Dishes P had G G Powell 6s 0d 1 Feather Bed and fine Chints Furniture F Wrangham Senr 13 15s 0d 1 Feather Bed Quilt Blanket & Boulster Do G G Powell 5 1s 0d 1 Do Do Do Chas Steward 8 1s 0d 1 Do Do Do G G Powell 5 5s 0d 1 Do Furniture Entire Do Chas Steward 9 1s 0d 1 Bed Bedsted and Curtains Do Richard Godwin 4 2s 0d 1 Bed Bedsted Quilt and Pillow Do Tho Colgrove 4 7s 0d 1 Bed Bedsted Boulster & Curtains Do James Greenlea 8 19s 0d 1 Bed Boulster 2 Pillows & Old Quilt Do Richd Beale 4 1s 0d 1 Bed Bedsted & Furniture Do John French Senr 5 4s 0d 1 Bedstead Curtains and Rod Do Tho Colgrove 1 6s 0d 1 large Ritch Quilt Do G G Powell 2 5s 0d 3 Quilts Do James Powell 2 0s 0d 6 Yards Swanskin Flannell Do G G Powell 16s 0d 3 pd Thread Stockings Do James Dubois 16s 6d 1 Ditcht Counterpin Do Richd Mason 2 6s 0d 1 pd Decrotroe Sheets Do Capt Jn Wade 11s 0d 6 pd Pillow Cases Do John Bagot 6s 6d 4 long Cloth Sheets Do Capt Jn Wade 2 4s 0d 8 Do Gingham Do Small Do Do 2 7s 0d 1 Silver Saucepan 20 28 16s 26 5.10 P Of Do F Greenlea 8 8s 0d 1 Do Tankard 42 6 5.10 P Of Do F Wrangham 12 6s 9d 1 Do Mugg 12 8 5.10 P Of Do Chas Steward 3 6s 0d 1 Do Do 12 4 5.10 P Do Do 7 3s 6d 1 Do Do 8 9 6 P Do James French 2 10s 8½d 1 Do Saucer 18 12 5.10 P Of Do J Godfrey 5 8s 6d 1 Do Salver 17 16 5.10 P Of Do J Godwin 5 11s 0d 1 Do Do Small 5 11 5.10 P Of Do R Godwin 3 2s 5d 1 Do Do 5 3 5.10 P Of Do Do 5 0s 0d 1 Do Tankard 23 4 5.10 P Of Do Chas Steward 6 15s 4d 1 Do Soop Spoon 6 3 5.10 P Of Do F Greenlea 1 15s 10½d 1 Do Castor 6 8 5.10 P Of Do R Godwin 1 17s 10½d 1 Do Lamp 9 5 5.10 P Of Do Capt Wade 2 13s 11½d 16 Do Table Spoons 22 12 5.10 P Of Do F Wrangham 6 11s 10d 6 Do Do Old 10 3 5.10 P Of Do R Mason 2 18s 8d 12 Silver Tea Spoons Tongs and Strainer Do 3 13 5.10 P Of Do J Godfrey 1 12s 11d 5 Do Tea Screws and 1 large Do 3 12 5.10 P Of Do Chas Steward 1 1s 0d 1 Do wt Shoes & Knee Buckles 3 2 6 P Do R Godwin 18s 7d 1 Do Do 2 8 6 P Do Capt Wade 1 3s 0d 1 Do Prick Clasp 1 2 7.10 P Do F Wrangham 8s 7d Carried over £2309 8s 8d | The account of sales of the estate of the late John Goodwin continued. Brought over, £2,156 19s 1d 1 large pewter bason and two dishes, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 6s 0d 1 feather bed and fine chintz furniture, purchased by Frances Wrangham senior, £13 15s 0d 1 feather bed, quilt, blanket and bolster, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £5 1s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by Charles Steward, £8 1s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £5 5s 0d 1 ditto, furniture entire, purchased by Charles Steward, £9 1s 0d 1 bed, bedstead and curtains, purchased by Richard Goodwin, £4 2s 0d 1 bed, bedstead, quilt and pillow, purchased by Thomas Cotgrove, £4 7s 0d 1 bed, bedstead, bolster and curtains, purchased by James Greentree, £8 19s 0d 1 bed, bolster, 2 pillows and old quilt, purchased by Richard Beale, £4 1s 0d 1 bed, bedstead and furniture, purchased by John French senior, £5 4s 0d 1 bedstead, curtains and rod, purchased by Thomas Cotgrove, £1 6s 0d 1 large kitchen quilt, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £2 5s 0d 3 quilts, purchased by James Powell, £2 0s 0d 6 yards swanskin flannel, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 16s 0d 2 pieces thread stockings, purchased by James Dubois, £0 16s 6d 1 stitched counterpane, purchased by Richard Mason, £0 2s 6d 1 pair diaper sheets, purchased by Captain Wade, £0 11s 0d 1 pair pillow cases, purchased by John Bagot, £0 6s 6d 4 long cloth sheets, purchased by Captain Wade, £2 4s 0d 3 gingham ditto, small, purchased by ditto, £2 7s 0d 1 silver saucepan, 28oz 16dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by James Greentree, £8 8s 0d 1 ditto tankard, 42oz 6dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by Frances Wrangham, £12 6s 9d 1 ditto mug, 12oz 8dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by Captain Blake, £3 6s 0d 1 ditto ditto, 12oz 4dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by ditto, £2 10s 8d 1 ditto ditto, 8oz 9dwt at 6s per ounce, purchased by James Powell, £2 10s 8d 1 ditto tankard, 18oz 12dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by John Godfrey, £5 8s 6d 1 ditto salver, 17oz 16dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by John Goodwin, £5 0s 11d 1 ditto ditto, small, 5oz 11dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by Captain Blake, £3 2s 5d 1 ditto ditto, 5oz 3dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by Charles Steward, £6 15s 4d 1 ditto tankard, 23oz 4dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by James Greentree, £1 15s 10d 1 ditto soup spoon, 6oz 3dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by Captain Blake, £1 17s 10d 1 ditto castor, 9oz 5dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by Captain Buckle, £2 13s 11d 1 ditto lamp, 22oz 12dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by Frances Wrangham, £6 11s 10d 16 ditto table spoons, 10oz 3dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by Richard Mason, £2 8s 4d 6 ditto ditto, old, purchased by John Godfrey, £1 12s 11d 12 silver tea spoons, tongs and strainer, 3oz 3dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by Captain Blake, £1 1s 0d 5 ditto teaspoons and 1 large ditto, 3oz 2dwt at 6s per ounce, purchased by ditto, £0 18s 7d 1 ditto pair shoe and knee buckles, 2oz 8dwt at 6s per ounce, purchased by Captain Wade, £1 8s 7d 1 ditto ditto, 1oz 2dwt at 7s 10d per ounce, purchased by Frances Wrangham, £0 8s 7d 1 ditto stock clasp, purchased by ditto, [...] Carried over, £2,309 8s 8d Interpretations The bedding and household linen show how a well-furnished establishment was equipped for comfort and warmth even in a mild climate, with numerous feather beds, quilts, bolsters and sets of curtained bedsteads. The quantity of complete beds points to a large house able to accommodate a family, servants and guests, each bed sold as a full outfit of frame, hangings and coverings. The variety of sheeting, from diaper and long cloth to gingham, reflects the range of imported textiles available through the trade. The second body of silver plate, again weighed and priced by the ounce, confirms how much of the officer's movable wealth was held in precious metal. Tankards, salvers, a lamp, spoons and even shoe and knee buckles of silver were reckoned by bullion weight, so personal ornament as well as tableware served as a portable reserve of value. The steady rate applied across every piece shows the market pricing silver purely by its metal content regardless of its form. Swanskin was a soft, thick, closely woven woollen flannel prized for warmth, so the yards of it sold here would have been used for bedding or warm garments, reflecting the settlers' need to guard against the cool and damp of the island's temperate climate despite its southern latitude. | |
54 | Brought over £2309 8s 0d 10 Do Cane Heads 20 2 6 P Do 6 10 P Do F Colgrove 11s 8d 10 Do Timbols 1 8 5.10 Do Chas Steward 8s 2½d 101 Do Rings 10 10 5.9 Do Do Do 3 0s 9½d 15 Do Grinders 1 6 5.10 Do Edwd Bates 7s 7d 1 Pair large Gingham Sheets F Wrangham Senr 1 5s 0d 1 Pair Do Do J Bagett 1 2s 0d 3 Pair fine Do Do Capt Kirtz 3 6s 0d 2 Doz Table Cloths Do G G Powell 12s 0d 4 Huckaback Do Do Tho Greenlea 2 7s 0d 1 Dungaree Side Board Do G G Powell 7s 0d 12 Twolls Do J French Senr 10s 0d 5 Docatoe Napkins Do G G Powell 5s 0d 19 long Cloth Do Do Murrey 18s 0d 7 Damask Napkins Do J Bagot 5s 6d 7 Huckaback Do Do Do 10s 0d 2 Huckaback Side Boards Do J Bagby 10s 0d 1 Damask Do Do R Godwin 5s 0d 1 Decorloos Do Do G G Powell 2s 6d 3 long Cloth Do Do Capt Kirtz 11s 0d 3 Bed Decotoe Table Cloths Do J French Sr 12s 0d 8 long Cloth Do Do G G Powell 4 3s 0d 4 Huckaback Towells Do Chas Bates 5s 2d 9 Decotoe Do Do S Large 2 2s 0d 2 Pair Dungaree Do Capt Kirtz 14s 0d 1 Sett London Curtains Do Edwd Bates 3s 1d 2 Sett Bed Curtains Do Tho Easthope 11s 0d 1 Cover for a Chamber Table Do G G Powell 1s 0d 1 pd long Cloth Sheets Do S Large 10s 6d 20 Yardsd Shoes Do C Steward 1s 0d 1 long Ladder Do Honble Company 10s 6d 6 Old Cane Chairs Do T Colgrove 9s 6d 1 Small Frying Pan Do J Godwin 3s 6d 1 large Do Do J Bagot 5s 0d 1 Small Iron Pot Do G G Powell 6s 0d 1 fish Kettle Do R Mason 2s 0d 1 Bed Black Iron Do Jn Dubois 6s 0d 1 large Steel Tea Kettle Do Chas Steward 15s 6d 1 large Marble Morter Do Do 15s 6d 1 Pewter Callender Do F Wrangham 5s 6d 1 Copper Tea Kettle Do Do 1 5s 0d Carried over £2342 4s 8½d | The account of sales of the estate of the late John Goodwin continued. Brought over, £2,309 8s 0d 10 ditto cane heads, 2oz 0dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by John Desfountain, £0 11s 8d 10 ditto thimbles, 1oz 8dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by Charles Steward, £0 8s 2d 101 ditto rings, 10oz 10dwt at 5s 9d per ounce, purchased by ditto, £3 0s 9d 15 ditto brooches, 1oz 6dwt at 5s 10d per ounce, purchased by Edward Bates, £0 7s 7d 1 pair large gingham sheets, purchased by Frances Wrangham senior, £1 5s 0d 1 pair ditto, purchased by John Bagot, £1 2s 0d 3 pair fine ditto, purchased by Captain Wade, £3 6s 0d 2 diaper table cloths, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 12s 0d 4 huckaback ditto, purchased by James Greentree, £2 7s 0d 1 dungaree sideboard, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 0s 7d 12 towels, purchased by John French senior, £0 10s 0d 5 diaper napkins, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 5s 0d 19 long cloth ditto, purchased by ditto Murray, £0 18s 0d 7 damask napkins, purchased by John Bagot, £0 5s 6d 7 huckaback ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 10s 0d 2 huckaback sideboards, purchased by John Bagley, £0 10s 0d 1 damask ditto, purchased by Richard Goodwin, £0 5s 0d 1 diaper ditto, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 2s 6d 3 long cloth ditto, purchased by Captain Wade, £0 11s 0d 3 bed diaper table cloths, purchased by John French senior, £0 12s 0d 8 long cloth ditto, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £4 3s 0d 4 huckaback towels, purchased by Charles Steward, £0 5s 2d 9 diaper ditto, purchased by John Large, £0 2s 2d 2 pieces dungaree, purchased by Captain Wade, £0 14s 0d 1 set window curtains, purchased by Edward Bates, £0 3s 1d 2 sets bed curtains, purchased by Thomas Easthope, £0 11s 0d 1 cover for a chamber table, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 1s 0d 1 piece long cloth sheets, purchased by John Large, £0 10s 6d 20 parbod stores, purchased by Charles Steward, £1 1s 0d 1 long ladder, purchased by the Company, £0 10s 6d 6 old cane chairs, purchased by James Greentree, £0 9s 6d 1 small frying pan, purchased by John Leach, £0 3s 6d 1 large ditto, purchased by John Bagot, £0 5s 0d 1 small iron pot, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 2s 6d 1 fish kettle, purchased by Richard Mason, £2 0s 0d 1 bed hair frame, purchased by James Dubois, £0 6s 0d 1 large steel tea kettle, purchased by Charles Steward, £0 15s 6d 1 large marble mortar, purchased by ditto, £0 15s 6d 1 pewter callender, purchased by Frances Wrangham senior, £0 5s 0d 1 copper tea kettle, purchased by ditto, £1 5s 0d Carried over, £2,342 4s 8d Interpretations The small silver items sold by weight, cane heads, thimbles, over a hundred rings and brooches, show that even trinkets and personal ornaments were valued strictly as bullion at the same rate per ounce as the tableware. The presence of so many rings in a single lot suggests either a stock held for trade or the accumulated small jewellery of a household, all reduced in the account to their metal content. The uniform pricing confirms that silver in any form served as a recognised store of portable value on the island. The great quantity of table linen, in diaper, damask, huckaback and dungaree, reflects the formal dining and entertaining expected of a senior officer's household. Napkins, tablecloths and sideboard cloths in these various weaves furnished a table set for company, showing that social display through proper linen mattered even at a remote station. The range of fabrics, from fine damask to coarse dungaree, marks the gradation between goods for show and those for everyday use. Huckaback was a coarse, durable linen with a rough surface woven for toweling and hard wear, so the huckaback towels and cloths represent the serviceable everyday linen of the household, distinct from the finer damask and diaper reserved for display at table. | |
55 | Brought over £2342 4s 8½d 1 Copper Stew Kettle Richard R Mason 10s 0d 1 Small Brass Kettle Do John Bagot 7s 6d 1 Cleaver Do Ed Leach 1s 8d 3 Spitts Do F Wrangham Junr 3s 6d 1 pd hand Irons Do F Greenlea 6s 6d 5 Bd Grangers Do G G Powell 7s 0d 1 Old Gridiron Do R Beale 1s 8d 1 Old pd Tongs Do Chas Steward 1s 1d 1 large Grid Stone hung Do F Wrangham Senr 15s 0d 3 Steel Baltts Do F Godwin 1 1s 0d 1 long Boats Mast Do R Beale 5s 0d A parcell of Plank & Black Ebony Do Capt Wade 2 12s 0d 1 large Iron Pott Do G G Powell 1 13s 0d 2 Spaire & One Short Ball Do Jos Desfountain 11s 6d A parcell of Bricks Do G G Powell 6s 0d 1 Sceive 1 Pewter Funnell & 15 Petty Panns Do Chas Steward 5s 0d 1 pd Ball Slugs Do Do James Leach 6s 0d 1 Wood Bench 1 Dripping Pan 1 Skimmer & 16 Pothooks & Bagt Do 3s 6d 1 Small Square Fir Table Do J Dubois 8s 6d 1 large Wainscott Do Do 13s 0d 1 large Do Do R Beale 2 0s 0d 1 Chopping Block and Stool Do R Godwin 2s 0d A parcell Wood Lumber 1 Class Cot Bed Boulster & Quilt Do Edwd Bates 1 6s 1d 1 Class Cot Quilt and Pillow Do Sarah Kirton 11s 1d 1 Do Bed Bolster and Quilt Do J Dngher 1 6s 6d 1 Do & Quilt Do R Mason 13s 0d 1 Bd Bolster and two Pillows Do Tho Colgrove 2 1s 0d 1 Bed two Pillows and Rail Do John Clarke 3 12s 6d 1 Small Oval Table Do Jos Tugner 16s 0d 1 Bd Bolster two Pillows and Curtain Do F Colgrove 3 16s 0d 1 Bed Bolster Quilt & Curtain Do Jams Junge 2 6s 0d 1 Bed and Furniture Do Benjn Seale 2 2s 0d 1 Bed Boulster and Quilt Do E Bagley 2 6s 0d 1 Bd Blanket & two Counterpins Do G G Powell 2 2s 0d 1 Old Chest of Drawers Do R Gurling 3 6s 0d 1 Do Do Do 3 0s 0d 1 Barot Do G G Powell 1 6s 0d 1 Class Stool Chair Do John Gordon 1 10s 6d 1 large Copper Wash Kittle Do Christofer Coen 8s 6d 1 Case with 15 Square Bottles Carried over £2384 8s 5½d | The account of sales of the estate of the late John Goodwin continued. Brought over, £2,342 4s 8d 1 copper stew kettle, purchased by Richard Mason, £0 10s 0d 1 small brass kettle, purchased by John Bagot, £0 7s 6d 1 cleaver, purchased by Edward Leach, £0 12s 8d 3 spits, purchased by Frances Wrangham senior, £0 3s 6d 1 pair hand irons, purchased by James Greentree, £0 6s 6d 5 bell hangers, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 7s 0d 1 old griddle iron, purchased by Richard Beale, £0 1s 8d 1 old pair tongs, purchased by Charles Steward, £0 1s 1d 1 large grindstone hung, purchased by Frances Wrangham senior, £0 15s 0d 3 short belts, purchased by John Godfrey, £1 1s 0d 1 longboat mast, purchased by Richard Beale, £0 5s 0d 1 parcel of plank and black ebony, purchased by Captain Wade, £2 12s 0d 1 large iron pot, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £1 13s 0d 2 spades and one short balk, purchased by Joseph Desfountain, £0 11s 6d 1 parcel of bricks, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 6s 0d 1 sieve, 1 pewter funnel and 15 patty pans, purchased by Charles Steward, £0 5s 1d 1 pair small skayes, ditto, purchased by James Leach, £0 6s 0d 1 wood bench, 1 dripping pan, 1 skimmer and 15 pothooks, purchased by John Bagot, £0 3s 6d 1 small square fir table, purchased by James Dubois, £0 8s 6d 1 large wainscot ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 7s 0d 1 large ditto, purchased by Richard Beale, £2 0s 0d 1 chopping block and stool, purchased by Richard Goodwin, £0 2s 0d 1 parcel wood lumber: 1 glass cot, bed, bolster and quilt, purchased by Edward Bates, £1 6s 1d 1 glass cot, quilt and pillow, purchased by David Preston, £0 11s 1d 1 ditto, bed, bolster and quilt, purchased by James Vaughan, £1 6s 6d 1 ditto and quilt, purchased by Richard Mason, £0 13s 0d 1 bed, bolster and two pillows, purchased by Thomas Cotgrove, £2 1s 0d 1 bed, two pillows and rail, purchased by John Clarke, £3 12s 6d 1 small oval table, purchased by Joseph Turner, £0 16s 0d 1 bed, bolster, two pillows and curtains, purchased by John Cotgrove, £3 16s 0d 1 bed, bolster, quilt and curtain, purchased by James Junge, £2 6s 0d 1 bed and furniture, purchased by Richard Bagley, £2 6s 0d 1 bed, bolster and quilt, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £2 2s 0d 1 bed, blanket and two counterpanes, purchased by Richard Gurling, £2 2s 0d 1 old chest of drawers, purchased by ditto, £3 6s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by ditto, £3 0s 0d 1 bureau, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £1 0s 6d 1 close stool chair, purchased by John Goodwin, £1 10s 6d 1 large copper wash kettle, purchased by Christopher Crun, £0 8s 6d 1 case with 15 square bottles, purchased by ditto, [...] Carried over, £2,384 8s 5d Interpretations This part of the sale descends into the kitchen equipment, tools and rougher furnishings that supported the working side of the household. Spits, kettles, a cleaver, dripping pans, pothooks and patty pans show the apparatus of a substantial kitchen able to roast, boil and bake for a large table, while spades, a grindstone and a parcel of bricks point to the practical work of maintaining a house and garden. The abundance of cooking gear confirms the scale on which the establishment was provisioned and fed. The parcel of plank and black ebony, together with the bricks and timber, records the building materials that formed part of even a domestic estate on a treeless island. Ebony was a dense tropical hardwood, and its presence alongside ordinary plank shows the mix of imported and worked timber a household accumulated where wood was scarce and had to be shipped in or carefully husbanded. The value placed on such materials reflects their scarcity in a place that could not grow its own building timber. A close stool was a boxed chamber pot enclosed within a seat or chair, the private convenience of a well-appointed household before piped sanitation, so its inclusion among the furniture reflects the domestic comforts a senior officer maintained even at a remote colonial station. | |
56 | Brought over £2384 8s 5½d 1 Small Oval Table P had B Pledger 7s 0d 1 Small Square Table Do C Dixon 4s 6d 1 Do black Frame Do R Godwin 7s 0d 5 Cane Chairs Do Nath Sample 12s 0d 1 Old Elbow Chair Do J Godfrey 2s 6d 1 looking Glass Do James Leach 1 3s 0d 3 Pictures in Gilt Frames Do Do 12s 6d 1 large Fir Table Do C Steward 1 6s 6d 1 Oval Tumbng Wainscote Table Do C Dixon 1s 0d 1 Square Table Do Jos Pledger 3s 6d 1 Old Tea Table Do Hery Higgins 7s 0d 1 Old Wainscott Table Do J Bagby 15s 6d 6 Leather Bottom Chairs Do C Dixon 2 1s 0d 2 Elbow Chairs Do J Godfrey 9s 6d 3 Cane Chairs Do J Haywood 12s 6d 1 Corner Cupboard Do F Kirkpatrick 18s 6d 1 Hand Escrutore Do J Bagett 10s 0d 1 Ratten Couch Do J Godfrey 8s 0d 1 Small fir Chest Do Dan Council 12s 6d 3 Small Pillows Do J Wrangham Junr 12s 0d 2 Old Copper Tea Kettles Do Capt Wade 7s 6d 1 Brass Mortar & Pestle Do J Powell 1 2s 6d 1 Old Jack Do Jno Haywood 5s 6d 1 vory Old Chest Do Jonathan Powers 2s 0d 1 Pair hand Irons Do F Kirkpatrick 3s 3d 1 large Deak Chest Do F Wrangham Junr 4 1s 0d 1 Clock with Fir Case Do J Fendall 2 5s 0d 4 Old broken Swing Glass Do J Ingham 1s 0d 1 Old Wainscott Do Do Jos Powers 7s 0d 1 Small Old Gridstone Do Jos Pledger 7s 0d 1 Black Boy Named London Do J Godwin 12 2s 0d 1 Black man Named John Frick Do G G Powell 30 1s 0d 1 Do Do Scipio Do Jos Powell 20 1s 0d 56 Double Cotteos Tea Do John Godfrey 15 1s 0d 3 Baskettes 4 Double Cotteos All Containing About 28 Tea Do Gabriel Harper 3 15s 0d 1 Box A Remnant Green Tea Containing 32 2.4 P lb Do J Godfrey 3 14s 8d 1 Chest Bohea Do 131 2.3 P lb Do C Dixon 14 3s 10d 1 Chest Do Do 132 2.1 P lb Do Jos Toyman 13 15s 0d Carried over £2526 12s 11½d | The account of sales of the estate of the late John Goodwin continued. Brought over, £2,384 8s 5d 1 small oval table, purchased by Richard Bagley, £0 7s 0d 1 small square table, purchased by Christopher Dixon, £0 4s 6d 1 ditto, black frame, purchased by Richard Goodwin, £0 7s 0d 5 cane chairs, purchased by Richard Sample, £0 12s 0d 1 old elbow chair, purchased by John Godfrey, £0 2s 6d 1 looking glass, purchased by James Dorck, £1 3s 0d 3 pictures in gilt frames, purchased by ditto, £0 12s 6d 1 large fir table, purchased by Charles Steward, £1 6s 6d 1 oval folding wainscot table, purchased by Christopher Dixon, £1 0s 0d 1 square table, purchased by Edward Bates, £0 3s 6d 1 old tea table, purchased by Henry Higgins, £0 7s 0d 1 old wainscot table, purchased by John Bagley, £0 15s 6d 6 leather-bottom chairs, purchased by Christopher Dixon, £2 1s 0d 2 elbow chairs, purchased by John Godfrey, £0 9s 6d 3 cane chairs, purchased by James Maynard, £0 12s 6d 1 corner cupboard, purchased by Thomas Kirkpatrick, £0 18s 6d 1 hand escritoire, purchased by John Bagot, £0 10s 0d 1 rattan couch, purchased by John Godfrey, £0 8s 0d 1 small fir chest, purchased by Daniel Council, £0 12s 6d 1 small pillows, purchased by John Weary senior, £0 12s 0d 2 old copper tea kettles, purchased by Captain Wade, £0 7s 6d 1 brass mortar and pestle, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £1 2s 6d 1 old jack, purchased by James Maynard, £0 5s 6d 1 ivory old clock, purchased by Joseph Turner, £0 2s 0d 1 pair hand irons, purchased by Thomas Kirkpatrick, £0 3s 3d 1 large teak chest, purchased by Frances Wrangham senior, £4 1s 0d 1 clock with fir case, purchased by Joseph Kendall, £2 5s 0d 1 old broken swing glass, purchased by John Ingham, £0 1s 1d 1 old wash tub, purchased by James Powers, [...] 1 small old grindstone, purchased by Samuel Doveton, £0 7s 0d The account continued with a further sale of slaves, this quantity of goods having been sold since Governor Lambert's time. 1 black boy named London, purchased by Richard Goodwin, £12 2s 0d 1 black man named John Frisk, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £30 1s 0d 1 ditto, ditto, Sapida, purchased by James Powell, £20 1s 0d The account continued with the sale of tea. 56 double lettered tea, purchased by John Godfrey, £15 1s 0d 3 baskets, 4 double lettered and 1 box, all containing about 28 lb tea, purchased by Gabriel Harper, £3 15s 0d 1 remnant green tea containing 32 lb at 2s 4d per lb, purchased by John Godfrey, £3 14s 8d 1 chest bohea, 131 lb at 2s 3d per lb, purchased by Christopher Dixon, £14 9s 10d 1 chest ditto, 132 lb at 2s 1d per lb, purchased by Joseph Turner, £13 15s 0d Carried over, £2,526 12s 11d Interpretations The large quantity of tea sold by the chest and pound reveals a significant private holding of a valuable trade commodity, priced by weight like the silver. Chests of bohea and green tea running to more than a hundred pounds each show that a senior officer dealt in tea on a scale beyond household use, holding it as a tradeable asset acquired through the eastern shipping. The careful weighing and rating per pound confirms tea's status as a commodity of real value, close to money in its handling. The renewed sale of enslaved people, expressly noted as goods sold since Governor Lambert's time, shows the auction of Goodwin's estate stretching across the change of administration and the two governors' deaths. Men and a boy were sold at prices consistent with the earlier lots, the strong men fetching far more than the child, confirming the steady market valuation of human beings by their working capacity. The note tying these sales to the period after Lambert marks how the disposal of the estate had dragged on through months of disruption. Bohea was a black tea from the Wuyi hills of China, the common grade shipped in bulk to Europe, so the chests of it in Goodwin's estate represent the staple form of the tea trade, valued by the pound and held in quantity as a commodity rather than merely for the household's own drinking. | |
57 | Brought over £2526 12s 11½d 1 Chest Bohea Tea containing 140 2.5 P lb P had J Toyman 16 18s 4d 1 Chest Do 137 2.3 P lb Do Do 16 10s 9d 1 Chest Do 131 1.9 P lb John Barton 10 7s 5d 1 Box Coffee 73 1.3 P lb J Godfrey 4 1s 3d 1 Mattd Wt 130lb 2s P lb Chas Steward 1 8s 1½d 1 Do Wt 295lb 24 P lb Honble Company 2 15s 3½d 1 Remnant 37lb 2s P lb F Easthope 6 6s 11½d 10 Peice Moiees Jos Toyman 3 11s 0d 10 Do Do Jno Powell 3 12s 0d 10 Do Do Jos Toyman 3 16s 0d 10 Do Jno French 4 0s 0d 10 Do Do Richd Gurling 4 6s 0d 10 Do Do Jn Bagot 3 17s 0d 10 pd Do John Barton 3 15s 0d 10 pd Do John Bagot 3 10s 0d 10 pd Do Gabriel Harper 3 14s 6d 10 pd Do Jos Powell 3 14s 0d 10 pd Do F Wrangham 4 0s 0d 10 pd Do Chas Steward 3 11s 0d 10 pd & 1 Remnant Do R Mason 3 6s 0d 10 yd Damken John Godwin 1 17s 0d 10 pd Do Tho Colgrove 1 13s 0d 10 Do Do F Wrangham 2d 1 13s 0d 10 pd Do Sam Camelor 1 13s 0d 10 pd Do J Godfrey 1 13s 0d 10 pd Do C Dixon 1 13s 0d 10 yd Do R Kirtz 1 11s 0d 10 pd Do G Lindsey 1 13s 0d 10 pd Do James French 1 11s 0d 10 pd Do Jms Dubois 1 11s 0d 10 pd Do F Greenlea 1 11s 0d 10 pd Do R Bagby 1 11s 0d 10 pd Do R Mason 1 11s 0d 10 pd Do Tho Colgrove 1 10s 6d 10 Do Do Do 1 10s 6d 10 pd Do J Bagot 1 10s 6d 10 pd Do J Warwick 1 10s 6d 10 pd Do F Easthope 1 10s 6d 10 pd Do C Steward 1 10s 6d 10 pd Do C Steward 1 10s 6d 10 pd Do Gab Harper 1 10s 6d 10 pd Do R Gurling 1 10s 0d 10 pd Do J Harper 1 10s 6d 10 pd & 1 Remnt Do Chas Steward 3 10s 6d 10 pd long Bushes C Dixon 3 10s 0d 10 pd Do F Easthope 3 8s 6d 10 pd Do R Godwin 3 10s 0d 10 pd Do C Steward 2 7s 0d 10 pd Do James Powell 5 6s 0d 10 pd Bed Do Eliz Kirtz 2 1s 0d 1 pd long Cloth Jno Powell 2 2s 0d 1 pd Do Jos Wrangham 2 2s 0d 1 pd Do Sam Dubois 2 2s 0d Carried over £2692 7s 1d | The account of sales of the estate of the late John Goodwin continued. Brought over, £2,526 12s 11d 1 chest bohea tea containing 140 lb at 2s 5d per lb, purchased by Joseph Turner, £16 18s 4d 1 chest ditto, 147 lb at 2s 3d per lb, purchased by ditto, £16 10s 9d 1 chest ditto, 131 lb at 1s 9d per lb, purchased by John Barton, £10 7s 5d 1 box coffee, 73 lb at 1s 3d per lb, purchased by John Godfrey, £4 1s 3d 1 table with 1 set at 20s per lb, purchased by Charles Steward, £1 8s 1d 1 ditto, weight 29 lb at 24s per lb, purchased by the Company, £2 15s 3d 1 remnant, 37 lb at 2s 3d per lb, purchased by Frances Easthope, £6 0s 11d 10 pieces mosses, purchased by Frances Wrangham, £3 11s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by James Powell, £3 12s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Joseph Turner, £3 16s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by John French, £4 0s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Richard Gurling, £4 0s 6d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by John Bagot, £3 17s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by John Barton, £3 15s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by John Bagot, £3 10s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Gabriel Harper, £3 14s 6d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Joseph Powell, £3 14s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Frances Wrangham, £4 0s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Charles Steward, £3 11s 0d 10 ditto and 1 remnant ditto, purchased by Richard Mason, £3 0s 0d 10 yards dungaree, purchased by John Goodwin, £1 17s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Thomas Cotgrove, £1 15s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Frances Wrangham senior, £1 13s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by James Camelon, £1 13s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by John Godfrey, £1 13s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Christopher Dixon, £1 13s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by John Large, £1 11s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by George Lindsey, £1 13s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by James French, £1 11s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by James Dubois, £1 11s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Frances Greentree, £1 11s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Richard Bagley, £1 11s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Richard Mason, £1 11s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Thomas Cotgrove, £1 10s 6d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by ditto, £1 10s 6d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by John Bagot, £1 10s 6d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by John Dorck, £1 10s 6d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Thomas Easthope, £1 10s 6d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Charles Steward, £1 10s 6d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Gabriel Harper, £1 10s 6d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Richard Gurling, £1 10s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by ditto Harper, [...] 10 pieces and 1 remnant ditto, purchased by Charles Steward, £3 10s 6d 10 ditto, long baftas, purchased by ditto Steward, £3 0s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Thomas Easthope, £3 8s 6d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by Richard Goodwin, £3 10s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by ditto Steward, £2 7s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by James Powell, £5 6s 0d 10 ditto silk ditto, purchased by Elizabeth Ayres, £2 1s 0d 1 piece long cloth, purchased by John Leach, £2 2s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by ditto, £2 2s 0d 10 ditto ditto, purchased by James Dorck, £2 2s 0d Carried over, £2,692 7s 1d Interpretations The bulk sale of textiles by the piece, chiefly dungaree and baftas in lots of ten, reveals that Goodwin held cloth in quantities far beyond domestic need, as a stock of trade goods rather than household stores. Dungaree and baftas were coarse Indian cotton cloths shipped in bulk through the eastern trade, and the many identical lots knocked down to a wide range of buyers show the estate distributing a merchant's inventory across the settlement. The scale confirms that a senior officer engaged in private trade alongside his Company duties, accumulating imported cloth as a tradeable commodity. The further chests of tea and the box of coffee continue the pattern of valuable eastern commodities held in quantity and sold by weight. Together with the cloth, they show how much of the estate's worth lay not in land or plate but in goods of the Asian trade, the tea, coffee and textiles that passed through the island on the homeward ships. The concentration of such commodities in one man's estate marks the opportunities for private dealing that a Company posting on the trade route afforded. Baftas were plain woven cotton cloths of Indian manufacture, a staple of the Company's textile trade, so the long baftas sold here in bulk lots represent the coarse trade cloth that circulated as a commodity and even a medium of exchange across the Company's eastern possessions. | |
58 | Brought over £2692 7s 1d 1 pd long Cloth P had F Colgrove 2 0s 0d 1 pd Do Ent Endall 2 0s 0d 1 pd Do Jno Powell 2 0s 0d 1 pd Do F Easthope 2 0s 0d 1 pd Do F Greenlea 2 6s 0d 1 pd Do Jno Doveton 2 0s 0d 1 pd Do Chas Steward 1 15s 0d 1 pd Do J Owen 2 0s 0d 1 pd Do B Alcock 2 6s 0d 1 pd Do Do 2 6s 0d 1 pd Do G Harper 1 18s 6d 1 pd Do F Greenlea 2 0s 0d 1 pd Do F Mason 1 15s 6d 1 pd Do Ed Alcock 2 0s 0d 10 pd Ginghams Jno Godfrey 4 12s 0d 1 pd Do Do 4 12s 0d 1 pd Do Ant Jno French 5 0s 0d 1 pd Do G G Powell 5 0s 0d 1 pd Do Do 5 0s 0d 1 pd Do Do 5 0s 0d 1 pd Do Do 5 12s 0d 1 pd Do J Godwin 5 15s 0d 1 pd Do G G Powell 6 10s 0d 10 pd Chondereys Do French 5 5s 0d 10 pd Do Do 5 0s 0d 10 pd Do Do 5 13s 0d 10 pd Do Do 6 1s 0d 10 pd Do then Damaged F Bagot 2 9s 0d 1 pd Flowerd Marbo G Harper 1 13s 0d 1 pd Do Ant Jno French 1 15s 0d 1 pd Do James Powell 1 6s 0d 1 pd Do Ely Doveton 12s 0d 1 pd Blue Damask G G Powell 2 5s 0d 1 pd Flowered Silk C Dixon 3 0s 0d 1 pd Sprigd Sittching G G Powell 2 18s 0d 1 pd Stripd Silk Do 2 13s 0d 1 pd Do Tho Damask 2 5s 0d 1 pr Blue & White Silk G G Powell 3 5s 0d 1 pd Flowerd Silk C Dixon 2 2s 0d 1 pd White Damask Tho French 3 1s 0d 1 pd Green Silk G G Powell 2 10s 0d 1 pd Flowerd Silk C Dixon 2 0s 0d 1 pd Common Damask Tho French 3 0s 0d 1 pd White Damask G G Powell 2 6s 0d 1 pd Flowerd Silk Snakoe 2 5s 0d 1 pd Do Jams Powell 2 5s 0d 1 pd White Delaney G G Powell 5 0s 0d 1 pd Flowerd Silk 2 10s 0d 1 pd Blue Damask 2 10s 0d 1 pd White Damask F Toyman 2 10s 0d 1 pd White Sitten Greentree 3 5s 0d 1 pd Flowerd Silk Do C Dixon 2 2s 0d 1 pd Yellow Frennd 15s 0d 10 pd Cloth Fine Jams Powell 4 4s 0d Carried over £2803 7s 1d | The account of sales of the estate of the late John Goodwin continued. Brought over, £2,692 7s 1d 10 pieces long cloth, purchased by Richard Cotgrove, £2 0s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by East Kendall, £2 0s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by James Dorck, £2 0s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by Thomas Easthope, £2 0s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by Frances Greentree, £2 0s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by Samuel Doveton, £2 0s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by Charles Steward, £1 15s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by Daniel Owen, £2 0s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by David Wilson, £2 0s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by ditto, £2 0s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by Gabriel Harper, £1 18s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by Frances Greentree, £2 0s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by Richard Mason, £1 15s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by Edward Wilcock, £2 0s 0d 10 pieces ginghams, purchased by John Godfrey, £4 12s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by ditto, £4 12s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by John French junior, £5 0s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £5 0s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by ditto, £5 0s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by ditto, £5 0s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by ditto, £5 0s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by ditto, £5 12s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by John Goodwin, £5 15s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £6 16s 0d 10 pieces chintz, purchased by ditto Powell, £5 5s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by ditto, £5 0s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by ditto, £5 13s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by ditto, £6 1s 0d 10 pieces, part of them damaged, purchased by Thomas Bagot, £2 19s 0d 10 pieces flowered marble, purchased by Gabriel Harper, £1 13s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by John French junior, £1 15s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by James Dorck, £1 6s 0d 10 ditto, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £1 12s 0d 1 piece blue damask, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £2 5s 0d 1 piece flowered silk, purchased by Charles Dixon, £3 0s 0d 1 piece striped satin stitching, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £2 18s 0d 1 piece flowered silk, purchased by ditto Powell, £2 13s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by John French, £2 0s 0d 1 piece blue and white silk, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £3 5s 0d 1 piece flowered silk, purchased by Christopher Dixon, £2 2s 0d 1 piece white damask, purchased by John French, £3 1s 0d 1 piece green satin, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £2 10s 0d 1 piece flowered silk, purchased by Christopher Dixon, £3 0s 0d 1 piece common damask, purchased by John French, £3 0s 0d 1 piece white damask, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £2 0s 0d 1 piece flowered silk, seersucker, purchased by James Powell, £2 0s 0d 1 piece white padua, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £2 5s 0d 1 piece flowered silk, purchased by ditto, £5 0s 0d 1 piece blue damask, purchased by ditto, £2 10s 0d 1 piece white damask, purchased by Joseph Turner, £2 10s 0d 1 piece white satin, purchased by James Greentree, £3 0s 0d 1 piece flowered silk, purchased by John French, £2 12s 0d 1 piece yellow French, purchased by ditto, £0 15s 0d 10 pieces cloth, fine, purchased by James Powell, £7 4s 0d Carried over, £2,803 7s 1d Interpretations The extensive run of fine silks, damasks and satins marks the most valuable and fashionable end of Goodwin's textile stock, cloth of a quality far above the coarse dungaree and baftas sold earlier. Flowered silks, blue and white damask, green satin and padua were luxury fabrics of the eastern trade, each piece fetching a substantial sum, so the estate held goods suited to the wealthiest buyers. The new Governor Powell's repeated purchase of the choicest silks shows how the sale allowed the leading men of the island to acquire the finest imported cloth. The sheer scale and variety of the textile holding, from plain long cloth and ginghams through chintz to the richest silks, confirms that Goodwin conducted private trade in cloth on a considerable footing. The graded range of fabrics, priced from a few shillings to several pounds the piece, shows an inventory assembled for sale across every level of the market rather than for a household's own use. The disposal of this stock among dozens of buyers reveals how a senior officer's private commerce fed imported goods into the whole settlement. Padua was a fine silk fabric named after the Italian city, and seersucker a puckered striped cloth of eastern origin, so their presence among the pieces reflects the range of specialised imported textiles that reached the island through the trade, valued for their quality and fashion among the wealthier settlers. | |
59 | Brought over £2803 7s 1d 12 pd Scotch Hose Jos Toyman 18s 0d 12 pd Do Do 10s 6d 9 pd Do Do 10s 6d 10 pd Do Do 12s 6d 12 pd Do Do 13s 6d 10 pd Do F Wrangham Junr 15s 0d 10 pd Do J French 16s 0d 1 Silver Saucepan 20 7lb 6 12lb 3 P Oz J Godfrey 1 7s 6d 5 Doz Pewter Spoons Do 5s 1d 5 Do Do Do 5s 1d 5 Do Do Do 5s 1d 5 Do Do Do 5s 3d 5 Do Do Jno Powell 6s 2d 5 Do Do John Godfrey 5s 1d 5 Do Do Do 5s 1d 5 Do Do Do 5s 3d 5 Do Do Do 5s 2d 5 Do Do Do 6s 2d 6 Do Do Do 7s 2d 6 Do Do G G Powell 7s 2d 6 Porringers Jno Dubois 5s 2d 6 Do F Colgrove 5s 6d 6 Do E Leach 6s 0d 6 Do Steve 6s 0d 6 Do E Leach 6s 0d 4 Do J Owen 5s 0d 1 Tureen J Dubois 5s 6d 1 Do G G Powell 5s 6d 1 Do C Dixon 4s 6d 1 Do G G Powell 4s 6d 1 Do Jno Powell 5s 8d 1 pd Salvers John Godfrey 3s 9d 1 pd Do J Leach 4s 1d 1 pd Do J Dubois 4s 11d 2 Castors J Owen 4s 2d 1 Soop Dish J Dubois 4s 3d 1 Do J Leach 4s 1d 1 Do J Owen 4s 1d 1 Dish A Bagley 5s 6d 1 Do J Dubois 4s 6d 1 Do J French 2s 0d 1 Do J Kirkpatrick 3s 0d 1 Do J French 2s 0d 1 Salts Steve 3s 0d 1 Do J Hayes 3s 0d 1 pd Candlesticks Jno Powell 5s 0d 3 Doz Pewter Plates J Dubois 1 1s 0d 3 Do Do J Lett 1 4s 0d 3 Do Do J Chinlophell 18s 0d 3 Do Do Godwin 13s 0d 3 Do Do J French 13s 0d 3 Do Do F Colgrove 13s 6d 3 Do Do J Owen 13s 6d 3 Do Do E Beal 13s 6d 3 Do Do E Leach 13s 6d 3 Do Do G G Powell 13s 0d 3 Do Do J French 4s 0d 3 Do Do Jos Carwall 4s 0d 1 Do Do C Dixon 7s 0d 1 Do Do J Bagot 7s 2d 1 pd Silk Hose J Instye 2s 0d 1 pd Do G G Powell 3s 0d 1 pd Wersted Hose Do 4s 6d 1 pd Hose Do 5s 0d 1 pd Womens Gloves Do 5s 0d 1 pd Do Carried over £2892 12s 8d | The account of sales of the estate of the late John Goodwin continued. Brought over, £2,803 7s 1d 12 pieces scotch cloth, purchased by Joseph Turner, £0 18s 0d 12 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 15s 6d 9 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 10s 6d 10 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 12s 0d 12 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 15s 6d 9 ditto, purchased by Frances Wrangham junior, £0 15s 0d 1 silver strainer, weight 7 lb at 5s per lb, purchased by John Smith, £0 16s 0d 1 ditto, weight 7 lb at 5s per lb, purchased by John Godfrey, £1 7s 6d 5 dozen pewter spoons, purchased by ditto, £0 5s 1d 5 dozen ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 5s 1d 5 dozen ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 5s 1d 5 dozen ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 5s 3d 5 dozen ditto, purchased by James Dorck, £0 6s 2d 5 dozen ditto, purchased by John Godfrey, £0 6s 0d 5 dozen ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 5s 1d 5 dozen ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 5s 1d 5 dozen ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 5s 1d 5 dozen ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 6s 1d 6 dozen ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 7s 2d 6 dozen ditto, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 7s 0d 6 porringers, purchased by James Dubois, £0 5s 6d 6 ditto, purchased by Thomas Cotgrove, £0 6s 6d 6 ditto, purchased by Edward Leach, £0 6s 0d 6 ditto, purchased by ditto Steward, £0 6s 0d 6 ditto, purchased by Edward Leach, £0 6s 0d 4 ditto, purchased by Daniel Owen, £0 5s 0d 1 tureen, purchased by James Dubois, £0 5s 6d 1 ditto, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 5s 6d 1 ditto, purchased by Charles Dixon, £0 4s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 5s 8d 1 ditto, purchased by James Powell, £0 3s 9d 1 piece calico, purchased by John Godfrey, £0 4s 1d 1 ditto, purchased by John Leach, £0 4s 1d 1 ditto, purchased by James Dubois, £0 1s 2d 5 castors, purchased by Daniel Owen, £0 4s 9d 1 soup dish, purchased by James Dubois, £0 4s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by ditto Scott, £0 4s 1d 1 ditto, purchased by Daniel Owen, £0 4s 1d 1 dish, purchased by Richard Bagley, £0 4s 6d 1 ditto, purchased by James Dubois, £0 4s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by Frances Wilcock, £0 2s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by Thomas Kirkpatrick, £0 3s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by James French, £0 3s 0d 1 salts, purchased by Daniel Owen, £0 3s 6d 1 ditto, purchased by James Hayse, £0 3s 0d 5 pieces candlesticks, purchased by James Powell, £0 5s 0d 2 dozen pewter plates, purchased by James Dubois, £1 4s 0d 3 dozen ditto, purchased by John Scott, £1 4s 0d 3 dozen ditto, purchased by John Chilingworth, £0 14s 0d 3 dozen ditto, purchased by ditto Graham, £0 18s 0d 3 dozen ditto, purchased by John French, £0 13s 0d 3 dozen ditto, purchased by ditto Cotgrove, £0 13s 6d 3 dozen ditto, purchased by Daniel Owen, £0 13s 6d 3 dozen ditto, purchased by ditto Brook, £0 13s 6d 3 dozen ditto, purchased by Edward Leach, £0 13s 6d 2 dozen ditto, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 13s 0d 2 dozen ditto, purchased by John French, £0 11s 0d 1 dozen ditto, purchased by Daniel Owen, £0 11s 0d 1 dozen silk floss, purchased by John Bagot, £0 7s 6d 1 ditto, purchased by James Mudge, £0 2s 0d 1 ditto, worsted floss, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 3s 0d 1 ditto, floss, purchased by ditto, £0 4s 6d 1 ditto, hemmed gloves, purchased by ditto, £0 5s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by ditto, [...] Carried over, £2,892 12s 8d Interpretations This portion of the sale turns to pewter and the cheaper household wares, sold in small lots to a broad body of ordinary buyers rather than the wealthy purchasers of the silks. Dozens of pewter spoons and plates, porringers, tureens and dishes went for a few shillings each to soldiers, tradesmen and lesser settlers, showing how the estate sale reached down through every level of the island's society. The modest sums confirm that pewter served as the common tableware of ordinary households, distinct from the silver reserved for the well-to-do. The remaining textiles, scotch cloth, calico and floss for embroidery, round out the disposal of Goodwin's trade stock with its cheaper and more workaday fabrics. Calico was a plain cotton cloth and floss the loose silk or worsted thread used in needlework, so these lower-value goods completed the range of textiles from luxury silk down to common cotton and sewing thread. The spread of buyers for these humble items shows the sale distributing useful goods throughout the settlement at prices within reach of the ordinary inhabitant. A porringer was a small shallow bowl with a handle, used for soups, stews or porridge, so the porringers sold here in pewter represent the plain eating vessels of an ordinary table, the everyday counterpart to the fine silver and china of the wealthier household. | |
60 | Brought over £2892 12s 8d 1 Bd China not Compleat P had F French 10s 6d 2 Bohea Do Do J Dubois 9s 6d 17 Cups & 14 Saucers Kirkpatrick 9s 6d 6 Japan Cups 6 Saucers & five Sauceboats J Dornal 5s 0d 1 Teapot & Old China Jno Powell 10s 0d 2 Dishes C Owen 10s 0d 3 White Mugs in Peer or Jugs J Owen 4s 0d 2 Stone Potts Jn Instye 2s 0d 1 Japan or Lacqued Tea Table G G Powell 2 10s 6d 1 Board Table G G Powell 1 4s 0d 9 Doz & 3 Spunmony Kirkpatrick 1 4s 6d 10 Doz & A pd Sittex J French 3 0s 0d 2 Do F Easthope 3 0s 0d 2 Do J Wnstye 3 6s 0d 2 Do J Kirkpatrick 3 9s 0d A Do Sitten with Chine Velvet Covers and Silver Lace with Buckle G G French 4 0s 0d 1 Cask Black & White Pepper Wt 285 3 P lb J Clews 8 17s 2d 1 Cask Do 147 3 P lb Do 4 6s 0d 200 Teak Boards G G Powell 4 5s 0d 200 Do G G Powell 4 5s 0d 200 Do Do 4 5s 0d 200 Do Do 4 5s 0d 280 Do more or Loss 4 5 P 100 J Bagot 3 2s 0d Cleather & Frames Do 12 12s 0d 1 Cask Sugar Wt 306lb 6 P lb To Sundrys in Lotts Ed Walton 7 13s 0d 1 pd Fedeamah Junr J Alcock 13s 0d 10 Cups & 24 pd J Bagot 2 3s 0d 1 pndore F Colgrove 2 6s 0d 1 Do J Powell 1 6s 0d 1 Do F Wrangham 1 7s 0d 1 Do Colgrove 1 3s 0d 1 Do Ln Instye 1 3s 0d 1 Do G G Alcock 1 3s 0d 1 Do 1 0s 0d 1 Do 1 1s 0d 1 Do Jno Powell 1 6s 0d 1 Do G G Powell 2 6s 0d 6 Stools J Bagot 2 7s 0d 6 Do J Godfrey 1 5s 0d 6 Do Do 3 8s 0d 6 Do Do 9s 0d 6 Do Do 2s 0d Sheep Vizt 1 Ewe and Lamb Hono Godwin 1 0s 0d 1 Do & 2 Do Do 1 9s 0d 1 Wether F Wrangham Junr 16s 0d 1 Ewe J Godwin 16s 0d 1 Do Hono Godwin 10s 0d 1 Do Do 10s 0d 1 Do & 1 Lamb Do 16s 0d 2 Do at 18 Do 1 16s 0d 2 Wethers Do 1 16s 0d 1 Do Do 2s 0d 3 Ewes Do 2 6s 0d 1 Wether Do 1 Lamb F Wrangham 21 Goats @ 2s each R Gurling 30 9s 0d 1 White Boar Jno Powell 3 1s 0d 1 Old Sow R Mason 3 10s 0d 1 Cow & 1 Calf Honr Godwin 6 3s 0d 1 Do 1 Do Do 3 0s 0d 1 Do 1 Do Do 3 0s 0d 1 Do 1 Do Do 10s 0d 1 Do 1 Do Do 7s 0d 2 Heifers Do 7 16s 0d 1 Cow & Calf Carried over £3081 13s 6d | The account of sales of the estate of the late John Goodwin continued. Brought over, £2,892 12s 8d 1 set china, not complete, purchased by John French, £0 10s 6d 2 pieces bohea tea, ditto, purchased by James Dubois, £0 9s 6d 17 cups and 14 saucers, purchased by Thomas Kirkpatrick, £0 3s 0d 6 japan cups, 6 saucers and five dishes, purchased by John Barnal, £0 3s 0d 1 teapot and old china, purchased by James Powell, £0 3s 0d 2 dishes, purchased by Daniel Owen, £0 3s 0d 3 white mugs and pot or jug, purchased by ditto Sing, £0 4s 0d 2 stone pots, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 2s 0d 1 japan lacquered tea table, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £2 10s 6d 1 bureau table, purchased by ditto Kirkpatrick, £1 4s 0d 9 dozen ditto spelmery, purchased by John French, £0 3s 0d 10 dozen ditto, purchased by Thomas Easthope, £0 3s 0d 2 ditto, purchased by ditto Kirkpatrick, £0 3s 6d 2 ditto, purchased by John Leach, £0 3s 9d 1 set with black and white paper, corner and box, lace and buckles, purchased by John French, £4 0s 0d 1 cask black and white pepper, weight 235 lb at 7s per lb, purchased by ditto Steward, £8 4s 6d 1 ditto ditto, 147 lb at 7s per lb, purchased by ditto, £5 4s 6d 200 teak boards, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £4 0s 0d 200 ditto, purchased by ditto Powell, £4 5s 0d 200 ditto, purchased by ditto, £4 5s 0d 200 ditto, purchased by ditto, £4 5s 0d 280 ditto, more or less, at 5s per 200, purchased by ditto Dorck, £3 2s 6d 1 slate and frame, purchased by ditto, £0 12s 0d 1 cask sugar, weight 308 lb at 6s per lb, to sundries in lots, purchased by ditto Walton, £9 13s 0d 1 piece scotch cloth, purchased by John Leach, £0 2s 0d 1 ditto, cotton, 23 lb, purchased by John Leach, £2 9s 0d 1 grindstone, purchased by John Bagot, £0 6s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by Frances Greentree, £0 2s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by James Powers, £0 1s 3d 1 ditto, purchased by ditto Rowland, £0 1s 3d 1 ditto, purchased by Le Page, £0 1s 3d 1 ditto, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 3s 6d 1 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 1s 6d 1 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 1s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by John Bagot, £0 1s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £0 6s 6d 1 ditto, purchased by ditto Bagot, £0 2s 0d 6 spits, purchased by ditto Bagot, £0 7s 0d 6 ditto, purchased by John Godfrey, £0 3s 0d 6 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 5s 0d 6 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 8s 0d 6 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 9s 6d 6 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 2s 0d Sheep: 1 ewe and lamb, purchased by the Company, £1 0s 0d 1 ditto and 2 ditto, purchased by ditto, £1 9s 0d 1 wether, purchased by Frances Wrangham senior, £0 16s 0d 1 ewe, purchased by John Goodwin, £0 16s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by the Company, £0 10s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 10s 0d 1 ditto and lamb, purchased by ditto, £0 16s 0d 2 ditto at 18s, purchased by ditto, £1 16s 0d 2 wethers, purchased by ditto, £1 16s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 16s 0d 3 ewes, purchased by ditto, £2 6s 0d 1 wether, purchased by ditto, £0 16s 0d 1 lamb, purchased by Frances Wrangham senior, £0 16s 0d 21 goats at 2s each, purchased by Richard Gurling, £2 2s 0d 1 white horse, purchased by Richard Beale, £30 9s 0d 1 old horse, purchased by Richard Mason, £3 10s 0d 1 cow and calf, purchased by the Company, £6 3s 0d 1 ditto, 1 ditto, purchased by ditto, £3 0s 0d 1 ditto, 1 ditto, purchased by ditto, £3 0s 0d 1 ditto, 1 ditto, purchased by ditto, £10 0s 0d 1 ditto, 1 ditto, purchased by ditto, £7 1s 0d 2 heifers, purchased by ditto, £7 16s 0d 1 cow and calf, purchased by ditto, [...] Carried over, £3,031 13s 6d Interpretations The final section of the sale disposes of the remaining commodities, timber and livestock, closing the estate with the goods most useful to the settlement itself. Casks of pepper and sugar sold by the pound, hundreds of teak boards, china and kitchen spits gave way to the sheep, goats, horses, cattle and heifers that formed the working stock of the island. The prominence of the Company itself as buyer of much of the livestock shows the establishment restocking its own herds from a private estate, turning the sale to the settlement's provisioning needs. The high prices for the horses and breeding cattle stand out against the cheaper sheep and goats, reflecting the scarcity and value of large working and breeding animals on the island. A white horse fetched over thirty pounds and a cow with calf ten, while sheep went for under a pound, so the market priced livestock by its usefulness and the difficulty of replacing it. The Company's repeated purchase of cows, calves and heifers shows its concern to maintain the breeding stock on which the island's meat and milk supply depended. Teak was a hard, durable tropical timber highly valued for building and shipwork, so the several hundred teak boards sold from the estate represent a substantial store of quality construction wood, a scarce and prized material on an island that grew no timber of its own and relied on such imported hardwood for its more demanding building needs. | |
59 | Brought over £3081 13s 6d Yams 20 Th P had J Godwin 8 4s 0d 20 Th Do 11s 0d 40 Th Do 6s 0d 20 Th F Wrangham 3 8s 0d 9 Do R Gurling 3 13s 6d 7 Th Hono Comp 15s 0d 20 Th Do 16s 0d 20 Th Do 18s 0d 88 Th John Godwin 6 16s 2d 12 Steaks 10 Pigs and 4 Sows Hono Comp 9 3s 0d Sheep Vizt 1 Ewe and two Lambs Do 1 2s 6d 1 Do & 1 Do Do 1 0s 0d 1 Do Do 18s 0d 1 Do Do 11s 0d 1 Do Do 18s 0d 1 Do Richard Godwin 15s 6d 1 Do Hono Comp 1 4s 0d 2 Weathers Do 1 16s 0d 12 Ewes & two Lambs Do 11 9s 6d 2 Rams Do 2 0s 0d 20 Th Young Yams For himself G G Powell 35 10s 0d Totall £3237 5s 2d The Secretary was Ordered to prepare Deeds of Sale for the Lands and Houses sold at Auction to be Delivered to the Purchasers upon Paying the Purchase Money There having been for these Five Years past two Eighteen Pounders and two Twelve Pounders lying in the Spray of the Sea at the Foot of the Rock called Club's Rock where the late Governour Pyke intended a Fortification but Governour Lambert being of Opinion it would be an Unnecessary Expence and but too much exposed our Ports at Ruperts which are already quite out of Proportion to the Number of Hands we can be presumed to have to defend them, and therefore that these Cannon may not be further Damnify by lying in the Spray of the Sea, and too that so we have oni to see may make the best Use we can of them, the Governour Proposes that the Eighteen Pounders be removed to Bankts and Planted upon the Works there as soon as ever the same is Completed and the Two Twelve Pounders mounted upon the Spurr at Ruperts The Governour Reports that he has Visited the Lime kiln at Sandy Bay and that the fifth kiln will be Burnt about Thursday Seven night which will Compleat the Quantity of 2500 Bushels And Therefore the better to Carry on the Fortifications agreeable to our Honourable Masters Orders and with such Vigour and Expedition as is Necessary at this Unsettled Setuation of Affairs in Europe we find our selves Obliged to hire Labourers to Work thereat and therefore this Day Published the following Advertisement Vizt | The account of sales of the estate of the late John Goodwin concluded. Brought over, £3,031 13s 6d Yams: 20 lb, purchased by Richard Goodwin, £0 8s 4d 20 lb, purchased by ditto, £0 11s 0d 40 lb, purchased by ditto, £0 6s 0d 20 lb, purchased by Frances Wrangham, £0 3s 8d 9 lb, purchased by Richard Gurling, £3 13s 6d 7 lb, purchased by the Company, £0 15s 0d 20 lb, purchased by ditto, £0 16s 0d 20 lb, purchased by ditto, £0 18s 0d 88 lb, purchased by John Goodwin, £6 16s 2d 12 sheaves, 10 pigs and 4 boars, purchased by the Company, £9 3s 0d Sheep: 1 ewe and two lambs, purchased by ditto, £1 2s 6d 1 ewe and 1 ditto, purchased by ditto, £1 0s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 18s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 11s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by ditto, £0 18s 0d 1 ditto, purchased by Richard Goodwin, £0 15s 6d 1 ditto, purchased by the Company, £1 4s 0d 2 wethers, purchased by ditto, £1 16s 0d 12 ewes and two lambs, purchased by ditto, £11 9s 6d 1 ram, purchased by ditto, £2 0s 0d 20 lb young yams, for himself, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £35 10s 0d Total, £3,237 5s 2d The secretary was ordered to prepare bills of sale for the lands and houses sold at auction, to be delivered to the purchasers on payment of their purchase money. For the previous two years, eighteen-pounders and twelve-pounders had lain in the spray of the sea at the foot of the rock called Chubb's Rock, where the late Governor Pyke had intended a fortification. But Governor Pyke, being of the opinion that it would be an unnecessary expense, and that too much exceeded the number of hands the Company could be presumed to spare to defend them, held that these cannon might not be further damaged by lying in the spray of the sea. Since the guns already at Rupert's were quite out of proportion to what was needed, and that the best use could be made of them, the Governor proposed that the eighteen-pounders be removed to Banks and planted upon the works there as soon as the same was completed, and the two twelve-pounders mounted upon the spur at Rupert's. The Governor reported that he had visited the lime kiln at Sandy Bay, and that the fifth kiln would be burnt about the following Thursday sevennight, which would complete the quantity of 2,500 bushels. In order to carry on the fortifications in accordance with the Company's orders, and with such vigour and expedition as the unsettled state of affairs in Europe made necessary, the council found themselves obliged to hire labourers to work at the fortifications, and that day published the following advertisement. Interpretations The disposal of the guns lying at Chubb's Rock shows the council salvaging a defensive plan the late Governor had abandoned as too costly. Cannon left corroding in the sea spray, where Pyke had once meant to build a fortification he judged beyond the garrison's strength to man, were now to be moved to the works at Banks and the spur at Rupert's, so idle ordnance was turned to use elsewhere. The episode reveals how the island's limited artillery had to be redeployed to match the defences it could actually hold, rather than scattered among works it lacked the men to defend. The completion of 2,500 bushels of lime and the resort to hired labour for the fortifications show the mounting urgency of the defensive effort under threat of European war. The council supplemented the Company's slaves with paid workers to press the works forward, judging the unsettled state of affairs in Europe to demand speed beyond what the ordinary workforce could achieve. The decision to hire free labour, at added expense, marks how seriously the approaching conflict was taken on a lightly defended island far from help. The final entry of young yams bought by Governor Powell for himself, at the notably high sum of over thirty-five pounds, points to the value of planting stock for the staple crop, so even the new Governor secured a supply of young yams to propagate, reflecting the constant concern with cultivating the root on which the island's food supply rested. Speculations Governor Powell chose to move the corroding guns to Banks and Rupert's rather than leave them where the late Governor Pyke had placed them for a fortification never built. Pyke had abandoned the Chubb's Rock work as too costly and beyond the garrison's strength to man, leaving heavy ordnance to rust in the sea spray, and the obvious course was to let the matter lie as he had settled it. Powell instead judged that guns already at Rupert's were more than its works needed while the Banks fortification would soon want artillery, so he redistributed the pieces to match the defences the island could actually hold. The decision shows a new governor reversing his predecessor's neglect and fitting the scarce ordnance to the works in hand rather than to plans that had been given up. | |
60 | Island St Helena August the 10th 1742 This is to give Notice that on Monday next will be Employed at the Fortifications Any able Bodied Men Slaves whose Masters shall be so Disposed at the Usual Allowance of Twelve Pence per Day All persons who have Purchased at Outcry of the Estate of the late John Godwin Esqr are desired to make Payment thereof to the Worshipfull the Governour and Council and upon so doing they shall have regular Deeds of Sale for the said Purchase By Order of Council C Dixon Secy There has for these Three Months past been a Raging Distemper amongst the Inhabitants of this Island but more especially amongst the Honourable Companys Slaves which has Carried off Eight of our best Working Men and Two Women They are seised with a Violent Oppression at their Stomach and Pain in the Small of the Back and Bowells attended with a strong Fever and generally Die in four or Five Days at this hour there are Eleven very Ill in the Companys Black House who are duly Attended by the Doctor It is a very great Disappointment to us because now we want their Assistance. Frances Junge this Day presented a Petition setting forth That Whereas his Lease being expired for Fifteen Acres of Land Lying in Sandy Valley he therefore requests the same may be renewed Granted Nathan Sample this Day presented a Petition praying for 50 feet in Front and 60 feet in yeards Backwards in Chappell Valley there to Build a House Granted he paying a Quit Rent of 2s 6d P Annum The following Petition was this Day Presented and Read Vizt To the Worshipfull George Gabriel Powell Esqr Governour & Council of St Helena The Humble Petition of the hereunto subscribers being in the Service of the Honourable Company Humbly Sheweth That whereas Your Petitioner humbly Conceive that their Honourable Masters the United East India Company have never allowed their Comission'd Servants and Overseers either a Grant to Live or the Consideration of a Sufficiency for the Rent of a House And your Petitioners finding that the Rent of Houses in this Place are so Exorbitant that it is Morrally Impossible that we should Pray | The advertisement, dated at St Helena, 10 August 1742, gave notice that the following Monday there would be employed at the fortifications any able-bodied men whose masters were willing to hire them out, at the usual allowance of twelvepence per day. All persons who had purchased any part of the estate of the late John Goodwin were desired to make payment to the council, and on doing so would have regular bills of sale for their purchases. The advertisement was issued by order of the council, signed by Christopher Dixon, secretary. For the previous three months a raging distemper had spread among the inhabitants of the island, but more especially among the Company's slaves, which had carried off eight of the best working men and two women. Those seized suffered a violent oppression at the stomach and pain in the small of the back and bowels, attended with a strong fever, and generally died in four or five days. At present eleven lay very ill in the Company's slave house, duly attended by the doctor, and it was a very great disappointment to the council because now they wanted their assistance. Frances Junge presented a petition that day, setting out that his lease having expired for fifteen acres of land at Sandy Valley, he requested that it be renewed. The council granted his request. Nathan Sample presented a petition that day praying for 50 feet in front and 60 feet backwards in Chapel Valley on which to build a house. The council granted his request, he paying a yearly rent of two shillings and sixpence. The following petition was presented and read. The hereunder subscribers, being in the Company's service, petitioned Governor George Gabriel Powell and the council of St Helena. They set out that whereas the Company had ever allowed its commissioned servants and overseers, or others, either a sufficiency for the rent of a house or a house itself to live in, the petitioners found that the rents of houses at the island were so exorbitant that it was morally impossible that they should pay [...]. Interpretations The epidemic among the Company's slaves exposes both the human toll of disease and the cold institutional lens through which the council viewed it. A violent fever killing the strongest workers in four or five days was recorded not primarily as a human tragedy but as a disappointment to the establishment, because it stripped away the labour on which the fortification work and the island's economy depended. The plain statement that the council wanted the assistance of the dying reveals how completely the enslaved were valued for their working capacity, their deaths registered chiefly as a loss of that capacity at a moment of urgent need. The land petitions show the Company steadily parcelling out ground on lease and building plots in exchange for rent, binding settlers to the island through tenure. Junge's renewal of an expired lease and Sample's grant of a house plot at a fixed yearly rent reveal the routine administration of the island's land, by which the Company granted use of its territory while retaining ultimate ownership and drawing a small revenue. The modest rents show the settlement encouraging its servants to build and cultivate as a means of rooting a permanent population. The petition over house rents opens a grievance about the cost of accommodation for the Company's servants, who were entitled either to housing or an allowance for it, so the complaint reflects the gap between what the Company provided and the actual expense of lodging on an island where building materials were scarce and rents accordingly high. | |
61 | Pay the same out of our Sallary which Obliges us at this time to Trouble Your Worship and Council with the above hoping you will be favourably Pleased to relieve us accordingly And your Petitioners will ever pray &c St Helena Thomas Easthope 10th August 1742 John Desfountain Daniel Owen Joseph Kendall John Barton Thos Kirkpatrick William Hayse Joshua Twynam Joseph Darvall Frances Wrongham James Powell The Petitioners being Called before us Those of them under Covenants acquainted us how vastly Inconvenient t'was for them to be destitute of Apartments in the Valley that did they not Lay themselves under great Obligations to their Friends for Room in their Houses they could not Possibly be so early and duly in their Offices as was necessary they should for the better Carrying on of the Companys Business, Covenanted Servants had Apartments in all other the Companys Settlements and hoped the same regard would be Shewed them. The Commissioned Officers such of them as came last from England told us that the Honourable the Committee Assured them they should be provided with Apartments upon their Arrival at this Place, and that the late Governour Lambert upon finding that the Company had no Apartments for them Promised to made them an Allowance Sufficient wherewith to hire Apartments they farther told us that those persons whose Houses were nearest the Main Guard were not so much of their Acquaintance or Friends as to permitt them to Live there for nothing that therefore they were Obliged to provide Rooms in several parts of the Valley where they could Some at the Greatest Distance from the Main Guard which was an Exceeding great Inconvenience to them in their way of Duty and Utterly, deprived them of the means of keeping so that Strict Millitary Discipline as was necessary They | The petitioners set out that paying the exorbitant house rents out of their salary obliged them to trouble the council with the above, hoping the council would be favourably pleased to relieve them accordingly. The petition was dated at St Helena, 10 August 1742, and signed by Thomas Easthope, John Desfountain, Daniel Owen, Joseph Kendall, John Barton, Thomas Kirkpatrick, William Hayse, Joshua Swinnam, Joseph Darvall, Frances Wrangham and James Powell. The petitioners, being called in before the council, were asked about their case. Those of them under covenants explained how vastly inconvenient it was to be destitute of lodgings that did not lay them under great obligations to their friends for room in their houses. They could not possibly be so early and duly in their offices as was necessary for the better carrying on of the Company's business, and set out that covenanted servants at all the Company's other settlements had apartments, and hoped the same regard would be shown them. The commissioned officers, such of them as came last from England, told the council that the committee had assured them they should be provided with apartments upon their arrival at the island, and that the late Governor Lambert, on finding that the Company had no apartments for them, promised to make them an allowance sufficient to hire lodgings. They further told the council that those persons whose houses were nearest the main guard were not so much of their acquaintance or friends as to permit them to live there for nothing, and that therefore they were obliged to provide rooms in several parts of the valley where they could, some of them at the greatest distance from the main guard, which was an exceedingly great inconvenience to them in their way of duty and utterly deprived them of the means of keeping to that strict military discipline as was necessary. Interpretations The officers' petition reveals a genuine failure of the Company to honour its undertakings to the men it sent out. Commissioned officers had been promised lodgings on arrival, and the late Governor Lambert had pledged an allowance when no housing proved available, yet the men found themselves scattered across the valley at high rents or dependent on the charity of acquaintances. The grievance shows the gap between the Company's assurances made in London and the reality at a settlement where suitable housing simply did not exist for its growing establishment. The petitioners tie their complaint directly to the demands of military duty and discipline, giving their grievance a practical edge beyond mere cost. Officers lodged far from the main guard could not be promptly at their posts nor maintain the strict discipline their positions required, so the want of proper quarters was framed as a threat to the garrison's readiness rather than a matter of personal comfort. The argument shows how the physical arrangement of the settlement bore directly on its defensive efficiency, the scattering of officers weakening the control they were meant to exercise. A covenant in this context was the formal contract of service binding the Company's servants, so those described as under covenants or covenanted servants were men engaged by written agreement whose terms, they argued, entitled them to the same provision of lodging enjoyed by their counterparts at the Company's other settlements. Speculations The officers pressed for an allowance or apartments rather than continue lodging on the sufferance of acquaintances or at scattered rents across the valley. The obvious course, given the Company had provided no housing, was to make shift where they could, and indeed they had done so, taking rooms wherever available even at the greatest distance from the main guard. But they judged this intolerable both for the burden on their salaries and for the damage to their military duty, and so turned to the council to honour the promises made in London and by Governor Lambert. Their decision to petition collectively, rather than each bear the inconvenience privately, shows the officers converting a personal hardship into a formal claim on the Company's own undertakings, pressing the gap between what had been assured them and what the island actually provided. | |
62 | They further acquaint us that in the time of Shipping the Inhabitants Let their Rooms at 8s P Day which was Costly more than three whole Day so that in all Probability they must during the time the Ships lay here next Year turn into the Streets therefore beg'd we Would Consider their Case And withdrew The Merits of the Petition being taken into Consideration We think it highly necessary there should be some Provision made for these Servants who are ready at a very Great loss for Lodgings The Honourable Company has Six Houses or Apartments and they are thus Disposed off Vizt Mr Godfrey 1 Mr Dixon 1 Revd Mr Alcock 1 Doctor Clarke 1 Lieut Scott 1 Lieut Clarke 1 the Barracks upon the Main Guard and at Doctor Browns are Little enough for the Soldiers some of whom are very much Crowded We therefore Agreed to Enquire of the Gentlemen Petitioners at what Rate they could hire Apartments, and They being Called in Declared they had Enquired and could get no Lodgings under 10s P Annum We therefore find ourselves under an Indispensable necessity of allowing them the said time of 10s P Annum Untill such time as we can build proper Apartments for them which we now Agree to set About as soon as ever Banks's and the French at Ruperts are finished which are hope will be no long time about as the same shall be Carried on with all Expedition Mr Godfrey this Day Presented the following Account and Desired it might be Entred in Consultation Vizt | The petitioners further acquainted the council that in the time of the shipping the inhabitants let their rooms at eight shillings a day, which was hardly more than three whole days, and that in all probability during the time the ships lay there the following year they would be turned into the streets. They therefore begged the council would consider their case, and withdrew. The merits of the petition being taken into consideration, the council thought it highly necessary that some provision be made for these servants, who were at a very great loss for lodgings. The Company had six houses or apartments, which were disposed of as follows. Mr Godfrey, 1 Mr Dixon, 1 Reverend Mr Alcock, 1 Doctor Clarke, 1 Lieutenant Scott, 1 Lieutenant Clarke, 1 The barracks upon the main guard and at Doctor Brown's were little enough for the soldiers, some of whom were very much crowded. The council therefore agreed to enquire of the petitioners at what rate they could hire apartments, and they, being called in, declared they had enquired and could get no lodgings under ten pounds a year. The council therefore found themselves under an indispensable necessity of allowing the petitioners the sum of ten pounds a year until such time as they could build proper apartments for them, which the council now agreed to set about as soon as ever Banks and the French works at Rupert's were finished. These, it was hoped, would be no long time, being carried on with all expedition. Godfrey presented the following account that day, and desired it might be entered in the record. Interpretations The council's resolution shows it forced to convert the Company's broken promise into a standing financial commitment. Confronted with proof that no lodging could be had under ten pounds a year, and with all six of the Company's houses already occupied and the barracks overcrowded, the council granted each petitioner that annual sum until proper quarters could be built. The decision reveals how the failure to provide housing translated directly into a recurring drain on the Company's funds, the allowance standing as the price of the establishment's inability to house its own servants. The detail of the inhabitants letting rooms at eight shillings a day during the shipping season exposes the seasonal profiteering that drove the housing crisis. When the fleets lay in the road, householders could command in three days what a year's steady tenant paid, so the officers faced eviction whenever the ships arrived and the rooms grew more profitable to let short. The episode reveals a housing market distorted by the periodic influx of ships' companies, against which the Company's permanent servants had little security. The barracks at the main guard and at Doctor Brown's housed the ordinary soldiers, so the note that these were already crowded shows why the officers could not simply be quartered there, the existing military accommodation being fully taken up and leaving no room to absorb the men the Company had failed to house. | |
63 | Account of the Gauges of the following Parcels of Arrack with the Invoice Gauge and Quantitys wanting to fill them up Ships Names, Per Invoice, The Gauge, Quantitys wanting, Received Ship Nassau: Per Invoice 160 Gallons, The Gauge 1 Cask 72 Gallons 1 Do 63 133 to fill up 8, Quantitys wanting 8 Gallons, Received 127 Gallons Ship Wager: Per Invoice 160 Gallons, The Gauge 1 Cask 71 Gallons 1 Do 69 140 To fill up 10, Quantitys wanting 10 Gallons, Received 130 Gallons Ship King Willm: Per Invoice 160 Gallons, The Gauge 1 Cask 73 Gallons 1 Do 74 147 to fill up 32, Quantitys wanting 32 Gallons, Received 115 Gallons Ship Hallifax: Per Invoice 600 Gallons, The Gauge 1 Cask 163 Gallons 1 Do 153½ 1 Do 82 1 Do 76 1 Do 73 1 Do 35 582½ to fill up 13, Quantitys wanting 13 Gallons, Received 567 Gallons Ship Qn Caroline: Per Invoice 600 Gallons, The Gauge 1 Cask 139 Gallons 1 Do 151 1 Do 34½ 1 Do 73½ 1 Do 74 1 Do 77 583½ to fill up 15, Quantitys wanting 15 Gallons, Received 553½ Gallons 1680 Gald P Invoice 1493 Gallons Recd Ship Kent: Per Invoice 160 Gallons, The Gauge 1 Cask 60 Gallons 1 Do 74½ 139½ to fill up 7½, Quantitys wanting 7½ Gallons, Received 132 Gallons Ship Scarborough: Per Invoice 160 Gallons, The Gauge 1 Cask 70½ Gallons 1 Do 69 139½ to fill up 7½, Quantitys wanting 7½ Gallons, Received 132 Gallons 2000 Gallons P Do 1757 Gallons Recd G G Powell John Godfrey | The account set out the gauges of the following parcels of arrack, with the invoice gauge and the quantities wanting to fill them up. The columns recorded the ship's name, the quantity per invoice, the gauge, the quantity wanting and the quantity received. The Nassau was invoiced at 160 gallons. 1 cask, 72 gallons 1 cask, 63 gallons Total, 135 gallons To fill up, 8 gallons Quantity wanting, 8 gallons Received, 127 gallons The Wager was invoiced at 160 gallons. 1 cask, 71 gallons 1 cask, 69 gallons Total, 140 gallons To fill up, 10 gallons Quantity wanting, 10 gallons Received, 130 gallons The King William was invoiced at 160 gallons. 1 cask, 73 gallons 1 cask, 74 gallons Total, 147 gallons To fill up, 32 gallons Quantity wanting, 32 gallons Received, 115 gallons The Halifax was invoiced at 600 gallons. 1 cask, 163 gallons 1 cask, 154 and a half gallons 1 cask, 82 gallons 1 cask, 76 gallons 1 cask, 75 gallons 1 cask, 35 gallons Total, 582 and a half gallons To fill up, 13 gallons Quantity wanting, 13 gallons Received, 567 gallons The Queen Caroline was invoiced at 600 gallons. 1 cask, 159 gallons 1 cask, 151 and a half gallons 1 cask, 84 and a half gallons 1 cask, 74 gallons 1 cask, 77 gallons Total, 568 and a half gallons To fill up, 15 gallons Quantity wanting, 15 gallons Received, 553 and a half gallons The Kent, of the 1,680 gallons per invoice, was invoiced at 160 gallons. 1 cask, 60 and a half gallons 1 cask, 79 and a half gallons Total, 139 and a half gallons To fill up, 7 and a half gallons Quantity wanting, 7 and a half gallons Received, 132 gallons The Scarborough was invoiced at 160 gallons. 1 cask, 79 and a half gallons 1 cask, 69 gallons Total, 139 and a half gallons To fill up, 7 and a half gallons Quantity wanting, 7 and a half gallons Received, 132 gallons The whole was invoiced at 2,000 gallons, of which 1,757 gallons were received. The account was signed by George Gabriel Powell and John Godfrey. Interpretations The gauging account records the careful measurement of arrack received from each ship against the quantity stated on its invoice, exposing a consistent shortfall in every parcel. Each cask was gauged and found short of its billed contents, so that against 2,000 gallons invoiced only 1,757 were actually received, a deficiency the account meticulously totted up ship by ship. The exercise reveals the routine practice of checking delivered goods against their paperwork, by which the Company guarded against loss through leakage, evaporation or short measure in the spirits shipped to the island. The scale of the arrack received, well over 1,700 gallons in a single reckoning, shows the large quantities of spirits the island took in from the passing fleets for the use of the garrison and establishment. Arrack, distilled in the East and shipped from Goa and other eastern ports, was a staple of the settlement's supply, and the deliberate gauging of every cask marks how such valuable liquor was accounted to the last half-gallon. The persistent shortfall against invoice reflects the ordinary wastage of transporting spirits in wooden casks over long sea voyages. To gauge a cask was to measure the volume of liquid it actually contained, so the gauging of each parcel of arrack established the true quantity delivered against the invoice figure, the difference being the amount wanting to fill the cask to its billed capacity, lost through the leakage and evaporation inherent in shipping spirits by sea. | |
64 | At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 17th August 1742 at the Castle Present George Gabriel Powell Esqr Governour John Godfrey 2d of Council Mr Dixon absent being Ill The Last Consultation was Read and Approved The following Petitions was Presented and Read Vizt To the Worshipfull George Gabriel Powell Esqr and Council The Humble Petition of James Draper Humbly Sheweth That your Petitioner having Servd the Honourable Company Ten Years a Centinel and two Years a Corporal And having a Family and Plantation to take Care of Your Petitioner therefore most Humbly begs he has his Discharge from the Service And Your Petitioner will in Duty bound ever pray James Draper To the Worshipfull George Gabriel Powell Esqr Governour & Council of St Helena The Humble Petition of Orlando Bagley Humbly Sheweth That your Petitioner having Servd the Honourable Company as a Soldier for five Years and Eight Months but having got a small Plantation | At a consultation held on Tuesday 17 August 1742 at the Castle, Governor George Gabriel Powell sat with John Godfrey as second of council, Dixon being absent. The council read the record of the previous meeting and approved it. The following petitions were presented and read. James Draper petitioned Governor George Gabriel Powell and the council, setting out that he had served the Company ten years as a sentinel and two years as a corporal, and having a family and plantation to take care of, he humbly begged his discharge from the service. The petition was signed by James Draper. Orlando Bagley petitioned Governor George Gabriel Powell and the council of St Helena, setting out that he had served the Company as a soldier for five years and eight months, but having got a small plantation [...]. Interpretations These further discharge petitions continue the steady departure of time-served soldiers for their own land, the same pattern that had run through the proceedings under the previous governor. Draper's twelve years of service and his plea of a family and plantation to tend echo the earlier grants to men who preferred cultivation to garrison duty, showing how consistently the island's soldiers turned to farming once they had acquired ground. The recurrence of these requests under Powell confirms that the drift from the garrison to the land was a permanent feature of the settlement rather than a passing circumstance. The grounds offered by the petitioners reveal the Company's own land policy working against its military establishment. By granting plots to its soldiers, the Company gave them a stake in the island that soon competed with their duty to the garrison, so the very men trained to defend the settlement sought release to work the ground the Company had allowed them. The tension shows the settlement pulling in two directions, needing both a manned garrison and a cultivating population drawn largely from the same body of men. A corporal was a junior non-commissioned officer ranking above the common sentinel, so Draper's progression from sentinel to corporal over his years of service marks the modest advancement available to a long-serving soldier within the garrison's lower ranks before he sought his discharge for the land. | |
65 | Plantation to take Care off Your Petitioner Desires and Humbly begs to have his Discharge from the Service And Your Petitioner will be in Duty bound for ever to Pray &c Orlando Bagley Granted upon the Consideration of these Two Peoples having Served the Honourable Company Duly the time they Contracted for at their first Entrance Vizt 5 Years Further we apprehend that the Companys Intention of keeping this Island at so vast an Expence is for the Greater Security and refreshment of their homeward Bound Shipping And therefore his forus to facilitate as much as we can that End by Encourageing the Planters to Manufacture and Improve their Plantations And we take Notice that the Petitioners Assure us the Detaining of them longer at the Fort will be the Utter Ruin of their Country Affairs Again we apprehend that could we Contrive to Raise a Considerable Millitia in this Island it would be as Acceptable a Piece of Service as any we could render our Masters, Now these People Discharged from the Garrison are Still in the Millitia and by that Means make Room for other Two in the Troops without any Additional Expence to our Masters and Consequently their Island being so much the Stronger We are Busely Employed in taking an Inventory of the Stores to the End them Accounts as well as the General Books may be Brought up in a Regular manner, And Transmitted to Our Honble Masters P first Opportunity. G G Powell John Godfrey | Bagley, having a plantation to take care of, desired and humbly begged his discharge from the service. The petition was signed by Orlando Bagley. The council granted both requests, on consideration that these two men had served the Company the full time they contracted for at their first entrance, namely five years. The council held that the Company's intention in keeping the island at so vast an expense was for the greater security and refreshment of its homeward-bound shipping, and that it was therefore its business to facilitate that end as much as possible by encouraging the planters to cultivate and improve their plantations. The council noted that the petitioners had assured them that detaining them longer at the fort would be the utter ruin of their country affairs. The council held further that if a considerable militia could be raised on the island, it would be as acceptable a piece of service as any the council could render the Company. These men, discharged from the garrison, remained in the militia, and by that means made room for two others in the troops without any additional expense to the Company, so strengthening the island's fighting body by that much. The council was busy taking an inventory of the stores, so that those accounts, as well as the general books, might be brought up to date in a regular manner and transmitted to the Company at the first opportunity. The entry was signed by George Gabriel Powell and John Godfrey. Interpretations The council's reasoning reveals a deliberate policy of balancing the garrison against the militia to serve the Company's true purpose at the island. Since the settlement existed chiefly to refresh and secure the homeward shipping, the council held that encouraging cultivation was itself a service, and that discharging soldiers to their plantations lost the Company nothing while they remained available in the militia. The argument shows the council reconciling the drain on the garrison with the island's provisioning function, treating farmers and part-time militiamen as more valuable than a larger standing force. The observation that discharged men remained in the militia and made room for fresh recruits without added cost exposes the economic logic behind the steady grants of discharge. Each soldier released to his land freed his place for another while still being liable for defence, so the Company maintained its fighting strength at no extra charge and gained a cultivator besides. The reasoning reveals how the council turned the constant loss of garrison soldiers into a system that served both defence and agriculture at once. A militia was a body of ordinary inhabitants liable to be called up for defence in an emergency, as distinct from the full-time paid garrison, so the council's scheme kept discharged soldiers available as militiamen while relieving the Company of their wages, drawing on the settled population for defence without the cost of a larger standing force. | |
66 | At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 24th August 1742 at the Castle Present George Gabriel Powell Esqr Governour John Godfrey 2d of Council Mr Dixon Absent being Ill The Last Consultation was Read and approved The Governour Reports that the Peoplr employed at Banks's go on with the Work Chearfully That he has Ordered the Carpenter to make a Number of Wood Barrows and hand Barrows which will be Easier for the Labourers than to Carry the Stones upon their Shoulders And that the Long Boat has Landed three Barges of Lime at Banks's Several of those who Purchased at Outcry of the Estate of the Late John Godwin Esqr this Day Attended to Pay for their said Purchases Vizt Mr John Desfountain £8 0s 0d Mr John Bagott 45 6s 7½d Do John Clarke 3 12s 6d Do Samuel Doveton 314 15s 0d Do Richard Gurling 92 16s 7½d Do Benjn Pledger 11s 6d Mr Francis Wrangham 24 11s 11d 204 0s 7½d 299 12s 6½d £763 14s 11½d The two Hundred and Four Pounds and Seven pence Halfpenny which Mr Wrangham paid was upon Account of a Purchase of Lands he had made of the Late Mr Godwin in his life time he appears by an Account Current between Mr Godwin and Mr Wrangham wherein it Likewise appears that Mr Wrangham paid to Mr Godwin £145 19s 4d of the Purchase and this Sum of 204 0s 7½d is the Ballance which he this Day and we therefore gave him the following Deed of Sale for the Said Land Vizt Know all Men by these Presents That we the Governour and Council of the Island St Helena do by Virtue of Power and Authority given us by the Proprietor | At a consultation held on Tuesday 24 August 1742 at the Castle, Governor George Gabriel Powell sat with John Godfrey as second of council, Dixon being absent. The council read the record of the previous meeting and approved it. The Governor reported that the men employed at Banks went on with the work cheerfully, and that he had ordered the carpenter to make a number of wheelbarrows and hand barrows, which would be easier for the labourers than carrying the stones on their shoulders. He further reported that the longboat had landed three barges of lime at Banks. Several of those who had purchased at the auction of the estate of the late John Goodwin attended that day to pay for their purchases. Mr John Desfountain, £2 0s 0d Mr John Bagot, £45 6s 7d Doctor John Clarke, £3 12s 6d Mr Samuel Doveton, £314 15s 0d Mr Richard Gurling, £92 16s 7d Mr Benjamin Pledger, £11 6s 0d Mr Frances Wrangham, £94 11s 11d Total, £208 12s 6d Total, £763 14s 11d The two hundred and four pounds and sevenpence halfpenny of that sum was upon account of a purchase of lands Wrangham had made of the late Goodwin in his lifetime, as appeared by an account current between Goodwin and Wrangham. It likewise appeared that Wrangham had paid Goodwin £45 19s 4d of the purchase, and the sum of £204 0s 7d was the balance, which he paid that day. The council therefore gave him the following bill of sale for the land. The council declared that the Governor and council of the island of St Helena, by the power and authority given them by the Company, [...]. Interpretations The provision of wheelbarrows and hand barrows for the fortification work shows a practical concern for the efficiency of labour on the defensive works. By having the carpenter build barrows to replace the carrying of stones on men's shoulders, the Governor eased the burden on the labourers and quickened the work, a small but telling detail of how the push to complete the defences was managed. The note that the men worked cheerfully, set beside this improvement, reflects the council's interest in keeping the urgent fortification effort moving smoothly. The settlement of Wrangham's account reveals how a land purchase begun under one governor was completed under another after the seller's death. Wrangham had bought land from Goodwin in his lifetime, paid part and owed a balance, which he now discharged to the estate through the council, receiving a formal bill of sale to secure his title. The transaction shows how the death of a proprietor left unfinished private dealings to be settled through the estate, with the council standing in to complete the transfer and guarantee the buyer's ownership. A bill of sale was the formal legal document transferring ownership of property from seller to buyer, so the council's grant of one to Wrangham gave him secure written title to the land he had purchased, completing a transaction left hanging by Goodwin's death and protecting the buyer's claim to the ground. | |
67 | Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies to make Sale of such Part or Parts of the Estate of the Deceasd John Godwin Esqr late their Servant at this Island as will be sufficient to Answer and made good such a sum of Money as it hath appeared the Late John Godwin Esqr hath embezzled of the Property or belonging to the Estate of the said Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Have for and in Consideration of the sum of Two hundred and four Pounds and Seven Pence Halfpenny of good and Current Money of the said Island Have Given Granted Bargained Sold and Delivered and do by these Presents Give Grant Bargain Sale and Deliver unto Francis Wrangham Senior of the said Island Planter All these Piece or parcels of Land containing in Wenholt 32 Acres and half of an Acre that is to say Twenty One Acres and half thereof scituate in the West Division of the said Island Butting and Bounding West on the Honourable Companys Pasture Lands East upon the Lands of Martin Harper South and West upon the Lands of Captain John Alexander Deceased East upon the Lands of Simon Whitby Orphans and upon the North to the main Ridge the other One Acre thereof scituate in the said South Division Butting and Bounding West upon the Lands of the said Frances Wrangham East upon the Lands of Joseph Puddings Orphans South upon the Land of John Bagley and upon the North to the Main Ridge with all and singular the Rights Priviledges Commodityes and Appurtenances thereunto belonging unto Appertaining To have and to hold the said hereby Bargained premises to him the said Frances Wrangham his heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns for ever to do and Dispose thereof as he they or either of them shall think fit or proper Upon Condition that he the said Frances Wrangham his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns shall and do bear true Faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs and Successors and to them the said Honourable Company and their Successors and shall duly Observe and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And we the Governour and Council of the Island aforesaid for and in Sale of and in the Name of the said Honourable Company their Heirs and Successors to Covenant Promise and agree to and with the said Frances Wrangham his heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns that he they and every of them shall peaceably and Quietly possess and Enjoy from henceforth and at all times hereafter all and every part and parcell thereof Yeilding and paying therefor Yearly and every Year unto them the said Honourable Company and their Successors Agents and Assigns the same of One Shilling of Acre in aternupon the Feast of St Michael the Arkangel Yearly together with all and singular the Rights Priviledges Commodityes and Appurtenances thereunto belonging or Appertaining without the Let hindrance or Molestation or Disturbance by of or from the Honourable Company or their Successors or of from by or under any other Person or Persons Whatsoever by our or their Means Consent Privity or Procurement In Witness whereof We the Governour and Council for the time being have hereunto set our Hands and Affixed the Seal of the said Honourable | The bill of sale recorded that the Company, empowered to sell any part of the estate of the late John Goodwin, its servant at the island, so far as would be sufficient to answer and make good the sums that the late Goodwin appeared to have embezzled of the property belonging to the estate of the Company, in consideration of the sum of £204 0s 7d of good and current money of the island, had granted, bargained, sold and delivered to Frances Wrangham senior, a planter of the island, all those pieces or parcels of land in Rupert's, containing 22 and a half acres, more or less, that is to say 21 acres and a half thereof situated in the west division of the island, butting and bounding west on the Company's pasture lands, east on the lands of Martin Harper, south and west on the lands of the late Captain John Alexander, east on the lands of Simon Whaley's orphans, and on the north to the main ridge, the other acre being situated in the said south division, butting and bounding west on the lands of the said Frances Wrangham, east on the lands of Joseph Puddings orphans, south on the land of John Bagley, and on the north to the main ridge, with all the rights, privileges, commodities and appurtenances belonging to it. Wrangham, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns were to hold and dispose of the land as they thought fit, on condition that Wrangham and his heirs bear true faith and allegiance to the King, George, his heirs and successors, and to the Company and its successors, and duly observe and obey the laws and constitution of the island. The Governor and council, in the name of the Company and its successors, covenanted, promised and agreed with Wrangham and his heirs that he should peaceably and quietly possess and enjoy the land from then on, yielding and paying yearly to the Company a rent of one shilling an acre on 25 March, together with all the rights, privileges, commodities and appurtenances belonging to it, without any hindrance from the Company or its successors, or from any other person by their means, contrivance or procurement. In witness of this the Governor and council for the time being set their hands and affixed the seal of the [...]. Interpretations This bill of sale sets out in full the mixed tenure by which land was held at the island, combining outright purchase with a continuing feudal obligation to the Company. Wrangham bought the land for a lump sum yet still owed an annual quit rent of a shilling an acre and had to swear allegiance to both King and Company, so ownership carried perpetual duties rather than absolute freedom. The document reveals how the Company retained a lasting hold over even sold land, drawing a steady rent and binding every landholder to its authority and to the crown. The detailed boundaries defined by neighbouring landholders show how the island's parcels were mapped against one another and against natural features in the absence of formal survey. The land was described by reference to the plots of Martin Harper, the late Captain Alexander, Simon Whaley's orphans and others, running up to the main ridge, so title depended on the known holdings of adjoining settlers. The method reveals a landscape divided among a settled community whose parcels were fixed by neighbourly reference and the island's topography rather than by measured coordinates. A quit rent was a fixed annual payment by which a landholder was freed from other feudal services, so the shilling an acre Wrangham owed each year, though small, marked the Company's continuing superior ownership of land it had nominally sold, the rent standing as the perpetual token of the tenant's subordination to the Company as ultimate proprietor. | |
68 | Honourable Company this Twenty fourth Day of August in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty Two G G Powell Esqr John Godfrey C Dixon The above Sume of £204 7½ for the within stipulated 32¼ Acres of Land is part of the Purchase Money for the said Land to the said Frances Wrangham having Contracted with the late John Godwin Esqr by the Virtue of £204 in Consideration of his having Wenholt 14 Acres of Leased Land and the other Land being £145 19 4½ he to Mr Wrangham Paid to John Godwin Esqr in his life time as will appear P his Account Current C Dixon Secky Mr Samuel Doveton having Purchasd Land at the Outcry for which he now Pays, Included in the above Sume of £314 15s We Likewise gave him the Following Bill of Sale Vizt Know all Men by these Presents that We the Governour and Council of the Island St Helena do by Virtue of Power and Authority given us by the Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies to make Sale of such part or parts of the Estate of the Deceasd John Godwin Esqr late their Servant at this Island as well be Sufficient to Answer & to make good such a sume of Money as it hath appeared the Colt John Godwin Esqr hath Embezzled of the Property or belonging to the Estate of the said Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Have for and in Consideration of the sume of Two hundred and Ninety five pounds of good and Current Money of the said Island Have Given Granted Bargained Sold and Delivered and do by these Presents Give Grant Bargain Sale and Deliver unto Samuel Doveton of this Island Planter his heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns All these Piece or Parcell of Land Containing Twenty four Acres Butting and bounding North upon the Pasture Land of the Honourable Company East partly upon the Lands of George Gabriel Powell Esqr and partly upon the Lands of James Powell North upon the Lands of Simon Whitton and South upon the Lands of James Powell with all and singular the Rights Priviledges Commodityes and Appurtenances thereto belonging or Appertaining To have and to hold the said hereby Bargained premises to him the said Samuel Doveton his heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns for ever to do and Dispose thereof as he they or other of them shall think fit or Proper Upon Condition that he the said Samuel Doveton his heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George his heirs and Successors and to them the said Honourable Company | The bill of sale to Wrangham was dated at the island on 24 August 1742, and signed by George Gabriel Powell, John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. A note recorded that the sum of £204 0s 7d was for the 22 and a half acres of land, part of the purchase money for the land Wrangham had contracted for with the late Goodwin at the rate of £250 in consideration of his having previously bought 14 acres of lease land, the other 8 and a half acres being lease land. Wrangham had paid £45 19s 4d to Goodwin in his lifetime, as appeared by an account current. The note was signed by Christopher Dixon, secretary. Samuel Doveton, having purchased land at the auction for which he now paid, included in the sum of £314 15s 0d, was given the following bill of sale. The council declared that the Governor and council of the island of St Helena, by the power and authority given them by the Company to sell any part of the estate of the late John Goodwin, its servant at the island, so far as would be sufficient to answer and make good the sum that the late Goodwin appeared to have embezzled of the property belonging to the estate of the Company, in consideration of the sum of £295 of good and current money of the island, had granted, bargained, sold and delivered to Samuel Doveton, a planter of the island, all those pieces or parcels of land containing 24 acres, butting and bounding west upon the pasture land of the Company, east partly upon the lands of George Gabriel Powell and partly upon the lands of James Powell, north upon the lands of Simon Whaley, and south upon the lands of James Powell, with all the rights, privileges, commodities and appurtenances belonging to it. Doveton, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns were to hold and dispose of the land as they thought fit, on condition that Doveton and his heirs bear true faith and allegiance to the King, George, his heirs and successors, and to the Company. Interpretations The note on Wrangham's purchase clarifies the tangled character of the transaction, in which sold freehold and existing leasehold were combined in a single deal begun before the seller's death. Of the 22 and a half acres, part was land Wrangham had contracted to buy from Goodwin and part was lease land he already held, with a portion of the price paid in Goodwin's lifetime and the balance now settled. The detail shows how private land dealings on the island mixed different forms of tenure and could remain half-completed for years until a death forced their final reckoning. The bill of sale to Doveton repeats the same formula of qualified ownership seen in Wrangham's grant, transferring land for a substantial sum while binding the buyer to allegiance and to the Company's superior title. The two consecutive sales show the council systematically converting Goodwin's estate into cash to answer the sums he had embezzled, each parcel passing to a settler under identical terms. The repetition reveals the standardised legal machinery by which the Company disposed of land and secured both revenue and continuing authority over every holding. The repeated statement that the sales were to make good sums Goodwin appeared to have embezzled shows the whole disposal of his estate driven by the need to recover the Company's losses, so the land passing to Wrangham and Doveton served not merely to settle a dead man's affairs but to repay the Company for the property its deputy governor had taken. | |
69 | Company and their Successors and shall duly Observe and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And We the Governour and Council of the Island aforesaid for and in behalf and in the Name of the Honourable Company their Heirs and Successors Do Covenant Promised and agree to and with him the said Samuel Doveton his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns that he they and every of them shall Peaceably and Quietly possess and Enjoy from henceforth and at all times hereafter all and every part and parcell thereof Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents and Assigns the sume of One Shilling P Acre in aternupon the Feast of St Michael the Arkangel Yearly together with all and singular the Rights Priviledges Commodityes and Appurtenances thereunto belonging or Appertaining without any Let hindrance Molestation or Disturbance by of or from the said Honourable Company or their Successors or of from by or under any other Person or Persons whatsoever by our or their means Consent Privity or Procurement In Witness whereof we the Governour and Council for the time being have hereunto Set our Hands and Affixed the Seal of the said Honourable Company the Seventh Day of September in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred and Forty two G G Powell Esqr John Godfrey C Dixon We are still Employed in taking the Inventory of the Stores G G Powell John Godfrey | Doveton and his heirs were to observe and obey all the laws and constitution of the island. The Governor and council, in the name of the Company and its successors, covenanted, promised and agreed with Doveton and his heirs that he should peaceably and quietly possess and enjoy every part of the land from then on, yielding and paying yearly to the Company a rent of one shilling an acre on the feast of St Michael the Archangel, together with all the rights, privileges, commodities and appurtenances belonging to it, without any hindrance from the Company or its successors, or from any other person by their means, consent, contrivance or procurement. In witness of this the Governor and council for the time being set their hands and affixed the seal of the Company. The bill of sale was dated 7 September 1742 and signed by George Gabriel Powell, John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. The council was still employed in taking the inventory of the stores. The entry was signed by George Gabriel Powell and John Godfrey. Interpretations The bill of sale to Doveton confirms the standard terms on which the Company parted with land, the annual quit rent of a shilling an acre now fixed to Michaelmas, one of the traditional quarter days for such payments. The choice of the feast of St Michael as the rent day ties the island's landholding to the customary English calendar of tenurial obligations, showing how the forms of home were carried to the settlement. The recurrence of identical terms across the estate sales marks the settled legal pattern by which every parcel was held of the Company. The repeated note that the council remained occupied with the inventory of the stores shows how long and laborious the reckoning of the establishment's goods proved. The stores had been shut expressly so that a clean count could be taken, and the task still continued across successive meetings, revealing the scale of the accounting the council had undertaken to satisfy the Company's demand for regular books. The persistence of the work marks the seriousness with which the council pursued the audit that the long failure to close the accounts had made necessary. Michaelmas, the feast of St Michael the Archangel on 29 September, was one of the quarter days on which rents traditionally fell due in England, so fixing Doveton's quit rent to that day rooted the island's land tenure in the customary English calendar by which such periodic payments were reckoned and collected. | |
70 | At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 31 August 1742 at the Castle Present George Gabriel Powell Esqr Governour John Godfrey 2d of Council Christopher Dixon 3d of Council The Last Consultation was Read and approved The Governour Reports that he hath seriously Considered the State of the Hospital and Compaid the Moneys Rising thence with the Quantity of provisions sent thither And that he finds they bear no proportion one with the other, for in the Months of May and June there was Collected only the sume of £13 13s 0d as appears Particularly P Pay Master Account in Consultation of 27 July 1742 last Whereas the provisions expended at the Hospital in them two Months amounted to £34 0s 0d So that the loss to our Honourable Masters in the Twelve month will be very Considerable And as it is for us both duty bound to lessen the Present Dead Expence of the Island and bring the same into as narrow bound as the Increase of Garrison and other late Circumstances will Allow to therefore his humbly submitted whether it is not most Adviseable to take our Masters of this Dead Charge and put it upon our self and all others their Servants who receive Sallarys upon this Island in so light proportion that no One shall feel it and yet in the whole be amply Sufficient to Support the Hospital Vizt Sixpence P Meneers from each Man Stopped for the Maintenance thereof Agreed That there be Sixpence P Meneem Stopped out every Mans Pay who Receives a Sallary from the Honourable Company towards the Support of the Hospital to Commence the first Day of next Quarter We this Day Executed a Lease to Francis Junge agreeable to the Prayer of his Petition Entred in Consultation of 10th August 1742, for 21 Years Ensuing Vizt The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto Francis Junge Senior of the said Island All that Piece or parcell of Land containing Fifteen Acres Scituate | At a consultation held on Tuesday 31 August 1742 at the Castle, Governor George Gabriel Powell sat with John Godfrey as second of council and Christopher Dixon as third of council. The council read the record of the previous meeting and approved it. The Governor reported that he had seriously considered the state of the hospital and compared the money arising from it with the quantity of provisions sent there, and found they bore no proportion to one another. In the months of May and June only the sum of £13 13s 0d had been collected, as appeared in the paymaster's account of 27 July, whereas the provisions expended at the hospital in those two months amounted to £34 0s 0d, so that the loss to the Company over the twelvemonth would be very considerable. The Governor held it his duty to lessen the present expense of the island and bring it within as narrow bounds as the increase of the garrison and other recent circumstances would allow. He therefore submitted whether it was not most advisable to take the dead charge upon the council and all others who received salary, in proportion so light that no one should feel it, and yet in the whole be amply sufficient to support the hospital, namely sixpence per month stopped from each man for the maintenance of it. The council agreed that sixpence per month be stopped out of every man's pay who received a salary from the Company towards the support of the hospital, to commence the first day of the following quarter. The council that day executed a lease to Frances Junge, in accordance with the prayer of his petition entered in the meeting of 10 August 1742, for the twenty-one years following. The Company, as lords proprietors of the island, granted and let to farm to Frances Junge senior, all that piece or parcel of land at the island containing fifteen acres, situated [...]. Interpretations The Governor's analysis of the hospital accounts exposes a structural deficit that the council moved to close by a small universal levy. With provisions costing more than twice the sums collected, the Governor devised a monthly stoppage of sixpence from every salaried man, spreading the burden so thinly that none would feel it while covering the shortfall in the aggregate. The scheme reveals a practical approach to institutional finance, funding a common service through a modest deduction from all who might use it rather than leaving the Company to bear the loss. The lease to Junge confirms the Company's formal style as lords proprietors of the island, the legal foundation of its authority to grant land. By letting fifteen acres to farm for a term of twenty-one years, the Company exercised its proprietary right to parcel out territory for cultivation while retaining ultimate ownership, exactly as in the bills of sale that accompanied it. The grant shows the routine leasing by which the Company settled cultivators on its land and drew rent from the ground it held. Lords proprietors was the title marking the Company's position as the ultimate owner of the whole island, holding it by grant from the crown, so every lease and sale flowed from that proprietary authority, the Company standing as landlord of the entire settlement from which all lesser tenures derived. | |
71 | scituate lying and being in the West Division of the said Island Butting and Bounding North East South and West every way upon the said Honourable Companys Waste Land To have and to hold the said Thirty Demised parcell of Land and every part and parcell thereof together with all and singular the Wood Water Water Courses Houses Buildings Edifices Sheds Feicments Yams and Plantation of Yams Fruit Trees Walks Fences and all other and singular the Rights Commodityes to them and each and every of them belonging or Appertaining unto him the said Frances Junge his heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the Day of the Date hereof for and During all the space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition that he the said Frances Junge his heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs and Successors and to them the said Honourable Company and their Successors and shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island and upon Condition also that he the said Frances Junge his heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter during the Term of this Present Lease, keep up and Maintain in good Order and Sufficient and Legal repair all such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be and be Built or Erected thereon and shall moreover Plant keep up maintain and Preserve in and upon the said hereby Demised Parcell of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being One Tenth part of the said Parcell of Land and shall likewise Plant and preserve Furze with in side and without the Fences of the said Parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemmon Mulberry or Peach Trees in such Parts thereof wherein they are most likely to grow and if they shall happen to Decay or Dye shall replant others of the like sorts thereon without Further prejudice Nevertheless to any Part of such Land as shall be set apart for the better purpose of Planting and raising of Yams Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year During the Term of this Present Lease unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the sume of five Shillings P Acre in at our upon the Feast of St Michael the Arkangel yearly And upon further Condition hath he the said Frances Junge his heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limitts or land marks of the parcell of Land aforesaid And shall not sell or Dispose of this Grant or Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In Witness whereof they the said Honourable United East India Company have hereunto Affixed their Common Seal at their Union Castle in James Valley this 31 Day of August in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty two And he the said Frances Junge to the other Part of their Presents hath set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year abovewritten G G Powell Esqr John Godfrey C Dixon | The land lay in the west division of the island, butting and bounding north, east, south and west every way upon the Company's waste land. Junge, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns were to hold the fifteen acres and every part of it, together with the wood, water, watercourses, houses, buildings, edifices, sheds, tenements, yams and plantation of yams, fruit trees, walks, fences and all other rights and commodities belonging to it, from the date of the lease and for the term of twenty-one years following, on the following conditions. Junge and his heirs were to bear true faith and allegiance to the King, George, his heirs and successors, and to the Company and its successors, and duly obey all the laws and constitution of the island. Junge and his heirs were also from time to time and at all times during the term of the lease to keep up and maintain in good order and sufficient and legal repair all such buildings, houses, edifices, sheds, tenements, plantations and fences as were then or thereafter built or erected on the land. He was moreover to plant, keep up, maintain and preserve in and upon the land its full quantity or proportion of wood, being one tenth part of the parcel of land, and was likewise to plant and preserve furze within the fences of the parcel, and to plant fruit trees such as apple, lemon, mulberry or peach trees in such parts as they were most likely to grow. If any of these should decay or die, he was to replant others of the like sorts without further prejudice, though he might set apart any part of the land for the better purpose of planting and raising yams. Junge was to yield and pay yearly to the Company during the term of the lease the sum of five shillings on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. On the further condition that Junge and his heirs should not alter or remove the fences being the limits or landmarks of the parcel of land, and should not sell or dispose of the lease or interest in it without the leave and consent of the Governor and council for the time being. In witness of this the Company affixed its common seal at the Union Castle in James Valley. The lease was dated 31 August 1742 and signed by George Gabriel Powell, John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. Interpretations The lease to Junge reveals the detailed obligations the Company imposed on its tenants to improve and sustain the land, going far beyond the mere payment of rent. The tenant was bound to maintain a tenth of the parcel in woodland, plant furze, and grow named fruit trees, replacing any that died, which shows the Company using its leases to enforce cultivation, timber conservation and orchard planting on a treeless island. The conditions reveal a landlord actively directing land use to secure wood, fruit and food supply rather than passively collecting rent. The requirement to preserve wood and plant trees addresses the island's chronic scarcity of timber and its dependence on cultivation for provisions. By compelling every leaseholder to keep a tenth of his ground in wood and to raise apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees, the Company sought to counter deforestation and build up the fruit supply that guarded against scurvy. The lease shows environmental and provisioning policy enforced through the terms of tenure, each tenant made responsible for sustaining the island's scarce resources. The prohibition on selling or subletting the lease without the council's consent, and on moving the boundary fences, shows the Company keeping tight control over the transfer and definition of its land. By reserving the right to approve any assignment and fixing the fences as permanent landmarks, the Company prevented uncontrolled dealing in its territory and preserved the integrity of each parcel, so that landholding remained subject to its oversight even during a long lease. | |
72 | The following Persons this Day paid the Money for their several Purchases at the Publick Auction of the Estate of the Late John Godwin Esqr Vizt Mr John Godwin £132 1s 10d Mr Thos Bazett 4 14s 9d Mrs Margaret Godwin 85 0s 0d Mr John Leach 20 5s 0d Mr G G Powell for the Purchase of Frances Living 242 1s 7d 205 0s 0d 447 1s 7d The Governour Reports That the Fortification at Banks's are Carried on with all the Expedition Possible But the Mortality that hath and Sickness that still doth reign amongst the Honourable Companys Slaves is a great Disappointment there being at this time only four employed thereat Besides the Difficulty of getting the Planters Blacks to the Work through the same Distempers Raging in almost every Family that were it not for the Assistance of the Soldiers who thank God hold up tolerably well We Should be Obliged to break off from Work We this Day executed a Lease to Mr John Godwin for three Acres of Land which he Purchased at the Publick Sale of his Fathers Effects and is paid for in the above Sume of £132 1s 10d Vizt The Lords Proprietors of this Island The Honourable The United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto John Godwin of the said Island Planter All that Piece or Parcell of Land containing Three Acres Scituate in the South Division of this Island butting and bounding South upon the Lands of Charles Steward North East and West upon the Lands of the Heirs of James Craufford Deceased To have and to Hold the said hereby Demised Parcell of Land and every part and parcell thereof together with all and singular the Wood Water Courses Houses Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walks Fences and all other and singular the Rights Commodityes to them and each and every of them belonging or Appertaining unto him the said John Godwin his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the Day of the Date hereof for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition that he the said John Godwin his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do to bear True faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs and Successors And | The following persons paid the money for their several purchases at the auction of the estate of the late John Goodwin that day. Mr John Goodwin, £132 1s 10d Mr Thos Bazett, £4 14s 9d Mrs Margaret Goodwin, £85 0s 0d Mr John Leach, £20 5s 0d Mr George Gabriel Powell, for the purchase of Frances Living, £242 1s 7d Frances Living, £205 0s 0d Total, £447 1s 7d The Governor reported that the fortifications at Banks were carried on with all the expedition possible, but that the mortality and sickness still raging among the Company's slaves was a great disappointment, there being at that time only four employed at the work. Besides the difficulty of getting the planters' slaves to the work, the same distemper raged in almost every family, and were it not for the assistance of the soldiers, who, thank God, held up tolerably well, the council would have been obliged to break off the work. The council that day executed a lease to John Goodwin for three acres of land, which he had purchased at the auction of his father's effects and had paid for in the above sum of £132 1s 10d. The Company, as lords proprietors of the island, granted and let to farm to John Goodwin, a planter of the island, all that piece or parcel of land containing three acres, situated in the south division of the island, butting and bounding south upon the lands of Charles Steward, north, east and west upon the lands of the heirs of the late James Crawford. Goodwin, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns were to hold the three acres and every part of it, together with the wood, water, watercourses, houses, buildings, edifices, sheds, tenements, yams and plantation of yams, fruit trees, walks, fences and all other rights and commodities belonging to it, from the date of the lease and for the term of twenty-one years following, on condition that Goodwin and his heirs bear true faith and allegiance to the King, George, his heirs and successors. Interpretations The Governor's report shows the epidemic among the slaves now critically undermining the fortification work at the very moment war made it most urgent. With only four slaves fit to labour at Banks, the distemper raging through nearly every household, and the planters reluctant to send their own slaves, the defensive effort survived only on the soldiers who had so far escaped the sickness. The passage reveals how completely the island's public works depended on enslaved labour, and how a single epidemic could bring an urgent military project to the brink of collapse. The lease of three acres to John Goodwin shows a son buying and then holding on lease a portion of his own father's estate, the land sold to answer the father's debts and now let back to the family under the Company's standard terms. The transaction reveals the peculiar position of the dead deputy governor's heirs, obliged to purchase at auction and pay quit rent for ground that had lately been their father's, because his defalcations required the estate to be sold. The episode marks how the recovery of the Company's losses overrode any claim of inheritance. That the fortification survived only through the labour of the soldiers, the slaves being struck down, shows the garrison itself pressed into the heavy construction work that enslaved hands normally performed, so the approaching war and the epidemic together forced the island's defenders to build the very defences they would man. Speculations The council kept the fortification at Banks going with soldiers rather than halt the work until the epidemic among the slaves passed. The obvious course, with only four slaves fit to labour and the distemper raging through every household, was to break off until the enslaved workforce recovered, and the Governor acknowledged the council would have been forced to do so but for the soldiers holding up. Judging the defensive works too urgent to suspend in a time of war, the council instead set the healthy soldiers to the heavy carrying and building that slaves normally did, choosing to press its own garrison into construction rather than leave the island's defences unfinished while it waited out the sickness. | |
73 | And to them the said Honourable Company and their Successors and shall duly Observe and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island and Upon Condition also that he the said John Godwin his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter during the Term of this Lease keep up and Maintain in good Order and Sufficient and Legal repair All such Building Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon and shall moreover Plant keep up maintain and Preserve in and upon the said hereby Demised Parcell of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being one Tenth part of the said Parcell of Land and shall Likewise Plant and preserve Furze within side and without the Fences of the said Parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to grow and as they shall happen to Decay or Dye shall Replant other of the like sorts thereon without heart or Prejudice Nevertheless to any Part of such Land as shall be set apart for the sole Purpose of Planting and raising of Yams Yeilding and Paying therefore yearly and every Year during the Term of this Present Lease unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the same of Five Shillings P Acre in at or upon the Feast of St Michael the Arkangel yearly And upon further Condition that he the said John Godwin his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limitts or Land marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid and shall not sell or Dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In Witness whereof they the said Honourable United East India Company have hereunto Affixed their Common Seal at their Union Castle in James Valley the Seventh day of September in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty two and the said John Godwin to the Other part of these Presents hath set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year Abovewritten G G Powell Esqr John Godfrey C Dixon We this Day Executed a Lease to Mr Nathan Sample Agreeable to the Prayer of his Petition Delivered in Consultation of 10th August 1742 Vizt The Lords Proprietors of this Island The Honourable The United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby | Goodwin and his heirs were to observe and obey all the laws and constitution of the island. On the further condition that Goodwin and his heirs, from time to time and at all times during the term of the lease, keep up and maintain in good order and sufficient and legal repair all such buildings, houses, edifices, sheds, tenements, plantations and fences as were then or thereafter built or erected on the land. He was moreover to plant, keep up, maintain and preserve in and upon the land its full quantity or proportion of wood, being one tenth part of the parcel of land, and was likewise to plant and preserve furze within and about the fences of the parcel, and to plant fruit trees such as apple, lemon, mulberry or peach trees in such parts as they were most likely to grow. If any of these should decay or die, he was to replant others of the like sorts without hurt or prejudice, though he might set apart any part of the land for the better purpose of planting and raising yams. Goodwin was to yield and pay yearly to the Company during the term of the lease the sum of five shillings an acre on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. On the further condition that Goodwin and his heirs should not alter or remove the fences being the limits or landmarks of the parcel of land, and should not sell or dispose of the lease or interest in it without the leave and consent of the Governor and council for the time being. In witness of this the Company affixed its common seal at the Union Castle in James Valley. The lease was dated 7 September 1742 and signed by George Gabriel Powell, John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. The council that day executed a lease to Nathan Sample, in accordance with the prayer of his petition entered in the meeting of 10 August 1742. The Company, as lords proprietors of the island, granted and let to farm [...]. Interpretations The lease to Goodwin repeats in full the standard conditions binding every leaseholder to maintain his buildings, preserve a tenth of the ground in wood, plant furze and raise named fruit trees. The uniform imposition of these obligations across successive leases shows the Company applying a consistent policy of enforced improvement and conservation to all its land, each tenant made responsible for sustaining timber, fruit and yam cultivation. The repetition confirms that these were settled standard terms rather than provisions negotiated for particular tenants. The higher rent of five shillings an acre on the leases, against the shilling an acre quit rent reserved on the outright sales, marks the difference between leasehold and freehold tenure. A leaseholder paid substantially more each year for the use of land he did not own, while a purchaser paid a token quit rent acknowledging the Company's superior title, so the two forms of tenure carried very different annual burdens. The distinction reveals the financial logic separating the sale of land from its lease. The consistent inclusion of yams among the rights conveyed and the express permission to set aside ground for raising them shows how central yam cultivation remained to every landholding, the crop written into the very terms of tenure as the staple the island most depended upon for feeding its population. | |
74 | Hereby Grant Sett and to farm Lett unto Nathan Sample of the said Island All these Piece or Parcell of Ground Lying in James Valley scituate between the Houses of Richard Mason and George Knight Deceased containing fifty foot in the Front and Sixty foot in the Length in Depth together with all and singular the Messuage or Tenement now Built or Erected by the said Nathan Sample together with all and singular the Cellars Chambers Rooms Ways Entrys Backsides Houses Buildings Easements Profits Commodityes and Appurtenances whatsoever which now to or which hereafter shall belong unto the said Ground Messuage or Tenement or shall in any wise hereunto Appertain To have and to Hold the said hereby Demised Premises and every Part and Parcell thereof and all and singular the Appurtenances thereunto belonging unto him the said Nathan Sample his heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the Day of the Date of these Presents for and During all the space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition that he the said Nathan Sample his heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true Faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George his heirs and Successors and to them the said Honourable Company and their Successors and shall Duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition also that he the said Nathan Sample his heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do at the End or Determination of this Present Lease Leave Yeild up & surrender in good Order and repair unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns all such Buildings or Edifices which shall hereafter be Built or Erected in or upon the said Parcell of Ground with all and singular the Appurtenances thereunto belonging or Appertaining Yeilding and Paying therefore yearly and every Year during the Term of this Present Lease unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the sume of Two Shillings and Sixpence in at or upon the Feast of St Michael the Arch Angel yearly And upon further Condition that he the said Nathan Sample his heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not Sell or Dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In Witness whereof they the said Honourable United East India Company have hereunto Affixed their Common Seal at their Union Castle in James Valley this Seventh Day of September in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred and Forty two and he the said Nathan Sample to the other Part of these Presents hath set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year Abovewritten G G Powell Esqr John Godfrey C Dixon The through the Honourable Companys Cash we this same Amounts £3739 19 1 and in Money and Species in the Treasury Vault Sd The Cash having not been opened since this late Company, For the moneys arriving P Mr Godwins Sale we keep Seperate designing to pay it in next month Particularying the Species in our next Cash Account G G Powell John Godfrey C Dixon | The Company, as lords proprietors of the island, granted and let to farm to Nathan Sample, a planter of the island, all that piece or parcel of ground lying in James Valley, situated between the houses of Richard Mason and the late George Knight, containing fifty feet in the front and sixty feet in length or depth, together with the messuage or tenement then built or erected by Sample, and with all the cellars, chambers, rooms, ways, entries, outhouses, houses, buildings, easements, profits, commodities and appurtenances belonging to it, or which should thereafter belong to the ground, messuage or tenement. Sample, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns were to hold the ground and every part of it, together with all the appurtenances belonging to it, from the date of the lease and for the term of twenty-one years following, on condition that Sample and his heirs bear true faith and allegiance to the King, George, his heirs and successors, and to the Company and its successors, and duly obey all the laws and constitution of the island. On the further condition that Sample and his heirs, at the end or determination of the lease, surrender in good order and repair all such buildings or edifices as should thereafter be built or erected on the parcel of ground, with all the appurtenances belonging to it. Sample was to yield and pay yearly to the Company during the term of the lease the sum of two shillings and sixpence on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. On the further condition that Sample and his heirs should not sell or dispose of the lease or interest in it without the leave and consent of the Governor and council for the time being. In witness of this the Company affixed its common seal at the Union Castle in James Valley. The lease was dated 7 September 1742 and signed by George Gabriel Powell, John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. Those of the Company's servants who purchased at the auction paid in sums amounting to £2,737 19s 1d, and there being little money on the island save what belonged to the Company, and the whole having been received into the Company's stock, the council kept the money arising from Goodwin's sale separate, designing to pay it in the next month, the particulars carried in the next cash account. The entry was signed by George Gabriel Powell and John Godfrey. Interpretations The lease to Sample differs from the agricultural leases in being a grant of a building plot in the town of James Valley rather than farmland, measured in feet rather than acres. The parcel was defined by its frontage and depth between named neighbouring houses, and the conditions concern the upkeep and surrender of buildings rather than the planting of wood and fruit, so this lease reveals the Company managing urban ground for housing as distinct from rural land for cultivation. The lower rent and the absence of planting obligations mark the different character of a town plot. The note on the proceeds of the sale exposes how little coin circulated on the island independent of the Company. Nearly the whole £2,737 raised came back into the Company's own stock because there was scarcely any money on the island save what belonged to the Company, so the sale largely moved funds within the Company's own accounts rather than drawing in outside wealth. The decision to keep Goodwin's proceeds separate for later payment shows the careful segregation of this particular fund pending its proper reckoning. A messuage was a dwelling house together with its outbuildings and the ground immediately attached to it, so the grant to Sample of a messuage or tenement in James Valley conveyed a house and its curtilage in the settlement's town, the urban counterpart to the farmland leased elsewhere on the island. | |
75 | At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 7th Day of September 1742 at the Castle Present George Gabriel Powell Esqr Governour John Godfrey 2d of Council Christopher Dixon 3d of Council The Last Consultation was Read and approved The Governour Reports that the Labor End of last Week One of the Honourable Companys Calfs but three Days Old was Stolen from the Great Wood and that upon Strict Enquiry he has found that the Thieves were two Slave Wenches One belonging to Mr Joseph Desfountain who has Confessd it and the other belonging to Mr Matthew Mudge As seems they killt the Calf and Eatit It is an Old and Settled Custom in this Island that when any Planters Slave Elops from his Master and Rob from any other Planter that the Master of such Robber make Satisfaction to the person who is Robbed The meaning and Intention of this Old Custom is That the Owners of such Slaves who run away and Skulk from Place to Place in the Rocks and come thence every Night and Rob the Neighbourhood, May be the more Industrious in hunting after them to prevent their doing but as little Mischief as may be Therefore we Agree that the Owners of these Slaves who so lately Robbed the Company be Charged 30 Shillings for the Calf it being worth that And They Messrs Desfountain and Mudge were Acquainted with it who accordingly paid the Thirty Shilling This being the Month wherein People Usually Pay their Rent and Revenues and Deliver in an Exact Account of their Family Slaves Quantitys of Land and Cattle The Secretary was Ordered to Publish an Advertisement accordingly Directing the Inhabitants to Deliver their said Accounts On or before Monday the 20 Instant Ensuing Whereas a Jury was Impannell'd sometime Since as appears P Consultation of 4th of May 1742 Chiefly to settle and Determine a Dispute concerning | At a consultation held on Tuesday 7 September 1742 at the Castle, Governor George Gabriel Powell sat with John Godfrey as second of council and Christopher Dixon as third of council. The council read the record of the previous meeting and approved it. The Governor reported that the lower end of the last wood, one of the Company's calves, and three days' oil had been stolen from the great wood, and that on strict enquiry he had found the thieves to be two slave women, one belonging to Joseph Desfountain, who had confessed it, and the other to Matthew Mudge. It seemed they had killed the calf and eaten it. It was an old and settled custom on the island that when any planter's slave absconded from his master and stole from any other planter, the master of such robber made satisfaction to the person who was robbed. The meaning and intention of this old custom was that the owners of such slaves who ran away and skulked from place to place in the rocks, and came from there every night to rob the neighbourhood, might be the more industrious in hunting after them to prevent their doing but as little mischief as might be. The council therefore agreed that the owners of these slaves who had lately robbed the Company be charged thirty shillings for the calf, it being worth that. Desfountain and Mudge were acquainted with this, and accordingly paid the thirty shillings. That being the month when people usually paid their rent and revenues, and delivered in an exact account of their families, slaves, quantities of land and cattle, the secretary was ordered to publish an advertisement accordingly, directing the inhabitants to deliver their accounts on or before the following Monday, 20 September. A jury had been impanelled some time earlier, as appeared in the meeting of 4 May 1742, chiefly to settle and determine a dispute concerning [...]. Interpretations The theft by the two enslaved women and the council's response reveal a settled system of holding slave owners liable for the depredations of their absconding slaves. Rather than punish the women directly, the council charged their masters thirty shillings for the stolen calf, applying an old custom by which an owner made good the damage done by a runaway slave. The rule shows how the island managed the problem of slaves who fled to the rocks and raided the settlement by giving their owners a financial incentive to recapture them and limit their thefts. The reasoning behind the custom exposes the reality of enslaved people escaping into the island's rugged interior and surviving by nightly raids on the plantations. By making owners answerable for these losses, the community pressed them to hunt down their runaways, so the burden of controlling absconded slaves fell on their masters through their pockets. The passage reveals both the persistent resistance of the enslaved, who fled and sustained themselves by theft, and the collective mechanism by which the settlers sought to suppress it. The annual requirement that inhabitants deliver an exact account of their families, slaves, land and cattle shows the Company conducting a regular census of the island's population and resources, tied to the payment of rent, so the settlement's people and property were systematically recorded each year as the basis for its revenues and its knowledge of what the island held. Speculations The council chose to charge the owners of the two women for the stolen calf rather than punish the women themselves. The obvious response to theft was to penalise the thief, yet the council reached instead for the old custom of making masters answer for their runaways, judging that the way to curb slaves who fled to the rocks and raided by night was to give their owners a reason to hunt them down. By fixing the loss on Desfountain and Mudge at thirty shillings, the council enlisted the masters' self-interest in controlling their slaves, preferring a system that pressed owners to prevent future depredations over one that merely punished a theft already done. | |
76 | Concerning the Estate of James Craufford Deceased between the heirs and Bond Creditors on one part and John Bridghmson on the other Part But it happening much about that time that Mr Powell had the Misfortune of Breaking his Arm and Consequently not able to attend the Court Governour Lambert thought proper to defer the settling thereof till such time as he ought to better, who being now in good Measure recovered We therefore Agree to Summons the same Jury tomeet on Tuesday the 21 Instant Ensuing And The Secretary received Orders accordingly The following persons this Day Attended and paid for their several Purchases at the Publick Auction of the Estate of the Late John Godwin Esqr Vizt Mr Richard Beale £15 4s 8d Mr Thos Greentree 42 10s 10¼d Mrs Elizr Ryder 3 4s 0d Mr James Scott 2 19s 3d Mr Rd Mason in part 6 12s 6d Mr Richard Bagby 3 17s 0d £74 8s 3¼d We are likewise barefolt to receive as fast as we can the said Debts due to the late John Godwin Esqr And this Day received upon that Account of Mr Thos Greentree and Mrs Elizabeth Ryder their Ballances as appears in the Inventory of Mr Godwins Estate Vizt Mr Elizabeth Ryder £66 14s 7d Mr Thos Greentree 8 12s 0d £75 6s 7d The Governour Reports that he has Talked with Several of the Officers Soldiers and other Servants Concerning the New Regulation of the Hospital who have all Expressed entire Satisfaction thereat knowing it to be Infinitely more Commodious than for the Soldiery than upon the Old Establishment Resolved that for the better Conducting the Affairs of the Hospital and to prevent any Imposition A proper Person be made Choice of who shall Act as a Steward as well of the Money and Provisions as of the necessarys such as Quilted Banjans Caps Sheets Cotts &c and Render his Accounts to us Monthly And as an Encouragement | The dispute concerned the estate of the late James Crawford, between the heirs and bond creditors on one part and John Frighinson on the other. But it happening much about that time that Powell had the misfortune of breaking his arm and consequently was not able to attend the court, Governor Lambert thought proper to defer the settling of it until such time as the arm ought to be better. Powell being now in good measure recovered, the council agreed to summon the same jury for Tuesday 21 September. The secretary received orders accordingly. The following persons attended that day and paid for their several purchases at the auction of the estate of the late John Goodwin. Mr Richard Beale, £15 4s 8d Mr Thos Greentree, £12 10s 10d Mrs Eliz Ryder, £3 4s 0d Mr James Scott, £2 19s 3d Mr Richard Mason, in part, £6 12s 6d Mr Richard Bagley, £3 17s 0d Total, £74 8s 3d The council was likewise ready to receive, as fast as they could, the debts due to the late Goodwin, and that day received on that account, from Thomas Greentree and Elizabeth Ryder, their balances as appeared in the inventory of Goodwin's estate. Mrs Elizabeth Ryder, £66 14s 7d Mr Thos Greentree, £8 12s 0d Total, £75 6s 7d The Governor reported that he had talked with several of the officers, soldiers and other servants concerning the new regulation of the hospital, who had all expressed entire satisfaction with it, knowing it to be infinitely more commodious for the soldiers than the old establishment. The council resolved that, for the better conducting of the affairs of the hospital and to prevent any imposition, a proper person be chosen to act as steward, who should take charge of the money and provisions, as well as the necessaries such as quilted banyans, caps, sheets, cots and the like, and render his accounts true monthly, and as an encouragement [...]. Interpretations The deferral and revival of the Crawford estate dispute shows how the small size of the island's government left its judicial business hostage to the health of individual officers. Powell's broken arm alone had been enough to suspend a jury trial for months, since the council could not proceed without him, and the case waited until he recovered. The episode reveals the fragility of formal justice at a settlement where so few men held office that the incapacity of one could halt a court entirely. The reform of the hospital extends the council's earlier concern with its finances into its management, appointing a steward to control the money, provisions and stores and account for them monthly. The creation of this office to prevent imposition shows the council tightening oversight of a service that had been running at a loss, placing responsibility for its supplies and reckoning in a single accountable hand. The detailed list of necessaries the steward was to manage reveals the practical provision made for the sick, down to their bedding and clothing. A banyan was a loose gown or jacket, here quilted for warmth and provided to the sick in the hospital, so its inclusion among the necessaries the steward was to keep shows the hospital furnished patients with proper clothing as well as bedding, part of the material care given to the ill of the establishment. | |
77 | Encouragement to Exert himself some Small allowance be made him out of the Moneys Raised for the Support of the Hospital. That still a Corporal Guard and four Men mount at the Hospital to Prevent Rendavoueing and to keep peace and Quietness That the Doctor or his Mate visit the Hospital at least once a Day and take especial Care that Nothing be Omitted in their Way, Always Derishing the Steward in an Evening what Sustenance to provide for the Sick the next Day That an Ensign visit the Hospital every Morning whose Business is to see Whether the Nurses do their Duty in keeping the House and people Clean and Sweet, To enquire of the Sick whether they have any Room for Complaint either of the Doctors Physick and Attendance or Concerning the Steward whether he gives them their Bottls or other Victuals as Directed by the Doctor and a Sufficiency of it Or any thing Else that the Sick people may have to say and report the same to the Governour or in his Absence to the Senior Council punctually every Morning at 8 o'Clock During the time of the Shipping Governour Lambert being very much Engaged, and since then his Indisposition Prevented our Examining in Council the Usual Monthly Accounts which being this Day laid before us were severally Examined and proved and are as follows Vizt Expence of the General Table in the Month of May 104 Bottles of Lime £7 16s 0d 15 Bottles of Mountain £1 2s 6d 42 Bottles of Beer £2 0s 0d 54½ Gallons of Arrack £5 9s 0d 140 lb of Shugar £1 3s 4d 40 lb Sugar Candy £1 3s 4d 14 Casks of Flower £3 3s 10d 2 Bushells of Bay Salt £9s 5d 1 Pork of White Salt £5s 0d 5 Bottles of Oyl £0 12s 6d Carried over 23 5s 11d | As an encouragement to the steward to exert himself, some small allowance would be made him out of the moneys raised for the support of the hospital. The council resolved that a corporal's guard and four men mount at the hospital, to prevent rendezvousing and to keep peace and quietness. The council resolved that the doctor or his mate visit the hospital at least once every day, and take especial care that nothing be omitted in their way, always directing the steward in an evening what sustenance to provide for the sick the following day. The council resolved that an ensign visit the hospital every morning, whose business was to see whether the nurses did their duty in keeping the house and people clean and sweet, to enquire of the sick whether they had any room for complaint either of the doctor's physic and attendance, or concerning the steward, whether he gave them their broth or other victuals as directed by the doctor and a sufficiency of it, or anything else that the sick people might have to say, and report the same to the Governor, or in his absence to the senior council, punctually every morning at eight. During the time of the shipping, Governor Lambert had been very much engaged, and since then his indisposition had prevented the council examining the usual monthly accounts, which, being laid before the council that day, were severally examined and approved. The expense of the general table in the month of May was as follows. 104 bottles of lime, £7 16s 0d 15 bottles of mountain, £1 2s 6d 42 bottles of beer, £2 0s 0d 54 and a half gallons of arrack, £5 9s 0d 140 lb of sugar, £1 3s 4d 40 lb sugar candy, £1 3s 4d 14 casks of flour, £3 3s 10d 2 bushels of bay salt, £0 9s 5d 1 pork of white salt, £0 12s 6d 5 bottles of oil, [...] Carried over, £23 5s 11d Interpretations The elaborate regulations for the hospital reveal a system of layered oversight designed to guarantee the proper treatment of the sick and prevent abuse. A daily visit by the doctor, a morning inspection by an ensign checking the nurses and questioning the patients, and a report to the Governor every morning at eight together created a chain of accountability reaching from the sickbed to the head of the government. The detail shows the council determined that the reformed hospital serve the soldiers honestly, with the sick given a formal channel to complain of neglect in their food or physic. The posting of a corporal's guard to prevent rendezvousing shows a concern for order and discipline within the hospital beyond mere medical care. The guard was meant to stop the sick house becoming a place of unauthorised gathering, so the institution was policed as well as tended, reflecting anxiety that a place removed from ordinary supervision might be misused. The measure reveals how closely the garrison's discipline extended even into the care of its own sick. The expense account of the general table records the provisioning of the establishment's common dining, listing imported drink, sugar, flour, salt and oil, so the table was supplied largely from goods brought by the shipping, the bottles of mountain being a Spanish wine and the arrack an eastern spirit, marking how the officers' fare depended on the trade that passed through the island. | |
78 | Brought over £23 5s 11d 25 lb Biscuit Bread £5s 3d 45 Fowls £3 7s 6d 6 Turkeys £1 10s 0d 2 Ducks £3s 0d 1 Hogg weighing 88 pound £1 13s 0d 5 Piggs £1 5s 0d 4 Sheep £4s 0d 2 Goats £1 0s 0d 6 pieces of Salt Pork £12s 6d 5 pieces of Beef £13s 0d 2 lb Pepper £2s 0d 26 lb Rice £2s 2d £38 1s 4d Expence of the General Table in the Month of June 1742. 120 Bottles of Pot Wine £9s 0d 40 Mountain £3 9s 0d 107 Beer £2 13s 6d 18 Ale £15s 9d 64 Gallons of Arrack £6 8s 0d 15 lb Sugar £1 6s 0d 49 lb Sugar Candy £1 8s 7d 2 Casks Flower £3 13s 0d 4 Bushells Salt £1 4s 0d 5 Bottles Oyl £12s 6d 45 lb Biscuit Bread £3s 3d 2 lb Pepper £2s 0d 17 lb Rice £1s 7d 10½ Doz Wax Candles £1 17s 0d 619 lb Fresh Beef £7 14s 9d Carried over £40 9s 9d | The expense of the general table for the month of May continued. Brought over, £23 5s 11d 25 lb biscuit bread, £0 5s 3d 45 fowls, £3 7s 6d 6 turkeys, £1 10s 0d 2 ducks, £0 3s 0d 1 hog weighing 88 lb, £1 13s 0d 5 pigs, £1 5s 0d 4 sheep, £4 0s 0d 2 goats, £1 0s 0d 6 pieces of salt pork, £0 12s 6d 5 pieces of beef, £0 13s 0d 2 lb pepper, £0 2s 0d 26 lb rice, £0 2s 2d Total, £38 1s 4d The expense of the general table in the month of June 1742 was as follows. 120 bottles of best wine, £9 0s 0d 40 bottles of mountain, £3 9s 0d 107 bottles of beer, £2 13s 6d 18 bottles of ale, £0 15s 9d 61 gallons of arrack, £6 2s 0d 15 lb sugar, £1 6s 0d 49 lb sugar candy, £1 8s 7d 2 casks flour, £3 13s 0d 4 bushels salt, £1 4s 0d 5 bottles oil, £0 12s 6d 15 lb biscuit bread, £0 3s 3d 2 lb pepper, £0 2s 0d 17 lb rice, £0 1s 7d 10 and a half dozen wax candles, £1 17s 0d 619 lb fresh beef, £7 14s 9d Carried over, £40 9s 9d Interpretations The two months' accounts of the general table together reveal the scale and variety of provisioning required to feed the establishment, drawing on both imported goods and the island's own produce. Fresh meat, poultry, pigs, sheep and goats bought locally sat alongside imported wine, arrack, sugar, flour and candles, so the table was supplied from a combination of the settlement's farms and the passing shipping. The quantity of fresh beef in June, over six hundred pounds, shows the establishment consuming meat on a considerable scale. The prominence of alcohol in both months, running to well over ten pounds' worth of wine, beer, ale and arrack in June alone, reflects the central place of drink in the daily fare of the period. The general table was furnished with a range of imported liquors as a matter of course, so a large part of the provisioning budget went on drink rather than food. The variety, from best wine and Spanish mountain to English beer and ale and eastern arrack, shows the establishment stocked with the full spread of what the trade could supply. Sugar candy was crystallised sugar valued as a delicacy and also used medicinally to soothe coughs and colds, so its regular purchase for the general table reflects both its place as a sweetmeat and its supposed benefit to health, a refinement afforded by the sugar that came through the eastern and Atlantic trade. | |
79 | Brought over £40 9s 9d 2 Pieces of Salt Beef £6s 0d 5 Pork £10s 3d 2 Hogg weighing 134 lb £3 17s 0d 6 Piggs £1 10s 0d 92 Fowls £6 10s 0d 3 Geese £13s 0d 4 Ducks £6s 0d 7 Turkeys £1 15s 0d 5 Sheep £3s 0d 3 Goats £1 10s 0d 1 Kidd £3s 0d 53½ lb fresh Butter £1 7s 7½d 2050 Lemons £3 1s 6d £67 11s 3½d Expence of the General Table in the Month of July 1742 98 Bottles of Pott Wine £7 7s 0d 60 Do Mountain £4 10s 0d 107 Beer £2 13s 6d 107½ Gallons of Arrack £10 15s 0d 216 lb Sugar £1 16s 0d 30 lb Sugar Candy £1 1s 0d 2 Casks of Flower £3 13s 0d 7 Bottles of Oyl £17s 6d 55 lb Biscuit Bread £10s 3d 4 Gross of Corks £9s 0d 1 lb Twine £1s 0d 12½ Doz Wax Candles £2 5s 0d 2 Bushells of Salt £12s 0d Carried over £36 10s 5d | The expense of the general table for the month of June continued. Brought over, £40 9s 9d 2 pieces of salt beef, £0 6s 0d 5 pieces of pork, £0 10s 3d 2 hogs weighing 154 lb, £3 17s 0d 6 pigs, £1 10s 0d 92 fowls, £6 10s 0d 3 geese, £0 15s 0d 4 ducks, £0 6s 0d 7 turkeys, £1 15s 0d 5 sheep, £3 0s 0d 3 goats, £1 10s 0d 1 kid, £0 3s 0d 53 and a half lb fresh butter, £1 7s 7d 2,050 lemons, £3 1s 6d Total, £67 11s 3d The expense of the general table in the month of July 1742 was as follows. 98 bottles of best wine, £7 7s 0d 60 bottles of mountain, £4 10s 0d 107 bottles of beer, £2 13s 6d 107 and a half gallons of arrack, £10 15s 0d 216 lb sugar, £1 16s 0d 30 lb sugar candy, £1 1s 0d 2 casks of flour, £3 13s 0d 7 bottles of oil, £0 17s 6d 55 lb biscuit bread, £0 10s 3d 4 gross of corks, £0 9s 0d 1 lb twine, £0 1s 0d 12 and a half dozen wax candles, £2 5s 0d 2 bushels of salt, £0 12s 0d Carried over, £36 10s 5d Interpretations The June accounts close with a large purchase of lemons and fresh butter, showing the establishment laying in the fruit that guarded against scurvy alongside its ordinary provisions. Over two thousand lemons in a single month points to the deliberate stocking of citrus both for the table and as a defence against the disease that afflicted the ships' crews, so the general table drew on the island's most valuable anti-scorbutic produce. The quantity confirms how seriously fresh fruit was valued at a station on the long sea route. The July account opens with the now familiar heavy provision of drink, over ten pounds' worth of arrack alone, together with wine, mountain and beer, confirming the constant central place of liquor in the establishment's supply. The steady month-on-month purchase of these imported drinks in large quantities shows drink as a fixed and major charge on the general table, dependent entirely on what the shipping brought. The appearance of corks and twine among the provisions reflects the bottling and storing of these liquors on the island. The regular purchase of large quantities of lemons month after month reflects the island's role in combating scurvy, the disease bred by the want of fresh food on long voyages, so the citrus grown on the island served not only the general table but the wider purpose of refreshing the crews whose health the whole settlement existed to protect. | |
80 | Brought over 36 10s 5d 193 lb Fresh Beef £2 8s 3d 12 pieces of Salt Beef £1 16s 0d 10 pieces of Pork £1 0s 10d 5 Sheep £5s 0d 14 Goats £7s 0d 1 Hogg weighing 86 lb £2 3s 0d 1 Goose £5s 0d 4 Turkeys £1 5s 0d 28 Fowles £2 2s 0d 40 lb Fresh Butter £1 0s 0d 2000 Lemons £3s 0d 16 lb Rice £1s 4d £63 11s 10d Expence of the General Table in the Month of August. 124 Bottles of Pott Wine £9 6s 4d 97 Mountain £7 3s 6d 40 White Cape £10s 0d 64 Bottles of Ale £2 10s 0d 104 Small Beer £2 12s 0d 126 Gallons of Arrack £12 12s 0d 263 lb Sugar £2 3s 8d 27 lb Sugar Candy £13s 9d 24 Casks of Flower £4 11s 3d 7 Bottles of Oyl £17s 6d 8 Gross of Corks £18s 0d 1 lb Twine £1s 6d 8 Doz Wax Candles £1 9s 0d Carried over £45 19s 0d | The expense of the general table for the month of July continued. Brought over, £36 10s 3d 193 lb fresh beef, £2 8s 3d 12 pieces of salt beef, £1 16s 0d 10 pieces of pork, £1 0s 10d 5 sheep, £5 0s 0d 14 goats, £7 0s 0d 1 hog weighing 86 lb, £2 3s 0d 1 goose, £0 5s 0d 5 turkeys, £1 5s 0d 28 fowls, £2 2s 0d 40 lb fresh butter, £1 0s 0d 2,000 lemons, £3 0s 0d 16 lb rice, £0 1s 4d Total, £63 11s 10d The expense of the general table in the month of August was as follows. 124 bottles of best wine, £9 6s 0d 97 bottles of mountain, £7 3s 6d 40 bottles of white Cape, £0 10s 0d 61 bottles of ale, £2 10s 0d 104 bottles of small beer, £2 12s 0d 126 gallons of arrack, £12 12s 0d 262 lb sugar, £2 3s 8d 27 lb sugar candy, £0 15s 9d 24 casks of flour, £4 11s 3d 7 bottles of oil, £0 17s 6d 8 gross of corks, £0 18s 0d 1 lb twine, £0 1s 6d 8 dozen wax candles, £1 9s 0d Carried over, £15 19s 0d Interpretations The July account closes with substantial purchases of goats, fresh butter and another two thousand lemons, confirming the steady monthly reliance on the island's own livestock and citrus alongside imported staples. The consistent appearance of large lemon quantities month after month shows the settled practice of provisioning the table with the fruit that defended against scurvy. The heavy purchase of goats, a hardy animal well suited to the island's rugged ground, reflects the local livestock most readily raised on the terrain. The August account continues the pattern of heavy expenditure on imported drink, with arrack again the single largest item at over twelve pounds, joined by best wine, mountain, ale, small beer and white Cape wine. The regularity of these purchases across every month confirms that the general table's largest recurring cost was drink drawn from the whole span of the trade, from Spanish and Madeira wines to Cape wine and eastern arrack. The appearance of white Cape wine marks the continuing supply link with the Dutch settlement on the homeward route. White Cape was a wine produced at the Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope, which lay on the homeward track of the eastern shipping, so its presence on the general table reflects St Helena's regular commercial contact with that neighbouring victualling station and the flow of its produce to the island. | |
81 | Brought over £45 19s 0d 2 Bushells of Salt £0 12s 0d 39 pieces of Salt Beef £5 17s 0d 33 Pork £3 8s 9d 1 Sheep £1 0s 0d 27 Goats £13 10s 0d 2 Hoggs weighing 199 lb £4 16s 0d 34 Fowles £2 11s 0d 4 Turkeys £1 0s 0d 53 lb Fresh Butter £1 6s 6d 1800 Lemons £2 14s 0d 18 lb Rice £1s 6d 12 lb Biscuit Bread £2s 7d £82 18s 4d Gunners Stores Expended in the Month of May 1742 Day of the Month, Powder, Shott, Flints, Match, Wads, Paper 4th: A Double Alarm of Sandy Bay: Powder 6, Flints 3, Match 3, Paper 10½ 17th: An Alarm: Powder 6, Flints 4, Match 2, Paper 13 20: Arrivd the Duke of Lorrain Captain Wilson: Powder 9, Match 9, Paper 9 20: Fird for Captain Wilsons Landing: Powder 9, Match 9, Paper 9 18: An Alarm for two Ships that went By: Powder 9, Flints 6, Match 3, Paper 19½ 22: An Alarm at Turks Cap: Powder 2, Flints 2, Paper 6 Do: An Alarm for Three Ships that came in: Powder 11, Flints 8, Match 3, Paper 25 Do: Fird at Banks's to bring the London to: Powder 2, Shott 2, Flints 2, Paper 2 Do: Arrived the London Captain Beetle: Powder 9, Match 9, Paper 9 Do: Fird for Captain Beetles Landing: Powder 9, Match 9, Paper 9 Do: Arrived Two French Ships: Powder 21, Shott 1, Flints 6, Match 14, Paper 13 Do: An Alarm at Turks Cap: Powder 2, Flints 4, Paper 6 23: An Alarm at Turks Cap: Powder 11, Flints 8, Match 3, Paper 25 Do: A Double Alarm | The expense of the general table for the month of August continued. Brought over, £45 19s 0d 2 bushels of salt, £0 12s 0d 39 pieces of salt beef, £5 17s 0d 33 pieces of pork, £3 8s 9d 1 sheep, £1 0s 0d 27 goats, £13 10s 0d 2 hogs weighing 199 lb, £4 16s 0d 34 fowls, £2 11s 0d 4 turkeys, £1 0s 0d 53 lb fresh butter, £1 6s 6d 1,800 lemons, £2 14s 0d 18 lb rice, £0 1s 6d 12 lb biscuit bread, £0 2s 7d Total, £82 18s 4d The gunner's stores expended in the month of May 1742 were as follows. The columns recorded the day of the month, the occasion and the quantities of powder and shot fired. 4th, a double alarm of Sandy Bay, 6 guns, 3 lb, 3 lb, 10 and a half 17th, an alarm, 6 guns, 1 lb, 2 lb, 13 22nd, arrived the Duke of Lorrain Captain Wilson, 9 guns, 9 lb, 9 lb 22nd, fired for Captain Wilson's landing, 9 guns, 9 lb, 9 lb 10th, an alarm for two ships that went by, 9 guns, 6 lb, 3 lb, 19 and a half 22nd, an alarm at Turk's Cap, 2 guns, 2 lb, 6 23rd, an alarm for three ships that came in, 11 guns, 8 lb, 3 lb, 25 23rd, fired at Banks to bring the London to, 2 guns, 2 lb, 2 lb 23rd, arrived the London Captain Bootle, 9 guns, 9 lb, 9 lb 23rd, fired for Captain Bootle's landing, 9 guns, 9 lb, 9 lb 23rd, arrived two French ships, 21 guns, 1 lb 6 lb, 14 lb, 13 23rd, an alarm at Turk's Cap, 2 guns, 1 lb, 6 23rd, a double alarm, 11 guns, 8 lb, 3 lb, 23 Interpretations The gunner's stores account records the expenditure of powder and shot on the island's cannon, tracking each firing by its occasion and the quantity consumed. Guns were fired for alarms at unidentified sail, to salute arriving ships and their commanders on landing, and to signal vessels to bring to, so the account reveals the constant use of artillery both for defence and for the ceremonial and signalling functions of a garrisoned port. The frequency of firing shows how active the guns were kept in a busy season of arrivals and alarms. The distinction between alarms and salutes exposes the double role of the island's ordnance in wartime. Alarms fired at ships passing or approaching reflect the vigilance of a fortified station wary of enemy vessels, while the salutes to arriving Indiamen and their captains mark the courtesies owed to friendly Company ships, so the same guns served both to warn and to honour. The recording of each round expended shows the careful accounting of powder and shot as a costly and finite resource. A salute was a firing of guns to honour an arriving ship or its commander, the number of rounds marking the respect due, so the shots fired for the landing of Captain Wilson and Captain Bootle were ceremonial courtesies distinct from the alarm guns fired in warning, both drawn from the same accounted store of powder. | |
82 | Guns Fird, Shott Fired, 9 pounder, 6 pounder, 4 pounder, 2 pounder, ½ pounder, Powder Expended 23: For the French Captains Landing: Guns Fird 15, 2 pounder 15, ½ pounder 15 Do: Arrived the Godolphin the York and the Wager: Guns Fird 27, 2 pounder 27, ½ pounder 27 Do: Fird for Captain Stewards and Captain Lasells Landing: Guns Fird 18, 6 pounder 3, 2 pounder 15, ½ pounder 19½ 24: Fird for Raymonds Landing: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, ½ pounder 9 Do: A Double Alarm: Guns Fird 4, 4 pounder 6, 2 pounder 3, ½ pounder 19½ Do: Arrived the Nassau & the Northhampton: Guns Fird 18, 2 pounder 18, ½ pounder 18 Do: Fird for Captain Jackson and Capt Bakewells Landing: Guns Fird 18, 2 pounder 18, ½ pounder 18 25: An Alarm: Guns Fird 6, 4 pounder 4, 2 pounder 9, ½ pounder 13 26: A Doubll Alarm: Guns Fird 6, 4 pounder 5, 2 pounder 1, ½ pounder 15½ Do: Arrived the King William Captain Philps: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, ½ pounder 9 Do: Arrived the Royal George Captain Field & a French Ship: Guns Fird 18, 6 pounder 3, 2 pounder 15, ½ pounder 27 Do: Fird for Mr French Captains Landing: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, ½ pounder 9 Do: Fird for Capt Fields Landing: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, ½ pounder 9 27: An Alarm: Guns Fird 6, 4 pounder 4, 2 pounder 3, ½ pounder 13 Do: Arrived the Hallifax Captain Blake: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, ½ pounder 9 Do: Fird for Captain Blakes Landing: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, ½ pounder 9 28: A Doubll Alarm: Guns Fird 4, 4 pounder 6, 2 pounder 3, ½ pounder 19½ 29: Arrived a French Ship: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, ½ pounder 9 Do: Fird for the French Captains Landing: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, ½ pounder 9 Do: An Alarm: Guns Fird 6, 4 pounder 4, 2 pounder 2, ½ pounder 13 30: Fird for the French Captains going on Board: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, ½ pounder 9 Do: To make it a Double Alarm: Guns Fird 3, 4 pounder 4, 2 pounder 1, ½ pounder 6½ Do: Departed two French Ships: Guns Fird 30, 2 pounder 30, ½ pounder 30 Do: Arrived the Queen Caroline Capt Burkhead: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, ½ pounder 9 Do: Fird to bring a Dutch Ship to: Guns Fird 2, 2 pounder 2, ½ pounder 2 Do: Fird to Salute a Dutch Ship: Guns Fird 13, 2 pounder 13, ½ pounder 13 Do: A Double Alarm: Guns Fird 11, 4 pounder 9, 2 pounder 3, ½ pounder 23½ 31: Fird to Salute Three Dutch Ships: Guns Fird 21, Shott Fired 1.5, 2 pounder 15, ½ pounder 42 Do: Fird to bring the Dutch Ships to: Guns Fird 3, 2 pounder 3, ½ pounder 3 Powder Expended at Sandy Bay for blowing up Lime Stone: ½ pounder 22 Powder for Priming: ½ pounder 27 Powder to the Guard & at Forks: ½ pounder 34 Total: Guns Fird 411, Shott Fired 2.2, 9 pounder 19, 6 pounder 72, 4 pounder 31, 2 pounder 31, ½ pounder 737½ John French Gunner Dry Stores Match Paper 22½ Leadshott 16 Sponsphies 3 Chains Inkelocks 4 Thread 1½ Turne 19 Fkails Rope Shott 4 | The gunner's stores account continued, with columns recording the day of the month, the occasion, the guns fired, the shot fired of 9-pounder, 6-pounder, 4-pounder, 2-pounder and half-pounder, and the powder expended. 23rd, for the French captains' landing, 15 guns, 15 shot 9-pounder, 15 lb powder 23rd, arrived the Godolphin, the York and the Wager, 27 guns, 27 shot 9-pounder, 27 lb powder 23rd, fired for Captain Steward's and Captain Lasells' landing, 18 guns, 3 shot 6-pounder, 15 shot 9-pounder, 18 lb powder 24th, fired for Raymond's landing, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 24th, a double alarm, 6 shot 4-pounder, 3 shot 2-pounder, 10 and a half lb powder 24th, arrived the Nassau and the Northampton, 18 guns, 18 shot 9-pounder, 18 lb powder 24th, fired for Captain Jackson and Captain Backwell's landing, 18 guns, 18 shot 9-pounder, 18 lb powder 25th, an alarm, 6 shot 4-pounder, 2 shot 2-pounder, 13 lb powder 26th, a double alarm, 6 shot 4-pounder, 3 shot 2-pounder, 15 and a half lb powder 26th, arrived the King William Captain Phillips, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 26th, arrived the Royal George Captain Field and a French ship, 18 guns, 3 shot 6-pounder, 15 shot 9-pounder, 27 lb powder 26th, fired for the French captains' landing, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 26th, fired for Captain Field's landing, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 27th, an alarm, 6 shot 4-pounder, 2 shot 2-pounder, 13 lb powder 27th, arrived the Halifax Captain Blake, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 27th, fired for Captain Blake's landing, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 28th, a double alarm, 6 shot 4-pounder, 3 shot 2-pounder, 10 and a half lb powder 29th, arrived a French ship, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 29th, fired for the French captains' landing, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 29th, an alarm, 6 shot 4-pounder, 2 shot 2-pounder, 13 lb powder 30th, fired for the French captains' going on board, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 30th, to make it a double alarm, 3 guns, 2 shot 4-pounder, 9 shot 2-pounder, 16 and a half lb powder 30th, departed two French ships, 30 guns, 30 shot 9-pounder, 30 lb powder 30th, arrived the Queen Caroline Captain Burkhead, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 30th, fired to bring a Dutch ship to, 2 guns, 2 shot 9-pounder, 2 lb powder 30th, fired to salute a Dutch ship, 13 guns, 13 shot 9-pounder, 13 lb powder 30th, a double alarm, 6 shot 4-pounder, 3 shot 2-pounder, 23 and a half lb powder 31st, fired to salute three Dutch ships, 21 guns, 1 shot 6-pounder, 5 shot 4-pounder, 15 shot 9-pounder, 42 lb powder 31st, fired to bring the Dutch ships to, 3 guns, 3 shot 9-pounder, 3 lb powder Powder expended at Sandy Bay for blowing up limestone, 22 lb powder Powder for priming, 27 lb powder Powder to the guard tent forks, 34 lb powder Total, 411 guns, 2 shot 6-pounder, 2 shot, 19 shot 4-pounder, 72 shot 2-pounder, 317 shot 9-pounder, 31 shot half-pounder, 737 and a half lb powder The account was signed by John French, gunner. The dry stores expended in the month of May were as follows. match, [...] paper, 22 lb leadslugs, 16 handspikes, 3 chains, 4 lintstocks, 1 and a half thread, 1 and a half twine, 9 nails, 4 rope thin, 4 Interpretations The full gunner's account reveals the sheer volume of powder and shot consumed in a single crowded month, over 400 guns fired and more than seven hundred pounds of powder spent on alarms, salutes and signals. The heavy expenditure on saluting arriving and departing Indiamen and Dutch ships, alongside the alarm guns, shows how much costly ordnance a busy port consumed in the ordinary courtesies and vigilance of the season. The precise reckoning of every round by calibre marks the careful stewardship of a resource that had to be shipped from England and could not be replaced on the island. The entry for powder expended at Sandy Bay to blow up limestone ties the gunner's stores directly to the fortification effort, showing military powder diverted to quarry the lime needed for the defensive works. This use of gunpowder for blasting stone reveals how the drive to build the fortifications drew on every available resource, including the ordnance stores meant for the guns. The overlap shows the whole establishment bent to the single urgent task of completing the defences. The saluting of the Dutch ships alongside the English Indiamen reflects the friendly relations with the Dutch, whose settlement at the Cape lay on the same homeward route, so their vessels calling at the island were honoured with the same ceremonial gunfire as the Company's own ships, marking the shared traffic of the two nations' eastern trade. | |
83 | Gunners Stores Expended in the Month of June 1742 Day of the Month, Guns Fird, 9 pounder, 6 pounder, 4 pounder, 2 pounder, ½ pounder, Powder Expended 1st: An Alarm for a Ship that went by: Guns Fird 6, 4 pounder 4, 2 pounder 2, Powder Expended 13 Do: Fird to Salute the Dutch Ships: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, Powder Expended 9 2: Fird for the French Captains going on Board: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, Powder Expended 9 Do: Departed the French Ship: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, Powder Expended 9 4: An Alarm for a Ship that went by: Guns Fird 6, 4 pounder 4, 2 pounder 2, Powder Expended 13 Do: Fird for Captain Raymonds going on Board: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, Powder Expended 9 5: Departed the Wager Captain Raymond: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, Powder Expended 9 Do: Fird for Captain Steward Capt Lascells Captain Jackson & Captain Woollis going on Board: Guns Fird 21, 9 pounder 1, 6 pounder 5, 2 pounder 15, Powder Expended 42 Do: Fird for the Supra Cargoes going on Board: Guns Fird 15, 2 pounder 15, Powder Expended 15 Do: To Salute the Fleet: Guns Fird 21, 9 pounder 1, 6 pounder 5, 2 pounder 15, Powder Expended 42 Do: Fird to bring Go London to: Guns Fird 1, 9 pounder 1, Powder Expended 4 7th: A Double Alarm: Guns Fird 9, 6 pounder 6, Powder Expended 3 19½ Do: Arrivd the Argyle and Lynn Men of Wars: Guns Fird 21, 9 pounder 1, 6 pounder 5, 2 pounder 15, Powder Expended 42 Do: Fird for Commodore Harrison and Captain Philpott Landing: Guns Fird 21, 9 pounder 1, 6 pounder 5, 2 pounder 15, Powder Expended 42 Do: Fird for the French Captains going on Board: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, Powder Expended 9 Do: Departed the French Ship: Guns Fird 11, 2 pounder 11, Powder Expended 11 11th: Fird for the Kings Proclamation Day: Guns Fird 21, 9 pounder 1, 6 pounder 5, 2 pounder 15, Powder Expended 42 19: Departed the Duke of Lorrain Capt Wilson: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, Powder Expended 9 20: An Alarm: Guns Fird 6, 4 pounder 4, 2 pounder 2, Powder Expended 13 Do: Arrivd the Kent Captain Robson: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, Powder Expended 9 Do: Fird for Captain Robsons Landing: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, Powder Expended 9 21: An Alarm: Guns Fird 6, 4 pounder 4, 2 pounder 2, Powder Expended 13 Do: Fird for Captain Philpotts going on Board: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, Powder Expended 9 Do: Arrived the Scarborough Capt Wescoate: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, Powder Expended 9 Do: Fird for Captain Westcoate Landing: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, Powder Expended 9 Do: Fird for Commodore Harrisons going on Board: Guns Fird 21, 9 pounder 1, 6 pounder 5, 2 pounder 15, Powder Expended 42 26: For Captain Fields going on Board: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, Powder Expended 9 Do: For Capt Wade going on Board: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, Powder Expended 9 Do: For Capt Blake going on Board: Guns Fird 9, 2 pounder 9, Powder Expended 9 Do: For Capt Backwell Captain Westcoate and two Supra Cargoes going on Board: Guns Fird 21, 9 pounder 1, 6 pounder 5, 2 pounder 15, Powder Expended 42 Do: Departed the Fleet: Guns Fird 42, 9 pounder 2, 6 pounder 10, 2 pounder 30, Powder Expended 84 29: An Alarm for a Ship that went by: Guns Fird 6, 4 pounder 4, 2 pounder 2, Powder Expended 13 Powder for Priming: Powder Expended 24 Powder for Blowing up Lime Stone at Sandy Bay: Powder Expended 14 Powder to the Guard & Outforts: Powder Expended 55 Total: Guns Fird 390, 9 pounder 9, 6 pounder 46, 4 pounder 26, 2 pounder 396, Powder Expended 13 729½ | The gunner's stores expended in the month of June 1742 were as follows. The columns recorded the day of the month, the occasion, the guns fired, the shot fired of 9-pounder, 6-pounder, 4-pounder, 2-pounder and half-pounder, and the powder expended. 1st, an alarm for a ship that went by, 6 guns, 4 shot 4-pounder, 2 shot half-pounder, 13 lb powder 1st, fired to salute the Dutch ships, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 2nd, fired for the French captains going on board, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 2nd, departed the French ship, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 4th, an alarm for a ship that went by, 6 guns, 4 shot 4-pounder, 2 shot half-pounder, 13 lb powder 4th, fired for Captain Raymond going on board, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 5th, departed the Wager Captain Raymond, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 5th, fired for Captain Steward, Captain Lasells, Captain Jackson and Captain Woollis going on board, 21 guns, 1 shot 6-pounder, 5 shot 4-pounder, 15 shot 9-pounder, 42 lb powder 5th, fired for the supercargoes going on board, 15 guns, 15 shot 9-pounder, 15 lb powder 5th, to salute the fleet, 21 guns, 1 shot 6-pounder, 5 shot 4-pounder, 15 shot 9-pounder, 42 lb powder 5th, fired to bring the London to, 1 gun, 1 shot 6-pounder, 4 lb powder 7th, a double alarm, 9 guns, 6 shot 4-pounder, 3 shot half-pounder, 19 and a half lb powder 9th, arrived the Argyle and Lynn men-of-war, 21 guns, 1 shot 6-pounder, 5 shot 4-pounder, 15 shot 9-pounder, 42 lb powder 9th, fired for Commodore Harrison and Captain Philpot landing, 21 guns, 1 shot 6-pounder, 5 shot 4-pounder, 15 shot 9-pounder, 42 lb powder 9th, fired for the French captains going on board, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 9th, departed the French ship, 11 guns, 11 shot 9-pounder, 11 lb powder 11th, fired for the King's proclamation day, 21 guns, 1 shot 6-pounder, 5 shot 4-pounder, 15 shot 9-pounder, 42 lb powder 19th, departed the Duke of Lorrain Captain Wilson, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 20th, an alarm, 6 guns, 4 shot 4-pounder, 2 shot half-pounder, 13 lb powder 20th, arrived the Kent Captain Robson, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 20th, fired for Captain Robson's landing, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 21st, an alarm, 6 guns, 4 shot 4-pounder, 2 shot half-pounder, 13 lb powder 21st, fired for Captain Philpot going on board, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 21st, arrived the Scarborough Captain Westcoat, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 21st, fired for Captain Westcoat's landing, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 26th, fired for Commodore Harrison's going on board, 21 guns, 1 shot 6-pounder, 5 shot 4-pounder, 15 shot 9-pounder, 42 lb powder 26th, for Captain Field's going on board, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 26th, for Captain Wade going on board, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 26th, for Captain Blake's going on board, 9 guns, 9 shot 9-pounder, 9 lb powder 26th, for Captain Backwell, Captain Westcoat and two supercargoes going on board, 21 guns, 1 shot 6-pounder, 5 shot 4-pounder, 15 shot 9-pounder, 42 lb powder 26th, departed the fleet, 42 guns, 2 shot 6-pounder, 10 shot 4-pounder, 30 shot 9-pounder, 84 lb powder 29th, an alarm for a ship that went by, 6 guns, 4 shot 4-pounder, 2 shot half-pounder, 13 lb powder Powder for priming, 24 lb powder Powder for blowing up limestone at Sandy Bay, 14 lb powder Powder to the guard and outforts, 55 lb powder Total, 390 guns, 9 shot 6-pounder, 16 shot 4-pounder, 26 shot 2-pounder, 296 shot 9-pounder, 13 shot half-pounder, 729 and a half lb powder Interpretations The June account shows the great expense of powder in saluting the departing homeward fleet, the single firing for the fleet's departure alone consuming 84 pounds and forty-two guns. The heavy expenditure on saluting the many captains and supercargoes as they went aboard, and the whole convoy as it sailed, reveals how the ceremonial send-off of the Indiamen was among the largest calls on the island's ordnance stores. The scale of the firing marks the importance attached to honouring the fleet on which the whole settlement's purpose depended. The firing for the King's proclamation day shows the island observing the formal calendar of royal occasions with a full salute, marking its loyalty to the crown even at so remote a station. The expenditure of forty-two pounds of powder on this ceremonial day, equal to the grandest salutes given to the fleet, reveals how seriously such observances of allegiance were kept. The entry ties the island's ritual life to the wider political calendar of the kingdom it served. A proclamation day was an anniversary marking the sovereign's accession or a similar royal occasion, celebrated throughout the crown's dominions with public ceremony, so the full gun salute fired on the King's proclamation day expressed the island's formal loyalty to George and its participation in the ritual calendar binding the settlement to the crown. | |
84 | Dry Stores Match to Capt Blake 20 lb Do to Capt Watts 14 lb Match Expended 34 Total 91 Paper to Capt Watts 4 Quire Paper Expended 11 Quire Total 15 Quire Handspikes 8 Leadshott 4 lb Bitts 4 Thread 2 lb Twine 1 lb John French Gunner Gunners Stores Expended in the Month of July 1742. Day of the Month, Guns Fird, 9 pounder, 6 pounder, 2 pounder, Powder Expended 9: To Sandys Bay for Splitting Lime Stones: Powder Expended 10½ 22: To the Funeral of Governour Lambert: Guns Fird 20, 9 pounder 1, 6 pounder 4, 2 pounder 15, Powder Expended 39½ Do: To the Proclaiming of Governour Powell: Guns Fird 21, 9 pounder 1, 6 pounder 5, 2 pounder 15, Powder Expended 42 To Exercising Small Arms: Powder Expended 63½ To the Guard: Powder Expended 24 To the Out Forts: Powder Expended 24 Total: Guns Fird 41, 9 pounder 2, 6 pounder 9, 2 pounder 30, Powder Expended 201 John French Gunner Dry Stores Paper 13 Quire Leadshott 4 lb Match 21 lb Sponge Staves 6 Bitts 4 Forms 4 Handspikes 12 French hide 1 to Capt Godfrey Rolls 2 Riddle 1 to Mr Wilson Twine 1 lb Thread 1 lb | The dry stores expended in the month of June were as follows. match to Captain Blake, 20 lb match to Captain Watts, 14 lb match expended, 49, total 91 lb paper to Captain Watts, 4 quire paper expended, 11 quire, total 15 quire handspikes, 8 leadshot, 4 lb belts, 4 thread, 2 lb twine, 1 lb The account was signed by John French, gunner. The gunner's stores expended in the month of July 1742 were as follows. The columns recorded the day of the month, the occasion, the guns fired, the shot fired of 9-pounder, 6-pounder, 2-pounder and half-pounder, and the powder expended. 5th, to Sandy Bay for splitting limestone, 40 lb powder 22nd, to the funeral of Governor Lambert, 20 guns, 1 shot 6-pounder, 4 shot 2-pounder, 15 shot 9-pounder, 34 and a half lb powder 22nd, to the proclaiming of Governor Powell, 21 guns, 1 shot 6-pounder, 5 shot 2-pounder, 15 shot 9-pounder, 42 lb powder to exercising small arms, 63 and a half lb powder to the guard, 24 lb powder to the outforts, 24 lb powder Total, 41 guns, 2 shot 6-pounder, 9 shot 2-pounder, 30 shot 9-pounder, 207 and a half lb powder The account was signed by John French, gunner. The dry stores expended in the month of July were as follows. paper, 13 quire leadshot, 4 lb match, 21 lb sponge staves, 6 belts, 4 forms, 4 handspikes, 12 ferret hide, 1 to Captain Godfrey poles, 2 riddle, 1 to Captain Wade twine, 1 lb thread, 1 lb The account was signed by John French, gunner. Interpretations The July account is dominated by the two great ceremonial firings for the death of Governor Lambert and the proclamation of Governor Powell, the funeral alone consuming over thirty pounds of powder in a full salute. The near-equal expenditure on burying one governor and proclaiming the next shows how the change of command was marked with the same weight of ceremony as the arrival of a fleet, the guns honouring both the dead ruler and his successor. The pairing of the two firings captures the formal transfer of authority rendered in gunfire. The steady diversion of powder to splitting limestone at Sandy Bay, forty pounds in July alone, confirms the continuing draw of the fortification effort on the ordnance stores. Month after month, gunpowder meant for the island's defence was consumed instead in quarrying the lime to build that defence, so the works at Banks absorbed the very stores that would arm them. The persistence of this use marks how the whole establishment remained bent to completing the fortifications through the summer. Match was the slow-burning cord used to fire the guns, and a quire a quantity of paper of twenty-four sheets used for cartridges, so the dry stores account records the consumable materials of gunnery beyond the powder and shot, the match to ignite the charge and the paper to hold it, each carefully reckoned as part of the finite store shipped from England. | |
85 | Gunners Stores Expended in the Month of August 1742 Day of the Month, Guns Fird, 4 pounder, 2 pounder, Powder Expended Do: Powder to the Master: Powder Expended 63 Do: Powder for Splitting Lime Stone at Sandy Bay: Powder Expended 10 17: An Alarm for the Long Boat: Guns Fird 6, 4 pounder 4, 2 pounder 2, Powder Expended 13 Powder for Exercising: Powder Expended 260 Powder to the Guard & Out Fork: Powder Expended 53 Total: Guns Fird 6, 4 pounder 4, 2 pounder 2, Powder Expended 400 John French Gunner Dry Stores Match 20 lb Paper 13 Quire Sponge Staves 5 Cartridge Cases 2 Ladles 2 Tomkins 8 Lead Shott 19 lb Handspikes 6 | The gunner's stores expended in the month of August 1742 were as follows. The columns recorded the day of the month, the occasion, the shot fired of 4-pounder, 2-pounder and half-pounder, and the powder expended. powder to the master, 62 lb powder 5th, powder for splitting limestone at Sandy Bay, 10 lb powder 17th, an alarm for the longboat, 6 shot 4-pounder, 4 shot 2-pounder, 2 shot half-pounder, 13 lb powder powder for exercising, 26 lb powder powder to the guard and outforts, 52 lb powder Total, 6 shot 4-pounder, 4 shot 2-pounder, 2 shot half-pounder, 100 lb powder The account was signed by John French, gunner. The dry stores expended in the month of August were as follows. match, 20 lb paper, 13 quire sponge staves, 5 cartridge cases, 2 ladles, 2 tompkins, 8 leadshot, 10 lb handspikes, 6 Interpretations The August account shows a sharp fall in gunfire, with only a single alarm recorded and no salutes, reflecting the quiet interval after the summer fleet had sailed and no ships lay in the road. The bulk of the powder now went to routine purposes, the guard, the outforts and small-arms exercise, rather than to the ceremonial firing that had dominated the busy months. The contrast marks how the island's expenditure of ordnance rose and fell directly with the presence of shipping and the alarms of the season. The continuing allocation of powder to splitting limestone at Sandy Bay, though reduced to ten pounds, shows the fortification work still drawing on the stores into August, if at a slower pace as the lime accumulated toward its target. The steady, diminishing draw reflects the works approaching completion after the concentrated effort of the summer. The persistence of even this small expenditure marks the fortification as a continuing charge on the establishment's resources. A tompion, or tompkin, was a plug fitted into the muzzle of a gun to keep out water and damp when the piece was not in use, so its inclusion among the expended dry stores reflects the ordinary maintenance of the island's cannon, protecting the bores from the sea air and rain that would otherwise foul them. | |
86 | Account of the Honourable Companys Stock of Neat Cattle &c for the Month of May 1742 Bullocks, Cows, Heifers, Steers, Yearlings, Calves, Bulls, Total, Ewes, Weathers, Lambs, Rams, Total, Ewes, Weathers, Kidds, Rams, Total, Sows, Barrows, Shoats, Piggs, Boars, Total, Turkeys, Fowls, Ducks, Geese, Horses, Mures, Total Remaining 1st May: Bullocks 31, Cows 87, Heifers 39, Steers 16, Yearlings 14, Calves 41, Bulls 4, Total 232, Ewes 42, Weathers 3, Lambs 8, Rams 3, Total 36, Ewes 52, Weathers 10, Kidds 6, Rams 4, Total 72, Sows 16, Barrows 2, Shoats 17, Piggs 15, Boars 2, Total 32, Turkeys 58, Fowls 232, Ducks 31, Geese 17, Horses 5, Mures 8, Total 13 Encreased in Do: Yearlings 9, Total 9, Lambs 18, Total 18, Weathers 2, Total 2, Shoats 6, Total 6, Turkeys 5, Fowls 15 Bought in Do: Cows 7, Heifers 3, Calves 4, Total 14, Ewes 28, Weathers 12, Lambs 7, Rams 2, Total 49, Rams 4, Shoats 12, Piggs 10, Total 26, Turkeys 24, Fowls 72, Ducks 9 Bullocks 31, Cows 94, Heifers 42, Steers 16, Yearlings 14, Calves 54, Bulls 4, Total 255, Ewes 70, Weathers 15, Lambs 33, Rams 5, Total 123, Ewes 52, Weathers 10, Kidds 8, Rams 4, Total 74, Sows 20, Barrows 2, Shoats 29, Piggs 31, Boars 2, Total 84, Turkeys 87, Fowls 319, Ducks 40, Geese 17, Horses 5, Mures 8, Total 13 Killed in Do: Bullocks 13, Cows 13, Heifers 3, Lambs 29, Weathers 1, Rams 3, Total 4, Ewes 1, Weathers 1, Shoats 2, Barrows 1, Turkeys 6, Fowls 6, Ducks 45, Geese 2 Bullocks 18, Cows 81, Heifers 39, Steers 16, Yearlings 14, Calves 54, Bulls 4, Total 226, Ewes 69, Weathers 12, Lambs 33, Rams 5, Total 119, Ewes 51, Weathers 9, Kidds 8, Rams 4, Total 72, Sows 19, Barrows 2, Shoats 29, Piggs 36, Boars 2, Total 78, Turkeys 81, Fowls 274, Ducks 38, Geese 17, Horses 5, Mures 8, Total 13 Died in Do: Heifers 1, Lambs 1, Sows 2, Shoats 3, Piggs 5, Boars 1, Ducks 3 Remaining 31st Do: Bullocks 18, Cows 81, Heifers 39, Steers 16, Yearlings 13, Calves 54, Bulls 4, Total 225, Ewes 69, Weathers 12, Lambs 33, Rams 5, Total 119, Ewes 51, Weathers 9, Kidds 8, Rams 4, Total 72, Sows 19, Barrows 2, Shoats 27, Piggs 23, Boars 2, Total 73, Turkeys 80, Fowls 274, Ducks 35, Geese 17, Horses 5, Mures 8, Total 13 750 lb Beef sold to the Duke Lorrain 720 Do Godolphin 747 Do London 747 Do Wager 747 Do York 735 Do Nassau 747 Do Northampton 735 Do Royal George 735 Do Hallifax 747 Do King William 747 Do Queen Carolina Yams Expended at the several Plantations 20000 lb E E & G G Powell | The account of the Company's stock of neat cattle and other livestock for the month of May 1742 was as follows. The columns recorded, under neat cattle, the bullocks, cows, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves, bulls and total; under sheep, the ewes, wethers, lambs, rams and total; under goats, the ewes, wethers, kids, rams and total; under hogs, the sows, barrows, shoats, pigs, boars and total; under poultry, the turkeys, fowls, ducks and geese; and the horses, mares and total. Remaining 1 May, 31 bullocks, 87 cows, 39 heifers, 16 steers, 14 yearlings, 41 calves, 4 bulls, total 232, 42 ewes, 3 wethers, 0 lambs, 3 rams, total 36 sheep, 52 goat ewes, 10 wethers, 6 kids, 4 rams, total 72 goats, 16 sows, 2 barrows, 17 shoats, 15 pigs, 2 boars, total 32 hogs, 58 turkeys, 232 fowls, 31 ducks, 17 geese, 5 horses, 8 mares, total 13 Increased in ditto, 9 yearlings, total 9, 18 lambs, total 18, 2 kids, total 2, 6 shoats, total 6 Bought in ditto, 7 cows, 3 heifers, 4 calves, total 14 neat cattle, 12 ewes, 7 wethers, 2 rams, total 28 sheep, 4 pigs, total 12 hogs, 10 turkeys, 26 fowls, 24 ducks, 72 geese, 9 horses Total, 31 bullocks, 94 cows, 42 heifers, 16 steers, 14 yearlings, 54 calves, 4 bulls, total 255, 70 ewes, 15 wethers, 33 lambs, 5 rams, total 123 sheep, 52 goat ewes, 10 wethers, 8 kids, 4 rams, total 74 goats, 20 sows, 2 barrows, 29 shoats, 31 pigs, 2 boars, total 84 hogs, 87 turkeys, 319 fowls, 40 ducks, 17 geese, 5 horses, 8 mares, total 13 Killed in ditto, 13 bullocks, 13 cows, 3 heifers, 29 sheep, 1 wether, 3 lambs, total 4 sheep, 1 goat wether, 1 kid, 2 sows, 1 barrow, 5 pigs, 6 turkeys, 6 fowls, 45 ducks, 2 geese Remaining, 18 bullocks, 81 cows, 39 heifers, 16 steers, 14 yearlings, 54 calves, 4 bulls, total 226, 69 ewes, 12 wethers, 33 lambs, 5 rams, total 119 sheep, 51 goat ewes, 9 wethers, 8 kids, 4 rams, total 72 goats, 19 sows, 2 barrows, 29 shoats, 36 pigs, 2 boars, total 78 hogs, 81 turkeys, 274 fowls, 38 ducks, 17 geese, 5 horses, 8 mares, total 13 Died in ditto, 1 heifer, total 1 neat cattle, 2 turkeys, 3 fowls, 5 pigs, 1 boar, 3 ducks Remaining 31 ditto, 18 bullocks, 81 cows, 39 heifers, 16 steers, 13 yearlings, 54 calves, 4 bulls, total 225, 69 ewes, 12 wethers, 33 lambs, 5 rams, total 119 sheep, 51 goat ewes, 9 wethers, 8 kids, 4 rams, total 72 goats, 19 sows, 2 barrows, 27 shoats, 23 pigs, 2 boars, total 73 hogs, 80 turkeys, 274 fowls, 35 ducks, 17 geese, 5 horses, 8 mares, total 13 The following quantities of beef were sold to the ships. 750 lb beef sold to the Duke of Lorrain 720 lb beef sold to the Godolphin 747 lb beef sold to the London 747 lb beef sold to the Wager 747 lb beef sold to the York 735 lb beef sold to the Nassau 747 lb beef sold to the Northampton 735 lb beef sold to the Royal George 735 lb beef sold to the Halifax 747 lb beef sold to the King William 747 lb beef sold to the Queen Caroline Yams expended at the several plantations, 20,000. The account was signed by George Gabriel Powell. Interpretations The livestock account functions as a monthly stock-take of the Company's herds and flocks, tracking every increase by birth or purchase and every decrease by slaughter or death against a running total. The detailed reckoning by category, from bullocks and cows down to ducks and geese, shows the systematic husbandry by which the establishment managed the animals that fed the garrison and supplied the ships. The careful accounting of each beast reveals livestock treated as a vital and finite asset, its numbers watched as closely as the cash or the stores. The list of beef sold to each ship exposes the island's central function as a victualling station for the homeward fleet, every vessel taking on roughly seven hundred pounds of fresh beef for its onward voyage. The near-uniform quantities supplied to eleven ships in a single month show the scale on which the settlement provisioned the Company traffic, drawing down its own herds to meet the fleet's needs. The slaughter recorded in the stock account directly reflects this demand, the animals killed converted into the beef that stocked the departing Indiamen. The expenditure of 20,000 yams at the plantations in the month ties this account to the constant provisioning of the enslaved workforce, the yam being the staple that fed the slaves who worked the Company's ground, so the figure marks the scale of the root crop consumed to sustain the labour on which the whole establishment depended. | |
87 | Account of the Honourable Companys Stock of Neat Cattle &c for the Month of June 1742 Vizt Bullocks, Cows, Heifers, Steers, Yearlings, Calves, Bulls, Total, Ewes, Weathers, Lambs, Rams, Total, Ewes, Weathers, Kidds, Rams, Total, Sows, Barrows, Shoats, Piggs, Boars, Total, Turkeys, Fowls, Ducks, Geese, Horses, Mares, Total Remaining 1st June: Bullocks 18, Cows 81, Heifers 39, Steers 16, Yearlings 13, Calves 54, Bulls 4, Total 225, Ewes 69, Weathers 12, Lambs 33, Rams 5, Total 119, Ewes 51, Weathers 9, Kidds 8, Rams 4, Total 72, Sows 19, Barrows 2, Shoats 42, Piggs 8, Boars 2, Total 73, Turkeys 80, Fowls 274, Ducks 35, Geese 17, Horses 5, Mares 8, Total 13 Encreased in Do: Yearlings 8, Weathers 3, Total 3, Kidds 8, Total 8, Shoats 30, Total 30, Turkeys 7, Fowls 18, Geese 1, Horses 1, Total 2 Bought in Do: Bullocks 9, Cows 2, Total 11, Ewes 6, Total 6, Ewes 16, Total 16, Ducks 12 Bullocks 27, Cows 83, Heifers 39, Steers 16, Yearlings 13, Calves 62, Bulls 4, Total 244, Ewes 69, Weathers 18, Lambs 36, Rams 5, Total 120, Ewes 51, Weathers 25, Kidds 16, Rams 4, Total 96, Sows 19, Barrows 2, Shoats 42, Piggs 38, Boars 2, Total 103, Turkeys 87, Fowls 304, Ducks 35, Geese 17, Horses 6, Mares 9, Total 15 Killed in Do: Bullocks 6, Cows 2, Heifers 4, Lambs 12, Weathers 5, Rams 5, Ewes 3, Weathers 1, Shoats 2, Piggs 6, Turkeys 8, Fowls 7, Ducks 92, Geese 4, Horses 3 Bullocks 21, Cows 81, Heifers 35, Steers 16, Yearlings 13, Calves 62, Bulls 4, Total 232, Ewes 69, Weathers 13, Lambs 36, Rams 5, Total 123, Ewes 51, Weathers 22, Kidds 15, Rams 4, Total 92, Sows 17, Barrows 2, Shoats 42, Piggs 32, Boars 2, Total 95, Turkeys 80, Fowls 212, Ducks 31, Geese 14, Horses 6, Mares 9, Total 15 Died in Do: Yearlings 1, Lambs 1, Kidds 1, Barrows 1, Turkeys 1, Ducks 4 Stole in Do: Piggs 2, Turkeys 2, Fowls 2, Ducks 3, Geese 5 Remaining 30th Ditto: Bullocks 21, Cows 81, Heifers 35, Steers 16, Yearlings 12, Calves 62, Bulls 4, Total 231, Ewes 69, Weathers 13, Lambs 36, Rams 5, Total 123, Ewes 51, Weathers 22, Kidds 14, Rams 4, Total 91, Sows 17, Barrows 2, Shoats 42, Piggs 30, Boars 2, Total 93, Turkeys 77, Fowls 209, Ducks 22, Geese 14, Horses 6, Mares 9, Total 15 747 lb Beef sold to the Kent 747 Do Scarborough 1494 254 lb Beef 1 Goat to the Swift Sloop 1185 lb To his Majestys Ships the Argyle and Lynn Yams Expended at the several Plantations 30000 lb E E & G G Powell | The account of the Company's stock of neat cattle and other livestock for the month of June 1742 was as follows. The columns recorded, under neat cattle, the bullocks, cows, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves, bulls and total; under sheep, the ewes, wethers, lambs, rams and total; under goats, the ewes, wethers, kids, rams and total; under hogs, the sows, barrows, shoats, pigs, boars and total; under poultry, the turkeys, fowls, ducks and geese; and the horses, mares and total. Remaining 1 June, 18 bullocks, 81 cows, 39 heifers, 16 steers, 13 yearlings, 54 calves, 4 bulls, total 225, 69 ewes, 12 wethers, 33 lambs, 5 rams, total 119 sheep, 51 goat ewes, 9 wethers, 8 kids, 4 rams, total 72 goats, 19 sows, 2 barrows, 42 shoats, 8 pigs, 2 boars, total 73 hogs, 80 turkeys, 274 fowls, 35 ducks, 17 geese, 5 horses, 8 mares, total 13 Increased in ditto, 8 calves, total 8, 3 lambs, total 3, 8 kids, total 8, 30 pigs, total 30, 7 fowls, 18 ducks, 1 horse, 1 mare, total 2 Bought in ditto, 9 bullocks, 2 cows, total 11 neat cattle, 6 ewes, total 6 sheep, 16 goat ewes, total 16 goats, 12 ducks Total, 27 bullocks, 83 cows, 39 heifers, 16 steers, 13 yearlings, 62 calves, 4 bulls, total 244, 69 ewes, 18 wethers, 36 lambs, 5 rams, total 120 sheep, 51 goat ewes, 25 wethers, 16 kids, 4 rams, total 96 goats, 19 sows, 2 barrows, 42 shoats, 38 pigs, 2 boars, total 103 hogs, 87 turkeys, 304 fowls, 35 ducks, 17 geese, 6 horses, 9 mares, total 15 Killed in ditto, 6 bullocks, 2 cows, 4 heifers, 12 sheep, 5 lambs, total 5 sheep, 3 goat wethers, 1 kid, total 4 goats, 2 sows, 6 pigs, 8 turkeys, 7 fowls, 92 ducks, 4 geese, 3 horses Remaining, 21 bullocks, 81 cows, 35 heifers, 16 steers, 13 yearlings, 62 calves, 4 bulls, total 232, 69 ewes, 13 wethers, 36 lambs, 5 rams, total 123 sheep, 51 goat ewes, 22 wethers, 15 kids, 4 rams, total 92 goats, 17 sows, 2 barrows, 42 shoats, 32 pigs, 2 boars, total 95 hogs, 80 turkeys, 212 fowls, 31 ducks, 14 geese, 6 horses, 9 mares, total 15 Died in ditto, 1 yearling, total 1 neat cattle, 1 lamb, total 1 sheep, 1 kid, total 1 goat, 1 turkey, 1 fowl, 4 ducks Stole in ditto, 2 sows, total 2 hogs, 2 turkeys, 3 fowls, 5 ducks Remaining 30 ditto, 21 bullocks, 81 cows, 35 heifers, 16 steers, 12 yearlings, 62 calves, 4 bulls, total 231, 69 ewes, 13 wethers, 36 lambs, 5 rams, total 123 sheep, 51 goat ewes, 22 wethers, 14 kids, 4 rams, total 91 goats, 17 sows, 2 barrows, 42 shoats, 30 pigs, 2 boars, total 93 hogs, 77 turkeys, 209 fowls, 22 ducks, 14 geese, 6 horses, 9 mares, total 15 The following quantities of beef were sold to the ships. 747 lb beef sold to the Kent 747 lb beef sold to the Scarborough Total, 1,494 lb 254 lb beef and 1 goat sold to the Swift sloop 1,185 lb beef sold to His Majesty's ships the Argyle and Lynn Yams expended at the several plantations, 30,000. The account was signed by George Gabriel Powell. Interpretations The June stock account introduces a new category of loss, animals stolen, recording sows, turkeys, fowls and ducks taken from the Company's stock during the month. The appearance of theft alongside the usual slaughter and death reflects the same problem of pilfering that ran through these proceedings, the Company's livestock vulnerable to the depredations that also troubled the planters. The separate reckoning of stolen beasts shows the establishment tracking such losses distinctly, marking theft as a recognised and recurring drain on its herds. The sharp fall in yams expended having risen to 30,000 from the previous month's 20,000 reflects the increased demand of the enslaved workforce driven hard on the fortification effort through June. The rising consumption of the staple root tracks the intensified labour of the summer, more yams needed to feed slaves worked harder at the defensive works and other tasks. The figure ties the provisioning account directly to the pace of the construction the council had ordered pressed forward. The sale of fresh beef and a goat to the Swift sloop and to the men-of-war Argyle and Lynn, alongside the Company Indiamen, shows the island victualling naval as well as merchant vessels, so the King's ships that had lately called were provisioned from the same herds that supplied the homeward fleet, marking the settlement's service to the navy as well as to the Company's own trade. | |
88 | Account of the Honourable Companys Stock of Neat Cattle &c for the Month of July 1742. Bullocks, Cows, Heifers, Steers, Yearlings, Calves, Bulls, Total, Ewes, Weathers, Lambs, Rams, Total, Ewes, Weathers, Kidds, Rams, Total, Sows, Barrows, Shoats, Piggs, Boars, Total, Turkeys, Fowls, Ducks, Geese, Horses, Mares, Total Remaining 1st July: Bullocks 21, Cows 81, Heifers 35, Steers 16, Yearlings 12, Calves 62, Bulls 4, Total 231, Ewes 69, Weathers 12, Lambs 36, Rams 5, Total 122, Ewes 51, Weathers 22, Kidds 14, Rams 4, Total 91, Sows 17, Barrows 2, Shoats 42, Piggs 30, Boars 2, Total 93, Turkeys 77, Fowls 209, Ducks 22, Geese 14, Horses 6, Mares 9, Total 15 Encreased in Do: Yearlings 8, Weathers 4, Total 4, Kidds 5, Total 5, Shoats 6, Total 6, Turkeys 9 Bought in Do: Cows 2, Total 2, Ewes 20, Weathers 34, Total 54, Shoats 3, Total 3 Bullocks 21, Cows 83, Heifers 35, Steers 16, Yearlings 12, Calves 70, Bulls 4, Total 241, Ewes 69, Weathers 12, Lambs 40, Rams 5, Total 126, Ewes 71, Weathers 36, Kidds 19, Rams 4, Total 150, Sows 17, Barrows 5, Shoats 42, Piggs 36, Boars 2, Total 102, Turkeys 77, Fowls 218, Ducks 22, Geese 14, Horses 6, Mares 9, Total 15 Killed in Do: Yearlings 1, Lambs 1, Rams 1, Weathers 4, Ewes 5, Weathers 2, Kidds 12, Shoats 14, Piggs 1, Turkeys 1, Fowls 5, Ducks 31, Geese 1 Bullocks 21, Cows 83, Heifers 35, Steers 16, Yearlings 11, Calves 70, Bulls 4, Total 240, Ewes 68, Weathers 8, Lambs 40, Rams 5, Total 121, Ewes 69, Weathers 44, Kidds 19, Rams 4, Total 136, Sows 17, Barrows 4, Shoats 42, Piggs 36, Boars 2, Total 101, Turkeys 72, Fowls 187, Ducks 22, Geese 13, Horses 6, Mares 9, Total 15 Died in Do: Piggs 2, Turkeys 2 Stole in Do: Piggs 1, Fowls 5 Remaining 31st Do: Bullocks 21, Cows 83, Heifers 35, Steers 16, Yearlings 11, Calves 70, Bulls 4, Total 240, Ewes 68, Weathers 8, Lambs 40, Rams 5, Total 121, Ewes 69, Weathers 44, Kidds 19, Rams 4, Total 136, Sows 17, Barrows 4, Shoats 42, Piggs 34, Boars 2, Total 99, Turkeys 71, Fowls 182, Ducks 20, Geese 13, Horses 6, Mares 9, Total 15 One Man Slave Dead named Sambo 1 Ditto Harry 1 Do Jack Port 1 Girl Sarah Yams Expended at the several Plantations 30000 E E & G G Powell | The account of the Company's stock of neat cattle and other livestock for the month of July 1742 was as follows. The columns recorded, under neat cattle, the bullocks, cows, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves, bulls and total; under sheep, the ewes, wethers, lambs, rams and total; under goats, the ewes, wethers, kids, rams and total; under hogs, the sows, barrows, shoats, pigs, boars and total; under poultry, the turkeys, fowls, ducks and geese; and the horses, mares and total. Remaining 1 July, 21 bullocks, 81 cows, 35 heifers, 16 steers, 12 yearlings, 62 calves, 4 bulls, total 231, 69 ewes, 12 wethers, 36 lambs, 5 rams, total 122 sheep, 51 goat ewes, 22 wethers, 14 kids, 4 rams, total 91 goats, 17 sows, 2 barrows, 42 shoats, 30 pigs, 2 boars, total 93 hogs, 77 turkeys, 209 fowls, 22 ducks, 14 geese, 6 horses, 9 mares, total 15 Increased in ditto, 8 calves, total 8, 4 lambs, total 4, 5 kids, total 5, 6 pigs, total 6, 6 fowls, 9 ducks Bought in ditto, 2 cows, total 2 neat cattle, 20 goat ewes, 34 kids, total 54 goats, 3 pigs, total 3, 3 ducks Total, 21 bullocks, 83 cows, 35 heifers, 16 steers, 12 yearlings, 70 calves, 4 bulls, total 241, 69 ewes, 12 wethers, 40 lambs, 5 rams, total 126 sheep, 71 goat ewes, 36 wethers, 19 kids, 4 rams, total 150 goats, 17 sows, 5 barrows, 42 shoats, 36 pigs, 2 boars, total 102 hogs, 77 turkeys, 218 fowls, 22 ducks, 14 geese, 6 horses, 9 mares, total 15 Killed in ditto, 1 yearling, total 1 neat cattle, 1 ewe, 1 lamb, total 5 sheep, 2 goat wethers, 12 kids, total 14 goats, 1 pig, total 1 hog, 5 turkeys, 31 fowls, 1 duck Remaining, 21 bullocks, 83 cows, 35 heifers, 16 steers, 11 yearlings, 70 calves, 4 bulls, total 240, 68 ewes, 0 wethers, 40 lambs, 5 rams, total 121 sheep, 69 goat ewes, 44 wethers, 19 kids, 4 rams, total 136 goats, 17 sows, 4 barrows, 42 shoats, 36 pigs, 2 boars, total 101 hogs, 72 turkeys, 187 fowls, 22 ducks, 13 geese, 6 horses, 9 mares, total 15 Died in ditto, 2 barrows, total 2 hogs, 2 fowls Stole in ditto, 1 pig, total 5 hogs, 2 ducks Remaining 31 ditto, 21 bullocks, 83 cows, 35 heifers, 16 steers, 11 yearlings, 70 calves, 4 bulls, total 240, 68 ewes, 0 wethers, 40 lambs, 5 rams, total 121 sheep, 69 goat ewes, 44 wethers, 19 kids, 4 rams, total 136 goats, 17 sows, 4 barrows, 42 shoats, 34 pigs, 2 boars, total 99 hogs, 71 turkeys, 182 fowls, 20 ducks, 13 geese, 6 horses, 9 mares, total 15 The following slaves died during the month. 1: One man slave named Sambo 1: Harry 1: Jack Port 1: Sarah, a girl Yams expended at the several plantations, 30,000. The account was signed by George Gabriel Powell. Interpretations The record of four named slaves who died during the month, set within the livestock account, marks the grim toll of the epidemic that the Governor had reported raging through the Company's slaves. The deaths of Sambo, Harry, Jack Port and Sarah are entered on the same page as the losses of cattle and poultry, a placement that reflects the appalling institutional logic by which enslaved people were reckoned among the Company's stock. The naming of the dead, while livestock went by number, offers the only distinction the record allows between the human and the animal property of the establishment. The continued expenditure of 30,000 yams sustains the high consumption of the previous month, confirming the sustained demand of the enslaved workforce through the height of summer. The steady figure reflects the ongoing labour on the fortifications and the plantations, the staple root consumed at the increased rate despite the epidemic thinning the very workforce it fed. The maintenance of this level marks the continuing intensity of the island's labour through July. The recording of these slave deaths in the same monthly stock account as the cattle, sheep and poultry lays bare how the Company's system classed enslaved people as livestock, their mortality tracked alongside that of the animals, so the epidemic that killed Sambo, Harry, Jack Port and Sarah was entered as a loss of stock in the very ledger that counted the herds they had tended. | |
89 | Account of the Honourable Companys Stock of Neat Cattle &c for the Month of August 1742. Bullocks, Cows, Heifers, Steers, Yearlings, Calves, Bulls, Total, Ewes, Weathers, Lambs, Rams, Total, Ewes, Weathers, Kidds, Rams, Total, Sows, Barrows, Shoats, Piggs, Boars, Total, Turkeys, Fowls, Ducks, Geese, Horses, Mares, Total Remaining 1st August: Bullocks 21, Cows 83, Heifers 35, Steers 16, Yearlings 11, Calves 70, Bulls 4, Total 240, Ewes 68, Weathers 8, Lambs 40, Rams 5, Total 121, Ewes 69, Weathers 44, Kidds 19, Rams 4, Total 136, Sows 17, Barrows 4, Shoats 42, Piggs 34, Boars 2, Total 99, Turkeys 71, Fowls 182, Ducks 20, Geese 13, Horses 6, Mares 9, Total 15 Encreased in Do: Yearlings 21, Total 21, Kidds 5, Total 5, Piggs 16, Total 16 Bought in Do: Ewes 31, Weathers 8, Kidds 4, Total 43 Bullocks 21, Cows 83, Heifers 35, Steers 16, Yearlings 11, Calves 91, Bulls 4, Total 261, Ewes 68, Weathers 8, Lambs 40, Rams 5, Total 121, Ewes 100, Weathers 52, Kidds 28, Rams 4, Total 184, Sows 17, Barrows 4, Shoats 42, Piggs 50, Boars 2, Total 115, Turkeys 71, Fowls 227, Ducks 20, Geese 13, Horses 6, Mares 9, Total 15 Killed in Do: Weathers 1, Rams 1, Weathers 27, Total 27, Barrows 2, Piggs 2, Fowls 4, Ducks 32 Bullocks 21, Cows 83, Heifers 35, Steers 16, Yearlings 11, Calves 91, Bulls 4, Total 261, Ewes 68, Weathers 7, Lambs 40, Rams 5, Total 120, Ewes 100, Weathers 25, Kidds 28, Rams 4, Total 157, Sows 17, Barrows 2, Shoats 42, Piggs 50, Boars 2, Total 113, Turkeys 67, Fowls 195, Ducks 20, Geese 13, Horses 6, Mares 9, Total 15 Died in Do: Cows 1, Ewes 1, Lambs 1, Kidds 2, Barrows 1, Piggs 1 Stole in Do: Ducks 1, Geese 3 Remaining 31st Do: Bullocks 21, Cows 82, Heifers 35, Steers 16, Yearlings 11, Calves 91, Bulls 4, Total 260, Ewes 67, Weathers 7, Lambs 39, Rams 5, Total 118, Ewes 100, Weathers 25, Kidds 28, Rams 4, Total 157, Sows 17, Barrows 2, Shoats 44, Piggs 49, Boars 2, Total 111, Turkeys 66, Fowls 192, Ducks 20, Geese 13, Horses 6, Mares 9, Total 15 One Man Slave Dead named Toney One Ditto Ned One Ditto Harry One Woman Mary Dyed Yams Expended at the several Plantations 12000 G G Powell John Godfrey C Dixon E E & G G Powell | The account of the Company's stock of neat cattle and other livestock for the month of August 1742 was as follows. The columns recorded, under neat cattle, the bullocks, cows, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves, bulls and total; under sheep, the ewes, wethers, lambs, rams and total; under goats, the ewes, wethers, kids, rams and total; under hogs, the sows, barrows, shoats, pigs, boars and total; under poultry, the turkeys, fowls, ducks and geese; and the horses, mares and total. Remaining 1 August, 21 bullocks, 83 cows, 35 heifers, 16 steers, 11 yearlings, 70 calves, 4 bulls, total 240, 68 ewes, 8 wethers, 40 lambs, 5 rams, total 121 sheep, 69 goat ewes, 44 wethers, 19 kids, 4 rams, total 136 goats, 17 sows, 4 barrows, 42 shoats, 34 pigs, 2 boars, total 99 hogs, 71 turkeys, 182 fowls, 20 ducks, 13 geese, 6 horses, 9 mares, total 15 Increased in ditto, 21 calves, total 21, 5 kids, total 5, 16 pigs, total 16 Bought in ditto, 31 goat ewes, 8 wethers, 4 kids, total 43 goats, 15 ducks Total, 21 bullocks, 83 cows, 35 heifers, 16 steers, 11 yearlings, 91 calves, 4 bulls, total 261, 68 ewes, 8 wethers, 40 lambs, 5 rams, total 121 sheep, 100 goat ewes, 52 wethers, 28 kids, 4 rams, total 184 goats, 17 sows, 4 barrows, 42 shoats, 50 pigs, 2 boars, total 115 hogs, 71 turkeys, 227 fowls, 20 ducks, 13 geese, 6 horses, 9 mares, total 15 Killed in ditto, 1 lamb, total 1 sheep, 27 goat wethers, total 27 goats, 2 sows, 2 turkeys, 4 fowls, total 32 fowls Remaining, 21 bullocks, 83 cows, 35 heifers, 16 steers, 11 yearlings, 91 calves, 4 bulls, total 261, 68 ewes, 7 wethers, 40 lambs, 5 rams, total 120 sheep, 100 goat ewes, 25 wethers, 28 kids, 4 rams, total 157 goats, 17 sows, 2 barrows, 42 shoats, 50 pigs, 2 boars, total 113 hogs, 67 turkeys, 195 fowls, 20 ducks, 13 geese, 6 horses, 9 mares, total 15 Died in ditto, 1 lamb, total 1 sheep, 1 kid, total 2 goats, 1 barrow, 1 shoat, total 2 hogs Stole in ditto, 1 duck, total 3 ducks Remaining 31 ditto, 21 bullocks, 82 cows, 35 heifers, 16 steers, 11 yearlings, 91 calves, 4 bulls, total 260, 67 ewes, 7 wethers, 39 lambs, 5 rams, total 118 sheep, 100 goat ewes, 25 wethers, 28 kids, 4 rams, total 157 goats, 17 sows, 2 barrows, 44 shoats, 47 pigs, 2 boars, total 111 hogs, 66 turkeys, 192 fowls, 20 ducks, 13 geese, 6 horses, 9 mares, total 15 The following slaves died during the month. 1: One man slave named Toney 1: Ned 1: Harry 1: Mary, a woman, of the shed Yams expended at the several plantations, 12,000. The account was signed by George Gabriel Powell, John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon. Interpretations The August account records four further slave deaths, Toney, Ned, Harry and Mary, showing the epidemic among the Company's slaves continuing into a fourth month with undiminished mortality. The steady toll, four dead in July and four again in August, confirms the persistence of the distemper the Governor had reported ravaging the workforce, each month claiming more of the enslaved people on whom the fortification and plantation labour depended. The naming of the dead marks the human cost that the establishment recorded only as a diminution of its stock. The sharp fall in yams expended, dropping from 30,000 to 12,000, reflects the shrinking of the enslaved workforce through death and the likely easing of the fortification effort as the works approached completion. The reduced consumption of the staple tracks both fewer mouths to feed after months of mortality and a slackening of the intense summer labour. The figure marks a turning point after the sustained high demand of June and July, the epidemic and the winding down of the works together lowering the call for provisions. The steady deaths recorded month after month within the livestock ledger show how the epidemic was registered by the establishment purely as a loss of working stock, the mortality of Toney, Ned, Harry and Mary entered in the same account as the culled goats and stolen ducks, so the human catastrophe among the slaves appears in the record only through the diminishing numbers of the Company's property. | |
90 | At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 14th Day of September 1742 at the Castle Present George Gabriel Powell Esqr Governour John Godfrey 2d of Council C Dixon 3d of Council The Last Consultation was Read and approved The Governour Reports That Whereas he Believes there are Three fourths of our Soldiers who never fired or may be ever saw a Shott Fired out of a great Gun he thought it highly necessary they should be Learnt something of the nature especially at this Time where our very great Dependance in time of Action must be upon the Success of our Cannon and it would be so Dangerous Experiment to give the Enemy an Oppernunity of Landing their 10 Men and for us to Dispute with our small Arms in the Field but to be Sure their Number coming upon such an Expedition would Vastly exceed ours, so therefore that no Circumstance might be Omitted to make the place as Defensible as Possible he Ordered Last Saturday every private Man should be taught by the Gunner how to Point a Great Gun and that a Sufficient time might be allowed em to make their Remarks and when Agreed the Sergeants and Corporals to fire the same off at a Cask Moored in the Offin for that Purpose and Twenty of the Smallest Guns were fired upon that Occasion We agree That the same Method of Instructing the Soldier be Continued Once a Month for three Months and the Gunner was Ordered to make use of the Oldest Powder to the End the expence may be as Little as Possible And we have great hopes our Honourable Masters will think with us that the Benefits which may arise hence will be amply equivalent to the Present Expence The Artillery Company having been very lately Augmented a full half with the Recruit that came from England P Ship Harrington who must be as Ignorant of the use of the Cannon as the Private Soldiers And Considering these People have the more Immediate Charge and Management of the Great Guns We Agree that they practice every Saturday for the space of Two Month And the Gunner was Ordered to raise a Forget at Ruperts for that Purpose | At a consultation held on Tuesday 14 September 1742 at the Castle, Governor George Gabriel Powell sat with John Godfrey as second of council and Christopher Dixon as third of council. The council read the record of the previous meeting and approved it. The Governor reported that he believed there were three-fourths of the soldiers who had never fired, or perhaps ever saw, a shot fired out of a great gun, and he thought it highly necessary they should learn something of the matter, especially at the island where so very great a dependence in time of action must be upon the success of the cannon. He held it dangerous that the enemy should be given an opportunity of landing their men, and that a dispute with them in the field would be uncertain, since their number coming upon such an expedition would vastly exceed the island's. So that no circumstance might be omitted to make the place as defensible as possible, the Governor had ordered the previous Saturday that every private man be taught by the gunner how to point a great gun, and that sufficient time be allowed them to make their remarks. When agreed, the ensigns and corporals fired the same off at a cask moored in the offing for that purpose, and twenty of the smallest guns were fired upon that occasion. The council agreed that the same method of instructing the soldiers be continued once a month for three months, and the gunner was ordered to make use of the oldest powder, so that the expense might be as little as possible. The council had great hopes the Company would think with them that the benefit arising from this would be amply equivalent to the present expense. The artillery company having been very much augmented, a full half with the recruits that came from England in the ship Harrington, who were as ignorant of the use of the cannon as the private soldiers, and considering these people had the more immediate charge and management of the great guns, the council agreed that they practise every Saturday for the space of two months. The gunner was ordered to raise a target at Rupert's for that purpose. Interpretations The Governor's scheme to train the soldiers in gunnery exposes both the island's defensive doctrine and the poor state of readiness it sought to remedy. Recognising that three-quarters of the garrison had never fired a cannon, and that the island's defence depended on its guns rather than on meeting a superior enemy in the open field, the Governor instituted regular practice at a floating target. The reasoning reveals a deliberate strategy of relying on artillery to prevent an enemy landing, since the small garrison could never hope to match the numbers a hostile expedition would bring ashore. The order to use the oldest powder for practice shows the council balancing military necessity against the cost of training. Gunnery instruction consumed the powder that had to be shipped from England, so the council directed that the least serviceable stock be spent on exercise, preserving the good powder for actual defence while still training the men. The care taken to justify the expense to the Company reveals how every consumption of stores had to be defended to the distant directors as worth its cost. The heavy reliance on artillery for the island's defence reflected the reality that a small garrison on a remote island could not repel a determined invasion by force of numbers, so the guns commanding the landing places were the settlement's true protection, which is why the Governor judged it vital that every soldier learn to serve them. Speculations The Governor chose to train the whole garrison in gunnery rather than leave the cannon to the artillery company alone. The obvious arrangement was for the specialist gunners and matrosses to work the guns while the ordinary soldiers stood ready as infantry, yet the Governor judged that in a real attack the island's survival hung on its artillery, and that too few trained hands manned it. Reasoning that an enemy landing must be stopped by the guns because the garrison could never match an invader in the field, he set every private to learn the cannon, accepting the cost in powder and time to ensure that the loss of the few skilled gunners would not leave the batteries unworked when the island's defence depended on them. | |
91 | To our very great Misfortune The Mortality still Reigns amongst the Honourable Companys Slaves more Violently than in any other Familys The Reason we cannot Account for they have their Usual Allowathes both of Victuals and Cloaths And follow their Usual Employments whats worse of all they prove to be our very best Working fellows that Drop off, Yesterday the Doctor opened One to see if he could find any Cause and the Following is his Account of the Body Vizt Several of the Honourable Companys Blacks Dying Complaining of an Acute Pain in the Side Breast and Difficulty in Respiration, Mediceni having no Affect, I thought it my Duty to inspect farther into their Disorder and acquaint my Honourable Masters September the 17th 1742 I opened Barry Kimmer a Fisherman, who long Complained of the above Pains, on Raising the Sternum, I Observed the Pericardium much extended with a greater Quantity of Water then Usual, The Right Ventricle of the Heart very large, on Opening it I Extracted three distinct pieces of Flesh about an Inch and Quarter in Length not adhereing to any part of the Ventricles with a large Quantity of Coagulated Blood, The Right Lobe of the Lungs adhereing Closely to the Plura, a little Imposthumied September the 25th I opened Madagascar Dick who Died with the same Complaints The Thorax full of Extravasated Water, The Heart of a larger Size then ever I saw, on Opening the Right Ventricle, I extracted a large Brown Virous Substance which almost filled the Ventricle There was another small One in the Left Those Substances I take to be Pollipuses, The Right Lobe of the Lungs entirely Imposthumated, he had three large Worms in his Stomach Thos Clark Surgeon. Mr Godwins Sales being all Compleated and the Assumptant drawing out his Account with our Honourable Masters It is necessary we should next proceed to Enquire of Mr Bazett concerning the Deficiency of the Stores which he stands Chargeable with And therefore We agree that Mr Bazett is Ordered to attend the Councel next Tuesday We this Day Received of the Following Persons the Money for | To the council's very great misfortune, the mortality still raged among the Company's slaves more violently than in any other family. The council could not account for the reason, since the slaves had their usual allowances both of victuals and clothes and followed their usual employments, but what was worst of all, the very best workmen were those that dropped off. The previous day the doctor had opened one to see if he could find any cause, and the following was his account of the body. Several of the Company's slaves, dying and complaining of an acute pain in the side, breast and difficulty in breathing, and medicine having no effect, the doctor thought it his duty to inspect further into their disorder and acquaint the council. On 17 September 1742 the doctor opened Harry Zimmer, a fisherman, who had long complained of the above pains. On raising the sternum, the doctor observed the pericardium much distended with a greater quantity of water than usual. The right ventricle of the heart was very large, and on opening it the doctor extracted three distinct pieces of flesh about an inch and a quarter in length, not adhering to any part of the ventricles, with a large quantity of coagulated blood. The right lobe of the lungs adhered closely to the pleura and was a little imposthumated. On 25 September the doctor opened Madagascar Dick, who died with the same complaints. The thorax was full of extravasated water, and the heart of a larger size than the doctor had ever seen. On opening the right ventricle he extracted a large brown vicious substance, which almost filled the ventricle. There was another small one in the left. These substances the doctor took to be polypuses. The right lobe of the lungs was entirely imposthumated, and the slave had three large worms in his stomach. The account was signed by Thomas Clark, surgeon. Goodwin's sales being all completed, and the accountant drawing out his account with the Company, the council held it necessary to next enquire of Bazett concerning the deficiency of the stores with which he stood chargeable. The council therefore agreed that Bazett be ordered to attend the following Tuesday. The council received the money from the following persons that day. Interpretations The surgeon's post-mortem examinations reveal a rare attempt at medical investigation into the epidemic devastating the enslaved workforce, driven by the council's inability to explain deaths among people who had their usual food, clothing and work. The doctor's careful dissection of Harry Zimmer and Madagascar Dick, recording distended pericardia, enlarged hearts, fluid-filled chests and diseased lungs, represents genuine anatomical enquiry aimed at understanding a killer the establishment could not otherwise fathom. The examinations show medicine of the period reaching for physical causes through dissection when its remedies had failed. The council's observation that the best workmen were those who died sharpens the institutional anxiety behind the enquiry, since the epidemic struck hardest at the most valuable labour. The concern to understand the disease was inseparable from the loss it inflicted on the Company's most useful property, so even this pursuit of medical knowledge was framed by the reckoning of the enslaved as working stock. The naming of Harry Zimmer as a fisherman and Madagascar Dick by his origin gives a rare glimpse of the individual lives behind the mounting toll. An imposthume was an abscess or collection of pus, and a polypus a growth or mass within the body, so the surgeon's findings of imposthumated lungs and polypuses in the heart record his attempt to identify, in the anatomical language of the day, the physical ravages of the disease that was killing the island's slaves. | |
92 | for their several Purchases at the Publick Auction of the Effects of the Late John Godwin Esqr Vizt Daniel Council £0 12s 6d Gabriel Harper in part 10 0s 0d Richard Murry 9 0s 0d Henry Watts 20 6s 6d Richard Mason 13 4s 9½d Thomas Kirkpatrick 1 1s 9d Thomas Colgrove 28 12s 2d Samuel Snype 2 18s 8d James English 2s 9d John Christophell 1 2s 1d Isaac Snype 1 11s 0d Richard Godwin 43 5s 2½d John Godfrey 55 18s 10d £219 15s 8d We Received likewise of Mr Richard Godwin for a Debt due to the Late John Godwin Esqr as appears upon the Inventory of his Estate the Sume of £15 13s 2½d for which we gave the Following Receipt Vizt Received of Richard Godwin the Sume of Fifteen pounds Thirteen Shillings and Two Pence Half Penny being the Ballance due to John Godwin Esqr Deceased as appears P the Inventory of the Estate of the said John Godwin Esqr Deceased upon Account of a Purchase of Lands both Free and Leasehold scituate at the Head of a Branch of Lemmon Valley in the West Division of this Island, late in the Possession of his Mother Mrs Frances Carne deceased who willed the said Land to him Richard Godwin Upon Condition of his Paying the value thereof to his Brother the aforesaid John Godwin Esqr Deceased as doth more fully appear P the Last Will and Testament of the said Mrs Frances Carne Deceased Deposited in the Secretary Office and registred in Will Book fo 221 Island St Helena 18th Day of September AD 1742 | The following persons paid the money for their several purchases at the auction of the effects of the late John Goodwin. Daniel Council, £0 12s 6d Gabriel Harper, in part, £10 0s 0d Richard Murry, £9 0s 0d Henry Watts, £20 6s 6d Richard Mason, £15 4s 2d Thomas Kirkpatrick, £1 1s 9d Thomas Cotgrove, £28 12s 2d Samuel Inype, £2 18s 8d James English, £2 0s 9d John Christophell, £1 2s 1d Isaac Inype, £1 11s 0d Richard Goodwin, £43 5s 2d John Godfrey, £55 18s 10d Total, £219 15s 8d The council likewise received of Richard Goodwin, for a debt due to the late John Goodwin, as appeared in the inventory of his estate, the sum of £15 13s 2d, for which the council gave the following receipt. The council received of Richard Goodwin the sum of £15 13s 2d, being the balance due to the late John Goodwin, as appeared in the inventory of the estate of the late John Goodwin, on account of a purchase of land, both freehold and leasehold, at the head of a branch of Common Valley in the west division of the island, lately in the possession of his mother, the late Frances Carne, who left the land to Richard Goodwin on condition of his paying the value of it to his brother, the late John Goodwin, as more fully appeared by the last will and testament of the late Frances Carne, deposited in the secretary's office and registered in the will book. The receipt was dated at St Helena, 18 September 1742. Interpretations The receipt for Richard Goodwin's payment reveals the intricate family transmission of land bound up in the settlement of the estate, reaching back through a mother's will to a debt owed between brothers. Frances Carne had left land to Richard on condition he pay its value to his brother John, so the sum now collected discharged an obligation created by inheritance and owed to the very estate the council was winding up. The transaction shows how landholding on the island passed through families by conditional bequest, generating debts that outlived the parties and fell to be settled through the Company's administration. The reference to the will deposited in the secretary's office and registered in the will book reveals the formal apparatus by which the island recorded and preserved testamentary documents. Wills were lodged with the secretary and entered in a register, so the settlement maintained an orderly system of probate records against which such claims could be verified. The citation of the will book to substantiate the debt shows how the island's small administration kept the legal records necessary to govern the inheritance of property. A will book was the official register in which the settlement recorded the wills of deceased inhabitants, so Frances Carne's testament being entered there gave it lasting legal authority, allowing the council to confirm the condition she had imposed and the debt owed to her son's estate years after her death. | |
93 | We next proceeded to Count the Honourable Companys Cash which we find in good Order and were satisfied with amounting to the Sum of £ 2889. 16. 3 in the following Specie Including the Moneys we have received Account Mr Goddards Sale. Viz.t Pagodas 2199 £ 1124. 11. 0 Venetians 99 49. 10. 0 St Thomas 3½ 3. 6. 0 Guineas 4 4. 4. 0 Morisscos 12 3. 12. 0 2 Bitts Gold qt 3.4 @ 3. 12. 0 23. 4. 3 1208. 7. 3 Dollars 1908 477. 0. 0 Half Dollars 129 16. 2. 6 Duccatoons 26½ 7. 19. 0 Double Ryalls 1702 106. 7. 6 Ryalls 12003 375. 3. 1½ Half Ryalls 10337 161. 3. 3½ Rupees 903½ 90. 10. 8½ Dutch Money 9. 13. 2 Shilling 0. 0 Fanums 5 1. 3 Copper Coin 3. 1½ Old Money 8. 4 1245. 4 Cash Notes 158 at 2/6 19. 15. 0 241 5/ 60. 5. 0 116 20/ 116. 0. 0 120 40/ 240. 0. 0 436. 0 £ 2889. 16. 3 The Fortification of Bankes go on Admirably well and we may safely say is taken more Pains with than we do to us | The Council next counted the Honourable Company's cash and found it in good order, correct to the sum of £2,889 16s 3d. This included the money received on account of Mr Goddard's sale, made up of the following coin. Pagodas, 2,499, £1,124 11s 0d Ducatoons, 99, £49 10s 0d St Thomas, 33, £3 6s 0d Guineas, 4, £4 0s 0d Moidores, 12, £3 12s 0d 2 bitts gold weighing 3 [...] 4 at £3 18s 0d, £23 4s 3d Subtotal, £1,208 7s 3d Dollars, 1,908, £477 0s 0d Half dollars, 129, £16 2s 6d Ducatoons, 26, £7 19s 0d Double rials, 1,702, £106 7s 6d Rials, 12,005, £375 3s 1½d Half rials, 10,337, £161 3s 3½d Rupees, 3,022, £90 10s 8½d Dutch money, £9 15s 2d Shilling, £0 0s 0d Fanams, 5, £1 0s 3d Copper coin, £3 1s 1½d Old money, £8 4s 0d Subtotal, £1,245 9s 0d Cash notes 158 at 2s 6d, £19 15s 0d 241 at 5s, £60 5s 0d 116 at 20s, £116 0s 0d 120 at 40s, £240 0s 0d Subtotal, £436 0s 0d Total, £2,889 16s 3d The Council found the fortification work at the bank proceeding admirably well, and judged that more care had been taken over it than [...]. Interpretations The cash count mixed an unusually wide range of coin because St Helena sat on the sea route between Europe, India and China and drew currency from every trading nation whose ships called. Pagodas were South Indian gold coins, the standard high-value money of the Madras trade, and here they dominated the specie holding. Ducatoons were heavy Dutch silver coins, St Thomas coins were small West African or Portuguese gold pieces, moidores were Portuguese gold coins widely used across the Atlantic trade, and rials in their various denominations were Spanish silver, the most common trade currency of the age. The presence of rupees, fanams and copper coin alongside guineas and Dutch money shows the island functioning as a meeting point of separate monetary worlds, each reckoned back into sterling for the Company's books. The cash notes were promissory paper issued locally against fixed sterling values, functioning as a substitute currency in a settlement chronically short of coin. Their round denominations of 2s 6d, 5s, 20s and 40s suggest a standardised issue used for wages, purchases and small debts where metal money was scarce, and their inclusion in the count as good cash shows the Council treated them as fully equivalent to specie. | |
94 | taken with the Fortifications at this Place. The mortar made use of for the same being made entirely with Fresh water carried hither from Chapple Valley in Casks towed by the Boats Whereas before the Fortifications was Built with Sea Water whose Saltness in very great Degree destroyd that Binding quality in the Lime and mortar insomuch that at any of the former workes Take out but a Stone or two at the Front and the Cement or mortar will run out like Loose Sand. G. G. Powell John Godfrey C Dixon At a Court of Justice hold at the Castle in Chapple Valley on Tuesday September the 21.st 1712. Present George Gabriel Powell Esq.r Judge John Godfrey Christopher Dixon Assistants The Governour Reports that Thomas Watson hath made Complaint to him that Edward Pridgeon did on Sunday Night last as he Watson lay asleep Attempt to Murther him and did Actually Cut him Whereupon the Governour Examined Watson upon Oath whose Deposition is Entered at Length upon the Tryal. John Jones being an Evidence in the Affair was Likewise Examined upon Oath whose Deposition is Entered at Length upon the Tryal Edward Pridgeon being Called upon to Answer for | The mortar used for the fortifications at this place had been made entirely with fresh water carried down from Chapel Valley in casks towed behind the boats. This mattered because the earlier fortifications had been built with sea water, whose salt destroyed the binding quality of the lime and mortar so badly that at any of the older works a stone or two could be pulled out at the front and the cement would run out like loose gravel. The report was signed by G G Powell, John Godfrey and C Dixon. A Court of Justice met at the Castle in Chapel Valley on Tuesday 21 September 1712. George Gabriel Powell Esquire sat as judge, with John Godfrey and Christopher Dixon as assistants. Governor Powell reported that Thomas Watson had complained to him that Edward Pridgeon, on the previous Sunday night as Watson lay asleep, had attempted to murder him and had actually cut his throat. The Governor then examined Watson upon oath, and his deposition was entered at length in the trial record. John Jones, a witness in the affair, was likewise examined upon oath, and his deposition was also entered at length in the trial record. Edward Pridgeon was then called upon to answer for his [...]. Interpretations The account of the mortar explains a genuine problem in colonial fortification. Lime mortar sets through a chemical reaction in which the lime binds sand and stone into a hard mass, but salt in sea water interferes with that reaction and leaves the mortar weak and crumbling. The observation that older walls could be pulled apart by hand shows the practical consequence, and the labour of towing fresh water down from Chapel Valley in casks reflects a deliberate decision to trade extra effort for durable defences on an island where good building water was not close to the coastal works. The court record marks the opening of a capital trial, since the attempted murder and cutting of a sleeping man's throat was a hanging matter. The procedure followed English criminal practice in miniature, with the complainant and each witness examined under oath and their statements recorded in full before the accused was called to answer. The presence of the same three men, Powell, Godfrey and Dixon, first signing the fortification report and then sitting as the whole court shows how few hands ran every branch of government on the island, so that the same small group served as engineers, administrators and judges in turn. | |
95 | his Misdemeanor Confessed that he did go out of his Chamber into Watsons Room when it was very Dark and there Strike him Watson, as he Lay in his Bed with an Iron Barr, but Denyed the Robbery, tho a silver Watch which he then Stole from Watson was taken upon him, and Sundry other things which at Length he could not Deny or Excuse himself other than by saying he was very sorry for the same, and that the Devil put it in his Head. Whereupon the Governour Committed him Edward Pridgeon to the Prison in Order that he should take his Tryal at the Sessions held this Day. After Which the Court was opened according to the usual manner. Those persons appointed for Jurors were called whose Names are as Follows Viz.t John Frenchton Foreman 1. Francis Wangham senior 2. James Powell 3 Samuel Doveton 4. Jonathan Doveton 5 Richard Goddwin 6 John Bazill 7. John Goddwin 8 Joseph Powell 9 Gabriel Harper 10. James Greentree 11. Thomas Greentree 12 Mess.rs Alexander Bennette Abraham Freehole Simone Ivry and Benjamin Mason Bond Creditors of the late Mr James Crafford Deceased Complaineth that they have been Injured greatly by being kept out of their Money by the Heirs and Representatives of John Hutchinson Deceased as you'l find by their Memorial, which was Read in Court and is at follows Viz.t | Edward Pridgeon, answering for his misdemeanour, confessed that he had got up out of his chamber and gone into Watson's room in the dark, and there struck Watson with an iron bar as he lay in his bed. He denied the robbery, though a silver watch which he had then stolen from Watson was found on him, along with several other things which in the end he could not deny or excuse, saying only that he was very sorry for what he had done and that the devil had put it into his head. The Governor then committed Edward Pridgeon to prison so that he should stand trial at the session held that day. The court was opened in the usual manner, and the men appointed as jurors were called, whose names follow. John Frenchton, foreman, 1 Francis Wrangham senior, 2 James Powell, 3 Samuel Doveton, 4 Jonathan Doveton, 5 Richard Goodwin, 6 John Bazett, 7 John Goodwin, 8 Joseph Powell, 9 Gabriel Harper, 10 James Greentree, 11 Thomas Greentree, 12 Messrs Alexander Bennett, Abraham Freehole, Simon Ivy and Benjamin Mason, joint creditors of the late Mr James Crafford deceased, complained that they had been greatly injured by being kept out of their money by the heirs and representatives of John Hutchinson deceased, as would appear from their memorial, which was read in court and ran as follows. Interpretations Pridgeon's confession combined an admission of the assault with a denial of the theft, even though the stolen silver watch was found on him. This was a common line of defence, since the violence might be excused as a moment of madness prompted by the devil, whereas deliberate robbery revealed calculation and greed that no plea of temporary derangement could cover. His appeal to the devil was the standard early modern way of disclaiming responsibility, casting the crime as an external temptation rather than his own settled will. The jury of twelve drawn from island families such as the Dovetons, Greentrees, Powells and Goodwins shows how the settlement reproduced English trial by jury using the small pool of free planters available. The same surnames recur across the roll, and several appear elsewhere as officeholders and witnesses, so the men judging the case were neighbours and often kin of one another, a structure that gave local legitimacy to the verdict but left little room for genuine detachment. The creditors' complaint opened a civil dispute over an unpaid debt left tangled by two deaths, that of the original debtor James Crafford and that of John Hutchinson, whose heirs the creditors held responsible. Such cases were the ordinary business of the island court, where the death of a debtor could strand creditors for years while the estate passed through successors who denied or delayed payment, and the memorial read into the record was the formal written petition setting out their claim. | |
96 | To the Worshipfull the Governour and Council of the Island St Helena The Memorial of Alexander Bennett Abraham Fribett Simson Ivry and Benjamin Mason Sheweth That your Memorialists are Bond Creditors to the late Mr James Crawford who Died in or about the Month of March 1706/7 at St Helena aforesaid having first made his Will and therein appointed Mr Richard Goddwin of the said Island Sole Executor who by vertue thereof took possession of Thirty three acres of Freehold Land several Houses and other effects belonging to the said James Crafford by vertue of his marriage with Ann the Daughter of Mr George Hodgkinson Deceased That the said Executor did in the Month of September 1707 Tender the aforenamed Will in Council to be proved and at the same time presented an Inventory of the Deceaseds Estate to be Registred which was refused him for Reasons given in Consultation as on Recourse thereto had may more fully appear That some time ago after this your Memorialists were Informed by the said Mr Richard Goddwin that the then Governour & Council had taken from him the said Land and put John Hodgkinson (Eldest Brother to the Wife of the said James Crafford who died before her Husband) in possession thereof as the pretended Heir at Law altho he Mr Goddwin Petitioned to have the same Deferred or a Tryall allowed according to the known Laws of the Island That your Memorialists humbly Conceive this procedure to be Contrary to Justice in general and the Customs of the Island in particular and therefore not Warrantable for want of Regular proofs to bring the Deceast James Craffords Rights of property in Judgment That as no Part of the Deceased's Effects have been Accounted for to your Memorialists as Bond Creditors aforesaid and as the said John Hodgkinson is still in Possessor of the said Lands to our Prejudice | The memorial of Alexander Bennett, Abraham Freehole, Simon Ivy and Benjamin Mason was addressed to the Governor and Council of the island of St Helena, and set out the following. The memorialists were creditors of the late Mr James Crafford, who died in or about March 1736 at St Helena, having first made his will, in which he appointed Richard Goodwin of the island his sole executor. By virtue of that office Goodwin took possession of 33 acres of freehold land, several houses and other effects that had belonged to Crafford through his marriage with Ann, the daughter of Mr George Hodgkinson deceased. In September 1737 the executor offered the will in Council to be proved, and at the same time presented an inventory of the deceased's estate to be registered, but this was refused him for reasons given in consultation, as would fully appear from the record. Some time afterwards the memorialists were informed by Richard Goodwin that the Governor and Council of that time had taken the land from him and put John Hodgkinson, eldest brother to the wife of James Crafford who died before her husband, into possession of it as the next heir at law, although Goodwin had petitioned to have the matter deferred or a trial allowed according to the known laws of the island. The memorialists held this procedure to be contrary to justice in general and to the customs of the island in particular, and therefore not warrantable, for want of regular process to bring the deceased James Crafford's rights of property into judgment. As no part of the deceased's effects had been accounted for to the memorialists as creditors, and as John Hodgkinson still remained in possession of the land to their prejudice, [...]. Interpretations The dispute turned on the collision between a creditor's claim on an estate and the rules of inheritance for land. Crafford had acquired his freehold, houses and effects through his marriage to Ann Hodgkinson, so when both spouses died the property became entangled in competing claims. His executor Goodwin held it to satisfy the debts, while John Hodgkinson claimed it as heir at law through his sister, and the earlier Council resolved the deadlock by ejecting the executor and installing the blood heir. The creditors objected because moving the land to an heir before the debts were settled left them with no fund to be paid from, since land passing to an heir did not carry the dead man's debts with it in the way his personal estate did. The refusal to prove the will and register the inventory in 1737 was the pivot of the whole grievance. Proving the will would have confirmed Goodwin's authority as executor and fixed the estate's contents on record, and by declining to do so the Council left the creditors without a recognised representative to sue or an agreed account of assets. The memorial framed the later seizure of the land as compounding that first refusal, presenting the whole sequence as a denial of the regular legal process the island's own customs were said to guarantee. | |
97 | Your Memorialists Humbly Pray your Worships will favourably please to take the same into Consideration and that the same may be Decided by a Court or Jury agreeable to the known Customs of this Island whose Adjudication your Memorialists will Chearfully Comply with And your Memorialists shall ever Pray &c The Will of Mr James Crafford was read Viz.t In the Name of God Amen I James Crafford of St Helena and late Surgeon of the Ship Scarborough being Sick and Weak of Body but of sound mind and Memory Doe make and ordain this my Last Will and Testament in manner and form following Viz.t My Soul I recommend to the Mercy of Almighty God And my Body to be Decently Buried My Estate both Freehold and Leasehold and of all Sorts I give and Bequeath as follows Viz.t Imprimis I give unto Mr John Browne Surgeon after my Funeral Charges and Debts are paid I give the sume of Forty Pounds for his Care Physick and Attendance Item To Mr Richard Goddwin I give the sume of Ten pounds for Mourning One Mourning Ring of the Value of Forty Shillings with Gloves &c Item I give to Elizabeth the Wife of him the said Richard Goddwin the sume of Ten pounds for Mourning Item To Mr James Powell I give the sume of Ten pounds for Mourning Item All such Freehold Estate as became mine by Vertue of my Marriage with Ann the Daughter of George Hodgkinson Deceased. I desire and hereby empower my Executor hereafter Named to Sell and Dispose to the most Advantage and to Remitt One Hundred pounds hereof to my Wife now Liveing in England The Overplus of my Estate if any remains I give to the Poor of the Island of St Helena at the Discretion of my Executor hereafter mentioned | The memorialists asked the Governor and Council to take the matter into consideration, and prayed that it might be decided by a court or jury according to the known customs of the island, whose judgment the memorialists undertook freely to accept. The will of Mr James Crafford was then read in court, and ran as follows. James Crafford of St Helena, late surgeon of the ship Scarborough, being sick and weak in body but of sound mind and memory, made this his last will and testament. He recommended his soul to the mercy of Almighty God, directed that his body be decently buried, and disposed of his estate, both freehold and leasehold, as set out below. First, after his funeral charges and debts were paid, he gave to Mr John Browne, surgeon, the sum of £40 0s 0d for his care, medicine and attendance. To Mr Richard Goodwin he gave £10 0s 0d for mourning, together with one mourning ring of the value of 40s with gloves. To Elizabeth, the wife of Richard Goodwin, he gave £10 0s 0d for mourning. To Mr James Powell he gave £10 0s 0d for mourning. All the freehold estate that had come to him through his marriage with Ann, the daughter of George Hodgkinson deceased, he empowered his executor to sell and dispose of to the best advantage, and to remit £100 0s 0d of it to his wife, then living in England. The surplus of his estate, if any remained, he gave to the poor of the island of St Helena, at the discretion of his executor named later in the will. Interpretations The will reveals the medical world of the East India shipping trade through its legacies. As a ship's surgeon Crafford left generous mourning gifts to fellow surgeons and to men who had attended him in his final illness, and the largest single bequest of £40 0s 0d went to John Browne, surgeon, expressly for care, medicine and attendance. Such payment by legacy was a common way of settling a doctor's bill after death, folding what was owed for treatment into the will rather than leaving it as a debt against the estate. The mourning bequests followed a fixed early modern convention in which money, rings and gloves were given so that named friends could attend the funeral in proper black. The mourning ring of set value, here 40s, was a standard memorial object, often engraved with the dead person's name and date of death, and the gifts of £10 0s 0d for mourning to the Goodwins and to Powell were meant to clothe them for the occasion rather than to enrich them. The clause disposing of the freehold land is the root of the whole dispute recorded on the preceding pages. Crafford treated the land that came through his marriage as his own to sell, directing his executor to convert it to cash and remit £100 0s 0d to his widow in England, whereas the rival claim rested on the land passing by inheritance to his wife's brother. The instruction to give any surplus to the poor of St Helena shows he expected the estate to be solvent, which sharpened the later grievance of creditors who found nothing left for them. | |
98 | Lastly I appoint Mr Richard Goddwin of the said Island Sole Executor of this my Last Will In Witness whereof I have hereunto Set my Hand and Seal this 22.d Day of March 1706. James Crafford Sign'd Seal'd and delivered as the Last Will and Testament of the Testator in the presence of us John Johnson James Ryder Charles Steward Memorandum The Word (Named) is enterlined in the 28th Line before the Witness The Judge here spoke To the Gentlemen of the Jury in the Following manner Gentlemen of the Jury I hope that these affairs which have occasioned us to meet now together will not Prove very Difficult to Determine Here will come before you some Dispute about the Possession of Lands, As well as a Criminal Cause, That of a Presumed intention to Murther, and an Absolute Act of Felony, I am perswaded every Man upon the Jury will Lay his Hand upon his Heart upon these Occasions and will duly and truly give an Impartial Judgment as his Verdict and do as this as on such Case he would be done unto. This Gentlemen is the Golden Rule and he who Observes it truly will never greatly Err. As to the Dispute about the Possession of Lands you are every One so well acquainted with every Circumstance of the Case now Laid before you and Submitted to your Judgment and Descretion that it would be but a Trouble upon your time for me to Recapitulate the Affair | Lastly, Crafford appointed Mr Richard Goodwin of the island his sole executor. In witness of this last will he set his hand and seal on 22 March 1736. The will was signed by James Crafford, and signed, sealed and delivered as his last will and testament in the presence of John Johnson, James Ryder and Charles Steward. A memorandum noted that the word named was interlined in the 28th line before signing. The judge then addressed the gentlemen of the jury in the following terms. He hoped that the matters which had brought them together would not prove very difficult to determine. Two separate cases would come before them, a dispute about the possession of land and a criminal case, the latter concerning a presumed intention to murder and an outright act of felony. He was confident that every man on the jury would set his fate upon these occasions and give an impartial judgment as his verdict, doing in each case as he would be done unto. That, he told them, was the golden rule, and whoever followed it truly would never greatly err. Turning to the dispute about the possession of land, he observed that they were all well acquainted with every circumstance of the case now laid before them for judgment, so that it would be but a needless spending of their time for him to recapitulate the affair. Interpretations The memorandum recording that a word was interlined before signing was a standard safeguard against later challenge. Any insertion in the body of a will could be attacked as a forgery or an alteration made after execution, so noting the interlineation and its exact line before the witnesses signed put on record that the change was part of the original document, protecting the will from a claim that it had been tampered with. The judge's charge shows a single jury being asked to try two wholly different matters in one sitting, a civil suit over land and a capital felony. This bundling of unlike business reflects the compressed machinery of justice on a small island, where courts met seldom and one panel of jurors handled whatever had accumulated. His appeal to the golden rule rather than to points of law is telling, since these were planters and traders, not trained lawyers, and he directed them to plain conscience and fair dealing as the surest guide to a just verdict. | |
99 | As to matter of Law I am briefly to tell you that thro' our Honourable Masters the Lords Proprietors great Indulgence, your Land Estates here are your Own, and you may Lawfully dispose of the Same, by Will or Otherwise to whomsoever you Please And for the greater security of your Propertys putting it out of the Power of Arbitary or Ill designing Persons to molest or hurt you therein their Honours have been most Favourably Pleased to Order that no One shall be Devested or dispossessed of Houses or Lands or Other Rights whatsoever before a due Tryal be had and a Verdict given against such Persons by a Jury of Twelve Men Yet altho' the Honourable Company Absolutely Order and Direct that no One shall be Devested of Lands &c without a Legal Tryal had and a Verdict given by a Jury of Twelve Men. Yet altho' such Positive Order still Crafford was dispossessed and Hodgkinson put in Possession of these Lands without any Jury Called but this was by Dint of Arbitary power And these must have been very Unhappy Days There is Gentlemen what we call here a Reversion of Lands which must agreeable to the Laws of this Island belong to that Person to whom the Rest of the Estate now in Dispute doth or may belong Thus farr Gentlemen It is my Duty to acquaint you of the Laws and Constitutions of this Island respecting Deceased Persons Estates. Mr John Bagley being asked what he had to say in the behalf of those whom he Represented, Answered, I am no Executor to Mr John Hodgkinson Deceased But at the Desire of his Widow and Orphans who on the third of November 1711 Petitioned to the then Governour and Council That I might or Authorized to Transact their Affairs he Dying Intestate Which I did agree to All that I can say concerning this Affair is that I think the Governour and Council has as much Right to put any Person in Possession of any Lands upon this Island as a Jury or to Decide any Disputes of that Nature The Gentlemen of the Jury before they withdrew | On the point of law the judge told the jury briefly that, through the great indulgence of their Honourable Masters the Lords Proprietors, their land estates on the island were their own, and they could lawfully dispose of them by will or otherwise to whomever they pleased. For the greater security of their property, and to put it beyond the reach of arbitrary or ill-designing persons who might molest or hurt them, their Honours had favourably ordered that no one should be divested or dispossessed of houses, lands or any other rights before a due trial was held and a verdict given against such persons by a jury of twelve men. Yet although the Honourable Company had absolutely ordered and directed that no one should be divested of lands without a legal trial and a verdict by a jury of twelve, and although such was the proprietor's order, Crafford had been dispossessed and Hodgkinson put in possession of these lands without any jury being called. This had been done by mere arbitrary power, the judge said, and those must have been very unhappy days. There was on the island what was called a reversion of lands, which by the laws of the place must belong to the person to whom the rest of the estate now in dispute did or might belong. The judge told the jury that it was his duty to acquaint them so far with the laws and constitutions of the island respecting the estates of deceased persons. Mr John Bagley, asked what he had to say on behalf of those he represented, answered that he was no executor to Mr John Hodgkinson deceased, but that at the desire of the widow and orphans, who on 3 November 1711 had petitioned the Governor and Council of that time, he might be authorised to transact their affairs, since Hodgkinson had died intestate, which the widow agreed to. All that he could say concerning the matter was that he thought the Governor and Council had as much right to put any person in possession of any lands on the island as a jury, or to decide any disputes of that nature. The gentlemen of the jury, before they withdrew, [...]. Interpretations The judge's charge set out the constitutional basis of landholding on St Helena as a grant held at the pleasure of the East India Company. Title came ultimately from the Lords Proprietors, yet the Company had bound itself by its own order that no settler could be stripped of land without a jury trial, turning what was a revocable grant into something closer to secure property. By stressing this guarantee the judge was steering the jury toward finding that the earlier seizure of Crafford's land, done without any jury, had been unlawful. The exchange exposed a genuine constitutional conflict on the island between the authority of the Governor and Council and the right to jury trial. Bagley argued that the executive could dispose of land and settle disputes just as validly as a jury, a claim that struck directly at the protection the judge had just described. This was the real question behind the whole case, whether the administration could override property rights by direct order or whether only a jury verdict could do so, and the judge had already signalled that the arbitrary course marked very unhappy days. The reference to a reversion of lands identified a distinct legal interest at the heart of the dispute. A reversion was the right to have land return to a grantor or his heirs once a prior interest ended, and here the judge tied it to whoever was entitled to the residue of the estate. This mattered because it framed the contest not as a simple choice between executor and heir but as a question of who held the underlying future interest in the land once the immediate claims were resolved. | |
100 | Desired they might have the Will of Mr George Hodgkinson Deceased and the Honourable Companys Deed which was Delivered to them Then the Jury withdrew for about half an Hour and at their return Delivered the Verdict as follows Viz.t The Cause between James Crawford and the Heirs of John Hodgkinson being Laid before the Court they finally Determine after Reading Mr George Hodgkinsons Will and the Honourable Companys Deed & Papers that all the Lands that Hodgkinson Heir have now in Possession as likewise A Reversion of Lands &c to be Mr James Craffords Undoubted Right The same Jury being Sworn a Second time The Criminal Edward Pridgeon was brought to the Barr who Stood Indicted for an Absolute Act of Felony and Presumed intention to Murther as You'l find by his Inditement Viz.t Edward Pridgeon You stand Indicted by the Name of Edward Pridgeon Late Soldier in this Island St Helena for that on the Nineteenth day of this Instant September in the Year of our Lord 1712 between the Hours of Eight and Eleven Post Meridian Contrary to the Peace of our Sovereign Lord the King and the good Government of this Island By the Instigation of the Devil and not having the Fear of God before your Eyes did by force of Arms with an Iron Bar Violently assault and wound Thomas Watson of this Island Soldier as he lay Sleeping in his Bed with a Cruel and Felonious Intent to Murther the said Thomas Watson and to Rob him of his Goods and Tables and Lie open the Chest which was Locked and a Box which was not Locked and take thence a Silver Watch One pair of Stockings Three Handkerchiefs One shirt and a white Waistcoat and other Effects to the Value of Five Pounds of Lawfull Money of this Island and then and there Violently and Feloniously took and Carried away to the great Terror of the aforesaid Thomas Watson and against the Peace of our | The jury asked that they might have the will of Mr George Hodgkinson deceased and the Honourable Company's deed, which were delivered to them. The jury then withdrew for about half an hour, and on their return delivered their verdict as follows. The cause between James Crafford and the heirs of John Hodgkinson had been laid before the court to determine. After reading the will of Mr George Hodgkinson and the Honourable Company's deed and papers, the jury found that all the lands that Hodgkinson's heir now held in possession, and likewise a reversion of lands, were the undoubted right of James Crafford. The same jury was then sworn a second time. The criminal Edward Pridgeon was brought to the bar, where he stood indicted for an outright act of felony and a presumed intention to murder, as appeared from his indictment, which ran as follows. Edward Pridgeon, late soldier on the island of St Helena, stood indicted in his own name for that on 19 September 1712, between the hours of eight and eleven after noon, contrary to the peace of the king and the good government of the island, at the instigation of the devil and without the fear of God before his eyes, he did by force of arms with an iron bar violently assault and wound Thomas Watson of the island, soldier, as he lay sleeping in his bed. He did so with a cruel and felonious intent to murder Watson and to rob him of his goods, and he broke open the chest, which was locked, and a box, which was not locked, and took from them one silver watch, one pair of stockings, three handkerchiefs, one shirt and a white waistcoat and other effects to the value of £5 0s 0d of lawful money of the island, which he then violently and feloniously took and carried away, to the great terror of Thomas Watson and against the peace of the [...]. Interpretations The jury's verdict resolved the land dispute decisively in favour of the dead surgeon's estate over the claim of the wife's family. By reading the founding grant from George Hodgkinson and the Company's deed the jury traced the chain of title, and it found both the lands in current possession and the reversion to be Crafford's undoubted right. This overturned the earlier administrative seizure that had installed John Hodgkinson, vindicating the principle the judge had pressed that only a jury, not executive order, could settle the possession of land. The indictment shows the full apparatus of English criminal pleading transplanted to the island, with its fixed formulas of malice and intent. The charge combined the violent assault with the theft into a single felony, listing the stolen goods item by item and fixing their total value at £5 0s 0d, since the precise value determined whether the theft counted as grand larceny, a capital offence. The detailed inventory of a soldier's modest possessions, a watch, stockings, handkerchiefs, a shirt and a waistcoat, also reveals the small material world of the garrison, where such everyday effects locked in a chest were worth killing for. The same twelve men were sworn afresh to try the criminal case immediately after settling the civil one. Reswearing marked the shift from one cause to another and reminded the jurors that their oath bound them anew, yet the reuse of the identical panel underlines how the island's justice ran on a single small body of men who moved from deciding property to weighing a capital charge within the same sitting. | |
101 | aforesaid Lord the King his Crown and Dignity and in Defiance to the wholsome Constitution and Laws of this Island His Indictment being Read the Judge Asked him the following Questions Judge What say you Prisoner are you Guilty or not Guilty of this Indictment Prisoner Not Guilty Judge How will you be Tryed Prisoner By God and my Country. Judge Which Country you are Therefore you are to Enquire into the merits of the Cause So Stand together and hear your Evidence Judge Read the Depositions and Examine the Witnesses Thomas Wattson Deposeth upon Oath that on Sunday Evening the Nineteenth Instant he was at about Eight aClock Drinking a Bowl of Punch with Edward Pridgeon, that when the Punch was Drank Then this Deponent and Edward Pridgeon went sober as he then thought to Sleep in their respective Beds and Apartments, That in the Night this Deponent was awaked by two Violent Blows upon the Head which so Stunned this Deponent that he was in no Sort Capable to Distinguish Noises, but after some time comming to himself he heard somebody rummaging his Chest and afterwards rummaged his Box, then to the Chest again and then went into the Room where Edward Pridgeon Lay Whereupon this Deponent got out of his Bed and Called John Jones who Lived in the House, and told him Jones That he this Deponent was Murther'd and Said he would Run to Call the Guard, That when a Light came this Deponent found he had lost his Money out of his Breeches pockets, Six or Seven Shillings, And his Chest opend, His Watch taken thence and several other things what he cant Immediately say This Deponent saith That as soon as he had Recovered his senses which he was Deprived off by the Blows He thought it was Edward Pridgeon that had so abused him and was Confirmed when he heard him go into Edward Pridgeons Room Thomas Whattson Island St Helena 20th day of September 1712 Coram me G. G. Powell Gov.r | The offence was charged as committed against the king, his crown and dignity, and in defiance of the wholesome constitution and laws of the island. When the indictment had been read, the judge put the following questions to the prisoner. Asked what he said to the indictment and whether he was guilty or not guilty, Pridgeon answered that he was not guilty. Asked how he would be tried, he answered by God and his country. The judge told him that the jury was therefore the country that would inquire into the merits of the case, and directed them to stand together and hear the evidence. The judge then ordered the depositions to be read and the witnesses examined. Thomas Watson deposed upon oath that on Sunday evening, 19 September, at about eight o'clock, he was drinking a bowl of punch with Edward Pridgeon. When the punch was finished the two men went, as Watson then thought, to sleep in their respective beds and quarters. In the night Watson was woken by two violent blows to the head, which so stunned him that he could not make out anything about him, but coming to himself he heard someone rummaging his chest and afterwards his box, and then going into the room where Pridgeon slept. Watson then got out of his bed and called John Jones, who lived in the house, telling him that he had been all but murdered, and Jones said he would run to call the guard. When a light was brought Watson found he had lost the money from his breeches pocket, some six or seven shillings, and his chest stood open, his watch taken from it along with several other things which he could not immediately name. Watson further deposed that as soon as he recovered the senses of which the blows had deprived him, he believed it was Pridgeon who had so abused him, and he was confirmed in this when he heard him go into Pridgeon's room. The deposition was signed by Thomas Watson and taken on the island of St Helena on 20 September 1712 before G G Powell, Governor. Interpretations The prisoner's answers followed the fixed ritual of arraignment that opened every jury trial for felony. His plea of not guilty and his choice to be tried by God and his country were the set words a defendant had to speak to put himself on the jury, and the judge's explanation that the country meant the twelve men before him translated the ancient formula for a layman. Without this exchange the trial could not proceed, since a prisoner who refused to plead could not lawfully be tried at all. The deposition captures a drinking session between two soldiers that turned to violence once one lay defenceless. The detail that they shared a bowl of punch before both retired shows the close quarters of garrison life, where men drank together and slept in adjoining rooms of the same house. Watson's identification rested not on seeing his attacker, since the blows had stunned him in the dark, but on hearing the intruder withdraw into Pridgeon's own room, a circumstantial link that the prosecution would rely on to place the crime on the accused. | |
102 | John Jones Deposeth that about Eleven aClock on Sunday Evening the 19th Instant he was awaked by the Cry of Murther, for God sake get up upon which he immediately got up and came down Stairs and saw Thomas Watson standing at the Kitchin door, And this Deponent asking him what was the Matter he Watson said that Pridgeon had Murthered him in his Bed, This Deponent asking what Pridgeon struck him with, Watson made Answer he struck me with a Hatchet, This Deponent then went for a light and for the Guard, and when the light came Watson looking at his Chest, said my Chest is broke open, Whereupon this Deponent looking in the Chest he mist Watsons Watch and told Watson of it, This Deponent further saith that hunting about he found One pair Stockings Three Handkerchiefs a Shirt and a white Waistcoat lying just within the Door of Edward Pridgeons Room, and he saw Pridgeon Laying upon his Bed Coverd halfup with a Blankett Leaning his head upon his Hand with his Hatt Shoes Stockings Coat & Cloaths on And this Deponent saith that Pridgeon was very sober and that the late this Deponent hath an eight door he wondersy he did not m out the Guard This Deponent further saith he was told that Thomas Watsons Watch and Money was found by the Guard upon Edward Pridgeon And he verily believes that Edward Pridgeon Assaulted Thomas Watson with an Intent to Murther him. Island St Helena 20th day of September 1712 Coram me G. G. Powell Gov.r mark John Jones After the Depositions were Read the Deponents were Sworn and Reexamined which was to the same Purpose as they had before Deposed Mr Joseph Kendall who was Officer upon Guard at that time was Sworn and Examined | John Jones deposed that about eleven o'clock on Sunday evening, 19 September, he was woken by a cry of murder, upon which he immediately got up and came downstairs, where he saw Thomas Watson standing at the kitchen door. When Jones asked what the matter was, Watson said that Pridgeon had murdered him in his bed, and when Jones asked what Pridgeon had struck him with, Watson answered that he had struck him with a hatchet. Jones then went for a light and for the guard, and when the light came Watson looked at his chest and said his chest was broken open. Jones then looked into the chest, missed Watson's watch and told Watson of it. Jones further deposed that hunting about he found one pair of stockings, three handkerchiefs, a shirt and a white waistcoat lying just within the door of Pridgeon's room, and that he saw Pridgeon lying on his bed, half covered with a blanket, leaning his head on his hand, with his hat, shoes, stockings, coat and clothes on. Jones added that Pridgeon was quite sober, and that so far as he could judge in the night, he did not want the guard called. Jones further deposed that he was told Watson's watch and money had been found by the guard on Edward Pridgeon, and that he truly believed Pridgeon had assaulted Watson with intent to murder him. The deposition was taken on the island of St Helena on 20 September 1712 before G G Powell, Governor, and signed by John Jones with his mark. After the depositions were read, the deponents were sworn and re-examined, and gave evidence to the same effect as they had deposed before. Mr Joseph Kendall, who was officer upon guard at that time, was then sworn and examined, [...]. Interpretations Jones's account exposed a discrepancy in the weapon that the defence might have used, since Watson had told him the attacker struck with a hatchet whereas the indictment charged an assault with an iron bar. Such a variance between a victim's first frightened report and the formal charge was common in cases where the wounded man never saw the blow, and it went to the reliability of an identification made in darkness and shock rather than to the fact of the attack itself. The physical detail in Jones's evidence built the circumstantial case against Pridgeon far more tightly than Watson's could. The stolen clothing lay just inside Pridgeon's door, and Pridgeon lay on his bed still fully dressed in hat, shoes, coat and stockings, which for a man supposedly asleep in the night was deeply suspicious and suggested he had only just lain down after the theft. The later report that the watch and money were recovered from his person by the guard closed the chain, turning a case resting on sounds heard in the dark into one supported by stolen goods found where he lay. | |
103 | John Jones Deposeth that about Eleven aClock on Sunday Evening the 19th Instant he was awaked by the Cry of Murther, for God sake get up upon which he immediately got up and came down Stairs and saw Thomas Watson standing at the Kitchin door, And this Deponent asking him what was the Matter he Watson said that Pridgeon had Murthered him in his Bed, This Deponent asking what Pridgeon struck him with, Watson made Answer he struck me with a Hatchet, This Deponent then went for a light and for the Guard, and when the light came Watson looking at his Chest, said my Chest is broke open, Whereupon this Deponent looking in the Chest he mist Watsons Watch and told Watson of it, This Deponent further saith that hunting about he found One pair Stockings Three Handkerchiefs a Shirt and a white Waistcoat lying just within the Door of Edward Pridgeons Room, and he saw Pridgeon Laying upon his Bed Coverd halfup with a Blankett Leaning his head upon his Hand with his Hatt Shoes Stockings Coat & Cloaths on And this Deponent saith that Pridgeon was very sober and that the late this Deponent hath an eight door he wondersy he did not m out the Guard This Deponent further saith he was told that Thomas Watsons Watch and Money was found by the Guard upon Edward Pridgeon And he verily believes that Edward Pridgeon Assaulted Thomas Watson with an Intent to Murther him. Island St Helena 20th day of September 1712 Coram me G. G. Powell Gov.r mark John Jones After the Depositions were Read the Deponents were Sworn and Reexamined which was to the same Purpose as they had before Deposed Mr Joseph Kendall who was Officer upon Guard at that time was Sworn and Examined | The judge asked Mr Joseph Kendall what he knew of the matter. Kendall answered that he was then upon guard, and as commanding officer was always informed of any disturbance that happened. The prisoner was brought into the guard house before him, and told him he had beaten and robbed Thomas Watson of several goods and effects, among which was a silver watch which he said he had in his pockets. Kendall then immediately searched his pockets and found a silver watch and some silver. Watson swore the watch to be his but would not swear to the silver. This, Kendall said, was the watch he took from Edward Pridgeon, and was all he knew of the matter. The judge asked the prisoner whether he had anything to say in his defence, for he should now be heard. Pridgeon answered that he confessed he did strike Thomas Watson, but did not rob him of any of his goods. The judge then addressed the jury. They had heard the evidence both for and against the prisoner, and he asked them to withdraw. If they found him guilty of the crime laid to his charge, their verdict would be guilty, and if they found him not culpable, their verdict would be not guilty. The jury then withdrew. On their return the judge asked the jury whether they were agreed upon their verdict. They answered that they were. Asked who should speak for them, they named their foreman. Asked whether the prisoner was guilty or not guilty, the foreman answered guilty. The judge then passed sentence on Edward Pridgeon. The jury had found him guilty of his indictment, which was a most alarming act of felony, and he was now to hear his sentence, passed according to the mild and gentle laws and constitutions of the country. He was to restore to Thomas Watson, whom he had robbed, the goods and chattels he had taken from him, and not only [...]. Interpretations Kendall's evidence supplied the decisive link that the earlier witnesses could not, an admission by the prisoner himself coupled with the stolen watch found in his pocket. As officer of the guard he received Pridgeon's own confession to the beating and robbery before searching him and recovering the watch, which Watson then identified on oath. This combination of confession and recovered property made the conviction almost inevitable, and it exposed the weakness of Pridgeon's courtroom stance, since he now admitted the assault while still denying the theft that Kendall's search had already proved. The prisoner's final defence was a narrow and futile attempt to separate the two halves of the charge. By confessing the blow while denying the robbery he sought to reduce his crime from a capital felony of theft to a mere assault, but the evidence of the goods found in his room and the watch found on his person left the distinction hopeless. His admission of the violence in fact strengthened the whole case, removing any doubt that he was the intruder while failing to shake the proof of what he had taken. The judge's description of the island's laws as mild and gentle at the very moment of pronouncing sentence for a capital felony carried a heavy irony. The phrase was a conventional flourish praising English justice as merciful, yet it introduced a punishment for a hanging offence, and the surviving text breaks as the sentence turns from restitution of the stolen goods to whatever further penalty followed. Restitution to the victim was the civil element of the judgment, restoring Watson's property, distinct from the criminal punishment the felony itself demanded. | |
104 | Only to but also the like Three times the Value thereof and the Rest of your Estate whatsoever after your Debts are paid shall be Forfeited to the Honourable the United East India Company. You shall Stand in the Pillory at a Publick place with a Halter about your Neck and be Whipp12 from thence to the Prison and be then Left to the Descretion of the Governour and Council either to Discharge you or make you Work as a Bondsman at the Fortifications of this Island This is your Sentance And Pray God it may work to good an Effect that you may never again fall under such Censure So Take Especial Care of the Prisoner Before this Court rose the Gentlemen of this Jury desired that as they had about Thirteen Years ago Unanimously agreed to kill all their Goats and Sheep for the space of Ten years for the greater Preservation of the young Wood the time being now Expired, many disputes arise concerning the Goat Ranges, some who at that time had no Goat Ranges now lays Claim to one, holding this their Argument That every Planter upon the Island formerly had a Goat range Therefore thinks that the same should Continue Then was Read to the Gentlemen the Honble Companys Orders concerning Goat Ranges, The One Paragraph in their Generall Letter Pr James and Mary Dotd 4th December 1730. which runs thus Viz.t We observe the Resolution which the Majority of the Inhabitants had come to of killing all their Goats and Sheep for the Term of Ten Years which is the most effectual way that can Possibly be taken to prevent the great Damage and Destruction they Occasioned to the growth of young Wood in all Parts of the Island and it is happy as you say they took this Resolution of their own free Will and accord which otherwise might have been an Occasion of Murmur and Complaint But wee Approve and Commend acknowledge the necessity of so doing for the General good of the Island which we hope will by these Means be Sufficiently rewarded with Wood within the Limited time that the Inhabitants may then have Liberty of Raising Goats and Sheep again in the mean while it is but Just and reasonable that | Pridgeon was to restore to Watson three times the value of what he had taken, and the rest of his estate, after his debts were paid, was to be forfeited to the Honourable East India Company. He was to stand in the pillory at a public place with a halter about his neck, be whipped from there to the prison, and then be left to the discretion of the Governor and Council either to discharge him or to set him to work as a bondsman at the fortifications of the island. The judge told him that this was his sentence, and prayed God it might work to so good an effect that he might never again fall under such censure. He gave orders that special care be taken of the prisoner. Before the court rose, the gentlemen of the jury declared that about thirteen years earlier they had unanimously agreed to kill all their goats and sheep for the space of ten years, for the greater preservation of the young wood. That time being now expired, many disputes had arisen concerning the goat ranges, some who at that time had no goat ranges now laying claim to one, their argument being that every planter on the island formerly had a goat range and that the same ought therefore to continue. The Honourable Company's orders concerning goat ranges were then read to the jury, being the one paragraph in their general letter to James and Mary dated 4 December 1730, which ran as follows. The Company observed the resolution the inhabitants had come to of killing all their goats and sheep for the term of ten years, which was the most effectual way that could possibly be taken to prevent the great damage and destruction they occasioned to the growth of young wood in all parts of the island. The Company was happy, as the islanders said they took this resolution of their own free will, and added that what might otherwise have caused murmur and complaint had been done by Godwin and Johnson, who acknowledged the necessity of doing it for the general good of the island. The Company hoped that by these means the island would be sufficiently rewooded within the limited time, so that the inhabitants might then have liberty to raise goats and sheep again, and in the meanwhile held it just and reasonable that [...]. Interpretations The sentence combined restitution, public shaming, corporal punishment and forced labour into a single graduated penalty short of death. Threefold restitution to the victim was an ancient measure for theft, restoring far more than was taken, while forfeiture of the remaining estate to the Company stripped the offender of everything else. The pillory with a halter round the neck and the whipping to prison were rituals of public humiliation and pain designed to deter onlookers, and the final option of bondage at the fortifications turned the convict into unpaid labour for the island's defences, a practical use of a condemned man that spared the cost of hanging while extracting value from his crime. The abrupt shift from a capital trial to a debate about goats reveals the mixed and continuous business of a single court sitting. The islanders had earlier undertaken a drastic conservation measure, the total slaughter of their goats and sheep for ten years, to let the timber recover, since browsing animals stripped the young wood that the settlement needed for building and fuel. This was an early and striking act of deliberate environmental management on a small island whose deforestation directly threatened its own survival. The renewed dispute over goat ranges shows the tension between common regulation and individual property claims once the ten-year ban lapsed. Planters who had held ranges before the slaughter now asserted a right to have them restored, treating the grazing entitlement as a form of property that suspension had not extinguished. The Company's letter, invoked as the governing authority, framed the original agreement as freely undertaken for the common good, which set up the coming decision on whether old grazing rights revived automatically or had to be reallocated afresh. | |
105 | they should preserve their Property to such Ranges as belong to them, by having them Carefully Registred and fully Described, The other in the General Letter Pr Enfield Datd 19th November 1731. and is as follows Viz.t We Ordered the property of the Islanders to be secured by Registring the Ranges of each Plantation. Upon which you take upon you to say they Little deserve it that ought not Governours of all Places to take Care of the Propertys of the Inhabitants this surely is a duty owing to all as a Right they may Claim by vertue of having entred into the Bands of society and tho represented as Indolent and Indefferent as to the growth of Wood yet admitting that to be the Case this Method of ascertaining their several Rights is a very Proper means to rouse them up to Industrey and a Care so to Improve the Lands they Possess and as such we expect it to be put in Execution. They after hearing the Honble Companys Pleasure concerning Ranges told us they had had several Meetings in Order to settle this Affair among themselves but all to no Purpose so Desired that we the Governour and Council would settle it for them Whereupon the Governour made Answer and Said that we would Consider further of it at our next Consultation Then the Court was Adjourned according to the Accustomed manner G. G. Powell John Godfrey C Dixon | The islanders were to preserve their property in such ranges as belonged to them by having them carefully registered and fully described. The other passage came in the general letter by the Enfield, dated 19 November 1731, and ran as follows. The Company had ordered the property of the islanders to be secured by registering the ranges of each plantation, upon which the islanders took it upon themselves to say they little deserved it. The Company answered that governors of all places ought to take care of the property of the inhabitants, that this was plainly a duty owing to all and a right the islanders might claim by virtue of having entered into the bonds of society, and that they had been represented as indolent and indifferent as to the growth of wood. Yet even admitting that to be the case, the Company held that this method of ascertaining their several rights was a very proper means to rouse them to industry and to encourage them to improve the lands they possessed, and as such the Company expected it to be put in execution. After hearing the Company's answer concerning ranges, the jury told the court that they had held several meetings to settle the affair among themselves, but all to no purpose, and they desired that the Governor and Council would settle it for them. The Governor answered that the matter would be considered further at the next consultation. The court was then adjourned in the accustomed manner. The record was signed by G G Powell, John Godfrey and C Dixon. Interpretations The two extracts from the Company's letters set out a deliberate policy of using land registration to reshape the character of the settlers. Registering each plantation's ranges was presented not merely as a way to record property but as a spur to industry, a means to rouse men the directors thought idle into improving their holdings. This linked the security of property directly to productive use, tying a planter's recognised rights to the expectation that he would work and better his land rather than let it lie. The jury's admission that repeated meetings had failed to resolve the goat ranges marks the limit of settlement by common agreement among the planters. Having tried and failed to divide the grazing among themselves, they handed the question up to the Governor and Council, converting a dispute over customary rights into a matter for executive decision. This deferral shows how the island's small landholding community, unable to reconcile competing private claims, fell back on the very administrative authority whose reach over property the earlier land case had just called into question. | |
106 | At a Consultation had the 28th September 1742 at the Castle Present George Gabriel Powell Esq Gov.r John Godfrey 2d of Council Christopher Dixon 3d of Council The Last Consultation was Read and approved The Governour Reports that in the Evening of Saturday last Mr John Bazell acquainted him that Mr Fremans Nichols late Chief Mate of Ship Hallifax who Stayed here for the Recovery of his Health & lodged at his Mr Bazells House Dyed Sudonly at about Eleven aClock in the Forenoon of that Day and the said Mr Nichols having Sundry Effects Mr Bazell Desired the Governours advise what was to be done in the Affair Whereupon the Governour acquainted Mr Bazell that the Honourable Company Ordered in the 46th Paragraph of their General Letter Pr Harrington That the Effects belonging to all Deceased Persons (except Mr Sykes) must be sold at Outcry and the Produce justly filed into their Cash writing off the amount to Account Current London when there are no Demands upon them at St Helena. And in Obedience thereto he would Desire the Secretary with some other Credible Person to take an Inventory of Mr Nichols's Effects and Deliver the same upon Oath into Council to the End they may be Disposed off at Outcry agreeable to the above Order The Secretary Reports That in Obedience to the Governour Direction he went to Mr Bazells House on Sunday Morning last and Sealed with the Honourable Companys Seal every Chest Package Box &c belonging to the late Mr Fremans Nichols And that Yesterday Morning in Conjunction with Doctor Clarke and Mr Bazell he took an Exact Inventory of the whole Effects of said Mr Nichold And accordingly himself Mr Clarke and Mr Bazell now | At a consultation held on 28 September 1742 at the Castle, George Gabriel Powell Esquire, Governor, sat with John Godfrey second of Council and Christopher Dixon third of Council. The last consultation was read and approved. Governor Powell reported that on the evening of the previous Saturday Mr John Bazett had told him that Mr Fremans Nichols, late chief mate of the ship Halifax, who had stayed on the island for the recovery of his health and lodged at Bazett's house, had died suddenly at about eleven o'clock in the forenoon of that day. Since Nichols had left various effects, Bazett asked the Governor's advice on what should be done in the matter. The Governor told Bazett that the Honourable Company had ordered, in the ninth paragraph of their general letter by the Barrington, that the effects belonging to all deceased persons, except Mr Pyke's, must be sold at auction, and the proceeds properly entered into their cash, writing off the amount to account current in London when there were no demands upon them at St Helena. In obedience to that order the Governor directed the Secretary, together with some other credible person, to take an inventory of Nichols's effects and deliver it upon oath in Council, so that the goods might be disposed of at auction according to the order. The Secretary reported that in obedience to the Governor's direction he had gone to Bazett's house on the previous Sunday morning and sealed every chest, box and other container belonging to the late Mr Nichols with the Honourable Company's seal. He added that the previous morning, together with Doctor Clarke and Mr Bazett, he had taken an exact inventory of the whole of Nichols's effects. Doctor Clarke, Mr Bazett and the Secretary then [...]. Interpretations The procedure for handling a dead mariner's property shows the Company imposing a strict administrative routine on the disposal of estates far from home. Sealing every container with the Company's seal before any inventory was taken protected the goods against theft or embezzlement and fixed their contents beyond dispute, while the requirement of a sworn inventory taken by the Secretary alongside independent witnesses guarded against undervaluation or concealment. Selling the effects at public auction converted uncertain goods into a clear cash sum that could be entered in the accounts and set against the dead man's account in London, turning a private death into a controlled fiscal transaction. The exception carved out for Mr Pyke's effects reveals the special standing of a former governor within the Company's rules. Where the ordinary dead were subjected to compulsory auction and remittance, Pyke's property was expressly exempted, a mark of rank that placed senior servants of the Company outside the routine machinery applied to mariners and lesser men. This distinction shows that the uniform procedure was not truly uniform, bending to accommodate the seniority and presumed trustworthiness of the Company's own leading officers. | |
107 | Deliver the Following Account upon Oath to be a true full and Exact Inventory of the Estate and Effects belonging to the late Mr Fremans Nichols as far as they know off Viz.t Inventory of Sundry Goods and Effects upon the Island St Helena belonging to the late Mr Fremans Nichols Deceased Viz.t 6 Silver Tea Spoons 1 Do Table Do old 1 Do Watch 1 Do Stamp 1 Do Seal Gilt 1 pr Do Sleeve Buttons Gilt 1 Sett Do Shoe Knee & Stock Buckles 1 Silver Chain Cash £ 153. 14. 9½ Do 10. 12. 6 more Wearing Apparell &c 1 Box with 4 Wiggs 30 fine Ruffled Shirts new 20 Plain Shirts 29 Stocks 14 Caps 11 Do old 3 Night Caps 3 Quilted Caps 1 Large Ruff Cap 29 Yellow Shirts 10 White Waistcoats 16 pair Cotton and Thread Stockings 43 Handkerchiefs 43 Red Cotton Do 3 Old Silk Do 1 Old White Do 8 Cambrick Do 9 Mushne Do 7 Ob Coarse Sheets 9 Do worse Sheets 14 Do Old Gloves 1 Cloth Brush 1 Quilted Chints Bangan 2 Old Table Cloths 13 D Showbears 5 pr Worsted Stockings 2 pr Black silk Do 9 Bangan Shirts 11 Do White Draws 2 pr Gingham Do 1 pr Musheeto Do 2 Gingham Banyaus 1 Nankeen Bangan Quilted 1 Nankeen double breasted Waistcoat Quilted 3 Nankeen Waistcoats 2 Ballasore Gingham Waistcoats old 4 pr Old Nankeen Breeches 2 pr Old Ballasore Gingham Breeches 2 pr Black velvet Breeches 2 pr Red silk Breeches 2 pr Black silk Do 1 pr Olive Colour Silk Do 1 pr Red Camblet Do 4 pr Cloth Do 1 Blue Cloth Froch 1 Drab Do 1 Cinnament Do 1 Scarlet Duroy Do 1 Red Silk Do 1 Coloured Silk Do | Doctor Clarke, Mr Bazett and the Secretary delivered upon oath the following account, as a true, full and exact inventory of the estate and effects belonging to the late Mr Fremans Nichols, so far as they knew. The inventory listed the various goods and effects on the island of St Helena belonging to the deceased. 6 silver teaspoons 1 old silver tablespoon 1 silver watch 1 silver stamp 1 gilt silver seal 1 pair of gilt silver sleeve buttons 1 set of silver shoe, knee and stock buckles 1 silver chain Cash, £153 14s 9½d 10 12 6 more Wearing apparel 1 box with 4 wigs 33 fine ruffled shirts, new 20 plain shirts 29 stocks 19 caps 11 old caps 3 night caps 3 quilted caps 1 large ruff cap 22 yellow shirts 10 white waistcoats 16 pairs of cotton and thread stockings 43 handkerchiefs 43 red cotton handkerchiefs 3 old silk handkerchiefs 1 old white silk handkerchief 5 cambric handkerchiefs 9 muslin handkerchiefs 7 old coarse sheets 9 dressed sheets 14 old gloves 1 clothes brush 1 quilted chintz banyan 2 old table cloths 13 old towels 5 pairs of worsted stockings 2 pairs of black silk stockings 1 banyan shirt 11 old white drawers 2 pairs of gingham drawers 1 pair of mosquito drawers 1 gingham banyan 1 nankeen banyan, quilted 1 nankeen double-breasted waistcoat, quilted 3 nankeen waistcoats 2 balasore gingham waistcoats, old 4 pairs of old nankeen breeches 3 pairs of balasore gingham breeches 4 pairs of black velvet breeches 2 pairs of red silk breeches 2 pairs of black silk breeches 1 pair of chocolate-colour silk breeches 1 pair of red camblet breeches 4 pairs of cloth breeches 1 blue cloth frock 1 drab cloth frock 1 cinnamon cloth frock 1 scarlet duroy frock 1 red silk frock 1 coloured silk frock Interpretations The estate of a ship's chief mate reveals the surprising wealth in clothing and small silver that a senior mariner in the eastern trade accumulated. The quantity of shirts, breeches and frocks, many in silk, velvet and fine cloth, far exceeds practical need and represents a portable store of value, since textiles were a recognised form of movable wealth that could be resold at auction for ready cash. The silver items, from teaspoons to buckles and a watch, were the personal luxury goods of a man of standing aboard ship, easily carried and readily converted to money on his death. The garments record the material traffic between India and the wider world that passed through such a man's wardrobe. Banyans were loose Indian dressing gowns adopted by Europeans in the East, nankeen was a durable yellowish cotton cloth from China, balasore gingham was a checked cotton woven at Balasore on the Bengal coast, and camblet and duroy were woollen cloths from Europe. Their presence together in one sea chest shows how an officer on the India route dressed himself from the products of three continents, wearing Chinese cotton, Bengali weave and English wool by turns. The two cash entries suggest money found in more than one place among the effects rather than a single purse. The main sum of £153 14s 9½d stood as the bulk of the ready money, with a further small amount noted separately, perhaps discovered in a different container when the chests were opened and sealed. Recording each sum as found, without combining them, reflected the careful inventory practice of setting down exactly what lay in the estate so that nothing could later be questioned. | |
108 | 2 Old Cloth Frocks 1 Waistcoat and two pr Breeches 1 Scarlet Waistcoat laced with Gold 1 Green Cloth Waistcoat 1 Blew Cloth Do 1 Black Cloth Do 3 Black Silk Do 1 Ballasore Gingham Do 1 Striped Bengan Quilted 1 Gold Lace & three Plain Hatts 3 English Damask Curtains 1 Hammock 1 Small Bed and three pillows 1 Pallampore and 1 Quilt 1 fine Chints Quilt 9 pair Bombay Pumps new 2 pair Do Slippers 3 pair Old Buroze Shoes 1 pair Baroze Boots 2 Shoe Brushes 1 Shaul 4 yrs fine White Dimetty 2 Work'd Handkerchiefs & Aprons 4 yr fine Madras Ginghams 7 yd Cherrederrys 13 yds fine Madras Chints 1 fine Pallampore 14 yr Handkerchiefs 32 yrs Cazenbizar Do 8 yr Susee Do 1 yr White Stripe Do 10 fine White Stripe Do 12 Coarse Do 1 Do & Remnant Nankeen 95 White Shirt 2 yr Gurrous & Remnant 4 Remnant Musselini 7 lb Tobaco 2 China Bowls 3 Do Sneekers A Parcell of Books 1 Sett Muschetto Curtains 13 potts Tea Green and Bohea 1 Small Parcell Coffee 1 Small Box with Spice 1 Jarr with some Tammerine 1 Ecreitore 1 Chest 1 Tin Canister 1 Fatboys Quadrant 8 pr Susee 1 Shaving Cloth 8 Shells 1 Brass mounted Sword & Belt 3 Canes A parcell of Old Maps 1 Spying Glass 2 Small Casks Red Cape Wine Do White Do 1 Cask with some Sugar 4 Firkin Butter 1 Puncheon Arrack 1 Cask Tammerine 1 Small Bag Peas 1 Case with 5 Empty Cquart Bottles 1 Old Case with Cempty Gallon Bottles 14 Doz Bear 14 Doz & 9 Bottles Red & White Wine 1 Feah Chest belonging to Mr John Nichols 3 Empty half Leagers 2 Bottles French Brandy 1½ Bottles Soye | The inventory of the late Mr Fremans Nichols continued with the following goods and effects. 2 old cloth frocks, 1 waistcoat and 2 pairs of breeches 1 scarlet waistcoat laced with gold 1 green cloth waistcoat 1 blue cloth waistcoat 1 black cloth waistcoat 3 black silk waistcoats 1 balasore gingham waistcoat 1 striped nankeen waistcoat, quilted 1 gold lace and three plain hats 3 English damask curtains 1 hammock, 1 small bed and three pillows 1 palampore and 1 quilt 1 fine chintz quilt 2 pairs of Bombay pumps, new 2 pairs of Bombay slippers 3 pairs of old baroche shoes 1 pair of baroche boots 2 shoe brushes 1 shawl 4 yards of fine white dimity 2 worked handkerchiefs and aprons 4 yards of fine Madras gingham 7 yards of cherryderry 15 yards of fine Madras chintz 1 yard of palampore 14 yards of handkerchief cloth 32 yards of cazenbizar silk 8 yards of susy silk 1 yard of white striped silk 10 yards of fine white stripe silk 12 yards of coarse silk 1 yard and remnant of nankeen 95 white shirts 2 yards of gurrahs and remnant 4 remnant of muslin 7 pounds of tobacco 2 china bowls 3 china sneakers A parcel of books 1 set of mosquito curtains 13 pots of green tea and bohea 1 small parcel of coffee 1 small box with spice 1 jar with some tammerine 1 escritoire 1 chest 1 tin canister 1 Ferguson's quadrant 6 pairs of susy 1 shaving cloth 8 shells 1 brass-mounted sword and belt 3 canes A parcel of old maps 1 spyglass 2 small casks of red Cape wine 2 small casks of white Cape wine 1 cask with some sugar 4 firkins of butter 1 puncheon of arrack 1 cask of tammerine 1 small bag of peas 1 case with 5 empty quart bottles 1 old case with 6 empty gallon bottles 14 dozen beer 14 dozen and 9 bottles of red and white wine 1 fish chest belonging to Mr John Nichols 3 empty half-leaguers 2 bottles of French brandy 1 bottle and a half of soye Interpretations The textile holdings show a mate trading privately in Indian piece goods alongside his own wardrobe. The long runs of cloth measured by the yard, cherryderry, gurrahs, cazenbizar silk and Madras chintz, were not personal clothing but merchandise, the named weaves of specific Indian centres bought cheap in the East for resale. Baroche, from which the shoes and boots came, was Broach on the Gujarat coast, and Cassimbazar in Bengal gave cazenbizar its name, so the wardrobe doubles as a map of the ports where a Company officer laid out his own capital in the country trade that supplemented a mariner's wages. The provisions and liquor reveal how a sick man victualled himself for a long convalescence far from home. The Cape wine, arrack, beer and brandy, together with butter in firkins, sugar, peas and tamarind, were the stores of a European maintaining his accustomed diet on a remote island, much of it shipped in bulk in leaguers and puncheons. Arrack was the distilled spirit of the East, tamarind a souring fruit used against fever and scurvy, and soye an early import of the Chinese sauce, showing how the eastern trade had begun to carry exotic foodstuffs into ordinary European consumption. The scientific and personal instruments mark the professional identity of a ship's officer. A Ferguson's quadrant for taking altitudes at sea, a spyglass and a parcel of maps were the working tools of navigation, while the escritoire, the brass-mounted sword and the gold-laced hat were the possessions of a gentleman of rank aboard ship. The single fish chest belonging to Mr John Nichols, carefully distinguished as another man's property, shows the scrupulous separation of the dead man's estate from goods that merely happened to lie among his effects. | |
109 | Sundrys Dr to the Estate of Mr Fremans Nichols Deceased Viz.t Richard Goddwin for Arrack 20 Gallons @ 5/ Pr Gallon £ 5. 0. 0 John Goodwin for Do 24½ Do Do 6. 2. 6 John French Senr for Do 20 Do Do 5. 0. 0 Thomas Greentree for Do 34 Do Do 8. 10. 0 Joshua Twynam for Do 10 Do Do 2. 10. 0 Joseph Desfountain for Do 9 Do Do 2. 5. 0 James Dubois for Do 6½ Do Do 1. 12. 6 Joseph Powell for Do 25 Do Do 6. 5. 0 Joseph Whaley for Do 4 Do Do 1. 0. 0 William Burnham for Do 3 Do Do 0. 15. 0 Ebenezer Leach for Do 10 Do Do 2. 10. 0 166 £ 41. 10. 0 James Dubois for Piece Goods 1. 10. 0 John French Senr Do 1. 13. 0 John French Junr Do 1. 2. 6 Joshua Twynam Do 2. 16. 3 Joseph Whaley Junr Do 0. 5. 7½ Richard Bagby Do 3. 15. 9 Daniel Owen Do 0. 11. 3 John Bazell 6. 13. 4 Charles Clarke 2. 0. 0 Scipio 3. 10. 0 24. 5. 8½ | Various persons were recorded as owing money to the estate of Mr Fremans Nichols deceased, the first group for arrack bought at 5s a gallon. Richard Goodwin, for 20 gallons of arrack at 5s a gallon, £5 0s 0d John Goodwin, for 24½ gallons, £6 2s 6d John French senior, for 20 gallons, £5 0s 0d Thomas Greentree, for 34 gallons, £8 10s 0d Joshua Gwynnam, for 10 gallons, £2 10s 0d Joseph Desfountain, for 9 gallons, £2 5s 0d James Dubois, for 6½ gallons, £1 12s 6d Joseph Powell, for 25 gallons, £6 5s 0d Joseph Whaley, for 4 gallons, £1 0s 0d William Burnham, for 3 gallons, £0 15s 0d Ebenezer Leach, for 10 gallons, £2 10s 0d 166 gallons, £41 10s 0d A further group owed the estate for piece goods bought from it. James Dubois, for piece goods, £1 10s 0d John French senior, for piece goods, £1 13s 0d John French junior, for piece goods, £1 2s 6d Joshua Gwynnam, for piece goods, £2 16s 3d Joseph Whaley junior, for piece goods, £0 5s 7½d Richard Bagby, for piece goods, £3 15s 9d Daniel Owen, for piece goods, £0 11s 3d John Bazett, for piece goods, £6 13s 4d Charles Clarke, for piece goods, £2 0s 0d Scipio, for piece goods, £3 10s 0d Total, £24 5s 8½d Interpretations The debtor lists show that the dead mate's private trade goods were being sold off among the island's inhabitants, converting his estate into a web of small debts owed by named planters. The arrack was distributed in modest quantities across eleven buyers at a uniform 5s a gallon, and the piece goods went to a similar group, so the auction of a deceased man's effects functioned as a distribution point that spread his imported spirits and cloth through the settlement. Recording each purchaser and sum turned the estate into a set of receivables to be collected before the balance could be remitted to London. The appearance of Scipio among the debtors is notable, since the single classical name was the kind commonly given to slaves on the island, yet here the man was permitted to buy piece goods on credit like any free planter. This suggests either a freed slave trading on his own account or a slave allowed to transact within the local economy, and it shows that the buying and selling of imported goods reached beyond the free settler class into the wider population. The debt of £3 10s 0d was a substantial sum for such a purchaser, implying real participation in the island's commerce. | |
110 | The Following Particulars being at the Washer Womans is not Inserted in the above Inventory and are Viz.t 1 Bed Pan 1 Pewter Urinal 1 Old Great Cort 1 Coarse Shot 1 Pillow Case 1 Yellow Shirt 1 Banyan Shirt 1 pr Flannell Draws 1 Do Waistcoat 1 pr Gingham Draws 1 Gingham Banyan Quilted 2 Coarse Towels 2 Old Susse Handkerchiefs Then we Considered when would be the best time to Dispose of the Goods whether now or not till the Shipping and it was Unanimously agreed that as there were several of the Goods Perishable the best way would be to make Sale of them as soon as Possible, and pay the Produce into our Honourable Masters Treasury and write of the Amount to Account Current London agreeable to their Orders Whereupon the Secretary was Ordered to publish an Advertisement accordingly Viz.t Island St Helena 29th September 1742 This is to give Notice to all Persons upon this Island That on Wednesday the 13th of next Month will be Exposed to Publick Sale in this Valley Sundry Goods and Effects belonging to the Late Mr Fremans Nichols Deceased where all persons are Free to bid and Buy for Ready Money Pr Order of Council C Dixon Secty | The following items were at the washerwoman's and had not been entered in the inventory above. 1 bed pan 1 pewter urinal 1 old greatcoat 1 coarse shirt 1 pillowcase 1 yellow shirt 1 banyan shirt 1 pair of flannel drawers 1 waistcoat 1 pair of gingham drawers 1 gingham banyan, quilted 2 coarse towels 2 old susy handkerchiefs The Council then considered when it would be best to dispose of the goods, whether at once or not until the shipping arrived. Since several of the goods were perishable, the members unanimously agreed that the best course would be to sell them as soon as possible, pay the proceeds into their Honourable Masters treasury and write off the amount to account current in London, according to the Company's orders. The Secretary was ordered to publish an advertisement accordingly. The advertisement, dated at the island of St Helena on 29 September 1742, gave notice to all persons on the island that on Wednesday 13 October various goods and effects belonging to the late Mr Fremans Nichols would be exposed to public sale at the Castle, where all persons were to be free to bid and buy for ready money. It was issued by order of Council and signed by C Dixon, Secretary. Interpretations The recovery of items left at the washerwoman's shows the thoroughness demanded of an estate inventory, which had to gather in every scrap of a dead man's property wherever it happened to lie. Personal linen and clothing sent out for laundering were easily overlooked, yet the appointed officers tracked them down and added them to the account, ensuring that nothing escaped the reckoning owed to the Company. The presence of a bed pan and pewter urinal among these effects is a quiet reminder that Nichols had been an invalid convalescing on the island, whose sickroom equipment ended up scattered among his washing. The decision to sell at once rather than wait for the shipping turned on the perishability of part of the estate. Holding an auction when ships were in the road would ordinarily draw more buyers and higher prices, since visiting officers and crews swelled the pool of purchasers, so the default course was to delay. The Council rejected that advantage because provisions such as butter, wine and tamarind would spoil before the fleet came, choosing a prompt sale for ready money over a better-attended one later, and fixing the auction only a fortnight ahead to limit the loss. | |
111 | The Governour Reports that the Lime Blaster has raised all the Lime Stone that lay in Dry Gutt in Quantity about 4 Feet and that he has begun to Blow up in Potata Bay where he has the Pleasure to acquaint the Board there is a Quantity amply Sufficient to Answer all our purposes that we need be under no apprehension upon that Score At present the Lime Blaster is Employed at Bankses in Blowing up a small ledge of Rock that lyes so as that the Enemy might Land upon the Point Free from our Fire and make themselves Master of them Roads which are of an Equal Height with our Battery and Joining to the East end of it so that they would fight us at advantage to themselves And as the same may be so Easely Remedied as by a Week or Ten Days work of the Lime Blaster I have thought it more wholsome to employ him therein than we run the Risque The works at Bankses are Continued with the Utmost expedition that can be expedited and I hope our Workmen will be Removed from thence to Ruperts in two Months The Sickness Still Reigns in our Black House insomuch that the Company loose one or more of their Slaves every Week notwithstanding all the Care taken of them They have had from the beginning Nurses to attend on, and have wanted for nothing the Castle could afford The better to Prevent abuses on the Part of the Honourable Companys Slaves and inferiour Overseers The Governour offers whether it would not be adviseable to make a Standing Order that nothing be Delivered out of the Stores for the use of the Companys Plantations and Blacks without a Note from the Husband to the Storekeeper And the same Method be Observed with regard to the Fortifications that nothing be Issued on that account without a Note from the Governour to the Storekeeper Agreed that the above Method be a Standing Order in Future The Governour reports That as this | Governor Powell reported that the lime blaster had raised all the limestone that lay in Dry Gut, amounting to about four kilns, and had begun to blast in Potato Bay, where he was pleased to tell the Board there was a quantity amply sufficient to answer all their purposes, so that they need be under no apprehension on that score. At present the lime blaster was employed at the bank, blasting a small ridge of rock that lay so that the enemy might land upon the point free from the island's fire and make themselves master of the roads, which were of an equal height with the battery and joined to the east end. From there they would fight at an advantage, and since this could be so easily remedied by a week or ten days work of the lime blaster, the Governor thought it more wholesome to employ him there than to run the risk. The works at the bank were continued with the utmost expedition that could be managed, and the Governor hoped the workmen would be moved from there to Rupert's in two months. Sickness still reigned in the black house, so much so that the Company lost one or more of their slaves every week, despite all the care taken of them. From the beginning they had been given the best nurses the Castle could afford to attend them, and had wanted for nothing. To prevent abuses on the part of the Honourable Company's slaves and inferior overseers, the Governor proposed a standing order that nothing be delivered out of the stores for the use of the Company's plantations and slaves without a note from the husband to the storekeeper. He proposed that the same method be observed for the fortifications, so that nothing be issued on that account without a note from the Governor to the storekeeper. The Council agreed that this method should become a standing order in future. The Governor then reported further on another matter. Interpretations The concern over the ridge of rock at the bank shows fortification driven by a precise reading of the ground an enemy would use. The rock stood at the same height as the battery and gave onto the anchorage, so an attacker seizing it could shelter from the island's guns and then fire down on the defenders from level ground. Rather than leave this weak point, the Governor diverted the lime blaster from quarrying to demolishing it, judging a week or ten days of blasting a cheaper insurance than the risk of losing the roads, a small tactical calculation of effort against danger. The steady death of the Company's slaves in the black house records a mortality crisis among newly landed Africans that no amount of nursing could stem. The black house was the holding quarters for slaves belonging to the Company, and the loss of one or more every week points to disease running through people weakened by the middle passage and unfamiliar with the island's conditions. The insistence that they wanted for nothing reads as an anxious defence against the charge of neglect, the administration recording its own care even as the deaths continued. The proposed note system for the stores reveals the Company tightening control against internal theft through a simple paper check. By requiring a written note from the husband for plantation supplies and from the Governor for fortification materials, the order created a documentary trail that pinned every issue of goods to a named authoriser. This targeted the suspected pilfering by slaves and lesser overseers by removing their ability to draw stores unchecked, substituting written authorisation for verbal request as the trigger for any release from the warehouse. | |
112 | his Duty to be very Frequently at Bankss to give Directions to the Workmen there how to go on with their Work and see that they do their Duty and not Trifle away their time, and likewise to visit every other Fort he must Indispensably execute that Duty to a Tittle but that he has often found himself at a loss for a means of going thither, for tho the Company have a Pinnace yet they have no People appointed to Row her and therefore he has hitherto taken some of the Soldiers and pays them with a Pint of Punch to each which he finds will run up to a Considerable amount in the Twelve Month and the People not think Themselves well paid for their Day work neither Therefore He submitts it to the Consideration of this Board how he must be provided with a means of doing his Duty by seeing all others that are at Distances do theirs at a loss expence to our Masters Agreed That to have a Boats crew is absolutely necessary and to employ such People as will serve for Forty Shillings Pr Annum each Heretofore it was Customary to allow a Boats crew five or Six Pounds Pr Annum each altho it never appeared upon the Companys Books being Charged under some other Title But this Underhand method we shall be Carefull to avoid upon all Occasions Mr John Bazell was this Day called upon to make Payment to the Honourable Company in the Sume of £ 142.12.9 in Obedience to the 34 Paragraph of General Letter Pr Harrington To which he replied that he was very ready to abide by their Honours Order But as they had Cleard him of any Effects in the Stores Provided it could be fixed upon either Mr Goodwin or Crispe he hoped therefore we would allow him the means of Proving the Embezzlement in the Stores upon the Former by permitting him to have the Inspection of the Store Day Books and Ledgers for some Years past And for any part that could not be so Proved absolutely and beyond Contradiction he was Content should be Charged to his Particular Account We asked him how farr down he desired to have the Inspection of the Store Books He answered from the time he was first Employed in the Stores under Mr Goodwin which was Eighteen Years | The Governor reported that it was his duty to be very frequently at the bank to direct the workmen, to see that they did their work and did not trifle away their time, and likewise to oversee every other fort he must indispensably attend to the letter. He had often found himself at a loss for a means of getting there, for although the Company had a pinnace, they had no people appointed to row her. He had therefore taken some of the soldiers and paid them with a pint of punch each, which he found would run up to a considerable amount over twelve months, and the men did not think themselves well paid for their day's work either. He submitted to the Board how he might be provided with a means of doing his duty, seeing that all others stationed at a distance did theirs at less expense to the Company. The Council agreed that a boat's crew was absolutely necessary, and resolved to employ such people as would serve for 40s a year each. Formerly it had been customary to allow a boat's crew £5 or £6 a year each, although this never appeared on the Company's books, being charged under some other title. The Council resolved to be careful to avoid such an underhand method on all occasions. Mr John Bazett was called upon to make payment to the Honourable Company of the sum of £142 12s 9d, in obedience to the 34th paragraph of the general letter by the Barrington. He replied that he was very ready to abide by their Honours order, but as they had cleared him of any deficiency in the stores provided it could be fixed upon either Mr Goodwin or Crispe, he hoped the Council would allow him the means of proving the embezzlement in the stores. He asked that this be done by permitting him to inspect the store day books and ledgers for some years past, and for any part that could not be proved, absolutely and beyond contradiction, he was content that it should be charged to his particular account. The Council asked him how far back he wished to have the inspection of the store books. He answered from the time he was first employed in the stores under Mr Goodwin, which was eighteen years earlier. Interpretations The problem of rowing the Governor to the works exposes how thinly the Company manned its own establishment, forcing improvised arrangements that cost more than proper provision. Lacking any crew for the pinnace, the Governor had been paying soldiers in punch to row him, an informal wage that both mounted up unseen over a year and left the men dissatisfied. Replacing this with a hired crew at 40s each put the service on a regular footing, substituting a fixed and visible wage for an ad hoc bribe in liquor that had quietly drained the accounts. The remark about the old custom of charging a boat's crew under a false heading reveals a culture of concealed accounting the new administration was trying to end. Paying £5 or £6 a year while hiding the cost under some other title kept the true expense off the visible record, a practice that disguised where the Company's money actually went. The resolve to avoid such underhand methods signals a shift toward transparent bookkeeping, treating the honest labelling of expenditure as a matter of principle rather than mere tidiness. Bazett's response to the demand for £142 12s 9d turned a personal liability into a demand for a full audit stretching back eighteen years. Rather than simply pay the sum charged against him, he insisted the shortfall lay with Goodwin or Crispe and sought access to the store books to prove where the embezzlement had occurred, accepting personal charge only for what he could not pin on others. This shifted the burden from a fixed penalty on him to an open investigation of the whole store accounts, a defence that used the Company's own records to contest the apportionment of blame. | |
113 | We told him that our Honourable Masters seemd to Intimate he should have all the Light necessary in Order to putting the Saddle upon the Right Horse but withall Reminded him that as what he desired would take up a Considerable time therefore it required his utmost diligence and dispatch which he on his part promised to use This Day we came to the following Resolution viz Resolvd That for the better Manangement and Carrying on our Honourable Masters Business upon this Island all the Factors and Writers be duly in their respective Offices in a Morning from Eight till Eleven in the Afternoon from Two till five and Longer if Business require it Agreeable to the Desire of the Gentlemen of the Jury and our Promise at the Last Sessions concerning the Disputes about Goat Ranges We agree to Call a Vestry in Order to settle the same and Directed the Secretary to Publish an Advertisement accordingly which was as follows Viz.t Island St Helena 29th Sept.r 1742 This is to give Notice that on the 15th of next Month the Inhabitants of this Island are required to meet at the Castle in this Valley the better to resettle the Inhabitants in their Property to their several Ranges of Goats Pr Order of Council C Dixon Secty Orderd That an Advertisement be Published for all Persons to attend at the Castle the 14th of next Month in Order to Reckon for their Rents and revenues due to the Honourable Company for the Year ending the 30th of this Month Mr Robert Gurling this Day presented the following Petition | The Council told Bazett that their Honourable Masters seemed to intimate he should have all the light necessary to put the saddle upon the right horse, but reminded him that since what he desired would take up a considerable time, it required his utmost diligence and dispatch, which for his part he promised to use. The Council came to the following resolution that day. For the better management and carrying on of their Honourable Masters business on the island, all the factors and writers were to be duly in their respective offices in a morning from eight till eleven, in the afternoon from two till five, and longer if business required it. In keeping with their promise at the previous session concerning the disputes about goat ranges, the Council agreed to call a vestry to settle the matter, and directed the Secretary to publish an advertisement accordingly. The advertisement, dated at the island of St Helena on 29 September 1742, gave notice to all the inhabitants of the island that on the 13th of the next month they were required to meet at the Castle in the valley, the better to resettle the inhabitants in their property to their several ranges of goats. It was issued by order of Council and signed by C Dixon, Secretary. The Council also ordered that an advertisement be published for all persons to attend at the Castle on the 14th of the next month, to reckon for their rents and revenues due to the Honourable Company for the year ending on the 30th of that month. Mr Robert Gurling then presented the following petition. Interpretations The fixing of office hours for the factors and writers shows the administration imposing a regular working discipline on the Company's junior servants. Setting precise morning and afternoon attendance, from eight till eleven and two till five, with an extension when business demanded, replaced loose custom with a defined routine and made idleness visible as a breach of a stated rule. This bureaucratic ordering of the working day reflected the same drive toward accountability seen in the note system for the stores and the honest labelling of expenditure. The decision to call a vestry to settle the goat ranges resolved the earlier deadlock by moving the question to a recognised communal body rather than an executive order. Having been asked by the jury to settle the dispute itself, the Council instead chose to convene the inhabitants in vestry, the parish assembly that handled local affairs, so that the reallocation of grazing would carry the authority of the community assembled. This choice sidestepped the awkward question of whether the administration could parcel out property rights alone, giving the outcome a broader legitimacy by drawing in those affected. | |
114 | To the Worshipfull George Gabriel Powell Esq.r Governour & Council of the Island St Helena The Humble Petition of Robert Gurling Sen.r Humbly Sheweth That your Petitioner about three Years since having obtained Liberty of the then Governour and Council to become Tenant to the Honourable Company for a small Parcell of Ground Lying in Peak Gutt Containing One and an half Acres which he accordingly then Enclosed and Planted and hath also paid the Rent for the said Land but have not as yet ever had a Lease for the same Your Petitioner therefore most Humbly prays your Worship and Council will be favourably Pleased to Grant him a Lease for the same accordingly St Helena 28th Sept.r 1742 And your Petitioner will ever pray &c Granted (Signed) Robt Gurling Mr Onesiphorus Gurling Presented the Following Petition To the Worshipfull George Gabriel Powell Esq.r and Council &c The Humble Petition of Onesiphorus Gurling Humbly Sheweth That your Petitioner hath Served his full time in the Honourable Companys Service as a Soldier but thinking that he can do better out of the Service Your Petitioner Humbly begs and Desires to have his Discharge And Your Petitioner will be in Duty bound to for ever Pray Granted Onesiphorus Gurling | Robert Gurling senior petitioned Governor Powell and the Council of the island of St Helena. About six years earlier he had obtained leave from the Governor and Council of that time to become tenant to the Honourable Company for a small parcel of ground lying in Peak Gut, containing one and a half acres, which he had then enclosed and planted. He had also paid the rent for the land, but had not yet had a lease for it. Gurling therefore asked the Council to grant him a lease accordingly. The petition, dated at St Helena on 28 September 1742 and signed by Robert Gurling, was granted. Mr Onesiphorus Gurling then presented the following petition to Governor Powell and the Council. He had served his full time in the Honourable Company's service as a soldier, but thinking he could do better out of the service, he asked to have his discharge. The petition, signed by Onesiphorus Gurling, was granted. Interpretations The first petition exposes a gap between occupation and legal title that the Company allowed to persist for years. Gurling had held, enclosed, planted and paid rent on his parcel at Peak Gut for six years without ever receiving the lease that should have formalised the arrangement, so his tenancy rested on payment and possession rather than a written grant. His request to regularise it shows tenants seeking documentary security for holdings they already worked, aware that unwritten arrangements left their rights vulnerable, and the ready grant suggests the administration was willing to convert established occupation into formal tenure once asked. The two petitions together, presented by men of the same family, mark the ordinary points at which individuals adjusted their relationship to the Company that governed nearly every aspect of island life. One sought to secure land, the other to leave military service in hope of bettering himself as a free planter or trader, and both required the Council's assent because the Company controlled both landholding and enlistment. That a soldier could seek discharge on completing his term and expect it to be granted shows service was contractual rather than indefinite, and that the island's small free population was partly fed by men leaving the garrison to take up civilian life. | |
115 | Mr John Godfrey this Day brought in and Delivered the Following Account which was Examined and Entred as follows Viz.t A Collection of Stores sold from 23th March to 30th June 1742 Viz.t Broad Cloth Selling Price at 2/ Pr yard 4 yards 0. 8. 7½ Bread Selling Price at 3/1 Pr O 3.2.1 0. 11. 0 Blanketts Viz.t 3 Blanketts Selling Price at 7/ Each 1. 1. 0 1 Do 9. 0 1. 10. 6 Braziersware Viz.t 1 Brass Cock 2. 6 1 Copper Saucepan 4. 6 1 large Copper Kettle 2. 8. 0 2. 15. 0 Beef 2 pieces Selling Price at 4½ ea 8. 4 Combs Viz.t 12 Ivory Combs dobled 15. 4 4 Buckling Combs Selling Price at 4/ each 2. 8 18. 0 Cordage O 4. 23 11. 8. 6¾ Cutlery Ware Viz.t 1 Shoe Knife 7½ 1 Pen Knife 1. 3 1 pair Scizars 11 2. 9½ 3. 4. 1½ Corks 14½ Gross Selling Price at 4/6 Pr yd 2. 3¾ Canvas 1 yard Selling Price at 4/ Pr yd 1. 4 Deals 6 Deals Selling Price at 4/ each Carried over £ 34. 13. 2¼ | Mr John Godfrey brought in and delivered the following account, which was examined and entered as below. It set out a collection of stores sold from 23 March to 30 June 1742, with the selling prices noted against each item. Broadcloth, 8 yards at 21s 9d a yard, £0 8s 7½d Bread, 321 at 3s 4d a hundredweight, £0 11s 0d Blankets 3 blankets at 7s each, £1 1s 0d 1 blanket, £0 9s 0d Blankets total, £1 10s 6d Braziers ware 1 brass cock, £0 2s 6d 1 copper saucepan, £0 4s 6d 1 large copper kettle, £2 8s 0d Braziers ware total, £2 15s 0d Beef, 2 pieces at 4s 2d each, £0 8s 4d Combs 12 ivory combs, dressed, £0 15s 4d 4 buckling combs, £0 2s 8d Combs total, £0 18s 0d Cordage, 4 hundredweight 23 pounds, £11 8s 6d Cutlery ware 1 shoe knife, £0 0s 7½d 1 pen knife, £0 1s 3d 1 pair of scissors, £0 0s 11d Cutlery ware total, £0 2s 9½d Corks, 14½ gross at 4s 6d a gross, £3 4s 1½d Canvas, 19 yards at 2s 6d a yard, £0 2s 3¾d Deals, 6 double at 4s each, £1 4s 0d Carried over, £34 13s 2¾d Interpretations The quarterly account of stores sold shows the Company running a retail operation on the island, disposing of surplus warehouse goods to the inhabitants at set prices. The range of items, from cloth and bread to hardware, combs, knives and cordage, reveals the storehouse acting as a general supplier for a settlement that could obtain manufactured goods no other way, since everything had to be shipped in. Recording a selling price against each line, and carrying a running total forward, treated these disposals as a formal branch of the Company's trade to be accounted for like any other revenue. The named categories reflect the specialised trades of eighteenth-century ironmongery brought to a remote market. Braziers ware meant articles of brass and copper such as the cock, saucepan and kettle listed, the products of the brazier who worked those metals. Deals were sawn softwood planks, imported timber being precious on a treeless island, and buckling combs were combs for dressing and setting the hair. Cordage measured by hundredweight was rope for the shipping and the fortification works, and the gross of corks in bulk points to the bottling of the wine and spirits that the same accounts show passing through the island. | |
116 | Brought over £ 34. 13. 2¼ Flour Selling Price at 3/ Pr O 4. 2. 19 0. 14. 4 Fustians 1 yard 1. 9 Glaziers Ware Viz.t 2 Beer Glasses 2. 6 42 Square Glass 8 by 10 Selling Price at 6 each 1. 8. 0 1. 10. 6 Hosiersware Viz.t 21 pair Cotton Hose Selling Price at 2/6 Pr pair 2. 12. 6 4 pair Boys Worsted Selling Price at 3/3 Pr pair 13. 0 3. 5. 6 Hooks and Lines Viz.t 8 5½ Doz Hooks Sorted 3. 15. 7 13 hundred Blue Hooks 13. 0 2 Doz Lines Sorted 10. 8 3 large Hambro Lines 9. 0 1 Small Do 2. 0 5. 10. 3 Haberdashery Ware Viz.t 16½ Oz China Silk Selling Price at 1/6 Pr Oz 1. 5. 1½ 4 Yards Ferrett Selling Price at 4 Pr yard 1. 4 5 Bay Laces Selling Price at 6 each 2. 6 4 Do Do Selling Price at 12 each 4. 0 16 Sk Mohair Selling Price at 6 each 8. 0 20 Sk English Silk Selling Price at 6 each 10. 0 7 lb Pins Sorted 10. 1 11 Doz 2 breast Buttons 11. 8 9 Doz breast Do 4. 0 1 pr Mans Wash Leather Gloves 1. 9 2 Yards Ribband 3. 0 1 pr Narrow Tape 8 4. 2. 1½ Ironmongers Ware Viz.t 1 Shod Shovel 3. 0 2 Stock Locks. B 2. 10 5. 10 Carried over £ 58. 34. 6¼ | The account of stores sold continued, with the total of £34 13s 2¾d brought over from before. Brought over, £34 13s 2¾d Flour, 4 hundredweight 2 quarters 19 pounds at 3s a quarter, £0 14s 4d Fustians, 1 yard, £0 1s 9d Glaziers ware 2 beer glasses, £0 2s 6d 42 square glass, 8 by 10, at 6d each, £1 8s 0d Glaziers ware total, £1 10s 6d Hosiers ware 21 pairs of cotton hose at 2s 6d a pair, £2 12s 6d 4 pairs of boys worsted at 3s 3d a pair, £0 13s 0d Hosiers ware total, £3 5s 6d Hooks and lines 8½ dozen hooks, dressed, £3 15s 7d 13 hundred blue hooks, £0 13s 0d 2 dozen lines, dressed, £0 10s 8d 3 large hambro lines, £0 9s 0d 1 small hambro line, £0 2s 0d Hooks and lines total, £5 10s 3d Haberdashery ware 16¾ ounces of china silk at 1s 6d an ounce, £1 5s 1½d 4 yards of ferret at 4d a yard, £0 1s 4d 5 bay laces at 6d each, £0 2s 6d 4 bay laces at 1d each, £0 0s 4d 16 skeins of mohair at 6d each, £0 8s 0d 20 skeins of English silk at 6d each, £0 10s 0d 7 pounds of pins, dressed, £0 10s 1d 11 dozen and 9 coat buttons, £0 11s 8d 9 dozen breast buttons, £0 4s 0d 1 pair of mens wash leather gloves, £0 1s 9d 2 yards of ribband, £0 3s 0d 1 piece of narrow tape, £0 0s 8d Haberdashery ware total, £4 2s 1½d Ironmongers ware 1 shod shovel, £0 3s 0d 2 stock locks, £0 2s 10d Ironmongers ware total, £0 5s 10d Carried over, £58 34s 6d Interpretations The account continues to reveal the storehouse as the island's only source of manufactured trade goods, stocking the specialised wares of several distinct crafts. Glaziers ware covered window glass and drinking glasses, the square panes measured 8 by 10 inches for glazing the settlement's windows, while haberdashery ware meant the small articles of a sewing and dress trade, threads, silks, tapes, laces and buttons that let the inhabitants make and mend their clothing far from any shop. Ironmongers ware was the heavier hardware of iron, here a shod shovel bound with an iron edge and stock locks for securing doors. The fishing tackle listed under hooks and lines points to fishing as a significant activity around the island, whether for subsistence or the ships. Hambro lines were strong fishing lines named from Hamburg, a noted source of the hemp cordage from which they were made, and the quantities of dressed hooks and lines in dozens and hundreds suggest supply for organised fishing rather than casual angling. On an island dependent on the sea for much of its fresh food, the storehouse kept the gear that let inhabitants and mariners take fish from the surrounding waters. The carried-over total of £58 34s 6d shows shillings left unconverted rather than reduced to pounds, since 34 shillings exceeds a pound and would normally be written as £1 14s. Such running totals were carried forward mechanically as the account was built up column by column, the clerk deferring the final reckoning until the whole was complete. The figure records the accumulating value of stores sold across the quarter, a sum that would be tidied into proper form only when the account was closed and balanced. | |
117 | Brought over £ 58. 3. 6¼ 14 Stock Locks A 17. 6 1 Large Do 10. 7 2 Iron Do B 7. 7 1 Do Iurrers 2. 0 1 Chest Lock 8. 0 1 Bxe Do 4. 6 1 Iron Pots Wt 17½ 5. 0 1 Hoe 3. 4 1 Pick Ax 5. 2 2 Spades 13. 2 2 Helves 2. 4 2 Scythes Stones 8 1 Paring Chizell 1. 1 1 Morko Do 1. 1 4. 2. 0 Kersey Selling Price at 2/ Pr yard 6 yards 12. 0 Lead 20 lb Bird Shott 9. 8 Nails Viz.t 22 lb Nails Sorted 16. 3½ 2 M Coopers Ruetts 1. 10 18. 1½ Oyl Viz.t 11½ Gallons Train Oyl Selling Price at 4. 5/ Pr Gall 2. 17. 6 1 Gallon Linseed Oyl Selling Price at 6/ Pr Gall 6. 0 2 Bottles Florence Oyl Selling Price at 3/9 Pr Bottle 7. 6 3. 11. 0 Paint &c Viz.t 4 Doubel Barrells Blacking Selling Price at 10 each 2. 8 1 lb Hair Powder 9 14 lb Smalt 3. 6 11 lb White Lead Selling Price at 16 Pr lb 9 3 lb Spanish Brown Selling Price at 15 Pr lb 1. 6 9 Ounces Indico Selling Price at 15 Pr yd 1. 0 9 lb Umber 3½ 1 pr Yellow Oaker 16. 3½ 2 Pitch &c 8 lb Rozin Selling Price at 13 Pr lb Carried over 68. 14. 9½ | The account of stores sold continued, with the total of £58 3s 6¾d brought over from before. Brought over, £58 3s 6¾d 14 stock locks, £0 17s 6d 1 large stock lock, £0 10s 7d 2 iron stock locks, £0 7s 7d 1 pair of scissors, £0 0s 2d 1 chest lock, £0 0s 8d 1 brass lock, £0 4s 6d 1 iron pot at 17 pounds, £0 5s 0d 1 hoe, £0 3s 4d 1 pickaxe, £0 5s 2d 2 spades, £0 13s 2d 2 helves, £0 2s 4d 2 scythe stones, £0 0s 8d 1 paring chisel, £0 1s 1d 1 marking chisel, £0 1s 1d Ironmongers ware total, £4 2s 0d Kersey, 6 yards at 2s a yard, £0 12s 0d Lead, 20 pounds of bird shot, £0 9s 8d Nails 22 pounds of nails, dressed, £0 16s 3½d 2 pounds of coopers rivets, £0 1s 10d Nails total, £0 18s 1½d Oil 11½ gallons of train oil at 4s 6d a gallon, £2 17s 6d 1 gallon of linseed oil, £0 6s 6d 2 bottles of Florence oil at 3s 9d a bottle, £0 7s 6d Oil total, £3 11s 0d Paint 4 double barrels of blacking at 10d each, £0 2s 8d 1 pound of hair powder, £0 0s 9d 14 pounds of smalt, £0 3s 6d 11 pounds of white lead at 1d a pound, £0 0s 9d 3 pounds of Spanish brown at 5d a pound, £0 1s 6d 9 ounces of indigo at 2s 6d a pound, £0 1s 0d 2 pounds of umber, £0 0s 3½d 1 pound of yellow ochre, £0 0s 2d Paint total, £0 10s 3½d Pitch and rosin, 8 pounds of rosin at 1s 3d a pound, £0 0s 2d Carried over, £68 14s 9½d Interpretations The dense list of locks, tools and metal goods confirms the storehouse as the fortress and settlement's ironmongery, holding the working equipment of building, digging and securing. The many stock locks, chest locks and a brass lock met the constant need to secure stores and dwellings against the theft the administration so often complained of, while the spades, hoe, pickaxe, helves and chisels were the hand tools of construction and cultivation. Helves were the wooden handles fitted to axes and other tools, sold separately because the heads outlasted the shafts that split with use. The pigments and oils under paint and oil reveal a supply of the raw materials of painting and preserving rather than finished products. Smalt was a blue pigment made from ground cobalt glass, Spanish brown an earthy red, umber and yellow ochre natural earth colours, and indigo the deep blue dye, all sold by the pound to be mixed with the white lead and linseed oil into paint on the spot. Train oil was whale oil used for lamps, leather and as a paint medium, and Florence oil was fine olive oil from Italy, a table oil distinct from the industrial train oil listed above it. The small quantities and low unit prices across these lines show the store meeting the piecemeal needs of individual buyers rather than supplying bulk trade. Nine ounces of indigo, two bottles of oil, a single hoe or chisel were sold as domestic purchasers required them, the storehouse breaking down its shipped stock into the small amounts a household or workshop would use. This retail function turned imported bulk goods into a graded supply that matched the modest scale of demand in a settlement of a few hundred inhabitants. | |
118 | Brought over £ 68. 14. 9½ Pewter Viz.t 1 Dozen Spoons 3. 6 2 Pewter Funnells Selling Price at 3/6 each 7. 0 3 Chamber Potts Selling Price at 5/ each 15. 0 1. 5. 6 Stationary Ware 2 Quire Paper Selling Price at 1/4 Pr Quire 2. 8 Shalloon 7 Yards Selling Price at 3/ Pr yard 1. 1. 0 Salt 5½ Bushell 1. 17. 3½ Shoes Viz.t 3 pair Men Shoes D. B Selling Price at 6/ Pr pair 18. 0 2 pair Mens Do Selling Price at 6/ Pr pair 12. 0 3 pair Boys Do Selling Price at 5/3 Pr pair 15. 6 4 pair Mens best Do Selling Price at 6/6 Pr pair 1. 6. 8 6 pair Mens best Do Pr D. I Selling Price at 7/2 Pr pair 2. 3. 0 1 pair Mens Shoes I. b 6. 0 1 pair Mens Do Pr D. L 6. 0 6. 7. 2 Soap 95 lb Selling Price at 1/3 Pr lb 5. 18. 9 Tinware Viz.t 1 Tin Lamp 1. 0 1 Tin Saucepan 2. 0 3. 6 Turners Ware Viz.t 2 Hair Brooms Selling Price at 3/6 each 9. 0 2 Scrubbing Brushes Selling Price at 3/4 each 6. 8 1 Flasket 3. 3 2 Cloth Brushes 3. 5 1 Inch Firmer 5½ 1½ Inch Do 5½ 1. 1. 3 Twine &c Viz.t 5 lb Shoe Thread Selling Price at 1/6 Pr lb 12. 6 2½ Twine Selling Price at 2. 6 Pr lb 6. 3 1½ lb Ipoak Thread 1. 3 1. 0. 0 Carried over £ 87. 17. 10½ | The account of stores sold continued, with the total of £68 14s 9½d brought over from before. Brought over, £68 14s 9½d Pewter 1 dozen spoons, £0 3s 6d 2 pewter funnels at 3s 6d each, £0 7s 0d 3 chamber pots at 5s each, £0 15s 0d Pewter total, £1 5s 6d Stationery ware, 2 quire of paper at 1s 4d a quire, £0 2s 8d Shalloon, 7 yards at 3s a yard, £1 1s 0d Salt, 5½ bushels, £1 17s 3¼d Shoes 3 pairs of mens shoes at 6s a pair, £0 18s 0d 2 pairs of mens shoes at 6s a pair, £0 12s 0d 3 pairs of boys shoes at 5s 2d a pair, £0 15s 6d 4 pairs of mens best shoes at 6s 8d a pair, £1 6s 8d 6 pairs of mens best shoes at 7s 2d a pair, £2 3s 0d 1 pair of mens shoes, £0 6s 0d 1 pair of mens shoes, £0 6s 0d Shoes total, £6 7s 2d Soap, 95 pounds at 4s 3d, £5 18s 9d Tinware 1 tin lamp, £0 1s 0d 1 tin saucepan, £0 2s 0d Tinware total, £0 3s 6d Turners ware 2 hair brooms at 3s 6d each, £0 7s 0d 2 scrubbing brushes at 3s 4d each, £0 6s 8d 1 flasket, £0 3s 3d 2 cloth brushes, £0 3s 5d 1 inch firmer, £0 0s 5½d 1½ inch firmer, £0 0s 5½d Turners ware total, £1 1s 3d Twine 5 pounds of shoe thread at 2s 6d a pound, £0 12s 6d 2½ pounds of twine at 2s 6d a pound, £0 6s 3d 1½ pounds of Ipswich thread, £0 1s 3d Twine total, £1 0s 0d Carried over, £87 17s 10½d Interpretations The shoe entries dominate this part of the account and reveal footwear as a major item of the storehouse trade, graded by quality and by wearer. Ordinary mens shoes sold at 6s a pair, boys shoes cheaper at 5s 2d, and mens best shoes commanded 6s 8d and 7s 2d, so the store stocked several grades to match different purses. On an island where no shoemaker could supply the whole population, imported shoes in quantity were a staple, and the careful distinction between common and best quality shows buyers choosing according to means and occasion. The categories again record the distinct crafts whose products the store supplied to a settlement without artisans in every trade. Turners ware meant articles shaped on a lathe or by a turner working wood, the brooms, brushes and the flasket, which was a long shallow basket. Pewter and tinware were the cheap metal wares of the household, chamber pots, funnels, spoons and a lamp, while shalloon was a light woollen lining fabric and Ipswich thread a named linen thread from the Suffolk town. Each named ware points to a specialised English manufacture reaching the island through the Company's warehouse. The steady accumulation of the total toward £87 across these pages shows the scale of the Company's retail turnover in a single quarter. The running sum gathered the value of hundreds of small transactions in cloth, hardware, food and household goods, building a substantial figure from modest individual sales. This quarterly reckoning of stores sold formed one strand of the Company's island accounts, the storehouse generating a continuous stream of revenue that offset the cost of shipping goods out and had to be entered and balanced like every other part of the business. | |
119 | Brought over £ 87. 17. 10½ Thread Viz.t 4 lb Whited Brown Thread Selling Price at 9/ Pr lb 1. 16. 0 6 Oz Thread Selling Price at 1/ Pr Oz 6. 0 6 Oz Colourd Thread Selling Price at 4/ Pr lb 1. 4. 0 4 Oz Thread Selling Price at 2/ Pr Oz 8. 0 3 Oz Do Selling Price at 1/6 Pr 4. 6 3. 18. 6 Totall amount of European Goods £ 91. 16. 4½ Indian Goods Viz.t Arrack 2 Gallons Selling Price at 6/ Pr Gall 13. 0 Candles 123 lb Selling Price at 2/6 Pr lb 13. 7. 6 China Ware Viz.t 7 Dozen 4 half Pint Cups Selling Price at 4 each 1. 4. 4 3 Doz 3 Hogging Cups Selling Price at 3 each 9. 9 2 Doz Plates Selling Price at 9/ Pr Doz 18. 0 1 Sneaker 6 2. 17. 7 Chellow 15 Pieces Selling Price at 14/ Pr piece 10. 10. 0 Desootees 4 Single Pieces Selling Price at 14/ Pr piece 2. 16. 0 Long Cloth Viz.t 2 pieces fine Long Cloth Selling Price at 33/6 Pr piece 3. 7. 0 2 pr Coarse Do Selling Price at 29/ Do 2. 16. 0 6. 3. 0 Pepper 5½ Selling Price at 1/2 Pr pound 5. 6 Rice O 3. 10 Selling Price at 15/ Pr O 2. 6. 4 Shirts 44 Selling Price at 2/6 each 5. 10. 0 Sugar O 15. 1. 21 Selling Price at 2 £ 16. 0 Pr O 13. 18. 6 £ 182. 3. 9½ | The account of stores sold continued, with the total of £87 17s 10½d brought over from before. Brought over, £87 17s 10½d Thread 42 pounds of whited brown thread at 2s a pound, £1 16s 0d 6 ounces of thread at 1s a dozen, £0 6s 0d 6 ounces of coloured thread at 4s 8d, £1 4s 0d 4 ounces of thread at 2s an ounce, £0 8s 0d 3 ounces of thread at 1s 6d, £0 4s 6d Thread total, £3 18s 6d Total amount of European goods, £91 16s 4½d Indian goods Arrack, 2 gallons at 6s 6d a gallon, £0 13s 0d Candles, 123 pounds at 2s 6d a pound, £13 7s 6d China ware 7 dozen half-pint cups at 4d each, £1 4s 4d 3 dozen hogging cups at 3d each, £0 9s 9d 2 dozen plates at 9d a dozen, £0 18s 0d 1 sneaker, £0 0s 6d China ware total, £2 17s 7d Cherryderry, 15 pieces at 14s a piece, £10 10s 0d Doosooties, 4 single pieces at 14s a piece, £2 16s 0d Long cloth 2 pieces of fine long cloth at 33s 6d a piece, £3 7s 0d 2 pieces of coarse long cloth at 20s a piece, £2 12s 0d Long cloth total, £6 3s 0d Pepper, 5½ pounds, £0 5s 6d Rice, 3 hundredweight 10 pounds at 15s a hundredweight, £2 6s 4d Shirts, 44 at 2s 6d each, £5 10s 0d Sugar, 15 hundredweight 1 quarter 21 pounds at £2 16s 0d a hundredweight, £43 18s 6d Total, £182 3s 9½d Interpretations The division of the account into European and Indian goods reveals the two great streams of trade that met on the island, one flowing out from England and the other up from India and China. The European section closed at £91 16s 4½d, and the Indian goods nearly doubled the account, showing how far the eastern trade supplied the settlement with textiles, spices, rice, sugar and arrack that no European cargo carried. St Helena drew on both worlds because it lay on the homeward route of the Indiamen, which unloaded part of their eastern lading there in exchange for the refreshment and stores the island provided. The named Indian cloths record the specific weaves of the subcontinent that dominated the Company's textile trade. Cherryderry was a striped or checked cotton, doosooties a plain calico whose name meant two threads from the Bengali weave, and long cloth a fine white cotton sold by the piece in fixed lengths. These were the staples of the India trade brought to the island for local use and resale, and their presence in quantity shows the inhabitants clothing themselves largely in Indian cotton rather than the dearer woollens shipped from home. The single line for sugar at nearly £44 dwarfs every other item and shows one commodity dominating the whole quarter's sales. More than fifteen hundredweight sold at £2 16s a hundredweight, a bulk purchase far beyond ordinary household need, which points to sugar being taken for provisioning ships or for further distribution rather than mere domestic consumption. This one entry made up almost a quarter of the entire account, revealing how a single high-value eastern staple could shape the pattern of the Company's island trade in a way the many small hardware and cloth sales could not. | |
120 | A Collection of Stores Sold from the 23th March to the 30th June 1742 belonging to the Estate of John Goodwin Esq.d Deceased Viz.t Arrack Selling Price at 6/6 Pr Gall 26 Gallons 8. 9. 0 Candy Selling Price at 4/1 Pr lb 179 lb 3 67. 6. 9¾ Coffee Selling Price at 5/ Pr lb 2 lb 4. 0 China Ware Two Muggs 6 Hosiersware 5 pair Hoth Selling Price at 4/6 Pr pair 1. 0. 0 Morees 4 Do Selling Price at 15/ Pr piece 6. 15. 0 Nankeen 7 Do Selling Price at 6/6 Pr piece 2. 2. 0 Tea 12½ Selling Price at 5/ Pr pound 3. 2. 6 Teak Boards 28 Selling Price at 12 Each 1. 8. 0 90. 13. 3¾ A Collection of Charges General belonging to the Estate of John Goodwin Esq.d Deceased from 23th March to 30th June 1742 Viz.t Blacks 6 Teak Boards 6. 0 Boats 1 Teak Board 1. 0 Charges General Viz.t Arrack 36 Gallons @ 5/ Pr Gallon 9. 0. 0 Candy 10 lb @ 7/ Pr lb 5. 10 Pewter 2 Soop Dishes at Pr 12. 0 Teak Boards 4 4. 0 Diet Expences Viz.t Arrack 190 Gallons @ 5/ Pr Gallon 47. 10. 0 Carried over £ 57. 18. 10 | A collection of stores sold from 23 March to 30 June 1742, belonging to the estate of John Goodwin Esquire deceased, was recorded with the selling prices noted against each item. Arrack, 26 gallons at 6s 6d a gallon, £8 9s 0d Candy, 1,794 pounds at 9d a pound, £67 6s 9¼d Coffee, 2 pounds at 6d a pound, £0 1s 0d China ware, two mugs, £0 0s 6d Hosiers ware, 5 pairs of hose at 2s 6d a pair, £1 0s 0d Moidores, 4 pieces at 15s a piece, £0 15s 0d Nankeen, 7 pieces at 6s 6d a piece, £2 2s 0d Tea, 12½ pounds at 5s a pound, £3 2s 6d Teak boards, 28 at 1s each, £1 8s 0d Total, £90 13s 3¼d A collection of charges general belonging to the estate of John Goodwin Esquire deceased, from 23 March to 30 June 1742, was also recorded. Blacks, 6 teak boards, £0 6s 0d Boats, 1 teak board, £0 1s 0d Charges general Arrack, 26 gallons at 5s a gallon, £6 9s 0d Candy, 10 pounds at 7d a pound, £0 5s 10d Pewter, 2 soup dishes at 6s, £0 12s 0d Teak boards, 4, £0 4s 0d Diet expenses Arrack, 190 gallons at 5s a gallon, £47 10s 0d Carried over, £57 12s 10d Interpretations The estate of John Goodwin, styled Esquire, shows a man of substance whose goods were disposed of on the same auction principle as the mariner Nichols, but on a larger and more commercial scale. The dominant item was candy, nearly eighteen hundredweight of it, valued at over £67, which was crystallised sugar imported from the East and here held in bulk far beyond household use. Its sheer quantity marks Goodwin as a trader in eastern commodities rather than a mere consumer, his estate functioning as a wholesale stock to be sold off through the Company's machinery. The vast quantity of arrack passing through the accounts, and above all the 190 gallons entered under diet expenses, reveals the central place of the eastern spirit in the island's daily provisioning. Arrack was the working drink of the settlement and the ships, issued as part of the diet to labourers, soldiers and slaves, and 190 gallons charged to diet alone shows consumption on an institutional scale. The separate smaller lots sold at 5s and 6s 6d a gallon show the same commodity serving both as an item of retail trade and as a bulk ration folded into the cost of feeding the establishment. The teak boards charged against blacks and boats show timber being drawn from the estate for specific working purposes on the island. Teak was the durable Indian hardwood imported for building and repair, and here small quantities were allocated to the slaves and to a boat, the boards issued as materials for construction or maintenance rather than sold for cash. Recording these against named uses within the charges general shows the estate's assets being consumed in the ordinary upkeep of the Company's establishment as well as sold at auction. | |
121 | Brought over £ 57. 18. 10 Candy 170 lb Selling Price at 7/ lb 4. 14. 2 Sugar 30 lb Selling Price at 7 lb 9. 0. 4¾ Tea 1 lb 2. 0 Fortification Viz.t Grindstones 1 5. 0 Teak Boards 44 2. 4. 0 Garrison Viz.t Teak Boards 72 3. 12. 0 Tea 47 lb @ 3/6 4. 14. 0 Arrack 20½ Gallons Selling Price at 5/ Pr Gall 5. 2. 6 87. 17. 10¾ Blacks Viz.t Arrack 1 Quart 1. 3 Blanketts 2 Coarse 9. 4 Chellow 8 Pieces @ 9. 2 Pr piece 3. 13. 4 Desootees 6 Single Pieces 8. 4½ Do 2. 10. 1½ Nails 2 lb at Pr lb 8 Kersey 1 piece 2. 4. 3 Shoes Viz.t 4 pr Mens D. B 16. 0 1 pr Mens best Sort Pr Royall George 4. 3 1 pr Mens Coarse Do Do 4. 0 3 pr Mens Do Pr Duke Lorrain at 4/ ½ 12. 1½ 1. 16. 6½ Sugar 1 lb 3 Thread Viz.t 1 lb Colourd Thread 2. 2½ 1 lb Whited Brown Thread at 3/6 Pr lb 8. 3 10. 5½ £ 11. 6. 2¾ | The account of charges general belonging to the estate of John Goodwin Esquire deceased continued, with the total of £57 18s 10d brought over from before. Brought over, £57 18s 10d Candy, 170 pounds at 7d a pound, £4 19s 2d Sugar, 309 pounds at 7d a pound, £9 0s 4¾d Tea, 1 pound, £0 2s 0d Fortification Grindstones, 1, £0 5s 0d Teak boards, 22, £2 4s 0d Garrison Teak boards, 72, £3 12s 0d Tea, 47 pounds at 2s 6d a pound, £4 14s 0d The next line names the ship Arrack, 20½ gallons at 5s a gallon, £5 2s 6d. Charges general total, £87 17s 10¼d Blacks Arrack, 1 quart, £0 1s 3d Blankets, 2 coarse, £0 9s 4d Cherryderry, 8 pieces at 9s 2d a piece, £3 13s 4d Doosooties, 6 single pieces at 8s 4d a piece, £2 10s 1½d Nails, 2 pounds at 4d a pound, £0 0s 8d Kersey, 1 piece, £2 4s 3d Shoes 4 pairs of mens shoes at 4s a pair, £0 16s 0d 1 pair of mens best shoes at 4s 3d, sold to the Royal George, £0 4s 3d 1 pair of mens coarse shoes at 4s, £0 4s 0d 3 pairs of mens shoes, sold to the Duke Lorraine, at 4s 1½d, £0 12s 1½d Shoes total, £1 16s 6½d Sugar, 1 pound, £0 0s 3d Thread 1 pound of coloured thread, £0 2s 2¼d 1 pound of whited brown thread at 3s 6d a pound, £0 3s 3d Thread total, £0 5s 5¼d Total, £11 6s 2¾d Interpretations The account distributes the dead man's goods across the standing departments of the establishment, the fortification, the garrison, the boats and the slaves, showing an estate consumed in the working life of the settlement rather than simply sold for cash. Teak boards went in quantity to the fortification and the garrison, seventy-two to the garrison alone, marking the constant demand for imported hardwood in a place that grew little timber of its own. Grouping the charges under these heads let the Company set the value of Goodwin's goods against the specific accounts they served, folding a private estate into the public works. The goods issued to the slaves under the heading blacks reveal the material provision made for the Company's unfree labourers. They received coarse blankets, cheap cloth in cherryderry and doosooties, and the plainest grade of shoes, the barest necessities of clothing and covering supplied at the lowest cost. The contrast with the finer goods sold elsewhere in the accounts shows a deliberate gradation of quality by status, the slaves clothed in the coarsest stuff the store carried while better shoes and cloth went to those who could pay. The shoes sold to the Royal George and the Duke Lorraine show the passing Indiamen buying from a deceased man's estate to supply their own crews. Ships calling for refreshment took the chance to replenish worn footwear and other necessaries from whatever the island offered, so the auction of Goodwin's goods reached beyond the resident population to the floating trade of the sea route. Recording the buyer against each lot tied the sale to a named vessel, ensuring the proceeds could be traced and the estate properly credited for goods carried away by ship. | |
122 | Brought over £ Boats Viz.t Cordage O 2. 22 at 27/6 Pr yd 3. 7 Deals &c 1 half Inch Elm Board 2. 4½ Ironmongersware 2 Scrapers 19 each 3. 3 Lead 25 lb Shott 4. 2¼ Nails 1 lb Tacks 10 Oyl 1 Quart 10 Pitch &c Viz.t 8 lb Pitch 9¾ 2 Gallons Tarr 1. 2 1. 11½ 3. 13. 6¾ Charges General Viz.t Braziersware 1 Kettle 10. 8 China Ware Viz.t 6 half Pint Cups at 1 each 6 3 China Dishes 7. 6 8 Combs 1 Ivory 7½ Cordage Viz.t 60 lb Cordage at 29/6 Pr O 14. 10½ 122 lb Cordage Pr Duke Lorrain 35/9 Do 1. 18. 11¼ 2. 13. 9¾ Corks 3 Gross at 2/6 Pr Gross 6. 6 Cotton Yarn ½ lb 3 Deals &c Viz.t 10 Sparrs 1. 3. 4 9 double Deals 18. 9 1 Inch Elm Board 2. 4½ 2. 4. 1½ Desootees 1 Pr 8. 4½ Grindstones 1 3. 7½ Glazersware Viz.t 3 Decanters at 2/4 each 7. 0 2 Glass Muggs 3. 7 10. 7 Carried over £ 7. 8. 6½ | The account continued, carrying forward the sum from before. Boats Cordage, 2 hundredweight 22 pounds at 27s 6d a hundredweight, £3 0s 7d Deals, 1 half-inch elm board, £0 2s 0¼d Ironmongers ware, 2 scrapers at 1s 9d each, £0 3s 3d Lead, 25 pounds of shot, £0 4s 2¼d Nails, 1 pound of tacks, £0 0s 10d Oil, 1 quart, £0 0s 10d Pitch 8 pounds of pitch, £0 0s 9½d 2 gallons of tar, £0 1s 2d Pitch total, £0 1s 11½d Boats total, £3 13s 6¼d Charges general Braziers ware, 1 kettle, £0 10s 8d China ware 6 half-pint cups at 1d each, £0 0s 6d 3 china dishes, £0 7s 6d China ware total, £0 8s 0d Combs, 1 ivory comb, £0 0s 7½d Cordage 6 hundredweight of cordage at 29s 6d a hundredweight, £14 10s 8¼d 122 pounds of cordage, sold to the Duke Lorraine at 35s 9d a hundredweight, £1 18s 11¾d Cordage total, £2 13s 9¾d Corks, 3 gross at 2s 1d a gross, £0 6s 6d Cotton yarn, £0 0s 3d Deals 10 spars, £1 3s 4d 9 double deals, £0 18s 9d 1 inch elm board, £0 2s 0¾d Deals total, £2 4s 1¾d Doosooties, 1 piece, £0 8s 4½d Grindstones, 1, £0 3s 7½d Glaziers ware 3 decanters at 2s 4d each, £0 7s 0d 2 glass mugs, £0 3s 7d Glaziers ware total, £0 10s 7d Carried over, £7 8s 6¼d Interpretations The account continues to allocate the estate's goods to the working departments, with the boats drawing the materials of their own maintenance from Goodwin's stock. Cordage, deals, lead shot, scrapers, pitch and tar were exactly the stores needed to keep small craft caulked, rigged and repaired, so the dead man's warehouse supplied the raw materials of the island's boat upkeep. Charging these against the boats account rather than selling them for cash shows the estate feeding directly into the Company's operational needs, its goods valued and consumed where the establishment required them. The pitch, tar and cordage record the constant labour of preserving boats against sea and weather. Pitch and tar were the standard waterproofing of wooden hulls and rigging, boiled and applied to seal timber and protect rope from rot, while cordage supplied the running and standing rigging that wore out with use. The quantities here, measured in gallons and hundredweight, show boat maintenance as a steady drain on stores, the same materials recurring across the accounts as the small vessels that served the anchorage were repeatedly recaulked and re-rigged. The cordage sold to the Duke Lorraine shows a passing ship again buying from the estate to supply its own needs at sea. A hundredweight and more of rope went to the vessel at a set rate, the kind of bulk replenishment an Indiaman required after a long voyage had frayed its rigging. This sale to a named ship, like the shoes sold earlier to the same vessel and to the Royal George, shows the auction of a resident's goods serving the floating population of the sea route as much as the island's own inhabitants, the estate credited for whatever the ships carried off. | |
123 | Brought over £ 7. 8. 6½ Hooks and Lines Viz.t 11 Doz Hooks No 7 20 Doz Do 4 14 Doz Do 3 7. 8½ 1 Hambro Line 1. 10 1 Albicore line 4 4 Doz 6 Lines No 1 9. 9 4 Lines 3 2. 6 6 Do 2 Pr Royal George 1. 4 1. 3. 6 Haberdashery Ware Viz.t 1 piece Broad white Tape 2. 3 2 pr Carnation Tape at 1/2 9½ 5 Sk English silk 7 16 Oz China Do at 1/4 Pr 2. 1½ 6. 3 Ironmongers Ware Viz.t 1 pair Tongs 1 Fire Shovel 2. 6 1 Fire Shovel 3. 6 1 Large Iron Chafeing Dish 1. 0 1 Tap Borer Augre 2. 6 1 pr Torrews 11 1 pr Saw files 10. 5 Nails Viz.t 4 lb 3 Nails at 17 Pr lb 2. 4 6 lb 4 Do 15 Pr lb 2. 6 2 lb 6 Do 8 Pr lb 9 2 lb 10 Do 4 Pr lb 8 2 lb 10 Do 4 Pr lb 7 2 lb 20 Do 13½ Pr lb 1. 8 9 lb Tacks 10 Pr lb 2. 9 6 lb Copper Ruetts 3½ Pr lb 2. 0 13. 3 Lead Viz.t 22 lb Bird Shott 4 Pr lb 3. 8 71½ lb Sheet Lead 4 Pr lb 11. 11 15. 7 Carried over £ 10. 17. 6½ | The account continued, with the total of £7 8s 6¼d brought over from before. Brought over, £7 8s 6¼d Hooks and lines 11 dozen hooks, number 7, together with 20 dozen hooks, number 4, and 14 dozen hooks, number 3, £0 7s 8½d 1 hambro line, £0 1s 10d 1 albicore line, £0 0s 4d 4 dozen 6 lines, number 1, £0 9s 9d 4 lines, number 3, sold to the Royal George, £0 2s 6d 6 lines, number 2, sold to the Royal George, £0 1s 4d Hooks and lines total, £1 3s 6d Haberdashery ware 1 piece of broad white tape, £0 2s 3d 2 pieces of carnation tape at 1s 3d, £0 0s 9½d 6 skeins of English silk, £0 0s 7d 36 ounces of china silk at 1s 4d, £0 2s 7½d Haberdashery ware total, £0 6s 3d Ironmongers ware 1 pair of tongs, together with 1 fire shovel, £0 3s 6d 1 large iron chafing dish, £0 1s 0d 1 tap borer auger, £0 2s 6d 1 pound of ferrets, £0 0s 11d 1 gold saw file, [...] Ironmongers ware total, £0 10s 3d Nails 4 pounds of nails at 17s a hundredweight, £0 2s 6d 6 pounds of nails at 15s a hundredweight, £0 2s 6d 2 pounds of nails at 14s a hundredweight, £0 0s 9d 2 pounds of nails at 14s a hundredweight, £0 0s 8d 2 pounds of nails at 14s a hundredweight, £0 0s 7d 2 pounds of nails at 13s a hundredweight, £0 1s 8d 9 pounds of tacks, £0 2s 9d 6 pounds of coppers rivets at 15s a hundredweight, £0 2s 0d 6 pounds of spikes at 14s a hundredweight, [...] Nails total, £0 13s 3d Lead 22 pounds of bird shot at 12s a hundredweight, £0 3s 8d 71½ pounds of sheet lead at 12s a hundredweight, £0 11s 11d Lead total, £0 15s 7d Carried over, £10 17s 6¼d Interpretations The account continues to disperse the estate through the same specialised categories, but the fishing tackle here is notably varied and points to organised fishing off the island. Beyond the graded hooks in dozens, the list names the albicore line, a heavy line for taking albacore tuna, a large fast fish requiring stout gear. The range of line numbers and hook sizes shows the store held tackle matched to different fish and depths, supplying an activity that fed the settlement and the ships from the rich waters around St Helena. The ironmongers ware and nails reveal the fine gradation of the Company's hardware stock, priced by weight against a standard rate per hundredweight. Nails were sold in small pound lots at rates that varied with their size and type, and the account distinguishes tacks, rivets and spikes as separate goods, each with its own use in construction and repair. A tap borer auger for boring barrels, a chafing dish for holding coals and files for sharpening tools show the store meeting the precise needs of trades from coopering to cookery in a settlement that had to import every piece of worked metal. Several lines again record goods sold to the Royal George, here fishing lines taken by the ship for its own use. The vessel bought the smaller numbered lines along with whatever else it needed, replenishing the tackle a long voyage consumed. This recurrence of named ships buying from a resident's estate underlines how the auction served the passing trade, the Royal George provisioning itself with fishing gear as readily as with shoes and cordage, and the estate credited for each lot the ship carried away. | |
124 | Brought over £ 10. 17. 6½ Oyl Viz.t 1 Bottle Florence Oyl 2. 2½ 2 Quarts Train Oyl 1. 4½ 3. 7 Paint &c Viz.t 9 lb Stone Blew 1.0½ Pr lb 3. 4½ 14 lb Smalt 13 Pr lb 6. 8 1 Double Barrell E Black 3½ Pr lb 3½ 6 lb Brimstone 2 10. 5½ Pewter 1 pair Candlesticks 3. 4 Sacking 6 Yards 4. 0 Starch 3 lb at 4 Pr lb 1. 3 Twine 1½ lb 1/3 Pr lb 1. 7½ Turnersware Viz.t 1 Scrubbing Brush 1. 9½ 1 Hair Sive 1. 7½ 3. 5½ Tinware Viz.t 1 Pepper Box 2½ 1 Dredging Box 3 5½ Fortification Viz.t 12. 3. 1½ Bunting Viz.t 12 Yards Red Bunting 8. 9 2 yd white Do 2. 4. 0 4 yd Blue Do 4. 19. 0 7. 11. 9 Cordage 22 lb at 27/6 Pr O 5. 5 Canvas &c Viz.t 7 Yards Raven Duck 8. 2 4 Yards English Sail Cloth 1. 12. 4 1 pr Ticking 2. 3. 6 Carried over £ 10. 2. 8 | The account continued, with the total of £10 17s 6¼d brought over from before. Brought over, £10 17s 6¼d Oil 1 bottle of Florence oil, £0 2s 2½d 2 quarts of train oil, £0 1s 4½d Oil total, £0 3s 7d Paint 2 pounds of Stone blue at 1s 8¼d a pound, £0 3s 4½d 14 pounds of smalt at 13d a pound, £0 6s 8d 1 double barrel of blacking at 3s 4d a pound, £0 3s 4d 6 pounds of brimstone, £0 0s 2d Paint total, £0 10s 5½d Pewter, 1 pair of candlesticks, £0 3s 4d Sacking, 6 yards, £0 0s 4d Starch, 3 pounds at 4s 6d a pound, £0 1s 3d Twine, 1 pound at 1s 7½d a pound, £0 1s 7½d Turners ware 1 scrubbing brush, £0 1s 9¼d 1 hair sieve, £0 1s 7¼d Turners ware total, £0 3s 5½d Tinware 1 pepper box, £0 0s 2½d 1 dredging box, £0 0s 3d Tinware total, £0 0s 5½d Fortification total, £12 3s 1½d Bunting 12 yards of red bunting, £0 8s 9d 24 yards of white bunting, £2 4s 0d 4 yards of blue bunting, £4 19s 0d Bunting total, £7 11s 9d Cordage, 22 hundredweight at 27s 6d a hundredweight, £5 5s 0d Canvas 7 yards of raven duck, £0 8s 2d 4 yards of English sail cloth, £0 12s 4d 1 piece of packing, £1 12s 0d Canvas total, £2 3s 6d Carried over, £10 2s 8d Interpretations The bunting entered under fortification reveals the supply of flag cloth for signalling and display at the island's defences. Bunting was the light worsted fabric from which flags and signal pennants were made, and the red, white and blue lengths here would furnish the ensigns and signal flags flown from the forts and used to communicate with ships in the road. That such material was charged to the fortification account shows flags as part of the working equipment of a fortified anchorage, needed to identify the island, signal to shipping and mark the Company's possession. The canvas and cordage point to the heavy materials of sailmaking and rigging held for the island's craft and works. Raven duck was a strong linen canvas and English sail cloth the heavier grade used for sails, both needed to make and mend the canvas of the boats that served the anchorage. Cordage in bulk supplied rope for rigging, hauling and the fortification works, and the recurrence of these materials across the accounts shows the constant demand for the fabric and rope that kept boats under sail and heavy loads moving. The paint materials again show pigments and compounds supplied as raw ingredients rather than finished paint. Stone blue was a laundry blue also used as a pigment, smalt the ground cobalt-glass blue seen before, and brimstone was sulphur, used in fumigation, in treating timber and in small manufactures. Sold by the pound alongside the blacking and oils, these were the components from which paint and protective coatings were mixed on the island, the store providing the constituents for a settlement that had to compound its own materials from imported stock. | |
125 | Brought over £ 10. 2. 8 Deals &c Viz.t 3 Large Sparrs 11. 8 6 Large Pieces Fear Timber at 11/5½ each 3. 8. 9 1 Bath 27 foot 2. 4 4. 11. 9 Glaziersware 1 Small Hour Glass 3. 4 Ironmongers Ware Viz.t 3 Stock Locks O @ 11½ each 2. 10½ 1 Stock Lock 6. 0 10 Helves 6½ each Pr O 5. 7½ 4 Sugar Shovels 1/5½ Do 5. 10 1 Large Iron Crow 2. 6 2 Barr Iron Wt O 1. 26 at 60 Pr O 1. 6 2. 3. 4½ Lines Viz.t 2 Lines No 6 2/3½ each 7 1 Do No 4 3½ 1 Large Hambro Line 1. 10 24 Small Do 4 Pr each 3. 4½ 6. 1½ Nails Viz.t 26 lb 6 Nails 4½ Pr O 9. 9 10 lb 4 Do 5 Pr O 4. 2 14 lb 10 Do 14 Pr O 6. 4 12 lb 20 Do 1/2 Pr O 3. 6 1. 3. 9 Oyl Viz.t 1 Bottle Florence Oyl 2. 6 2½ Gallons Train Oyl 2/9 Pr Gall 6. 2¼ 8. 8¼ Cart Wheels 2 Barrow Wheels 3. 4 each 6. 8 Thread Viz.t 4 lb Coloured Thread 2/2½ Pr O 8. 10 9 lb Whited Brown Do 3/6 11. 0 19. 10 Tin Ware 1 Tin Lamp 9 Twine 3 lb 1/1½ Pr O 3. 3½ Totall £ 20. 10. 3½ | The account continued, with the total of £10 2s 8d brought over from before. Brought over, £10 2s 8d Deals 3 large spars, £0 11s 8d 6 large pieces of fir timber at 11s 5½d each, £3 12s 9d 1 bath, 27 foot, £0 2s 4d Deals total, £4 11s 9d Glaziers ware, 1 hour glass, £0 3s 4d Ironmongers ware 3 stock locks at 11½d each, £0 2s 10½d 1 stock lock, £0 0s 6½d 10 helves at 6½d each, £0 5s 7½d 4 sugar shovels at 15½d each, £0 5s 10d 1 large iron crow, £0 2s 6d 2 bars of iron weighing 1 hundredweight 26 pounds at 6s 9d a hundredweight, £1 0s 6½d Ironmongers ware total, £2 3s 4½d Lines 2 lines number 6 at 1s 3½d each, £0 0s 7d 1 line number 4, £0 0s 3½d 1 large hambro line, £0 1s 10d 24 small hambro lines at 4d each, £0 3s 4½d Lines total, £0 6s 1½d Nails 26 pounds of 6-penny nails at 14s a hundredweight, £0 9s 9d 10 pounds of 4-penny nails at 13s a hundredweight, £0 4s 2d 19 pounds of 10-penny nails at 14s a hundredweight, £0 6s 4d 12 pounds of 20-penny nails at 13s a hundredweight, £0 3s 6d Nails total, £1 3s 9d Oil 1 bottle of Florence oil, £0 2s 6d 2½ gallons of train oil at 2s 9d a gallon, £0 6s 2¾d Oil total, £0 8s 8¾d Cart wheels, 2 barrow wheels at 3s 4d each, £0 6s 8d Thread 4 pounds of coloured thread at 2s 2d a pound, £0 8s 10d 9 pounds of whited brown thread at 3s 6d a pound, £0 19s 10d Thread total, £0 19s 10d Tinware, 1 tin lamp, £0 0s 9d Twine, 3 pounds at 14s 6d a hundredweight, £0 3s 8¾d Total, £20 10s 3¾d Interpretations The timber entries record the heavy building materials that a nearly treeless island had to import for every substantial structure. Fir spars and pieces of fir timber were softwood beams for construction, and the bath of 27 foot was a length of squared timber measured in the trade unit known as a bath. On St Helena, where the felling of native wood had been checked to save the forest and where little suitable building timber grew, such imported baulks were essential to the fortifications, warehouses and dwellings the Company maintained. The ironmongers ware shows the tools of digging, levering and processing that the establishment consumed in its daily work. The large iron crow was a crowbar for moving stone and timber, sugar shovels were broad shovels for handling the granulated sugar the accounts show in bulk, and the bars of iron were raw stock for the smith to work into whatever the settlement required. Helves again appear in quantity, the wooden handles for tools whose heads outlasted them, confirming the steady wear on the equipment of construction and cultivation. This total of £20 10s 3¾d closes the general charges of the Goodwin estate, drawing together the many small allocations of goods to the departments and works of the island. The account has traced a dead man's stock as it was parcelled out to boats, fortification, garrison and slaves, and sold to passing ships and resident buyers, each lot valued and charged to its proper head. The closing sum represents the portion of the estate consumed in the establishment's own operations, a figure to be set beside the auction proceeds in the final reckoning of what Goodwin's goods yielded the Company. | |
126 | Garrison Viz.t Braziersware 1 Copper Saucepan 4. 0 Chinaware 2 Hogging Cups 3 each 1½ Deals &c 1 Sparr 26 foot 2. 4 Ironmongers Ware Viz.t 3 Large Frying Pans 3/5½ each 10. 3½ 2 Large Iron Potts Wt O 1. 1. 18 at 4/ 1. 2. 4 Pr O 1. 5. 2 2 Wood Axes 2/2 each 4. 4 2 Helves 4/6½ each 1. 1½ 2. 0. 11½ Lines 7 fathom Hambro 1. 6 Nails Viz.t 10 lb 6 Nails 4 Pr O 3. 4 10 lb 10 Do 4 Pr O 3. 4 6 lb 4 Do 5 Pr O 2. 6 9. 7 Oyl Viz.t 39 Gallons Train Oyl 2/9 Pr Gall 5. 7. 3 2 Bottles Florence Do 2/2½ each 4. 5 5. 11. 8 Paint &c Viz.t 16 lb Whiding 4 1 double Barrell Blacking 3½ 8 lb Oaker 2½ Pr O 1. 6 2. 1½ Turnersware Viz.t 14 Bowls 8½ each 13. 10½ 14 Platers 8½ each 13. 10½ 1. 7. 0½ Tin Ware 3 Lamps 9 each 2. 3 £ 10. 2. 2½ Plantation Viz.t Cart Wheels &c 6 Barrow Wheels 2. 13. 4 Carried over £ 2. 13. 4 | The account of the Goodwin estate continued, with goods charged to the several departments. Garrison Braziers ware, 1 copper saucepan, £0 0s 4d China ware, 2 hogging cups at 3d each, £0 0s 1½d Deals, 1 spar of 20 foot, £0 2s 4d Ironmongers ware 3 large frying pans at 3s 3½d each, £0 12s 3½d 2 large iron pots weighing 2 hundredweight 1 quarter 4 pounds at 19s 4d a hundredweight, £1 5s 2d 2 wood axes at 2s 2d each, £0 4s 4d 2 helves at 6½d each, £0 1s 1½d Ironmongers ware total, £2 0s 11½d Lines, 7 fathom of hambro, £0 1s 6d Nails 10 pounds of 6-penny nails at 14s a hundredweight, £0 3s 9d 10 pounds of 10-penny nails at 14s a hundredweight, £0 3s 4d 6 pounds of 4-penny nails at 6s a hundredweight, £0 2s 6d Nails total, £0 9s 7d Oil 39 gallons of train oil at 2s 9d a gallon, £5 7s 3d 2 bottles of Florence oil at 2s 7½d each, £0 4s 5d Oil total, £5 11s 8d Paint 16 pounds of whiting, £0 0s 4d 1 double barrel of blacking, £0 3s 4d 6 pounds of ochre at 2s 9d, £0 1s 6d Paint total, £0 2s 14d Turners ware 19 bowls at 8d each, £0 13s 10½d 19 platters at 8d each, £0 13s 10½d Turners ware total, £1 7s 0½d Tinware, 3 lamps at 9d each, £0 2s 3d Garrison total, £10 2s 2½d Plantation Cart wheels, 16 barrow wheels, £2 13s 4d Carried over, £2 13s 4d Interpretations The garrison account shows the estate supplying the everyday equipment of feeding and housing the island's soldiers. Large frying pans, iron pots, bowls and platters were the cooking and eating vessels of the barracks mess, issued in the plain and durable forms suited to communal use. Wood axes and their helves served the constant labour of cutting fuel and timber, and the quantity of train oil, nearly forty gallons, would light the garrison's lamps through the long evenings, the whole account reflecting the material basis of maintaining an armed force on a remote station. The bulk of train oil charged to the garrison points to lighting as a major and continuous expense of the establishment. Train oil, rendered from whale blubber, was the common lamp fuel of the age, and thirty-nine gallons represents a substantial store for illuminating guardrooms, quarters and passages after dark. On an island far from any other source of light, the steady consumption of imported oil was a fixed charge of garrison life, the lamps burning through it as regularly as the men consumed their rations. The sixteen barrow wheels charged to the plantation reveal the equipment of cultivation drawn from the estate for the Company's own grounds. Wheelbarrows were essential to the labour of moving earth, dung and produce on the plantation, and a supply of sixteen wheels points to a working establishment of some size requiring constant replacement of worn parts. Charging these to the plantation account shows the estate feeding the agricultural side of the Company's operation as it fed the military and maritime sides, the dead man's goods dispersed across every branch of the island's work. | |
127 | Brought over £ 2. 13. 4 Cordage 30 lb at 27/6 Pr O 19. 9¾ Cutlery Ware 12 Knives with Wood Hafts 3 Deals &c 3 Inch Elm Boards 11. 4 Ironmongers ware Viz.t 2 Spades 3/3 each 6. 6 6 Helves 6½ each 3. 2½ 6 Scythe Stones 4 2 Steel Mauls 3/5½ each 6. 11 2 Iron Shovels 1/5½ each 2. 11 4 Reel Barrs Wt 5 lb 30/10 Pr O 14. 10½ 1 Iron Pot Wt 17½ 18/9 Pr O 2. 1 1. 16. 9½ Leather 3 lb Sole Leather 10½ Pr lb 2. 1½ Lines Viz.t 1 Large Hambro Line 1. 10 3 Lines No 4 3½ each 11½ 2. 9½ Nails Viz.t 4 lb 6 4½ Pr O 1. 6 4 lb 10 14 Pr O 1. 4 1 lb 2 10 Pr O 10 4 lb 20 1/5½ Pr O 1. 2 4. 10 Oyl 1 Quart Train 8½ Pumps 1 6. 4. 2 Pitch 4 lb 11 Turnerware 4 Pump Boxes 3. 8 13. 5. 5½ Diet Expences Viz.t Arrack 20 Gallons 2. 0 Bread 5 lb 1. 0½ Candy 13. 16. 0 Flower 8 Casks 13. 16. 0 Carried over £ 15. 17. 3½ | The account of the Goodwin estate continued, with the total of £2 13s 4d brought over from before. Brought over, £2 13s 4d Cordage, 80 pounds at 27s 6d a hundredweight, £0 19s 9¾d Cutlery ware, 12 knives with wood hafts, £0 0s 3d Deals, 3 inch elm boards, £0 11s 4d Ironmongers ware 2 spades at 3s 3d each, £0 6s 6d 6 helves at 6½d each, £0 3s 2¼d 6 scythe stones, £0 0s 4d 2 steel mauls at 3s 5½d each, £0 6s 11d 2 iron shovels at 1s 5½d each, £0 2s 11d 4 pounds of steel bars weighing 5 hundredweight at 30s 10d a hundredweight, £14 10s 0d 1 iron pot weighing 17½ pounds at 18s 4d a hundredweight, £0 2s 1d Ironmongers ware total, £1 16s 9¾d Leather, 3 sole leather at 10½d a pound, £0 2s 1½d Lines 1 large hambro line, £0 1s 10d 3 lines number 4 at 4d each, £0 0s 11½d Lines total, £0 2s 9½d Nails 4 pounds of 6-penny nails at 14s a hundredweight, £0 1s 6d 4 pounds of 10-penny nails at 14s a hundredweight, £0 1s 4d 4 pounds of 2-penny nails at 16s a hundredweight, £0 0s 10d 4 pounds of 20-penny nails at 13s a hundredweight, £0 1s 2d Nails total, £0 4s 10d Oil, 1 quart of train, £0 0s 8½d Pumps, 1, £0 6s 4s 2d Pitch, 4 pounds, £0 0s 11d Turners ware, 1 pump box, £0 3s 8d Total, £13 5s 3½d Diet expenses Arrack, 20 gallons, £0 2s 0d Bread, 3 hundredweight, £1 0s 3d Candy, [...] Flour, 8 casks, £13 16s 0d Carried over, £15 17s 3d Interpretations The steel bars charged at over £14 dominate the ironmongers ware and mark steel as a precious imported material on the island. Steel, harder and dearer than common iron, was needed for the cutting edges of tools and for work the smith could not do in plain iron, and five hundredweight of it represented a significant store of the raw material for edge tools and repairs. Its high value against the modest sums of the other hardware shows how the island depended on imported worked metals and paid dearly for the higher grades that its own smithy could shape but not produce. The diet expenses opening at the foot of the account show the estate contributing bulk provisions to the feeding of the establishment. Flour in eight casks at nearly £14, bread by the hundredweight and arrack by the gallon were the staples of the ration issued to the Company's people, and charging them to diet shows the dead man's stock of foodstuffs absorbed into the daily sustenance of the settlement. These were the basic articles of subsistence on an island that grew too little grain to feed itself and relied on imported flour and bread landed from the ships. The pumps and pump box point to the machinery of raising water that the settlement required for its wells and boats. A pump was essential for drawing water from depth or clearing a boat's bilge, and the pump box was the chamber in which the piston worked, a wearing part that needed replacement. Their presence in the estate shows the range of manufactured equipment the island depended on, mechanical goods that had to be imported entire or in parts and kept in repair from a store of spares such as the one this account disperses. | |
128 | Brought over £ 15. 17. 3½ Diet Expences Oyl 29 Bottles of Florence 3. 12. 6 Pepper 7 lb 3. 6 Sugar 238¼ lb 1. 19. 8½ £ 21. 12. 9 Account of Cloathing Deliver'd from 23 March to 30th June 12 Serjeants Coats at 5. 10. 0 66. 0. 0 12 Do Hatts 11/ 6. 12. 0 9 Corporals Coats 1. 11/8 14. 5. 0 3 Drummers Do 2/15 8. 5. 0 3 Do Caps 14. 3½ 2. 2. 11½ 7 Gunners Mates Coats at 2. 17. 3½ 20. 1. 2¼ 7 Do Hatts at 11 3. 17. 0 18 Mattross Coats at 1. 18. 8½ 34. 16. 9 8 Quarter Gunners Do at 2. 1. 3 16. 10. 0 45 pair Breeches at 6/ 13. 10. 0 258 Shirts at 2/6 32. 5. 0 Morees in Rollers 9 yards 247 at 1/3 7. 2. 6 201 pair Hose at 2/6 25. 2. 6 109 pair Shoes 21 Pr Do 28. 2. 0 167 Centinels Coats at 30/ 250. 10. 0 529. 1. 10½ | The diet expenses of the Goodwin estate continued, with the total of £15 17s 3d brought over from before. Brought over, £15 17s 3d Oil, 29 bottles of Florence, £3 12s 6d Pepper, 7 pounds, £0 3s 6d Sugar, 238½ pounds, £1 19s 8½d Total, £21 12s 9d An account of clothing was delivered from 23 March to 30 June. 12 serjeants coats at £5 10s 0d each, £66 0s 0d 12 serjeants hats at 11s each, £6 12s 0d 9 corporals coats at £1 11s 8d each, £14 5s 0d 3 drummers coats at £2 15s each, £8 5s 0d 3 drummers caps at 14s 3½d each, £2 2s 11½d 7 gunners mates coats at £2 17s 3½d each, £20 1s 2½d 7 gunners mates hats at 11s each, £3 17s 0d 18 mattross coats at £1 18s 8½d each, £34 16s 9d 8 quarter gunners coats at £2 4s 3d each, £16 10s 0d 45 pairs of breeches at 6s each, £13 10s 0d 258 shirts at 2s 6d each, £32 5s 0d Moidores in rollers, 9 yards, 247 at 11s a piece, £7 2s 6d 201 pairs of hose at 2s 6d each, £25 2s 6d 109 pairs of shoes, together with 21 pairs of shoes, £28 2s 0d 167 sentinels coats at 30s each, £250 10s 0d Clothing total, £529 1s 10½d Interpretations The clothing account records the annual issue of uniforms to the garrison, a substantial charge dominated by the coats of the common soldiers. The 167 sentinels coats at 30s each came to over £250, by far the largest single item, showing the scale of the ordinary infantry the Company maintained on the island. The graded values of the coats, from the plain sentinel's at 30s to the serjeant's at £5 10s, mark the ranks of the garrison in cloth, each grade of soldier clothed according to his standing in a visible hierarchy of dress. The specialised military ranks named in the account reveal the artillery establishment that defended the island's forts. Gunners mates, quarter gunners and mattrosses were all grades of the ordnance service, the mattross being the lowest, a soldier who assisted the gunners in loading, firing and moving the great guns. That these ranks were clothed separately and in numbers shows the fortifications were manned by a trained gun crew as well as ordinary sentinels, the artillery being the heart of a coastal defence meant to keep hostile ships from the anchorage. The sheer quantity of shirts, breeches, hose and shoes points to the Company clothing its men entirely from imported stock on a fixed annual cycle. Two hundred and fifty-eight shirts and two hundred and one pairs of hose supplied a garrison that could make none of these things itself, every garment shipped from England and issued from the store. This regular reclothing was a fixed cost of keeping soldiers on a remote station, the men depending wholly on the Company for the very clothes they wore as they depended on it for their food and pay. | |
129 | A Collection of Stores Sold to the Shipping from March 23th to June 25th 1742 Anchor 1 Iron Anchor qt 21. 2. 4 2 Hoops 27 21. 3. 3 at 44/6 Pr O 48. 9. 1½ Bunting 6 yd Red at 9/ 9. 6 5 yd Do at 1/6 6. 8 16. 2 Blocks 3 of 11 Inch 14. 3 2 8 6. 4 9 9 1. 8. 6 5 10 1. 3. 4 9 7 1. 5. 1 1 16 long Tackle 6. 2 5. 4. 4 Bread & Flower 1 Cask Flower 5. 0. 0 Cordage 31. 1. 22 at 53/8 84. 7. 7½ Deals and Timber 15 double deals Harrington 2. 11. 2½ 6 Do 1. 4. 0 10 Single 1. 10. 0 1 Anchor Stock qt 15 f Timber 8. 0 2 Inch Elm Board 8 1 half Inch Do 5 13. 0 8. 13. 2½ Duck 17 yd Russia 8. 2 6. 2. 6 20 yd ½ Do 8. 0. 6 9 yd British 12. 9. 7 17. 12. 9 6 pr Holland 5. 2. 8 23. 14. 9 Glass 1 Plate or 2 Casile Crown 12 Gunners Stores 20 lb Match 13. 6 Haberdashery 6 Bolt Rope Nedles 1. 3 2 Small 2 1 pr Sail Nedles 1. 6 2. 11 3 Doz Coat Buttons 3 4. 0 2 Doz breast 1 2. 0 4 Sk Mohair 8. 11 Carried over £ 178. 1. 7½ | A collection of stores sold to the shipping from 23 March to 25 June 1742 was recorded, with the selling prices noted against each item. Anchor 1 iron anchor weighing 21 hundredweight 2 quarters 4 pounds, together with 2 hoops weighing 27 pounds, giving 21 hundredweight 3 quarters 3 pounds at 44s 6d a hundredweight, £48 9s 11d Bunting 6 yards of red bunting at 9d a yard, £0 9s 6d 5 yards of red bunting at 1s 6d a yard, £0 6s 8d Bunting total, £0 16s 2d Blocks 3 blocks of 11 inch, £0 14s 3d 2 blocks of 8 inch, £0 6s 4d 9 blocks of 9 inch, £1 8s 6d 5 blocks of 10 inch, £1 3s 4d 8 blocks of 7 inch, £1 5s 1d 1 block of 16 inch, long tackle, £0 6s 2d Blocks total, £5 4s 4d Bread and flour, 1 cask of flour, £5 0s 0d Cordage, 31 hundredweight 1 quarter 22 pounds at 33s a hundredweight, £84 7s 7½d Deals and timber 15 double deals, sold to the Barrington, £2 11s 2¾d 6 double deals, £1 4s 0d 10 single deals, £1 10s 0d 1 anchor stock weighing 15 foot of timber, £0 3s 0d 2 inch elm boards, 8, together with 1 half-inch elm board, 5, £0 13s 0d Deals and timber total, £8 13s 2¾d Duck 19 yards of Russia duck at 3s 2d, together with 20 yards of Russia duck at 3s 0d, £6 2s 6d 3 pieces of British duck at 12s 9d, together with 6 pieces of Holland duck at 5s 2d, £17 12s 3d Duck total, £23 14s 9d Glass, 1 plate of Castle brown glass, £0 0s 12d Gunners stores, 28 pounds of match, £0 13s 6d Haberdashery 6 bolt rope needles at 1s 3d, together with 2 small needles, and 1 sail needle at 4s 6d, £0 2s 11d 3 dozen coat buttons at 3d, £0 4s 0d 2 dozen breast buttons at 1d, £0 2s 0d 4 skeins of mohair, £0 0s 11d Haberdashery total, £0 8s 11d Carried over, £178 1s 7½d Interpretations This account records the island selling ships stores directly to the passing Indiamen, a distinct trade from the storehouse sales to residents and the disposal of dead men's estates. The single iron anchor at nearly £50 and the cordage at over £84 dominate the reckoning, showing the island supplying the heavy gear that ships lost or wore out on the long voyage. St Helena served as a resupply point where vessels made good the ground tackle, rope and canvas the sea had taken, drawing on stores the Company kept expressly to meet the shipping's needs. The blocks, duck and cordage together supplied the running gear and canvas that a working ship constantly consumed. Blocks were the pulleys through which rigging ran, graded here by size from 7 to 16 inches for different parts of the tackle, and duck was the strong canvas for sails, distinguished by origin as Russia, British and Holland duck of varying quality and price. A ship refitting at the island could replace worn blocks, buy canvas to cut new sails and take on rope, the account showing the full range of maritime stores held ready for the trade. The named grades of canvas reveal the international sources of the sailcloth that clothed the ships. Russia duck was a fine strong linen canvas from the Baltic, Holland duck a Dutch linen, and British duck the home-produced equivalent, each priced according to its quality and reputation. That the island stocked all three shows the Company drawing sailcloth from across northern Europe to supply its shipping, the different ducks serving different purposes from fine sails to rough coverings, and the passing vessels choosing according to need and purse. | |
130 | Brought over £ 178. 1. 7½ Hooks 10 large Albacore 0. 1. 3 Lanthorns Leaves 39 3. 1. 10 5 Lanthorns 1. 18. 9 1 Do 6. 8 2 Dark Lanthorns 9 1 Glass hand light 18. 3 3. 7. 8 Lead 79 Shot 1. 1½ Oyl 61 Gallons Linseed 20. 6. 8 24 Gallons Train 5. 8. 0 25. 14. 8 35 Spikes 18. 11½ Nails 5 lb 2 8. 4 3 3 3. 6 19 4 14. 7½ 37 6 1. 7. 7½ 57 10 1. 13. 6½ 41 20 1. 2. 2½ 23½ Scupper Nails 1. 1. 6½ 6 lb Do 6. 11. 1½ 3. 6 Paint 104 lb White Lead 2. 12. 0 32 Red Lead 1. 6. 0 65 Yellow Oker 10. 6 56 Barrells Blacking 1. 17. 4 65 Spanish Brown 16. 3 18 Brimstone 8. 0 3 Verdigrise 12. 9 2 lb Smalts 3. 4 56 lb Rosin 8. 16. 2 14. 0 Pitch &c Three Barrells Pitch 6. 9. 6 1 Barrell Turpentine 2. 10. 8 3 Barrells Tarr 5. 14. 9 14. 14. 11 Salt 5 Bushell 1½ 2. 2. 2 Soap 6 lb 1. 6 Tinware 1 Turbing Pot 12. 6 1 Lamp 1. 6 Carried over £ 246. 14. 8½ | The account of stores sold to the shipping continued, with the total of £178 1s 7½d brought over from before. Brought over, £178 1s 7½d Hooks, 10 large albacore, £0 1s 3d Lanthorns 39 lanthorn leaves, £3 1s 10d 5 lanthorns, £1 18s 9d 1 lanthorn, £0 6s 8d 2 dark lanthorns, £0 0s 9d 1 glass hand light, £0 18s 3d Lanthorns total, £3 7s 8d Lead, 79 pounds of shot, £1 0s 1½d Oil 61 gallons of linseed, £20 6s 8d 24 gallons of train, £5 8s 0d Oil total, £25 14s 8d Pikes, 35, £0 18s 11d Nails 5 pounds of 2-penny nails, £0 8s 4d 3 pounds of 3-penny nails, £0 3s 6d 19 pounds of 4-penny nails, £0 14s 7½d 39 pounds of 6-penny nails, £1 7s 7½d 57 pounds of 10-penny nails, £1 13s 6½d 41 pounds of 20-penny nails, £1 2s 2¾d 23½ pounds of scupper nails, £1 1s 6¾d Nails total, £6 11s 1½d Paint 104 pounds of white lead, £2 12s 0d 32 pounds of red lead, £1 6s 0d 65 pounds of yellow ochre, £0 10s 6d 56 barrels of blacking, £1 17s 4d 65 pounds of Spanish brown, £0 16s 3d 16 pounds of brimstone, £0 8s 0d 3 pounds of verdigris, £0 12s 9d 2 pounds of smalt, £0 5s 4d 56 pounds of rosin, £0 14s 0d Paint total, £8 16s 2d Pitch 3 barrels of pitch, £6 9s 6d 1 barrel of turpentine, £2 10s 8d 3 barrels of tar, £5 14s 9d Pitch total, £14 14s 11d Salt, 5 bushels 1 quarter, £2 2s 2d Soap, 6 pounds, £0 1s 6d Tinware 1 baking pot, £0 12s 6d 1 lamp, £0 1s 6d Tinware total, £0 14s 0d Carried over, £246 14s 8d Interpretations The lanthorns and glass hand light record the supply of portable lighting that a ship needed for work below decks and signalling by night. Lanthorn leaves were the thin translucent plates of horn that glazed a lantern, protecting the flame from wind while letting its light through, and dark lanthorns were those fitted with a shutter to hide the light until wanted. That the island sold both the finished lanterns and the spare leaves to mend them shows it supplying the means to keep a ship lit through the dark hours of a long voyage. The paint materials again appear as raw pigments and compounds rather than mixed paint, but here in the quantities a ship required to preserve her hull and fittings. White lead and red lead were the basis of protective paints and the priming that guarded timber and ironwork from sea and rot, verdigris a green pigment and corrosion inhibitor, and rosin and brimstone served in caulking and treating wood. A vessel refitting at the island took on these constituents to compound the paints and coatings that fought the constant decay the sea worked on her. The pitch, tar and turpentine were the essential materials of caulking and preserving a wooden hull, sold here by the barrel for a ship's own use. Pitch and tar sealed the seams and protected the timber and rigging, while turpentine thinned the paints and coatings applied over them. That a ship bought these in barrels rather than the small quantities the residents took shows the scale of a vessel's need, an Indiaman consuming whole barrels to make good the waterproofing that a long passage in warm seas steadily destroyed. | |
131 | Brought over £ 246. 14. 8½ Thread 3 lb Coloured 8. 0 8 lb Whited 8. 0 16. 0 Turnery Ware 26 Paint Brushes 1. 1 1 Hair Broom 3. 6 1. 3. 7 Twine 3 lb Roping & Sewing 4. 2. 6 India Goods 6 China half Pint Cups 2 £ 252. 18. 9½ The Swift Sloop during her Stay in St Helena Glass 1 Plate Crown Glass 6. 0 2 yd Cart Paper 1. 10 Gunners Stores 2 lb Match 4 Iron Ware ½ lb Brass ware 9½ ½ lb 3 Nails 9½ 11 Oyl ½ Gallon Linseed 18 Paint 4 lb Red Lead 10½ 18 lb White Lead 5. 3 6 lb Spanich Brown 1. 0 4 lb Smalts 10 4 lb Brimstone 1½ 6 lb Yellow Oaker 1. 3 9. 4 18 Wax Candles 12 lb 11. 8. 3 Plantation 913 lb Beef 10. 0 1 Goat 12. 6 50 lb Beef 12. 10. 9 15. 8. 10 To Ship Harrington 2. 11. 2½ Duyst Sr Duyne 51. 9. 1½ Duke Lorrain 12. 0 Wager 25. 2. 7½ Nassau 19. 1. 1½ London 13. 0 York 15. 4 Northampton 10. 15. 9 Kings William 1. 2. 6 Royal George 36. 12. 4½ Rhodolphim 19. 17. 1 Hallifax 37. 6. 8½ Scarbrough 37. 9 252. 18. 9½ | The account of stores sold to the shipping continued, with the total of £246 14s 8d brought over from before. Brought over, £246 14s 8d Thread 2 pounds of coloured, £0 8s 0d 8 pounds of whited, £0 8s 0d Thread total, £0 16s 0d Turners ware 26 paint brushes, £1 0s 1d 1 hair broom, £0 3s 6d Turners ware total, £1 3s 7d Twine, 5 pounds of roping and sewing, £0 4s 2d India goods, 6 china half-pint cups, £0 0s 9d Total, £252 18s 9¾d The following stores were sold to the sloop Swift during her stay at St Helena, from 2 May 1742, with the selling prices noted against each item. Glass 1 plate of crown glass, £0 0s 6d 2 quire of cartridge paper, £0 1s 10d Glass total, £0 6s 0d Gunners stores, 2 skeins of match, £0 0s 4d Iron ware 4 pounds of brass ware, £0 0s 7½d 4 pounds of 6-penny nails, £0 0s 3½d Iron ware total, £0 0s 11d Oil, 4 gallons of linseed, £0 18s 0d Paint 9 pounds of red lead, £0 0s 10½d 18 pounds of white lead, £0 5s 3d 6 pounds of Spanish brown, £0 1s 0d 4 pounds of smalt, £0 0s 10d 4 pounds of brimstone, £0 0s 1½d 6 pounds of yellow ochre, £0 1s 3d Paint total, £0 9s 4d Wax candles, 12 pounds, £0 18s 0d Plantation total, £11 8s 3d 913 pounds of beef, £0 10s 0d 1 goat, £0 12s 6d 50 pounds of beef, £12 10s 9d Total, £15 8s 10d The stores sold to the shipping were charged to the several ships as follows. To the Barrington, £2 11s 2¾d The next lines name the ships Duke of Dorset, Duke Lorraine, Wager, Nassau, London, York, Northampton, King William, Royal George, Rhodolphin, Halifax and Scarborough. Duke of Dorset, £51 9s 1½d Duke Lorraine, £12 0s 0d Wager, £25 2s 7¼d Nassau, £19 1s 1¼d London, £0 13s 0d York, £0 15s 4d Northampton, £10 15s 9d King William, £1 2s 6d Royal George, £36 12s 4½d Rhodolphin, £19 17s 1d Halifax, £37 6s 8½d Scarborough, £27 0s 9d Total, £252 18s 4½d Interpretations The list of named ships charged with their purchases records the fleet that called at the island in the season, each vessel settling its account for the stores it took on. The sums varied widely, from a few shillings for the London and York to over £50 for the Duke of Dorset and nearly £40 for the Halifax, reflecting how much each ship needed and how long she stayed. This roll of vessels shows the volume of the homeward and outward trade passing the island, the anchorage crowded in season with Indiamen replenishing for the next leg of their voyage. The cartridge paper sold to the Swift and elsewhere points to the making up of gunpowder charges aboard ship. Cartridge paper was the stout paper in which measured charges of powder were wrapped for the guns, allowing quick and uniform loading in action, and its sale alongside match for firing shows the island supplying the consumables of a ship's armament. Even a small sloop needed such stores to keep her guns ready, and the island held them as part of the ships stores it kept for the passing trade. The beef and the single goat charged to the plantation account show the island victualling ships with fresh provisions as well as manufactured stores. Fresh meat was the prize a ship sought after months at sea on salt rations, and St Helena's cattle and goats furnished the beef and flesh that restored scurvy-ridden crews. The large quantity of beef points to the island's pastures being turned to the provisioning of the shipping, the fresh food it could raise being as valuable to a passing vessel as the rope and canvas it sold from its stores. | |
132 | Account of Stores Dr March 22 To Ballance 705. 13. 6½ June Cash of Martin Harper 14. 17. 6 Of Captain Charles Raymond 33. 8. 4½ Henry Lassells 10. 7. 1 Jona Wilson 15. 19. 6 Dune Brackwell 26. 2. 5 Thos Field 14. 18. 7½ John Blake 72. 10. 3½ Wm Robson 9. 11. 9 182. 18. 2½ To Account Stores this Quad 176. 0. 9½ Dr Estate of G. G. 90. 13. 3½ 266. 14. 1½ Cash Recd on Account of Cloathing Viz.t Officers and Gunners 42. 16. 1½ 150 Private Men 79. 0. 0 121. 16. 1½ £ 1291. 19. 6½ John Godfrey April 30th By Cash G. G. Powell Esq.r Paymaster 361. 3. 3 July 13 Do paid Do 730. 7. 10¾ Paid Captain George Westcott 86. 3. 2 Ballance 114. 5. 2½ £ 1291. 19. 6½ Errors Excepted John Godfrey | An account of stores was drawn up in the name of John Godfrey, set out as debtor and creditor. On the debtor side, the following sums were entered. 22 March, to balance, £705 13s 6½d June, cash of Martin Harper, £14 17s 6d Of Captain Charles Raymond, £33 8s 4½d Henry Lascelles, £10 7s 1d Jonathan Wilson, £15 19s 6d Duncan Brackwell, £26 2s 5d Thomas Field, £14 18s 7¼d John Blake, £72 10s 3½d William Robson, £9 11s 9d Subtotal, £182 18s 2¼d To account of stores this quarter, £176 0s 9¾d To estate of John Goodwin, £90 13s 3¼d Subtotal, £266 14s 1¼d Cash received on account of clothing Officers and gunners, £42 16s 1½d 150 private men, £79 0s 0d Subtotal, £121 16s 1½d Total, £1,291 19s 6¼d On the creditor side, the following sums were entered. 30 April, by cash of G G Powell Esquire, paymaster, £361 3s 3d 13 July, to cash paid the same, £730 7s 10¾d Paid Captain George Westcott, £86 3s 2d Balance, £114 5s 2½d Total, £1,291 19s 6¼d The account was subscribed as errors excepted and signed by John Godfrey. Interpretations This account balances the whole quarter's dealings in stores into a single reckoning, drawing together the threads followed across the preceding pages. The opening balance of over £705, the proceeds of stores sold and of the Goodwin estate, and the cash received for clothing issued to the garrison all enter on the debtor side, while the payments to the paymaster and to a ship's captain and the closing balance discharge it. The whole shows the storekeeper accounting to the Company for every sum that passed through his hands, the many small sales and issues resolved into one formal statement of receipt and payment. The cash received for clothing shows the soldiers paying for the uniforms issued to them, the cost stopped from their wages rather than borne by the Company. Forty-two pounds came from the officers and gunners and seventy-nine from a hundred and fifty private men, so the clothing account set out earlier was recovered from the men who wore the garments. This reveals the hard economy of garrison service, the soldier clothed by the Company but charged for his own coat and shoes, his pay diminished by the very equipment his duty required. The closing form errors excepted was the standard reservation with which a man signed an account, acknowledging it as correct while guarding against the discovery of later mistakes. By subscribing the reckoning in this way Godfrey affirmed the figures as far as he could vouch for them without barring a subsequent correction, a customary protection in an age when accounts were cast by hand and slips were easily made. The phrase closed the quarter's business, the storekeeper standing behind his numbers subject to that ancient and prudent qualification. | |
133 | Governour Lambert in his Life time found in a by Corner in the Castle 2 Bales of Goods the one Containing 304 Coarse Dungaree Shirts the other 84 half Pieces of Soutramalls which Goods Mrs Lambert Claims as her Right in Case the right Owner cannot be found, we have made all the Enquiry we can, in Order to find out an Owner but can find none. that Knows any thing of them Still we would not Deliver these Goods to Mrs Lambert untill she Promised to give as her Bond to be Answerable either for the very goods or the value thereof in Case any one Should lay just Claim to them. which she readily Complyed with and gave us the following Bond Viz.t Know all Men by these Presents That I Dorothy Lambert Widow do acknowledge to have received from the Governour and Council Two Bales of goods markt and Numbered as Pr Margin which my Husband Major Thomas Lambert found in a by Corner of the Castle in the time of his Government which Bales Contained the following Goods Viz.t Ball No 1 Containing Three Hundred and four Coarse Dungaree Shirts No 2 Containing Eighty four half Pieces of Soutramalls which Goods was appraised at the following Prices Do the Shirts at Two Shillings each which amounts to the Sume of Thirty Pounds Eight Shillings and the Soutramalls at five Shillings each amounts to the Sume of Twenty One pounds in which said Two Sumes abovementioned I bind myself my Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns to well and truly Pay or Cause to be Paid upon Demand to that Person or Persons or their Assigns who shall or may at any time hereafter Produce a Certificate Signed by the Governour & Castle for the time being of this Island St Helena Certifying their Satisfaction in his or their Right and Title to the abovesaid Two Bales of Goods In Witness whereof I have hereunto Set my Hand and Seal this Fourth Day of October One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty two to two of these acknowledgments each of the same Tenor and Date one of which being accomplished the other to be void Dorothy Lambert Signed Sealed & Delivered in the Presence of us C Dixon Chas Clark G. G. Powell John Godfrey C Dixon Margin Notes: No 1 | Governor Lambert, during his lifetime, had found in a corner of the Castle two bales of goods, one containing 304 coarse dungaree shirts and the other 84 half-pieces of soutramalls. Mrs Lambert claimed these goods as her right in case the true owner could not be found. The Council had made every enquiry it could to discover an owner but found none who knew anything of them. It would not deliver the goods to Mrs Lambert until she promised to give her bond to be answerable, either for the goods themselves or their value, in case anyone should later lay just claim to them. She readily agreed and gave the following bond. Dorothy Lambert, widow, acknowledged that she had received from the Governor and Council two bales of goods, marked and numbered as in the margin, which her husband Major Thomas Lambert had found in a corner of the Castle during his government. The bales contained the following goods. Bale number 1 contained three hundred and four coarse dungaree shirts. Bale number 2 contained eighty-four half-pieces of soutramalls. These goods had been appraised at the following prices. The shirts at two shillings each, amounting to £30 8s 0d, and the soutramalls at five shillings each, amounting to £21 0s 0d. For these two sums she bound herself, her heirs, executors, administrators and assigns to pay upon demand to whatever person or persons, or their assigns, should at any time afterwards produce a certificate signed by the Governor and Council for the time being of the island of St Helena, certifying their right and title to the two bales of goods. In witness of this she set her hand and seal on 4 October 1742. Two copies of the acknowledgment were made, each of the same tenor and date, one of which being fulfilled the other was to be void. The bond was signed by Dorothy Lambert, and signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of C Dixon and Charles Clarke. It was also subscribed by G G Powell, John Godfrey and C Dixon. Interpretations The bond given by the widow shows the Council handling unclaimed property through a careful legal device that protected all parties. Rather than simply keeping the goods or handing them over outright, the Council released them to Mrs Lambert against a written undertaking to pay their appraised value should a rightful owner appear. This turned the physical goods into a secured debt, allowing the widow to take and use or sell them while preserving the claim of any true owner, who could recover the value on proving title before the Governor and Council. The requirement of a certificate from the Governor and Council as the trigger for payment placed the island's administration as the judge of any future claim. A claimant could not simply demand the goods but had to satisfy the authorities of his right and obtain their signed certification, which then bound the widow to pay. This made the Council the gatekeeper of title to the disputed property, substituting its own future determination for the trial a court might otherwise give, and reflecting how the small island government absorbed functions that in England would have fallen to separate legal machinery. The goods themselves, coarse dungaree shirts and half-pieces of soutramalls, were Indian cotton textiles of the kind the eastern trade carried in bulk. Dungaree was a coarse Indian cotton cloth, here made up into common shirts, and soutramalls were another Indian piece good measured in half-pieces. That two bales of such goods lay forgotten in a corner of the Castle points to the volume of Indian textiles passing through the island, valuable enough for a widow to claim yet so much a part of the ordinary traffic that their owner could not be traced. | |
134 | At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 5th October 1742 at the Castle Present G. G. Powell Esq.r Governour John Godfrey 2d of Council C Dixon 3d of Council The Last Consultation was Read and approved The Governour Reports That he has Caused some of the Purbeck Stones which our Honourable Masters have been lately Pleased to send us, to be Carried to Mundens Point where he has laid the Platforms for Three Two Guns which point to the Sugar loaf and are to meet and oppose the Ships coming in, The reason why the Platforms throughout the whole Battery were not laid, is least there should not Prove a Sufficiency of Purbeck Stones to Lay the Platforms in those Guns which are most necessary, such as he Conceives those to be who are so Situated as to impede the Enemys Ships coming in, As for Instance, Bankss and Ruperts the Platforms of which two Fortifications will therefore be Laid with all the Expedition possible and if after these two first and principal Batteries are finished there be any Stone remaining, Mundens Point shall then be Compleated The Governour Likewise reports That in Obedience to the Honourable Companys Orders he reviewed and mustered the Garrison Last Saturday That they are in very good Order and only two of them are Sick The Muster Rolls are as follows Viz.t John Clarke Lieutenant Thos Easthope Daniel Owen Ensigns John Barton Wm Hayes Adjutant Serjeants Jos Desfountain William Seale Henry Mutton Daniel Mason Jas Leighton Henry Beak Corperals Jos Whaley Jsaac Snipe Barth Molloy Matt Wates Rich Harper Drumers Thomas Watts Wm Davis | At a consultation held on Tuesday 5 October 1742 at the Castle, G G Powell Esquire, Governor, sat with John Godfrey second of Council and C Dixon third of Council. The last consultation was read and approved. Governor Powell reported that he had caused some of the Purbeck stones, which their Honourable Masters had lately been pleased to send, to be carried to Munden's Point, where he had laid the platforms for two guns. These pointed toward the Sugar Loaf and were to meet and oppose ships coming in. The reason the platforms throughout the whole battery had not been laid was a fear that there might not be enough Purbeck stones to lay the platforms for those guns that were most necessary, such as he judged those to be that were so situated as to impede the enemy's ships coming in, for instance at the bank and Rupert's. The platforms of these two fortifications would therefore be laid with all possible speed, and if after these two first and principal batteries were finished any stone remained, Munden's Point would then be completed. The Governor likewise reported that in obedience to the Honourable Company's orders he had reviewed and mustered the garrison the previous Saturday, and found it in very good order, with only two of the men sick. The muster rolls were as follows. Serjeants John Clarke, lieutenant Thomas Easthope, ensign Daniel Owen, ensign John Barton, ensign William Hayes, adjutant Joseph Desfountain Corporals William Seale Henry Mutton Daniel Mason James Leighton Henry Beale Joseph Whaley Isaac Snipe Drummers Thomas Watts William Davis The next lines name the private men. Bartholomew Molloy Matthew Watson Richard Harper Interpretations The allocation of the Purbeck stone reveals a hard choice forced by scarcity of a vital material shipped from England. Purbeck stone, quarried in Dorset, was durable enough to bear the weight and recoil of heavy guns, and there was not enough of it to floor every gun platform on the island. The Governor therefore reserved it for the batteries that commanded the approaches an enemy ship must use, at the bank and Rupert's, laying those first and leaving Munden's Point to wait for any surplus, a deliberate ordering of the defences by the tactical value of each position. The muster of the garrison served both as a check on numbers and as a report to the Company that its orders were obeyed and its establishment sound. Reviewing the men and finding only two sick was the kind of fact the administration recorded to demonstrate the garrison's readiness and the care taken of it. The roll set out the ranks in order, from the serjeants and their attached officers down through corporals and drummers to the private men, giving a complete return of the armed force the Company kept to hold the island against attack. The placing of the guns at Munden's Point to command the approach past the Sugar Loaf shows fortification shaped precisely by the geography an attacker would face. The guns were sited to meet ships as they came in, covering the line of approach to the anchorage from a point where they could fire on a vessel before it reached the roads. This careful matching of gun position to the seaward approaches reflects a defensive scheme built around the few places where a ship could come at the island, the batteries sited to turn the coast itself into a barrier. | |
135 | Centinels James Richardson Henry Power James Aldridge James Allies Wm Moor Sutton Leach James Long Joseph Bassett John Butler John Jones Junk Frances Hayes John Leach Solomon Jacobs Rich Frost Edwd Dowitt Danl Serjeant Eptha Germain Danl Bush John Slack Danl Langton Anthony Day Thos Flood James Dutchard Thos Leach Thos Wattson George Bennett Edwd Cummins John Speake Centinels Robert Manlove Wm Adams Thos Cragg John Fletcher Wm Pettie George Clark Thos Legg Thos Shock James English Peter Bath Thos Hodges Ewan Jones Wm Eads Thos Lard John Spencer Paul Bryan James Vaughan Matthew Brightwell Richard Kent Robert Curry John Jones Senr Giles Hayes Wilston Jones Walter Cox Wm Twaits Andrew Barton John Amy John Madge Jos Long Centinels John Lewis John Broun John Ellis Henry Cater Edward Arnold Danl Council John Sutton Saml Harrison Richd Bishop John Simpson Arnold Casperi Jona Goodly Anthony Casteel John Pearce Nathl Nuttall Thos Payne John Ford John Welles Thos Fuller Matt Camble John Eton Otten Henry Carter Thos Kendrick Benj Seale John Gurling Bevin Ambrose John Upton Second Comp Lieutt James Holt Jos Desfountain Ensign Jos Kendall Do Thos Kirkpatrick Do Serjeants Edward Bagby John Leath Thos Corker Wm Eakman David Wilson Onesiphorus Beale Corporals Thos Turndale John French John Albrick Wm Simpson Jat Isaac Saml Ashwith Drummers Wm Ormes Thos London Centinels Henry Higgins Lawrence Peterson Thos Broun Baron Deloph Barnet Harms Tom Broun John Draper Saml Earles Peter Bookes Jeremiah Erpelt John Bark John Jayne Tom Bardin | The muster of the garrison continued with the sentinels of the first company. Sentinels James Richardson Henry Power James Aldridge James Allies William Moor Sutton Leach James Long Joseph Bassett John Butler John Jones junior Francis Hayes John Leach Solomon Jacobs Richard Frost Edward Doveton Daniel Serjeant Japtha Germain Daniel Bush John Slack Daniel Langton Anthony Day Thomas Flood James Ditchburn Thomas Leach Thomas Watson George Bennett Peter Cummins John Peake Robert Manlove William Adams Thomas Fogg John Fletcher William Pearce George Clark Thomas Legg Thomas Shock James English Peter Bath Thomas Hodges Evan Jones William Eads Thomas Card John Spencer Paul Bryan James Vaughan Matthew Brightwell Richard Kent Robert Curry John Jones senior Giles Hayes Wilston Jones Walter Cox William Twaits Andrew Barton John Amy John Page Joseph Long John Lewis John Brown John Ellis Henry Cater Edward Arnold Daniel Council John Sutton Samuel Harrison Richard Bishop John Simpson Arnold Lasperi Jonathan Goody Anthony Casteel John Pearce Nathaniel Nuttall Thomas Payne John Ford John Welles Thomas Fuller Matthew Camble John Ison Otten Henry Carter Thomas Kendrick Benjamin Seale John Gurling Bevin Ambrose John Upton The muster then set out the second company. Second company James Scott, lieutenant Joseph Desfountain, ensign Joseph Kendall, ensign Thomas Fitzpatrick, ensign Serjeants Edward Bagby John Leath Thomas Corker William Oakman David Wilson Onesiphorus Beale Corporals Thomas Turndale John French John Aldrick William Simpson Gabriel Isaac Samuel Ashwith Drummers William Ormes Thomas London Sentinels Henry Higgins Lawrence Peterson Thomas Brown Baron Deloph Barnet Havens Tom Brown John Draper Samuel Earles Peter Barker Jeremiah Erpeek John Burk John Payne Tom Bardin Interpretations The full muster reveals the true size and structure of the island's defence force, divided into two companies each with its own officers, serjeants, corporals, drummers and rank of sentinels. The great mass of ordinary soldiers, the sentinels, numbered well over a hundred across both companies, showing the Company maintained a substantial standing garrison to hold St Helena. This division into two companies gave the force a working military organisation, each company a self-contained unit under its lieutenant that could be posted, drilled and mustered as a body. The names on the roll reflect the mixed origins of the men the Company recruited for distant service. Alongside the many plain English names appear a few that point further afield, Baron Deloph, Arnold Lasperi, Anthony Casteel and Jeremiah Erpeek among them, suggesting the garrison drew in foreign soldiers as well as Englishmen. Recruiting for a remote and unhealthy station was always difficult, and the Company took its men where it could find them, so the muster of a small island force gathered together a body of varied background under a common discipline and pay. The recurrence of the same surnames among both soldiers and the island's civil population shows how far the garrison and the settlement had grown together. Names such as Leach, Jones, Hayes, Seale and Gurling appear here as sentinels and elsewhere in the records as planters, jurors and petitioners, marking families with a foot in both the military and civilian worlds. This overlap reflects a small society where soldiers took discharge to become planters and planters bound their sons to the garrison, the same kin filling the ranks of a force that guarded the island they lived on. | |
136 | Edward Aroud Richd Knight Philip Catchpole Stephen Powers Andrew Blimmon Robert Mason Wm Carr John Larney John Rutter Wm Buffett Tom Page John Collins Thos Manning David Lord Peter Wells Wm Barrett Jsaac Evans John Evans John Broun Christopher Gerland Philip Gulliad John Morgan Edwd Dunsford Thomas Rozer James Aalt John Manaley John George John Prudry Wm Gann Wm Allis Tom Hewss Thos Cope Rich Twaits James Lee Wm Doveton John Holloway Thos Griffis Neuholas Cope Benj Williams Senk Benj Williams Junk Wm Brooks Thos Draper James Vaughan Thos Wright Jos Andrew James Whitehead Jsaac Studson Jos Hunt George Eyres George Sharratt John Murdock James Carr Wm Aynzer John Barton Chas Mountague John Beal Jonas Hallum Thos Pride John Johnson Wm Bunfield Jos Lushm Danl Hayes Thos Clive John Hayes Wm Scarbrook Artillery Company Quarter Gunners Wm Kennedes Wm Davis Major Jackson John Christophell John Barnet Thos Dillingham John Spencer John Nottage Gunners Mates Jsaac Leath Thos Watts Nath Sample Robert Wood James Vaughan Roger Robinson J Neasland Wm Collingsworth Mattrosses Saml Pavet Wm Caddy Richard Newton Thos Allito John Spencer John Button Sam Clarke Jos Bossavelt Walter Beller John Smith Adam Milbourn Wm Turner Henry Savage Humphrey Pugh J Bush Ely Leach John Watkins John French | The muster of the second company continued with further sentinels. Edward Aroud Richard Knight Philip Catchpole Stephen Powers Andrew Blimmon Robert Mason William Carr John Larney John Rutter William Buffett Tom Page John Collins Thomas Manning David Lord Peter Wells William Barrett Isaac Evans John Evans John Brown Christopher Gerland Philip Fulliard John Morgan Edward Dunsford Thomas Rozer James Ball John Manakey John George John Drudry William Gann William Allis Tom Fewis Thomas Cope Richard Twaits James Lee William Doveton John Rolloway Thomas Griffis Nicholas Cope Benjamin Williams senior Benjamin Williams junior William Brooks Thomas Draper James Vaughan Thomas Wright Joseph Andrew James Whitehead Isaac Hudson Joseph Hunt George Eyres George Sharratt John Murdrick James Carr William Aynzer John Barton Charles Mountague John Beal Jonathan Hallum Thomas Pride John Johnson William Bunfield Joseph Lushom Daniel Hayes Thomas Clive John Hayes William Scarsbrook The muster then set out the artillery company. Artillery company Quarter gunners William Kennedy William Davis Major Jackson John Christophell John Barnet Thomas Ellingham John Spencer John Nottage Gunners mates Isaac Leath Thomas Watts Nathaniel Sample Robert Wood James Vaughan Roger Robinson John Newland William Collingsworth Mattrosses Samuel Pravet William Caddy Richard Newton Thomas Allito John Spencer John Button Samuel Clarke Joseph Boswell Walter Beller John Smith Adam Milbourn William Turner Henry Savage Humphrey Pugh Francis Bush Elias Leach John Watkins The muster was subscribed by John French. Interpretations The separate listing of the artillery company reveals the specialised gun crews that formed the fighting core of the island's defence, distinct from the ordinary sentinels of the two infantry companies. Divided into quarter gunners, gunners mates and mattrosses, this was the trained body that served the heavy ordnance in the batteries, each grade marking a level of skill in laying, loading and firing the great guns. The care taken to muster them apart shows the Company recognised the artillery as the arm that would actually repel an attacking ship, the sentinels guarding the works while the gunners fought them. The graded ranks within the artillery reflect the division of labour around a heavy gun. The quarter gunners were petty officers of the ordnance, each responsible for a share of the guns and stores, the gunners mates their assistants, and the mattrosses the labourers of the battery who handled, sponged and loaded the pieces under direction. This hierarchy of skill let a small trained cadre manage the technical work of the guns while the rougher labour fell to the lower grades, a structure carried over from naval and military practice to the fixed batteries of the island. The muster as a whole, closed and subscribed by John French, stands as the formal certification of the garrison's strength returned to the Company. Setting down every man by name across the two infantry companies and the artillery gave an exact account of the force the Company paid and clothed, the roll serving as the basis for wages, provisions and the clothing charges seen in the earlier accounts. This complete enumeration was the administrative foundation of the garrison, the list against which every soldier was fed, paid and mustered, and the record by which the distant directors could know the numbers that held their island. | |
137 | The Governour farther Reports that next Saturday is the regular Pay Day for the Quarter Past Ending the 30th September Therefore requests that Money may be Issued him out of the Treasury for that Purpose Agreed that we open the Chest on Friday next accordingly The following Petition was this Day Presented and read Viz.t To the Worshipfull George Gabriel Powell Esq.r Governour & Council of the Island St Helena The Humble Petition of Ebenezer Leech Humbly Sheweth That there is a small Piece of Ground Lying behind the yard of your Petitioners Dwelling House in this Valley being about 26 feet Square, which Piece of Ground being very Convenient for your Petitioner he is very Desirous to hire the same Your Petitioner therefore most Humbly Prays your Worship and Council will be Pleased to Grant him a Lease for the same accordingly And your Petitioner will ever Pray &c St Helena 5th October 1742 Granted upon Condition that he Pay 2. 6 Pr Annum for the same The Petition of Edwin Alcock was presented and Read as follows Viz.t | Governor Powell reported further that the next Saturday was the regular pay day for the quarter past, ending on 30 September, and he asked that money be issued to him out of the treasury for that purpose. The Council agreed to open the chest on the following Friday accordingly. The following petition was presented and read that day. Ebenezer Leech petitioned Governor Powell and the Council of the island of St Helena. There was a small piece of ground lying behind the yard of his dwelling house in the valley, about 26 feet square, which he found very convenient and was very desirous to hire. Leech therefore asked the Council to grant him a lease for it. The petition, dated at St Helena on 5 October 1742, was granted, on condition that he pay 2s 6d a year for it. The petition of Edwin Alcock was then presented and read as follows. Interpretations The routine of opening the chest to pay the garrison reveals the physical security surrounding the Company's money on the island. The cash was kept locked in a chest that could be opened only by formal decision of the Council, so that the paymaster drew the wages for the quarter under the authority of the whole board rather than at his own hand. This procedure guarded the treasury against embezzlement by requiring collective action to release funds, the same concern for controlling the Company's money seen in the note system for the stores and the demand for honest accounting. The grant of a small plot behind a dwelling at a nominal rent shows the Company managing even the least parcels of island land through formal lease. Leech sought no more than a yard of ground twenty-six feet square, yet he still had to petition the Council and take a lease at a set rent of 2s 6d a year, bringing the tiniest holding within the same system of tenure that governed the larger plantations. This reflects how completely the Company controlled the island's land, every foot of it held of the Company by grant or lease, so that a householder wanting a patch behind his house had to ask leave and pay for it. | |
138 | To the Worshipfull George Gabriel Powell Esq.r Governour & Council of the Island St Helena The Petition of Edwin Alcock Humbly Sheweth That whereas there is a Small Piece of Ground in this Valley Scituate above the Slaughter House Containing about half an Acre which said Piece of Ground Lying very Convenient and adjoyning to your Petitioners other Piece of Ground lately Purchased at the Outcry of the Estate of the Late John Goodwin Esq.d Deceased Your Petitioner therefore most Humbly prays your Worship and Council that he may become Tenant to the Honourable Company for the said Piece of Ground and that you will be favourably pleased to grant him a Lease for the same to be held upon the same Terms upon which he holds that Enclosure above the Slaughter House bought at the Outcry of Governor Goodwins Estate And your Petitioner will ever Pray &c Edwin Alcock St Helena 5th October 1742 Granted Mary Alexander this Day Presented the following Petition | Edwin Alcock petitioned Governor Powell and the Council of the island of St Helena. There was a small piece of ground in the valley, situated above the slaughter house and containing about half an acre, which lay very convenient and adjoined another piece of ground he had lately purchased at the auction of the estate of the late John Goodwin Esquire deceased. Alcock therefore asked the Council to let him become tenant to the Honourable Company for that piece of ground, and to grant him a lease for it on the same terms as those on which he held the enclosure above the slaughter house that he had bought at the auction of Governor Goodwin's estate. The petition, dated at St Helena on 5 October 1742, was granted. Mary Alexander then presented the following petition. Interpretations The petition shows how the auction of Goodwin's estate reached into the pattern of landholding, as a buyer of the dead man's ground sought to add the adjoining plot to consolidate his holding. Alcock had bought one enclosure at the auction and now wanted the neighbouring half-acre to go with it, asking to hold the new piece on the same terms as the old. This reveals the practical working of the land market, a purchaser rounding out his property by taking up a convenient adjacent parcel, the estate sale prompting a further grant that tidied the boundaries of his holding. The reference to Goodwin as Governor in the phrase Governor Goodwin's estate marks the standing of the man whose goods and lands filled so many of the preceding pages. The auction of his estate had disposed not only of his stock of trade goods but of enclosed land he held on the island, and buyers like Alcock took up both. That a former governor's holdings passed by sale into the hands of resident planters shows the fluidity of property even at the top of island society, the death of a leading man breaking up his estate and redistributing his land among those who remained. | |
139 | To the Worshippfull George Gabriel Powell Esq.r Governour & Council of this Island The Petition of Mary Alexander Humbly Sheweth That whereas Mr Duke Crispe During the time of his Government made Use of Ten window Sashes belonging to your Petitioner by fixing the same in a New Room of the Castle and promised Payment to your Petitioner for the said Ten Windows but Mr Robert Jenkins arriving here and succeeding him before the said Payment was made your Petitioner did thereupon make Application to the said Mr Jenkins who told her that she should either be paid for the Windows or else he would pull the Room down & return her the said Windows But to your Petitioners great Detriment he did neither the One or the other That Mr Thos Lambert succeeded Mr Jenkins when again she made Application and Mr Lambert Assured her that when the Shipping was over he would Pay her the Sume of 65 lb the Valuation of the Windows but it Pleased God he Dyed soon after the Departure of the Ships and therefore could not make good his promise That these Windows Cost your Petitioners Late Husband 95 lb at the Late Mr Pykes Auction That your Petitioner hath since Mr Lamberts Death made Application to the Present Governour George Gabriel Powell Esq.r who told her that she must make her Case known by Petition to Governour and Council which your Petitioner now doth accordingly Your Petitioner therefore Prays that your Worship and Council would take the merits of her Case into Consideration and relieve her accordingly And your Petitioner will ever Pray October the 5th 1742 Mary Alexander | Mary Alexander petitioned Governor Powell and the Council of the island. During the time of his government Mr Duke Crispe had used ten window sashes belonging to her, fixing them in a new room of the Castle, and had promised to pay her for the ten windows. Mr Robert Jenkins arrived and succeeded him before the payment was made, and Alexander then applied to Jenkins, who told her that she should either be paid for the windows or he would pull the room down and return them to her. To her great loss he did neither the one nor the other. Mr Thomas Lambert then succeeded Jenkins, and when she applied again Lambert assured her that when the shipping was over he would pay her £6 5s 0d, the valuation of the windows. It pleased God that he died soon after the departure of the ships, and so he could not make good his promise. These windows had cost her late husband £9 5s 0d at the auction of the late Mr Pyke. Since Lambert's death she had applied to the present Governor George Gabriel Powell Esquire, who told her she must make her case known by petition to the Governor and Council, which she now did. Alexander therefore asked the Council to take the merits of her case into consideration and give her relief. The petition was dated 5 October 1742. Interpretations The petition exposes how a private debt owed by the government could be left unpaid as one governor succeeded another, each declining to honour his predecessor's promise. Three governors in turn used or held the woman's windows without paying, Crispe fixing them in the Castle and promising payment, Jenkins offering either payment or return and giving neither, and Lambert promising the valuation but dying before he paid. This chain of broken undertakings shows the difficulty a subject faced in recovering a debt from the office of government itself, where the obligation passed from man to man but the payment never came. The windows tie back to the auction of Mr Pyke, whose estate the earlier consultation had expressly exempted from the compulsory sale of a dead man's goods. Here the woman's husband had bought the windows at Pyke's auction for £9 5s 0d, yet their agreed valuation when taken for the Castle was only £6 5s 0d, so even full payment would have left her short of the purchase price. This gap between what the goods cost and what the government would allow for them sharpened her grievance, the loss compounded by the failure to pay even the lesser sum. The petitioner's recourse shows the settled procedure by which a subject brought a claim against the administration. The Governor did not simply settle the matter himself but directed her to petition the Governor and Council formally, so that her case would be heard and determined by the board as a body. This channelling of a private claim into a formal petition reveals how the island government handled its own debts and disputes, requiring the aggrieved party to submit her case in writing for collective decision rather than leaving it to the discretion of a single officer. | |
140 | Upon reading the above Petition we thought it very hard that a Debt of this Nature should be left to us to Discharge when Contracted in Mr Crisps time but her reasons and her Petition appearing to us to be just We thereupon called the Petitioner in and told her we thought it a great price for them but that Mr Francis Wrangham had had Ten Windows lately from England of the same Dimentions we therefore would enquire of him what those Windows stood him in & we would Pay her accordingly which She very readily agreed to This Day the Gunner Delivered in his Account and is Entred as follows Gunners Stores Expended in the Month of September 1742 Guns fired, Round Shot fired, Barr Shott fired, Grapeshot fired, 9 Pdrs, 6 Pdrs, 4 Pdr, 3 Pdr, 1 Pdr, Powder Expended 3d Powder to the Master: Powder Expended 54 Powder for Blowing up y Rocks at Sandy Bay fird at Bankss by the Govr Order: Guns fired 15, Round Shot fired 12, Barr Shott fired 1, Grapeshot fired 1, 9 Pdrs 9, 6 Pdrs 2, Powder Expended 10 fird by the Serjts & Corporals for Practice: Guns fired 19, Round Shot fired 19, 1 Pdr 4, Powder Expended 78 fird by the Artillery Company for Practice: Guns fired 31, Round Shot fired 31, 4 Pdr 19, Powder Expended 38 fird for Do: Guns fired 31, Round Shot fired 31, 4 Pdr 31, Powder Expended 93 Powder for Blowing up the Rocks at Bankss: Powder Expended 93 Powder for Scaling the two 24 Pdrs: Powder Expended 10 Powder Expended for Priming: Powder Expended 3 Powder for Exercising the Small Arms: Powder Expended 15 Powder to the Guard & Out Forts: Powder Expended 114 Powder Expended 27 Total: Guns fired 96, Round Shot fired 93, Barr Shott fired 1, Grapeshot fired 1, 9 Pdrs 9, 6 Pdrs 2, 4 Pdr 62, 3 Pdr 19, 1 Pdr 4, Powder Expended 535 John French Gunner Dry Stores Paper 21 Do Spunge Staves 9 Handspikes 14 Quoins 10 Tomkins 11 Sheep Skins 6 Rammer heads 14 Spunge heads 4 lb Lead Shott 21 lb Match 6 Trucks 1 Ladles 2 Bitts 2 lb Nails 2 lb Thread 1 lb Turne 1 Horsehide 1 Firkin of Grease 1 G. G. Powell John Godfrey C Dixon | On reading the petition the Council thought it hard that a debt of this nature, contracted in Mr Crispe's time, should be left to it to discharge, but her reasons and her petition appeared just. The Council then called the petitioner in and told her the price seemed high, but that Mr Francis Wrangham had lately had ten windows of the same dimensions from England. The Council would therefore enquire of Wrangham what those windows had cost him and pay her accordingly, which she very readily agreed to. The gunner delivered in his account that day, which was entered as follows. It set out the gunners stores expended in the month of September 1742, the columns recording for each entry the number of guns fired, round shot fired, bar shot fired, grape shot fired, and the 9-pounder, 6-pounder, 4-pounder, 3-pounder and 1-pounder shot fired, together with the powder expended in pounds. The column headings are given as they stand on the page. Powder to the master, 54 pounds of powder Powder for blowing up the rocks at Sandy Bay, 10 pounds Fired at the bank by the Governor's order, 15 guns fired, 12 round shot fired, 1 bar shot fired, 1 grape shot fired, 9 nine-pounder shot, 2 six-pounder shot, 78 pounds of powder Fired by the serjeants and corporals for practice, 19 guns fired, 19 round shot fired, 4 three-pounder shot, 38 pounds of powder Fired by the artillery company for practice, 31 guns fired, 31 round shot fired, 31 four-pounder shot, 93 pounds of powder Fired for practice, 31 guns fired, 31 round shot fired, 31 four-pounder shot, 93 pounds of powder Powder for blowing up the rocks at the bank, 10 pounds Powder for scaling the two 24-pounders, 3 pounds Powder expended for priming, 15 pounds Powder for exercising the small arms, 114 pounds Powder to the guard and outforts, 27 pounds Total, 96 guns fired, 93 round shot fired, 1 bar shot fired, 1 grape shot fired, 9 nine-pounder shot, 2 six-pounder shot, 62 four-pounder shot, 19 three-pounder shot, 4 one-pounder shot, 535 pounds of powder expended The account was subscribed by John French, gunner, and by G G Powell, John Godfrey and C Dixon. The dry stores were recorded separately. Paper, 21 quire Sponge staves, 9 Handspikes, 114 Aprons, 10 Tompions, 11 Sheepskins, 6 Rammer heads, 4 Sponge heads, 4 pounds Lead shot, 21 pounds Match, 6 Trucks, 1 Ladles, 2 Bitts, 2 pounds Nails, 9 pounds Thread, 1 pound Twine, 1 Horsehide, 1 Firkin of grease, 1 Interpretations The gunner's monthly return shows the powder and shot consumed not chiefly in defence but in training, demolition and routine firing, revealing how a peacetime garrison kept its guns and men ready. The largest single charge of powder, a hundred and fourteen pounds, went to exercising the small arms, and further quantities to practice firing by the serjeants, corporals and artillery company, so most of the month's expenditure served to drill the men in handling their weapons. Powder also went to blowing up rocks at Sandy Bay and the bank, the same demolition work the consultations describe, the gunner's stores serving the engineering of the defences as well as their armament. The scaling of the two 24-pounders records the routine maintenance of the heaviest guns in the island's battery. Scaling meant firing a light charge of powder to clean the bore of a gun, burning out the rust and fouling that gathered in the barrel between firings, and the two 24-pounders were the largest pieces, throwing the heaviest shot. That these guns needed scaling shows the care taken to keep the main armament serviceable, the powder spent not in anger but in the upkeep that kept the great guns fit to fire when they were wanted. The detailed dry stores list sets out the specialised implements of the gun crew, each tool serving a step in the working of a piece. Sponge staves and heads cleaned and dampened the bore between rounds, handspikes levered the heavy carriages to aim them, ladles loaded the powder, and tompions plugged the muzzles against damp when the guns stood idle. The sheepskins and horsehide served as coverings and for making cartridge and sponge, and the whole inventory reflects the constant provision of the many small articles a battery consumed in keeping its ordnance clean, aimed and ready for service. | |
141 | At a Consultation held on Friday the 8th October 1742 at the Castle Present G. G. Powell Esq.r Governour John Godfrey 2d of Council Christopher Dixon 3d of Council The Last Consultation was Read and approved We this Day received of Mr John Godfrey Storekeeper the Sume of £ 114. 5. 2½ being the Ballance of the Account he brought into Consultation of the 23 of July And Likewise the Sume of £ 189. 7. 9 being so much left in his Hands by Captain Watts of the Swift Sloop Particulars Viz.t A large Piece of Gold Wt 11. 15. 4 at £ 3. 12. 3 £ 46. 4. 8¾ 4 Bitts of Do 3. 9. 13 3. 18 13. 11. 2½ £ 59. 12. 11¼ In Dollars 127. 7. 3½ 187 Upon bringing the Dollars into Tail we find an Encrease of 2. 7. 9 £ 189. 7. 9 We then Proceeded to Issue to Mr G. G. Powell Paymaster the Sume of £ 1200. 3. 2½ in Order to Pay the Garrison &c for the Quarter Ending the 30th Day of Last Month Next we Counted the Honourable Companys Cash Remaining this Day in their Treasury which we find in good Condition amounting to the Sume of £ 1193. 4. 7 on the following Species Viz.t Dollars 1006. 1 150. 3. 0 251. 10. 7½ Dollars 601 7. 7. 6 163. 11. 6 Half Dollars 39 29. 4 7. 19 Duccatoons 8½ Dollars 289. 1 325. 1 81. 5. 7½ Half Dollars 72 36 90. 10. 8½ Rupees 903½ Carried over 588. 18. 5½ | At a consultation held on Friday 8 October 1742 at the Castle, G G Powell Esquire, Governor, sat with John Godfrey second of Council and Christopher Dixon third of Council. The last consultation was read and approved. The Council that day received from Mr John Godfrey, storekeeper, the sum of £114 5s 2½d, being the balance of the account he had brought into consideration of the 22nd of last month. It likewise received the sum of £189 7s 9d, being the amount left in his hands by Captain Watts of the sloop Swift, made up as follows. A large piece of gold weighing 11 hundredweight 15 pennyweight 4 grains at £3 18s 3d, £46 4s 8¾d 4 bitts of gold weighing 3 pennyweight 9 grains 13 at £3 18s, £13 11s 2¾d Subtotal, £59 12s 11¼d In dollars, £127 7s 3½d Subtotal, £187 0s 0d Upon bringing the dollars into tale, an increase was found of £2 7s 9d Total, £189 7s 9d The Council then resolved to issue to Mr G G Powell, paymaster, the sum of £1,200 3s 2½d, to pay the garrison and other charges for the quarter ending on the 30th of last month. The Council next counted the Honourable Company's cash remaining that day in their treasury, which was found in good order, amounting to the sum of £1,193 4s 7d in the following coin. Dollars, 1,006 at 1 [...], £251 10s 7½d Dollars, 601 Half dollars, 39 at 29s 4d Ducatoons, 36 Subtotal, £163 11s 6d Dollars, 289 at 1, total 325 [...], £81 5s 7½d Half dollars, 72 at 36 Rupees, 3,022 Subtotal, £90 10s 8¾d Carried over, £588 18s 5¾d Interpretations The money left by Captain Watts of the Swift shows the island acting as a place of safe deposit for bullion and coin passing on the ships. The captain lodged gold by weight and dollars by count into the Company's treasury, the gold valued at a set rate per pennyweight and the dollars told over and found to exceed the sum first reckoned. This deposit of a shipmaster's money with the island government reveals the anchorage as a point where the specie of the sea trade was held, weighed and accounted, the Company's treasury serving the floating commerce as well as its own affairs. The finding of an increase on bringing the dollars into tale reflects the careful practice of counting coin by number against its reckoned value. To bring dollars into tale was to count them one by one, and the excess of £2 7s 9d over the sum first entered shows the coin told out to more than expected, a discrepancy the clerks recorded rather than passed over. This attention to the exact count of every coin marks the rigour of the treasury's accounting, where money was not merely weighed or estimated but numbered, and any difference between estimate and count set down in the record. The counting of the whole treasury in a great variety of coin again shows the island's currency drawn from many nations of the trading world. Spanish dollars in their thousands, half dollars, Dutch ducatoons and Indian rupees all lay together in the Company's chest, each reckoned back into sterling for the account. This mixture reflects the island's place on the sea route between Europe and the East, where the coin of every nation whose ships called accumulated in its treasury, the pieces of many mints gathered into a single reckoning of what the Company held. | |
142 | Brought over £ 588. 18. 5½ Ryals 4940 £ 134. 7. 6 Half Ryals 8342 £ 130. 6. 8¾ Do Ryals 947 £ 60. 17. 6 Pagodas 326 Guineas 2 Morisscos 12 St Thomas 1 3 Bars 12 Half Ryals 664 Do Money £ 13. 4½ £ 45. 6. 3½ Pagodas 1043 £ 469. 7. 0 2 Bitts Gold Wt 5lb 19oz 3dwt 12gr @ £3 12s 0d Pr Oz £ 23. 4. 3 1 Do 11lb 15oz 4dwt @ £3 18s 3d £ 46. 1. 0 1 Do 3lb 9oz 3dwt @ £3 12s £ 13. 11. 2¾ £ 532. 4. 2¼ Half Pence amounting to 5s 1½d Cash Notes £ 1332. 4. 7 158 @ 2/6 232 @ 5/ 124 @ 20/ 137 @ 40/ £ 461. 5. 0 £ 1793. 9. 7 This Day Edward Pridgeon after having Stood in the Pillory One hour and Whipped from thence to the Prison was Released and Ordered to Work at the Fortifications agreeable to his Sentance passed upon him at the Last Sessions held the 21 September 1742 The following is the Particular Account Sales of the Effects belonging to Edward Pridgeon Sold at Publick Outcry this 4th Day of October 1742 Viz.t 1 Clasp Coll and Bed T Watson 14s 6d 1 Iron Table J Bark 2s 9d 3 Do Formes T Wattson 3s 9d 1 China Smasher & Cup Fr Bush 1s 2d 1 Sub T Wattson 1s 1d 1 Matt J Bazett 10d 1 Pewter Bason 1 Do Plate & 2 Spoons J Buck 3s 3d 1 Book W Turner 2s 3d 1 pr Scissars & 2 Clasp Knives Jno Pridgeon 7d 1 pr Buckles & Shoos Buttons Jos Bazett 9d 1 Pail Fr Bush 2s 4d 1 Iron Jugg Ed Bates 2s 1d 1 Looking Glass J Larney 3d 1 Oll Ler Kettle T Watson 3d 1 Fear Chest Wm Ormes 13s 6d 2 Silver Spoons T Kirkpatrick 9d Cash amounting to 14s 6d £ 5. 9. 6 | The count of the Honourable Company's cash continued, with the total of £588 18s 5¾d brought over from before. Brought over, £588 18s 5¾d Rials, 1,940, £134 7s 6d Half rials, 8,332, £130 6s 8¾d Double rials, 949, £60 17s 6d Pagodas, 526, together with Guineas, 2, and Moidores, 12, and St Thomas, 1, and 2 bars, 12, and Half rials, 664, and Dutch money, £13 4s 6d, giving £45 6s 3¾d Pagodas, 1,043, £469 7s 0d 2 bitts gold weighing 5 pennyweight 19 grains, 3 pennyweight 18 grains, coupled at £3 18s, £23 4s 3d 1 bitt weighing 11 pennyweight 15 grains 4, 3 pennyweight 18 grains 5, £16 1s 0d 1 bitt weighing 3 pennyweight 9 grains, 3 pennyweight 18 grains, £13 11s 2¾d Subtotal, £532 4s 2¼d Half pence amounting to, £5 1s 4d Subtotal, £1,532 4s 0d Cash notes 158 at 2s 6d, together with 232 at 5s, and 124 at 20s, and 137 at 40s, giving £461 3s 0d Total, £1,993 4s 7d Edward Pridgeon, after standing in the pillory one hour and being whipped from there to the prison, was released and ordered to work at the fortifications according to the sentence passed on him at the earlier session held on 21 September 1742. The following was the particular account of the sale of the effects belonging to Edward Pridgeon, sold at public auction on 4 October 1742, with the buyer and price noted against each item. The first line names Thomas Watson as the buyer of a clasp coat and bed. 1 clasp coat and bed, bought by Thomas Watson, £0 14s 6d 1 oval table, bought by John Burk, £0 2s 9d 3 forms, bought by Thomas Watson, £0 3s 9d 1 china teapot and cup, bought by Francis Bush, £0 1s 2d 1 tub, bought by Thomas Watson, £0 1s 1d 1 mat, bought by John Bazett, £0 0s 10d 1 pewter basin, 1 plate and 2 spoons, bought by John Buck, £0 3s 3d 1 book, bought by William Turner, £0 2s 3d 1 pair of scissors and 2 glass funnels, bought by James Pridgeon, £0 0s 7d 1 pair of buckles and stone buttons, bought by Joseph Bassett, £0 0s 9d 1 pail, bought by Francis Bush, £0 2s 4d 1 stone jug, bought by Edward Bates, £0 2s 1d 1 looking glass, bought by John Larney, £0 0s 3d 1 oil jar and kettle, bought by Thomas Watson, £0 0s 3d 1 fire chest, bought by William Ormes, £0 13s 6d 2 silver spoons, bought by Thomas Fitzpatrick, £1 9s 0d Cash amounting to, £0 14s 6d Total, £5 9s 6d Interpretations The irony of the auction is stark, for the goods of the convicted man were sold off to the very neighbours and fellow soldiers among whom he had lived, and the largest buyer was Thomas Watson, the man he had assaulted and robbed. Watson took the clasp coat and bed, the forms, a tub and an oil jar and kettle, recovering in goods something of what the crime had cost him, while other soldiers named in the muster rolls, Bassett, Ormes, Fitzpatrick and Bush among them, picked over the rest. The sale turned the criminal's forfeiture into a distribution of his few possessions through the small community he had wronged. The sale of Pridgeon's effects was the execution of the forfeiture ordered in his sentence, converting his goods to cash after the corporal punishment was done. The court had condemned him to lose his estate beyond what restitution required, and this auction realised that estate, the proceeds of £5 9s 6d representing the whole worldly goods of a common soldier. That two silver spoons fetched more than a quarter of the total shows how little the rest was worth, the modest inventory laying bare the poverty of a man whose crime had been to rob another of scarcely more than he himself possessed. The completion of Pridgeon's punishment, the pillory, the whipping and the sentence to labour at the fortifications, shows the graded penalty carried through to its end. Having suffered the public shame and pain, he was set to work on the very defences the consultations describe as short of hands, his condemned labour turned to the island's use. This shows the practical economy of the sentence, the convict neither hanged nor merely imprisoned but made to serve the settlement with his body, his crime repaid in forced work on the works that guarded the island. | |
143 | An Inventory of Sundry Debts Owing to Edward Pridgeon taken September the 20th 1742 Henry Moulton £ 1. 0. 0 Wm Davis in the Artillery Company 10. 0 John Batton 11. 0 Willm Ormes 7. 6 James English 3. 0 Wilm Gann 8. 0 Henry Moss 1. 0 Wm Broun 1. 6 George Clarke 3. 0 Ceasar 2. 6 John Pierce 1. 6 John Hanson 1. 0. 0 William Adams 9. 0 £ 5. 0. 0 Debts Owing by Edward Pridgeon unto the Several Under written Persons Viz.t To John George £ 0. 18. 0 Daniel Council 1. 10. 0 Anthony Meors 10. 0 £ 2. 18. 0 Note above said to Thomas Watson the One to Receive & the Other to Pay G. G. Powell John Godfrey C Dixon Margin Notes: Due to Edward Pridgeon | An inventory of various debts owing to Edward Pridgeon was taken on 28 September 1742, the debtors and sums being as follows. Henry Moulton, £1 0s 0d William Davis in the artillery company, £0 10s 0d John Button, £0 11s 0d William Ormes, £0 7s 6d James English, £0 3s 0d William Gann, £0 8s 0d Henry Moss, £0 1s 0d William Brown, £0 1s 6d George Clarke, £0 3s 0d Caesar, £0 2s 6d John Pierce, £0 1s 6d John Hanson, £1 0s 0d William Adams, £0 9s 0d Total, £5 0s 0d The debts owing by Edward Pridgeon to the several persons named below were also recorded. To John George, £0 18s 0d Daniel Council, £1 10s 0d Anthony Meors, £0 10s 0d Total, £2 18s 0d The whole of the above was made over to Thomas Watson, the one set to receive and the other to pay. The record was subscribed by G G Powell, John Godfrey and C Dixon. Interpretations The assignment of Pridgeon's debts to Watson completed the restitution the court had ordered, transferring both what the convict was owed and what he owed to the man he had wronged. Watson was given the right to collect the £5 owing to Pridgeon and the burden of paying the £2 18s Pridgeon owed others, so the victim received the net balance as part of his recompense. This shows the court settling the criminal's whole financial position on the injured party, making over his outstanding accounts along with his goods to satisfy the threefold restitution decreed in the sentence. The debts owing to Pridgeon reveal that even a common soldier stood at the centre of a web of small lendings among his fellows, the same men who appear in the muster rolls. Soldiers of the artillery company and the infantry, Davis, Button, Ormes and others, owed him modest sums, and he in turn owed a few of them, showing the constant petty credit that bound the garrison together. The appearance of Caesar among the debtors, bearing a single classical name of the kind given to slaves, again shows such men trading and borrowing within the island economy alongside the soldiers. The careful recording of a convicted felon's debts and credits before making them over shows the administration treating even a criminal's tangled accounts with exact regard for the rights of others. Those who owed Pridgeon were still bound to pay, and those he owed were still to be satisfied, the forfeiture reaching only the balance after his debts were met. This scrupulous accounting, setting the sums to receive against those to pay before handing the whole to Watson, reflects the same concern for orderly settlement of obligations that runs through the estate inventories and the treasury counts of the preceding pages. | |
144 | At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 12th October 1742 at the Castle Present G. G. Powell Esq.r Governour John Godfrey 2d of Council C Dixon 3d of Council The Last Consultation was read and approved The Governour Reports that the Gunner has acquainted him that there are many of the Stores belonging to his Branch so Decayed that they are rendred entirely Useless several of them having been here upwards of Forty Years Upon which the Gunner was Called in and Asked what those things were that were mostly Decayed who Answered that he could not justly say then but would give us an Account in the Afternoon At which time we agreed to take a Survey of the same Stores The Governour Reports that the Eastern most part of the Battery at Mundens point where the Steward Guns are, was made Originally, Twenty seven foot Broad from the inside of the Ambugires to the Hill, which was indeed a Sufficient Breadth for the Guns to Recoil upon, But some time ago there was Built a Guard House for the Officer, three or Ten foot wide and the whole Length of the Battery so that there remained only Effoot for the Guns to work upon, which to his certain knowledge was Insufficient for when he was fourth of Council and Quarterd there upon Alarms & also seen the Guns with only Once seven feet Recoil within a Foot of the Guard Fence Altho the Platforms then were Pitched with Rough Stones; And now the Platforms are laid quite Smooth with Purbeck Stones the Guns will sure will Recoil Considerably further Therefore he has Removed that Old Guard Fence which would have Impeded the Working of the Guns and consequently rendred that most Material part of the Battery of little or no Consequence in time of Action, And built a little Room of Time foot square just sufficient for the Officer upon the Top of the Sd Barrs Barrack so that it is really more Commodious for the Officer as he can see more about him, And takes up not an Inch of the Battery This Day the Husband and Steward Delivered their Accounts for the Month of September which was Examined and approved and are Entered as follows Viz.t | At a consultation held on Tuesday 12 October 1742 at the Castle, G G Powell Esquire, Governor, sat with John Godfrey second of Council and C Dixon third of Council. The last consultation was read and approved. Governor Powell reported that the gunner had told him many of the stores belonging to his branch were so decayed that they must be renewed entirely, several having been in use upwards of forty years. The gunner was then called in and asked what those things were that were mostly decayed. He answered that he could not justly say offhand but would give an account in the afternoon, and the Council agreed to take a survey of those stores. The Governor reported that the eastward part of the battery at Munden's Point, where the seaward guns stood, had originally been made twenty-seven feet broad from the inside of the embrasures to the hill, which was indeed a sufficient breadth for the guns to recoil upon. Some time earlier a large stone house for the officer had been built there, twenty feet wide, running the whole length of the battery, so that there remained only seven feet for the guns to work upon. This, to his certain knowledge, was insufficient, for when he was fourth of Council and quartered there during an alarm, the guns had only once room to recoil within a foot of the guard fence, even though the platforms were then paved with rough stone. Now that the platforms were laid still smoother with Purbeck stone, the guns would run back considerably further. He had therefore removed the old guard fence, which would have impeded the working of the guns and rendered that most material part of the battery of little or no consequence in time of action, and had built a little room for the officer on top of the soldiers barrack. This was more convenient for the officer, since he could see more about him and took up not an inch of the battery. The husband and steward delivered in their accounts for the month of September that day, which were examined and approved and entered as follows. Interpretations The Governor's rebuilding at Munden's Point reveals a direct conflict between fortification and habitation resolved firmly in favour of the guns. An earlier officer's stone house had been built the length of the battery, leaving only seven feet for the guns to recoil where twenty-seven had been provided, crippling the very purpose of the work. The Governor tore out the obstructing guard fence and moved the officer's quarters onto the roof of the barrack, freeing the platform for the guns, a decision that put the fighting capacity of the battery above the comfort of the man who commanded it. The improvement of the platforms with Purbeck stone had an unforeseen consequence that the Governor turned to account in his reasoning. A smoother surface let the guns recoil further, so the space they needed grew just as the encroaching house had shrunk it, making the removal of obstructions more urgent than before. This shows the practical understanding behind the works, the Governor reasoning from his own experience of an alarm, when the guns had barely room to recoil, to justify clearing the battery so the ordnance could serve when a real attack came. The decayed state of gunners stores forty years old shows the long neglect of the island's ordnance equipment under earlier governments. That gun carriages, implements and other stores had been left in use for four decades until they must be wholly renewed reveals how little had been spent on maintaining the defences over that time. The Governor's move to survey and replace them, like his clearing of the battery, marks a deliberate effort to restore the fortifications to fighting condition after long years in which their upkeep had been allowed to lapse. | |
145 | Account of the Honourable Companys Stock of Neat Cattle &c for the Month of September 1742 Viz.t Bullocks, Cows, Heifers, Steers, Yearlings, Calves, Bulls, Totall, Ewes, Weathers, Lambs, Rams, Totall, Ewes, Weathers, Kidds, Rams, Totall, Sows, Barrows, Shoats, Piggs, Boars, Totall, Turkeys, Fowls, Ducks, Geese, Horses, Mares, Totall Remaining 1st September: Bullocks 30, Cows 96, Heifers 36, Steers 28, Yearlings 20, Calves 114, Bulls 6, Totall 260, Ewes 78, Weathers 24, Lambs 16, Rams 6, Totall 118, Ewes 112, Weathers 23, Kidds 18, Rams 4, Totall 157, Sows 17, Barrows 23, Shoats 45, Piggs 24, Boars 2, Totall 111, Turkeys 66, Fowls 192, Ducks 20, Geese 13, Horses 6, Mares 9, Totall 15 Increased in Do Bought in Do: Calves 17, Totall 17, Lambs 2, Totall 2, Lambs 10, Totall 10, Piggs 17, Totall 17, Turkeys 10, Fowls 40, Geese 3 Bullocks 30, Cows 96, Heifers 36, Steers 28, Yearlings 20, Calves 61, Bulls 6, Totall 277, Ewes 78, Weathers 34, Lambs 12, Rams 6, Totall 130, Ewes 112, Weathers 23, Kidds 29, Rams 4, Totall 168, Sows 17, Barrows 23, Shoats 45, Piggs 41, Boars 2, Totall 128, Turkeys 76, Fowls 232, Ducks 20, Geese 16, Horses 6, Mares 9, Totall 15 Killed in Do: Heifers 1, Totall 1, Weathers 7, Totall 7, Weathers 2, Kidds 1, Totall 3, Turkeys 6, Fowls 2, Ducks 55 Bullocks 30, Cows 96, Heifers 35, Steers 28, Yearlings 20, Calves 61, Bulls 6, Totall 276, Ewes 78, Weathers 27, Lambs 12, Rams 6, Totall 123, Ewes 112, Weathers 21, Kidds 28, Rams 4, Totall 165, Sows 17, Barrows 20, Shoats 45, Piggs 38, Boars 2, Totall 122, Turkeys 74, Fowls 177, Ducks 20, Geese 16, Horses 6, Mares 9, Totall 15 Died in Do: Weathers 2, Kidds 1, Turkeys 1, Fowls 3 Bots in Do: Heifers 1, Totall 1, Piggs 1, Totall 1 Remaining 30th Do: Bullocks 30, Cows 96, Heifers 35, Steers 28, Yearlings 20, Calves 60, Bulls 6, Totall 275, Ewes 76, Weathers 27, Lambs 11, Rams 6, Totall 120, Ewes 112, Weathers 21, Kidds 28, Rams 4, Totall 165, Sows 17, Barrows 20, Shoats 45, Piggs 37, Boars 2, Totall 121, Turkeys 74, Fowls 174, Ducks 20, Geese 16, Horses 6, Mares 9, Totall 15 One Black Boy Born Named Jack One Girl Do Mary One Man Slave Dead Named Daniel 1 Do Harry Rammer 1 Do Duh 1 Do Radcliffe 1 Woman Betty Tim 1 Girl Alice E. E. Pr G. G. Powell Yams Expended at the several Plantations 29000 | An account of the Honourable Company's stock of neat cattle and other livestock for the month of September 1742 was set out in a grid. The columns for cattle recorded bullocks, cows, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and bulls, then a total. The sheep columns recorded ewes, wethers, lambs and rams, then a total. The goat columns recorded ewes, wethers, kids and rams, then a total. The hog columns recorded sows, brawns, shoats, pigs and boars, then a total. The poultry columns recorded turkeys, fowls, ducks and geese, then a total. The horse columns recorded horses and mares, then a total. The rows recorded the stock remaining on 1 September, the increases, purchases, killings, deaths and strays during the month, and the stock remaining on 30 September. Remaining 1 September, 30 bullocks, 96 cows, 36 heifers, 28 steers, 20 yearlings, 114 calves, 6 bulls, total 260 cattle, 78 ewes, 24 wethers, 16 lambs, 6 rams, total 118 sheep, 112 ewes, 23 wethers, 18 kids, 4 rams, total 157 goats, 17 sows, 23 brawns, 45 shoats, 24 pigs, 2 boars, total 111 hogs, 66 turkeys, 192 fowls, 20 ducks, 13 geese, total 291 poultry, 6 horses, 9 mares, total 15 horses Increased during the month, 17 calves, giving 17 cattle, 2 lambs, giving 2 sheep, 10 kids, giving 10 goats, 11 pigs, giving 11 hogs, 10 ducks, giving 40 poultry Bought during the month, 3 geese Total, 30 bullocks, 96 cows, 36 heifers, 28 steers, 20 yearlings, 61 calves, 6 bulls, total 277 cattle, 78 ewes, 34 wethers, 12 lambs, 6 rams, total 130 sheep, 112 ewes, 23 wethers, 29 kids, 4 rams, total 168 goats, 17 sows, 23 brawns, 45 shoats, 41 pigs, 2 boars, total 128 hogs, 76 turkeys, 232 fowls, 20 ducks, 16 geese, total 232 poultry, 6 horses, 9 mares, total 15 horses Killed during the month, 1 heifer, giving 1 cattle, 7 wethers, giving 7 sheep, 2 wethers, 1 kid, giving 3 goats, 3 pigs, giving 3 hogs, 6 turkeys, 2 fowls, giving 55 poultry Total, 30 bullocks, 96 cows, 35 heifers, 28 steers, 20 yearlings, 61 calves, 6 bulls, total 276 cattle, 78 ewes, 27 wethers, 12 lambs, 6 rams, total 123 sheep, 112 ewes, 21 wethers, 28 kids, 4 rams, total 165 goats, 17 sows, 20 brawns, 45 shoats, 38 pigs, 2 boars, total 122 hogs, 74 turkeys, 177 fowls, 20 ducks, 16 geese, total 177 poultry, 6 horses, 9 mares, total 15 horses Died during the month, 1 wether, giving 1 sheep, 1 pig, giving 1 hog, 3 fowls, giving 3 poultry Stray during the month, 2 lambs, 1 kid Remaining 30 September, 30 bullocks, 96 cows, 35 heifers, 28 steers, 20 yearlings, 60 calves, 6 bulls, total 275 cattle, 76 ewes, 27 wethers, 11 lambs, 6 rams, total 120 sheep, 112 ewes, 21 wethers, 28 kids, 4 rams, total 165 goats, 17 sows, 20 brawns, 45 shoats, 37 pigs, 2 boars, total 121 hogs, 74 turkeys, 174 fowls, 20 ducks, 16 geese, total 174 poultry, 6 horses, 9 mares, total 15 horses The account also recorded changes among the slaves during the month. One black boy born, named Jack One girl born, named Mary One man slave dead, named Daniel One man slave dead, named Harry Rammer One man slave dead, named Dick One man slave dead, named Radcliffe One woman slave, named Betty Timms One girl, named Alice Yams expended at the several plantations came to 29,000. Interpretations The livestock account shows the Company running a substantial farming operation to feed the garrison and provision the ships, tracked with the same monthly rigour as its cash and stores. The herds and flocks were considerable, over two hundred and fifty cattle and more than a hundred each of sheep, goats and hogs, and the account follows every birth, purchase, killing, death and stray so that the exact stock is known at month's end. This careful pastoral bookkeeping reveals the island as a working farm whose animals were the fresh meat that sustained the settlement and restored the crews of passing vessels. The recording of slaves within the same account as the animals reveals the brutal logic by which the Company reckoned its human property alongside its cattle and hogs. Births, deaths and the presence of named individuals were entered in the stock return, Jack and Mary born, Daniel, Harry Rammer, Dick and Radcliffe dead, the men and women set down as assets to be tallied like the beasts. The heavy mortality among the men, four deaths in the month, echoes the sickness in the black house the earlier consultation described, the slaves dying at a rate that no entry in the account acknowledged beyond the bare record of their loss. The great quantity of yams expended, twenty-nine thousand, shows the root crop that formed the staple food of the plantations and above all of the slaves. Yams were the cheap bulk sustenance grown on the island to feed its labouring population, and the scale of their consumption reflects the number of mouths the Company fed from its own ground. This reliance on yams as the base of the plantation diet marks the practical foundation of the island's economy, the root feeding the slaves whose labour raised the cattle and worked the land that provisioned the ships. | |
146 | Expence of the General Table in the Month of September 1742 118 Bottles of Port Wine £ 8. 17. 0 53 Mountain 3. 19. 6 97 White Cape 1. 4. 3 64 Strong Beer 1. 12. 6 50 Small Do 1. 5. 0 22 Do 19. 3 121 Gallons Arrack 12. 2. 0 255 lb Sugar 2. 2. 6 44 lb Sugar Candy 1. 5. 8 2½ Casks of Flower 3. 4½ 2 Bushells of Salt 10. 0 7 Bottles Sweet Oyl 17. 6 16 lb Bread 3. 4 7 lb Rice 6. 0 40 Peices Salt Beef 6. 0. 0 33 Do Pork 3. 8. 9 232 lb Fresh Beef 2. 18. 0 7 Sheep 7. 0. 0 2 Goats 1. 0. 0 1 Kidd 5. 0 3 Hogs Weighing 239 5. 19. 0 3 Pigs 15. 0 42 Fowls 3. 3. 0 2 Turkeys 10. 0 52 lb Fresh Butter 1. 6. 0 1800 Lemons 1. 16. 0 2 lb Pepper 2. 0 4 Gross Corks 4. 0 ½ lb Twine 6 £ 74. 14. 9½ | The expense of the general table for the month of September 1742 was set out as follows, with the cost noted against each item. 118 bottles of port wine, £8 17s 0d 53 bottles of mountain, £3 19s 6d 97 bottles of white Cape, £1 4s 3d 69 bottles of strong beer, £1 14s 6d 50 bottles of small beer, £1 5s 0d 22 bottles of ale, £0 19s 3d 121 gallons of arrack, £12 2s 0d 255 pounds of sugar, £2 2s 6d 44 pounds of sugar candy, £1 5s 8d 2½ casks of flour, £3 0s 4½d 2 bushels of salt, £0 10s 0d 7 bottles of sweet oil, £0 17s 6d 16 pounds of bread, £0 3s 4d 72 pounds of rice, £0 6s 0d 40 pieces of salt beef, £6 0s 0d 33 pieces of pork, £3 8s 9d 232 pounds of fresh beef, £2 18s 0d 7 sheep, £7 0s 0d 2 goats, £1 0s 0d 1 kid, £0 5s 0d 3 hogs weighing 239 pounds, £5 19s 0d 3 pigs, £0 15s 0d 42 fowls, £3 3s 0d 2 turkeys, £0 10s 0d 53 pounds of fresh butter, £1 6s 0d 1,800 lemons, £1 16s 0d 2 pounds of pepper, £0 2s 0d 4 gross of corks, £0 4s 0d ½ pound of twine, £0 0s 6d Total, £74 14s 9½d Interpretations The general table was the common dining provided for the Company's officers and principal servants, and this account shows the abundance and variety of what they consumed at the Company's charge. The great quantity of wine and spirits, over three hundred bottles of wine and beer and a hundred and twenty gallons of arrack, alongside fresh and salt meat, poultry, butter and bread, reveals a table kept at a standard far above the ration of the common soldier. This was the material expression of rank on the island, the governing few dining on plenty while the garrison lived on its issued provisions and the slaves on yams. The eighteen hundred lemons record a deliberate provision against scurvy, the disease that plagued long voyages and any diet poor in fresh fruit. Lemons were known to prevent and cure the sickness, their juice a remedy that the sea services increasingly valued, and such a quantity for a single table points to their regular consumption as a safeguard of health. On an island that could grow citrus, this ready supply gave the Company's people a protection against scurvy that ships at sea often lacked, the fruit serving medicine as much as taste. The contrast between fresh and salt provisions on the table reflects the island's ability to furnish fresh food that ships at sea could not obtain. Fresh beef, mutton, pork, fowls and butter appear alongside the salt beef and pork that were the keeping meats of the voyage, showing the table drawing on the island's own herds and flocks for the fresh flesh that was the luxury of a landfall. This mixture of fresh and preserved food marks the advantage of the island station, where the governing servants ate the fresh provisions that the sea denied, the salt meat kept as a reserve rather than eaten from necessity. | |
147 | Joshua Worrall Presented a Petition as follows Viz.t To the Worshipfull George Gabriel Powell Esq.r Governour & Council of the Island St Helena The Humble Petition of Joshua Worrall Humbly Sheweth That your Petitioner having some time agoe Purchased of James Harding Thirty One Acres and a Quarter of Lease Land Humbly begs your Worship and Council will Please to grant him Liberty to dispose of the same And your Petitioner as in Duty bound will ever Pray Jos.a Worrall St Helena October the 12th 1742 Granted the above Petition provided he get a Tenant which we shall think Sufficient to pay the Honourable Companys Quit Rent This Day we received the following Letter from Mr Bazett Worshipfull Sir and Sirs I Humbly beg Leave to Point out and lay before You Some Particulars relating to the Deficiency of the Honourable Companys Stores Viz.t To 1 is 1 Copper Pump which was broke in One of the Arrack Sellers in the Companys Use Brass Cocks They were Used for the Company several being sent up to the Plantation House for the Pumps in Governour Pykes time Brass Scals 1 pair They being Omitted when the Inventory was Taken but found when the Inventory | Joshua Worrall presented a petition to Governor Powell and the Council of the island of St Helena. Some time earlier he had bought from James Harding thirty-one acres and a quarter of lease land, and he asked the Council to grant him leave to dispose of it. The petition, dated at St Helena on 12 October 1742 and signed by Joshua Worrall, was granted, on condition that he found a tenant whom the Council judged sufficient to pay the Honourable Company's quit rent. The Council that day received the following letter from Mr Bazett. Bazett wrote to point out certain particulars relating to the deficiency of the Honourable Company's stores. One was a copper pump, which had been broken in one of the arrack stills in the Company's use, and this was made into brass cocks. These had been used for the Company for a long time and sent up to the plantation house during the pumps in Governor Pyke's time. They had been omitted when the inventory was taken but were found afterwards, as the inventory [...]. Interpretations The condition attached to Worrall's leave to sell reveals how the Company protected its revenue when land changed hands. He might dispose of his thirty-one acres only if he found a tenant the Council judged able to pay the quit rent, so the transfer of the lease was made to turn on the security of the rent owed to the Company. This shows the administration guarding its income at every conveyance, refusing to let land pass to a tenant who could not meet the annual charge, and keeping control over who might hold the ground even in a private sale between settlers. Bazett's letter reopens the vexed question of the store deficiencies that had earlier been laid at his door, now pointing to goods omitted from the inventory but afterwards found. His concern to identify a copper pump turned into brass cocks, and other items overlooked when the stock was counted, shows him building the case that apparent shortfalls arose from faulty inventory rather than embezzlement. This continues the dispute recorded in the earlier consultations, Bazett labouring to prove that the missing stores could be accounted for, and that the blame fixed on him rested on an incomplete reckoning of what the Company actually held. The reference back to Governor Pyke's time shows how far the tangled accounts of the stores reached into the past. Equipment made and moved years before, the copper pump broken and recast, the cocks sent to the plantation house, had to be traced through successive administrations to explain the present deficiencies. This long reach of the store accounts reveals the difficulty of holding any one man responsible for shortfalls that accumulated over decades, the goods passing through many hands and uses since Pyke's day, their history recovered only imperfectly when the reckoning finally came. | |
148 | Inventory was Delivered to Mr Godfrey Cordage 1 Cable which had laid in the Stores ever since the Three English Ships was Left at the Cape being some of the Rack, This Cable Governour Goddwin had the best of the Yarnss made up into Small doge the other was for Waste This Cable was at Least 16 Inches must be of a Considerable Weight and it never was wrought off makes a great part of the Deficiency in that Article Shoo Tools 1 Lott. The Last that was in the Stores was Sold by Mr Goddwin before he was Governour to Solo. Roberts I think but that may be seen by the Store Books Toys There was Sold at Governour Pikes Fair the first he ever had with several Pr E Scisars Penknives &c & never was Brought to any Amount Sciz. 84 Pr Scisars was Omitted by some Mistake when the Inventory was taken but was found in the Stores when Mr Godfrey received them Durance There has not been a Yard in the Stores for several Years before Mr Goddwin was Governour Felt Hatts They never was in the Stores they was always in the Care of Captain Cater & was Delivered out by him, but I am Sure there was no such thing in his Custody for some time before Mr Goddwin was Governour Flannell Several Yards was Sold at Auction in the Stores and never wrought off at one of the Three Sales was Sold 21½ Yards Roseisware They was Sold at Auction in the Stores and never was brought to any Amount Home Sail was 177 Pr Sd Shoes They was Sold at Auction in the Stores and never was Brought to any Amount at the Sale was Sold 403 Pair Rings and Jaggs Several Pair of each was Sold at Auction in the Stores Childrens Cable Netts was Sold at Auction in the Stores at One of the Sales was Sold 17. These Articles mentioned Sold at Auction the Money for which was Actually Accounted for by Mr Goddwin which is to be seen in the Shoo Ledger Ending Sept.r 1708 Muskett Buttons I believe must be them which are in a Cask at the lower End of the Every Room this Cask of Buttons was never Counted Laces Several Doz was Omitted when the Inventory was taken there being a Large Cask full and the Cask was Marked wrong Locks Some Brass Locks was found fell behind the Counter more than was in the Inventory they was found when Mr Jenkins had the Inventory took Gimblets 40 Doz was Omitted by a Mistake of the Writer for instead of Setting Down 45 Doz only 5 Doz Souldiers Cloths They never was in the Stores they being always under the Care of Captain Cater was always Delivered out by him as for the Serjeants and Drummers Coats they was Sold Presently, and Mr Goddwin Actually Recd the Money for them and they never was wrought off Rasps Turfing Irons Whimble Stocks Gunners Bitts Screw Plates And Every | The inventory was delivered to Mr Godfrey, and Bazett set out his explanations of the several deficiencies as follows. As to the cordage, one cable had lain in the stores ever since the three English ships were lost at the Cape, being some of the wreck. Governor Goodwin had the best of the yarns made into small rope, and the other was thrown away. This cable was sixteen inches at least and must have been of a considerable weight, and since it was worked off it made a great part of the deficiency in that article. As to the shoe soles, one bitt of the soles that was in the stores was sold by Goodwin before he was governor to Solomon Roberts, as he thought, but this might be seen by the store books. As to the tools, there were some at Governor Pyke's fair, the first he ever had, along with several pairs of scissors, penknives and the like, and these were never brought to any account. The scissors, eighty-four pairs, had been omitted by some mistake when the inventory was taken, but were found in the stores when Godfrey received them. As to the durance, there had not been any in the stores for several years before Godfrey was governor. As to the tabby flakes, they never were in the stores but were always in the care of Captain Cater and were delivered out by him, but Bazett was sure there was no such thing in his custody for some time before Goodwin was governor. As to the flannel, several yards were sold at auction in the stores and never worked off. At one of the three sales, twenty-one and a quarter yards were sold. As to the roosewear, it was sold at auction in the stores and never was brought to any account. One sail was 177 and a half yards. As to the shoes, they were sold at auction in the stores and never were brought to any account. At the sale 403 pairs were sold. As to the rings and staples, several pairs of each were sold at auction in the stores. As to the children's coats, one was sold at auction at one of the sales, and nine of these were sold. These articles mentioned as sold at auction, the money for which was actually accounted for by Goodwin, would be seen in the shoe ledger ending September 1708. As to the mohair buttons, Bazett believed they must be those which were in a cask at the lower end of the boiling room, this cask of buttons never having been counted. As to the laces, several dozen were omitted when the inventory was taken, there being a large cask full and the cask marked wrong. As to the locks, some brass locks were found behind the counter, more than were in the inventory, and were found when Mr Jenkins had the inventory book. As to the gimblets, forty dozen were omitted by a mistake of the writer, for instead of setting down forty-five dozen he set down only five dozen. As to the soldiers clothes, they never were in the stores, being always under the care of Captain Cater and delivered out only by him. As for the serjeants and drummers coats, they were sold recently, and Goodwin actually received the money for them and worked them off. The account then turned to razors, tonging irons, thimbles, stocks, gunners bitts, screw plates and other items. Interpretations Bazett's line-by-line defence reveals the many ways an apparent deficiency in the stores could arise without any dishonesty, turning the charge against him into a demonstration of faulty accounting. Goods sold at auction and never written off, items marked wrong in the books, a clerk setting down five dozen for forty-five, whole casks left uncounted, all produced shortfalls on paper that reflected error rather than theft. His painstaking explanation of each article shows a man defending his integrity by exposing the disorder of the records, arguing that the stores had been mismanaged in the keeping of the books, not plundered from the shelves. The recurring reference to goods once in the care of Captain Cater points to a divided responsibility for the stores that muddied any reckoning of what was missing. Soldiers clothes, serjeants and drummers coats and tabby flakes had been held and issued by Cater, not kept in the general stores at all, so their absence from the shelves was no deficiency in Bazett's charge. This shows how the scattered custody of goods among different officers made it hard to fix responsibility, items passing through hands other than the storekeeper's yet still counted against the store when the final tally fell short. The cable saved from the three English ships wrecked at the Cape shows how the salvage of disaster entered and complicated the store accounts. A great sixteen-inch cable recovered from the wreck had lain in the stores for years until its best yarns were made into smaller rope and the rest discarded, its heavy weight then showing as a deficiency because it had been worked off rather than kept. This reveals the long afterlife of salvaged goods in the accounts, a cable from a distant shipwreck becoming years later an unexplained shortfall until its history was recovered to account for its loss. | |
149 | Dozen files Smith Bellows, Fire Brushes Ryahs for Oars, These Articles was Delivered the Gunners Smiths &c for the Companys Use and never was Brought to any Account Iron Pots and Kettles Several Pots and Kettles was Delivered for the Fortifications Garrison and other People which I believe was never Brought to any Account Stationary Ware 1 Sett Quirels and one Grammar was Delivered to Mr John Goodwin by his Father at the time he went to Parson White to Learn Latin, One Alister Dictionary & 2 Prideauxs Connections Mr Goddwin sent up to his House some Years before he was Governour the Latter was Sold at his Auction Zesters Several was Carried to Ruperts Bankss Lemon Valley Saddy Bay and Forks &c when they were there and to be sure was Lost and Broke &c and never was Brought to any Account Sagathys Duroys Fustians Thicksett Duck &c came some Years before Mr Goddwin was Govr and I am Pretty sure Sold and Delivered out of the Stores in the best part of them Tickens which was Sold by the Yard none has been in the Stores for some Years before Mr Goddwin was Govr Paddy I Remember that Govr Goddwin Sold a Large Quantity to the Company but where it was I dont know it never was put in the Stores Taffaties There has not been not above two or three Pieces in the Stores for some Years before Mr Goddwin was Govr I am very respectfully Worshipfull Sir and Sirs Your most Obedient Humble Servt John Bazett St Helena 12 Octr 1742 Mr Bazett was called in and his Letter read, when the Governour said he knew some of the Articles mentioned to be just and Mr Godfrey said he was Conceable of other some which the above Letter speaks of The following is the Particular Amount of Sales pointed at in my Letter speaking of Flannel Flower Ware Ware Shoes Rays and Pumps I mean of one of the Sales for there were three made at three several times | Bazett continued his account of the deficiencies with the remaining articles. As to the dozen files, smith's bellows, fire brushes and spokes for oars, these were delivered to the gunner and the smith for the Company's use and were never brought to any account. As to the iron pots and kettles, several pots and kettles were delivered for the fortifications, the garrison and other people, which he believed were never brought to any account. As to the stationery ware, one set of Purcell's and one grammar were delivered to Mr John Goodwin by his father, at the time he went to Parson White to learn Latin. One Aldus dictionary and two Prideaux's Connections Mr Goodwin sent up to his house some years before he was governor, and the latter was sold at his auction. As to the tressels, several were carried to Rupert's, the bank, Lemon Valley, Sandy Bay and the forts when the works were carried on there, and were to be sure laid down and broken, and were never brought to any account. As to the sagathies, duroys, fustians, thicksets, duck and the like, these came some years before Goodwin was governor, and Bazett was pretty sure they were sold and delivered out of the stores at the lower part of them. As to the tickings, which were sold by the yard, none had been in the stores for some years before Goodwin was governor. As to the paddy, Bazett remembered that Governor Goodwin sold a large quantity to the Company, but where it was he did not know, and none was put in the stores. As to the taffety, there had not been above two or three pieces in the stores for some years before Goodwin was governor. Bazett closed the letter, subscribing himself very respectfully, and signed it at St Helena on 12 October 1742. Mr Bazett was then called in and his letter read, upon which the Governor said he knew some of the articles mentioned to be just, and Mr Godfrey said he was aware of some others which the letter spoke of. The following was the particular account of the sales pointed at in the letter, concerning the flannel, flower ware, shoes, stays and pumps, the sales of which were made at three separate times. Interpretations Bazett's account of the books and stationery reveals a glimpse of education on the island amid the dry reckoning of stores. A set of Purcell's, a Latin grammar, an Aldus dictionary and two copies of Prideaux's Connections had been drawn from the stores for young John Goodwin when he went to learn Latin from Parson White, showing that the sons of the principal families were given a classical schooling. That such books passed through the Company's stores and were later sold at auction shows how even the materials of learning were caught up in the same accounting that tracked the island's rope, cloth and iron. The tressels carried to the various fortification works and there broken up show how the tools and fittings of construction were consumed and lost in the labour of building the defences. Sent to Rupert's, the bank, Lemon Valley, Sandy Bay and the forts as the works demanded, they were used up and never returned to store, their disappearance from the inventory reflecting genuine consumption rather than any shortfall. This confirms the pattern of Bazett's whole defence, that goods issued for the island's works and never written off appeared as deficiencies when the stores were counted against the books. The concurrence of the Governor and Godfrey in confirming parts of Bazett's account marks a turn in the long dispute over the store deficiencies. Where Bazett had laboured through many consultations to prove that the shortfalls arose from error and consumption rather than theft, the Governor now acknowledged some of his explanations as just and the storekeeper admitted knowledge of others. This shows the case moving toward a resolution in Bazett's favour, the authorities accepting that the missing stores could be accounted for, and the suspicion of embezzlement giving way before his detailed reckoning of where the goods had gone. | |
150 | 292 pair Men Shoes some Island Made £ 12. 10. 3 63 pair Womens Do 5. 5. 8 47 pair Boys Do 4. 9. 3 3 pr Girls Do 0. 6. 2 177 pr Stockings Sorted 12. 19. 4 7 Bodice Coats 2. 19. 0 3 pr Jumps 2. 5. 4 1 pr Stays 0. 18. 1 9 yr Long Cloth 2. 11. 6 21½ Yard Flannd 2. 2. 4 ½ yr Crape 0. 10. 1 28 lb Twine 1. 14. 7 1½ Yard Broad Cloth 0. 9. 0 John Bazett £ 49. 0. 7 The Following are the Particulars relating to Toys Sold up at Govr Pykes Affair 14 Setts Toys at 6/ Pr Sett £ 4. 2. 0 27 yd Ribbon at 10 Pr yard 1. 2. 6 17 Do 8 Pr Do 11. 8 14½ Do 1/3 Do 15. 11½ 12 Round Handle Knives & Forks 1/8 18. 0 12 8 Sqe Do 1/2 4. 4. 0 12 Forks Penknives 1/3 15. 0 10 pr Scisars 1/3 12. 6 John Bazett £ 10. 1. 7½ The Following Deposition Mr Bazett delivered to us Viz.t | The particular account of the sales pointed at in Bazett's letter was set out as follows, with the sum noted against each item. 292 pairs of mens shoes, some island made, £12 10s 3d 63 pairs of womens shoes, £5 5s 8d 47 pairs of boys shoes, £4 9s 3d 3 pairs of girls shoes, £0 6s 2d 177 pairs of stockings, dressed, £12 19s 4d 7 bodice coats, £2 19s 0d 3 pairs of jumps, £2 5s 4d 1 pair of stays, £0 18s 1d 2 pieces of long cloth, £2 11s 6d 21½ yards of flannel, £2 2s 1d 4 yards of crape, £0 10s 1d 28 pounds of twine, £1 14s 7d 1½ yards of broadcloth, £0 9s 0d Total, £49 0s 7d The account was subscribed by John Bazett. The particulars relating to the toys sold up at Governor Pyke's affair were set out as follows. 114 setts of toys at 6d a sett, £4 2s 0d 27 yards of ribbon at 10d a yard, £1 2s 6d 17 yards of ribbon at 8d a yard, £0 11s 8d 14½ yards of ribbon at 1s 3d a yard, £0 15s 11½d 12 round-handle knives and forks at 18d, £0 18s 0d 12 dozen aged knives and forks at 2d, £4 4s 0d 12 forks and penknives at 1s 3d, £0 15s 0d 10 pairs of scissors at 1s 3d, £0 12s 6d Total, £10 1s 7¾d The account was subscribed by John Bazett. The following deposition was delivered to the Council by Mr Bazett. Interpretations The shoes made on the island, noted among the pairs sold, reveal a small local manufacture growing up amid the general dependence on imported goods. Most footwear came from England through the stores, yet the phrase some island made shows that shoemaking had taken root on St Helena, the settlement beginning to supply a part of its own need rather than relying wholly on the ships. This modest local production marks a step toward self-sufficiency on an island that imported nearly everything, the presence of a shoemaker easing in a small way the constant reliance on distant supply. The toys sold at Governor Pyke's auction were not children's playthings but the small manufactured wares of the pedlar's trade, the sense the word then carried. Ribbons, knives, forks, penknives and scissors sold in setts and dozens were the cheap finished goods of the haberdasher and cutler, and their appearance among Pyke's effects shows even a governor holding a stock of such trifles for sale or gift. The careful listing of these small articles by the yard and the dozen reflects how the accounts tracked the least valuable goods with the same exactness as the great cables and cattle, every trifle brought to reckoning. The variety of shoes by wearer, for men, women, boys and girls, shows the stores clothing the feet of the whole island population from the youngest to the oldest. Where the garrison accounts recorded only mens shoes for the soldiers, these sales reached the families of the settlement, the women and children who depended on the same imported and locally made footwear. This range reflects the civilian community behind the military establishment, the planters and their households buying shoes for all their number, the store serving the ordinary domestic needs of a settled population as well as the garrison it supplied. | |
151 | The Deposition of Duke Crispe of the Island St Helena taken upon Oath this 4th Day of June 1742 before me Thomas Lambert Esq.r Governour of the said Island St Helena This Deponent saith that presently after the Death of Governour Pike Mr Goodwin who succeeded him was then Storekeeper and at the House of this Deponent spoke to this Deponent and Mr Bazett in the presence and hearing of this Deponent to the Effect Following Viz.t Mr Bazett, now I am Governour shall act as Storekeeper but I will not quit the Stores till I know whether I shall be Confirmed Governour or not And if I am Confirmed Mr Bazett shall be Storekeeper, if not I expect to be Storekeeper again. And Mr Bazett agred to this proposal and Governour appointed his own Son John an Assistant to Mr Bazett in selling the Honourable Companys Goods out of their Stores D Crispe Taken and Sworn before me this 4th Day of June 1742 Thos Lambert This Day was Executed a Lease to Mr Robert Gurling Agreable to the Prayer of his Petition of the Fifth of this Instant and is entred as Follows Viz.t The Lords Proprietors of this Island The Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Set and to farm Lett unto Robert Gurling Senior of the said Island Planter All that Piece or Parcell of Land containing One acre and an half Scituate in the South Division of this Island Butting and Bounding North East South and West upon the Honourable Companys Waste Lands To have and to Hold the said Hereby demised Parcell of Land and every Part and parcell thereof with all and Singulars the Wood Water Water Courses Houses Buildings Etc Etc | The deposition of Duke Crispe of the island of St Helena was taken upon oath on 4 June 1742 before Thomas Lambert Esquire, Governor of the island. Crispe deposed that shortly after the death of Governor Pyke, Mr Goodwin, who succeeded him, was then storekeeper, and at the house of the deponent Goodwin spoke to him in the presence and hearing of Bazett to the following effect. Goodwin said that although he was now governor, Bazett should act as storekeeper, but that he would not quit the stores until he knew whether he would be confirmed governor or not. If he was confirmed, Bazett should be storekeeper, and if not, he expected to be storekeeper again. Bazett agreed to this proposal, and Goodwin appointed his own son John an assistant to Bazett in taking the Honourable Company's goods out of the stores. The deposition was signed by Duke Crispe, and taken and sworn before Thomas Lambert on 4 June 1742. A lease was executed that day to Mr Robert Gurling, in keeping with the prayer of his petition of the fifth of the month, entered as follows. The Lords Proprietors, the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, granted and let to farm to Robert Gurling senior of the island, planter, all that piece or parcel of land containing one acre and a half, situated in the south division of the island at Buttery and Bunding, bounded north-east, south and west by the Honourable Company's waste lands. Gurling was to have and to hold the land and every part of it, with all the wood, water, watercourses, houses and buildings [...]. Interpretations Crispe's deposition throws light on the origins of the store dispute by revealing the irregular arrangement under which Goodwin held both the government and the stores. On becoming governor Goodwin refused to give up the stores until his appointment was confirmed, keeping control of them while installing Bazett to act and setting his own son to draw out the Company's goods. This blurring of responsibility at the very top, the governor keeping a hand in the stores and using his son to remove goods, helps explain the later confusion over what had become of the missing articles, the accounts muddied from the start by an arrangement that mixed the offices. The deposition bears directly on the case Bazett had been making through the preceding consultations, supplying sworn evidence that others had access to the stores and drew goods from them. Goodwin's son had been appointed expressly to take the Company's goods out of the stores, so the storekeeper was not the only man handling the stock, and deficiencies might arise from removals he neither made nor recorded. This testimony, taken before an earlier governor, strengthened Bazett's defence by showing that the disorder in the accounts had roots in the divided custody established when Goodwin first took office. The lease to Gurling shows the formal machinery by which the Company, styled the Lords Proprietors, granted land to its settlers on precise terms. The grant conveyed a named parcel with exact bounds and everything on it, the wood, water and buildings, holding the tenant to the Company as his landlord for a yearly rent. This careful conveyance of a small holding reflects the legal form that underlay all landholding on the island, the Company as proprietor letting its ground to planters by written lease, the same system that governed every plot from the largest plantation to the yard behind a dwelling house. | |
152 | Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences and all other and Singular the Rights Commoditys to them and each and every of them belonging & Appertaining unto him the said Robert Gurling his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns from the Day of the Date hereof for and During all the space or Term of 21 Years from thence next ensuing Upon Condition that he the said Robert Gurling his Heirs Executors Almors or allowed Assigns shall and do bear true Faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs and Successors and to them the said Honble Company and their Successors and shall Duly Observe and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition also that he the said Robert Gurling his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter during the Term of this present Lease keep up and Maintain in good Order and Sufficient and Legall repair all such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon and shall moreover Plant keep up maintain and Preserve in and upon the said Hereby Demised Parcell of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being one Tenth part of the said Parcell of Land and shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze within side and without the Fences of the said Parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple Mulberry Lemon and Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to grow and as they shall happen to decay or dye shall Replant others of the like sorts thereon without Hurt or prejudice Nevertheless to any Part of such Land as shall be set apart for the sole purpose of planting and raising of Yams Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the Term of this present Lease unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Sume of Two Shillings & there in at or upon the Feast of St Mikael the Archangel And upon further Condition that he the said Robert Gurling his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns shall not alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limitts or Land Marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid and shall not sell or Dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governour & Council for the time being In Witness whereof they the said Honourable United East India Company have hereunto Affixed their Common Seal at their Union Castle in James Valley this Fifth Day of October in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty two and he the said Robert Gurling to the other part of these presents hath set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year Abovewritten. G. G. Powell Govr John Godfrey C Dixon | The lease to Robert Gurling conveyed the land with all its buildings, sheds, tenements, yam plantations, fruit trees, walls, fences and every other right and commodity belonging to it, to hold for a term of twenty-one years from the date, subject to the following conditions. Gurling, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns were to bear true faith and allegiance to the king, his heirs and successors, and to the Honourable Company and its successors, and were to obey all the laws and constitutions of the island. They were also, throughout the term, to keep and maintain in good order and sufficient repair all the buildings, houses, sheds, tenements, plantations and fences then standing or afterwards built on the land. They were moreover to keep up and preserve on the land its full quantity or due proportion of wood, being a tenth part of the parcel, and were to plant and preserve fences on every side. They were to plant fruit trees such as apple, mulberry, lemon and peach in the parts most likely to grow them, and as any decayed or died to replant others of the same sort without hurt or prejudice to any part of the land set apart for planting and raising yams. For this they were to pay yearly, throughout the term, the sum of 2s to the Honourable Company, its successors, agents or assigns, at or upon the feast of St Michael the Archangel. On the further condition that Gurling, his heirs, executors, administrators or assigns were not to alter or remove the fences marking the bounds of the land, nor to let or dispose of the lease or any interest in it, without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for the time being. In witness of this the Honourable United East India Company set its common seal, at the Union Castle in James Valley, on 5 October 1742, and Gurling set his hand and seal to the other part of the deed on the same day. The lease was subscribed by G G Powell, John Godfrey and C Dixon. Interpretations The lease reveals the Company using its power as landlord to enforce the conservation of wood that the goat dispute had shown to be a pressing concern. Every tenant was bound to keep a tenth of his land under wood and to plant and maintain fences and fruit trees, so the preservation of timber and the raising of food were written into the very terms on which land was held. This shows the Company addressing the island's chronic deforestation not only by regulating goats but by obliging each planter to grow and preserve wood on his own ground, turning the lease into an instrument of environmental policy. The requirement of the Council's consent before any tenant could sell or sublet his lease shows the Company keeping tight control over who held its land. Gurling might not dispose of his interest without leave, so the administration retained a veto over every transfer, ensuring that land passed only to tenants it approved and who could meet the rent and conditions. This restraint on alienation, seen also in the condition attached to Worrall's sale, reveals the Company managing its land as a landlord jealous of its control, the settlers holding their ground on terms that bound them closely to their proprietor. The tiny rent of two shillings a year, payable at Michaelmas, shows that the Company's object in leasing was not chiefly to draw income from the land but to settle and improve it. The nominal quit rent served to acknowledge the Company's ownership and to bind the tenant in a continuing relationship rather than to enrich the proprietor, the real value lying in the obligations to build, fence, plant and preserve. This reflects the purpose of the whole system of tenure, the Company seeking a settled, cultivated and defensible island peopled by planters tied to it by lease, the rent a token of lordship rather than a source of profit. | |
153 | We this Day received of the Following Persons the Money for their Several Purchases at the Publick Auction of the Effects of the Late John Goodwin Esq.r Viz.t Joseph Kendall £ 4. 5. 0 T Kirkpatrick 1. 13. 0 Salley French 15. 8. 0 T Colgrove 7. 12. 7 Saml Pavett 11. 1 David Wilson 5. 6. 0 Johne Barton 14. 2. 5 £ 48. 18. 1 G. G. Powell John Godfrey C Dixon | The Council that day received from the following persons the money for their several purchases at the public auction of the effects of the late John Goodwin Esquire. Joseph Kendall, £4 5s 0d Thomas Kirkpatrick, £1 13s 0d Salley French, £15 8s 0d Thomas Colgrove, £7 12s 7d Samuel Pavett, £0 11s 1d David Wilson, £5 6s 0d John Barton, £14 2s 5d Total, £48 18s 1d The account was subscribed by G G Powell, John Godfrey and C Dixon. Interpretations This receipt records the collection of the debts owed for goods bought at the Goodwin auction, closing the transactions that the earlier estate accounts had opened. The buyers, named individuals of the island including a soldier of the garrison in Kendall and a woman in Salley French, paid over the sums they owed for their purchases, the money entering the Company's hands to be credited to the estate. This shows the final stage of the auction process, the goods long since carried off now paid for, the estate realised into cash that could be set against the dead man's account. The appearance of Salley French as the largest single purchaser at over £15 shows women taking an active part in the island's dealings and buying substantially at auction. Where the muster rolls and petitions are filled with men, this account reveals a woman spending more than any of the men named, evidence that women of the settlement held money and property and engaged in the buying and selling of goods on their own account. Her prominence among the buyers marks the place of women in the island economy, participating in the estate sales alongside the soldiers and planters. | |
154 | At a Consultation held on Thursday the 14th of October 1742 at the Castle Present George Gabriel Powell Esq.r Governour John Godfrey 2d of Council C Dixon 3d of Council The Last Consultation was read and approved Agreeable to an Order in Consultation of the 28th September that all Persons should come and Reckon with us concerning their Rents and Revenues due to the Honourable Company We this Day received of the following Persons Viz.t Names, Ground Rent, Free Land, Lease Land, Totalls Acres, £, s, d Mary Alexander: Free Land 74½, Lease Land 81½, Totalls Acres 156, £ 13. 15. 6 Thomas Allis: Free Land 3, Lease Land 30, Totalls Acres 33, £ 3. 18. 0 Saml Alexander: Free Land 19½, Totalls Acres 19½, £ 19. 6 Orlando Bagley: Free Land 25, Lease Land 25, Totalls Acres 3. 2. 6 Thos Bazell: Ground Rent 22½, Free Land 15, Lease Land 1½, Totalls Acres 16½, £ 18. 15 John Bazett: Free Land 109, Lease Land 42, Totalls Acres 157, £ 10. 14 Grace Bates: Free Land 30, Lease Land 13, Totalls Acres 43, £ 3. 2. 6 Thomas Clow: Free Land 11, Lease Land 11, Totalls Acres 1. 7. 6 Simon Whaleys Orphans: Free Land 14, Lease Land 15, Totalls Acres 29, £ 2. 11. 6 John Durlings Orphans: Free Land 110½, Lease Land 74½, Totalls Acres 185, £ 14. 16. 4 Ann Johnson: Free Land 24, Totalls Acres 24, £ 1. 4 John Worrall: Free Land 42½, Lease Land 42½, Totalls Acres 5. 6. 3 John Bagley: Free Land 36, Lease Land 36, Totalls Acres 4. 10 Edward Bagley: Free Land 2, Lease Land 2, Totalls Acres 0. 5 Jonathan Doveton: Ground Rent 12, Free Land 187½, Lease Land 17, Totalls Acres 204½, £ 12. 2. 3 James Draper: Free Land 24½, Totalls Acres 24½, £ 1. 4. 4 John Bradleys Orphans: Free Land 14½, Lease Land 1, Totalls Acres 15½, £ 17. 3 John Frenck: Free Land 30, Lease Land 57, Totalls Acres 87, £ 8. 12. 6 John Goodwin: Free Land 87, Lease Land 95, Totalls Acres 182, £ 16. 4. 6 Richard Goodwin: Ground Rent 26, Free Land 112, Lease Land 42½, Totalls Acres 154, £ 11. 17. 9 Eliz Gubtree: Free Land 60, Lease Land 72, Totalls Acres 132, £ 12. 5 James Greentree: Free Land 50, Lease Land 50, Totalls Acres 6. 5 Robert Gurling: Free Land 30, Lease Land 35, Totalls Acres 65, £ 3. 17. 6 Carried over £ 142. 0. 2½ | At a consultation held on Thursday 14 October 1742 at the Castle, George Gabriel Powell Esquire, Governor, sat with John Godfrey second of Council and C Dixon third of Council. The last consultation was read and approved. In keeping with an order made in the consultation of 28 September, that all persons should come and reckon with the Council concerning their rents and revenues due to the Honourable Company, the Council that day received from the following persons. The account was set out in a grid, the columns recording ground rent, free land, lease land and the total acres held, then the sum due in pounds, shillings and pence. Mary Alexander, free land 74½, lease land 81¾, total 156½ acres, £13 16s 6d Thomas Allis, free land 3, lease land 30, total 33 acres, £3 18s 0d Samuel Alexander, free land 19½, total 19½ acres, £0 19s 6d Orlando Bagley, lease land 25, total 25 acres, £3 2s 6d Thomas Bazett, ground rent, free land 15, lease land 1½, total 16½ acres, £0 18s 15d John Bazett, free land 109, lease land 42, total 151 acres, £10 14s 0d Grace Bates, free land 30, lease land 13, total 43 acres, £3 2s 6d Thomas Clew, free land 11, lease land 11, total 11 acres, £1 7s 6d Simon Whaley's orphans, free land 14, lease land 15, total 29 acres, £2 11s 6d John Darling's orphans, free land 110½, lease land 74¾, total 185 acres, £14 16s 4d Ann Johnson, free land 24, total 24 acres, £1 4s 0d John Worrall, free land 42½, lease land 42½, total 42½ acres, £5 6s 3d John Bagby, free land 36, lease land 36, total 36 acres, £4 10s 0d Edward Bagley, lease land 2, total 2 acres, £0 0s 5d Jonathan Doveton, ground rent 12, free land 187¾, lease land 17, total 204½ acres, £12 2s 3d James Draper, free land 24¾, total 24¾ acres, £1 4s 4d John Bradley's orphans, free land 14¾, lease land 1, total 15¾ acres, £0 17s 3d John French, free land 30, lease land 57, total 87 acres, £8 12s 6d John Goodwin, free land 87, lease land 95, total 182 acres, £16 4s 6d Richard Goodwin, ground rent 26, free land 112½, lease land 42½, total 154 acres, £11 17s 9d Elizabeth Gutcheer, ground rent 5, free land 60, lease land 72, total 132 acres, £12 5s 0d James Greentree, free land 50, lease land 50, total 50 acres, £6 5s 0d Robert Gurling, free land 30, lease land 35, total 65 acres, £3 17s 6d Carried over, £142 0s 2½d Interpretations The rent roll reveals the pattern of landholding across the island, distinguishing free land held outright from lease land held of the Company at rent. The holdings ranged widely, from a couple of acres to the great estates of the Dovetons, the Goodwins and the Darling orphans exceeding a hundred and eighty acres, showing a settled society of planters with very unequal shares of the island's ground. The division of most holdings between free and lease land marks the two tenures by which the island was held, the free land granted in earlier times and the lease land let at the quit rents the Company still collected. The number of holdings entered in the names of orphans and women reveals how property descended and was held on the island across the generations. The estates of Simon Whaley's orphans, John Darling's orphans and John Bradley's orphans were held for children who had lost their fathers, and women such as Mary Alexander, Grace Bates, Ann Johnson and Elizabeth Gutcheer appear as substantial holders in their own right. This shows land passing to widows and orphaned children and being reckoned for rent in their names, the Company's tenure accommodating the ordinary descent of property through families where the male head had died. The gathering of all tenants to reckon their rents on an appointed day shows the Company collecting its land revenue through a single formal audit of the whole island. Rather than pursue each tenant separately, the administration summoned them all to account together, so the rents of the entire settlement were settled and recorded in one sitting. This annual reckoning, ordered in the earlier consultation, reveals the orderly machinery by which the Company drew in its quit rents, every holder called to answer for his acres and pay the sum his land owed, the whole island's tenure brought to book at once. | |
155 | Brought over £ 142. 0. 2½ Eleanor Worrall: Free Land 7, Lease Land 39, Totalls Acres 46, £ 5. 4. 6 Francis Wrangham: Ground Rent 26/6, Free Land 168½, Lease Land 137, Totalls Acres 305½, £ 26. 17. 6 Martin Harper: Free Land 21, Lease Land 20½, Totalls Acres 41½, £ 3. 12. 3 Gabriel Harper: Free Land 42, Totalls Acres 42, £ 5. 5 Mrs Margaret Goodwin: Free Land 10, Lease Land 20, Totalls Acres 30, £ 3 Richard Bagby: Free Land 25, Lease Land 48, Totalls Acres 73, £ 7. 5 Stephen Lufkin: Free Land 10, Lease Land 24, Totalls Acres 34, £ 3. 10 John Youngs Orphans: Free Land 80, Lease Land 27, Totalls Acres 107, £ 7. 7. 6 John Aldrich: Ground Rent 5, Totalls Acres 5 Thos Greentree: Free Land 15, Lease Land 50, Totalls Acres 65, £ 6. 3. 9 Jona Higham: Free Land 4, Lease Land 4, £ 10 John Brown Surgeon: Free Land 3½, Lease Land 3½, £ 2. 6 Stephen Lufkin Junr: Free Land 2½, Lease Land 2½, £ 6. 3 John Desfountain: Free Land 93½, Lease Land 39½, Totalls Acres 133, £ 9. 12. 7½ Mary Seal: Free Land 20, Lease Land 7, Totalls Acres 27, £ 17. 6 Richard Gurling: Free Land 10, Lease Land 6, Totalls Acres 16, £ 1. 5 Joshua Worrall: Lease Land 39½, Totalls Acres 39½, £ 4. 18. 1½ Giles Smith: Lease Land 10, Totalls Acres 10, £ 1. 5 Matthew Mudge: Free Land 25, Totalls Acres 25, £ 1. 5 Joshua Johnson: Free Land 50, Lease Land 38½, Totalls Acres 88½, £ 7. 5. 7½ Thos Easthope: Free Land 14, Lease Land 28, Totalls Acres 42, £ 4. 4 Richard Mason: Lease Land 28½, Totalls Acres 28½, £ 3. 11. 3 Saml Doveton: Free Land 52, Lease Land 62½, Totalls Acres 114½, £ 10. 8. 3 Francis Funge: Lease Land 35½, Totalls Acres 35½, £ 4. 8. 1½ Penelope Jsaac: Free Land 24, Lease Land 5, Totalls Acres 29, £ 1. 16. 6 John Leech: Lease Land 46, Totalls Acres 46, £ 4. 1. 9 Richard Beale: Free Land 41, Lease Land 13, Totalls Acres 54, £ 3. 13. 6 Baron Deloph: Ground Rent 5, Totalls Acres 5, £ 5 Wm Davis: Ground Rent 5, Totalls Acres 5, £ 5 Wm Davis: Free Land 15½, Lease Land 31, Totalls Acres 46½, £ 4. 12. 10 Benj Pledgered: Free Land 19, Lease Land 44, Totalls Acres 63, £ 6. 9 John Scott: Free Land 71, Lease Land 24, Totalls Acres 95, £ 6. 11 Jos Powell: Free Land 77, Lease Land 6, Totalls Acres 83, £ 4. 12 James Powell: Free Land 16, Lease Land 15, Totalls Acres 31, £ 2. 13. 6 Wm Seal: Lease Land 3, Totalls Acres 3, £ 7. 6 Richard Imsley: Free Land 20, Lease Land 11½, Totalls Acres 31½, £ 2. 8. 9 Wm Burnham: Free Land 30, Lease Land 6½, Totalls Acres 36½, £ 2. 5. 7½ Joseph Desfountain: Lease Land 2, Totalls Acres 2, £ 5 John Hanson: Free Land 5, Lease Land 1, Totalls Acres 6, £ 7. 6 Joseph Whaley: Free Land 15, Lease Land 16, Totalls Acres 31, £ 2. 15 Benj Seal: Lease Land 4, Totalls Acres 4, £ 10 Thos Colgrove: Free Land 1½, Lease Land 13½, Totalls Acres 15½, £ 1. 16. 10½ Jos Whaley: Ground Rent 10, £ 10 James Vaughan: Free Land 84, Lease Land 67, Totalls Acres 151, £ 12. 11. 6 Charles Steward: Free Land 9, Totalls Acres 9, £ 9 £ 320. 17. 9½ | The rent roll continued, with the total of £142 0s 2½d brought over from before. The columns recorded ground rent, free land, lease land and the total acres held, then the sum due. Brought over, £142 0s 2½d Eleanor Worrall, free land 7, lease land 39, total 46 acres, £5 4s 6d Francis Wrangham, ground rent 26s 6d, free land 168½, lease land 137, total 305½ acres, £26 17s 6d Martin Harper, free land 21, lease land 20½, total 41½ acres, £3 12s 3d Gabriel Harper, free land 42, lease land 42, total 42 acres, £5 5s 0d Mrs Margaret Goodwin, free land 10, lease land 20, total 30 acres, £3 0s 0d Richard Bagby, free land 25, lease land 48, total 73 acres, £7 5s 0d Stephen Lushom, free land 10, lease land 24, total 34 acres, £3 10s 0d John Young's orphans, free land 80, lease land 27, total 107 acres, £7 7s 6d John Aldrich, ground rent 5, total 5 acres, £0 5s 0d Thomas Greentree, free land 15, lease land 50, total 65 acres, £6 3s 9d Jonathan Higham, free land 4, total 4 acres, £0 10s 0d John Brown, surgeon, free land 3¾, lease land 3¾, total 3¾ acres, £0 2s 6d Stephen Lushom junior, free land 2½, lease land 2½, total 2½ acres, £0 6s 3d John Desfountain, free land 93¾, lease land 39¾, total 133 acres, £9 12s 7½d Mary Seal, free land 20, lease land 7, total 27 acres, £4 17s 6d Richard Gurling, free land 10, lease land 6, total 16 acres, £1 5s 0d Joshua Worrall, lease land 39¼, total 39¼ acres, £4 18s 1½d Giles Smith, free land 10, lease land 10, total 10 acres, £1 5s 0d Matthew Mudge, free land 25, total 25 acres, £1 5s 0d Joshua Johnson, free land 50, lease land 38¼, total 88¼ acres, £7 5s 7½d Thomas Easthope, free land 14, lease land 28, total 42 acres, £4 4s 0d Richard Mason, lease land 28½, total 28½ acres, £3 11s 3d Samuel Doveton, free land 52, lease land 62½, total 114½ acres, £10 8s 3d Francis Funge, lease land 35¼, total 35¼ acres, £4 8s 1½d Penelope Isaac, free land 24, lease land 5, total 29 acres, £1 16s 6d John Leech, lease land 46, total 46 acres, £4 1s 9d Richard Beale, free land 41, lease land 13, total 54 acres, £3 13s 6d Baron Deloph, ground rent 5, total 5 acres, £0 5s 0d William Davis, free land 15½, lease land 31, total 46½ acres, £4 12s 10d Benjamin Pledgered, free land 19, lease land 44, total 63 acres, £6 9s 0d John Scott, free land 71, lease land 24, total 95 acres, £6 11s 0d Joseph Powell, free land 77, lease land 6, total 83 acres, £4 12s 0d James Powell, free land 16, lease land 15, total 31 acres, £2 13s 6d William Seal, free land 3, total 3 acres, £0 7s 6d Richard Tinsley, free land 20, lease land 11½, total 31½ acres, £2 8s 9d William Burnham, free land 30, lease land 6¼, total 36¼ acres, £2 5s 7½d Joseph Desfountain, free land 2, total 2 acres, £0 5s 0d John Hanson, free land 5, lease land 1, total 6 acres, £0 7s 6d Joseph Whaley, free land 15, lease land 16, total 31 acres, £2 15s 0d Benjamin Seal, free land 4, total 4 acres, £0 10s 0d Thomas Colgrove, free land 1½, lease land 13¾, total 15¼ acres, £1 16s 10½d Joseph Whaley, ground rent 10, total 10 acres, £0 10s 0d James Vaughan, free land 84, lease land 67, total 151 acres, £12 11s 6d Charles Steward, free land 9, total 9 acres, £0 9s 0d John Hayse, total, £320 17s 9½d Interpretations The roll again shows land held in the names of women and orphaned children alongside the men, confirming how property descended through families when the head died. Eleanor Worrall, Mrs Margaret Goodwin, Mary Seal, Penelope Isaac and the orphans of John Young all held acres reckoned for rent, and Francis Wrangham stands out with the largest holding on the roll at over three hundred acres. This spread of holdings, from a few acres to great estates, and the presence of widows and orphans among the holders, reveals a settled landed society in which property passed down the generations and was held and taxed in the hands of whoever inherited it. The recurrence of the same family names across the two pages of the roll shows how a handful of kindreds had come to hold much of the island's land. The Worralls, Harpers, Powells, Whaleys, Seals and Dovetons each appear more than once, the land divided among branches and generations of the same stock. This concentration of holdings in a few families reflects the working of inheritance and marriage over the decades of settlement, the island's ground gathered into the hands of an established planter class whose names fill the muster rolls, the juries and the petitions as well as the rent roll. The appearance of Baron Deloph among the small holders, bearing a foreign name seen earlier in the garrison muster, shows a soldier of foreign origin holding a plot of island land. The same man mustered as a sentinel now appears as a tenant of five acres, evidence that soldiers of the garrison, even those recruited from abroad, might take up land and settle on the island. This overlap of the military and landed rolls confirms the pattern seen throughout, the garrison and the settlement bound together, the soldier becoming planter and holding his acres of the Company like any other tenant. | |
156 | Received of the following Persons for Horses Purchased of the Honourable Company at an Outcry made the 2d November 1741 An Account of which is entred in Consultation of the 8th of December 1741 Of John Alexander for a Horse 5. 5. 0 Richard Goodwin for a Mare 8. 0. 0 James Greentree for a Horse 5. 5. 0 Thos Easthope for Do 6. 0. 0 James Powell for a Mare 5. 5. 0 Thos Greentree for a Horse 7. 0. 0 39. 15. 0 We this Day received of the following Persons upon Account of John Goodwin Esq.r Estate Viz.t Of Joseph Powell for a Lease Sold by Mr Fortune 5. 5. 0 Matthew Mudge upon an Old Ballance in pt 8. 9. 5 13. 14. 5 The following Persons paid upon Account of Old Arrears due to the Store Company Viz.t Received of Richard Goodwin John Browns Ballance amount to 6. 11. 3 Elizabeth Greentree upon Old Arrears 13. 0. 0 James Greentree Joseph Bubell Bond amount to 7. 19. 6 £ 27. 10. 9 Mr Richard Beale this Day behaved in a very unbecoming Manner before this Board whereupon it was Agreed That for the better support of the Honourable Companys Dignity and the Authority by them given us That Sd Richard Beale should be fined Forty Shillings for the use of the Honourable Company and gave Sufficient Security for his future Behaviour Whereupon he gave us the following Bond Viz.t Know all Men by these Presents That I Richard Beale Freeman and Jnhabitant of this Island St Helena do hereby bind my self my Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns in the full and just Sume of One Hundred pounds to make good payment thereof unto the Honourable the United East India Company their Agents or Assigns upon Demand And we the Underwritten Thomas Easthope and Gabriel | The Council received from the following persons for horses purchased of the Honourable Company at a sale made on 24 November 1741, an account of which was entered in the consultation of 8 December 1741. Of John Alexander, for a horse, £5 5s 0d Richard Goodwin, for a mare, £8 0s 0d James Greentree, for a horse, £5 5s 0d Thomas Easthope, for a horse, £6 0s 0d James Powell, for a mare, £5 5s 0d Thomas Greentree, for a horse, £7 0s 0d Total, £39 15s 0d The Council that day also received from the following persons on account of John Goodwin Esquire's estate. Of Joseph Powell, for a horse sold by misfortune, £5 5s 0d Matthew Mudge, upon an old balance, £8 9s 5d Total, £13 14s 5d The following persons paid on account of old arrears due to the third company. Received of Richard Goodwin, John Brown's balance, amounting to £6 11s 3d Elizabeth Greentree, upon old arrears, £13 0s 0d James Greentree, Joseph Bush's bill, amounting to £7 19s 6d Total, £27 10s 9d Mr Richard Beale that day behaved in a very unbecoming manner before the Board, whereupon it was agreed that, for the better support of the Honourable Company's dignity and the authority given to the Council, Beale should be fined 40s for the use of the Honourable Company and give sufficient security for his future behaviour. He then gave the following bond. Richard Beale, freeman and inhabitant of the island of St Helena, bound himself, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns in the full and just sum of one hundred pounds, to make good payment to the Honourable United East India Company, its agents or assigns, upon demand. The bond was witnessed by Thomas Easthope and Gabriel [...]. Interpretations The fine and bond imposed on Beale for his conduct show the Council defending the authority of its office against open disrespect. His unbecoming behaviour before the Board was treated not as a private lapse but as an affront to the Company's dignity, met with a fine and a heavy bond of a hundred pounds for his future good conduct. This reveals how the small island government upheld its standing, punishing contempt of its authority with a penalty out of all proportion to any material harm, the bond hanging over Beale as a surety that he would not again disturb its proceedings. The recovery of old arrears and debts owed to the third company shows the administration pursuing sums long outstanding from the island's inhabitants. Balances owed by John Brown and others, some standing over from earlier years, were collected through third parties who paid on behalf of the debtors, the Company gathering in money due to its military accounts. This attention to old and small debts reflects the same thoroughness seen in the store and estate reckonings, the administration letting no obligation lapse and reaching back through the records to bring every arrear to account. The sale of horses from the Company's stock and from Goodwin's estate shows the island's dependence on imported and locally bred animals for transport and labour. Horses and mares fetched substantial sums of five to eight pounds each, prices that mark them as valuable working beasts on an island where they carried men and goods over steep and broken country. The note that one horse was sold by misfortune, perhaps meaning the death or distress of its owner, hints at the hard chances of island life, the animal passing to a new buyer through the ill fortune of the old. | |
157 | Harper both of this Island St Helena do likewise Bind our selves jointly and separatelly in the full Sume of One Hundred pounds to make good payment thereof unto the Honble the United East India Company their Agents or Assigns upon Demand The Condition of this Obligation is such That if the above bound Richard Beal do from the Day and date of these Presents untill the fifteenth Day of October that shall be in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty behave himself Peaceably quietly and with due respect to the Honourable the United East India Company and to their Governour and Council for the time being of this Island and to be Observant upon all and every Occasion to the wholsome Laws and Constitutions of this Island Then this Obligation to be void and of none Effect else to remain in full force and vertue Given under our Hands and Seals at the United Castle in James Valley this Fifteenth Day of October in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty two Richard Beale Thos Easthope Gab Harper Signed Sealed & delivered in the Presence of us James Powell H Buffett Received of Richard Beale the above Fine for the Use of the Honourable Company 2. 0. 0 Of Messrs Mudge and Desfountain for the Calf their Slaves killd as Pr Consultation of 7th September 1. 10. 0 £ 3. 10 G. G. Powell John Godfrey C Dixon | Thomas Easthope and Gabriel Harper, both of the island of St Helena, likewise bound themselves jointly and separately in the full sum of one hundred pounds to make good payment to the Honourable United East India Company, its agents or assigns, upon demand. The condition of the bond was that if Richard Beale, from the date of the deed until 15 October 1750, behaved himself peaceably and quietly and with due respect to the Honourable United East India Company and to the Governor and Council for the time being of the island, and was obedient on every occasion to the wholesome laws and constitutions of the island, then the bond was to be void, but otherwise to remain in full force. It was given under their hands and seals at the Union Castle in James Valley on 15 October 1742, and signed by Richard Beale, Thomas Easthope and Gabriel Harper. It was signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of James Powell and [...] Bushell. The Council received from Richard Beale the fine imposed on him for the use of the Honourable Company. Of Richard Beale, the above fine, for the use of the Honourable Company, £2 0s 0d Of Messrs Mudge and Desfountain, for the calves their slaves killed, as by the consultation of 7 September, £1 10s 0d Total, £3 10s 0d The receipt was subscribed by G G Powell, John Godfrey and C Dixon. Interpretations The bond required of Beale bound him to good behaviour for a full eight years, an extraordinary length that shows how seriously the Council took the maintenance of its authority. Two sureties joined him in a hundred-pound obligation that would fall due if he failed in respect or obedience to the government before 1750, so his conduct was placed under a long and heavy constraint. This reveals the island government securing its dignity not by a single fine but by a lasting recognisance, holding a substantial sum over the offender and his sureties for years to come as a guarantee against any further affront. The requirement of two sureties beyond Beale himself shows the standard mechanism by which the law bound a man to his good behaviour through the stake of others. Easthope and Harper pledged their own money for Beale's conduct, giving them a direct interest in restraining him and adding the pressure of his neighbours to that of the government. This use of sureties reveals how a small community enforced order, the offender's friends made answerable for his behaviour so that the whole burden did not rest on the authorities alone, the bond binding a circle of men to keep one of their number in check. The charge laid on Mudge and Desfountain for the calves their slaves had killed shows masters held answerable for the acts of the people they owned. The slaves had killed the Company's calves, and the loss was recovered not from the slaves but from their owners, who paid for the damage their property had done. This reveals the legal position of the slave as a chattel for whose actions the master bore responsibility, the Company looking to the owner for redress as it would for harm done by any beast in his keeping, the human status of the slave collapsed into the master's liability for his loss. | |
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161 | EAP 1364 St Helena Document Name and Date St Helena Records 1742 (25) Dimensions (height x width x depth) (cm) (H) 47.5cm x (W) 30.5cm (D) 3.5cm No. written pages: 157 No. blank pages: 2 Spine and cover Good Condition Inside pages Good Condition. Slight Insect boring and foxing present. Additional comments Pages 158 & 159 blank. Time taken to photograph (hours) 2 hours |