St Helena Letters to England 1766-1772
Introduction: This is the 11th volume in the series St Helena Letters to England. It includes outgoing official correspondence from the Governor and Council of St Helena to the East India Company in London reporting on the administration of the island, including matters such as government decisions, defence, military preparedness, trade and shipping, supply shortages, personnel issues, and judicial proceedings. They often included explanations of difficulties faced by the island and defences against criticisms from London of past actions or policies. The letters were usually copied or abstracted into the island records.
Source: Images of the original records can be viewed on the British Library’s website: https://eap.bl.uk/archive-file/EAP1364-1-2-11.
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.
Text Loss: Many pages have tattered edges, and some of the text along them is missing. A few pages also have holes in the middle, presumably caused by termites. On most pages, ink has bled through from the reverse side and makes the text difficult to read.
Pagination: Pagination: The pagination is unconventional, appearing sequentially only at the bottom left of each verso (left-hand) page, while the recto (right-hand) pages are left unmarked. In other words, each side of the page have the same number. This numbering system has therefore been ignored.
The records begin on film No. 8, and this has been assumed to be page 1. It is then further assumed that the page numbers continue sequentially through to the end of the volume.
Dates: The earliest date recorded in this volume is a letter sent on 2 April 1766, and the latest is a letter sent on 21 May 1772. All these letters were sent to England during the administration of John Skottowe (1764-1782).
AI Generated Summary
Introduction
The Governor and Council sent the Court of Directors 20 general letters between 2 April 1766 and 26 March 1767, 20 from 11 April 1767 to late January 1768, 13 from 23 February 1768 to February 1769, 17 with one to the Secret Committee from 13 February to 19 July 1769, about 24 from 19 July 1769 to late May 1770, 21 from 30 May 1770 to about July 1771 and 20 from 3 July 1771 to 21 May 1772, each with a numbered packet list. The undated last letters of the third and sixth runs are placed by a reference to the letter of 23 January 1769 and by the arrival of the Egmont on 29 June 1771. The Court's orders are known only from the Council's replies, and the consultations, court and inquiry proceedings and letters to the Secret Committee were enclosures and are absent. Days left open in a letter are inferred from its date, which is followed where a summary conflicts with it. [Film No. 8-356]
Governance and Administration
On 2 April 1766 Governor John Skottowe and his councillors Daniel Corneille, Matthew Purling and Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick promised obedience to any order of the Secret Committee signed by three of its members, a pledge repeated on 2 June 1768, in late May 1770, on 4 May 1771 and on 29 August 1771. The letter defended three steps taken before approval arrived. Captain Mitchell received command of the artillery company to restore its discipline, which the Court approved. John Robinson's salary was raised because it barely exceeded the master mason's and he could earn double as a free workman, which the Court's 34th paragraph rebuked. Lieutenant Bridgwater was posted to Sandy Bay at 5s a day. The Council cited its regular application for Mr Beale, an old servant, as proof that it knew the rule, declined a provisional keeper of ordnance stores in favour of the artillery officers and placed James Black, the gardener sent out, on the ordered salary. [Film No. 8, 11-14]
John Bland, formerly master mason, returned with the Court's leave against the Council's wishes, and a consultation of 10 March 1766 recorded him buying up the private trade brought for the inhabitants and lowering the value of the local coin. The Council undertook to deport him on a further offence, and the Court, as the letter of 11 April 1767 recorded, approved and ordered his removal if he misbehaved. No offence was reported before he left with his family at his own request in the Earl of Ashburnham on 20 May 1767, when the Council asked that he never be allowed back. [Film No. 12, 62, 76, 77]
Each packet carried duplicates of its predecessor's letters and consultations, the commanders' receipts for earlier packets, sent by a different ship, the effective state of the garrison and cash accounts closed to the day of sailing, with legal business in a separate letter from April 1766. Muster rolls went home on 2 April, 7 July and 3 November 1766. Lists of families, rents and the Company's slaves were taken every 30 September and the general books balanced to that day. Those of 1766 went home on 5 March 1767, those of 1767 on 18 January 1768 with duplicate lists by the Hector on 23 February 1768, those of 1768 on 13 February 1769, the books of 1769 by the Ponsborne on 25 January 1770, the books and slave list of 1770 on 7 March 1771, five months late for want of a ship, the lists of 1771 with one of stock on 10 November 1771 and the books of 1771 on 10 March 1772. The lists of 1769 named Blacks separately from slaves. Lists of officers and servants were taken on 14 October 1769 and 9 April 1770. Packets left every week or two from April to early August 1766, but none sailed between 4 August and 23 September 1766 or between 3 November 1766 and 5 March 1767, so the last carried almost four months of consultations. Where ships sailed in company, as on 22 February and 6 April 1770, one carried the packet and her consorts small paper packets with copies of the letter. [Film No. 17, 19, 21, 38, 47, 49, 51-52, 102, 105, 109-110, 113, 115, 120-121, 124, 126-127, 134-135, 138, 159, 160, 208, 210, 222, 223, 224, 226, 232, 241, 244, 245, 277, 279, 324, 327, 329]
The Northumberland arrived on the night of 23 March 1767 with the Court's orders, and with three ships about to sail the letter of 26 March 1767 only promised obedience, while Skottowe alone acknowledged the Secret Committee's letter. The reply of 11 April 1767 cited a consultation of 6 April to prove that she left within her 10 working days. The Court ruled that a ship's rotation be settled by her arrival in the Downs and no longer by her boat's arrival at Banks's, and the Council undertook to tell the captains and still to record the boat times. It blamed the omission of bale goods from the Grenville's cargo abstract on a copying error, three packets having gone between 5 and 10 June 1766. [Film No. 55, 57, 58, 63, 73, 94, 100, 104]
The letter of 11 April 1767 answered the Court's complaint that the engineer's letters were forwarded without comment: Mitchell wrote so fully that little remained to add, but the Council promised its judgement wherever one was called for. On 11 May 1767 it ordered his inspection of the guns itself and sent the resulting demand home under its own name. His proposals for Munden's battery were debated in the consultations of 23 and 30 November and 7 and 14 December 1767 and issued as the Council's orders with its reasons, the battery's position and construction being altered before London could answer. [Film No. 60, 76, 103]
From 11 April 1767 the Council recommended salary increases and granted none. John Robins, the armourer, received only the salary ordered, with a promise to state his case if it proved too small for his family. A letter of 2 August 1767 recommended £40 0s 0d a year for Philip Mahony, clerk of the peace, whose small civil salary and fees obliged him to hold a garrison post, a union the Council thought improper. On 18 January 1768 it recommended John Drawwater, the Company's cooper, a diligent and sober man on £36 0s 0d a year. Britannicus Wright, whose five-year term as a writer ended on 1 July 1767, was made a factor on application under a standing order. [Film No. 61, 89, 91, 102]
Repairs to the Castle were merged in general charges and their cost hidden from the Court. On 11 April 1767 the Council directed the storekeeper to extract every article issued, opened a separate head for labour, stores and materials and promised that the fortifications would remain the first work. The account came before it on 1 June 1767 and went home with its minutes. [Film No. 61, 63, 84, 89, 102, 105]
All four members signed every general letter from 23 February to 15 June 1768. The Sandy Bay plan went in its own box under Captain Williams's signed receipt. The Tilbury brought the Court's orders on 12 May 1768, and with the homeward ships about to sail the Council again only promised obedience, while Skottowe acknowledged a letter from the Secret Committee without disclosing its contents. She was released under a consultation of 25 May 1768 once her 10 working days ran out, and the same was promised for the Duke of Richmond, which arrived on 3 June 1768 with Court letters of 5 and 16 February 1768. [Film No. 109-110, 113, 115, 120-121, 124-127, 134-135, 138]
The letter of 2 June 1768 answered the Court's decisions on individuals. Mahony, a sergeant, was struck off the military roll on his new appointment, and the Council protested that the salary left him only £14 0s 0d better off and asked for a subaltern's standing. Corneille agreed to the Court's request that he stay another year. John Preston, a mason, was to draw the salary ordered once he arrived. Two Bramins were told of unspecified orders about them, and John Stebley, a matross, appointed an attorney for business reported through Lord Sandys. On 15 June 1768 the Council promised Peter Morrit, a carpenter's mate, his salary and welcomed the Court's refusal to readmit the deserter Jonathan Lake, whose wife was kept by her relations. It appointed George Bazett a writer on its own authority on 13 August 1768, pleading the death of Francis Wrangham and heavier work in the stores, and returned Richard Wright's signed bond. [Film No. 130-132, 135, 139, 147, 150]
On 25 April 1768 Skottowe, Corneille and Purling sent home proceedings about Kirkpatrick's not acting as a justice of the peace, the councillors being the island's justices, and his written reply followed on 13 May 1768. Kirkpatrick accused Corneille on 11 July 1768 of taking Company property for his own use. Corneille answered on 19 July 1768, and the Governor and Purling cleared him, holding that the accuser acted from ill will because he kept silent until the two men quarrelled. Corneille resigned on 21 July 1768 and sailed in the Admiral Pocock with his servant, refusing to sit beside his accuser. The two judges thought Kirkpatrick's conduct worthy of the severest blame but left the decision to the Court. He ignored the Governor's summons to sign the papers on 12 August 1768, and only the consultations of meetings he attended went to his house. The letters of 13 August and 10 September 1768 carried two signatures, and his name returned without explanation on 23 January 1769 and remained until 30 March 1769. [Film No. 121, 124, 127, 142-143, 147-148, 153, 155, 158]
The Duke of Albany arrived on 1 April 1769 with the Court's general letter of 19 January 1769 and its ruling on the quarrel. Kirkpatrick was unwell, so the Secretary carried the orders to him and demanded his account as paymaster for the quarter ending 31 March 1769. He was dismissed on 7 April 1769. The Council then disclosed that he once passed off a fictitious advance to the company commanders and that his accounts contained errors over re-enlisted soldiers. It promised to ask before he sailed whether he held plans of the fortifications, and no result was recorded. He remitted £400 0s 0d on 29 April and £168 3s 0d on 5 May 1769 to Allen Auld and left with his family in the Tilbury about 11 May 1769. Skottowe and Purling signed alone from 3 April 1769. [Film No. 168-170, 176, 181, 184-185, 202]
Corneille landed from the Speke on 7 May 1769 as Lieutenant Governor and took his seat before the Court's packet was opened. The Court ordered his salary paid for the whole absence and gave him the choice of a company to command. Paragraph 23 gave all lieutenants an extra 2s a day, but on his recollection of the Court's intentions the Council paid second lieutenants 1s until the Court ruled. [Film No. 177, 184, 189-190]
The orders of 1769 favoured James Greentree, George Bazett and Mahony, gave the widows Beale and Kennedy annuities of £30 0s 0d each and Drawwater extra salary, and raised the pay of the Governor, Purling and the civil and military servants. Only the surgeon, Robert Barclay, on £79 0s 0d with diet money, and his mate John Pritchard, on £65 0s 0d, were left out, and the Council pleaded for them on 16 June 1769. The Court accepted the innocence of the gentlemen accused by Bland, and the Council denied as a plain falsehood his executors' claim that it refused £700 0s 0d offered to the treasury. [Film No. 175-176, 187, 190-191, 197, 203]
A reproach that His Majesty's Ship Dolphin carried no letter home in March 1768 drew the reply, on 11 April 1769, that Captain Wallace stayed one day and that the offices needed two or three more writers. The Council could not supply a letter for each of three ships that sailed on the day of that reply. It admitted two copying errors in June and July 1769, over artillery ironwork and the number of officers' sashes. On 19 June 1769 it appointed James Deffountain and William Webber Doveton writers without leave, arguing that six covenanted assistants served in 1744 and only seven in 1769 despite more ships, soldiers and works. William Wrangham of the Accountant's office became paymaster at £50 0s 0d a year, and two iron chests were requested on 3 July 1769 for the cash of the Storekeeper and Paymaster. George Bazett offered two island residents as sureties in £500 0s 0d. [Film No. 173-174, 177, 196, 201-202]
The Court's orders arrived by the storeships British King on the evening of 8 May 1770 and Harcourt next morning. The Council acknowledged them on 9 May 1770 and answered paragraph by paragraph after 25 May 1770, completing the reply on 30 May 1770. The two writers were confirmed and signed covenants, with Lieutenant Samuel Deffountain, James Greentree, William Wrangham and Jonathan Doveton as securities, the Council insisting that both posts were absolutely necessary. The covenants and George Bazett's bond went home for enforcement in England. Barclay and Pritchard received additional salary. The Court approved placing the paymaster's department under a civil servant, and Wrangham took it at the salary of the Storekeeper and Secretary while assisting Purling until Mr Wright could act as Accountant. James Carmichael, gardener, was to be paid and dieted in place of James Gordon, who left his ship at Plymouth and whose chest was sold in August 1769 for £20 17s 8d and credited in account current with London. [Film No. 211, 248, 250, 254, 256, 257, 258, 260, 270, 273, 279-280, 283, 306]
On 14 May 1770 the Council acted without reference home on a representation from the principal inhabitants about the costs of the office of Sheriff. Other settlements paid the expenses of sheriffs and bailiffs, the serving of warrants and the execution of criminals, and the previous year's Sheriff was repaid. [Film No. 249]
Captain Tippett, appointed by the Court Captain of Artillery and principal Engineer, ranked next below the junior captain, and on 30 May 1770 Lieutenant Thomas Bazett, formerly in charge of the works, was placed under him. Lieutenant Leech heard the Court's 40th paragraph read before the Council and was warned that further misconduct would end his service. Lieutenant Nathan Sample, also spelt Sampell, received a pension and the second lieutenants their arrears. The Council thanked the Court for a set of plans and denied Mitchell's claim in London that the island held no copies, adding that he neither designed nor drew them. [Film No. 254-258]
A Court order of 29 March 1751 barred every foreigner from the interior. On 30 May 1770 the Council asked for an exception for foreign-born officers long in the Company's service, who resented being denied exercise in the country for their health. The Court replied that the order was never meant for such men, and on 4 May 1771 the Council undertook to admit them. [Film No. 258-259, 288]
Three signatures closed every letter of this run except that of 8 March 1771, which lacked Purling's without explanation. The Governor wrote separately to the Court on 4 and 9 August 1770 and 7 and 16 March 1771. No Company ship called between 9 August 1770 and 6 January 1771, and the Council sent a four-paragraph letter on 12 September 1770 by the Dutch West Friesland, whose Captain Mooy meant to touch in the English Channel and signed a receipt. The Court's letter of 2 January 1771 censured it for saying too little about the Company's ships and settlements. The Council answered on 4 May 1771 that the ship came straight from Batavia and that Dutch commanders were neither forthcoming nor well informed. Letters of 26 March and 26 May 1771 went by Danish ships bound up the Channel, the second with full shipping news. [Film No. 260, 270, 273, 274, 278-280, 283, 285-286, 290-291, 297, 306]
The Court's replies reported on 4 May 1771 gave Mahony the additional salary he petitioned for on 30 July 1770. Edward Daniels arrived as master mason at £120 0s 0d a year with a sum for his son's labour, and the Council paid his house rent of £20 0s 0d under orders, noting that every other servant without a Company house received £10 0s 0d. William Roberts, the Town Adjutant, asked on 27 May 1771 for a lieutenant's salary and was recommended. The Governor asked in the same month for chairs, tables and looking glasses for the Castle, where the furniture was old and scarce. [Film No. 269, 289-290, 297-298]
Skottowe, Corneille and Purling signed as the whole Council until 15 April 1772, when the Lord Camden arrived from England with the Court's packet and Matthew Bazett took his seat as fourth member under its 17th paragraph. The full reply went on 3 May 1772. Bazett became accountant in place of Purling, who had long managed that office, Alexander Wright, a factor, secretary and John Goodwin, a factor, collector of customs. John Bazett, a writer appointed to Bengal, was to travel by way of Bencoolen in the Earl of Sandwich at his own cost. [Film No. 341-342, 346-347]
The Council named Richard Powell a cadet on 1 April 1771 and meant him for the second lieutenancy left by Lieutenant Frost's retirement. The Pigot arrived on 26 July 1771 with the Court's letter of 17 May 1771 giving the vacancy to Lauchlan Leslie. On 29 August 1771 the Council pleaded Powell's five months of steady duty, his father's long service and the Court's refusal of a writership for him in 1764 as too young, and by May 1772 the Court had made him a supernumerary lieutenant. [Film No. 311-312, 347]
Tippett asked on 7 September 1771 for an allowance of candles, customary for his department at other settlements, and for ground on which to build a house. The Council referred the candles home and refused the ground, which the Company had bought and might want for warehouses, proposing a Company house for the engineer once more essential works were done. The Court named Thomas Stroud to succeed Barclay whenever he resigned, and in May 1772 the Council gave Stroud use of the medicine chest for his practice meanwhile. [Film No. 318, 320, 348]
In October 1771 Tippett protested to the Council against a reprimand from Corneille after the pursuit of deserters on 30 September 1771. Corneille answered as a party, so only the Governor and Purling gave opinions, and the decision was left to the Court. The proceedings filled the consultations of 7, 14, 21 and 28 October 1771, and the Council's own letter credited Tippett with doing everything possible. [Film No. 321-322]
Three letters travelled by other carriers, among them one by His Majesty's Ship Stagg on 4 February 1772 and one by the Danish Queen Sophia Magdalena on 14 March 1772, for which her captain signed a receipt. The letters of 13 and 14 March 1772 carried only two signatures. [Film No. 310, 312, 314, 326, 332-333, 335, 337, 344-345]
Military Affairs and Defence
After the Court approved the engineer's plans, the Council on 2 April 1766 put to the works every Company slave not growing provisions or kept as a servant, with 104 soldiers at an extra cost that it rested on the engineer's opinion. Sandy Bay was begun first, under Bridgwater as resident officer and with a separate ledger head. The engineer was still testing local limestone and bricks, and gun carriages were the only supply expected from India. A plan of Banks's lower battery went home on 23 April 1766. [Film No. 11, 13-14, 23]
The orders for 1767, sent on 5 June 1766, included 10 brass guns, for which the Council made the engineer give written reasons. The same letter asked for 50 recruits, with building craftsmen among them, and sent a sword home as a pattern for scabbards. Shovels and spades were pressed for on 23 September 1766. Mitchell altered the Sandy Bay design after the approved plans went home, and the Council agreed in a consultation of 3 October 1766. All the flints in store were reported bad on 5 March 1767. [Film No. 28-29, 46, 48, 51]
Six invalid soldiers went home in the Duke of Richmond on 4 April 1766 for £30 0s 0d, with a surgeon's certificate and a signed waiver of wages. Discharged but able men were placed in homeward ships to complete their crews, at least 20 between 4 April and 25 July 1766, with two deserters from the Plassey, a former overseer and a former parish clerk. A soldier who deserted in Bengal was hidden by the crew of Captain Barkley's ship and could not be found, as the letter of 23 September 1766 admitted. [Film No. 18, 20, 24, 26, 28, 35, 37, 39, 42, 46]
Mitchell accused Bridgwater, of the third company, of cheating the soldiers at Sandy Bay of part of the arrack he bought for them. A general court martial on 10 July 1766 found him guilty and discharged him, the proceedings went home for confirmation and he sailed in the Duke of Cumberland on 11 May 1767. The Court said nothing of the vacancy, and on 27 June 1767 the Council asked for an officer from England or leave to take a young islander, holding that each company needed two subalterns. It made Mr Greentree's son, aged 15, a cadet from that day and sent a pattern of lace for the officers' regimentals. [Film No. 41, 43, 45, 61, 71, 73, 85, 87]
The Court refused the brass guns, and on 11 April 1767 the Council sent the engineer's argument again: tar or lacquer would protect the outside of iron guns, but salt air would corrode their inner parts over years and make brass cheaper in the end. If refused again he meant to move the guns at Munden's Point to Sandy Bay and order others for that battery. The captain of the artillery was told to list the laboratory utensils article by article, the Court having declined a general description. On 18 May 1767 Mitchell reported that the saluting curtain needed 21 guns of 6 pounds and the new battery at Munden's Point nine of 24 pounds. [Film No. 58, 59, 76]
On 11 April 1767 the Council declined the Court's order to exercise the soldiers on the works regularly, because they laboured from 6 in the morning to 6 at night. A little practice, it argued, would restore their discipline once the works ended, and recruits were kept from the labour. Its letter of late January 1768 stated that soldiers, who drew extra pay for building, would be used until every work was finished, the Company's slaves being too few and unequal to the task. [Film No. 62, 107]
The outward ships of April 1767 brought 19 recruits, many of them craftsmen. A review reported on 27 June 1767 showed that more than 60 soldiers would be entitled to discharge in 1768, and 16 recruits of 1762 had already claimed theirs and taken passage in the Hawke and the Duke of Albany. The Council again asked for 50 recruits. Discharged men went home as hands or by permit, like Richard Jones and James Hendry in the Hampshire on 19 April 1767, who signed away any claim to wages. Captain Haldane took 14 by permit in the Duke of Albany on 5 July 1767, although the packet list counted 15. [Film No. 61, 66, 84, 88, 90]
Sandy Bay's fortification was reported finished on 18 January 1768, and the Council ordered Munden's battery and the upper battery at Banks's to be carried on together with the hands released, to hasten the defence of the leeward coast. The plan, its key, the Council's opinion, an estimate and the whole cost under a single head followed, the engineer's other business having delayed them. The letter of 23 February 1768 admitted four departures from the approved design, reported as costing little: a musketry flank covered the smaller line, a covered passage joined the two lines across the dividing hill, the demolished old battery was dropped and a breastwork for wall pieces, also covering a walled gully, was raised east of the bay. By 10 September 1768 the work was called Mitchell's Line. [Film No. 103, 107-110, 152]
Mitchell asked on 23 May 1768 for 30 more soldiers for about two months, and the Council sent him the 26 recruits landed from the Tilbury, who were not yet fit for garrison duty. His letter before the consultation of 8 August 1768 reported works in progress at Munden's and planned at Lemon Valley, to be finished by May or June 1769, after which only two demi-bastions of the inner line in James's Valley and some gully walls would remain. The Council agreed that he could leave for England in 1769 and asked for an officer from the artillery train to command and drill the artillery company. Lieutenant Thomas Bazett, who had supervised the works for over two years, was proposed as superintendent at £100 0s 0d a year, the Council refusing to trust important works to any master mason. A start was made at Lemon Valley by 10 September 1768. [Film No. 129-130, 144-146, 152]
The Council inspected the finished upper battery at Banks's on 1 September 1768 and named it Purling's Battery. Its enlarged merlons were faced with stone in lime mortar and filled with lime, sand and earth, which deadened shot and spared the gunners from stone splinters. Every other parapet on the island was solid masonry, and the Council asked whether all those open to ships' guns should be rebuilt. Ships making for the road at James's Valley had to pass close to Buttermilk Point, where the wind generally took them aback under both batteries. The plan went home in a box with Captain Mears of the Egmont, and the cost was held back until the quarter's accounts were presented. [Film No. 151-152, 154]
Lieutenant De Launé died on 8 August 1768, leaving two commissions vacant and five lieutenants for the whole garrison duty. The Council commissioned the cadet James Greentree and left the second vacancy to the Court. With 50 soldiers' terms due to expire in March 1769 it asked for at least 50 recruits. Sample, of the artillery, pleaded age and infirmity on 14 November 1768, and the Council, having no power to grant pensions, retired him on half pay and gave the other half to Corporal Robert Gilson. A general court martial suspended Lieutenant Thomas Leech for six months on 8 November 1768 for neglect of duty, and Sergeant John Shirley took his place. Both promotions rested on Mitchell's recommendation, and the Council meant to move Leech to another company. [Film No. 146-147, 157]
At least 35 discharged men went home between 21 March and 13 August 1768. Passengers signed away any claim to wages, as the sergeant Richard Moreton did on the first of those dates and eight men in the Europa did on 25 April 1768. Men ordered aboard to complete a crew signed nothing and kept their pay: six went so with Captain Hasell, 10 in the Earl of Elgin and the British King and four in the Admiral Pocock. Four soldiers sent by the Triton on 2 April 1768 travelled on a bare permit. [Film No. 114-116, 118, 121, 125, 132, 137, 147]
The Lemon Valley battery was reported finished on 13 February 1769, and the Council inspected it on 7 March 1769 and found it built to the approved plan. Its gun platforms waited for stone from England, so the cost summary was withheld while the plan went home with Captain Tanner. The cost of Purling's Battery was sent, and the Engineer was set to the demi-bastions and Munden's battery. The Court refused to rebuild other parapets with the new merlons without his written opinion, which he gave on 17 April 1769. A violent surf at Sandy Bay shortly before 7 May 1769 damaged the glacis of Mitchell's Line and carried away a gully wall. Twenty horsemen's tents were explained as movable shelter for men walling remote gullies. [Film No. 159, 161-162, 174-176, 181, 184]
Skottowe judged on 13 February 1769 that no sergeant in the garrison was fit to be adjutant and asked for one from the Foot Guards. The Court sent an adjutant by the Speke and allowed a separate town adjutant, a post given to Sergeant Major William Roberts. The Duke of Albany brought 38 recruits, but 80 promised by the Speke did not arrive. The Court proposed 100 privates in each company, and on 3 June 1769 the Council asked for 180 recruits in 1770, with the artillery included. The garrison could not then furnish a single relief, and guard duty was cut. Every officer assented to two unstated articles from the Court and received a reissued commission with its old date. Muster rolls were to say private in place of sentinel, and a bounty was offered to good men who stayed. [Film No. 158, 175, 188-190]
Under Captain Stewart's receipt 31 unserviceable iron guns left in the Duke of Albany on 14 April 1769 as ballast, free of freight, and 15 more were kept until replacements came. On 16 June 1769 the Council returned 194 of 200 bayonet scabbards as 4 inches too short and sent a fire engine pipe for repair by Bristow of Ratcliff Highway. Robert Nickles, a deserter from the Malabar coast, was enlisted for five years on 27 June 1769. Between March and July 1769 the ships took home 17 discharged soldiers, most as working crew, and three invalids at £5 0s 0d each. [Film No. 161, 166, 177-179, 184, 192, 196, 203, 207]
Work on the battery at Munden's Point, the subject of letters from the Lieutenant Governor and Lieutenant Bazett, Superintendent of the Works, in October 1769, stood unfinished for three months for want of Purbeck stone, as the reply of late May 1770 admitted. Captain Paul of the Harcourt offered to carry worn-out cannon home as ballast free of freight. The Captain of Artillery condemned 38 iron guns, which were loaded under two bills of lading binding Paul and his owners to deliver them in the Thames, and she returned from Bencoolen in June 1771 still carrying them homeward. The Court could send no master mason to replace William Holbrook, who had died. On 14 September 1769 the Council asked for two hawsers of 5 inches and 50 fathoms of iron chain to moor the longboats. [Film No. 215, 221, 252, 254, 255, 256, 257, 260, 263, 269, 288, 304]
Five discharged soldiers went as crew with Captain Rice on 1 August 1769 and two in the Grenville on 17 August 1769. Invalids travelled as paid passengers at £5 0s 0d a head on a surgeon's certificate: John Fexon and William Ford in July 1769, Silvanus Rolf in February 1770 and George Wells and Benjamin Tooles in March 1770. Nine men, among them a serjeant and a matross, sailed on 6 April 1770 and six more next day. Only 94 of the 100 recruits sent in the storeships arrived in May 1770, three being named as dead on the passage. The Council kept Robert Grosvenor, a Bombay deserter found in the Grenville, to serve out his term and enlisted John Harrison, a deserter from the Earl of Ashburnham, for five years on about 16 April 1770. Lieutenant Welch died on 21 August 1769, and his commission went to the cadet Richard Mason subject to confirmation. [Film No. 208, 209, 211, 212, 215, 230, 234, 240, 242, 244, 256]
Flints sent for some years failed after one or two shots, and on 12 June 1770 the Council asked that new ones be tested before shipment. Gun carriages ordered from Bombay for two years never came, a survey found many unfit, and on 4 August 1770 the Council ordered them from England because the island's situation allowed no delay. The Court agreed in its letter of 23 November 1770 but complained that the order gave no dimensions. The Council replied that carriages were always ordered by weight of shot and conceded only that it should state whether trucks were wanted. [Film No. 260, 263, 269, 288, 304]
Lieutenant Frost petitioned for retirement, blind and weak after long service. On 16 June 1770 the Council put him on Sample's pension at once, admitting that the Company had no establishment for half pay, and asked the Court to confirm it. Lieutenant Lambert, the senior second lieutenant, took the vacant first lieutenancy in the second company. Printed copies of the covenant with Lord Clive for a fund to relieve European officers and soldiers arrived in April 1771. Men discharged at their own request had no claim on it, and the Governor published its terms in garrison orders and posted them at the barracks. [Film No. 265-266, 288-289, 305]
Seven soldiers deserted in a longboat on 28 July 1770, a date another letter gives as 23 July, and the general letter written a week afterwards, on 4 August 1770, asked for 100 recruits to reach the Court's new establishment and did not mention them. The Court found only a slight entry in the consultations, and on 4 May 1771 the Council admitted that it deserved blame without giving a reason for its silence. Soldiers worked the longboats, so rudders and sails were thereafter locked ashore whenever a boat lay idle. [Film No. 268-269, 289, 324]
Plans of the completed batteries at Munden's Point and Lemon Valley went home on 7 March 1771 with a summary of their cost. On 4 May 1771 the Council reported work on walling up the leeward valleys and repairing the merlons of a battery whose name is damaged, probably Purling's. It inspected every leeward valley on 14 May 1771 and kept its findings in the consultation of 20 May 1771. The Court ordered gunny bags from Fort William in place of sandbags, and the Council warned that the open-woven rice bags would not hold sand. A dozen hourglasses for the outlying guards were requested on 14 June 1771. [Film No. 277, 279, 287, 290, 298, 303]
His Majesty's Ship Portland arrived from England on 24 March 1771 with a packet addressed to the Governor and Lieutenant Governor alone, enclosing Court letters of 23 November 1770 and 2 January 1771. Replies to the Secret Committee signed by those two officers went home on 4 May and 17 June 1771. She stayed six weeks and sailed on 4 May 1771 with the bark Endeavour and 12 Company ships under convoy, the Lord Camden and the Kent, which arrived on 25 and 29 March 1771, having waited for the fleet. Later arrivals went home unescorted. Copies of the Council's letter travelled in the Lord Camden, the Portland and the Duke of Kingston, and no receipt was taken from the warship. His Majesty's Sloop Swallow arrived from England on 30 April 1771 and was met off Cape Agulhas going eastward. [Film No. 285-287, 293-294, 296, 299, 301, 307]
The Calcutta and the Duke of Richmond brought about 120 recruits in April 1771, the first figure being damaged and the second 60. Two died on the passage, three deserted from the Duke of Richmond and the garrison stood complete. Three deserters from Bombay found in the Duke of Cumberland on 4 March 1771 were kept to serve their whole terms. Four soldiers went missing from barracks before the convoy sailed: one was found in the Portland and two in the Duke of Kingston, and Thomas Williams of the artillery probably passed the sentries dressed as a seaman. The Council reported this in full three weeks after receiving the Court's rebuke. [Film No. 268, 277, 288, 293]
Between 9 August 1770 and 17 June 1771 the ships took home 25 invalid soldiers at £5 0s 0d a head, each group with a surgeon's certificate: four in the Fox, five in the Earl of Middlesex, four in the Greenwich and 12 in the Worcester. Only four of the last group were recommended to the Military Fund for long service, age and infirmity. Discharged men went as working hands, four in the Duke of Albany, two in the Anson and one in the Vansittart. Captain Nicholas Skottowe had permission on 14 June 1771 to carry Corporal William Jones to England, with no reason given. [Film No. 264-265, 268, 271, 280-281, 283, 301, 303, 305, 307]
The Reverend William Bearcroft told the Council on 13 July 1771 that Andrew Tedrick, under sentence of death, claimed that men on the island meant to kill the sentry and blow up the main powder magazine in the valley. The Council inspected it with the engineer the next morning and found the passage walls built of small stones and mud mortar. The powder was moved to the castle, the inner walls were rebuilt in lime mortar and large stones and the outer wall in Purbeck stone cramped with iron, and the outer door was faced in copper. [Film No. 315-316]
Three deserters sent from Fort St George were kept to serve out their terms, as the consultation of 1 July 1771 recorded, and on 29 August 1771 the Council asked for 60 recruits. Seven invalids went home in the Prime on 7 September 1771 at £5 0s 0d a head, and George Oliver, hurt by a falling rock at Munden's Point, was recommended to the Military Fund. Twelve more sailed in the British King on 12 March 1772 for £60 0s 0d, with Murdock McCleod recommended for long service and a useless left arm. Those 12 signed an undertaking to claim no wages for the voyage, which the group of September 1771 did not. Discharged men went as hands in the Prime, the Northumberland, the Stafford and the Pacific, and two went by permit in the Glatton after signing the same undertaking. [Film No. 308, 312, 316, 320, 330, 332, 336, 340, 344, 352]
Skottowe learned on 30 September 1771 that six men planned to desert in a Company longboat: the sergeant, gunner and private forming the guard at Lemon Valley and the patron and two crew of a longboat. Tippett and Lieutenant Thomas Bazett secured the longboat with a party of soldiers. The six were supposed to have put off in a yawl to reach a longboat lying to windward and to have drowned in a high sea, though no boat or body was reported found. A second plot, to take a boat of the Duke of Portland, was discovered and stopped on 19 October 1771, a general court martial tried the offenders on 24 October 1771 and the informers were rewarded. The Council blamed a black woman who returned to the island in the Pigot, said to have met in London some of the deserters of July 1770 and to have told soldiers that an open boat could reach safety and that deserters went free. [Film No. 321, 322, 324]
Every leeward valley was walled up by 10 March 1772, when the masonry of the officers' barracks was nearly finished and the church was to follow it. The merlons of Purling's Battery had decayed in the salt air, and on 7 September 1771 the engineer was ordered to face the cheeks of the embrasures with stone. The Council proposed two guns and a mortar on the point above the battery to bear on ships rounding the Sugar Loaf and promised to do nothing beyond repairs until the Court approved. High surf breached the wharf at the landing place, and repairs were in hand on 6 April 1772. [Film No. 317, 327, 336]
Supply, Provisioning and Agriculture
The Council blamed a severe shortage on its order for 1763, which proved too small once the ships' demands and the number of slaves grew, and on 2 April 1766 it promised fuller orders. It admitted fault for keeping rice and paddy from Captain Webb at an exorbitant price. The Court ordered a double quantity of rice from Bengal and Bombay, and the flour improved after a change of contractor. On 10 June 1766 the Council bought 20 casks of salt provisions from Captain Fenner of the Grenville at 2½d a pound, with more rice and paddy, and stated the price at once. Two yawls arrived for catching fish for the slaves, and extra hooks and lines were ordered on 5 June 1766. [Film No. 10-11, 14-15, 28, 32]
The Court's rule required captains to bring their own fuel from India, and 30 chaldrons of coal were reserved for burning lime. Captain Webb's crew took 30 loads of wood already lying felled, after which the Council promised to issue coals alone. Many captains still applied, and by 23 September 1766 the stock stood at 1 chaldron and 30 bushels. [Film No. 9, 14, 46]
Stores were counted on 31 March 1766 and the orders for 1767 framed from that count, which the Council warned would overstate what remained by the end of the year. Anchors and cables kept for the ships were to be sold at 30 per cent above invoice. An invoice charging 30 pairs of dovetail hinges at £3 17s 11d, against a usual 4d a pair, was sent back for correction. Two fire engines were ordered. The Fly cutter was broken up as unfit under a consultation of 9 December 1765, and a longboat lost while watering the King's ships stood in the books at £80 0s 0d. [Film No. 9, 11, 27-28, 30]
Pastures and plantations were reported flourishing on 23 April 1766 and 5 March 1767, though a continuing disease among the black cattle chiefly killed breeding animals and kept the herds below strength. The Asia brought cattle, sheep and other stock from the Cape worth £317 1s 0d on 22 February 1767, and her captain's claim to a premium on his own money was referred to the Court. [Film No. 22, 50-51]
On 11 April 1767 the Council reported issuing ships only 1/4 of the charterparty beef, the herd having suffered when the later ships of 1765 each received two extra cattle. The planters' return nevertheless rose by 60 head. On 27 June 1767 the Council found that the early ships' call at the Cape had reduced demand and asked that six or seven captains continue the practice for another year, each bringing about 40 cattle and 20 sheep, none older than 2½ years, some for sale to planters whose herds were hit by disease. The letter of 14 September 1767 reported a very good year. The Lord Holland arrived on 12 January 1768 with 20 young cattle and 54 sheep from the Cape, for which Captain Fasham Nairn was paid £79 13s 0d, and the Council repeated that young animals did better than full-grown ones. [Film No. 59, 60, 83, 84, 100, 102, 103]
Captains, the Council urged on 11 April 1767, should always be ordered to bring fuel and salt provisions from India for the homeward passage, since the island could calculate its own consumption but not the shipping's. The Duke of Albany brought 25 casks from Bengal at more than £13 0s 0d a cask prime cost, and the letter of 5 July 1767 reported the beef rotten on the surgeon's report and thrown into the sea. The pork was sound but poor and was topped up with fresh pickle for the Company's slaves. A second consignment by the Nottingham, reported on 10 September 1767, was all sound, with five casks fairly good, and it too went to the slaves. The Council twice asked the Court to stop the supply. [Film No. 60, 88, 98]
Lime from the island's limestone was reserved for the fortifications, the Council wrote on 11 April 1767, and would be turned to profit afterwards, while brickmaking was given up as too costly for want of a skilled man. Of the gear kept for the Company's ships, one cable had gone to the Grenville and an undelivered topmast was written off on Captain Court's bill of lading, leaving two anchors, one cable and three topmasts. Captain Howe of the Nottingham received an anchor and a cable in August 1767, and replacements were requested. The flour certificate went home on 22 May 1767 and two worn-out Company clocks on 27 June 1767 for repair and new cases. The storekeeper found on 14 September 1767 that the hats and shoes from each ship, tried in wear, were of equal quality. [Film No. 59, 60, 62, 79, 84, 93, 99, 100]
The storekeeper found the Europa's Bengal meat sound but very lean, as the letters of 25 April and 5 May 1768 reported. Each piece shrank to less than half its size once out of the brine, so the meat was withdrawn from the garrison. Four casks weighed 613 pounds each against an invoiced average of 1,407½ pounds for the 30 casks, a shortfall of 794 pounds a cask. The Court's ban on such shipments arrived by the Tilbury before these complaints left the island, and the Earl of Elgin still landed one more lean cargo. On 2 June 1768 the Council undertook to buy salted provisions from homeward commanders and paid Captains Cooke and Hoare the customary price. Its order of 13 August 1768 asked England for only 30 casks, claiming more than two years' stock in store. [Film No. 119, 122-123, 128, 129, 143]
On 2 June 1768 the Council asked that outward commanders buy Cape animals of 12 to 18 months, because half of the large old beasts died soon after landing. The cattle sickness persisted without cure, though less severely. On 23 January 1769 the planters offered 50 more cattle for slaughter than in 1768, and with more ships expected the allowance to each ship stayed at the 1768 level, the cattle being heavier. [Film No. 128-129, 155]
The Court allowed homeward ships to call at Ascension for turtle. The Council undertook on 11 April 1767 to send captains there only in urgent need and on 2 June 1768 reserved the leave for occasions useful to the island, then granted every request. Captain Cooke received leave on 1 June 1768 on his own written reasons, Captains Sealy and Palmer on 15 June 1768 with no reason recorded and Captains Mears and Hooke on 10 September 1768, the second because his crew in the Greenwich remained sickly. Ten commanders followed between 13 March and 3 June 1769, the last with a warning against needless delay, 12 between January and May 1770 and every applicant from Captain Rous on 30 May 1770 to Captains Hall and Sealy on 17 June 1771 and from 3 July 1771 to 21 May 1772. [Film No. 59, 129, 133, 137, 152-153, 162, 166, 171-172, 177, 183, 185, 192, 233, 234, 240, 241, 243, 244, 245, 249, 259-261, 264, 266, 274, 277-278, 283, 286, 296, 298, 305, 309, 313, 317-318, 328, 330, 337-338, 340, 342, 344, 348, 351-352, 354, 356]
Coal came 20 chaldrons under the order, as the letter of 2 June 1768 reported. The Tilbury and the Duke of Richmond brought no deals, oil, pitch, tar, rosin or turpentine, and on 15 June 1768 not one deal remained in store. The Council expected to saw heavy timber into boards and to buy masts from ships. Without pitch and tar the longboats carrying materials to the works could not be kept afloat, and the fishing boats and homeward ships needed the same stores. A separate list of the other missing goods went home twice. [Film No. 128, 136-138, 149]
The letter of 13 August 1768 found the shoes, hats, coats and breeches good, but the suppliers' names were missing from the packages despite the Court's promise. The shirts were the worst ever received and were charged at the customary price. Gold lace ordered in 1767 did not come, and a pattern went home. The flour was so musty that its bread was scarcely fit to eat. The settlement had no Madeira wine, and the Council asked for one pipe by each Company ship calling there. The 1769 orders for stores and medicines went late, because the Tilbury brought no summary of the Duke of Richmond's cargo. The storekeeper was under orders from 2 June 1768 to describe damaged packages exactly and to count and weigh cordage against the invoices. [Film No. 131, 142-144, 149, 154]
The crew of the Earl of Middlesex stove in a borrowed Company longboat beyond repair in April 1768. Two carpenters valued her at £4 0s 0d, the claim went to the Court and the Council bought a replacement with full gear from Captain Pelly for £35 0s 0d. A review of the consultations found Captain Hasell's bill for Cape cattle added up £4 0s 0d too high and paid in full, and that sum was referred home on 5 May 1768. Captain Hoare received an anchor and cable from the stores by 2 June 1768. [Film No. 119, 122, 132]
A consultation of 14 November 1768 refused to lease barren commons improved by public labour, as unjust to those who worked them. Two commanders landed 80 sheep from the Cape for £60 0s 0d on 17 March 1769 and took certificates on the Court instead of cash. Many Cape cattle received in 1768 died or failed to fatten, while sheep served the market and hospital at once. Only three of seven ships calling at the Cape in 1769 brought sheep, and on 2 July 1769 the Council asked that commanders bring no more cattle. Cape garden seeds succeeded where the English seed of 1768 failed and left vegetables scarce. The planters could not meet the ships' demands, so the Council wanted early ships to refresh at the Cape. Corneille proposed on 16 June 1769 that each storeship bring a cow and a bull calf from England to restore a breed weakened by long inbreeding, with surplus bulls sold to planters. The Company's herd had been spared slaughter for three years and had grown. [Film No. 164, 173, 175, 196-197, 201]
By June 1769 the cargoes of the Duke of Albany and Speke were judged enough for the year. Orders for 1770 went home on 16 June 1769 with the remains taken on 30 April 1769, two months sooner than in 1768, and asked for 500 casks of provisions, extra clothing for the larger garrison and 70 chaldrons of coal. On 19 July 1769 the Council complained that commanders still begged fuel in defiance of the Court's rule, and in October 1769 it could spare Captain Haggis only 1 chaldron of coal from the stock for burning lime. Its reply of late May 1770 asked that the order be made standing, promised to name offenders and explained that the island's own fuel shrank every year, so coal orders should be met in full. [Film No. 174, 186-187, 195, 200, 205, 221, 246, 247, 248, 254, 255]
The Court asked whether the Governor's country house should be finished or rebuilt. The Engineer held it unfit, and on 19 July 1769 the Council reported the new Plantation House pulled down and sent plans and elevations for two houses, one for the Lieutenant Governor, about whom the Court did not ask. Roofs were to have a single pitch under slate, because the old ones leaked and rotted the stored materials. No estimate was offered for these or for the batteries, on the ground that the Company's own stone, lime, salaried craftsmen and slaves made costs impossible to isolate. Sashes, frames and balusters were ordered from England. The Court approved, and in late May 1770 the Council promised economy, asked for the windows, sashes and balusters the following year and undertook to state the squares of slate needed, packed in cases against breakage. A small addition to the island's order from China went to the Company's representatives at Canton on 22 May 1770. [Film No. 190, 205-206, 208, 255, 256, 257, 277, 279]
On 24 February 1770 the Council reported several months of exceptionally dry weather, the rains expected early in the year still awaited and the cattle losing condition. Eight Company ships had called between 16 January and 20 February 1770. The reply of late May 1770 recorded that a great many cattle had died, mainly from want of food, that those listed for slaughter were thin and small and that rain had recently fallen and done much good. On 7 May 1770 the Council had protested that the late storeships were about to halt the works and distress most inhabitants, citing the near-want of 1768. No Madeira came from Bengal, so the Council bought one pipe for the Company's table for £40 0s 0d. [Film No. 221, 232, 246, 247, 248, 254, 255, 256]
Commanders brought stock from the Cape between February and April 1770 and took certificates on the Court. Captain Ross supplied 50 sheep for £37 10s 0d, Captain Scott seven sheep and 12 pounds of garden seed for £7 18s 0d and Captain Swa[...] six black cattle and 25 sheep for £40 5s 0d. Captain Tryon bought 12 cattle and 55 sheep on the Company's account for £69 6s 0d and was certified the full cost although one beast and five sheep died at sea. The Court's orders of May 1770 confined such purchases to sheep on the Company's account, and the Council agreed that Cape cattle did not thrive. Of eight cattle sent from England to improve the breed only three arrived, three in the Harcourt being washed overboard in rough weather. The Council urged that the scheme continue and reserved judgement on wheat sent for trial. [Film No. 228, 234, 236, 238, 255, 256]
A paragraph of the Court's letter of 17 May 1769, forwarded from Madras by the Speaker in March 1770, ordered the island to take over surplus salt provisions from six ships that had carried recruits to India. Captains White of the Havannah and Jackson of the Speke received certificates for theirs on 6 April 1770, Captain Elphinston had none to spare and Captain Hardwicke of the Earl of Lincoln delivered 425 pieces of beef and 294 of pork. [Film No. 233, 234, 240, 241, 243, 244, 245, 249]
The storeships of 1770 were formally dispatched on 22 May 1770, one day after their 10 working days expired, but sailed only on 13 June 1770, the Council blaming the number of ships in the road for slowing the landing of stores. On 30 May 1770 it proposed that light Bengal ships carry bricks as ballast and exchange them at the island for stone. The yearly order for stores went home on 12 June 1770 with inventories of the warehouse, garrison and artillery stores taken on 30 April 1770, and a duplicate followed four days afterwards. Curved timbers for the longboats were ordered from England to spare the island's trees, which were unsuitable and scarce. Supplementary orders for glass for the church and schoolhouse went on 4 August 1770. [Film No. 246, 251, 252, 254, 259, 262-263, 265, 267, 269-270, 280, 286-287]
The Council reported on 9 August 1770 that more than 500 cattle were dead, chiefly of starvation and chiefly the young stock meant for slaughter. The dry weather held on 12 September 1770, and by 6 January 1771 the rains of the middle of 1770 had also failed, the Company counting 150 head lost and the planters 550. At least a third of the island's cattle died between January 1770 and 4 May 1771, and few or no calves were being born. Of eight breeding cattle shipped by the Court in 1771 only three yearling cows landed alive. [Film No. 271-272, 274-275, 290-291]
The Council cut the charterparty allowance of beef on its own authority from 1/3 to 1/4 on 6 January 1771 and to 1/8 by 4 May 1771. The planters put forward only 199 thin animals for the year. Healthy ships received two cattle each, ships that had called at the Cape none and outward-bound or sickly ships seven. The Portland demanded fresh provisions three days a week and was given one, with part of her beef sold for cash from the Company's own stock. The market fell to one small beast a week, and the Council named the Company's gentlemen as the sufferers. [Film No. 275, 291, 293]
Homeward commanders landed only 132 Cape sheep in the season of 1770, too few for the hospital, despite the Court's recommendation. On 9 August 1770 the Council asked that binding orders be left at the Cape for every homeward commander to bring 100 sheep, and none arrived by that route in the season of 1771. Captain Nathaniel Smith of the Lord Camden instead drew 10 half puncheons each of salt beef and salt pork from the island's stores at £142 10s 0d. His owners were to pay the balance of £143 5s 0d in England, including a charge for gunpowder not delivered. [Film No. 272, 292]
Madeira wine from Bengal was invoiced in 1770 at £39 3s 0d a pipe, and the Court's standing advance of 30 per cent raised it to £50 17s 11d. The Council suspected on 9 August 1770 that Bengal had already added the advance and left the wine unsold, and the Court ordered Fort William to stop adding it to the prime cost. [Film No. 271, 290]
The Calcutta and the Duke of Richmond arrived on 3 and 5 April 1771 and sailed on 25 April 1771. Flour certificates for them went home in May 1771, and the Pigot was expected with further supplies. The order for 1772 left on 31 May 1771 with inventories taken on 31 March 1771, and its duplicate on 8 June 1771. [Film No. 259, 265, 280, 286-287, 290, 296, 300, 302]
The Prime arrived from China on 5 July 1771 with scurvy so severe that many died between the Cape and the island and nine more after she anchored, and she stayed until 7 September 1771. Two seamen left sick by the Northington were treated in the hospital at 7d a day, for £1 10s 11d and £1 1s 7d, to be recovered from her owners. The outward Pigot stayed from 26 July to 27 September 1771 against an allowance of 10 working days, after a promise of prompt dispatch and without explanation. [Film No. 309, 311, 313, 317-318, 323]
On 7 September 1771 the Council feared that the rains due in the following months would fail again. Some useful rain fell about August 1771, but December 1771 and January 1772 were extremely dry. The return of cattle fit for slaughter came to 237 head, too few for the market and the hospital. The Council wrote on 4 February 1772, by a King's ship so that the Court might order sheep by its early ships, that recovery from two failed years would take some years even with good seasons. [Film No. 317, 325-326]
Captain Watson of the Morse bought 40 black cattle at the Cape on the Company's account and landed 21, as the Council reported on 19 March 1772. Such cattle could not be slaughtered for 18 months or two years, and the Council suspected them of bringing in the disease then present. Captain Hoare did not call at the Cape and Captain Hough brought nothing. The Court then turned its recommendation into an enforced order that commanders calling at the Cape buy sheep and corn for the island, which the Council welcomed on 3 May 1772. Only Watson with cattle and Captain Rice with sheep had bought on the Company's account in 1772, while Captains Hough and Rutford spared a few animals for the hospital at special request. Three calves came by the Lord Camden to improve the breed. [Film No. 334, 346]
The Lord Camden was cleared on 29 April 1772 when her 10 working days ran out and sailed for China on 9 May 1772. With the Court's leave the Council enlarged its China order for tea, sugar and candy. The Court's new prices for store goods issued to planters and inhabitants were published, and the islanders returned thanks. [Film No. 346, 352-353]
Slavery, Exiles and Coerced Labour
Only one slave died on the Royal George's passage from Angola, according to the letter of 2 April 1766, but many fell ill ashore with the craws, the contemporary name for yaws. They stayed in the hospital until the garrison's surgeon and the ship's surgeon passed them fit to re-embark, and Captain Skottowe then continued his voyage. The Council admitted its fault in not reporting the episode. The same letter described slaves received by that ship as inferior to Madagascar slaves and placed them on a 12-month trial, without recording how many were landed, kept or lost. [Film No. 9-11]
Slaves at the fortifications were fed imported rice in 1766 because fetching their own yams cost one working day in every week. By 25 July 1766 the Council reported that the Company's slaves from the Guinea coast fell well short of expectations and suffered in the cold of the middle of the year, despite full food and an arrack allowance. A Portuguese vessel of 80 tons, the Nossa Senhora da Conceição, called from 19 to 23 April 1766 on the route from Rio de Janeiro to Angola. [Film No. 15, 22, 41, 49]
On 11 April 1767 the Council reported that the slaves received from Africa were beginning to improve and would be more useful once used to the climate, and claimed that they were treated humanely and encouraged. Overseers were to be watched so that soldiers and blacks at the works were not cheated. Thomas Townsend, the assistant mason, refused in June 1767 to teach stonecutting to two slave boys placed under him, telling the Council that he came to do his own work and nothing more. [Film No. 60, 61, 83, 88, 98, 105]
Lord Clive asked the Council, as its letter of 22 May 1767 reported, to return the two surviving Brahmins to their country at his own expense. They had been sent to the island as prisoners from Anjengo in 1757, and the Council referred the request to the Court. [Film No. 78]
Each slave's allowance of the Bengal meat judged unfit for the garrison rose from 6 pounds to 10 pounds on 5 May 1768. [Film No. 110, 119, 122, 140]
Fort Marlborough sent Mass Pangue, a Malay chief who obstructed the pepper investment in the Manna districts, by the Duke of Richmond, which arrived on 29 March 1769. The Court's letter of 23 December 1757 forbade such transportation. The Council gave him the allowance of Nockquedah Boccolum, an exile already on the island, and asked on 3 April 1769 that the Malays be removed as discontented and a pure expense, repeating objections first made on 21 June 1757. A Coffree slave and his wife came in the same ship, the man a habitual runaway and robber, and were accepted because they could work. [Film No. 166, 169-170]
On 16 June 1769 the Council reported the slaves' waistcoats too heavy and asked for coarse duffel lined with thin flannel, with long canvas drawers to protect breeches issued only once a year. The breeches sent were too small, and on 12 June 1770 it asked for larger sizes for both men and boys. [Film No. 160, 195, 206, 263, 277, 279, 282]
Mr Carter had sent Walpole to St Helena as a Company slave about 1754 for cheating the Company of money, and on 1 August 1769 asked to exchange him for a man of equal quality. The Court allowed the exchange but refused to sanction the removal of two Malay prisoners, whose allowance the Council continued. In late May 1770 the Council added that the island could suffer serious harm if the presidencies were free to send there everyone troublesome to their governments. [Film No. 209, 223, 256]
The Harcourt brought a letter about the return of Nagudale Poulim, a Malay prisoner held for Fort Marlborough, copied into the consultation of 24 June 1771. The Council asked the Court whether he should go back to Bencoolen and whether his costs should be charged to that settlement or written off in London. He was told in May 1772 that the Court allowed him to return to his own country and appeared for the moment to decline, for no stated reason. [Film No. 307, 347]
John Fortune, a slave carried off by force in a Company longboat, was returned to the island and handed back to his mistress, as the Council reported on 3 May 1772. It assured the Court that he would not be punished, since his departure was no act of his own will. [Film No. 324, 329, 348]
Finance and Accounting
A chest of treasure consigned to the island by the Plassey was sent on to Canton in April 1766. The Council expected one chest from the Prince of Wales and the money paid in for bills on the Court, all drawn at 90 days' sight, to cover the year. Five sets dated 7 and 9 April 1766 raised £2,042 0s 0d. Thomas Greentree paid in £1,578 16s 0d on 14 July 1766, payable to Mrs Helena Harrold. John Chambers, supercargo of a Swedish ship, took a bill for £100 0s 0d on 12 June 1766 and the Dutch captain Van Bretten one for £1,040 0s 0d on 21 July 1766. Four sets of 24 March 1767 raised £2,698 0s 0d, of which Captain Clements of the Royal Charlotte supplied £1,500 0s 0d. Smaller bills ran from £28 5s 0d upwards. Skottowe remitted £300 0s 0d in April 1766 and £205 4s 0d on 3 November 1766 to Robert Wood, and Corneille and Kirkpatrick also drew bills. [Film No. 10-11, 13, 16, 20, 22, 32, 34, 37, 39-41, 46, 48, 51, 54-55]
Quarterly accounts were read in council on 21 April and 21 July 1766, 20 April and 20 July 1767, 18 April 1768, 17 April, 17 July and 16 October 1769, 16 April 1770, 16 July 1771 and 20 April 1772, and ships sailing earlier in a quarter carried only a duplicate of the previous cash account. Cash accounts otherwise ran from one packet to the next and by calendar month when no ship sailed. The Ponsborne's list of 3 November 1766 named August where October was probably intended. The treasury advanced £4 10s 0d for the board of a Russian gentleman from the Talbot in May 1766. [Film No. 16, 18, 23-24, 37, 42, 49, 52, 61, 63, 84, 89, 115-116, 159, 207, 208, 210, 222, 241, 310, 344-345]
On 11 April 1767 the Council sent the chest of treasure consigned by the Earl of Middlesex on to Fort Marlborough at Bencoolen. The account balanced to 30 June 1767 showed enough cash for the following year, and on 2 August 1767 the Council asked leave to forward its spare cash there as well. [Film No. 58, 91]
The Governor remitted £400 0s 0d on 22 April 1767 and £70 0s 0d on 10 August 1767 to Wood, and Corneille sent £100 0s 0d and later £200 0s 0d to Christopher Baron. Captain John Mitford paid in £1,650 0s 0d for certificates under the 75th paragraph of his instructions, after swearing that it was the proceeds of his outward-bound investment. James Greentree paid £570 0s 0d on 22 June 1767 for a bill to Captain John Cotton, and Edwin Alcock £700 0s 0d on 14 September 1767. Other bills were payable to Captains Tryon, Morrison and Larkins. Bearcroft remitted £60 0s 0d to Edward Bearcroft on 7 September 1767 and £100 0s 0d more on 22 January 1768. [Film No. 63, 66, 68, 69, 73, 76, 85, 86, 88, 92, 94, 98, 100, 103, 106]
Bills dated between 14 March and 5 September 1768 came to £7,732 12s 4d. The largest were £1,034 15s 0d drawn by Kirkpatrick for the estate of the late Captain Cornelius Inglis and £500 0s 0d by Colvill Mure. Skottowe drew £400 0s 0d, Purling £700 0s 0d in two bills and Corneille £904 19s 3d in four. His servant Hugh Jones drew £363 12s 6d on 8 August 1768. John Purling Esquire in London was payee of four bills, two of them Purling's own. [Film No. 112, 116, 120, 123, 133, 137, 139, 146, 148, 151]
The Court ordered spare cash sent to Fort Marlborough, and £2,000 0s 0d went by the Duke of Richmond, as the letter of 13 August 1768 reported. The Council expected bill money to cover running costs in 1768 and 1769 and told the Court to send no coin. Receipts ranged from £100 0s 0d in the letter of 2 April 1768 to £2,476 8s 7d in the letter that announced the remittance. [Film No. 115-116, 130, 143-144, 148]
Expecting money for bills, the Council sent £1,000 0s 0d to Fort Marlborough by the Duke of Albany on 14 April 1769. Nine sets of 29 April 1769 included £667 6s 0d for the Governor and £760 0s 0d for Purling. William Kibbers, captain of a Dutch ship from Batavia, took a bill for £1,200 0s 0d on 9 May 1769 and Matthew Bazett one for £1,000 0s 0d on 14 June 1769. Mitchell remitted £800 0s 0d on 13 February and £400 0s 0d on 14 June 1769, and Barclay drew £220 0s 0d on 1 July 1769. [Film No. 158, 159, 169, 175, 178-181, 185, 187, 197-200, 203, 207]
On 1 August 1769 the cash balance stood at about £12,000 0s 0d, and the Council advised that no money need be shipped for 1770. The Governor remitted £350 0s 0d on 24 July and £120 0s 0d on 4 September 1769 to Wood, and John Whitchurch sent £325 6s 3d for the orphans of John Bland. Six sets of 4 and 11 September 1769 came to £923 0s 0d. The batch of 2 April 1770 totalled £1,845 15s 0d, of which Purling remitted £1,226 5s 0d, mostly to John Purling, and Corneille £599 10s 0d. Captain Ross took bills for £339 10s 0d in February 1770 and Captain Jeffry Jackson for £700 0s 0d on 6 April 1770, while John Barnes, a discharged private, remitted £20 0s 0d to himself. [Film No. 209, 210, 215, 217, 222, 228, 238, 240]
On 16 June 1770 the Council told the Court that cash in hand and expected receipts would meet the costs of 1771 without money from England. Purling remitted £307 17s 4d on 28 May 1770, £400 0s 0d by the letter of 4 August 1770 and £800 0s 0d in February 1771. The Governor sent £557 0s 0d to Wood on 5 June 1770 and £668 5s 0d in two bills of June 1771 to Captain Nicholas Skottowe, a Company commander. Mooy bought bills for £591 0s 0d on 12 September 1770. Whitchurch remitted £313 6s 4d on 6 August 1770 as attorney to Bland's orphans. Mrs Elizabeth D[...] remitted £109 0s 0d on 10 June 1771, the first woman among the drawers, and Matthew Bazett £600 0s 0d on the same day. Richard Bagley paid Kirkpatrick by bill in 1770 and 1771. [Film No. 258, 259, 260, 263, 266, 268, 271, 272, 274, 277, 298, 301, 303, 305]
The captains of the Earl of Middlesex, the Duke of Cumberland and the Greenwich wore out the longboat's cable, valued at £39 14s 5d, and promised in March 1771 that their owners would pay. Barclay paid in £5 14s 11d on 9 August 1770 from the effects of a caulker of the Duke of Grafton who died in the hospital. [Film No. 271, 277, 279, 298]
Purling sent £3,622 17s 0d to John Purling in five bills between 26 July 1771 and 18 May 1772, the largest for £1,600 0s 0d on 3 February 1772. Commanders drew large bills on themselves: Captain Hoare £1,300 0s 0d, Captain Thomson £1,100 0s 0d in two sets and Captain Richard Doveton £1,000 0s 0d. William Wrangham sent £1,000 0s 0d to Cotton on 1 July 1771. Bills from Purling, Bearcroft, Barclay and Lieutenant Bazett were payable to commanders, Bearcroft paying £145 16s 0d to Captain Rutford on 10 April 1772. [Film No. 308, 313, 315, 318, 323, 325, 327, 330, 338, 343-344, 346, 348, 350, 352, 354-356]
The estates of men who died on the island were sold and credited to the London current account after their local debts were paid. Patrick Elliott, a seaman left by the Northington, died on 22 June 1771 and left £18 7s 7d. James Hogg, the carpenter's mate, died intestate and left £53 4s 4d after his debts, paid in on 13 April 1772. The Court ordered Bearcroft to keep a register of births, christenings, marriages and burials, and the Council, stating that he and his predecessors always kept one, undertook to send an attested copy yearly by two ships. [Film No. 308, 327, 329, 340, 346-347]
Trade, Shipping and Intelligence
The Court found the island's intelligence for 1765 inadequate, and the Council replied on 2 April 1766 that it could not compel ships' officers to tell all they knew. Captain Riddell described being forced into Touron in Cochin China, where a Portuguese priest warned him of a plot to cut him off. He left Whampoa on 10 December 1765, when 15 Company ships lay at Canton with three English country ships, two Danish, three Swedish, four Dutch and four French. Captain Affleck of His Majesty's Ship Argo quarrelled with the Chinese over measuring his ship and gave way before the trade was stopped. The Dolphin and Tamar, then completing Commodore Byron's circumnavigation, passed Anger Point in December 1765. [Film No. 9, 15-16]
For foreign ships, though never for the Company's own, the Council recorded tonnage, guns, crew, cargo and destination. Two Danish China ships of 1,100 and 900 tons called from 17 to 21 April 1766, and three Swedish China ships followed on 1 May, 18 May and 5 June 1766. The French Adour came from Bengal on 27 May 1766, the Danish Countess Moltke from Bengal on 7 July 1766 and a Dutch ship from Batavia with sugar and pepper on 9 July 1766. The French Comte d'Argenson from Mauritius and the Dutch Young Thomas from China called in March 1767. Canton in the 1766 season held 14 Company ships, one country ship, four Dutch, one Danish, one Swedish and three French. [Film No. 22, 24-25, 27, 29, 39, 54-55, 117-118]
A Swedish officer's sighting of the Tilbury in the Sunda Strait, reported on 5 June 1766, was withdrawn on 8 June 1766, and she arrived on 9 July 1766. The Royal George was met on 3 February 1766 bound for Banca and Banjarmasin. On 5 March 1767 the Council passed on a Dutch seaman's story, heard by Affleck at the Cape, that a treaty of trade was renewed there, and retracted it on 26 March 1767 after Captain Court met her in the Sunda Strait with a sickly crew and the venture failed. [Film No. 19-20, 29, 31, 39, 50, 54]
The Argo lost her masts in a typhoon after leaving Macao, refitted at Malacca and reached the island from the Cape on 11 February 1767. The Ponsborne left Ingeli about 10 April 1766 and arrived only on 26 October 1766, after a passage through the Strait of Malacca. The masters of the Horsenden and Kent failed to produce their cargo papers in 1766, and all four Bombay ships, the True Briton, Hardwicke, Clive and Harcourt, held no copy of a bill of lading. The Prince of Wales lacked hers in March 1767 and Captain Richardson of the Pigot his in August 1767. [Film No. 27, 31, 34, 36, 44-45, 48, 50, 55-56, 94]
The Lord Camden arrived from Madras on 22 April 1767 with Mr and Mrs Palk and General Caillaud. About 10 o'clock on the night of 17 May 1767 the boats of the Britannia and the Speaker came in, and the delayed Duke of Kingston carried word next day that Lord Clive was on board the first in good health. With him were General Carnac, Colonel Champion, Mr Maskelyne and Mr Strachey, and Mr Crommelin travelled in the Speaker. The Britannia sailed on 22 May 1767. [Film No. 67, 68, 75, 76, 79]
Homeward ships from China, Bengal, Madras, Bombay and Bencoolen sailed between April and 14 September 1767, and none followed until the Lord Holland on 18 January 1768. Eight foreign ships were reported between 4 April and 4 September 1767. The Danish Fredensborg Palace came from China for Copenhagen, the Swedish Stockholm Slott from China for Gothenburg and a Dutch ship from Ceylon with spice for Middelburg. Three more Dutch ships arrived from Batavia and China between 11 and 14 May 1767, bound for Amsterdam, Hoorn and Zeeland, with 22 to 30 guns, 100 to 160 men and cargoes of tea, chinaware, coffee, spice and pepper. The Dutch Elizabeth Dorothea anchored to leeward of South West Point on 4 September 1767 and sailed five days later without entering the road, for reasons left to a consultation. [Film No. 58, 63, 67, 73, 97, 100, 104]
Captain Larkins saw the Neptune entering Princes Island on 23 February 1767. On 9 June 1767 the French ship Ajax, Captain St Martin, arrived from Mauritius with word of an unnamed English ship there without masts or rudder and with 6 or 7 feet of water in her hold, and letters she carried convinced the Council that it was the Neptune. No English ship lay in the road, so on 11 June 1767 it sent the news by the Ajax and asked the commander of Port L'Orient to forward packets for the Court, its secretary and the ship's husband with three other letters, repeating the letter by the Hawke. Her Captain Steward arrived on 7 September 1767 and reported a violent gale in latitude 19 degrees 30 minutes south, in which he lost his rudder, cut away topmasts, lower yards and the small bower anchor and threw over two guns of 9 pounds and much private trade. About 160 chests of the Company's Bohea tea were condemned at Mauritius, where the French governor received him kindly. [Film No. 69, 81, 82, 86, 97]
Captain John Williams's Hector, from Madras and the Cape, ran aground on the day she arrived in January 1768. Every Company boat and 100 soldiers were sent, and she floated at high water with the loss of her false keel and an injured rudder, which he mended himself. A Company longboat more than three years old was ruined in the rescue. The carpenter valued her at £10 0s 0d against £35 0s 0d in the books, and the Council left any charge on the ship to the Court while seeking a replacement. Her arrival is given as 11 January 1768, yet the letter of 18 January 1768 is silent on her and the bills and consultation connected with her date from 22 to 25 January 1768. [Film No. 105, 106, 107]
Eighteen homeward Company ships reached the road between 5 March 1768 and February 1769. Captain Milford reported in March 1768 that Chinese suppliers packed tea chests with sawdust and that the supercargoes had a sampan burnt, after which trade at Canton stopped for about 25 days until the Cohong settled the dispute. A rebellion in China during 1767 did no damage to trade. He counted six English country ships, two Danish, two Swedish, four Dutch and three French ships at China. The Court placed its China business under a council at Canton, which the letter of 2 June 1768 welcomed. [Film No. 111, 128]
Captain Hall saw the Calcutta leaky at Tellicherry on 7 January 1768, bound for Bombay to dock, and Captain Carteret placed her at Batavia on a country voyage during 1768. The Egmont put in at Mauritius to repair a leak after leaving Madras on 13 May 1768. Captain Hardwicke of the Earl of Lincoln and Hall of the Worcester each held no copy of his bill of lading. [Film No. 112-113, 122, 124, 150, 155]
Six foreign Indiamen, two Danish, one Swedish and three Dutch, reached the road between 6 and 16 April 1768 against two Company ships. They measured from about 800 to 1,300 tons and carried 24 to 32 guns and 110 to 170 men, the China ships with tea, chinaware and silk and the Dutch ships from Bengal with saltpetre and pepper. A Dutch ship failed to make the road in calm weather and passed on 9 May 1768, and another from Batavia arrived on 13 May 1768. The French Marquis De Sancé from Bengal came in on 26 May 1768 and the Dutch Schoonzight from Ceylon on 29 May 1768. [Film No. 117-118, 125-126, 133]
The Dolphin, then completing Wallis's circumnavigation, arrived from the Cape on 17 March 1768 and sailed the following day. His Majesty's Sloop Swallow under Carteret arrived on 21 January 1769 and left too quickly for the usual papers to be prepared. [Film No. 114, 155, 173-174]
Four China ships arrived between 19 and 24 March 1769, having left Canton on 27 December 1768, when 12 Company ships were there with three country ships, one Danish, one Swedish, four Dutch and four French. The Ponsborne and Granby lay at Batavia intending the eastern passage, and Captain Jackson died there. Foreign callers in 1769 were the Danish Fredericksborg of 1,300 tons from China on 24 April, a Dutch pepper ship on 1 May, the Danish Rigernes Onske from Bengal on 15 May, the French Actionaire from Pondicherry, with 300 men and 16 guns, on 29 May and another French ship on 2 June. [Film No. 165-166, 181, 183, 191-192]
Acting on the Secret Committee's letter of 19 January 1769, the Council sent Wrangham aboard the outward Speke to search for illicit trade. He found 35 chests of wine and five cases of clockwork, two more than her manifest showed. Nothing was detained on the officers' explanations, the Company's seal on the cases and the passengers' oaths, as the reply of 3 June 1769 reported, and the ship sailed on 24 May 1769. [Film No. 193-194]
Bengal had no news of the Earl of Chatham when the Salisbury left on 26 February 1769, and her commander, Captain Morrice, came home as a passenger in the Dutton in July 1769. [Film No. 191, 207]
Letters of August to October 1769 reported the Prince of Wales leaking and bound for Brazil, the Talbot overdue and 12 Company ships at Fort St George on 1 July 1769. Sir Charles Hudson brought the Talbot in on 17 October 1769, almost seven months out of Bengal, having struggled off the Cape for six weeks with a sickening crew and turned back to Madagascar. News followed in February 1770 that the Lord Holland was lost in September 1769 coming out of the river of Bengal. [Film No. 211, 213, 220, 223, 227]
Captain Payne of the Ponsborne, arriving on 16 January 1770, had found the King's frigates Stagg and Aurora and the sloop Hawke at the Cape in December 1769, with the Company's supervisors Messrs Vansittart, Scrafton and Ford in good health. The China fleet came in on 18 to 20 February and 29 to 31 March 1770. It reported 16 Company ships at Canton against four country, one Danish, two Swedish, four Dutch and three French, and the Earl of Middlesex had lost her passage and gone to Batavia. The last two China ships, the Neptune and Norfolk, arrived on 20 and 22 May 1770. [Film No. 225, 229, 230, 237, 251]
The Dutch Rhynsburg called on 22 September 1769 with pepper for Amsterdam and the Maria Jacoba on 22 May 1770 with spices for Holland. In March and April 1770 the Swedish Adolph Frederick and Rickenstander, each of 1,300 tons, and the Danish Queen Sophia Magdalena of about 1,100 tons carried tea, porcelain and silk for Gothenburg and Copenhagen. [Film No. 220, 233, 238, 253]
The Britannia, Captain Rous, left Madras on 8 February 1770 and met a violent gale on 10 March 1770 in latitude 20 degrees south. She took 5 feet of water in the hold, which dissolved part of her saltpetre and soaked 100 bales. At Mauritius he left the bales with a merchant under contract to wash them and return them to Madras, took in 70 tons of ballast and sailed on 15 April 1770, reaching the island on 22 May 1770. Passengers that month included Harry Verelst, the retiring Governor of Bengal, Thomas Rumbold and the Danish Chief of Salampore. [Film No. 246, 251, 252, 254]
The Devonshire arrived from China on 29 May 1770 and carried the letter of 16 June 1770. The Danish Countess of Moltke from Tranquebar arrived on 3 June 1770 with 700 tons, 22 guns and only 60 men. The Anson from Madras and the Fox from Bombay arrived on 29 July and 2 August 1770, dates fixed by the letter of 4 August 1770 against a first reading of June and July. Captain Mitchell of the Fox reported Sir John Lindsay at Bombay, trade with Persia reopened and the Malabar settlements at peace. The West Friesland followed on 1 September 1770 with sugar, coffee and pepper. [Film No. 259-261, 264, 266-269, 274]
The Lapwing arrived from Madras by the Cape on 6 January 1771 and sailed the same day with only a short letter and two duplicates. Captain Owen reported six Company ships at Bengal on 20 September 1770, no news of the Aurora and the Commissioners since she left the Cape and General Coote returning to England overland. The Prince of Wales from Bengal and the Duke of Cumberland from Bombay arrived on 28 February and 2 March 1771, and the consultations sent by the first ran from 13 August 1770 to 4 March 1771. [Film No. 275-278]
The Earl of Middlesex opened the China season on about 7 March 1771, having left Canton on 26 November 1770. Captain Rogers reported that the Bute, the Stafford, the Elgin and the British King lost their passages to China and that one English country ship, five Dutch, two Danish, two Swedish and two French ships traded at Canton. Two Swedish and two Danish China ships of 1,100 to 1,300 tons called between 18 and 23 March 1771 with tea, porcelain and silk. Thirteen Company ships then reached the road between 25 March and 15 April 1771, and the Europa from Bengal completed the convoy. [Film No. 277-280, 283, 285-287, 296]
The Europa arrived with measles aboard, a disease never known on the island, and the Council forbade any infected person or their linen to come ashore. The summaries date the order 8 May 1771 and her arrival 7 May 1771, yet both stand in a letter dated 4 May 1771. Her Captain Pelly reported the Ponsborne at the Cape on 16 April 1771 with much sickness aboard. The Endeavour arrived from the Cape on 1 May 1771 with Mr Banks and Doctor Solander, her company having stayed healthy until Batavia, where many died, and recovered a good deal at the Cape. The Council did not name her commander, James Cook. [Film No. 287, 292-294]
The Danish Carolina Matilda from Bengal arrived on 21 May 1771. The Resolution arrived on 24 May 1771 under Captain Poynting, her commander having died on 5 May 1771. The Bridgewater and the Huntingdon followed on 30 May 1771 and the Vansittart, the Northington and the Worcester between 6 and 8 June 1771. Sealy of the Northington held no bill of lading, and an abstract of her cargo was supplied six days afterwards from another source. [Film No. 296-298, 300, 302, 304, 305]
The Lord Mansfield from Bengal on 7 July 1771 and the True Briton from Bombay on 20 July 1771 closed the season with the Prime. The Duke of Portland arrived from Madras on 13 October 1771 and reported the King's ships Dolphin and Swallow there with five Company ships. No Company ship called between her sailing on 10 November 1771 and the arrival of the British King from China on 28 February 1772. [Film No. 311, 320, 325-326]
Captain Hoare of the British King left 19 Company ships at China on 25 November 1771, with two English country ships, one Danish, one Swedish, four Dutch and two French ships and a snow from Mauritius. The Queen Sophia Magdalena, with 26 guns and 160 men, arrived on 10 March 1772 with tea, chinaware and silk for Copenhagen. A Swedish ship arrived on 14 March 1772 and reported the Earl of Elgin at Princes Island on 16 January 1772, pumping day and night, news sent at once by the Danish ship. [Film No. 326-328, 333]
The Earl of Elgin arrived leaking on 8 April 1772 and was driven out to anchor in 60 fathoms off Munden's Point. Nineteen Company ships reached the road between 28 February and 14 May 1772, most of them from China. Captain Thomson of the Calcutta heard in the Sunda Strait on 19 February 1772 that the Pigot was at Batavia. A receipt for the Court's packets by the Speke, enclosed to the island by mistake from Bengal, was forwarded home. [Film No. 327, 332, 336, 338-339, 341, 348, 350, 354]
Wars and Foreign Affairs
Captain Fenner left Fort William on 16 February 1766 and reported all quiet. Ships arriving on 14 and 15 May 1766 brought an unverified story that the Dutch governor and leading councillors at Colombo were poisoned by the inhabitants. [Film No. 25, 27, 43-45, 54]
A letter of 4 August 1766 relayed ships' news from Tellicherry. Hyder Naig, who styled himself Hyder Ali Khan and commanded much of the Malabar coast, asked the chief, Mr Ryley, for leave to march through the town and was refused. His advance guard pulled down the Company's colours at outlying posts, an act he disowned, and a subaltern's detachment recovered every post but one pagoda without opposition. Ryley then sent 300 Europeans and sepoys with two guns against the main army, and they were defeated with the loss of many men and both cannon. Hyder promised to return the guns, did not do so and called the English the aggressors. [Film No. 43-44]
The letter of 23 September 1766 added that Lord Clive was gone up to the army in Bengal. Sir Robert Fletcher came home in the Cruttenden in March 1767, listed without comment. Clive and Carnac were then expected to sail in the Britannia at the beginning of February 1767, and General Lawrence went home from Madras in the Pacific. Hyder was reported on 26 March 1767 with 30,000 disciplined men and 30 vessels, marching around the Company's settlements while assuring Bombay of his goodwill, which the Council doubted. The same letter reported disturbances between the inhabitants and the English at Mocha, which threatened the coffee trade unless Bombay gave support. [Film No. 25, 27, 43-45, 53, 54]
War on the Coromandel coast was reported on 18 January 1768. Nairn, who parted with his pilot in Bengal on 15 October 1767, said that the Hector sailed for the Coast with troops on 15 September 1767 and the Northington and Earl of Elgin on 30 September 1767, with three or four country ships, carrying three battalions of sepoys. Calcutta believed that Hyder and the Nabob of Golconda had marched between Madras and the Company's army, but a country ship then reported an engagement in which Hyder was wounded and communication reopened. Williams left Fort St George on 6 November 1767 and reported two victories, the second costing Hyder all his baggage and cannon, and the Council hoped that he could cause no more alarm. Williams also corrected Nairn's report that the Bute was on the Coast, while Nairn added that the Calcutta grounded at the mouth of the Bengal river and that the leaking Vansittart meant to put into Mauritius. [Film No. 101, 102, 105, 106]
Riddell, who left Bengal on 7 April 1768, reported peace with the Nizam, a naval expedition fitting out at Bombay against Hyder's ports and Colonel Peach expected to subdue a minor rajah south of Masulipatam. Captain Hooke, who left Tellicherry on 3 May 1768, reported that Hyder retook Mangalore and that the Company's troops fell back on Tellicherry. [Film No. 139, 150, 156]
Captain Purvis heard at the Cape, as relayed on 13 February 1769, that the French were gathering many Europeans at Mauritius, which the French Crown had taken over from its East India Company in 1767. Captain Roddam reported on 29 March 1769 that a snow full of officers was bound there and that nearly 4,000 disciplined troops were held on the island. The Governor wrote alone to the Secret Committee on 3 and 8 April 1769 on subjects the lists left unstated. [Film No. 156, 166, 171-172, 192]
The Queen brought word, reported on 30 April 1769, that a mission to Sujah Dowlah ended on friendly terms and that Bengal was at peace. Hyder was reported on 3 June 1769 overrunning the Carnatic with cavalry while avoiding battle. The Dutton, which left Madras on 11 March 1769, told of a brief ceasefire, a wasted country and an embassy by Mr Andrews. Peace between Madras and Hyder, concluded in April 1769, was first heard third-hand in September 1769 and confirmed by Haggis in October 1769. [Film No. 180, 192, 205, 211, 213, 220, 223, 227]
Captain Jones of the Shrewsbury, who arrived on 28 August 1769, reported that the governor of Mauritius, Monsieur De La Roche, forbade any landing and supplied him by French boats. Jones answered that French commanders were always allowed ashore at St Helena and was refused again. Some officers and a passenger, Mr Barwell, were taken under escort to a ball at 8 o'clock at night, where they counted more than 400 military officers and heard of troops in proportion and much cavalry. On 14 September 1769 the Council resolved to call out the militia and to supply French ships in the same manner, without landing, until the Court ordered otherwise. [Film No. 213, 214]
Haggis of the Thames told the Council, in its letter of 14 October 1769, that Frenchmen wandered about Calcutta and that French ships reached Bengal crowded with men and twice the usual officers, then left with a working crew. At the Cape he heard of many troops at Mauritius, of St Mary's seized and fortified, of rapid advances on Madagascar and of Dutch unease. Elphinston of the Triton reported on 6 April 1770 three outward French ships at the Cape with about 700 soldiers of the Regiment of Conti. [Film No. 221, 240]
The rule was first applied to Le Duc de Praslin, from Bengal for Port L'Orient, which arrived on 28 March 1770 with 20 guns and 164 men on about 600 tons. Her captain and officers were kept out of the garrison, except one officer who waited on the Governor accompanied throughout by the Town Adjutant, and she received her provisions and all the water she wanted. In the same week Mr Yard, a French gentleman, went home as a passenger in the Granby. The Court's approval of this conduct, past and future, arrived in May 1770, and the Council promised that no Frenchman would have fair grounds for complaint. [Film No. 237, 238, 239, 255]
Larkins saw a Spanish frigate of 28 guns and about 300 men leave the Cape on 16 April 1770, reportedly for Manila, and Captain Fortescue saw a ship apparently of 74 guns and a frigate under Spanish colours in the Straits of Banca. Two frigates from Manila bound for Spain, of 28 guns and 170 men and of 26 guns and 180 men, called on 20 and 22 May 1770 without restriction, in the year that Britain and Spain came close to war over the Falkland Islands. [Film No. 246, 251, 252]
Mitchell of the Fox reported in August 1770 that Hyder was retreating before the Marathas and offered 37 lakh of pagodas for peace against their demand for a crore. [Film No. 259, 266-269]
Four Englishmen from the Verelst, wrecked on Mauritius, reached Madras in a Danish ship in July 1771 and reported her crew held prisoner and the Danish ship detained for three weeks with her rudder unshipped. Three French warships were reported at the Cape in the letter of 4 February 1772, and three with two transports awaiting orders from Europe on 10 March 1772. Rice reported on 19 April 1772 that four were bound for France with many troops from Mauritius and that the Dutch were said to have refused the French further wheat. The Stagg, arriving on 2 February 1772, reported Fort St George at war with the King of Tanjore and General Smith besieging his capital. [Film No. 311, 320-321, 325-327, 342]
A French brigadier general from the Cape and a supercargo from China arrived as passengers in the Northumberland on 28 March 1772 and were kept aboard, the Governor of Mauritius still allowing no Company gentleman ashore. The brigadier was reported to be a very good engineer, a second reason given for denying him sight of the works. [Film No. 336]
Judiciary, Crime and Punishment
General quarter sessions sat on 13 January, 9 April, 16 July and 8 October 1766, 14 January, 29 April, 15 July and 7 October 1767, 13 January, 18 April, 18 July and 3 October 1768, 11 January, 3 April, 12 July and 4 October 1769, 10 January, 25 April, 11 July and 3 October 1770, 9 January, 10 April, 10 July and 9 October 1771 and 8 January and 29 April 1772, each reported in a letter on law matters. Returns of courts martial went home for 19 August 1765 to 4 August 1766, 5 August 1766 to 31 August 1767, 17 September 1767 to 8 August 1768, 15 August 1768 to 31 August 1769, 1 September 1769 to 26 February 1771 and 4 March 1771 to 2 March 1772. [Film No. 17, 23, 28-29, 41, 42, 43, 45, 49, 53, 62, 64, 70, 79, 93, 105, 110, 121, 149-150, 158, 160, 176, 182, 197, 209, 210, 223, 224, 225, 227, 247, 248, 270, 277-279, 296, 314, 324, 328-329, 347, 351, 356]
On 5 June 1766 the Council refused Fenner's request to try a seaman who struck an officer, doubting its jurisdiction over acts at sea, and asked the Court for a ruling. [Film No. 17, 23, 28-29, 42, 49, 53]
Captain Inglis of the Asia quarrelled with his seaman John Pinchback at the landing crane on Tuesday 24 February 1767 and raised his cane. Pinchback wrenched it away, the captain fell backwards on to the rocks and he died of a fractured skull on 1 March 1767. John Moffat, the chief mate, was sworn to command until the Court decided, and Pinchback was gaoled for the sessions of 29 April 1767. By 6 May 1767 he was going home in the Lord Camden, no letter stating the verdict. He could not pay the clerk of the peace's fees of £0 19s 2d, which the Council advanced, asking the Court to stop the sum from the wages owed by the Asia's owners. [Film No. 50, 70, 79, 93, 105]
Captain Richard Beale was tried by general court martial on 23 March 1767, and the proceedings went home on 11 April 1767 as a bare enclosure, with no charge or sentence named. The Court made Captain Griffin pay £72 0s 0d for six soldiers who deserted in the Admiral Stevens and approved the Council's orders on ships sailing at night, of which all captains were to be warned. Stray seamen were cleared into the next ship: Michael Herley into the Speaker on 26 May 1767, five deserters from the Nottingham and Anson into the Devonshire on 10 September 1767 and three men left by the Devonshire into the Lord Holland. For two French deserters from the Ajax, Charles Dewolfe and Joseph Veuille, the Council paid Cotton £10 0s 0d in June 1767. [Film No. 62, 64, 80, 82, 98, 101, 102]
Bland laid accusations in London that the Court took up in seven paragraphs of its letter by the Tilbury. The accused received copies and answered on 20 June 1768, and the Council found every charge false and spiteful and sent the answers home. The letter of February 1769 disclosed that Mitchell and Captain Bazett were among the accused, Bland alleging that Company workmen and materials went into a billiard room and other premises that the two owned in partnership. The Council separately blamed Bland for failures, blunders and shallow repairs in the Company's buildings. [Film No. 130, 139-140, 146, 149, 156]
Sergeant Thomas Payne, clerk of the works, who kept the daily record of men and materials, revived the billiard room charge in the consultation of 12 December 1768. The Council heard his witnesses on oath, found the charge false and dismissed him from the service, and Purvis carried him home in the Valentine as a charter-party passenger for £5 0s 0d. [Film No. 156-157]
John Fish, a sentinel, was convicted of attempted sodomy at the sessions of 3 October 1768, and Morrit was accused on 30 September 1768 of stealing a door lock from Plantation House. Both were shipped off as crew in the Valentine in February 1769. Stephen Papps, convicted of the same offence as Fish by the same court, was discharged before his term and shipped as crew on 1 August 1769 as unfit to stay. The Council promised on 11 April 1769 to follow the Court's new paragraphs on holding courts of justice. The first lieutenant of artillery, probably Leech, stood on probation after his suspension. [Film No. 158, 160, 176, 182, 197, 209, 210]
A special meeting of justices on 8 November 1769 found the soldiers John Dobson and William Brown guilty of counterfeiting rupees. They waited 11 weeks for a ship and left as charterparty passengers in the Ponsborne for £10 0s 0d. [Film No. 223, 224, 225, 227, 247, 248]
Two soldiers, Sutton L[...] and Patrick Newland, were tried for sodomy at the court of October 1770 and were suspected of the offence before. The letter of 7 March 1771 does not say that they were convicted, and the Council removed them by its own order as working hands in the Prince of Wales. [Film No. 270, 277-279, 296]
Thieves broke through the wall of the Company's stores with a crowbar on the night of 12 March 1771, forced the cash chest and took £355 12s 11½d in coin of various kinds. The Council suspected the corporal's guard in the Castle, from which the sentry over the stores was relieved. It had no evidence fit for a committal, yet it confined every man separately on suspicion and offered a reward of £40 0s 0d and a pardon to any informer, including an accomplice. On 17 March 1771 it reminded the Court that the two iron chests were never sent. [Film No. 281-283]
Tedrick, a matross, confessed on 22 June 1771 to the robbery, saying that he acted alone but that Stephen Swartson, another matross, advised him and shared the money. Only £165 12s 0d was recovered, in two parcels, and each man admitted spending no more than £30 0s 0d to £40 0s 0d. Tedrick found the bag lighter on his second visit to the hiding place, and the Council suspected that Swartson, who denied it, had another partner. The recovered money was kept out of the books until the trials ended. [Film No. 308-309]
The quarterly court of 10 July 1771 condemned Tedrick, and he was hanged before 7 September 1771. He accused Godfrey Smith of the artillery, Peter Buckman and another man of the magazine plot and held to the story until the gallows, where he declared it invented. The accused denied everything. The Council discharged Buckman, elsewhere named John, as a man of bad character and sent him as a hand in the Prime, and warned the others that only their future conduct could clear them. Swartson stayed in gaol until the King's free pardon arrived by the Lord Camden, when the Council released him and sent him home on 7 May 1772 as a hand in the Asia with William Dowsing, a discharged gunner. [Film No. 314, 315-316, 320, 324, 328-329, 347, 351, 356]
Religion, Education and Social Order
The Council asked on 2 April 1766 that materials for the church be held back until the fortifications allowed. The Reverend John Thackeray gave notice on 4 May 1766 that he would leave the service in April 1767, drew a bill for £35 0s 0d on 24 March 1767 and sailed in the Duke of Cumberland on 11 May 1767, his salary continued until he left on the precedent of his predecessor, Mr Lee. His successor, Bearcroft, was to recover his bond for £100 0s 0d once he paid it off. Joseph Chamberlain, the carpenter's mate, resigned on 30 June 1766 pleading Sunday work, which the Council answered meant one coffin and one packet box, a remark omitted from the consultation, and no replacement could be found in the ships. [Film No. 11, 24, 41, 46, 54, 62, 71, 98, 106]
The Council's letter of 27 June 1767 wanted Townsend dismissed but kept him as the only man able to cut and square stone for gun platforms. He petitioned on 29 June 1767 to leave, his contracted time being served, and the Council ordered him and his wife off the island and asked for another mason. In August 1767 he refused to embark unless forced, was held in custody for 24 hours and was put on board the Pigot, the Council paying Richardson £5 0s 0d. His island-born wife petitioned to stay with his consent, and the Council agreed, calling him a very bad husband. On 16 August 1767 it asked the Court how far it could send away an island-born wife with a dismissed husband, distinguishing a wife whose friends gave security that she would not become a charge on the parish from one who could find none and still wished to stay. [Film No. 83, 87, 88, 94, 95]
Acting on Bland's charge that Company servants bought up goods in bulk for resale, the Court's letter by the Tilbury restricted the servants' private trade and opened retail dealing with the ships to everyone. On 13 August 1768 the Council asked that the restriction be lifted, pleading that salaries scarcely gave a bare living. It opposed open dealing on the ground that cheap arrack from the ships was bought in excess and resold in small amounts to soldiers and slaves. [Film No. 140]
The Council cut the punch houses from 10 to five on 11 June 1768, as the Court ordered, wrote new rules into the licences and sent copies of the old and new home. It chose the closures by declaring women unfit to keep such houses, five licence holders being women. Mrs Beale and Mrs Kennedy, widows of long-serving captains, held their licences as relief for poor families with young children. The Widows' Fund paid £30 0s 0d a year but began after their husbands died, so the Council asked the Court for pensions. [Film No. 141-142, 149]
Bearcroft thanked the Court on 2 June 1768 for a library for the chaplain and senior servants, expected by the Duke of Richmond, and for tracts for the poorer people. He rated tracts above preaching because most people came to worship very seldom, which he blamed on the nature of the place and other unnamed causes, and held that moral instruction strengthened government. On 13 August 1768 he advised that the new church needed a marble font. [Film No. 130-131, 144]
The Court asked whether the transit of Venus of 1769 could be observed from the island and enclosed a letter from Mr Maty, probably Matthew Maty, Secretary of the Royal Society. On 15 June 1768 the Council replied that it had neither a qualified observer nor instruments and would only brief ships' officers present. [Film No. 135-136]
Paragraphs 9 to 21 of the Court's letter of 19 January 1769 regulated the sale of arrack and other spirits. The Council adopted rules in a consultation of 29 May 1769, swore in Richard Wright as collector of customs and reported a Society for the Sale of Arrack in which named servants, Purling among them, held shares. Three pipes of Madeira were also to be shared among the servants at invoice price. On 14 September 1769 it reported refusing Captain R[...] leave to land 20 gallons of arrack for his own use free of the Company's duty, arguing that exemptions would revive unlicensed retailing to soldiers and poorer islanders, which the new system had stopped to the visible benefit of the garrison's conduct. [Film No. 175, 187-188, 191, 214]
Richard Beale, Judge Advocate and schoolmaster, petitioned on 4 September 1769 to resign both posts through age and illness. The Council asked the Court for a pension for life, citing the support of the Company's servants and of a vestry held on 8 September 1769, and kept him in office because no one else could teach. He died on 7 October 1769. [Film No. 215, 217, 218, 221]
As the letter of 17 September 1769 reported, the vestry voted £450 0s 0d from the fund for the poor to build a schoolmaster's house. It raised quarterly fees from £0 6s 0d to £1 0s 0d for spelling and reading and from £0 12s 0d to £1 10s 0d for writing and arithmetic, with 20 scholars always expected. The Company's salary was £30 0s 0d a year and the Judge Advocate's £50 0s 0d. Bearcroft argued for a clergyman, whom the Council thought unfit to act in criminal prosecutions, so it asked the Court to add the lost £50 0s 0d to the school salary and proposed a civil servant as Judge Advocate. [Film No. 218, 219]
John Congreve, the schoolmaster sent by the Court, was also appointed Judge Advocate, as the Council reported on 30 May 1770. He began teaching before the schoolhouse was built, and the inhabitants were allowed to buy materials from the Company's stores. The will of Mrs Mary Hunt, who died at Bengal, was registered on the island in 1770, and the Court secured her estate to the island's poor on the death of a named beneficiary. [Film No. 258, 269-270, 288]
Bearcroft sought a higher salary by a letter of 7 September 1771, which the Council forwarded with a warm testimonial. [Film No. 315, 318, 320, 327, 338, 346]
Personalities
Mitchell commanded the artillery, kept the ordnance stores and directed the works as engineer in 1766. The captain of the Royal George shared the Governor's surname, and no letter stated a relationship. A Captain Skottowe sailed as a passenger in the Worcester on 5 May 1768. [Film No. 10-11, 13, 16, 20, 41, 48, 123]
Four men named Bazett appeared between 13 June and 5 September 1768, Captain Henry, the writer George, Lieutenant Thomas and Matthew, with no relationship stated, and Henry and Matthew remitted money in 1770 and 1771. [Film No. 123, 137, 139, 146, 148, 151, 258, 260, 263, 266, 272, 277, 298, 301, 303]
The Council resolved on 9 May 1768 to send the Company's gardener off the island and gave no reason in its letter. He is named Samuel Black in the letter of 13 May 1768 and James Black in that of 10 September 1768. Hooke carried him for £5 0s 0d, and a soldier kept the garden until a replacement came. [Film No. 125-126, 150, 154]
Captain Archibald Mitchell received leave to go home in July 1769, and Lieutenant Thomas Bazett was named superintendent of the works. The Council revealed only on 16 June 1769 that Mitchell resigned without reason soon after 1 April 1769 and was talked out of it by Skottowe and Purling. He handed in his commission on 10 June 1769 and then insulted the board in ways left to the consultations of 12 and 14 June 1769. The Council called his mind disturbed, suspected that he resigned first to escape military discipline and kept its praise of his works. He sailed in the Horsendon, and the Council asked for a trained artillery officer, a sober master mason and books and instruments for his successor. [Film No. 158, 187, 197-200]
Preston, the second mason, was a heavy drinker whom the Council did not expect to keep, as it told the Court on 9 August 1770. [Film No. 258, 260, 263, 266, 272, 277, 298, 301, 303]
Robins, formerly the armourer, sailed home with his family in the Prime in September 1771, having received £250 0s 0d by a bill from Hugh Jones. William Freeman, a soldier made carpenter's mate, injured his chest and went home in the Northumberland on 6 April 1772 at a fare of £5 0s 0d, the Council commending his five years of good conduct to the Court's protection. [Film No. 313, 317, 321, 336-337, 347]
Conclusion
The letters close on 21 May 1772 with the Court's rulings on Tippett's protest, the guns proposed above Purling's Battery and Bearcroft's salary still awaited. [Film No. 308-356]
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| EAP 1364 St Helena§ §Document Name and Date§ §St HELENA LETTERS TO ENGLAND 1766 - 1772§ §Photographer§ §PETER§ §Date photographed§ §7 MARCH 2022§ §Additional comments§ | ||
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1 | To the Honorable &ca§ | The Council addressed this letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on 4 March, sending that letter by the Earl of Middlesex. 2: News that every ship of the previous season arrived safely gave the Council great pleasure. The Council hoped the same good fortune would follow the ships of the current year. 3: The Council undertook to carry out every order received from the Secret Committee, or from any three of its members. 4: The Council sincerely hoped that the ships engaged for the Company's trade that year would return safely and with the success the Court wanted. 5: The charterparties of that year's ships showed the Council that both the freight and the demurrage were lower than before. The Rippon and the Prince of Wales were dispatched once their ten working days ran out. For some time, however, the surf ran unusually high, as the Court would see from the consultation of the 24th of the previous month. The captains of those two ships entered a protest against the delay in that consultation. The heavy surf was the reason they did not get away as early as they otherwise would. 6: The Council sincerely wished the Court success in its China business under the gentlemen named to manage and direct it. With the Court's permission, the Council made some small changes to its order for chinaware, as the Court would see from the Council's letter to the Company's council at Canton. 7: The Council hoped the Court would always continue the order to its captains. Interpretations The charterparty was the hire contract between the Company and a ship's owners. It fixed the freight, the price paid for carrying cargo, and the demurrage, the daily compensation owed to the owners when the Company kept a ship beyond the agreed time. The ten working days were the period the island was allowed to hold a ship before demurrage began to run. The captains' protest was a formal recorded declaration that the delay was not their doing, which protected the owners' claim and shifted responsibility away from the ship. By reporting the high surf alongside the protest, the Council was building its own defence against any charge for the days lost. The Secret Committee was a small body of directors that issued confidential orders, chiefly on the sailing and safety of ships. The promise to obey any three of its members shows that three signatures were enough to bind the island's government without the full Court. The indent was the island's standing requisition for goods. Chinaware was ordered directly from the Company's supercargoes at Canton and delivered by homeward-bound China ships calling at the island, which is why the Council wrote to Canton as well as to London. | |
2 | Captains for supplying themselves in India with Fewel, as we shall never§ | The Council wanted the Court's standing order kept in force, under which captains supplied themselves with fuel in India, because the island could never provide it. For that reason the Council asked the Court to meet its order for coals so that captains could be given fuel when they needed it. The 30 chaldrons the engineer required for burning lime could not be drawn on for that purpose. 8: The consultation of 9 December of the previous year recorded the Council's decision to break up the Fly cutter. The vessel proved unfit for the work she was meant to do. 9: The Court chose not to change the practice of its ships leaving a barrel of powder at the island. The Council promised to follow the Court's orders on that point. 10: The longboat lost the previous year while watering His Majesty's ships stood in the Company's books at £80 0s 0d. The Council promised to take particular care in future to report every circumstance bearing on the Company's business. 11: The Council learned with concern that the intelligence sent the previous year did not satisfy the Court, having believed its report on the subject full and explicit. Every effort was made to gather news of the Company's affairs from the gentlemen of the shipping. If those gentlemen kept back anything of importance, the Council trusted the Court would not blame the island for neglect or carelessness. The Council undertook to go on collecting whatever intelligence seemed useful to the Court. 12: Only one slave died on the Royal George's passage from Angola to the island. Soon after landing, however, many of the slaves fell ill with a disease called the craws, which made it necessary to send them away. Interpretations The Council's defence in paragraph 11 shows how the Court gathered news of its eastern trade. Returning ships called at the island months before reaching England, and the Council was expected to question their officers and forward what it learned. The officers had private trade and reputations of their own to protect, so the Council had no means of compelling a full account. By naming that weakness, the Council placed any gaps in its reports on the ships' officers and not on its own diligence. The craws was a contemporary name for yaws, a contagious skin disease common among slaves shipped from West and Central Africa. It produced raspberry-like sores, spread by contact and often showed itself only some weeks after infection, which explains why the slaves seemed healthy on the voyage and sickened once ashore. Removing the sick to a separate place was the usual way of stopping it spreading through the rest of the island's slaves. A chaldron was a measure of coal by volume, the London chaldron weighing roughly 28 hundredweight. Lime was made by burning limestone in a kiln and was needed for mortar in the island's fortifications and buildings, so the engineer's 30 chaldrons were reserved for the works. Ships' fuel therefore had to come from a separate supply, which is why the Council pressed for its coal order while still wanting captains to bring fuel from India. The barrel of powder was a customary contribution each Company ship made to the island's magazine on calling there. The Court's refusal to alter the practice kept the garrison's supply of gunpowder dependent on passing shipping. The longboat's book value of £80 0s 0d mattered because the boat was lost in serving the Royal Navy and not the Company, so the figure was the sum the Company would need in order to write off the loss or seek repayment from the Crown. | |
3 | sent to the Hospital, and from time to time informed ourselves from the§ | The slaves sickened with the craws went into the hospital. From time to time the Council asked the garrison's surgeon and the surgeon of the Royal George when they would be fit to go back on board. Once both reported them well enough recovered, and Captain Skottowe announced that he was ready to sail, the Council ordered him to continue his voyage. The Council admitted its fault in not reporting these circumstances to the Court. 13: The charterparties requested for the Council's guidance arrived and would prove useful on particular occasions. 14: The two yawls requested the previous year for catching fish for the slaves also arrived. Their coming pleased the Council greatly because the island badly needed them. 15: The Council thanked the Court for the generous supply of provisions and other stores received by these ships. When the order for 1763 was drawn up, the Council believed the provisions requested, added to those then in store, would fully cover the year's consumption. The unusual demands of the Company's ships the previous year for every kind of provision, together with the larger number of slaves, caused the severe shortage. The Council promised to take particular care in future that its orders, above all for provisions, would meet every need of the island. Due attention would also be paid to the Court's comments on the island's orders, as the Court directed. 16: The chest of treasure consigned to the island by the Plassey went forward in that ship to the Company's council in China. The Council judged that the chest taken out of the Prince of Wales, together with whatever money came in for bills, would fully cover the expenses of the current year. Interpretations Paragraph 16 records a consignment deliberately passed on. The chest of treasure in the Plassey was addressed to the island, and the obvious course was to land it. The Council instead sent it on to Canton, reasoning that one chest from the Prince of Wales and the proceeds of bills would meet the year's costs. Silver was the Company's means of buying tea in China, so coin lying unused in the island's treasury was of more value there. The bills were bills of exchange drawn on the Court in London: residents and ships' officers paid cash into the island's treasury and received a bill payable in England, which gave the island a steady local source of coin without shipping it from home. The account of the slaves from the Royal George shows that they were not intended for the island. They were landed only to recover and were re-embarked on the certificate of two surgeons, one answering for the island and one for the ship, before Captain Skottowe was allowed to proceed. The Council's admission of fault answered the Court's complaint, recorded earlier in this letter, that the island's reports left out material circumstances. The yawls were small open boats worked by oars or a light sail. Fishing with them gave the Company's slaves a cheap local ration and reduced the call on salted provisions sent from England, the same stores whose shortage paragraph 15 explains. | |
4 | 17 The Anchors Cables &ca sent for the Use of your Ships, shall§ | 17: The anchors, cables and other gear sent for the Company's ships would be held for that use alone. Whenever a captain needed any of those articles, the Council would charge 30 per cent above the invoice price, as the Court directed. 18: The Council explained that it could not report on the quality of the slaves received by the Royal George until they were tried for twelve months. Regret was expressed that they seemed in no way equal to the Madagascar slaves, although the Council hoped they would improve with time. 19: The flour received that year proved extremely good. The Council thanked the Court for its care in changing suppliers, since the former contractor did the Company no justice. 20: The fortifications were then the Council's first concern. For that reason the Court was asked to hold back any materials for the church until the island reported itself ready for them. 21: Captain Mitchell was appointed to command the artillery because that company urgently needed bringing into proper discipline, although the Council submitted the step for the Court's approval. He served in the artillery before, and the Council thought him the ablest man for the task. He carried it out with great ability and without neglecting his other necessary duties. The Council promised to follow the Court's orders on all other vacancies in future. 22: The Court allowed the Council to appoint an officer provisionally to take charge of the ordnance and military stores. After more careful thought, the Council concluded that the officers of the artillery company could do that duty themselves. No new department was therefore needed, and the Court was spared any further expense. Interpretations Paragraph 22 records a permission declined. The Court offered the island a provisional keeper of ordnance and military stores, and the natural course was to fill the post. The Council instead left the duty with the artillery officers, giving the cost of a new department as its reason. The choice followed directly from paragraph 21: with Captain Mitchell newly placed over the artillery and credited with restoring its discipline, the Council could present that company as fit to be trusted with the guns and stores it used. The wording of paragraph 21 shows that the Court questioned the appointment. Filling a commissioned post was the Court's prerogative, and the Council acted first and sought approval afterwards. Its defence rested on urgency and on Mitchell's earlier artillery service, and the closing promise to obey orders on other vacancies conceded that the step was not to become a precedent. The 30 per cent advance in paragraph 17 was a fixed mark-up on the cost of the goods as invoiced in London. It covered freight, risk and storage and turned the island's naval stores into a small source of revenue. The charge fell on the ships' owners, since a captain drawing an anchor or cable was replacing gear that the owners were bound to provide under the charterparty. The twelve-month trial in paragraph 18 was the period the Council thought necessary to judge new slaves, covering their recovery from the voyage, their adjustment to the island and their performance at work. These were perhaps the slaves from Angola whose arrival by the Royal George was reported earlier in this letter, and the Council measured them against slaves from Madagascar, the source it plainly preferred. Paragraph 20 shows the order of priorities in the island's building work. Labour, lime and masons were limited, as the earlier reservation of 30 chaldrons of coal for lime burning showed, so church materials arriving early would only lie unused and deteriorate while the defences absorbed every available hand. | |
5 | 23 We are sorry to have incurred your Honors displeasure in§ | 23: The Council regretted displeasing the Court by raising John Robinson's salary, a step criticised in the thirty-fourth paragraph of the Court's general letter. Nothing would have prompted the increase except the small gap between his pay and the master mason's. His post also demanded constant attendance, which left him no chance of earning anything extra by his own effort. Robinson was a sober and capable workman, and the Council thought it important not to risk losing so essential a craftsman. He could earn twice his salary if his time were his own, and that was why the increase was granted at once, before the Court's approval arrived. The Council insisted it would not have acted so freely in any other circumstances, and pointed to its application on behalf of Mr Beale as proof. Mr Beale asked the Council to convey his gratitude for the Court's favour and his satisfaction at being remembered as an old and faithful servant. 24: The Council regretted that the Court allowed John Bland to return to the island, being fully convinced he could not conduct himself as he should. The consultation of the 10th of the previous month showed how quickly he moved to buy up the private trade brought for the island's use and to lower the value of the local coin. The Council undertook to follow the Court's orders strictly and send him off the island if he offended again. 25: James Black, the gardener sent out by the Court, would receive the salary and allowances the Court ordered. 26: The Council was pleased that the Court approved the plans sent home by the engineer. Interpretations Paragraph 23 sets two ways of raising a servant's pay side by side. The regular course was the one followed for Mr Beale: apply to the Court and wait a year or more for an answer. For Robinson the Council raised the salary first and reported afterwards, and the Court's thirty-fourth paragraph rebuked it. The defence rested on the labour market of a small island. A skilled craftsman tied to constant attendance could not take private work, while a free workman could earn double, so the Council judged that Robinson would leave the service before any reply came from London. Citing the Beale application was meant to show that the rule was understood and that the breach was a single exception. The same pattern appeared earlier in this letter, where the Council defended appointing Captain Mitchell to the artillery before the Court's approval and promised to observe orders on other vacancies. The charge against John Bland in paragraph 24 was engrossing, the buying up of a whole supply in order to resell it at a higher price. The private trade was the allowance of goods that ships' officers carried on their own account and sold to the inhabitants, who depended on it for most things the Company's stores did not provide. One buyer taking the whole of it could set prices for the island. Lowering the current coin perhaps meant that Bland accepted or paid out coins at less than the rate fixed by the government, which unsettled every other bargain made in that money. The Court evidently gave a conditional order with his permission to return, so the Council needed only a further offence, and no fresh reference home, to deport him. | |
6 | of this Island, as well as our remarks upon the same, and beg leave to assure§ | The Court's approval covered the engineer's plans for defending the island and the Council's remarks on them. The Council promised to press on with those works in the orderly and economical way the Court recommended. Every Company slave would be put to that labour, apart from those raising provisions and those kept as servants. The Council pointed out that the fortifications could not be built by slaves alone. Many soldiers were therefore employed, at an unavoidable cost to the Company, and they then numbered 104. The Council believed the Court would welcome speed, since the sooner the works were finished the sooner the island stood in a proper state of defence. The engineer also represented that those men were needed, and the Council felt bound to be guided in some measure by his opinion. These two reasons, the Council trusted, would justify extraordinary expenses that it would accept on no other ground. Sandy Bay was the work the engineer then began. Because of the distance of that place and the number of soldiers and blacks to be employed there, the Council thought a commissioned officer must live constantly on the spot. His task was to supervise the workmen and carry out the directions sent from time to time by Captain Mitchell. Lieutenant Bridgwater was appointed for that purpose at 5s a day, a rate the Council thought no more than adequate to the trouble and constant attendance required of him. The Council wanted the Court to have the fullest and clearest account of the cost of the island's defences. A separate head was therefore opened in the ledger for the Sandy Bay fortification, so that the Court could see the cost of that particular work at a glance. The same method would be followed for the other works. Interpretations The Court's recommendation was economy, and the cheapest course was to build with the Company's own slaves, whose labour cost nothing beyond their keep. The Council accepted that instruction in form and then set it aside in substance by putting 104 soldiers on the works. Soldiers employed as labourers drew working pay on top of their ordinary pay, which is why their employment counted as an extraordinary expense. The justification offered was twofold: the Court's own presumed wish for speed, and the engineer's professional opinion that the men were needed. Resting the decision on the engineer placed responsibility for the cost on the officer the Court itself sent out, whose plans it approved. Lieutenant Bridgwater's appointment was another step taken before the Court's approval, like Captain Mitchell's command of the artillery and John Robinson's salary reported earlier in this letter. The Council again argued necessity, here the remoteness of Sandy Bay, which lay on the far side of the island from the seat of government and could not be overseen from there. The arrangement also extended Captain Mitchell's authority from the artillery to the direction of the works, with the lieutenant as his resident deputy. The separate ledger head was an accounting device offered to disarm criticism in advance. Charging each fortification to its own account let the Court compare the cost of one work with another and with the engineer's estimates, instead of finding the outlay buried in the island's general charges. By volunteering it alongside the admission of extraordinary expense, the Council presented the spending as open to inspection. | |
7 | 27 We acquainted Captain Mitchell with your approbation§ | 27: The Council told Captain Mitchell that the Court approved his appointment to command the artillery company. He then asked the Council to forward the enclosed letter to the Court. 28: The Council's earlier letters and consultations gave the Court full information about the limestone. The engineer was about to make a further trial of the bricks, and the Council promised to report the result carefully. 29: The engineer received orders to state what craftsmen, stores and other supplies the works would need the following year. The Council undertook to send that list home as soon as possible. After consulting Captain Mitchell, the Council knew of no supplies that the Company's presidencies in India or China could send, apart from gun carriages. Those would be requested when they were needed. 30: Governor [...] allowed Captain Webb to send some of his crew for 30 loads of wood. That wood was not felled for him but formed part of what then lay on the ground. The Council promised in future to give ships coals alone if they ran short of fuel. 31: The Council answered the Court on the rice and paddy obtained from Captain Webb. Its own later shortage, so strongly confirmed since, showed how badly the island needed the grain. The Council never supposed he would exploit that need so shamefully. It admitted being much at fault for knowing his price and still not handing the grain back to him. That course would be followed strictly in future, and the Court would be told of any captain who tried to profit in the same way. Interpretations Paragraph 31 turns on a choice the Council conceded was wrong. On learning Captain Webb's price, the proper course was to return the rice and paddy and refuse the bargain. The Council kept the grain and paid, because the island was short of food, and the Court evidently censured the price. The reply accepted the blame but shifted most of it onto the captain, and the promise to report future offenders offered the Court a means of disciplining commanders through their prospects of further employment. Paddy was rice still in the husk, which kept better in store and could also serve as seed or feed. The shortage pleaded here was the same one explained earlier in this letter by the heavy demands of the Company's ships and the larger number of slaves. Paragraph 30 answered a complaint about timber. Wood was scarce on the island and felling it for ships stripped the land, so the Council stressed that Captain Webb's 30 loads were already lying cut. The undertaking to issue coals alone tied this reply to the request made earlier in this letter for a supply of coals for the ships, separate from the 30 chaldrons reserved for burning lime. The limestone and brick trials concerned whether the island could make its own building materials for the fortifications. Local lime and bricks would spare the Company the freight of sending them from England, which is why the Court followed the experiments closely. Gun carriages were the wooden mountings on which cannon were worked. India could supply them in teak, a timber far more durable in the open than anything the island grew, and this explains why they were the one article the Council expected to draw from the eastern presidencies. | |
8 | 32 We are extremely pleased to find your Honors have Ordered§ | 32: The Council was extremely pleased that the Court ordered a double quantity of rice to be sent from Bengal and Bombay. The island was constantly short of that article, and more so once the number of the Company's slaves grew. The blacks employed at the works also needed feeding with rice, because fetching their own yams cost them one working day in every week. The Council promised to report how the presidents and councils of those two places carried out the Court's orders. 33: Certificates for the flour and other stores landed from the Plassey and the Prince of Wales went home by this conveyance, as the Court's orders required. 34: The Company's ships Earl of Elgin and Admiral Pocock arrived on the 23rd of the previous month. The Duke of Richmond followed the next day, and all three came from China. Captain Riddell reported that contrary winds on his passage from Manila to China forced him into the port of Touron on the coast of Cochin China. The inhabitants there came very near to cutting him off, but a Portuguese priest fortunately warned him of their plan. The Council congratulated the Court on the arrival of that missing ship at the island. Captain Riddell also said he left Whampoa on 10 December of the previous year. Fifteen of the Company's ships were at Canton that season, namely: Talbot Salisbury Dutton Ankerwyke York Thames Royal Captain Tilbury Grosvenor Horsenden Essex Duke of Richmond Earl of Elgin Duke of Gloucester Admiral Pocock His Majesty's ship Argo was there too, together with these other vessels: English country ships, 3 Danish ships, 2 Swedish ships, 3 Dutch ships, 4 French ships, 4 Captain Riddell was further told that His Majesty's ships Dolphin and Tamar passed Anger Point on [...] December of the previous year. Captain Cook reported leaving Whampoa on 16 December in company with the Duke of Richmond and the Duke of Gloucester. The Council also received news concerning the Talbot, Dutton, Salisbury and Ankerwyke. Interpretations Paragraph 34 was the Council's answer in practice to the Court's complaint, recorded earlier in this letter, that the island's intelligence was inadequate. The captains were questioned on arrival and their reports set down in detail: sailing dates, the full roll of Company ships at Canton and a count of every rival nation's shipping. That count told the Court how much competition its supercargoes faced in buying tea that season, months before the ships themselves reached England. The argument for rice in paragraph 32 rested on a calculation of labour. Slaves on the island ordinarily fed themselves from yams, which they dug and carried on a day set aside for the purpose. Issuing imported rice to those on the fortifications bought back that day, so the Council treated the cost of grain from Bengal and Bombay as cheaper than losing a sixth of the working week. The request tied the food supply directly to the speed of the defence works, which the Council earlier named as its first concern. The certificates in paragraph 33 were signed receipts for goods landed. They let the Court check deliveries against the invoices and bills of lading in London, and settle any claim against a ship's owners for cargo short delivered or damaged. Touron was the bay on the coast of central Vietnam later known as Da Nang. To be cut off meant having the ship seized and the crew killed or taken. Whampoa was the anchorage below Canton where foreign ships lay while their cargoes were handled upriver. Country ships were privately owned vessels trading between Asian ports under the Company's licence. Anger Point lay on the Java side of the Sunda Strait, the usual passage for ships between the China Sea and the Indian Ocean. | |
9 | dispatched about the middle of January, the Argo left Canton about the§ §No 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated 2d April 1766.§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 4th March Do§ | The Council heard that the Talbot, Dutton, Salisbury and Ankerwyke were to be dispatched about the middle of January. The Argo left Canton about the middle of November. Captain Affleck was reported to have quarrelled with the Chinese over the measurement of his ship, and it was feared the dispute would stop the Company's trade for the previous season. He gave way to their customs, however, and everything was settled to the satisfaction of the Company's supercargoes. 35: The passengers on board the Earl of Elgin were Captain Baker and Mr Bradney. 36: Daniel Corneille applied to pay £80 0s 0d into the Company's cash. The Council received the money and gave him bills drawn on the Court for that sum, dated the 31st of the previous month. They were payable 90 days after sight to Christopher Baron or to his order. 37: The quarter's accounts would not be read before the 21st of April. The Council could therefore send no cash account other than duplicates of its previous one. The letter was dated at St Helena on 2 April 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 2 April 1766 and sent by the Admiral Pocock. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 2 April 1766 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 4 March, which first went by the Earl of Middlesex. Interpretations The quarrel over measurement concerned the charge the Chinese customs levied on every foreign ship at Whampoa. Officials measured the vessel's length and breadth and calculated the port duty from those dimensions, so a commander who disputed the measuring was disputing the tax. Captain Affleck commanded a King's ship, the Argo, and a warship would ordinarily claim exemption from a merchant duty. The Chinese authorities answered such resistance by suspending trade with the whole nation, which is why a naval officer's stand threatened the Company's tea purchases for the season. His giving way removed that threat. Paragraph 36 shows the bill system at work, described earlier in this letter as one of the two sources expected to meet the year's expenses. Corneille paid coin into the island's treasury and took a bill on the Court, payable in London 90 days after it was presented. The island gained cash for its running costs, and Corneille moved £80 0s 0d to England without risking coin at sea. He was himself a member of the Council that accepted the money and signed the letter reporting it. Paragraph 37 explains a gap in the enclosures. The cash account was made up quarterly and had to be read and passed in council before it could be sent home. The ship sailed before that date, so the Court received only a copy of the earlier account. Sending duplicates by a second ship was the standard safeguard against the loss of the first, as the second item of the packet list also shows. | |
10 | 3 Duplicate Governor and Councils Genl Letter dated 4th March relating to§ §4 Consultations from 10th to 31st March 1766.§ §5 Duplicate Do from 10th Febry to 3d March Do§ §6 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Earl of Middlesex§ §7 Second Do for Do P Ship Admiral Stevens§ §8 Effective state of the Garrison§ §9 Muster Rolls of Do§ §10 List of Officers and Servants taken 2d April 1766§ §11 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Earl of Middlesex§ §12 Do Cash Account from the 4th to 28th Febry 1766§ §13 Do Do from the 1st to 4th March Do§ §14 Ship Admiral Pococks Account§ §15 Do Prince of Wales Do§ §16 Do Plasseys Do§ §17 Duplicate Proceedings of a Genl Quarty Sessions held the 13th Janry 1766§ §18 Abst of the Cargoes of Ships Admiral Pocock Earl of Elgin, and Duke of§ §19 Time of Ships Boats arrival at Banks's§ §20 Certificate of the Flour &ca§ §21 Duplicate Ship Earl of Middlesexs Account§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list continued with these further items. 3: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 4 March on law matters 4: The consultations from 10 to 31 March 1766 5: A duplicate of the consultations from 10 February to 3 March 1766 6: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Earl of Middlesex 7: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Admiral Stevens 8: The effective state of the garrison 9: The muster rolls of the garrison 10: A list of officers and servants taken on 2 April 1766 11: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Earl of Middlesex 12: A duplicate cash account from 4 to 28 February 1766 13: A duplicate cash account from 1 to 4 March 1766 14: The account of the Admiral Pocock 15: The account of the Prince of Wales 16: The account of the Plassey 17: A duplicate of the proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 13 January 1766 18: An abstract of the cargoes of the Admiral Pocock, Earl of Elgin and Duke of Richmond 19: The times at which ships' boats arrived at Banks's 20: The certificate for the flour and other stores 21: A duplicate of the account of the Earl of Middlesex The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous letter went to the Court by the Admiral Pocock, which sailed from the island on the 2nd of that month. 2: Captain Hindman received an order from the Council to take something on board his ship. Interpretations The receipts at items 6 and 7 were acknowledgements signed by a ship's commander on taking charge of the Company's packet. Returning them to London by a later ship let the Court fix responsibility on a named captain if a packet went missing. The cash accounts at items 12 and 13 were the duplicates promised in the letter of 2 April 1766, sent because the current quarter's account was not yet read in council. Item 19 was a record of when each arriving ship's boat reached Banks's, the battery on the coast to the north-east of the anchorage. Every ship approaching the road had to send a boat ahead there to identify herself before being allowed to pass, and the fort was under orders to fire on any that did not. Sending the times home let the Court see whether its commanders complied promptly with that rule. The effective state of the garrison was a return of the men actually fit and present for duty, as distinct from the muster rolls, which named every man on the establishment. Read together, the two showed the Court how far sickness, death and desertion reduced the force it was paying for. The ships' accounts at items 14 to 16 and 21 recorded what each vessel received from the island's stores and what she landed there. They were the basis on which the Court settled with the owners in London, including the 30 per cent advance on naval stores described in the letter of 2 April 1766. | |
11 | the Duke of Richmond Michael Read, Edward Cozens, Charles Edges§ §No 1 Governor and Councils Genl Letter dated 4th April 1766§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 2d Do Do§ §3 Do Consultations from 10th to 31st March Do§ | Captain Hindman's order was to take six invalid soldiers on board the Duke of Richmond. Michael Read Edward Cauzens Charles Edges John Cary Edward Davis Joseph Good Each man signed an undertaking not to claim any wages for the voyage home. That document went enclosed with the letter, together with the surgeon's certificate of their disorders and Captain Hindman's receipt for £30 0s 0d paid to him for their passage. 3: The Council also put two discharged soldiers, Richard Goulding and William Fletcher, on board the Earl of Elgin to help make up her crew. 4: The Prince of Wales and the Plassey continued their voyages that day. 5: The letter went to the Court by the Earl of Elgin, which sailed in company with the Duke of Richmond. The letter was dated at St Helena on 4 April 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena sent by the Earl of Elgin, which the clerk dated 4 March 1766. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 4 April 1766 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 2 April 1766 3: A duplicate of the consultations from 10 to 31 March 1766 Interpretations The two groups of soldiers went home on different terms, and the difference shows how the Council sorted men by their usefulness. The six invalids were unfit to work, so they travelled as passengers at a cost to the Company of £30 0s 0d, or £5 0s 0d a man. The signed undertaking stopped them claiming seamen's wages from the ship's owners on arrival, a claim a man carried on a ship's books might otherwise raise. The surgeon's certificate proved to the Court that each discharge rested on medical grounds and not on favour. Goulding and Fletcher were discharged but able-bodied, so they were placed in the Earl of Elgin as hands. A ship returning from China was commonly short of men through death and desertion, and the two soldiers worked their passage at no charge to the Company. The packet list carried the date 4 March 1766, although the letter it accompanied and the ship's sailing both belonged to 4 April 1766. April was perhaps the month intended. | |
12 | 4 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Admiral Pocock§ §5 Second Do for Do P Ship Earl of Middlesex§ §6 Effective State of the Garrison,§ §7 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Admiral Pocock§ §8 Ship Earl of Elgins Account§ §9 Do Duke of Richmonds Do§ §10 Duplicate Adml Pocock Do§ §11 Do Prince of Wales Do§ §12 Do Plasseys Do§ §13 Do Certificate of Flour§ §14 Surgeons Do of six Invalid Soldiers§ §15 Instrument in Writing from Do§ §16 Captain Hindmans Receipt for £30..§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list for the Earl of Elgin continued with these further items. 4: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Admiral Pocock 5: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Earl of Middlesex 6: The effective state of the garrison 7: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Admiral Pocock 8: The account of the Earl of Elgin 9: The account of the Duke of Richmond 10: A duplicate of the account of the Admiral Pocock 11: A duplicate of the account of the Prince of Wales 12: A duplicate of the account of the Plassey 13: A duplicate of the certificate for the flour 14: The surgeon's certificate for the six invalid soldiers 15: The written undertaking signed by the six invalid soldiers 16: Captain Hindman's receipt for £30 0s 0d The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous letter went to the Court by the Earl of Elgin. That ship sailed from the island on the 4th of that month in company with the Duke of Richmond. 2: The Company's ships Dutton and Salisbury arrived from China on the 6th of that month. Their captains reported leaving Canton on 4 January in company with the Talbot. On 3 February they met the Company's ship Royal George and two other vessels, which were then on their way to the island of Banca. Interpretations Items 14 to 16 were the three papers promised in the letter of 4 April 1766 for the six invalids sent home in the Duke of Richmond: the medical grounds for discharge, the men's waiver of wages and the proof that £30 0s 0d was paid for their passage. Listing each separately in the packet made the commander who signed for it answerable for their delivery. The sailing date of 4 January was earlier than the Council expected. The letter of 2 April 1766 passed on a report that the Talbot, Dutton, Salisbury and Ankerwyke were to be dispatched from Canton about the middle of January. The captains' own account corrected that hearsay within days and left only the Ankerwyke unaccounted for. Banca was an island off the south-east coast of Sumatra. The strait between the two was the usual route for ships passing between the Sunda Strait and the China Sea, so a meeting there placed the Royal George on her outward passage towards China. | |
13 | and afterwards to proceed to Banjar Masseen§ | The Royal George and her two consorts were bound first for Banca and afterwards for Banjarmasin. 3: The Council granted the following bills of exchange, all drawn at 90 days' sight. One set to Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick, payable to Mrs Mary Hale and dated 7 April 1766, £400 0s 0d One set to John Skottowe, payable to Robert Wood, £300 0s 0d One set to Captain David Rice, payable to himself, £827 0s 0d One set to Captain John Wyche, payable to himself, £450 0s 0d One set to Mr Giles Minifie, payable to himself, £65 0s 0d The remaining sets were all dated 9 April 1766. 4: Captain Wyche received an order to take five discharged soldiers on board his ship. John Smith William Hawker John Swindell Francis Powell Alexander Gray Robert Bartlett and Thomas Morgan, two deserters from the Plassey, joined them towards making up the Salisbury's crew. Two other discharged men, William Clay and William Pinchin, went on board the Dutton to fill her complement. The Council also allowed Captain Rice to take William Smith, formerly clerk of the parish, in his ship. 5: The letter went to the Court by the Dutton, which sailed in company with the Salisbury. The letter was dated at St Helena on 12 April 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations The bills in paragraph 3 came to £2,042 0s 0d, paid into the island's treasury in coin within a few days of two China ships anchoring. The letter of 2 April 1766 explained that the Council forwarded the Plassey's chest of treasure to Canton because money received for bills would help meet the year's expenses, and these sums were that expectation being realised. The two largest belonged to Captain Rice and Captain Wyche, the commanders of the ships then in the road, who were perhaps remitting the proceeds of private trade sold on the island. Two of the five sets went to men who signed the letter: Kirkpatrick as a member of the Council and Skottowe at its head. A set consisted of two or three identical copies of one bill sent by different ships, of which only the first presented was paid. Bartlett and Morgan deserted from the Plassey, which sailed outward on 4 April 1766, so they could not be returned to their own ship. The Council treated them as it treated discharged soldiers and used them to fill gaps in a homeward crew, which removed two idle men from the island and spared the Salisbury's commander the cost of sailing short-handed. Banjarmasin lay on the south coast of Borneo and was a source of pepper, which suggests the Royal George was to take in a cargo there for the China market. | |
14 | List of the Honoble Company's Packet from St Helena, P Ship§ §No 1 Govr and Councils General Lettr dated 12th April 1766§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 4th Do Do§ §3 Consultations from 1st to 9th Do Do§ §4 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Earl of Elgin§ §5 Second Do for Do P Ship Admiral Pocock§ §6 Effective State of the Garrison§ §7 List of Officers and Servants taken 12th April 1766§ §8 Do of 7 Discharged Soldiers§ §9 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Earl of Elgin§ §10 Ship Duttons Account§ §11 Do Salisburys Do§ §12 Duplte Earl of Elgins Do§ §13 Do Duke of Richmonds Do§ §14 Do Captain Hindmans Receipt for £30..§ §15 Time of Ships Boats arrival at Banks's§ §16 Abst of the Cargoes of Ships Dutton and Salisbury's§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 12 April 1766 and sent by the Dutton. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 12 April 1766 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 4 April 1766 3: The consultations from 7 to 9 April 1766 4: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Earl of Elgin 5: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Admiral Pocock 6: The effective state of the garrison 7: A list of officers and servants taken on 12 April 1766 8: A list of 7 discharged soldiers 9: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Earl of Elgin 10: The account of the Dutton 11: The account of the Salisbury 12: A duplicate of the account of the Earl of Elgin 13: A duplicate of the account of the Duke of Richmond 14: A duplicate of Captain Hindman's receipt for £30 0s 0d 15: The times at which ships' boats arrived at Banks's 16: An abstract of the cargoes of the Dutton and Salisbury The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous letter went to the Court by the Dutton. That ship sailed from the island on the 13th of that month in company with the Salisbury. 2: The Duke of Gloucester arrived on the 15th of that month. Interpretations Item 8 counted seven discharged soldiers, which matched the men named in the letter of 12 April 1766: five placed in the Salisbury and two in the Dutton. The two deserters from the Plassey who sailed with them were left out, since they were seamen and never on the garrison's books. A separate list let the Court strike the seven from the establishment and stop their pay from the date of sailing. The letter of 12 April 1766 stated that it went by the Dutton, yet the next letter gave her sailing date as the 13th. The packet was therefore closed and dated a day before the ships left the road. | |
15 | the Talbot both from China§ | The Talbot arrived on the 19th of that month, and both she and the Duke of Gloucester came from China. 3: A Danish ship from China called the Queen Sophia Magdalena, under Captain Dixon, arrived on the 17th of that month. She was of 1,100 tons burthen and carried 26 guns and 150 men. Another Danish ship from China, the Queen Juliana Maria under Captain Smit, came in the next day. She was of 900 tons burthen and carried 26 guns and 140 men. Both were loaded with tea, chinaware and silk and were bound for Copenhagen. They sailed from the island on the 21st of that month. 4: A small Portuguese vessel from Rio de Janeiro arrived on the 19th of that month. She was called the Nossa Senhora da Conceição and was commanded by Captain José [...]. Her burthen was 80 tons, she carried 17 men and she was bound for Angola. She sailed on the 23rd of that month. Her captain reported that Captain Clements sailed from Rio de Janeiro in September of the previous year with another English ship, whose name he could not give. 5: The Council granted the following bills of exchange, both drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 23 April 1766. One set to Captain Henry Bazett, payable to Captain John Wyche, £28 5s 0d One set to Captain Robert Burdett, payable to himself, £150 0s 0d 6: The island enjoyed a good summer season. The pastures and plantations were then in a flourishing condition. The letter was dated at St Helena on 23 April 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations Paragraph 3 continued the reporting of foreign competition that the Court demanded. The letter of 2 April 1766 counted two Danish ships at Canton that season, and both then called at the island on their way home. The Council recorded each ship's tonnage, guns, crew, cargo and destination, which gave the Court a measure of how much tea, chinaware and silk the Danish company would bring to the European market that year. Burthen was a ship's carrying capacity reckoned in tons. The Portuguese vessel was on the direct route between Brazil and Angola, the passage by which slaves were carried to Rio de Janeiro. Her master's news of Captain Clements was the kind of secondhand report about English shipping that the Council passed on to answer the charge of neglecting intelligence. Paragraph 6 mattered to the Court because the island's pastures and plantations fed the garrison, the slaves and the calling ships. A good season at the close of the southern summer promised cattle and yams for the coming months and eased the shortage of provisions that the letter of 2 April 1766 explained at length. | |
16 | List of the Honoble Company's Packet from St Helena P Ship§ §No 1 Govr & Councils General Letter dated 23d April 1766§ §2 Do Do & Do dated 23d Do Do relating to§ §3 Duplicate Govr & Councils Genl Letter dated 12th April 1766§ §4 Consultations from 14th to 23d Do Do§ §5 Duplte Do from 7th to 9th Do Do§ §6 First Receipt for ye Packet P Ship Dutton§ §7 Second Do for Do P Ship Earl of Elgin§ §8 Effective state of the Garrison§ §9 Duplte List of the Packet P Ship Dutton§ §10 Ship Duke of Glocesters Account§ §11 Duplicate Ship Dutton Do§ §12 Do Do Salisburys Do§ §13 Time of Ships Boats arrival at Banks's§ §14 Abstract of ye Cargoes of Ships Duke of Glocester and Talbot§ §15 Proceedings of a Genl Quarterly Sessions held on the 9th April 1766§ §16 Plan of Banks's lower Battery§ §17 Cash Acct from the 5th to 31st March 1766§ §18 Do from the 1st to 23d April Do§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 23 April 1766 and sent by the Duke of Gloucester. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 23 April 1766 2: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 23 April 1766 on law matters 3: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 12 April 1766 4: The consultations from 14 to 23 April 1766 5: A duplicate of the consultations from 7 to 9 April 1766 6: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Dutton 7: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Earl of Elgin 8: The effective state of the garrison 9: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Dutton 10: The account of the Duke of Gloucester 11: A duplicate of the account of the Dutton 12: A duplicate of the account of the Salisbury 13: The times at which ships' boats arrived at Banks's 14: An abstract of the cargoes of the Duke of Gloucester and Talbot 15: The proceedings of a general quarterly sessions held on 9 April 1766 16: A plan of Banks's lower battery 17: The cash account from 5 to 31 March 1766 18: The cash account from 1 to 23 April 1766 The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on 23 April, sending that letter by the Duke of Gloucester. Interpretations Items 17 and 18 closed the gap admitted in the letter of 2 April 1766. The Council then explained that the quarter's accounts would not be read until 21 April and that only duplicates of the earlier cash account could be sent. With that reading past, the account for the rest of March went home, together with a second one running up to the day the packet closed. The earlier duplicates ended on 4 March, so the new account began on the 5th and left no day uncovered. The plan of Banks's lower battery at item 16 belonged to the programme of defence works that the letter of 2 April 1766 called the Council's first concern. Sending a drawing let the Court judge the engineer's design for that position before the cost was incurred, as it did with his earlier plans. The quarterly sessions at item 15 were the island's criminal court, at which the Governor and Council sat as justices. Their proceedings went home in full so that the Court could review the sentences passed in its name. | |
17 | 2 On the 1st instant arrived a Swede Ship from China, called§ §No 1 Govr & Counl General Letter dated 4th May 1766§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 23d April Do§ §3 Do Do and Do dated 23 Do Do relatg to Law§ §4 Consultn of the 3d May Do§ §5 Duplte Do from 14th to 23d April Do§ | 2: A Swedish ship from China called the Finland, under Captain Rundt, arrived on the 1st of that month. She was of 1,300 tons burthen and carried 30 guns and 130 men. Her cargo was tea, chinaware and silk, and she was bound for Gothenburg. 3: The Reverend Mr Thackeray asked the Council to tell the Court that he intended to leave the Company's service at the first opportunity in April 1767. 4: Captain Dethick received an order to take two men on board his ship towards making up the Talbot's crew. They were Thomas Warne, formerly an overseer, and John Robinson, a discharged soldier. 5: The Council paid £4 10s 0d on account of the Russian gentleman on board the Talbot, for his lodging and food on the island. The letter was dated at St Helena on 4 May 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 4 May 1766 and sent by the Talbot. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 4 May 1766 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 23 April 1766 3: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 23 April 1766 on law matters 4: The consultation of 3 May 1766 5: A duplicate of the consultations from 14 to 23 April 1766 Interpretations Mr Thackeray's notice in paragraph 3 ran almost a full year ahead. A chaplain could only be replaced from England, and a letter home followed by an outward voyage took the better part of that time. Announcing his departure for April 1767 gave the Court one shipping season to appoint and send out a successor, so that the island was not left without a clergyman. The Finland was one of the three Swedish ships counted at Canton in the letter of 2 April 1766. As with the two Danish ships reported on 23 April 1766, the Council recorded her size, armament, crew, cargo and destination, giving the Court a view of the tea and silk a rival company would land in Europe that year. The payment in paragraph 5 was an advance made from the island's treasury for a foreign passenger's board ashore while the Talbot lay in the road. Reporting it by name of ship let the Court recover the £4 10s 0d in London from the passenger or from whoever answered for his passage. | |
18 | 6 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Duke of Glocester§ §7 Second Do for Do P Ship Dutton§ §8 Effective State of the Garrison§ §9 List of Officers and Servants taken 4th May 1766§ §10 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Duke of Glocester§ §11 Cash Account from 1 to 4th May 1766§ §12 Duplte Do from 5th to 31st March Do§ §13 Do Do from 1st to 23d April Do§ §14 Ship Talbots Account§ §15 Duplicate Ship Duke of Glocesters Acct.§ §16 Do Proceedings of a Genl Quary Sessions, held on the 9th April 1766§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list for the Talbot continued with these further items. 6: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Duke of Gloucester 7: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Dutton 8: The effective state of the garrison 9: A list of officers and servants taken on 4 May 1766 10: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Duke of Gloucester 11: The cash account from 1 to 4 May 1766 12: A duplicate cash account from 5 to 31 March 1766 13: A duplicate cash account from 1 to 23 April 1766 14: The account of the Talbot 15: A duplicate of the account of the Duke of Gloucester 16: A duplicate of the proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 9 April 1766 The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous news went to the Court by the Talbot in a letter dated the 4th of that month. 2: The Company's ships York and Thames arrived on the 14th of that month. The Essex followed the next day, and all three came from China. Their captains reported parting company with Captain Ross about a fortnight after leaving Princes Island. They also met the Company's ships Hampshire and Duke of Kingston off the Cape, where all was well. The Council further learned that the governor and the leading gentlemen of the council at Colombo were poisoned by the inhabitants. 3: A Swedish ship from China called the Rickvenstander [...], under Captain Seeman, arrived on the 18th of that month. She was of 1,300 tons burthen and carried 32 guns and 140 men. Her cargo was tea, chinaware and silk, and she was bound for Gothenburg. The Swedish gentlemen reported leaving the Company's ship Horsenden at North Island. She was due to sail from there the day after them. Interpretations The report from Colombo concerned the Dutch East India Company, which governed the coast of Ceylon from that town and was then at war with the inland kingdom of Kandy. News of the poisoning of a rival company's governor and council reached the island only as ships' talk, and the Council passed it on without vouching for it. Such a report mattered to the Court because disorder in the Dutch settlements affected the cinnamon trade and the balance of European power around India. The cash account at item 11 covered only four days. The Council made a fresh account up to the day each packet closed, so that the series sent home ran without a break from one ship to the next, as the accounts sent on 23 April 1766 also did. Princes Island lay at the western mouth of the Sunda Strait and was the usual place for homeward ships to take in wood and water before crossing the Indian Ocean. North Island was an anchorage off the Sumatran shore at the other end of the same strait, where ships from China waited for a wind. The Horsenden and the ship under Captain Ross were both in the roll of 15 Company ships at Canton given in the letter of 2 April 1766, so these sightings told the Court how far behind the remaining China ships were. | |
19 | 4 We have given Captain Hagg[es] an Order to receive on board§ §No 1 Govr & Councl Genl Letter dated 25th May 1766§ §2 Duplte Do and Do dated 4th Do Do§ §3 Consultn from the 5 to 23d Do Do§ §4 Duplte Do of the 3d of Do Do§ §5 First Receipt for ye Packet P Ship Talbot§ §6 Second Do for Do P Ship Duke of Glocester§ §7 Effective State of the Garrison.§ §8 Duplte List of the Packet P Ship Talbot§ §9 Cash Account from the 5 to 23d May 1766§ §10 Duplicte Do from the 1 to 4th Do Do§ §11 Ship York's Acct§ §12 Do Thames Do§ §13 Do Essexs Do§ §14 Duplte Talbots Do§ §15 Time of Ships Boats Arrivl at Banks's§ §16 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships York, Thames and Essex§ | 4: Captain Haggis received an order to take three discharged soldiers on board his ship to make up her crew. John Scokker John Blackwell Henry Dudley 5: The letter went to the Court by the York, which sailed in company with the Thames and the Essex. The letter was dated at St Helena on 25 May 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 25 May 1766 and sent by the York. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 25 May 1766 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 4 May 1766 3: The consultations from 5 to 23 May 1766 4: A duplicate of the consultation of 3 May 1766 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Talbot 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Duke of Gloucester 7: The effective state of the garrison 8: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Talbot 9: The cash account from 5 to 25 May 1766 10: A duplicate cash account from 1 to 4 May 1766 11: The account of the York 12: The account of the Thames 13: The account of the Essex 14: A duplicate of the account of the Talbot 15: The times at which ships' boats arrived at Banks's 16: An abstract of the cargoes of the York, Thames and Essex Interpretations The three men in paragraph 4 brought the number of discharged soldiers shipped home as working hands since 4 April 1766 to 13, spread across the Earl of Elgin, Salisbury, Dutton, Talbot and the ship under Captain Haggis. Each homeward China ship in turn was used to clear time-expired men from the island at no cost in passage money, in contrast to the £30 0s 0d paid on 4 April 1766 for six invalids who could not work. | |
20 | 17 List of 3 discharged Soldiers§ §18 Governor & Councl Letter relative to the Widow & Captn [Trench]§ §19 Copy of the Articl. Do Do and Do§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list for the York continued with these further items. 17: A list of 3 discharged soldiers 18: The Governor and Council's letter concerning the widow of Captain French 19: A copy of the articles concerning the widow of Captain French The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court by the York, which sailed from the island in company with the Thames and the Essex. 2: The Company's ship Ankerwyke arrived from China on the 26th of the previous month. The Grenville came in from Bengal on the 30th, and the Horsenden from China the day after. Captain Fenner reported leaving Fort William on 16 February in company with the Kent, when everything there was perfectly quiet. He added that the Admiral Watson and the Ponsborne were to be dispatched for Europe. The Pacific was waited for at Madras, the Asia was intended for Bombay and the Speke for China. On 12 April he met the Company's ships Neptune and Glatton in latitude 31 degrees 55 minutes south, about 17 degrees 30 minutes east of the Cape, where both ships called. A Portuguese warship from Goa, bound for Europe, crossed his track on the 26th of the same month. The Council also heard that His Majesty's ship Argo lost her masts in a typhoon two days after leaving Macao and put into Malacca to refit. 3: A French ship from Bengal called the Adour, under Captain Gaslin, arrived on the 27th of the previous month. She was of 600 tons burthen and carried 20 guns and 130 men. Her cargo was Bengal goods, and she was bound for France. 4: The list of remains and other papers went home by this opportunity, together with the Council's orders for the supplies needed in 1767. The Council explained that it was obliged to make up that list very early. Interpretations The list of remains was the inventory of everything left in the Company's storehouses on the island. The Court read it beside the indent, the island's order for the following year, to judge whether each quantity requested was justified by what was actually in stock. The pairing answered the Court's criticism reported in the letter of 2 April 1766, where the Council blamed the provisions shortage on an order for 1763 that proved too small and promised that later orders would cover every need. The Ankerwyke was the last of the four ships that the letter of 2 April 1766 reported as due to leave Canton in mid-January, and the Horsenden was the ship the Swedish officers left at North Island. Their arrival, with Captain Fenner's account of the Bengal shipping, gave the Court the positions of most of its fleet in a single paragraph. The remark that Fort William was quiet mattered because Calcutta was the seat of the Company's government in Bengal, where its ships loaded and its revenues were collected. The Argo was the King's ship whose commander disputed the Chinese measuring duty at Whampoa, as the letter of 2 April 1766 recorded. Her dismasting explained to the Court why a warship that left Canton in November was still in eastern waters. Bengal goods meant chiefly cotton and silk piece goods, with saltpetre and raw silk. The French ship's size and cargo showed the Court that its main European rival was again trading from Bengal. | |
21 | early period, in order to form our Indents, many Articles appear to be§ | The list of remains was made up very early so that the orders could be framed from it. Many articles therefore appeared as still in store, although they were in daily demand and would be entirely used up before the end of the year. The Council accordingly limited its orders to what it thought the following year's consumption would require. A larger number of hooks and lines than usual was requested. Those articles were so useful that a lack of them distressed the whole island, and the Council expected to run short of them that year. 5: The Council ordered two fire engines. Those on the island were badly out of repair but still of some small use, so they would not go back to England until the new ones arrived. 6: The invoice of the Prince of Wales charged 30 pairs of dovetail hinges at £3 17s 11d. Such hinges were usually invoiced at about 4d a pair. The Council took the charge for a mistake and asked for it to be corrected, being certain the hinges would not sell at that price. 7: The engineer's order asked for 10 brass guns. The Council knew such artillery cost vastly more than iron ordnance and asked him to explain in writing why he needed guns of that metal. His explanation went home for the Court's information. The Council thought his reasons sound and left the matter to the Court's judgement. It also pressed the proposal in the engineer's letter that craftsmen useful in building should be sent among the recruits. 8: The Council asked the Court to send 50 recruits the following year. That number would be needed to bring the garrison up to strength by the time the store ship arrived. 9: Captain Ross received an order to take John Passwater, a discharged soldier, on board his ship towards making up the Ankerwyke's crew. 10: Captain Fenner applied to the Council to have one of his men sent on shore for trial for striking another person. Interpretations Paragraph 7 records a request the Council neither granted nor refused. The cheaper and usual course was iron ordnance, and the Council could simply have struck the brass guns from the order or passed them without remark. It instead required the engineer to justify the metal in writing, forwarded his paper and added its own approval. That placed the technical case and the responsibility for the cost on the engineer, as the letter of 2 April 1766 did over the 104 soldiers employed on the works. Brass guns, cast in what would now be called bronze, were lighter than iron pieces of the same calibre, did not rust in sea air and gave warning before failing instead of bursting, but the metal cost several times as much. The opening passage explained a weakness in the island's ordering. The list of remains was a count of stock on a single day, taken months before the year ended, so it overstated what would be left when the next supplies came. The Council wanted the Court to read the two papers together with that in mind, and not to cut the order because the stores looked full. Hooks and lines were the tackle for the fishing that fed the slaves and much of the population, the same purpose for which the two yawls acknowledged on 2 April 1766 were sent. The hinge charge in paragraph 6 mattered because goods from the Company's stores were sold to the inhabitants at a fixed advance on the invoice price. An error in London therefore passed straight into the island's selling price and left the article unsaleable. Dovetail hinges were small hinges with flared leaves, used on cupboards and boxes. The fire engines were hand-worked pumps on wheels for throwing water on a burning building. Keeping the worn pair until replacements came avoided leaving the town and its storehouses with none. | |
22 | one of his Officers as well as great insolence to himself, and as a doubt§ §No 1 Govr & Councils Generl Letter dated 5th June 1766§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 25th May Do§ | Captain Fenner's man was accused of striking one of the ship's officers and of gross insolence to the captain himself. A doubt arose whether acts committed at sea fell within the Council's jurisdiction, so the Council declined the request. The Court was asked to state how far the island's authority extended in such circumstances. 11: The passengers on board the Grenville were: Mr Senior Mr Lyster Mr Gray Mr Naples Mr Hatley Mr Hay Mr Brown Mrs Middleston Mrs Lyster Miss Hepbourn Mr Nicholas travelled on board the Horsenden. 12: The Council sent a sword home in the Horsenden as a pattern for making scabbards. 13: A Swedish ship from China called the Prince Charles, under Captain Habricht, arrived that day. She was of 1,000 tons burthen and carried 26 guns and 120 men. Her cargo was tea, chinaware and silk, and she was bound for Gothenburg. The Swedish gentlemen reported seeing the Company's ships Royal Captain and Tilbury in the Sunda Strait. The letter was dated at St Helena on 5 June 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 5 June 1766 and sent by the Ankerwyke. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 5 June 1766 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 25 May 1766 Interpretations Paragraph 10 records a trial refused. A commander asked the island's government to try a seaman who struck an officer, and the simple course was to bring the man ashore and deal with him at the sessions, where the Governor and Council already sat as justices. The Council held back because the offence took place at sea. Its criminal authority rested on the Company's charter and covered the island, while offences on the high seas belonged in England to the admiralty jurisdiction. A conviction given without power could have exposed the members to an action by the seaman once he reached home. Referring the question to the Court left the man to shipboard discipline for the rest of the voyage and sought a ruling for future cases. The sword in paragraph 12 served as a physical specification. Scabbards made in England without sight of the blade would not fit, so the Council sent one of the garrison's swords home as a model and avoided the waste of a consignment made to the wrong size. The Prince Charles was the third Swedish ship to call that season, after the Finland reported on 4 May 1766 and the ship under Captain Seeman that arrived on 18 May. That matched the three Swedish ships counted at Canton in the letter of 2 April 1766. The Royal Captain and Tilbury were both in the roll of 15 Company ships given in that letter, so their sighting in the Sunda Strait showed the Court that two more of its China ships were on their way home. | |
23 | 3 Consultations from 26th May to 2d June 1766§ §4 Duplicate Do from 5th to 23d May Do§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship York§ §6 Second Do for Do P Ship Talbot§ §7 Effective state of the Garrison§ §8 List of Officers and Servants taken 5th June 1766§ §9 Do of Stores remaing in the Hble Company's Ware Houses 31st March 1766§ §10 Do of Garrison Stores remaing 31 March 1766§ §11 Do of Artillery Stores from 1st October 1765 to 31st March Do§ §12 Indent of Stores wanted for the service of the Year 1767§ §13 Do of Medicines Do Do Do§ §14 Duplte List of the Packet P Ship York§ §15 Cash Account from 26th to 31st May 1766§ §16 Do from 1st to 5th June Do§ §17 Duplicte Do from 5th to 25th May Do§ §18 Ship Ankerwyke's Account§ §19 Duplte Ship Yorks Do§ §20 Do Thames Do§ §21 Do Essex's Do§ §22 Time of Ships Boats arrival at Banks's§ §23 Abst of the Cargoe of Ships Ankerwyke and Grenville§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list for the Ankerwyke continued with these further items. 3: The consultations from 26 May to 2 June 1766 4: A duplicate of the consultations from 5 to 23 May 1766 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the York 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Talbot 7: The effective state of the garrison 8: A list of officers and servants taken on 5 June 1766 9: A list of stores remaining in the Company's warehouses on 31 March 1766 10: A list of garrison stores remaining on 31 March 1766 11: A list of artillery stores from 1 October 1765 to 31 March 1766 12: The order for stores needed in 1767 13: The order for medicines needed in 1767 14: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the York 15: The cash account from 26 to 31 May 1766 16: The cash account from 1 to 5 June 1766 17: A duplicate cash account from 5 to 25 May 1766 18: The account of the Ankerwyke 19: A duplicate of the account of the York 20: A duplicate of the account of the Thames 21: A duplicate of the account of the Essex 22: The times at which ships' boats arrived at Banks's 23: An abstract of the cargoes of the Ankerwyke and Grenville The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous letter went to the Court by the Ankerwyke and was dated the 5th of that month. 2: The Company's ship Royal Captain arrived from China on the 6th of that month. 3: The Council was unable to send the Court the abstract of the Horsenden's cargo. Interpretations Items 9 to 13 were the papers described in the letter of 5 June 1766, where the Council explained that the list of remains was made up very early so that the orders for 1767 could be framed from it. The date on the lists, 31 March 1766, showed how early: the stock was counted more than two months before the packet sailed and nine months before the year it was meant to inform. That gap was the basis of the Council's warning that many articles shown as in store would be used up before the year ended. The stores were divided into three accounts. The warehouse list covered trade and general goods sold or issued by the Company, the garrison list covered the soldiers' equipment and provisions, and the artillery list ran over a half-year and so recorded what was received and used as well as what was left. Keeping the artillery stores apart reflected the arrangement reported on 2 April 1766, under which the officers of the artillery company took charge of the ordnance and military stores instead of a new department. The cash accounts at items 15 and 16 were split at the end of May, so that one closed the month and the other ran to the day the packet was sealed. | |
24 | Cargoe, as Captain Master acquaints Us he has mislaid it§ §No 1 Govr & Counl Genl Letter dated 8th June 1766§ §2 Duplte Do and Do dated 5th Do Do§ §3 Consultation of the 7th June Do§ §4 Duplte Do from 26 May to 2d June Do§ §5 First Receipt for ye Packet P Ship Ankerwyke§ §6 Second Do for Do P Ship York§ §7 Effective state of the Garrison§ §8 Duplte List of ye Packet P Ship Ankerwyke§ §9 Cash Account from 6th to 8th June 1766§ §10 Duplicate Do from 26th to 31st May Do§ §11 Do Do from 1st to 5th June Do§ §12 Ship Horsendons Acct§ §13 Duplicate Ship Ankerwyke's Acct§ §14 Time of the Arrival of the Royal Captains Boat at Banks§ | The abstract of the Horsenden's cargo could not be sent because Captain Marter told the Council he mislaid it. 4: The officer who came ashore in the Swedish ship's first boat reported seeing the Tilbury in the Sunda Strait. The supercargoes' accounts showed that report to be a mistake. The letter was dated at St Helena on 8 June 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 8 June 1766 and sent by the Horsenden. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 8 June 1766 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 5 June 1766 3: The consultation of 7 June 1766 4: A duplicate of the consultations from 26 May to 2 June 1766 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Ankerwyke 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the York 7: The effective state of the garrison 8: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Ankerwyke 9: The cash account from 6 to 8 June 1766 10: A duplicate cash account from 26 to 31 May 1766 11: A duplicate cash account from 1 to 5 June 1766 12: The account of the Horsenden 13: A duplicate of the account of the Ankerwyke 14: The time at which the boat of the Royal Captain arrived at Banks's Interpretations Paragraph 4 withdrew a piece of intelligence sent only three days earlier. The letter of 5 June 1766 passed on the Swedish officers' statement that the Royal Captain and Tilbury were both in the Sunda Strait. The Royal Captain then arrived on 6 June, and the papers she carried from the supercargoes at Canton showed that the Tilbury could not have been there. The Council corrected the report by the next ship instead of letting it stand, since the Court used such sightings to estimate when each vessel would reach England. The correction also showed the weakness of the secondhand ships' talk on which the Council's reports depended, a limit it pleaded on 2 April 1766 when the Court found its intelligence inadequate. The supercargoes were the Company's commercial agents at Canton, who bought and loaded each ship's cargo. The abstract was the summary of that lading which each commander carried, and which the Council copied home ahead of the ship. Captain Marter's loss of his copy left a gap in the series, since the abstracts for the Ankerwyke and Grenville went by the previous packet and the Horsenden's own packet carried none. | |
25 | To the Honoble &ca§ | The Council addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on the 8th of that month, sending that letter by the Horsenden. 2: The Council granted the following bills of exchange, both drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 7 June 1766. One set to Captain Parson Fenner, payable to Mr James Waugh, £280 0s 0d One set to Mr Jonathan Doveton, payable to Captain William Marter, £179 2s 0d 3: Captain Fenner offered the Council some salt provisions at 2½d a pound. The Council bought 20 casks because they came much cheaper than those received from England. Holding a little more in store than the year's consumption strictly required seemed a prudent step, in case any of the later ships ran short or the store ships were delayed longer than usual. Some rice and paddy were also bought from him, as the consultation of 9 June recorded. The Council proposed to go on buying rice until it held enough to meet the demand of the current year. The Court already knew of the need to feed the blacks at the fortifications with rice instead of yams. The letter was dated at St Helena on 10 June 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations Paragraph 3 records a purchase outside the regular channel. The island's salt meat ordinarily came from England in the store ships, and the Council's default was to wait for that supply and order more by indent. It instead bought 20 casks from a homeward commander, and it gave its reasons in advance: the price was lower than the English supply, and a reserve guarded against late ships. The care taken over the explanation followed from the letter of 2 April 1766, in which the Council admitted being at fault for keeping rice and paddy from Captain Webb at an exorbitant price. Here the price was stated outright, the purchase was entered in a consultation and the Court was told at once. The same letter of 2 April 1766 blamed the earlier shortage on heavy demands from the Company's ships, which is why a margin above the year's consumption was presented as prudence. Captain Fenner commanded the Grenville from Bengal, so the salt provisions were perhaps meat cured in India, where cattle and labour were cheap. The rice and paddy came from the same source and anticipated the double quantity that the Court ordered from Bengal and Bombay. Buying on the spot let the Council begin issuing rice to the slaves on the fortifications without waiting for those consignments, and so recover the working day each week that the letter of 2 April 1766 said was lost to fetching yams. The bills in paragraph 2 show how such purchases were financed without coin leaving the island. Captain Fenner took a bill for £280 0s 0d payable in London, which perhaps represented part of what the island owed him for the provisions or the proceeds of his private trade. The second bill ran the other way between a resident and a commander: Mr Doveton paid money into the treasury and the bill was made payable to Captain Marter of the Horsenden, which settled a debt owed to the captain for goods bought from him. | |
26 | List of the Honoble Company's Packet from St Helena P Ship§ §No 1 Govr and Councils Generl Letter dated 10th June 1766§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 8th Do Do§ §3 Consultn of the 9th June Do§ §4 Duplte Do of the 7th Do Do§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Horsendon§ §6 Second Do for Do P Ship Ankerwyke§ §7 Effective state of the Garrison§ §8 Duplte List of Stores remaining in the Honoble Company's Ware§ §9 Do Do of Garrison Stores remaing 31st March 1766§ §10 Do Do of Artillery Do from 1st Octor to 31st March Do§ §11 Do Indent of Stores wanted for the service of the Year 1767§ §12 Do Do of Medicines Do Do Do§ §13 Do List of the Packet P Ship Horsendon§ §14 Cash Acct from 9th to 10th June 1766§ §15 Duplicate Do from 6th to 8th Do Do§ §16 Ship Grenville's Acct§ §17 Duplicte Ship Horsendons Do§ §18 Abstract of the Cargoe of Ship Royal Captain.§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 10 June 1766 and sent by the Grenville. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 10 June 1766 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 8 June 1766 3: The consultation of 9 June 1766 4: A duplicate of the consultation of 7 June 1766 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Horsenden 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Ankerwyke 7: The effective state of the garrison 8: A duplicate list of stores remaining in the Company's warehouses on 31 March 1766 9: A duplicate list of garrison stores remaining on 31 March 1766 10: A duplicate list of artillery stores from 1 October 1765 to 31 March 1766 11: A duplicate of the order for stores needed in 1767 12: A duplicate of the order for medicines needed in 1767 13: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Horsenden 14: The cash account from 9 to 10 June 1766 15: A duplicate cash account from 6 to 8 June 1766 16: The account of the Grenville 17: A duplicate of the account of the Horsenden 18: An abstract of the cargo of the Royal Captain The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. A boat from the Company's ship Kent arrived soon after the packet was closed the day before. She left Bengal with the Grenville, so the Council had nothing of importance to add. The officer who came ashore reported that the ship carried several passengers, among them Mr Burdett and Mr Gregory. Interpretations The Council reopened its correspondence a day after sealing the packet, although the Kent brought no fresh news. The easier course was to let the Grenville sail with the packet as it stood and report the arrival by the next ship. A short supplementary letter was written instead, perhaps because the Court's complaint about thin intelligence, answered in the letter of 2 April 1766, made the Council unwilling to leave even an uneventful arrival unreported. Captain Fenner told the Council on arrival that he left Fort William on 16 February in company with the Kent, which is why her news could add nothing to his. Items 8 to 12 repeated the stock lists and the orders for 1767 that first went by the Ankerwyke on 5 June 1766. Those papers governed the whole of the following year's supply, so a second set by another ship insured against the loss of the first. | |
27 | Amyad Hardwicke Captains Wetherbourn Sutherland Mackneth§ | The officer from the Kent named her passengers as follows. Mr Burdett Mr Gregory Mr Amyad Mr Hardwicke Captain Wetherbourn Captain Sutherland Captain Mackneth Captain Gold Mrs Amyad The letter was dated at St Helena on 11 June 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council wrote two letters to the Court by the Grenville, which sailed the day before. One was enclosed in the packet, and the other reported the arrival of the Kent from Bengal. 2: Captain Mills was not yet ashore and did not send the Kent's bill of lading. The Council therefore could not forward it by this conveyance. 3: Mr John Chambers, supercargo of the Swedish ship, applied to pay £100 0s 0d into the Company's cash. The Council received the money and gave him bills drawn on the Court for that sum, dated 12 June 1766. They were payable to himself or to his order and drawn at 90 days' sight. The letter was dated at St Helena on 12 June 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations Paragraph 3 shows the island's treasury taking money from a rival company's officer. Mr Chambers served the Swedish ship, perhaps the Prince Charles that arrived on 5 June 1766, yet he bore an English name and wanted funds payable in London. British subjects commonly served the Swedish and Danish companies as supercargoes and needed a safe way to send their earnings home. A bill on the Court gave him that, and the Council gained £100 0s 0d in coin towards the year's expenses, the purpose for which the letter of 2 April 1766 said it relied on money received for bills. The bill of lading was the commander's signed list of the cargo he carried, against which the Court checked what was delivered in London. The Council normally copied such papers home ahead of each ship. Paragraph 2 explained the gap in advance, as the letter of 8 June 1766 did when Captain Marter mislaid the abstract of the Horsenden's cargo. | |
28 | List of the Honoble Company's Packet from St Helena P Ship§ §No 1 Govr and Counl Generl Letter dated 12th June 1766§ §2 Duplicte Do and Do dated 10th Do Do§ §3 Do Do and Do dated 11th Do Do§ §4 Consultn of the 12th June Do§ §5 Duplte Do of the 9th Do Do§ §6 First Receipt for ye Packet P Ship Grenville§ §7 Second Do for Do P Ship Horsendon§ §8 Effective state of the Garrison§ §9 List of Officers and Servants taken 12th June 1766§ §10 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Grenville§ §11 Cash Acct from 11th to 12th June 1766§ §12 Duplicte Do from 9 to 10th June Do§ §13 Ship Royal Captains Account,§ §14 Duplicate Ship Grenvilles Do§ §15 Time of the Kents Boat arrivl at Banks's§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 12 June 1766 and sent by the Royal Captain. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 12 June 1766 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 10 June 1766 3: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 11 June 1766 4: The consultation of 12 June 1766 5: A duplicate of the consultation of 9 June 1766 6: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Grenville 7: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Horsenden 8: The effective state of the garrison 9: A list of officers and servants taken on 12 June 1766 10: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Grenville 11: The cash account from 11 to 12 June 1766 12: A duplicate cash account from 9 to 10 June 1766 13: The account of the Royal Captain 14: A duplicate of the account of the Grenville 15: The time at which the boat of the Kent arrived at Banks's The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous letter went to the Court by the Royal Captain and was dated the 12th of that month. 2: The Company's ship True Briton arrived from Bombay on the 21st of that month. Captain Crichton reported leaving that place on 21 February, when the Company's ships Hardwicke, Clive and Harcourt lay there. He spoke with Captain Clements the day after sailing from Bombay. The Fox, he added, was gone down the coast. 3: Captain Mills received an order to take two discharged soldiers, William Huckley and John Allis, on board his ship. Interpretations Captain Clements was the commander whom the Portuguese master, reported on 23 April 1766, placed at Rio de Janeiro in September 1765 with another English ship. Captain Crichton's meeting with him off Bombay in late February showed the Court that he completed his outward passage safely. Huckley and Allis brought to 16 the discharged soldiers sent home as working hands since 4 April 1766, the Kent under Captain Mills being the latest homeward ship used to clear such men from the island without passage money. | |
29 | Soldiers towards compleating the Kents Company§ §No 1 Governr & Counl Generl Letter dated 29th June 1766§ §2 Duplte Do and Do dated 12th Do Do§ §3 Consultn from 16th to 23d Do Do§ §4 Duplicte Do of the 12th Do Do§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Royal Captain§ §6 Second Do for Do P Ship Grenville§ §7 Effective state of the Garrison§ §8 Duplicte List of the Packet P Ship Royal Captain§ §9 Cash Account from 13th to 29th June 1766§ §10 Duplicte Do from 11th to 12th Do Do§ §11 Ship Kents Account§ | The two discharged soldiers went on board towards making up the Kent's crew. 4: Captain Crichton told the Council that he held no bill of lading for the True Briton's cargo. 5: The passengers on board the True Briton were Captain England and his wife, and Commodore Watson and his [...]. The letter was dated at St Helena on 29 June 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 29 June 1766 and sent by the Kent. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 29 June 1766 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 12 June 1766 3: The consultations from 16 to 23 June 1766 4: A duplicate of the consultation of 12 June 1766 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Royal Captain 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Grenville 7: The effective state of the garrison 8: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Royal Captain 9: The cash account from 13 to 29 June 1766 10: A duplicate cash account from 11 to 12 June 1766 11: The account of the Kent Interpretations Paragraph 4 reported a third gap in the cargo papers within a month. Captain Marter mislaid the abstract of the Horsenden's cargo, as the letter of 8 June 1766 recorded, and the letter of 12 June 1766 explained that Captain Mills did not send the Kent's bill of lading. The bill of lading was the signed list of cargo against which the Court checked deliveries in London, so the Council named the commander responsible each time and left the Court to take the matter up with him. | |
30 | 12 Duplicte Ship Royal Captains Account§ §13 Time of the arrivl of the True Britons Boat at Banks's§ §14 Abstract of the Cargoe of Ship Kent§ §15 List of two discharged Soldiers§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list for the Kent continued with these further items. 12: A duplicate of the account of the Royal Captain 13: The time at which the boat of the True Briton arrived at Banks's 14: An abstract of the cargo of the Kent 15: A list of 2 discharged soldiers The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court by the Kent, which sailed from the island on the 1st of that month. 2: The previous quarter's accounts would not come before the Council until the 21st of that month. No cash account could therefore go by this opportunity except the duplicate of the earlier one. 3: Two soldiers, James Procter and John Wizard, petitioned for their discharges on the 30th of the previous month. The Council ordered Captain Mills to take them on board towards making up the Kent's crew. The packet was made up the day before, so that letter could not mention them. A list of the two men went with the present letter. 4: Captain John Havard applied to pay £240 0s 0d into the Company's cash. The Council received the money and gave him bills drawn on the Court for that sum, dated the day of the letter. They were payable 90 days after sight to Captain Nathaniel Tanner or to his order. 5: The Company's ship Grosvenor arrived that day from Bencoolen, and a Danish ship came in from Bengal. Interpretations Paragraph 3 explained a discrepancy the Court would otherwise have noticed. The letter of 29 June 1766 named William Huckley and John Allis as the two discharged soldiers placed in the Kent, and item 15 of her packet listed two men. Procter and Wizard petitioned a day after that packet closed and joined the ship before she sailed on 1 July, so the Kent carried four soldiers while her papers showed two. Reporting the late pair by the next ship let the Court strike all four from the garrison's pay and reconcile the ship's crew list on her arrival. Their petitions also show that a soldier whose time was served had to ask for his discharge, and that the Council granted it most readily when a homeward ship needed hands. Paragraph 2 repeated the situation of 2 April 1766, when the quarter's accounts were not due to be read until the 21st of the month. The cash account was evidently passed in council on the same day in each quarter, and a ship sailing before that date carried only a copy of the earlier account. Bencoolen was the Company's pepper settlement on the west coast of Sumatra. The Grosvenor was in the roll of 15 Company ships at Canton given in the letter of 2 April 1766, so she perhaps called at Bencoolen on her way home from China to complete her cargo with pepper. | |
31 | the Dane Gentlemen that they spoke with your Ship Duke of Albany§ §No 1 Governor & Councl Generl Letter dated 7th July 1766§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 29th June Do§ §3 Consultn from the 30th June to 7 July Do§ §4 Duplicte Do from 16 to 23d June Do§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Kent§ §6 Second Do for Do P Ship Royal Captain§ §7 Effecte State of the Garrison§ §8 Muster Rolls of Do§ §9 List of Officrs & Servants taken 7th July 1766§ §10 Do of 2 Discharged Soldiers§ §11 Duplicte List of the Packet P Ship Kent§ §12 Do Cash Acct from 13 to 29th June 1766§ §13 Ship True Britons Acct§ §14 Duplicte Ship Kent Do§ | The Danish gentlemen told the Council that they spoke with the Company's ship Duke of Albany off the Cape, where all was well. The letter was dated at St Helena on 7 July 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 7 July 1766 and sent by the True Briton. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 7 July 1766 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 29 June 1766 3: The consultations from 30 June to 7 July 1766 4: A duplicate of the consultations from 16 to 23 June 1766 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Kent 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Royal Captain 7: The effective state of the garrison 8: The muster rolls of the garrison 9: A list of officers and servants taken on 7 July 1766 10: A list of 2 discharged soldiers 11: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Kent 12: A duplicate cash account from 13 to 29 June 1766 13: The account of the True Briton 14: A duplicate of the account of the Kent Interpretations Item 10 was the list promised in the letter of 7 July 1766 for James Procter and John Wizard, the two soldiers who joined the Kent after her own packet closed on 29 June 1766. Item 12 was the only cash account in the packet and a duplicate, as the same letter warned, because the quarter's accounts were not due before the Council until 21 July. The muster rolls at item 8 last went home in the packet of 2 April 1766. Their reappearance three months later suggests they were sent quarterly, while the effective state of the garrison went with every ship. | |
32 | To the Honoble &ca§ | The Council addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous letter went to the Court by the True Briton and was dated the 7th of that month. 2: That letter reported the arrival of the Company's ship Grosvenor and of a Danish ship from Bengal. The Danish vessel was called the Countess Moltke and was commanded by Captain Samson. She was of about 400 tons burthen and carried 18 guns and 75 men. Her cargo was Bengal goods, and she was bound for Copenhagen. 3: The Tilbury arrived from China on the 9th of that month. A Dutch ship from Batavia called the Nieuw Nieuwerkerk [...], under Captain Van Bretten, came in the same day. She was of about 700 tons burthen and carried 28 guns and 100 men. Her cargo was sugar and pepper, and she was bound for Amsterdam. 4: Captain Saunders received an order to take William Bell, a discharged soldier, on board his ship towards making up the Grosvenor's crew. 5: The passengers on board the Grosvenor were: Major Smith Mr Cooke Mr Clitheroe Mr James Mr Crisp Mr Grant Mr Tyrrell Mr Beckett 6: Mr Thomas Greentree applied to pay £1,578 16s 0d into the Company's cash. The Council received the money and gave him bills drawn on the Court for that sum, dated the 14th of that month. They were payable 90 days after sight to Mrs Helena Harrold or to her order. The letter was dated at St Helena on 16 July 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations The bill in paragraph 6 was by far the largest single remittance of the season. The five sets granted on 12 April 1766 came to £2,042 0s 0d between them, and the other bills reported since ranged from £28 5s 0d to £280 0s 0d. One resident's payment of £1,578 16s 0d therefore supplied the treasury with a substantial part of the coin on which the Council relied for the year's expenses, as the letter of 2 April 1766 explained when the Plassey's chest of treasure was sent on to Canton. Unlike the commanders' bills, which were mostly payable to themselves, this one transferred a large sum to a named woman in England, which suggests the settlement of an estate, a debt or a family provision. The arrival of the Tilbury completed the correction made on 8 June 1766. The Swedish officers' report placed her in the Sunda Strait at the beginning of June, and the Council withdrew it on the evidence of the supercargoes' accounts. Her appearance more than a month after the Royal Captain confirmed that she was well behind. The Dutch ship gave the Court its first report that season of the Dutch company's homeward trade from Batavia, its headquarters on Java. Sugar from the Javanese mills and pepper from Sumatra and Borneo were staple cargoes of that trade. The Council recorded her tonnage, guns, crew and destination as it did for the Danish, Swedish and French ships reported earlier in the year. | |
33 | List of the Honoble Company's Packet from St Helena§ §No 1 Govr and Counl General Letter dated 16th July 1766§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 7th Do Do§ §3 Consultation of the 14th Do Do§ §4 Duplicte Do from 30 June to 7th Do Do§ §5 First Receipt for ye Packet P Ship True Briton§ §6 Second Do for Do P Ship Kent§ §7 Effective state of the Garrison§ §8 Duplicte List of the Packet P Ship True Briton§ §9 Ship Grosvenor's Account§ §10 Duplicte Ship True Britons Do§ §11 Time of the Arrivl of the Grosvenor's and Tilbury's Boats at§ §12 Abst of the Cargoes of Ships Grosvenor and Tilbury§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 16 July 1766 and sent by the Grosvenor. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 16 July 1766 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 7 July 1766 3: The consultation of 14 July 1766 4: A duplicate of the consultations from 30 June to 7 July 1766 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the True Briton 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Kent 7: The effective state of the garrison 8: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the True Briton 9: The account of the Grosvenor 10: A duplicate of the account of the True Briton 11: The times at which the boats of the Grosvenor and Tilbury arrived at Banks's 12: An abstract of the cargoes of the Grosvenor and Tilbury The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on the 16th of that month, sending that letter by the Grosvenor. 2: The Company's ship Clive arrived the day before, last from Anjengo. Captain Allen reported leaving that place on 5 May. The Hardwicke, he said, was to sail from Tellicherry about the same time. He added that the Royal Charlotte sailed for Surat in order to go on to Mocha. The Pacific left Madras about the end of March with General Lawrence on board. 3: Captain [...] Van Bretten applied to pay £1,040 0s 0d into the Company's cash. The Council received the money and gave him bills drawn on the Court for that sum, payable to himself or to his order. Interpretations Paragraph 3 shows the commander of a rival company's ship using the island's treasury. Captain Van Bretten commanded the Dutch vessel from Batavia that arrived on 9 July, as the letter of 16 July 1766 reported. A bill on the Court let him move £1,040 0s 0d to Europe without carrying coin, and the island gained a large sum towards its running costs. The Swedish ship's supercargo did the same on 12 June 1766 with £100 0s 0d. With the £1,578 16s 0d received from Mr Greentree on 14 July, the treasury took in more than £2,600 in coin within a few days, which bore out the Council's reliance on bill money when it sent the Plassey's chest of treasure on to Canton. The Clive and Hardwicke were two of the three Company ships that Captain Crichton left at Bombay on 21 February, as the letter of 29 June 1766 recorded. Anjengo and Tellicherry were Company settlements on the Malabar coast of south-west India, where homeward Bombay ships completed their cargoes with pepper. Surat was the chief port of Gujarat, and Mocha, at the mouth of the Red Sea, was the source of the Company's coffee. The Pacific was the ship that Captain Fenner reported as waited for at Madras, in the letter of 5 June 1766. | |
34 | after sight dated 21st instant§ | Captain Van Bretten's bills were drawn at 90 days after sight and dated the 21st of that month. 4: Captain Mitchell, the engineer, complained against Lieutenant Bridgwater on suspicion of fraud. The lieutenant was accused of cheating the soldiers employed at the Company's works at Sandy Bay of part of the arrack allowance that he bought for their use. The Council ordered him to be tried by a general court martial, which found him guilty and sentenced him to be discharged from the Company's service. That sentence was approved, and the proceedings of the court martial went home for the Court's approval. 5: Captain Mitchell's letter, entered in the consultation of the 14th of that month, contained a remark on the blacks. In answer, the Council recalled its earlier letters, which already reported that the Company's slaves from the coast of Guinea fell well short of expectations. The winter season affected them severely, although they were well fed and given an allowance of arrack. Their condition was perhaps going to slow the fortification works to some degree during the winter. Every soldier was already spared for the works, except a single relief for the garrison's duties. 6: Joseph Chamberlain, the Company's carpenter's mate, resigned from the service, as the consultation of the 30th of the previous month recorded. His petition gave occasional Sunday work as an apparent hardship and as his reason for leaving. The Council wished to clear up that point for the Court. His Sunday work amounted to no more than making a coffin on an exceptional occasion and also a packet box. That remark was left out of the consultation in which his petition was entered. If no other carpenter's mate could be found in the later ships, the Council promised to give the Court early notice to send one out by the store ship, since the island badly needed such a craftsman. 7: The only passenger on board the Clive was Captain Campbell. Interpretations Paragraph 4 closed an arrangement the Council made only months earlier. The letter of 2 April 1766 reported Lieutenant Bridgwater's appointment to live at Sandy Bay and supervise the workmen at 5s a day, under directions from Captain Mitchell. The same officer who directed him then brought the charge. The Council could have dealt with the matter by removing him from the post or by an inquiry of its own, but it ordered a general court martial, the formal military tribunal of garrison officers. A commissioned officer could be dismissed only by such a sentence, and sending the full proceedings home let the Court confirm a discharge that touched its own power of appointment. Arrack was a spirit distilled in the East from palm sap, rice or molasses and brought to the island by returning ships. It was issued to men on heavy labour as part of their allowance, so an officer who bought it for the soldiers and kept back a share was taking part of their pay in kind. Paragraph 5 prepared the Court for slower progress on the defences. The letter of 2 April 1766 judged the slaves landed from the Royal George inferior to those from Madagascar and asked for a twelve-month trial. The island's winter, which fell in the middle of the calendar year, was cool and wet on the high ground, and men brought from the Guinea coast suffered in it. The Council stressed that food and arrack were not stinted and that no more soldiers could be found, so that any delay would be put down to the season and the slaves' health and not to a lack of effort. Paragraph 6 was written to forestall a complaint in England. Chamberlain's petition, as entered in the consultations, suggested that the Company's craftsmen were made to work on Sundays, a charge the Court would take seriously. The Council's correction reduced it to two pieces of urgent work: a coffin for a burial that could not wait and a box for a packet that went with a departing ship. The admission that the remark was missing from the consultation shows that the Council expected the Court to read the petition there without its answer. | |
35 | 8 We have given Captain Mainwaring an order to receive§ §No 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated 25th July 1766§ §2 Do and Do dated 25th July 1766 relating to Law Matters§ §3 Duplicate Do and Do dated 16 July 1766§ §4 Consultation of the 21st July Do§ §5 Duplicate Do of the 14th Do Do§ §6 First Receipt for ye Packet P Ship Grosvenor§ §7 Second Do for Do P Ship True Briton§ §8 Effective State of the Garrison§ §9 List of Officers and Servants taken 25th July Do§ §10 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Grosvenor§ §11 Cash Acct of the 30th June 1766§ §12 Do from the 1 to 25 July Do§ §13 Ship Tilbury's Account§ §14 Duplicate Ship Grosvenors Acct§ §15 Proceedings of a Genl Quarterly Sessions held the 16 July 1766§ | 8: Captain Mainwaring received an order to take Henry Sandford, a discharged soldier, on board his ship towards making up the Tilbury's crew. The letter was dated at St Helena on 25 July 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 25 July 1766 and sent by the Tilbury. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 25 July 1766 2: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 25 July 1766 on law matters 3: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 16 July 1766 4: The consultation of 21 July 1766 5: A duplicate of the consultation of 14 July 1766 6: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Grosvenor 7: The second receipt for the packet sent by the True Briton 8: The effective state of the garrison 9: A list of officers and servants taken on 25 July 1766 10: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Grosvenor 11: The cash account of 30 June 1766 12: The cash account from 1 to 25 July 1766 13: The account of the Tilbury 14: A duplicate of the account of the Grosvenor 15: The proceedings of a general quarterly sessions held on 16 July 1766 Interpretations Items 11 and 12 ended the gap announced in the letter of 7 July 1766, which warned that the quarter's accounts would not come before the Council until 21 July. The consultation of that date went in the same packet at item 4. The earlier account sent home closed on 29 June, so a separate account for the single day of 30 June completed the quarter, and a new one opened the next. The separate letter on law matters at item 2 travelled with the proceedings of the quarterly sessions at item 15. The same pairing appeared in the packet of 23 April 1766, which carried a law letter and the sessions of 9 April 1766. The Council evidently reported on the island's judicial business once a quarter, after each sitting of the court. | |
36 | 16 General Court Martial held on the 16th July 1766§ §17 Time of the Arrival of the Clives Boat at Banks's§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list for the Tilbury continued with these further items. 16: The general court martial held on 10 July 1766 17: The time at which the boat of the Clive arrived at Banks's The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous news went to the Court by the Tilbury in a letter dated 25 July 1766. 2: The Company's ship Pacific arrived from Madras on the 27th of the previous month. The Hardwicke followed on the 31st, last from Tellicherry. Captain Barkley reported meeting the Duke of Albany on 22 June in latitude 32 degrees 20 minutes south. He met the Anson on the 29th of the same month in 36 degrees 28 minutes south, and all was well in both ships. The Council learned that disturbances broke out at Tellicherry about the time the Hardwicke left. They were caused by Hyder Naig, a man of humble origins whose abilities brought him command of a great stretch of the Malabar coast. He was by then formidable to the country powers and used the name Hyder Ali Khan. The trouble began when Hyder asked Mr Ryley, the chief of Tellicherry, for leave to march his army through the town. He wanted a shorter route for subduing some of the country powers, and the request was refused. His advance guard then pulled down the Company's colours at some outlying posts belonging to the settlement. Hyder denied giving any order for that act. Mr Ryley sent a detachment under a subaltern to retake the posts and hoist the colours again. This was done without opposition, except at one pagoda where the enemy was posted. A stronger force of 300 Europeans and sepoys with 2 pieces of cannon was then sent out. That force attacked Hyder Ali Khan and his army and was defeated, losing many men and both guns. The survivors made their way back to Tellicherry with difficulty. Hyder Ali Khan promised to return the cannon, but they were not yet given back. Interpretations The account of Tellicherry shows a local dispute turned into a defeat by a choice the record makes visible. Hyder disowned the lowering of the colours, and the first detachment recovered every post but one without a shot. The chief could have left the matter there or settled the remaining post by negotiation, since Hyder was offering a disclaimer. He instead sent 300 men and 2 guns against the main army of a ruler who commanded much of the coast, perhaps because a Company flag left down at even one post was thought to invite further encroachment. The loss of the guns mattered beyond their value, because captured artillery was a public mark of defeat, and Hyder's unkept promise to return them left that mark standing. Hyder Naig was Hyder Ali, the soldier who made himself ruler of Mysore and in 1766 was conquering the small states of Malabar. Naig was a military rank, roughly a commander of troops, and the change to Khan marked his claim to princely standing. The country powers were the local Indian rulers, and sepoys were Indian soldiers trained and officered in the European manner. A subaltern was a junior commissioned officer below the rank of captain. The pagoda was a Hindu temple, whose walled enclosure made a ready strongpoint. Tellicherry was a subordinate factory under Bombay, governed by a chief and valued for its pepper. The news reached the island as ships' report and was passed on at length because the Court would otherwise wait months for Bombay's own dispatches. The fullness of the narrative answered the complaint about thin intelligence that the Council addressed in the letter of 2 April 1766. Item 16 was the trial of Lieutenant Bridgwater, whose conviction and discharge the letter of 25 July 1766 reported. The date showed that the court sat on 10 July, four days before Captain Mitchell's letter was entered in the consultation of 14 July. | |
37 | it when your Honors Ship left that Coast, and further accused Us§ §No 1 Governor and Councils Generl Letter dated 4th August 1766§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 25 July Do§ §3 Do Do and Do dated 25 Do Do§ §4 Consultations from 28th July to 4 August 1766§ §5 Duplicate Do of 21st Do Do§ §6 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Tilbury§ §7 Second Do for Do P Ship Grosvenor§ §8 Effective state of the Garrison§ §9 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Tilbury§ §10 Cash Account from 26 to 31 July 1766§ §11 Do from the 1 to 4th August Do§ | The cannon were still not returned when the Company's ship left that coast. Hyder Ali Khan further accused the English of being the aggressors, declaring that he never intended to attack them. 3: The passengers on board the Pacific were: General Lawrence Colonel Campbell Mr Fairfield Mr Turing Mr Short Mrs Bishop Captain Morrane travelled on board the Hardwicke. 4: The abstracts of the cargoes of the Hardwicke and Clive could not be sent. Their captains told the Council that they held no copies of their bills of lading. The letter was dated at St Helena on 4 August 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 4 August 1766 and sent by the Hardwicke. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 4 August 1766 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 25 July 1766 3: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 25 July 1766 on law matters 4: The consultations from 28 July to 4 August 1766 5: A duplicate of the consultation of 21 July 1766 6: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Tilbury 7: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Grosvenor 8: The effective state of the garrison 9: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Tilbury 10: The cash account from 26 to 31 July 1766 11: The cash account from 1 to 4 August 1766 Interpretations Hyder Ali Khan's charge that the English were the aggressors completed the account of Tellicherry begun earlier in this letter. He disowned the lowering of the colours and then met an attack by 300 men and 2 guns, so his claim had some footing in the sequence the Council itself reported. By sending home his version beside its own, the Council left the Court to judge the conduct of Mr Ryley, the chief who ordered the attack, when Bombay's dispatches arrived. Paragraph 4 added two more ships to the run of missing cargo papers. Captain Marter mislaid the Horsenden's abstract, as the letter of 8 June 1766 recorded, Captain Mills did not send the Kent's bill of lading, and Captain Crichton held none for the True Briton, as the letter of 29 June 1766 reported. The True Briton, Hardwicke and Clive all came from Bombay and the Malabar coast, which suggests that ships of that presidency sailed without the copies the Council needed, and not that three commanders were separately careless. General Lawrence was the passenger Captain Allen reported as leaving Madras in the Pacific about the end of March, in the letter of 25 July 1766. | |
38 | 12 Duplicate Cash Account of the 30th June 1766§ §13 Do Do from 1 to 25 July Do§ §14 Ship Clives Account§ §15 Do Pacificks Do§ §16 Do Hardwickes Do§ §17 Duplicate Ship Tilburys Do§ §18 Do Proceedings of a Generl Quartr Sessions held 16th July 1766§ §19 Abstract of the Cargoe of Ship Pacifick§ §20 Time of the Arrivl of the Pacificks and Hardwickes§ §21 Courts Martial from 19 August 1765 to 4 August 1766§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list for the Hardwicke continued with these further items. 12: A duplicate cash account of 30 June 1766 13: A duplicate cash account from 1 to 25 July 1766 14: The account of the Clive 15: The account of the Pacific 16: The account of the Hardwicke 17: A duplicate of the account of the Tilbury 18: A duplicate of the proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 16 July 1766 19: An abstract of the cargo of the Pacific 20: The times at which the boats of the Pacific and Hardwicke arrived at Banks's 21: The courts martial from 19 August 1765 to 4 August 1766 The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on the 4th of the previous month. That letter went by the Hardwicke, which sailed from the island in company with the Clive and the Pacific. 2: The Company's ship Harcourt arrived on the 5th of that month, last from Anjengo, and the Admiral Watson came in from Bengal. Captain Roddam reported leaving Anjengo on 22 May. The Asia, he said, was to be dispatched from Bombay for Europe about the end of the same month. Captain Money sailed from Ingeli on 10 April, where he left the Company's ship Ponsborne bound for England. The Council also heard that Lord Clive was gone up to the army on some business. 3: The passengers on board the Admiral Watson were: Mr Majendie Mr Hudson Mr Ladder Mr Wilson Mr Hearn Mr Bird Miss Gardner Miss Holdercraft 4: The abstract of the Harcourt's cargo could not be sent, because Captain Roddam told the Council that he held no copy of his bill of lading. Interpretations Paragraph 4 strengthened the pattern noted in the letter of 4 August 1766. The Harcourt was the third of the three ships that Captain Crichton left at Bombay on 21 February, and like the True Briton, Hardwicke and Clive she arrived without a copy of her bill of lading. Every ship of the Bombay presidency that season therefore reached the island without that paper, while the China and Bengal ships generally carried theirs. The fault lay perhaps with the practice of the Bombay government and not with the individual commanders. Item 21 gathered a full year of the garrison's military trials into one return, ending on the day the packet closed. It took in the general court martial of 10 July 1766 that discharged Lieutenant Bridgwater, whose proceedings went separately by the Tilbury. An annual return let the Court review how military justice was applied to the ordinary soldiers, as the quarterly sessions papers did for the civil court. The Admiral Watson and Ponsborne were the two ships that Captain Fenner reported as due to be dispatched from Bengal for Europe, in the letter of 5 June 1766. Ingeli was the anchorage at the mouth of the Hooghly where homeward ships from Calcutta completed their lading and took their final departure. Lord Clive was then Governor of Bengal, and news of his movements told the Court where the head of its largest presidency was engaged. | |
39 | 5 Captain Barklay informed Us that he had on board his§ | 5: Captain Barkley told the Council that one of the soldiers he carried from England to Bengal was on board his ship, having deserted when the ship left that place. The Council ordered the man to be sent ashore, but he could not be found. Captain Barkley suspected that some of his crew were hiding him, since several strict searches failed to discover where he was. 6: The Council asked the Court to send every tool requested in its own order and in the engineer's. Shovels and spades were wanted above all, because the island was very short of them for the fortifications and its other necessary works. 7: No carpenter's mate could be obtained from the ships, contrary to the Council's hopes. The Court was therefore asked to send one out at the first opportunity, since the island badly needed such a craftsman. Notice was held back until then only because a man was expected from the shipping. 8: The Court's orders required its captains to provide their own fuel for the homeward passage. Many of them nevertheless applied to the Council for it that year, and the island did not hold enough coals to supply them. The Council hoped the Court would enforce the order, so that the same difficulty did not arise again. The chaldron spared to Captain Money reduced the stock of coals to 1 chaldron and 30 bushels, which was all that remained to meet every demand until a fresh supply came. 9: The Council granted the following bills of exchange, both drawn at 90 days' sight and dated the 22nd of that month. One set to Mr Jonathan Doveton, payable to Mr George Rutherdon, £58 6s 0d One set to Mr John Stephens, payable to himself, £50 0s 0d 10: The letter went to the Court by the Harcourt, which sailed in company with another ship. Interpretations Paragraph 8 returned to the first subject of the letter of 2 April 1766, and the position was worse. The Council then asked the Court both to keep its captains under orders to bring fuel from India and to send coals, while 30 chaldrons were reserved for the engineer's lime burning. By September the whole stock stood at 1 chaldron and 30 bushels, a little under two chaldrons at 36 bushels to the chaldron. The homeward ships of the season drew the supply down almost to nothing, and the lime kilns on which the fortifications depended were left exposed. The same letter of 2 April 1766 promised that ships short of fuel would be given coals alone and no more of the island's wood, so the Council could not fall back on timber. That is why it pressed the Court to discipline the commanders instead of simply asking for a larger shipment. Paragraph 5 concerned a soldier who deserted in Bengal and hid in a homeward ship. He belonged to the Company's army, and the Council's order to land him would have added a man to its own short garrison, for which it requested 50 recruits in the letter of 5 June 1766. The crew's concealment defeated the order. A ship short of hands gained a working man by hiding him, the same need the Council met openly all season by placing discharged soldiers in homeward ships. The Council reported the failure so that the Court could have the man seized when the ship reached England. Paragraph 7 followed from the letter of 25 July 1766, which reported the resignation of Joseph Chamberlain, the carpenter's mate, and promised early notice if no replacement could be found in the later ships. The explanation for the delay answered in advance any charge that the Council let the season pass without asking. The demand for shovels and spades in paragraph 6 showed where the defence works stood. The labour at Sandy Bay and elsewhere was still chiefly digging and moving earth, and worn tools could not be replaced on the island. Naming the engineer's order beside its own told the Court that neither list was to be cut on the ground that the other covered the same need. | |
40 | Company with your Ship Admiral Watson§ §No 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated 23d Sept 1766§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 4 Augt Do§ §3 Consultations from 11th August to 22 Septr Do§ §4 Duplicate Do from 28 July to the 4 August Do§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Hardwicke§ §6 Second Do for Do P Ship Tilbury§ §7 Effective state of the Garrison§ §8 List of Officers and Servants taken 23d Sept 1766§ §9 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Hardwicke§ §10 Cash Account from the 5th to 31 August Do§ §11 Do from 1 to 23d Sept Do§ §12 Duplicate Do from 26th to 31st July Do§ §13 Do Do from 1 to 4th Augt Do§ §14 Ship Harcourt's Account§ §15 Do Admiral Watsons Do§ §16 Duplicate Ship Clives Do§ §17 Do Do Pacificks Do§ §18 Do Do Hardwickes Do§ | The Harcourt sailed in company with the Company's ship Admiral Watson. The letter was dated at St Helena on 23 September 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 23 September 1766 and sent by the Harcourt. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 23 September 1766 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 4 August 1766 3: The consultations from 11 August to 22 September 1766 4: A duplicate of the consultations from 28 July to 4 August 1766 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Hardwicke 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Tilbury 7: The effective state of the garrison 8: A list of officers and servants taken on 23 September 1766 9: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Hardwicke 10: The cash account from 5 to 31 August 1766 11: The cash account from 1 to 23 September 1766 12: A duplicate cash account from 26 to 31 July 1766 13: A duplicate cash account from 1 to 4 August 1766 14: The account of the Harcourt 15: The account of the Admiral Watson 16: A duplicate of the account of the Clive 17: A duplicate of the account of the Pacific 18: A duplicate of the account of the Hardwicke Interpretations The packet covered a much longer interval than any earlier one that year. From April to early August a homeward ship left every week or two, and each packet carried consultations for a few days only. Item 3 ran over six weeks, from 11 August to 22 September 1766, and the cash accounts at items 10 and 11 covered seven weeks between them. No ship sailed for England between the Hardwicke on 4 August and the Harcourt, which marked the tail of the homeward season and explained why the letter of 23 September 1766 gathered several requests for the following year into one dispatch. | |
41 | 19 Abstract of the Cargoe of Ship Admiral Watson§ §20 Time of the Arrival of the Harcourt's Boat at Banks's.§ §To the Honble &ca§ | The packet list for the Harcourt continued with these further items. 19: An abstract of the cargo of the Admiral Watson 20: The time at which the boat of the Harcourt arrived at Banks's The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous letter went to the Court by the Harcourt and was dated 23 September. 2: The Company's ship Ponsborne arrived from Bengal on the 26th of the previous month. Captain Payne reported that he was obliged to go through the Strait of Malacca to make his passage. He spoke with the Company's ships Deptford, Cumberland, Speke and Havannah in the Strait of Banca in June and July. He also heard that the Hawke was at Bencoolen and that the Prince of Wales and the Plassey passed the straits on their way to China. 3: Governor Skottowe paid £205 4s 0d into the Company's cash. The Council gave him bills drawn on the Court for that sum, dated the day of the letter. They were payable to Robert Wood and drawn at 90 days' sight. 4: The passengers on board the Ponsborne were: Miss Keen Mr Fullerton Mr Abercromby Mr Maclean Mr Wroe 5: Captain Mitchell saw fit to make some alterations at Sandy Bay after the plans of the island's fortifications went home. The Council agreed to them and entered its reasons in the consultation of the 3rd of the previous month, to which the Court was referred. The letter was dated at St Helena on 3 November 1766 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations Paragraph 5 reported a departure from plans the Court already approved. The letter of 2 April 1766 recorded that approval and promised to carry the works out as the Court recommended, so the regular course was to build Sandy Bay as drawn or to seek fresh sanction before changing it. The Council instead agreed to Captain Mitchell's alterations on the spot and told the Court afterwards, pointing to the consultation for its reasons instead of setting them out in the letter. Waiting for an answer from London would have halted the work for a year or more. The step followed the pattern of Captain Mitchell's own appointment, John Robinson's salary and Lieutenant Bridgwater's posting, all defended in the letter of 2 April 1766 as acts of necessity taken ahead of approval. The Ponsborne left Ingeli about 10 April, as the letter of 23 September 1766 reported, yet reached the island only on 26 October. Captain Payne's account explained the delay. A ship leaving Bengal so late in the season met the south-west monsoon in the Bay of Bengal and could not work directly south-west towards the Cape. Running down through the Strait of Malacca and out by Banca and the Sunda Strait was the longer route by which such a ship still made her passage. The Governor's bill was his second of the year payable to Robert Wood, after the £300 0s 0d set granted on 9 April 1766 and reported in the letter of 12 April 1766. The Prince of Wales and the Plassey were the two outward ships that left the island on 4 April 1766, the second carrying the chest of treasure forwarded to Canton, so the report told the Court that the silver was safely past the straits. | |
42 | List of the Honble Companys Packet from St Helena§ §No 1 Govr & Councils Genl Letter dated 3d November 1766§ §2 Do & Do dated 3d Do relatg to Law mattrs§ §3 Duplicate Do & Do dated 23d Sepr 1766§ §4 Consultations from the 29th Sept to the 3d Novr Do§ §5 Duplicate Do from 11 Augt to 22d Sepr Do§ §6 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Harcourt§ §7 Second Do for Do P Ship Hardwicke§ §8 Effective State of the Garrison§ §9 Muster Rolls of Do§ §10 List of Familys taken the 30th Sepr 1766§ §11 Do of Rents taken the 30th Do Do§ §12 Do of the Honble Compys Slaves Do Do§ §13 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Harcourt§ §14 Cash Acct from the 24th to the 30th Sepr 1766§ §15 Do Do for the Month of August Do§ §16 Do Do from the 1st to the 3d Novr Do§ §17 Duplicate Do from the 5th to the 31st August Do§ §18 Do Do from the 1st to the 23d Sepr Do§ §19 Ship Ponsbornes Account§ §20 Duplicate Ship Harcourts Do§ §21 Do Ship Admiral Watsons Do§ §22 Abstract of the Cargoe of Ship Ponsborne§ §23 Time of the Arrival of the Ponsbornes boat at Banks's§ §24 Proceedings of a Genl Quarterly Sessions held the 8th October§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 3 November 1766 and sent by the Ponsborne. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 3 November 1766 2: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 3 November 1766 on law matters 3: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 23 September 1766 4: The consultations from 29 September to 3 November 1766 5: A duplicate of the consultations from 11 August to 22 September 1766 6: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Harcourt 7: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Hardwicke 8: The effective state of the garrison 9: The muster rolls of the garrison 10: A list of families taken on 30 September 1766 11: A list of rents taken on 30 September 1766 12: A list of the Company's slaves taken on 30 September 1766 13: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Harcourt 14: The cash account from 24 to 30 September 1766 15: The cash account for the month of August 1766 16: The cash account from 1 to 3 November 1766 17: A duplicate cash account from 5 to 31 August 1766 18: A duplicate cash account from 1 to 23 September 1766 19: The account of the Ponsborne 20: A duplicate of the account of the Harcourt 21: A duplicate of the account of the Admiral Watson 22: An abstract of the cargo of the Ponsborne 23: The time at which the boat of the Ponsborne arrived at Banks's 24: The proceedings of a general quarterly sessions held on 8 October 1766 The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court in a letter dated 3 November. Interpretations Items 10 to 12 were annual returns, all taken on 30 September 1766, the close of the Company's accounting year on the island. The list of families was a census of the free inhabitants by household. The list of rents recorded what each landholder owed the Company for the ground he held, since all land on the island was held from the Company as proprietor. The list of slaves counted the Company's own labour force, as distinct from slaves owned by the planters. Together the three gave the Court a yearly measure of the island's population, its landed revenue and the hands available for the works. The slave list carried particular weight that year, after the Council's reports of 2 April 1766 and 25 July 1766 that the slaves landed from the Royal George were sickly and unequal to the labour of the fortifications. The law letter at item 2 again travelled with the proceedings of a quarterly sessions, here those of 8 October 1766 at item 24. The same pairing appeared in the packets of 23 April 1766 and 25 July 1766, which confirmed that the Council reported on judicial business after each quarterly sitting. The muster rolls at item 9 last went home on 7 July 1766 and before that on 2 April 1766, so they kept to a roughly quarterly interval. | |
43 | by your Ship Ponsborne§ | The Council's previous letter of 3 November went to the Court by the Ponsborne. 2: His Majesty's ship Argo arrived on the 11th of the previous month. The Asia followed on the 22nd, and both came from the Cape. Captain Affleck reported that a Dutch ship from Batavia reached the Cape while he lay there. One of her seamen told him of news at Batavia that two English vessels were at the port of Banjarmasin in Borneo. The inhabitants received them very warmly and readily renewed an earlier treaty of friendship and trade with the English. The governor of the Cape also told Captain Affleck that 12 or 13 of the later Dutch homeward ships were ordered to call there for refreshment. Captain Inglis reported leaving Bombay at the beginning of November. The Royal Charlotte, he said, was to sail from there for Europe on the 20th of the same month. The Company's ships Nottingham and Duke of Albany sailed from Bengal some time before he left Bombay. 3: Captain Inglis went down to the crane on Tuesday the 24th of the previous month about his ship's business. He exchanged words with John Pinchback, one of his seamen, and raised his cane. Pinchback seized the cane and wrenched it from him, which sent the captain backwards into the sea. His head struck the rocks and his skull was fractured, and he died of the blow on the 1st of that month. Pinchback was then in gaol awaiting trial at the next quarterly sessions. On the Monday before the letter, the Council swore in Mr John Moffat, the chief mate, to command the Asia until the Court's wishes were known. 4: The Asia brought cattle, sheep and other stock from the Cape to the value of £317 1s 0d, as shown by the bill entered in the consultation of the 23rd of the previous month. Captain Inglis told the Council before his death that he laid out his own money to buy the stock. He applied for a premium on that outlay. The Council held no orders on the point and referred his application to the Court. Interpretations Paragraph 3 records a death that the Council treated as a matter for its own court. The letter of 5 June 1766 reported its refusal to try a seaman of Captain Fenner's who struck an officer, because the act took place at sea and the island's jurisdiction was doubtful. Pinchback's case differed in the one respect that mattered: the struggle happened at the landing crane, on the island's own shore. The Council therefore committed him for the quarterly sessions without referring home. The account it sent was careful on the facts that would decide the charge. The captain raised his cane first, Pinchback took hold of it and did not strike, and death came from the fall on the rocks a week later. Those details separated a killing in a sudden quarrel from murder, and so bore directly on whether the man faced the gallows. Swearing in the chief mate filled the command by the ordinary rule of succession on board, but only provisionally. The appointment of a commander belonged to the ship's owners and the Court, so the Council limited Mr Moffat's authority to the period before the Court's decision. The oath bound him to the Company's orders for the remainder of the voyage. The premium in paragraph 4 was an allowance on money advanced. Captain Inglis bought the livestock at the Cape with his own funds, and the bill covered only the cost. He asked for a percentage on top, as compensation for the use of his money and the risk of losing animals on the passage. The Council could have granted or refused it, but with no standing order it did neither, a caution that followed the Court's censure of the rice and paddy bought from Captain Webb at an excessive price, answered in the letter of 2 April 1766. Stock from the Cape supplemented the island's own cattle and sheep, which could not meet the demands of the garrison and the calling ships. The news from Banjarmasin concerned the venture reported in the letter of 12 April 1766, when the Royal George and two other vessels were met on their way to Banca and then to that port. The Dutch claimed the pepper trade of southern Borneo, so a renewed English treaty there was a gain made at a rival's expense. It reached the island as the talk of a Dutch seaman at the Cape, passed on by Captain Affleck, and the Council reported it with that chain of sources in view. The Argo was the King's ship reported in the letter of 5 June 1766 as dismasted in a typhoon and refitting at Malacca. Her arrival in December, more than a year after leaving Canton, closed that account. | |
44 | 5 The Passengers on board of the Asia are Messrs Roach§ | 5: The passengers on board the Asia were: Mr Roach Mr Thomas Mr Hammond Mr Hyde 6: The Council granted the following bills of exchange, all payable to the men themselves and dated 23 February 1767. One set to Mr Henry Chads, £100 0s 0d One set to Mr Matthew Horne, £100 0s 0d One set to Mr George Strode, £450 0s 0d 7: The list of military stores showed a large quantity of flints remaining. All of them were bad and unfit for use. The Council mentioned this so that the Court would in future order the flints requested to be of good quality, since the island greatly needed that article to be of the best kind. 8: The general books of accounts, balanced to 30 September of the previous year, went home by this opportunity. 9: The island enjoyed a fine summer season, and the pastures and plantations were then in a very flourishing state. The Council reported with concern, however, that the disease among the black cattle still continued. It chiefly attacked the breeding animals, which largely prevented the herds from being kept up to their full numbers. 10: The letter went to the Court by the Asia. A copy of it was sent by Captain Affleck of His Majesty's ship Argo. The letter was dated at St Helena on 5 March 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations Paragraph 7 warned the Court against reading the stock list at face value. A large remainder of flints would ordinarily justify cutting the next order, and the Council said outright that the whole quantity was useless. The same caution appeared in the letter of 5 June 1766, which explained that many articles shown as remaining would be used up before the year ended. Flints were the shaped stones held in the lock of a musket, which struck sparks from the steel to fire the charge. A soft or badly cut flint caused misfires, so a garrison with poor flints could not rely on its small arms, whatever the number in store. Paragraph 9 set a good season beside a continuing loss. The letter of 23 April 1766 reported an equally good summer with pastures and plantations flourishing, and made no mention of sickness in the herds. A year later the grass was as good, yet the cattle could not be kept up to number because the disease fell on the breeding stock, which cut off the supply of calves as well as killing grown animals. That explained the purchase of cattle and sheep from the Cape worth £317 1s 0d, reported earlier in this letter. Black cattle was the ordinary term for horned cattle of the beef and dairy kind, whatever their colour. The general books in paragraph 8 were the journal and ledger of the island's whole establishment, closed on 30 September 1766, the same date as the lists of families, rents and slaves sent in the packet of 3 November 1766. They included the separate head opened for the Sandy Bay fortification, promised in the letter of 2 April 1766, and so gave the Court its first full view of what that work cost. Sending a copy by the Argo used a King's ship as a second conveyance. The two vessels were leaving together at a time of year when few homeward ships called, so the duplicate could not wait for a later Company ship as it usually did. | |
45 | List of the Honoble Company's Packet from St Helena§ §No 1 Governor and Counl General Letter dated 5th March 1767§ §2 Do and Do dated 5 Do Do relating to§ §3 Duplicate Govr & Councils General Letter dated 3d Novembr 1766§ §4 Do Do dated 3d Do Do§ §5 Consultations from 10th Novr 1766 to 2d March 1767§ §6 Duplicate Do from 29th Sept to the 3d Novr 1766§ §7 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Ponsborne§ §8 Second Do for Do P Ship Harcourt§ §9 List of Officers and Servants taken 5 March 1767§ §10 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Ponsborne§ §11 Do Do of Family's taken 30th Sept 1766§ §12 Do Do of Rents taking 30th Do Do§ §13 Do Do of the Honoble Compys Slaves taken 30th Do Do§ §14 Effective state of the Garrison§ §15 Muster Rolls of Do§ §16 Cash Acct from the 4th to the 30th Novr 1766§ §17 Do for the Month of December Do§ §18 Do for the Month of Jany 1767§ §19 Do for the Month of February Do§ §20 Do from the 1 to 5 of March Do§ §21 Duplicate Cash Account from 24 to 30 Sept 1766§ §22 Do Do for the Month of Octr Do§ §23 Do Do from the 1 to 3 Novr Do§ §24 Ship Asia's Account§ §25 Duplicate Ship Ponsbornes§ §26 Abstract of the Cargoe of Ship Asia§ | A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 5 March 1767 and sent by the Asia. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 5 March 1767 2: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 5 March 1767 on law matters 3: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 3 November 1766 4: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 3 November 1766 on law matters 5: The consultations from 10 November 1766 to 2 March 1767 6: A duplicate of the consultations from 29 September to 3 November 1766 7: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Ponsborne 8: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Harcourt 9: A list of officers and servants taken on 5 March 1767 10: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Ponsborne 11: A duplicate list of families taken on 30 September 1766 12: A duplicate list of rents taken on 30 September 1766 13: A duplicate list of the Company's slaves taken on 30 September 1766 14: The effective state of the garrison 15: The muster rolls of the garrison 16: The cash account from 4 to 30 November 1766 17: The cash account for the month of December 1766 18: The cash account for the month of January 1767 19: The cash account for the month of February 1767 20: The cash account from 1 to 5 March 1767 21: A duplicate cash account from 24 to 30 September 1766 22: A duplicate cash account for the month of October 1766 23: A duplicate cash account from 1 to 3 November 1766 24: The account of the Asia 25: A duplicate of the account of the Ponsborne 26: An abstract of the cargo of the Asia Interpretations The packet spanned the dead season of the island's shipping. Item 5 carried consultations for almost four months, from 10 November 1766 to 2 March 1767, and items 16 to 20 held five successive cash accounts. No homeward Company ship left between the Ponsborne on 3 November 1766 and the Asia, so the Court received a third of a year's business in a single dispatch. During the months from April to August 1766, by contrast, a packet went every week or two and each covered only a few days. The cash accounts changed form over that interval. While ships sailed often, each account ran from the close of one packet to the close of the next. With no ship to send by, the Council made the account up by the calendar month, and broke it only at the start and end of the gap to join the earlier and later series without a missing day. Item 22, a duplicate cash account for October 1766, had no counterpart in the Ponsborne's list as recorded on 3 November 1766. That list gave a cash account for the month of August at the corresponding place, between the account ending 30 September and the one beginning 1 November. October was therefore perhaps the month intended in the earlier list, since August was already covered there by another account. | |
46 | 27 Time of the Arrival of the Asia's Boat at Banks's§ §28 Proceedings of a Genl Quartr Session held the 14 Jany 1767§ §29 Duplicate Do held the 8 Octr 1766§ §30 General Books of Accounts§ §31 List of three discharged Soldiers§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list for the Asia continued with these further items. 27: The time at which the boat of the Asia arrived at Banks's 28: The proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 14 January 1767 29: A duplicate of the proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 8 October 1766 30: The general books of accounts 31: A list of 3 discharged soldiers The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court by the Asia. That ship sailed from the island on the 5th of that month in company with His Majesty's ship Argo. 2: The Company's ship Royal Charlotte arrived from Bombay on the 18th of that month. The Prince of Wales came in from China on the 21st and the Cruttenden from Bengal on the 22nd. Captain Clements reported leaving Bombay on 1 December. He saw a ship going in as he left, which he took to be the Speaker. The Council also learned that Hyder Naig raised an army of 30,000 men, well armed and disciplined, and gathered a fleet of 30 vessels to follow his movements. He went on marching around the Company's settlements. Serious fears were held that he would cause some disturbance, although he assured the president and council of Bombay that he meant the English no harm. Further news told of disturbances at Mocha between the inhabitants and the English. The coffee trade, it was thought, would suffer badly if the gentlemen at Bombay did not give the English there proper support. The Prince of Wales sailed from Canton on 19 December of the previous year in company with the Speke. Interpretations The report on Hyder Naig continued the account of Tellicherry sent in the letter of 4 August 1766, when a force of 300 men and 2 guns was beaten by his army. Six months later he commanded 30,000 men and a fleet of 30 vessels, which let him move troops and supplies along the Malabar coast and threaten settlements from the sea as well as the land. His assurance to Bombay matched the denial he gave after the earlier clash, and the Council passed it on with open doubt. Mocha, at the mouth of the Red Sea, was the Company's source of coffee and was managed from Bombay. The Royal Charlotte was the ship reported in the letter of 25 July 1766 as bound to Surat and then to Mocha, so Captain Clements perhaps brought the news of the quarrel from the port itself. The remark about support from Bombay pointed the Court to the presidency responsible if the season's coffee was lost. The Prince of Wales left the island outward bound on 4 April 1766 and returned from China in under a year. The letter of 3 November 1766 reported her past the straits with the Plassey, the ship carrying the chest of treasure forwarded to Canton. Item 29 duplicated the sessions papers first sent by the Ponsborne on 3 November 1766, and item 30 was the set of general books announced in the letter of 5 March 1767. | |
47 | Duke of Cumberland, Deptford and Plassey, the latter was§ | The Prince of Wales left Canton with the Speke, the Duke of Cumberland, the Deptford and the Plassey, and the Plassey was ordered to call at Bencoolen. The Council was also told of the shipping at Canton during the previous season. Company ships, 14 English country ships, 1 Dutch ships, 4 Danish ships, 1 Swedish ships, 1 French ships, 3 The Council regretted that the news in its previous letter about Captain Skottowe's success at Borneo was premature. That letter spoke of a treaty of friendship and trade settled there. Captain Court reported meeting the Company's ship Royal George in the Sunda Strait, bound for Bombay. Captain Skottowe told him that the crew were very sickly and that the attempt to open a trade at Banjarmasin failed. He proposed to send a letter by Captain Court, but the two ships parted company in the night. Captain Bowland reported sailing from Bengal on 21 December of the previous year. He left the Company's ships Pigot, Britannia and Lord Anson there and saw the Duke of Albany going up the river as he came down. The Pigot was expected to sail for Europe about the middle of January. The Britannia was to follow at the beginning of February with Lord Clive and General Carnac on board. The Lord Anson was to call at Madras on her way to Europe. 3: A French ship called the Comte d'Argenson, last from Mauritius and commanded by Captain de la [...], arrived on the 23rd of that month. She was of 1,000 tons burthen and carried 18 guns and 120 men. Her cargo was tea and chinaware, and she was bound for France. 4: The passengers on board the Cruttenden were: Mr Sumner Mrs Sumner Sir Robert Fletcher Mr Randolph Mr John Marriott Mr Yates Mr Rice Mr Corkie Captain Hepburne Mr Boyer travelled on board the Royal Charlotte. 5: The Council granted the following bills of exchange. One set to Captain John Clements, payable to himself, £1,500 0s 0d One set to the Reverend Mr John Thackeray, payable to Mr Reynold Thomas, £35 0s 0d A further set was granted to Mr John Bellows [...]. Interpretations The retraction over Banjarmasin was the second time the Council withdrew intelligence it sent home, after the mistaken sighting of the Tilbury corrected on 8 June 1766. The letter of 5 March 1767 passed on a report of a renewed treaty that came from a Dutch seaman at the Cape by way of Captain Affleck. Captain Court's account came from the commander of the Royal George himself, and it reversed the story: no trade was settled and the crew were sickly. The Council could have let the earlier report stand until Bombay's dispatches arrived, but it corrected it by the next ship and named its source, since the Court would otherwise count on a pepper trade that did not exist. The episode again showed how far the island's reports depended on ships' talk, the weakness the Council pleaded in the letter of 2 April 1766. The count of shipping at Canton invited comparison with the previous season, reported in the letter of 2 April 1766. The Company's ships fell only from 15 to 14 and the Dutch held at four. The English country ships dropped from three to one, the Danish from two to one and the Swedish from three to one, while the French went from four to three. The Company therefore faced much lighter competition from the northern companies in buying that season's tea. The French ship came last from Mauritius, the French company's base in the Indian Ocean, where its China ships called on the homeward passage. Captain Clements's bill for £1,500 0s 0d was among the largest of the period, close to the £1,578 16s 0d paid in by Mr Greentree on 14 July 1766. Mr Thackeray was the chaplain who gave notice on 4 May 1766 that he would leave the service in April 1767, so his small bill perhaps formed part of settling his affairs before departure. | |
48 | for £6[63].. payable to himself and one Set to Mr Robert§ | The bills granted in paragraph 5 were completed by two further sets, and all of them were dated the 24th of that month and drawn at 90 days' sight. One set to Mr John Bellows, payable to himself, £663 0s 0d One set to Mr Robert Adlade, payable to himself, £500 0s 0d 6: The Company's ship Northumberland arrived on the night of the 23rd of that month. A packet from the Court came ashore the next morning, and the Council opened it and read the orders and instructions it contained. The ships then in the road were sailing so soon after her arrival that no fuller reply was possible by that opportunity. The Council could only assure the Court that every order would be punctually obeyed. 7: A Dutch ship from China called the Young Thomas, under Captain [...], arrived the day before the letter. She was of 708 tons burthen and carried 28 guns and 110 men. Her cargo was chinaware, and she was bound for Amsterdam. 8: The abstract of the cargo of the Prince of Wales could not be sent, because Captain Court told the Council that he was unable to find the copy of his bill of lading. 9: The letter went to the Court by the Royal Charlotte, which sailed in company with the Prince of Wales and the Cruttenden. The letter was dated at St Helena on 26 March 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations Paragraph 6 records a choice between holding the ships and answering the Court. The Northumberland brought the year's orders from London only two or three days before three homeward ships were due to sail. Detaining them while a full reply was drafted would have run up demurrage, the daily charge the Company paid the owners for delay, which the letter of 2 April 1766 showed the Council anxious to avoid. The ships were therefore let go with a bare acknowledgement, and the detailed answer was left for a later conveyance. The four bills of 24 March 1767 came to £2,698 0s 0d, paid into the treasury in coin within days of three ships anchoring. That was more than the £2,042 0s 0d raised by the five sets reported on 12 April 1766, at the same point in the previous season. Captain Clements alone supplied £1,500 0s 0d, perhaps the proceeds of private trade from his voyage to Bombay and Mocha. Captain Court's missing bill of lading extended the run of absent cargo papers reported through 1766. Those earlier cases all concerned ships from Bombay and the Malabar coast, as the letters of 4 August 1766 and 23 September 1766 noted. The Prince of Wales came from China, so this loss appears to be an individual lapse of the kind Captain Marter admitted on 8 June 1766. The Young Thomas was one of the four Dutch ships counted at Canton earlier in this letter. Her lading was given as chinaware alone, without the tea and silk reported for the other China ships that called. | |
49 | List of the Honoble Company's Packet from St Helena P§ §No 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated 26th March 1767§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 5th Do Do§ §3 Do Do and Do dated 5th Do Do relatg to§ §4 Consultations from 9th to 24th March 1767§ §5 Duplicate Do from 10 Novemr 1766 to 2 March 1767§ §6 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Asia§ §7 Second Do for Do P Ship Ponsborne§ §8 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Asia§ §9 Effective state of the Garrison§ §10 Cash Account from 6 to 26 March 1767§ §11 Duplicate Do from 4th to 30th Novr 1766§ §12 Do Do for the month of Decemr Do§ §13 Do Do for the Month of Jany 1767§ §14 Do Do for the Month of Feby Do§ §15 Do Do from the 1 to 5 March Do§ §16 Ship Royal Charlottes Account§ §17 Do Prince of Wales Do§ §18 Do Cruttendens Do§ §19 Duplicate Ship Asia's Do§ §20 Time of the Arrival of Ships Boats at Banks's§ §21 Duplicate Proceedgs of a Generl Quarterly Sessions held the 14th Jany§ §22 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Royal Charlotte and Cruttenden§ | A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 26 March 1767 and sent by the Royal Charlotte. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 26 March 1767 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 5 March 1767 3: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 5 March 1767 on law matters 4: The consultations from 9 to 24 March 1767 5: A duplicate of the consultations from 10 November 1766 to 2 March 1767 6: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Asia 7: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Ponsborne 8: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Asia 9: The effective state of the garrison 10: The cash account from 6 to 26 March 1767 11: A duplicate cash account from 4 to 30 November 1766 12: A duplicate cash account for the month of December 1766 13: A duplicate cash account for the month of January 1767 14: A duplicate cash account for the month of February 1767 15: A duplicate cash account from 1 to 5 March 1767 16: The account of the Royal Charlotte 17: The account of the Prince of Wales 18: The account of the Cruttenden 19: A duplicate of the account of the Asia 20: The times at which ships' boats arrived at Banks's 21: A duplicate of the proceedings of a general quarterly sessions held on 14 January 1767 22: An abstract of the cargoes of the Royal Charlotte and Cruttenden Interpretations Item 22 omitted the Prince of Wales, although she sailed in the same company and her account stood at item 17. The gap matched the letter of 26 March 1767, in which Captain Court reported that he was unable to find the copy of his bill of lading. The sessions of 14 January 1767 at item 21 were the first quarterly sitting after John Pinchback was committed to gaol over the death of Captain Inglis, as the letter of 5 March 1767 recorded. Their proceedings first went home by the Asia, and the duplicate gave the Court a second copy of whatever that court decided in his case. | |
50 | To the Honoble &ca§ | The Council addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous news went to the Court by the Royal Charlotte. That ship sailed from the island on the 27th of the previous month in company with the Prince of Wales and the Cruttenden. 2: News that every Company ship of the previous season arrived safely gave the Council very great pleasure. The Council trusted that the same success would follow the ships of the current year. 3: The Council promised full obedience to the orders received from the Secret Committee, or from any three of its members. Governor Skottowe acknowledged receiving a letter and its duplicate from the Secret Committee by the Northumberland and the Earl of Middlesex. 4: The consultation of the 6th of that month showed that the Northumberland was dispatched when her ten working days ran out. The Council assured the Court that the same care would be taken with the Earl of Middlesex. The copy of Captain Mitford's instructions would be kept for the Council's guidance, as the Court directed. 5: The Council sincerely wished the Court success in its China business under the gentlemen named as its council there. No change to the previous year's order for China proved necessary, as the Court would see from the letter to the gentlemen at Canton entered in the consultation of the 6th of that month. 6: The Court's orders ended the practice of taking up the ships by the arrival of their boats at Banks's. The Council undertook to tell the captains so. Interpretations Paragraph 6 explains a paper that went home in almost every packet of 1766. The times at which ships' boats arrived at Banks's were not merely a check on commanders' compliance with the battery's rules. To take up a ship was to begin the period for which the Company answered to her owners, so the moment her boat reached Banks's fixed the start of her ten working days at the island and of any demurrage after them. The Court's order abandoned that starting point for another. The Secret Committee's letter was acknowledged by the Governor alone, while the Council as a body promised obedience. Such letters were evidently addressed to him personally, which kept confidential orders on the movement and safety of ships out of the general correspondence. Paragraph 4 answered the same concern as the letter of 2 April 1766, in which the Rippon and the Prince of Wales were held beyond their ten working days by high surf and their captains protested. Citing the consultation gave the Court dated proof that the Northumberland left on time and that no demurrage was owed. Captain Mitford's instructions were the Court's sailing orders to a commander, and a copy on the island let the Council judge what it could properly require of each ship. The China order stood unchanged in 1767, whereas the letter of 2 April 1766 reported small alterations to the order for chinaware. | |
51 | that the rotation of their Ships would in future be determined by their§ | The captains were also to be told that the rotation of their ships would in future be settled by their arrival in the Downs. The Council would still enter the time of each boat's arrival at Banks's in the consultations and send the lists in the packet as usual. 7: The Council regretted that the bale goods were left out of the abstract of the Grenville's cargo. A copying error made under pressure of business was the probable cause, since three packets went home between 5 and 10 June, the day the Grenville sailed. 8: The Council sincerely thanked the Court for the generous supply of provisions and necessaries sent that season, which it hoped would meet every demand. 9: The chest of treasure consigned to the island by the Earl of Middlesex would be sent on to the president and council of Fort Marlborough. The Council judged that the bills it expected to receive, together with the high balance of cash then in hand, would fully cover the expenses of the current year. 10: The Council regretted that the previous year's order did not set out the laboratory utensils in detail. The captain of the artillery would be directed to list each article needed for that purpose, and the list would go home in that year's order. 11: Once the soldiers' hats and shoes were tried in use, the Council would report which of the tradesmen served the Company best. 12: The surgeon received directions to report on the condition of the medicines he received from time to time on the Company's account. The Council promised to pass that information to the Court. 13: The Court chose not to meet the previous year's order for the 10 brass guns, and the Council took advice on the matter. Interpretations Paragraph 9 repeated a decision of the previous year with a different destination. A chest of treasure addressed to the island would ordinarily be landed there. The letter of 2 April 1766 reported that the Plassey's chest was instead sent on to Canton, because bill money would meet the island's costs. The receipts recorded since bore that judgement out: £2,042 0s 0d on 12 April 1766, £1,578 16s 0d on 14 July 1766, £1,040 0s 0d on 21 July 1766 and £2,698 0s 0d on 24 March 1767. With the cash balance high, the Council again passed the silver on, this time to Fort Marlborough, the Company's fort and seat of government at Bencoolen on the west coast of Sumatra, where coin was needed to buy pepper. The rotation of ships was the order in which vessels were taken into the Company's service for their next voyages. Under the old method a ship's turn was reckoned from the arrival of her boat at Banks's, as the earlier part of this letter showed. The Court moved the reckoning to arrival in the Downs, the anchorage off the coast of Kent where homeward ships ended their passage. A commander therefore gained nothing by racing to the island or hurrying his boat ashore, and the test became the completed voyage. The Council kept recording the boat times all the same, so the series sent home in every packet of 1766 continued unbroken. Paragraph 13 gave the Court's answer to the request reported in the letter of 5 June 1766. The engineer asked for 10 brass guns, and the Council forwarded his written reasons with its own approval while noting that such guns cost far more than iron ones. The Court declined the order. Paragraph 7 answered a complaint about the abstract sent in the packet of 5 June 1766. Bale goods were the cotton and silk cloth packed in bales that formed the most valuable part of a Bengal cargo, so their omission left the Court without advance notice of the chief lading. The Council's excuse rested on dates the Court could check, since packets went by the Ankerwyke on 5 June, the Horsenden on 8 June and the Grenville on 10 June 1766. The laboratory was the artillery workshop where cartridges, fuses, portfires and other ammunition were made up, and its utensils were the measures, moulds, sieves and similar tools of that work. The Court evidently refused to supply them on a general description. Passing the task to the captain of the artillery followed the arrangement reported on 2 April 1766, under which the artillery officers took charge of the ordnance and military stores. Paragraphs 11 and 12 show the Court using the island to check its London suppliers. The Council was to judge the hats and shoes of competing tradesmen after wear, and the surgeon was to report on each consignment of medicines. The same kind of report led to the change of flour contractor that the Council welcomed in the letter of 2 April 1766. | |
52 | with the Engineer relative to that article, who is of opinion that the Taring§ | The Council consulted the engineer about the brass guns that the Court declined to send. He held that tarring or lacquering would protect the outer surface of iron guns. He feared, however, that the penetrating salt air would corrode their inner parts over a period of years, whatever precautions were taken. For that reason he recommended brass as considerably cheaper in the end. If the Court kept to its view, the engineer intended to move the guns at Munden's Point to Sandy Bay and to order whatever guns the other battery then needed. 14: Only two of the stores kept for the Company's ships were so far disposed of. One cable went to the Grenville. One topmast was not delivered by Captain Court and was written off on the back of his bill of lading. The following articles remained. Anchors, 2 Cables, 1 Topmasts, 3 The Council promised to report any further disposals, as the Court directed. 15: The supplies sent by the Court the previous season proved fully sufficient for every demand, and the Council trusted that those of the current year would do the same. Within a couple of months it expected to judge whether the Court's early ships still needed to be ordered to call at the Cape. The planters' return of cattle for that year exceeded the previous year's by 60 head. 16: The Council intended to go on supplying the Company's ships with only one quarter of the charterparty beef until the herd grew large enough. The stock received from the Cape would, it hoped, help to restore a larger allowance. The herd suffered badly from the unavoidable step of giving the later ships of 1765 two extra cattle each. The Court also gave leave for the captains of that year's ships to be allowed to call at Ascension. Interpretations The first passage reopened a question the Court had closed. The letter of 5 June 1766 forwarded the engineer's request for 10 brass guns, and the Court refused it, as the earlier part of this letter recorded. The Council could have accepted the refusal in silence. It instead sent the engineer's argument a second time, now in terms of cost: iron guns in the island's salt air rusted from the bore outwards, where tar and lacquer could not reach, and so needed replacing, while brass lasted. The fallback he offered made the consequence of refusal concrete, since arming Sandy Bay would mean stripping Munden's Point, the battery on the headland beside the main anchorage, and ordering fresh guns for that position anyway. As before, the technical case and the responsibility were left with the engineer. Paragraph 16 shows the island rationing its obligations to the shipping. Each charterparty entitled a ship to a fixed quantity of fresh beef at the island, and the Council was issuing a quarter of it. The cause was traced to 1765, when the later ships each received two cattle beyond the usual number, and it was compounded by the disease among the breeding stock reported in the letter of 5 March 1767. Against that, the planters' return, the yearly count of cattle in private hands, rose by 60 head, and the Asia brought stock from the Cape worth £317 1s 0d. Ordering outward ships to call at the Cape was the Court's remedy for the provisions shortage explained in the letter of 2 April 1766, and the Council's readiness to review it within two months showed that the shortage was easing. Ascension, the uninhabited island to the north-west, offered homeward ships turtle as fresh meat, which relieved the demand on the island's herd. The stores in paragraph 14 were the anchors, cables and other gear that the letter of 2 April 1766 said would be kept for the Company's ships and charged at 30 per cent above invoice. In a year only one cable was sold. Writing the undelivered topmast off on the back of the bill of lading recorded the shortage against Captain Court's own signed cargo list, so that the Court could settle it with the ship's owners in London. | |
53 | make use of unless, upon the most urgent occasion and§ | The Council undertook to use the leave for captains to call at Ascension only on the most urgent occasion, and expected no need for it that season. 17: The Council hoped the Court would always keep its captains under orders to supply themselves with fuel in India for the homeward passage. It likewise hoped they would provide their own salt provisions, as the Court's orders required. The island could always calculate its own consumption but never that of the homeward shipping. A small allowance was generally made for the needs of a few ships. If more were required, the Council would buy from the commanders and settle with them as the Court directed. 18: Earlier letters fully described the advantages of the discovery of limestone, which met the Council's highest hopes. While the works were in progress, the lime had to be kept chiefly for that use. Once they were finished, the Council promised to turn the limestone to the Company's profit and give it proper attention. Brickmaking, the Council thought, would succeed if the island held anyone skilled in that trade. No such people were available, and further trials were given up as too costly. 19: The slaves received from Africa were beginning to improve. The Council hoped that in a few years, once used to the climate, they would become more useful to the Company. They were treated humanely and were given proper encouragement from time to time. 20: The Council regretted that the Court found fault with it for not commenting on the engineer's letters in a way that would satisfy the Court better. Captain Mitchell was generally so full and explicit that the Council found very little to add. It promised in future to follow the Court's directions strictly whenever anything in those letters called for its judgement. Interpretations Paragraph 20 answered a criticism that struck at the Council's habit throughout this correspondence. On the 104 soldiers employed at the works, reported on 2 April 1766, and on the brass guns, forwarded on 5 June 1766 and argued again earlier in this letter, the Council passed on the engineer's reasoning and let the responsibility rest with him. The Court evidently wanted an independent check on its engineer's proposals and spending, and the bare forwarding of his letters did not supply one. The reply conceded the point only in part: it promised comment where something called for it, while maintaining that Captain Mitchell's letters usually left nothing to say. Paragraph 18 closed the brick trials reported in the letter of 2 April 1766, when the engineer was about to make a further attempt. The obvious course for an island paying freight on every building material was to persist until it could make its own. The Council abandoned the experiment because no one on the island knew the trade, so each failed firing wasted fuel and labour. Fuel was the scarcest of those, as the letter of 23 September 1766 showed when the stock of coals fell to 1 chaldron and 30 bushels. The limestone was a different case. Burnt into lime, it supplied the mortar for the fortifications, and the promise of later profit pointed to selling lime to the inhabitants once the works no longer absorbed it. Paragraph 17 gave the reasoning behind a request first made on 2 April 1766 and repeated on 23 September 1766. The island's stores were ordered a year ahead against a known population, but the number and wants of the homeward ships could not be forecast. The purchase of 20 casks of salt provisions from Captain Fenner at 2½d a pound, reported on 10 June 1766, was the kind of settlement with commanders that the paragraph described. The slaves in paragraph 19 were those landed from the Royal George, whom the Council judged inferior to Madagascar slaves on 2 April 1766 and reported as suffering badly in the winter on 25 July 1766. A year after the twelve-month trial was proposed, the verdict turned cautiously favourable. The encouragement mentioned perhaps meant small rewards or extra allowances, such as the arrack issued to them during the winter of 1766. | |
54 | 21 We have directed the Store keeper to take out of his Books§ | 21: The storekeeper received directions to extract from his books every article issued for repairs to the Castle. The Council promised to send that account home as soon as possible. The cost of repairing the Castle and other buildings went to general charges, as was usual. The whole expense of that work could nevertheless be gathered from the storekeeper's and paymaster's accounts and would be reported to the Court. As the Court ordered, a head for repairs would be opened in the general books of accounts. All spending on labour, stores and materials would be carried to that head as distinctly as possible. The Council also promised strict compliance with the Court's instruction that the fortifications were the first work to be carried on. 22: The Council told the former Lieutenant Bridgwater of the Court's orders about him. He would be sent to England as soon as he settled his affairs, which he said would be very soon. The Council promised full attention to the Court's orders for carrying on the works at the least possible expense. Particular care would be taken that overseers and others employed there did not cheat or wrong the soldiers and blacks at the fortifications. 23: John Robins, the armourer, would receive the salary the Court ordered. If he proved a deserving man and his allowance seemed too small to support himself and his family, the Council would set out his case and wait for the Court's orders. 24: The ships brought 19 recruits. The Council was much pleased to find so many craftsmen among them, and they appeared in general to be very good men. 25: Mr John Stewart would be allowed to go on in the Earl of Middlesex to the Company's presidency of Fort St George. The Council would pay him £21 0s 0d, as the Court directed. Interpretations Paragraph 23 shows the Council changing its conduct after a rebuke. The letter of 2 April 1766 defended the raising of John Robinson's salary before the Court's approval, on the ground that a skilled workman would otherwise be lost, and recorded the Court's displeasure. Faced with the same question over the armourer, the Council paid the rate ordered and undertook to apply first and wait, even if the pay proved too little for a man with a family. The slower course was chosen knowingly, with the earlier reasoning set aside. Paragraph 21 extended to repairs the method the Council volunteered for the defences on 2 April 1766, when a separate ledger head was opened for the Sandy Bay fortification. Repairs to the Castle, the seat of government and principal storehouse in the town, were until then merged in general charges, the catch-all account for the island's running costs, where the Court could not see what a single job cost. The Court evidently asked for the figure and found it could not be read from the books. The Council met the past by a special extract from the storekeeper's issues and the paymaster's wages, and the future by a dedicated head. The Court's orders in paragraph 22 followed the general court martial of 10 July 1766, which discharged Lieutenant Bridgwater for cheating the soldiers at Sandy Bay of part of their arrack, as the letter of 25 July 1766 reported. Sending him to England removed a dismissed officer from the island. The promise to watch overseers was the Court's wider lesson from the case, and it covered the blacks as well as the soldiers. The 19 recruits fell well short of the 50 requested in the letter of 5 June 1766. The craftsmen among them answered the engineer's proposal, pressed in the same letter, that men useful in building be sent with the recruits. Fort St George was the Company's fort and seat of government at Madras. Mr Stewart was a passenger continuing outward, and the £21 0s 0d was an advance paid on the Court's order. | |
55 | 26 We are glad our proceedings with regard to John Bland§ | 26: The Council was glad that its handling of John Bland met with the Court's approval. If he misbehaved in future, the Court's orders for sending him off the island would be carried out. 27: Once all the flour sent by those ships was landed, certificates in duplicate would go home at the first opportunity, as the Court's orders required. 28: The Council noted that the Court made Captain Griffin pay £72 0s 0d for the six soldiers who deserted from the island in the Admiral Stevens. It was pleased that the Court approved the way its orders were enforced on ships sailing from the island at night. The captains of the Company's own ships, as well as those of the chartered ships, would be told of the penalty they faced on that score. 29: The fifty-first paragraph of the Court's previous general letter ordered the soldiers employed at the works to be regularly exercised. In answer, the Council explained that their daily labour ran from six in the morning to six at night. Drilling those men as soldiers was therefore thought incompatible with the work they were then doing. Once the works were finished they could soon be brought back into discipline, since a little practice would recover what they were taught before. The recruits were not put to that labour. 30: The Reverend Mr William Bearcroft would receive the salary and allowances the Court ordered. When he paid off his bond for £100 0s 0d, the Council would hand it back to him and report the fact to the Court, as directed. 31: The Council granted bills of exchange, among them one set to Daniel Corneille for £100 0s 0d. Interpretations Paragraph 29 records an order openly not carried out. The Court required the soldiers on the fortifications to be exercised regularly, and the plain course was to set aside hours for drill. The Council declined, pointing to a working day of twelve hours that left no time for it, and offered instead to restore their training once the works ended. The reply showed the cost of the decision reported on 2 April 1766 to put 104 soldiers to labour: the greater part of the garrison was serving as workmen and not as troops. The remark that the recruits were kept from that labour met the Court's concern in part, since the 19 new men reported earlier in this letter were being trained as soldiers first. The £72 0s 0d in paragraph 28 came to £12 0s 0d for each deserter, a penalty charged to the commander in whose ship the men escaped. It was meant to cover the cost of raising and sending out a replacement, and it made the captain answerable for stowaways whether or not he knew of them. Sailing at night was the usual means of getting such men away unseen, which is why the Court's orders dealt with night departures. The Admiral Stevens was one of the ships whose packet receipts were listed on 2 April 1766. The rule bore on cases like the soldier hidden in Captain Barkley's ship, reported on 23 September 1766. Mr Bearcroft was the chaplain sent to replace Mr Thackeray, who gave notice on 4 May 1766 that he would leave in April 1767. The year's warning therefore worked as intended, and the island was not left without a clergyman. His bond for £100 0s 0d was perhaps security for money advanced to him in London for his outfit and passage, to be cancelled once he repaid it on the island. John Bland was the man whose return the Council regretted on 2 April 1766, when it accused him of buying up the private trade and lowering the value of the local coin. The Court's approval left the conditional order for his removal standing. | |
56 | Christr Baron Esqr and one set to Mr Robt Barclay for§ | The bills granted in paragraph 31 were both drawn at 90 days' sight and dated the 6th of that month. One set to Daniel Corneille, payable to Christopher Baron, £100 0s 0d One set to Mr Robert Barclay, payable to Mr John Manley, £128 12s 6d 32: The Company's ship Speke arrived on the 30th of the previous month. The Duke of Cumberland followed on the 6th of that month, and both came from China. The Earl of Middlesex arrived from England on the 9th. She brought a packet from the Court, which the Council opened and read. 33: A Danish ship from China called the Fredensborg Palace, under Captain Swane, arrived on the 4th of that month. She was of 800 tons burthen and carried 26 guns and 160 men. Her cargo was tea and chinaware, and she was bound for Copenhagen. 34: Mr Richard Dawson was the only passenger in the Speke, and Captain Paul Neidrick travelled on board the Duke of Cumberland. 35: The quarter's accounts would not come before the Council until the 20th of that month. No cash account of a later date could therefore go by that opportunity, only a duplicate of the earlier one. 36: The Company's ship Hampshire arrived from China on the day of the letter. Captain Smith reported speaking with the Lord Camden on the 10th of the previous month in latitude 27 degrees south. Mr Pauk and General Caillaud were on board that ship. The letter was dated at St Helena on 11 April 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations Daniel Corneille's bill repeated an arrangement of the previous year. The letter of 2 April 1766 recorded that he paid £80 0s 0d into the Company's cash for a bill payable to Christopher Baron, and here he sent £100 0s 0d to the same man. A member of the Council was therefore making a regular yearly remittance to one correspondent in England through the treasury he helped to manage, as Governor Skottowe did with his two bills payable to Robert Wood in 1766. Paragraph 35 confirmed the quarterly rhythm of the cash accounts. The letters of 2 April 1766 and 7 July 1766 each explained that the quarter's accounts would not be read until the 21st of the month, and here the date was the 20th. A ship sailing in the first weeks of a quarter always carried only a copy of the earlier account. The Fredensborg Palace was the single Danish ship counted at Canton in the letter of 26 March 1767. The Speke and the Duke of Cumberland were two of the ships that left Canton with the Prince of Wales on 19 December 1766, as that letter also reported, so they reached the island one to two weeks behind her. | |
57 | List of the Honoble Companys Packet from St Helena§ §No 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated 11th Apl 1767§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 26 March Do§ §3 Consultations from the 30th March to 9th April Do§ §4 Duplicate Do from the 9 to 24 March Do§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Royal Charlotte§ §6 Second Do for Do P Ship Asia§ §7 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Royal Charlotte§ §8 Effective state of the Garrison§ §9 Muster Rolls of Do§ §10 Duplicate Cash Acct from the 6th to 26th March 1767§ §11 Ship Speke's Account§ §12 Duplicate Ship Royal Charlottes Acct§ §13 Do Prince of Wales Do§ §14 Do Cruttendens Do§ §15 Time of the arrivl of Ships Boats at Banks's§ §16 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Speke Havannah and§ §17 Proceedings of a General Court Martial held for the Tryal§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 11 April 1767 and sent by the Speke. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 11 April 1767 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 26 March 1767 3: The consultations from 30 March to 9 April 1767 4: A duplicate of the consultations from 9 to 24 March 1767 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Royal Charlotte 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Asia 7: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Royal Charlotte 8: The effective state of the garrison 9: The muster rolls of the garrison 10: A duplicate cash account from 6 to 26 March 1767 11: The account of the Speke 12: A duplicate of the account of the Royal Charlotte 13: A duplicate of the account of the Prince of Wales 14: A duplicate of the account of the Cruttenden 15: The times at which ships' boats arrived at Banks's 16: An abstract of the cargoes of the Speke, Havannah and Duke of Cumberland 17: The proceedings of a general court martial held on 23 March 1767 for the trial of Captain Richard Beale The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on the 11th of that month, sending that letter by the Speke. 2: The Deptford arrived from China the day before the letter. Interpretations Item 17 recorded the trial of a captain by general court martial, a matter on which the letters of 26 March 1767 and 11 April 1767 were silent. The only earlier trial of an officer in this correspondence, that of Lieutenant Bridgwater on 10 July 1766, was reported in the general letter of 25 July 1766 with its charge and sentence. Here the proceedings went home as a bare enclosure. A general court martial was the only tribunal that could try a commissioned officer, and sending the full record let the Court confirm or set aside whatever sentence was passed. A Mr Beale was named in the letter of 2 April 1766 as an old and faithful servant on whose behalf the Council applied to the Court, though nothing on the page shows whether he was the same man. Item 15 showed the boat times still being sent after the Court ended their use for taking up ships, as the Council promised in the letter of 11 April 1767. Item 10 was the duplicate cash account that the same letter said was all that could go before the quarter's accounts were read on 20 April. The abstract at item 16 included the Havannah, a ship whose arrival none of the letters reported. Captain Payne met her in the Strait of Banca in June or July 1766, as the letter of 3 November 1766 recorded. | |
58 | from the Cape, Captain Tryon acquaints Us that your Ship§ §No 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated 14th Apl 1767§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 11th Do Do§ §3 Consultation of the 13th Do Do§ §4 Duplicate Do from 30th March to 9th Do Do§ §5 First receipt for the Packet P Ship Speke§ §6 Second Do for Do P Ship Royal Charlotte§ §7 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Speke§ §8 Effective state of the Garrison§ §9 Ship Havannahs Account§ §10 Duplicate Ship Spekes Do§ §11 Time of the arrival of the Hampshire's Boat at Banks's§ §12 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ship Hampshire and Deptford§ §13 List of Officers and Servants taken 14th April 1767.§ | The Deptford came last from the Cape. Captain Tryon reported that the Company's ship Hector sailed from the Cape a few days before he arrived there, and that the Triton left two days after. The letter was dated at St Helena on 14 April 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 14 April 1767 and sent by the Havannah. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 14 April 1767 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 11 April 1767 3: The consultation of 13 April 1767 4: A duplicate of the consultations from 30 March to 9 April 1767 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Speke 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Royal Charlotte 7: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Speke 8: The effective state of the garrison 9: The account of the Havannah 10: A duplicate of the account of the Speke 11: The time at which the boat of the Hampshire arrived at Banks's 12: An abstract of the cargoes of the Hampshire and Deptford 13: A list of officers and servants taken on 14 April 1767 Interpretations The Deptford was one of the ships that left Canton with the Prince of Wales on 19 December 1766, as the letter of 26 March 1767 reported. She alone of that group was recorded as calling at the Cape, which explains why she reached the island some three weeks behind the Prince of Wales. The packet carried no cash account at all. The letter of 11 April 1767 explained that the quarter's accounts would not come before the Council until 20 April, and the duplicate of the earlier account already went by the Speke three days before. | |
59 | To the Honoble &ca§ | The Council addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous letter went to the Court by the Havannah and was dated the 14th of that month. 2: Captain Smith received a permit to take two discharged soldiers, Richard Jones and James Hendry, on board the Hampshire. Both men signed an undertaking not to claim any wages for the passage home, and that document went enclosed with the letter. 3: Mr Matthew Bazett applied to pay £190 12s 0d into the Company's cash. The Council received the money and gave him bills drawn on the Court for that sum, dated the 18th of that month. They were payable to Captain Robert Brooke or to his order and drawn at 90 days' sight. 4: The Company's ship Fox arrived from China the day before the letter. 5: The letter went to the Court by the Deptford, which sailed in company with the Hampshire. The letter was dated at St Helena on 19 April 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations Paragraph 2 departed from the practice followed all through 1766. Discharged soldiers were then placed in homeward ships by an order to the commander, towards making up the crew, and they worked their passage as hands. Jones and Hendry instead went by permit and signed away any claim to wages. The only earlier use of such an undertaking was for the six invalids sent in the Duke of Richmond on 4 April 1766, who travelled as passengers at £5 0s 0d a man. No passage money was mentioned here, so the two men perhaps travelled as supernumeraries whom the ship did not need as crew. The waiver protected the owners from a wage claim on arrival in England, and the enclosed document gave the Court proof of it. | |
60 | List of the Honoble Company's Packet from St Helena§ §No 1 Governor and Councils Genl Letter dated 19th April 1767§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 14th Do Do§ §3 Consultation of the 18 April Do§ §4 Duplicate Do of the 13th Do Do§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Havannah§ §6 Second Do for Do P Ship Speke§ §7 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Havannah§ §8 List of two discharged Soldiers§ §9 Instrument in writing from two Do§ §10 Effective state of the Garrison§ §11 Time of the arrival of the Deptfords Boat at Banks's§ §12 Ship Deptfords Acct§ §13 Do Hampshire's Do§ §14 Duplicate Ship Havannahs Account§ §To the Honble &ca§ | A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 19 April 1767 and sent by the Deptford. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 19 April 1767 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 14 April 1767 3: The consultation of 18 April 1767 4: A duplicate of the consultation of 13 April 1767 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Havannah 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Speke 7: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Havannah 8: A list of 2 discharged soldiers 9: The written undertaking signed by the 2 discharged soldiers 10: The effective state of the garrison 11: The time at which the boat of the Deptford arrived at Banks's 12: The account of the Deptford 13: The account of the Hampshire 14: A duplicate of the account of the Havannah The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous letter went to the Court by the Deptford and was dated the 19th of that month. 2: A Dutch ship from Ceylon called the General Gouverneur [...], under Captain Anderson, arrived on the 20th of that month. She was of about 700 tons burthen and carried 24 guns and 100 men. Her cargo was spice, and she was bound for Middelburg. 3: The Company's ship Glatton arrived from China on the 21st of that month. The Lord Camden came in from Madras on the 22nd, and Captain Smith reported leaving that place on 26 January. Interpretations Items 8 and 9 were the papers for Richard Jones and James Hendry, the two discharged soldiers given a permit for the Hampshire in the letter of 19 April 1767. The list let the Court strike them from the garrison's pay, and the undertaking was their signed waiver of wages for the passage home. The Dutch ship's cargo of spice from Ceylon was chiefly cinnamon, of which the Dutch company held the monopoly through its settlements on that island's coast. Middelburg was the seat of the Zeeland chamber of that company, one of the bodies that fitted out and received its ships, which is why she was not bound for Amsterdam like the two Dutch ships reported on 16 July 1766 and 26 March 1767. The Lord Camden was the ship that Captain Smith of the Hampshire spoke with on 10 March in latitude 27 degrees south, as the letter of 11 April 1767 recorded. She reached the island 11 days after the Hampshire. | |
61 | 4 The Passengers on board the Lord Camden§ §No 1 Govr & Council General Letter dated 26th Apl 1767§ §2 Duplicate Do & Do dated 19th Do Do§ §3 Consultations from 20th to 22d Do Do§ §4 Duplicate Do of the 18th Do Do§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Deptford§ §6 Second Do for Do P Ship Havannah§ | 4: The passengers on board the Lord Camden were: Mr Palk Mrs Palk General Caillaud 5: Governor Skottowe paid £400 0s 0d into the Company's cash. The Council received the money and gave him bills drawn on the Court for that sum, dated the 22nd of that month. They were payable to Robert Wood 90 days after sight. 6: Captain John Mitford wrote to the Council on the 20th of that month, asking to pay £1,650 0s 0d into the Company's cash and to be given certificates for it. The Council took the money under the seventy-fifth paragraph of his instructions and issued the certificates. Before doing so, it put him on oath that the money was the proceeds of his outward-bound investment. The letter was dated at St Helena on 26 April 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 26 April 1767 and sent by the Fox. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 26 April 1767 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 19 April 1767 3: The consultations from 20 to 22 April 1767 4: A duplicate of the consultation of 18 April 1767 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Deptford 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Havannah Interpretations Paragraph 6 records a payment handled differently from every other in this correspondence. Residents and commanders who paid coin into the treasury ordinarily received bills of exchange, as the Governor did in the paragraph before. Captain Mitford asked for certificates instead, and the Council granted them only after two checks: it cited the paragraph of his instructions that allowed the transaction, and it made him swear to the origin of the money. The outward-bound investment was the stock of goods a commander was permitted to carry from England on his own account and sell abroad. The oath confined the privilege to the proceeds of that licensed trade, so that the Company's treasury could not be used to send home money from any other source. A certificate was a receipt for money paid in, which the holder presented in London for repayment under the terms the Court set for its commanders. Captain Mitford commanded an outward ship, the copy of whose instructions the Council kept for its guidance, as the letter of 11 April 1767 recorded. That copy let the Council verify the paragraph he relied on. The sum of £1,650 0s 0d was the largest single payment into the treasury in this correspondence, above the £1,578 16s 0d from Mr Greentree on 14 July 1766 and the £1,500 0s 0d from Captain Clements on 24 March 1767. It added to the high cash balance that led the Council, in the letter of 11 April 1767, to send the Earl of Middlesex's chest of treasure on to Fort Marlborough. The Governor's bill was his third payable to Robert Wood, after £300 0s 0d on 9 April 1766 and £205 4s 0d on 3 November 1766. Mr Palk and General Caillaud were the passengers whom Captain Smith of the Hampshire reported on board the Lord Camden, in the letter of 11 April 1767. The clerk dated the packet list 26 April 1766, although the letter it accompanied and the first item on the list both belonged to 26 April 1767. The later year was perhaps intended. | |
62 | No 7 Effective State of the Garrison§ §8 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Deptford§ §9 Cash Account from 27th to 31st March 1767§ §10 Do Do from 1st to 26th April Do§ §11 Ship Foxes Account§ §12 Duplicate Ship Deptfords Do§ §13 Do Hampshire Do§ §14 Time of the arrival of Ships Boats at Banks's§ §15 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Glatton Lord§ §16 Ship Northumberlands Account§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list for the Fox continued with these further items. 7: The effective state of the garrison 8: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Deptford 9: The cash account from 27 to 31 March 1767 10: The cash account from 1 to 26 April 1767 11: The account of the Fox 12: A duplicate of the account of the Deptford 13: A duplicate of the account of the Hampshire 14: The times at which ships' boats arrived at Banks's 15: An abstract of the cargoes of the Glatton, Lord Camden and Fox 16: The account of the Northumberland The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on the 26th of the previous month, sending that letter by the Fox. 2: The Company's ships Princess [...] and Duke of Kingston arrived from China on the 3rd of that month. Captain Larkins reported leaving Canton on 5 February, when the Company's ship Hawke still lay there and was due to sail about a week later. He saw the Neptune going into Princes Island on 23 February. Captain Morrison reported parting company with the Earl of Ashburnham on 6 March in latitude 14 degrees south. 3: The Council granted the following bills of exchange, both drawn at 90 days' sight and dated the 4th of that month. One set to Daniel Corneille, payable to Mr Lawrence [...], £22 3s 0d One set to Mr Richard Goodwin, payable to Captain William Tryon, £39 10s 0d Interpretations Items 9 and 10 closed the gap announced in the letter of 11 April 1767, which warned that the quarter's accounts would not come before the Council until 20 April. The earlier account ended on 26 March 1767, so a short account for the last five days of March completed the quarter and a new one opened the next. The same division was made on 25 July 1766, when a separate account for 30 June closed the preceding quarter. The account of the Northumberland at item 16 belonged to an outward ship. She arrived from England on 23 March 1767 and was dispatched when her ten working days ran out, as the letter of 11 April 1767 recorded. No homeward packet was open to carry her account at once, so it went with the papers of the China ships. Mr Goodwin's bill was payable to Captain Tryon of the Deptford, who sailed on 19 April 1767. A resident paid the money into the treasury after the ship left, and the bill followed the captain home, which settled a debt for goods bought from him during his stay. The bill granted to Mr Doveton in favour of Captain Marter on 7 June 1766 worked in the same way. | |
63 | 4 John Pinchback Seaman who was detained here out of§ §No 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated 6th May 1767§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 26 April Do§ §3 Consultations from 27 April to 4 May Do§ §4 Duplicate Do from 20 to 22 April. Do§ §5 First receipt for the Packet P Ship Fox§ §6 Second Do for Do P Ship Deptford§ §7 Effective state of the Garrison§ §8 List of Officers and Servants taken 6th May 1767§ §9 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Fox§ | 4: John Pinchback was the seaman kept on the island out of the Asia to stand trial for the death of Captain Inglis. He was then going to England on board the Lord Camden. He held no money to pay the fees of the clerk of the peace, which came to £0 19s 2d. The Council paid that sum out of the Company's cash and reported it to the Court, so that it could be stopped from the wages owed to him by the owners of the Asia. The letter was dated at St Helena on 6 May 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 6 May 1767 and sent by the Glatton. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 6 May 1767 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 26 April 1767 3: The consultations from 27 April to 4 May 1767 4: A duplicate of the consultations from 20 to 22 April 1767 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Fox 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Deptford 7: The effective state of the garrison 8: A list of officers and servants taken on 6 May 1767 9: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Fox Interpretations Paragraph 4 gave the outcome of the case reported in the letter of 5 March 1767, though only by implication. Pinchback was then in gaol awaiting the quarterly sessions after Captain Inglis fell on the rocks at the crane and died of a fractured skull. A man convicted of murder would not have been sailing home as a seaman two months later, so the court perhaps acquitted him or found a lesser offence already purged by his confinement. The detail the Council stressed in March, that the captain raised his cane first and that Pinchback only seized it, pointed the same way. The fees show how the island's court was paid for. The clerk of the peace, the officer who kept the records of the sessions, was entitled to charges from the accused for the paperwork of the trial, and they were owed even by a man who went free. Pinchback could not pay because his ship sailed on 5 March 1767 with his wages still on her books. The Council could have held him until the debt was met or written the sum off. It advanced the money and asked the Court to recover it in London from the owners of the Asia, who owed him his pay up to the day he was taken out of the ship. That course cleared him from the island at no final cost to the Company. | |
64 | 10 Cash Account from 27th to 30th April 1767§ §11 Do from 1st to 6th May Do§ §12 Duplicate Do from 27th to 31st March Do§ §13 Do Do from 1 to 26 April Do§ §14 Ship Glattons Account§ §15 Earl of Middlesex's Do§ §16 Duplicate Ship Foxes Do§ §17 Do Ship Northumberlands Do§ §18 Time of the Arrival of Ships Boats at Banks's§ §19 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Lioness and Duke of Kingston§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list for the Glatton continued with these further items. 10: The cash account from 27 to 30 April 1767 11: The cash account from 1 to 6 May 1767 12: A duplicate cash account from 27 to 31 March 1767 13: A duplicate cash account from 1 to 26 April 1767 14: The account of the Glatton 15: The account of the Earl of Middlesex 16: A duplicate of the account of the Fox 17: A duplicate of the account of the Northumberland 18: The times at which ships' boats arrived at Banks's 19: An abstract of the cargoes of the Lioness and Duke of Kingston The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous news went to the Court by the Glatton in a letter dated the 6th of that month. 2: The Earl of Ashburnham arrived from China on the 8th of that month. 3: The Reverend Mr John Thackeray took his passage for England in the Duke of Cumberland. The Council continued his salary and allowances up to the time he left the island, as was done for his predecessor, Mr Lee. The former Lieutenant Bridgwater also went to England in that ship. 4: The letter went to the Court by the Lord Camden. Interpretations Paragraph 3 settled a question of pay by precedent. Mr Thackeray gave notice on 4 May 1766 that he would leave the service at the first opportunity in April 1767, and his successor, Mr Bearcroft, was already provided for in the letter of 11 April 1767. The Council could have stopped the outgoing chaplain's salary from the date of his notice or from his successor's arrival. It paid him until he sailed and cited the treatment of Mr Lee, so that the Court could see the payment rested on an earlier case and not on favour. That care matched the caution shown over the armourer's salary in the letter of 11 April 1767, after the Court's rebuke over John Robinson. Bridgwater's departure carried out the Court's orders reported in the letter of 11 April 1767, when he asked for time to settle his affairs. He was discharged by the general court martial of 10 July 1766 for cheating the soldiers at Sandy Bay of part of their arrack. The Earl of Ashburnham was the ship from which Captain Morrison parted on 6 March in latitude 14 degrees south, as the letter of 6 May 1767 recorded. Item 19 named the Lioness beside the Duke of Kingston, which identifies her as the ship that arrived with the Duke of Kingston from China on 3 May 1767. The account of the Earl of Middlesex at item 15 belonged to an outward ship, sent home with the China ships' papers as the account of the Northumberland was on 26 April 1767. | |
65 | which sails from hence with the Duke of Cumberland and§ §No 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated 10th May 1767§ §2 Duplicate Do & Do dated 6th Do Do§ §3 Do Consultations from 27 April to 4th Do Do§ §4 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Glatton§ §5 Second Do for Do P Ship Fox§ §6 Effective state of the Garrison§ §7 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Glatton§ §8 Cash Account from 7 to 10th May 1767§ §9 Duplicate Do from 27 to 30th April Do§ §10 Do Do from 1 to 6th May Do§ §11 Ship Lord Camdens Acct§ §12 Do Lioness's Do§ §13 Do Duke of Cumberlands Do§ §14 Duplicate Ship Glattons Do§ §15 Do Do Earl of Middlesexes Do§ | The Lord Camden sailed from the island with the Duke of Cumberland and the Lioness. The letter was dated at St Helena on 10 May 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 10 May 1767 and sent by the Lord Camden. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 10 May 1767 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 6 May 1767 3: A duplicate of the consultations from 27 April to 4 May 1767 4: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Glatton 5: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Fox 6: The effective state of the garrison 7: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Glatton 8: The cash account from 7 to 10 May 1767 9: A duplicate cash account from 27 to 30 April 1767 10: A duplicate cash account from 1 to 6 May 1767 11: The account of the Lord Camden 12: The account of the Lioness 13: The account of the Duke of Cumberland 14: A duplicate of the account of the Glatton 15: A duplicate of the account of the Earl of Middlesex Interpretations The packet held no new consultations, only the duplicate at item 3 of those sent by the Glatton on 6 May 1767. The Council evidently did not sit in the four days between the two sailings, so the letter of 10 May 1767 and the short cash account at item 8 were the only fresh record of that interval. The Duke of Cumberland arrived on 6 April 1767 and sailed more than a month later, well beyond the stay of the other China ships of that season. She carried home Mr Thackeray and the former Lieutenant Bridgwater, as the letter of 10 May 1767 reported. | |
66 | To the Honoble &ca§ | The Council addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court by the Lord Camden. That ship sailed from the island on the 11th of that month in company with the Company's ships Lioness and Duke of Cumberland. 2: A Swedish ship from China called the Stockholm Slott, under Captain Ekeberg, arrived on the 11th of that month. She was of about 900 tons burthen and carried 30 guns and 160 men. Her cargo was tea and chinaware, and she was bound for Gothenburg. A Dutch ship from Batavia called the Hanswell [...], under Captain Hamlo, came in the same day. She was of about 700 tons burthen and carried 26 guns and 100 men. Her cargo was coffee, tea and spice, and she was bound for Amsterdam. Another Dutch ship, the Bartha Petronella under Captain Coopstad, arrived from China on the 13th. She was of about 700 tons burthen and carried 26 guns and 100 men. Her cargo was tea and chinaware, and she was bound for Hoorn. A further Dutch ship from Batavia called the Snoke, under Captain Hendrick, arrived the next day. She was of about 700 tons burthen and carried 26 guns and 100 men. Her cargo was coffee, tea and spice, and she was bound for Zeeland. 3: The Company's ship Plassey arrived on the 12th of that month, last from Bencoolen. 4: The passengers on board the Plassey were Mr Idle and Mr Nicholson. 5: The Council granted the following bills of exchange, both drawn at 90 days' sight. One set to Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick, payable to Captain Richard Morrison, £420 0s 0d One set to Mr Matthew Bazett, payable to Captain William Larkins, £151 0s 0d Interpretations Four foreign ships anchored within four days, three of them Dutch. The destinations named for the Dutch vessels, Amsterdam, Hoorn and Zeeland, were three of the regional chambers into which the Dutch company was divided, each of which fitted out and received its own ships. The same division explained why the spice ship from Ceylon reported on 26 April 1767 was bound for Middelburg. The Bartha Petronella was a second of the four Dutch ships counted at Canton in the letter of 26 March 1767, after the Young Thomas, and the Stockholm Slott was the single Swedish ship in that count. Coffee in the Batavia cargoes came from the plantations of Java, which competed in Europe with the Mocha coffee that the letter of 26 March 1767 reported as threatened by disturbances. The Plassey left Canton with the Prince of Wales on 19 December 1766 under orders to call at Bencoolen, as the letter of 26 March 1767 recorded. That detour for pepper explains her arrival some seven weeks behind her consort. She was the ship that carried the chest of treasure forwarded to Canton in April 1766. Both bills were payable to commanders already at sea. Captain Morrison and Captain Larkins arrived from China on 3 May 1767, and the money owed to them was paid into the treasury by a member of the Council and a resident after they left. The bills therefore settled purchases made from the two captains' private trade, as Mr Goodwin's bill in favour of Captain Tryon did on 4 May 1767. | |
67 | 90 Days sight and dated the 16th instant§ §No 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated 17th May 1767§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 10th Do Do§ §3 Consultations from 11th to 16th Do Do§ §4 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Lord Camden§ §5 Second Do for Do P Ship Glatton§ §6 Effective state of the Garrison§ §7 List of Officers and Servants taken 17th May 1767§ §8 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Lord Camden§ §9 Cash Account from 11th to 17th May 1767§ §10 Duplicate Do from 7th to 10th Do Do§ §11 Ship Duke of Kingstons Account§ §12 Duplicate Ship Lord Camdens Do§ §13 Do Do Lioness Do§ §14 Do Do Duke of Cumberlands Do§ §15 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships El of Ashburnham & Plassey§ §16 Time of the arrival of Ships Boats at Banks's§ | The two bills of exchange granted in paragraph 5 were dated the 16th of that month. The letter was dated at St Helena on 17 May 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 17 May 1767 and sent by the Duke of Kingston. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 17 May 1767 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 10 May 1767 3: The consultations from 11 to 16 May 1767 4: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Lord Camden 5: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Glatton 6: The effective state of the garrison 7: A list of officers and servants taken on 17 May 1767 8: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Lord Camden 9: The cash account from 11 to 17 May 1767 10: A duplicate cash account from 7 to 10 May 1767 11: The account of the Duke of Kingston 12: A duplicate of the account of the Lord Camden 13: A duplicate of the account of the Lioness 14: A duplicate of the account of the Duke of Cumberland 15: An abstract of the cargoes of the Earl of Ashburnham and Plassey 16: The times at which ships' boats arrived at Banks's Interpretations The letter of 10 May 1767 gave the sailing of the Lord Camden as that day's conveyance, while the letter of 17 May 1767 placed her departure on the 11th. Her packet was therefore closed and dated a day before she left the road, as happened with the Dutton on 12 April 1766. | |
68 | To the Honoble &ca§ | The Council addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. The Council wrote to the Court the day before by the Duke of Kingston. That ship did not sail, so a further report was added. The boats of the Britannia and the Speaker arrived about ten o'clock the night before. The officer of the Britannia reported that Lord Clive, General Carnac, Major Champion and several other gentlemen were on board, and that Lord Clive was in good health. Mr Crommelin and some other passengers travelled in the Speaker. The letter was dated at St Helena on 18 May 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous letter to the Court was dated the 18th of that month. Interpretations The Duke of Kingston's packet was closed on 17 May 1767, and the Council could have left the news for the next ship. Her delay gave it the chance to add a short supplementary letter, as it did on 11 June 1766 when the Kent's boat arrived after the Grenville's packet was sealed. The news here was weightier. Lord Clive was the Governor of Bengal, and the letter of 26 March 1767 reported that he and General Carnac were to leave Bengal in the Britannia at the beginning of February. Word of his approach and of his health reached the Court by a ship sailing ahead of him, which gave the directors early notice of the return of the head of their largest presidency. The report came from the ships' boats and not from the ships themselves. A boat was sent ahead to Banks's to identify each vessel before she came into the road, so the Council learned the passengers' names from the officer in the boat some hours before the Britannia anchored. | |
69 | instant, by the Duke of Kingston, when we informed you, of the§ | The Council's letter of the 18th went by the Duke of Kingston and reported the arrival of the Company's ships Britannia and Speaker. Captain Rous reported leaving Bengal on 1 February, when the Company's ships Nottingham, Duke of Albany, Pigot and Anson lay there. The last two were to complete their cargoes at Madras. Captain Dewar reported sailing from Bombay on 27 January and leaving the Company's ship Calcutta [...] there. He met the Devonshire on 7 February off Mangalore on the Malabar coast, with all well on board. The Council also heard that the Houghton and the Latham called at the Cape and sailed from there on the 12th of the previous month. 2: The passengers on board the Britannia were: Lord Clive General Carnac General Carnac's wife Colonel Champion Mr Maskelyne Mr Strachey Mr Ingham Captain Clarence [...] Those on board the Speaker were: Mr Crommelin Captain Hamilton Captain Duffield Mrs Healing Mrs Page Miss Cuells 3: Captain Thomas Pearce applied to pay £500 0s 0d into the Company's cash. The Council received the money and gave him bills drawn on the Court for that sum, dated the 18th of that month. They were payable to himself or to his order 90 days after sight. 4: Captain Mitchell received an order on the 11th of that month to examine the guns on the saluting curtain and report on their condition. He then informed the Council that the curtain needed 21 six-pounders. A further 9 twenty-four-pounders were wanted for the new battery to be built at Munden's Point. The Council thought it necessary to give the Court early notice so that the guns could be provided. For the absolute necessity of that artillery, the Court was referred to Captain Mitchell's report in the consultation of the 18th of that month. 5: John Bland, formerly master mason, and his family were the subject of the next paragraph. Interpretations Paragraph 4 shows the Council's answer to the Court's criticism, recorded in the letter of 11 April 1767, that it merely forwarded the engineer's letters without judgement. Here the inspection began with the Council's own order of 11 May, and the request went home under the Council's name with the engineer's report as supporting evidence. The substance was nonetheless a fresh and larger demand for guns only weeks after the Court refused the 10 brass pieces. The letter of 11 April 1767 warned that, if brass was denied, the guns at Munden's Point would go to Sandy Bay and others would be ordered for that battery. The 9 twenty-four-pounders were that consequence, now attached to a new battery on the headland. The saluting curtain was the stretch of wall between bastions on the town's sea front from which salutes were fired to arriving and departing ships. A six-pounder threw a shot of six pounds and served for salutes and close defence. A twenty-four-pounder was a heavy gun able to reach ships in the anchorage, which is why it was wanted for Munden's Point, the position commanding the road. Lord Clive's party included General Carnac, who commanded the Bengal army, and Mr Strachey, his secretary. The fuller passenger list corrected the first report from the Britannia's boat, sent on 18 May 1767, which gave Champion the rank of major. John Bland was the man accused on 2 April 1766 of buying up the private trade and lowering the value of the coin, and under a conditional order of removal confirmed in the letter of 11 April 1767. His description as a former master mason connects him with the dispute over John Robinson's salary, which the Council justified on 2 April 1766 by the small gap between Robinson's pay and the master mason's. | |
70 | Family at his request take their passage to England upon§ §No 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated 20th May 1767§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 17th Do Do§ §3 Do Do and Do dated 18th Do Do§ §4 Consultation of the 18 Do Do§ §5 Duplicate Do from 11th to 16th May Do§ §6 First receipt for the Packet P Ship Duke of Kingston§ §7 Second Do for Do P Ship Lord Camden§ §8 Effective state of the Garrison§ §9 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Duke of Kingston§ | John Bland and his family took their passage to England in the Earl of Ashburnham at his own request. The Council hoped the Court would not allow him to come back to the island. 6: The letter went to the Court by the Earl of Ashburnham, which sailed from the island with the Plassey. The Britannia was to follow within a few days. The letter was dated at St Helena on 20 May 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 20 May 1767 and sent by the Earl of Ashburnham. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 20 May 1767 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 17 May 1767 3: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 18 May 1767 4: The consultation of 18 May 1767 5: A duplicate of the consultations from 11 to 16 May 1767 6: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Duke of Kingston 7: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Lord Camden 8: The effective state of the garrison 9: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Duke of Kingston Interpretations Bland's departure ended a dispute that ran through the whole correspondence. The letter of 2 April 1766 regretted that the Court let him return and accused him of buying up the private trade and lowering the value of the coin. The Court's conditional order for his removal, confirmed in the letter of 11 April 1767, required a further offence before the Council could deport him. No such offence was reported, and the Council did not claim to have used the order. He left of his own accord, which gave the Council the result it wanted without the need to prove a case. Its closing request asked the Court to make the departure permanent by refusing him the licence that any person needed to travel out in a Company ship and settle on the island. The appeal was pointed, since it was the Court's own earlier permission that brought him back. The consultation of 18 May 1767 at item 4 held Captain Mitchell's report on the guns for the saluting curtain and Munden's Point, to which the same letter referred the Court for the necessity of that artillery. | |
71 | 10 Cash Account from 18th to 20th May 1767§ §11 Duplicate Do from 11th to 17th Do Do§ §12 Ship Earl of Ashburnhams Account§ §13 Do Plasseys Do§ §14 Duplicate Ship Duke of Kingstons Do§ §15 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Britannia and Speaker§ §16 Time of Ships Boats arrival at Banks's§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list for the Earl of Ashburnham continued with these further items. 10: The cash account from 18 to 20 May 1767 11: A duplicate cash account from 11 to 17 May 1767 12: The account of the Earl of Ashburnham 13: The account of the Plassey 14: A duplicate of the account of the Duke of Kingston 15: An abstract of the cargoes of the Britannia and Speaker 16: The times at which ships' boats arrived at Banks's The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council wrote to the Court on the 20th of that month by the Earl of Ashburnham, which sailed from the island with the Plassey. After those ships left, the Council learned that Captain Rous met the Company's ship Lord Holland off the Cape on 13 April, with all well on board. 2: Lord Clive asked the Council to return the two surviving Brahmins to their native country by the first available opportunity. They were sent to the island as prisoners from Anjengo in 1757. He promised to bear the whole cost of their return. The Council told him that his request would be reported to the Court and that the Court's directions would be awaited. The letter was dated at St Helena on 22 May 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations Paragraph 2 records a request from the most powerful of the Company's servants that the Council neither granted nor refused. Lord Clive was on the island in person, he was the returning Governor of Bengal and he offered to pay every expense, so compliance would have cost the Company nothing. The Council nevertheless declined to act on his word and referred the matter home. The two men were prisoners held under the Court's authority, and releasing them was not within the island government's power, whoever asked. The caution also fitted the Council's conduct after the rebukes answered in the letters of 2 April 1766 and 11 April 1767, when it undertook to apply first and wait over the armourer's salary. A referral meant a delay of a year or more before the men could sail. The passage shows the island used as a place of banishment for the Company's Indian settlements. Brahmins were members of the Hindu priestly caste. These men were sent from Anjengo, the Company's pepper settlement on the Malabar coast, and by 1767 were ten years in exile. The word surviving shows that more were sent than the two then living. Exile across the sea removed troublesome men of rank and influence from their own country without putting them to death, and for a Brahmin the sea voyage and life among strangers carried a loss of caste in addition to confinement. The Lord Holland was an outward ship, and her sighting off the Cape on 13 April told the Court she was safely past that point on her way east. | |
72 | List of the Honoble Company's Packet from St§ §No 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated 22d May 1767§ §2 Do and Do dated 22 Do Do§ §3 Duplicate Do and Do dated 20th Do Do§ §4 Consultation of the 22 May Do§ §5 Duplicate Do of the 18th Do Do§ §6 First receipt for the Packet P Ship Earl of Ashburnham§ §7 Second Do for Do P Ship Duke of Kingston§ §8 Effective state of the Garrison§ §9 Cash Account from 21st to 22 May 1767§ §10 Duplicate Do from 18 to 20th Do Do§ §11 Ship Britannias Account§ §12 Duplicate Ship El of Ashburnhams Account§ §13 Do Plasseys Do§ §14 Proceedings of a Genl Quartr Sessions held on 29th April 1767§ §15 Certificate of Flour§ §16 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Earl of Ashburnham§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 22 May 1767 and sent by the Britannia. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 22 May 1767 2: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 22 May 1767 on law matters 3: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 20 May 1767 4: The consultation of 22 May 1767 5: A duplicate of the consultation of 18 May 1767 6: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Earl of Ashburnham 7: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Duke of Kingston 8: The effective state of the garrison 9: The cash account from 21 to 22 May 1767 10: A duplicate cash account from 18 to 20 May 1767 11: The account of the Britannia 12: A duplicate of the account of the Earl of Ashburnham 13: A duplicate of the account of the Plassey 14: The proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 29 April 1767 15: The certificate for the flour 16: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Earl of Ashburnham The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on the 22nd of that month, sending that letter by the Britannia. 2: Captain Dewar received an order to take men on board his ship to make up her crew, the first of them named Michael [...]. Interpretations The sessions of 29 April 1767 at item 14 were the first quarterly sitting after John Pinchback's case could have been finally disposed of, and they fell a week before the letter of 6 May 1767 reported him leaving for England with the clerk of the peace's fees of £0 19s 2d unpaid. Those fees were therefore perhaps incurred at this sitting, and its proceedings gave the Court the record of how the charge over Captain Inglis's death ended. The law letter at item 2 again accompanied sessions papers, as in the packets of 23 April 1766, 25 July 1766 and 3 November 1766. Item 15 was the certificate promised in the letter of 11 April 1767, which undertook to send certificates home once all the flour brought by the outward ships was landed. Its presence showed that the unloading of the Northumberland and the Earl of Middlesex was complete. | |
73 | Henley Seaman left here out of the Britannia§ §No 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated 26th May 1767§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dated 22 Do Do§ §3 Consultation of the 25th May Do§ §4 Duplicate Do of 22 Do Do§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Britannia§ §6 Second Do for Do P Ship Earl of Ashburnham§ §7 Effective state of the Garrison§ §8 Cash Account from 23 to 26th May 1767§ §9 Duplicate Do from 21st to 22d Do Do§ §10 Ship Speakers Account§ §11 Duplicate Ship Britannias Acct§ §12 Do Certificate of Flour§ §13 Do List of the Packet P Ship Britannia§ | Captain Dewar's order was to take on board Michael Herley, a seaman left on the island out of the Britannia, to make up his ship's crew. The letter was dated at St Helena on 26 May 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 26 May 1767 and sent by the Speaker. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 26 May 1767 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 22 May 1767 3: The consultation of 25 May 1767 4: A duplicate of the consultation of 22 May 1767 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Britannia 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Earl of Ashburnham 7: The effective state of the garrison 8: The cash account from 23 to 26 May 1767 9: A duplicate cash account from 21 to 22 May 1767 10: The account of the *Speaker* 11: A duplicate of the account of the Britannia 12: A duplicate of the certificate for the flour 13: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Britannia Interpretations Herley was a seaman and not a discharged soldier, which set him apart from the men placed in homeward ships throughout 1766. He belonged to the Britannia, which sailed on 22 May 1767 and left him behind, perhaps through sickness or absence when she weighed. The Council moved him into the Speaker, the next ship to leave, as it did on 12 April 1766 with the two deserters from the Plassey who were put into the Salisbury. That course kept a stray seaman from becoming a charge on the island and gave Captain Dewar a hand. | |
74 | To the Honoble &ca§ | The Council addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. A French ship from Mauritius called the Ajax, under Captain St Martin, arrived on the 9th of that month. She brought news that an English ship put into Mauritius in great distress on the day the Ajax sailed. The English vessel was without her masts and rudder and held six or seven feet of water in her hold. Neither the captain nor his passengers could name her. Several letters they handed over, however, left the Council certain that she was the Neptune, under Captain Steward, from China. Those letters were sorted on receipt. The Council picked out a packet addressed to the Court, one to the ship's husband, another to the Court's secretary and three more that seemed certain to give a full account of the ship's condition. A letter went to the commander of Port L'Orient, asking him to send that selection on to the Court by the fastest conveyance. The remaining letters went back to the captain to be forwarded by the ordinary post. The Council chose the French ship for passing on this news because she offered the quickest dispatch. Interpretations The passage records news of a Company ship entrusted to a rival nation's vessel and a foreign port official. The usual course was to hold such intelligence for the next homeward Company ship, as with every earlier report in this correspondence. The Council instead used the Ajax and gave speed as its reason. The homeward ships of the season were perhaps already gone, the Speaker having sailed on 26 May 1767, and the owners and insurers of a dismasted China ship needed early word in order to arrange repairs or a relief vessel. The step also answered the Court's complaint about thin intelligence, addressed in the letter of 2 April 1766. The sorting of the letters was a second deliberate choice. Only those addressed to the Court, its secretary and the ship's husband, with three others judged to describe the ship's state, were singled out for express forwarding. The rest were left to the ordinary post, which kept the request to the French commander small enough to be granted as a courtesy. The ship's husband was the managing owner, the man who fitted out the vessel, dealt with the Company on the owners' behalf and would have to act on news of her damage. Port L'Orient, on the coast of Brittany, was the home port of the French East India Company, where the Ajax would end her voyage. Mauritius was that company's base in the Indian Ocean, as the letter of 26 March 1767 showed when another French ship came from there. Captain Larkins saw the Neptune going into Princes Island on 23 February, as the letter of 6 May 1767 recorded. She was therefore disabled somewhere in the Indian Ocean after leaving the Sunda Strait and bore away for the nearest port able to refit her. | |
75 | no English Ship in this Road§ | No English ship lay in the road when the news of the damaged vessel reached the island, which was why the Council sent it by the French ship. The letter was dated at St Helena on 11 June 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous letter went to the Court by the French ship Ajax and was dated the 11th of that month. 2: The Company's ship Hawke arrived from China on the 12th of that month. The Duke of Albany came in from Bengal on the 22nd. Captain Haldane reported leaving that place on 23 February, when the Company's ship Nottingham still lay there. She was to sail for Europe about the middle of March. 3: Charles Dewolfe and Joseph Veuille were two deserters from the French ship Ajax. Captain Cotton received an order to take them on board his ship and carry them to England. The Council paid him £10 0s 0d for their passage. Interpretations Paragraph 3 records money spent to remove two foreign seamen. Stray men were ordinarily cleared from the island at no cost by placing them in a homeward ship as working hands, as with the two deserters from the Plassey on 12 April 1766 and Michael Herley on 26 May 1767. Here the Council paid £10 0s 0d, or £5 0s 0d a man, the same rate as for the six invalids sent home on 4 April 1766. The two Frenchmen therefore travelled as passengers and not as crew. The Ajax left them behind when she sailed, and the Council evidently preferred the expense to keeping two subjects of a rival power on a fortified island whose defences were then being rebuilt. The closing words of the letter of 11 June 1767 confirmed the reason for using the Ajax. With no English ship in the road, the choice lay between a French conveyance and waiting. The Hawke arrived the very next day, so the wait would have been short, but the Council could not know that when it wrote. The Hawke was the ship that Captain Larkins left at Canton on 5 February, due to sail about a week later, as the letter of 6 May 1767 recorded. The Duke of Albany and the Nottingham were both among the ships Captain Rous left in Bengal on 1 February, reported in the letter of 20 May 1767. | |
76 | We have likewise put on board the Hawke Zedekiah§ | The Council also put Zedekiah Saunderson, a discharged soldier, on board the Hawke to make up her crew. 4: The engineer complained that Thomas Townsend, the assistant mason, refused to teach his trade to two of the Company's slave boys. The Council sent for Townsend and asked why he would not instruct the boys placed under him for that purpose. He answered that he came to the island to do his own work and nothing more. He flatly refused to teach them and behaved with great insolence in other respects. The Council wanted to dismiss him from the Company's service at once. The need for such a workman forced it to keep him until the following year. The Court was therefore asked to send out by the store ship an assistant mason to replace him, skilled in cutting and squaring stone. Nobody on the island except Townsend understood that work properly, and such a man was essential for laying gun platforms. Once the other mason arrived, the Council intended to discharge Townsend for conduct that deserved instant dismissal, if the island could possibly have managed without him. 5: The Court recommended that the captains of its early ships call at the Cape for refreshment on their homeward passage. The Council found that measure useful to the island that year, since those ships' demands for provisions fell in proportion. It hoped the Court would order six or seven captains of the early ships to continue the practice for another year. Each ship was also asked to bring about 40 head of cattle and 20 head of sheep. Interpretations Paragraph 4 records a dismissal deferred. Townsend defied a direct instruction and insulted the Council to its face, and the ordinary answer was to discharge him on the spot. The Council kept him for a year because he alone could cut and square stone, the skill needed for the gun platforms of the new batteries. The same scarcity of craftsmen drove the Council's defence of John Robinson's salary on 2 April 1766 and its request for a carpenter's mate on 23 September 1766. Townsend's refusal also had its own logic. A slave trained as a stonecutter cost the Company nothing in wages and would in time make the hired mason unnecessary, so teaching the boys meant training his own replacements. The Council's plan to make slaves into skilled workmen was its long-term remedy for dependence on men sent from England, and one workman's refusal was enough to stall it. A platform was the paved stone floor on which a gun stood and recoiled, which had to be level and closely jointed to bear the weight. Paragraph 5 settled the question left open in the letter of 11 April 1767, when the Council expected to judge within a couple of months whether the early ships still needed to call at the Cape. The verdict was to continue for another year. The request went further than relief from demand, since each ship was also to carry about 40 cattle and 20 sheep to the island. Six or seven ships on that footing would land some 240 to 280 cattle. That was the Council's answer to the disease among the breeding stock reported on 5 March 1767 and to the rationing of ships to a quarter of their charterparty beef. The Asia's consignment from the Cape, worth £317 1s 0d, was the first such supply. Saunderson went as a working hand at no charge, unlike the two French deserters for whom £10 0s 0d was paid earlier in this letter. | |
77 | that method we flatter ourselves shall be able to increase§ | The Council trusted that cattle and sheep brought from the Cape by the early ships would allow a considerable increase in the charterparty allowance. Some of those animals could also be sold to the planters, whose herds suffered greatly from the disease among the cattle. The Court was further asked to direct that the cattle brought down should be no more than two or two and a half years old. Older animals did not thrive on the island and served the purpose less well than young ones. 6: The accountant and the storekeeper received directions, as the Court ordered, to draw from their books an account of the cost of repairs to the Castle. That account came before the Council and was entered in the consultation of the 1st of that month, together with the Council's minutes on it. The Court was referred to that consultation. 7: Two of the Company's old clocks went home by this ship, both out of repair. The watchmaker reported that several of the movements were entirely worn out and unfit for service. The Council asked for the clocks to be properly repaired and sent back at the first opportunity. New cases were requested with them, since the old ones were unfit for use. 8: The list of remains and other papers went home by this opportunity, together with the Council's orders for the supplies needed in 1768. 9: A review of the soldiers' terms of service showed that more than 60 of the garrison would be entitled to their discharges the following year. How many of them would enlist again was uncertain. Of the recruits who arrived in 1762, 16 demanded their discharges and took their passage in the Hawke and the Duke of Albany. The Council therefore asked the Court to send 50 recruits the following year to make good the shortfall. Interpretations Paragraph 9 shows how the garrison was held together. Soldiers enlisted for a fixed term, and the 16 men who arrived in 1762 claimed their discharges in 1767, which points to a term of five years. A man whose time was served could not be kept against his will, so the Council had to forecast each year's losses from the enlistment dates and order replacements a year ahead. The request for 50 recruits repeated the figure asked for in the letter of 5 June 1766, against which only 19 arrived, as the letter of 11 April 1767 recorded. With more than 60 discharges falling due and most of the soldiers employed on the fortifications, a second short draft would have left both the works and the guard undermanned. The cattle scheme went beyond feeding the ships. Selling Cape animals to the planters used the Company's shipping to rebuild private herds, on which the island's supply of fresh beef finally depended. The age limit reflected the difficulty of the passage and of the change of pasture: young beasts adapted and could be bred from, while older ones lost condition and were fit only for slaughter. Paragraph 6 delivered the account promised in the letter of 11 April 1767, when the storekeeper was told to extract every article issued for repairs to the Castle. Entering the Council's own minutes beside the figures also met the Court's complaint, answered in that letter, that the island's government forwarded papers without comment. The list of remains and the orders for 1768 went home in late June, some three weeks later in the year than those for 1767, which were sent on 5 June 1766 with the warning that the stock count was made very early. The clocks were sent to England because the island's watchmaker could report on worn movements but could not make new parts for them. | |
78 | may happen by that time.§ | The 50 recruits were wanted to make good whatever shortfall arose in the garrison by the following year. 10: Mr Bridgwater, formerly a lieutenant in the third company, went home as the Court ordered. The Court's previous general letter said nothing about filling that vacancy. The Council therefore asked the Court either to send out an officer in his place or to let it take a well-recommended young gentleman of the island, who would be properly qualified for the post within a short time. Given the existing establishment of the companies and the duty of the island, the Council held that each company needed no fewer than two subalterns. Mr Greentree wished to have his son, who was 15 years old, in the Company's service. The Council appointed the boy a cadet from the day of the letter and hoped he would be qualified to fill the vacancy if the Court approved. 11: The passengers on board the Hawke were: Mr Searle Mr Mackrill Those on board the Duke of Albany were: Mr Watts Mrs Watts Captain Roche, sea captain Captain Scott, sea captain Mr Mirtle, free merchant Mr Hamilton, free merchant Mr Pinder, writer The president and council of Bengal also sent these military officers on board the Duke of Albany: Captain Scarlin Captain Stainforth Lieutenant [...] Lieutenant Margerom 12: The Council granted the following bills of exchange. One set to Daniel Corneille, payable to Robert Palk and dated the 1st of that month, £192 7s 0d One set to John Skottowe, payable to Messrs Gilly and Woodhouse, £52 11s 0d One set to Captain Archibald Mitchell, payable to Alexander Hume, £300 0s 0d The last two sets were both dated the 15th of that month. A further set was granted to Mr James Greentree. Interpretations Paragraph 10 shows the Council working within the limit the Court set and still securing its own candidate. A lieutenant's commission belonged to the Court, as the Council conceded on 2 April 1766 when it promised to observe orders on all vacancies after appointing Captain Mitchell without leave. It did not therefore commission anyone in Bridgwater's place. It instead offered the Court two courses, an officer from England or a young man of the island, and at once made Mr Greentree's son a cadet, a rank within its own gift. A cadet was a youth serving with a company to learn an officer's duty before receiving a commission. The appointment committed the Court to nothing, yet it put a named local boy in training for the post before any answer could arrive. The Greentree family was among the island's wealthiest, a Mr Thomas Greentree having paid £1,578 16s 0d into the treasury on 14 July 1766. Bridgwater was discharged by the general court martial of 10 July 1766 and sailed in the Duke of Cumberland, as the letter of 10 May 1767 reported. The argument for two subalterns in each company rested partly on the works, since most soldiers were labouring on the fortifications and an officer was needed to live at Sandy Bay. A free merchant was a private trader licensed by the Company to live and trade in India outside its service. A writer was the junior grade of the Company's civil servants, employed as a clerk. | |
79 | £570.. payable to Captn Jno Cotton, One set to Captn§ §No 1 Governor & Councils Generl Letter dated 27th June 1767§ §2 Duplicate Do & Do dated 26th May Do§ §3 Do Do & Do dated 11th June Do§ §4 Do Do & Do dated 22d May Do relatg§ §5 Consultations from 1st to the 22d June 1767§ §6 Duplicate Do of the 25 May Do§ §7 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Speaker§ §8 Second Do for Do P Ship Britannia§ §9 Effective state of the Garrison§ | The bills granted in paragraph 12 were completed by four further sets, all dated the 22nd of that month, and every set was drawn at 90 days' sight. One set to Mr James Greentree, payable to Captain John Cotton, £570 0s 0d One set to Captain John Howard, payable to Mrs Mary Hale, £176 0s 0d One set to Mr Henry Bazett and Mr William Wrangham, payable to John Burdett, £100 0s 0d One set to Captain John Cotton, payable to himself, £200 0s 0d The letter was dated at St Helena on 27 June 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 27 June 1767 and sent by the Hawke. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 27 June 1767 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 26 May 1767 3: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 11 June 1767 4: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 22 May 1767 on law matters 5: The consultations from 1 to 22 June 1767 6: A duplicate of the consultation of 25 May 1767 7: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Speaker 8: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Britannia 9: The effective state of the garrison Interpretations The seven sets reported in this letter came to £1,590 18s 0d. The largest, £570 0s 0d, was paid in by Mr James Greentree in favour of Captain Cotton, the commander who also took £200 0s 0d on his own account and received £10 0s 0d for carrying the two French deserters. A resident's payment to a commander then in the road points to goods bought from the captain's private trade, as with the bills in favour of Captain Morrison and Captain Larkins on 16 May 1767. The Greentree name appeared three times in this correspondence within a year: the £1,578 16s 0d paid in on 14 July 1766, this bill and the cadetship given to Mr Greentree's son earlier in this letter. Mrs Mary Hale was also the payee of the £400 0s 0d set granted to Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick on 7 April 1766, so she received remittances from the island in two successive years. Item 3 showed that the letter of 11 June 1767, first sent by the French ship Ajax, was repeated by the next Company ship. The Council therefore did not rely on the foreign conveyance alone for its news of the damaged Neptune. | |
80 | 10 List of Stores remaining in the H Compys Ware Houses 15th Apl 1767§ §11 Do of Garrison Stores remaing the 15 April 1767§ §12 Do of Artillery Do from 1st Octr 1766 to 15 Apl Do§ §13 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Speaker§ §14 Indent of Stores wantg for the service of the Year 1768§ §15 Do of Medicines Do Do Do Do§ §16 Cash Account from 1st to 27th June 1767§ §17 Duplicate Do from 23 to 26th May Do§ §18 Ship Hawkes Account§ §19 Duplicate Ship Speakers Do§ §20 Do Proceedings of a General Quartr Sessions held on the 29th Apl§ §21 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Hawke & Duke of Albany§ §22 Time of Ships Boats arrl at Banks's§ §23 Captain Cottons receipt for £10..§ §24 Do Do Do for two Clocks§ §25 Pattern of Lace for the Officers Regimentals§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list for the Hawke continued with these further items. 10: A list of stores remaining in the Company's warehouses on 15 April 1767 11: A list of garrison stores remaining on 15 April 1767 12: A list of artillery stores from 1 October 1766 to 15 April 1767 13: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Speaker 14: The order for stores needed in 1768 15: The order for medicines needed in 1768 16: The cash account from 1 to 27 June 1767 17: A duplicate cash account from 23 to 26 May 1767 18: The account of the Hawke 19: A duplicate of the account of the Speaker 20: A duplicate of the proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 29 April 1767 21: An abstract of the cargoes of the Hawke and Duke of Albany 22: The times at which ships' boats arrived at Banks's 23: Captain Cotton's receipt for £10 0s 0d 24: Captain Cotton's receipt for 2 clocks 25: A pattern of lace for the officers' regimentals The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on the 27th of the previous month, sending that letter by the Hawke. 2: That letter reported the insolent conduct of Thomas Townsend, the mason. He petitioned on 29 June to leave the Company's service. The Council granted the request because his contracted time was served. He was then told that he and his wife would be sent off the island at the first opportunity. The Council hoped the Court would not allow him to come back. Interpretations Paragraph 2 reversed a decision only two days old. The letter of 27 June 1767 explained that Townsend deserved instant dismissal but had to be kept for a year, because he alone could cut and square stone for the gun platforms. His petition removed the choice. His contract was expired, so the Council held no power to detain him, and the island lost its only stonecutter before any replacement could be requested, let alone sent. The Council answered by turning his departure into an expulsion. A man out of the Company's service needed its leave to stay on the island, and ordering him and his wife away denied him the chance to work privately for the planters at the higher earnings a free craftsman could command, which the letter of 2 April 1766 put at double a salaried man's pay. The closing request matched the one made about John Bland on 20 May 1767. The stock lists were dated 15 April 1767, a fortnight later than the count of 31 March 1766 sent in the previous year's packet of 5 June 1766. The Council then warned that an early count overstated what would be left at the year's end, and the later date went a small way to meet that difficulty. Items 23 and 24 were Captain Cotton's acknowledgements for the £10 0s 0d paid for the passage of the two French deserters and for the two worn clocks sent home for repair, both reported in the letter of 27 June 1767. The receipt for the clocks made him answerable for delivering them in London. The lace at item 25 was the metallic braid that trimmed an officer's uniform coat. A sample was sent so that braid ordered in England would match what the garrison's officers already wore, as the sword sent on 5 June 1766 served as a pattern for scabbards. | |
81 | an example to others, having left your service at a time he was§ | The Council wanted Thomas Townsend kept from the island as an example to others, since he left the Company's service when he was most needed. His going obliged the Council to repeat its request for another mason to be sent the following year in his place. 3: Captain Haldane agreed to take the following discharged soldiers on board his ship, and the Council gave him a permit to receive them. John Brown Thomas Bott Robert Davis William Black William Fry Abraham Renno Benjamin Bennett John Walker William Mitchell Patrick Ryley John Thompson John Dowde John Taylor Thomas Price 4: The Duke of Albany brought 25 casks of salt provisions. The letter from the president and council of Bengal, entered in the consultation of the 29th of the previous month, gave the particulars. They also proposed to send the same quantity by the Nottingham. The surgeon's report, entered in the Council's latest consultation, found the beef quite rotten and unfit for use. The storekeeper was therefore directed to have it thrown into the sea. The pork was sound but poor meat. While it remained sound, the Council intended to use it for feeding the Company's slaves, and the casks were ordered to be topped up with fresh pickle in the hope of preserving it. The provisions were also dear, at upwards of £13 0s 0d a cask prime cost. On all these grounds the Council asked the Court to forbid the president and council of Fort William to send any more. The Council would take the first opportunity to tell Bengal of the condition of the provisions, as their letter requested. Its opinion was that supply from that source matched neither the quality nor the price of the provisions the Court sent from Europe. 5: Mr John Irwin applied to pay £100 0s 0d into the Company's cash. The Council received the money and gave him bills for that sum, dated 29 June and payable to Mr Thomas Allenby. Interpretations Paragraph 4 records the rejection of a supply the Company's own government in Bengal arranged. The Council could have accepted the Bengal provisions as a useful second source, and a year earlier it welcomed just such meat: the letter of 10 June 1766 reported buying 20 casks from Captain Fenner of the Grenville at 2½d a pound because it came much cheaper than the English supply. The official consignment proved the opposite on both counts. The beef was condemned on the surgeon's written report, which gave the Court medical authority for destroying Company property, and the price of more than £13 0s 0d a cask was set against the European supply. Meat salted in Bengal's heat and carried through a four-month passage evidently did not keep as English-cured meat did. Pickle was the brine in which the meat lay, and refilling the casks was an attempt to stop the pork spoiling in turn. Prime cost was the purchase price at the place of supply, before freight and charges. Since a second 25 casks were already promised by the Nottingham, the Council asked the Court to stop the arrangement from London while also writing to Bengal itself. The 14 discharged soldiers were probably among the 16 men of the 1762 draft who claimed their discharges, as the letter of 27 June 1767 reported, Captain Haldane being the commander of the Duke of Albany. They went by permit and by the captain's agreement, the form used for Jones and Hendry on 19 April 1767, and not by an order to make up the crew. So large a group exceeded any ship's need for hands. The Council first planned to keep Townsend for a year, as the letter of 27 June 1767 explained. His departure on the expiry of his contract turned the request for a replacement mason from a convenience into a necessity for the gun platforms. | |
82 | and drawn at 90 Days sight§ §No 1 Governor & Councils General Letter dated 5th July 1767§ §2 Do & Do dated 27th Do Do§ §3 Consultations from 29th June to 4 July Do§ | Mr Irwin's bills were drawn at 90 days' sight. 6: The quarter's accounts would not come before the Council until the 20th of that month. No cash account could therefore be sent except the duplicate of the earlier one. 7: Mr Britannicus Wright informed the Council that his contracted term of five years as a writer ran out on the 1st of that month. He asked to be placed on the establishment as a factor. The Council appointed him accordingly, as the Court's standing orders allowed. 8: The captain and passengers of the Duke of Albany brought no news from Bengal except that the settlement was peaceful and quiet when they left. The letter was dated at St Helena on 5 July 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 5 July 1767 and sent by the Duke of Albany. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 5 July 1767 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 27 June 1767 3: The consultations from 29 June to 4 July 1767 Interpretations Paragraph 7 shows a promotion the Council could make without asking leave. Writer was the lowest grade of the Company's civil service, entered under a covenant for five years, and factor was the next grade above it, carrying higher pay and standing. The Court's standing orders made the step automatic once the term was served, so the Council acted on Mr Wright's application at once and simply reported it. The contrast with other appointments in this correspondence is marked: the lieutenant's vacancy was referred home in the letter of 27 June 1767, and the armourer's pay was left to the Court in the letter of 11 April 1767. Where a rule existed the Council applied it, and where none did it waited. Paragraph 6 repeated the quarterly pattern seen on 2 April 1766, 7 July 1766 and 11 April 1767, when a ship sailing before the accounts were read carried only a copy of the earlier cash account. | |
83 | 4 Duplicate Consultations from 1st to 22d June 1767§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Hawke§ §6 Second Do for Do P Ship Speaker§ §7 Effective state of the Garrison§ §8 Muster Rolls of Do§ §9 List of Officers & Servants taken 5th July 1767§ §10 Do of 15 Discharged Soldiers§ §11 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Hawke§ §12 Do Do of Stores remaing in the H Company's§ §13 Do Do of Garrison Stores remg 15 Apl 1767§ §14 Do Do of Artillery Do from 1st Octr 1766 to 15th April§ §15 Do Indent of Stores wantg for the service of the Year 1768§ §16 Do Do of Medicines wantg for Do Do§ §17 Do Cash Account from 1st to 27th June 1767§ §18 Ship Duke of Albanys Account§ §19 Duplicate Ship Hawkes Do§ §20 Do Captain Cottons receipt for £10..§ §21 Do Do Do for 2 Clocks§ §22 Do Pattern of Lace for the Officers Regimentals§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list for the Duke of Albany continued with these further items. 4: A duplicate of the consultations from 1 to 22 June 1767 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Hawke 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Speaker 7: The effective state of the garrison 8: The muster rolls of the garrison 9: A list of officers and servants taken on 5 July 1767 10: A list of 15 discharged soldiers 11: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Hawke 12: A duplicate list of stores remaining in the Company's warehouses on 15 April 1767 13: A duplicate list of garrison stores remaining on 15 April 1767 14: A duplicate list of artillery stores from 1 October 1766 to 15 April 1767 15: A duplicate of the order for stores needed in 1768 16: A duplicate of the order for medicines needed in 1768 17: A duplicate cash account from 1 to 27 June 1767 18: The account of the Duke of Albany 19: A duplicate of the account of the Hawke 20: A duplicate of Captain Cotton's receipt for £10 0s 0d 21: A duplicate of Captain Cotton's receipt for 2 clocks 22: A duplicate pattern of lace for the officers' regimentals The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous letter went to the Court by the Duke of Albany and was dated 5 July. 2: The Company's snow Mercury and the Nottingham arrived on the 29th of the previous month, both from Bengal. Interpretations Item 10 counted 15 discharged soldiers, while the letter of 5 July 1767 named 14 men taken by Captain Haldane under permit. The fifteenth was perhaps Zedekiah Saunderson, placed in the Hawke on 27 June 1767, whose packet carried no such list. The letter of 27 June 1767 put the men of the 1762 draft claiming their discharges at 16, divided between those two ships. Items 12 to 16 repeated the stock lists and the orders for 1768 first sent by the Hawke, as the packet of 10 June 1766 did for the previous year's papers. A second lace sample at item 22 followed the same reasoning, since a lost pattern would have delayed the officers' braid by a full year. A snow was a small two-masted, square-rigged vessel, far below the size of the regular ships. The Nottingham was the ship by which the president and council of Bengal proposed to send a further 25 casks of salt provisions, the supply the Council asked the Court to stop in the letter of 5 July 1767. | |
84 | the Anson from Madrass, which place she left the 24th of March§ | The Anson arrived from Madras the day after the Mercury and the Nottingham. She left that place on 24 March, when the Pigot still lay there and was expected to sail for Europe about the middle of April. Captain Lennox reported speaking with the Company's ship Vansittart on 27 June. He met the Earl of Chatham on the 30th of the same month, and both ships were off Cape Agulhas with all well. 3: The cash account for the quarter ending 30 June was balanced. It showed enough money in hand to meet the current expenses of the following year without any consignment from the Court. Further sums paid in for bills might keep the balance high until the next store ship arrived. The Council therefore asked whether the Court would approve of forwarding whatever could be spared to the president and council of Fort Marlborough. 4: The consultation of the 20th of the previous month recorded a petition from Mr Philip Mahony, the clerk of the peace. He asked for an increase in his salary and to be made independent of the garrison. The Council always thought it improper that his civil and military employments were joined. The salary of the civil post was far too small to live on, however, so he was necessarily kept in the military one. His care and diligence earned the Council's good opinion, and his abilities were equal to his office. The Court was accordingly recommended to allow him a salary adequate to that post alone. Considering the trouble of the office and the smallness of the fees, the Council judged that he could not maintain himself on less than £40 0s 0d a year. Interpretations Paragraph 3 turned a yearly improvisation into a request for a standing rule. The Council sent the Plassey's chest of treasure on to Canton in April 1766 and the Earl of Middlesex's chest to Fort Marlborough in April 1767, each time on its own judgement that bill money would cover the island's costs. The balance of 30 June confirmed that judgement so fully that the Court was told to consign no treasure at all for the following year. The further question concerned the island's own accumulated cash, as distinct from a chest in transit. Shipping that out was a new step, and the Council asked first instead of acting and reporting afterwards. The receipts behind the surplus were recorded through the spring: £2,698 0s 0d on 24 March 1767, £1,650 0s 0d from Captain Mitford on 26 April 1767 and £1,590 18s 0d in the letter of 27 June 1767. Paragraph 4 concerned the officer who kept the records of the quarterly sessions. His fees were charges paid by those who came before the court, such as the £0 19s 2d owed by John Pinchback and advanced from the Company's cash on 6 May 1767. On a small island they yielded little, so Mr Mahony also drew pay in the garrison. The Council's objection was that an official of the civil court was at the same time under military command, which compromised his independence. It nevertheless raised nothing itself and only recommended a figure, the course it adopted for the armourer in the letter of 11 April 1767 after the Court's rebuke over John Robinson's salary. The Anson and the Pigot were the two ships that Captain Rous left in Bengal on 1 February, under orders to complete their cargoes at Madras, as the letter of 20 May 1767 reported. Cape Agulhas was the southernmost point of Africa, east of the Cape of Good Hope, so the Vansittart and the Earl of Chatham were outward ships just entering the Indian Ocean. | |
85 | 5 The Passengers on board the Nottingham are§ §No 1 Governor and Councils General Letter datd 2d August 1767§ §2 Do and Do dated 2d Do Do§ §3 Duplicate Governor and Councils Generl Letter dated 5th July Do§ §4 Consultations from 6th to the 27th July Do§ §5 Duplicate Do from 29 June to 4th July Do§ | 5: The passengers on board the Nottingham were: Captain Bevan Captain Massey Mr Patten Mr Chew Mr Huggins Captain Dowe travelled on board the snow Mercury. Those on board the Anson were: Captain Campbell Captain Clark Captain Myers Mr Bean Mrs Grant 6: The Council granted Mr William Wrangham two sets of bills of exchange, both drawn at 90 days' sight and dated the 27th of the previous month. One set payable to John Rutherford, £159 6s 0d One set payable to Andrew Ritchie, £160 0s 0d The letter was dated at St Helena on 2 August 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 2 August 1767 and sent by the snow Mercury. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 2 August 1767 2: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 2 August 1767 on law matters 3: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 5 July 1767 4: The consultations from 6 to 27 July 1767 5: A duplicate of the consultations from 29 June to 4 July 1767 Interpretations The packet went by the snow Mercury, the smallest of the three vessels then in the road, although the Nottingham and the Anson were regular ships bound the same way. A snow was a light two-masted vessel that the Company used for carrying dispatches, so she was perhaps expected to reach England first. The law letter at item 2 followed the quarterly pattern seen in the packets of 23 April 1766, 25 July 1766, 3 November 1766 and 22 May 1767, each of which carried such a letter after a sitting of the sessions. The consultations at item 4 took in 20 July, the day on which the quarter's accounts were due before the Council, as the letter of 5 July 1767 stated. Mr Wrangham's two bills came to £319 6s 0d and added to the bill money on which the letter of 2 August 1767 based its report that the island needed no treasure for the following year. He was also joint holder of the £100 0s 0d set granted on 22 June 1767. | |
86 | 6 First receipt for the Packet P Ship Duke of Albany§ §7 Second Do for Do P Ship Hawke§ §8 Effective state of the Garrison§ §9 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Duke of Albany§ §10 Cash Account from the 28th to 30th June 1767§ §11 Do for the Month of July Do§ §12 Snow Mercury's Account§ §13 Duplicate Ship Duke of Albany's Account§ §14 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Nottingham, Anson, and§ §15 Time of Ships Boats arrivl at Banks's§ §16 Proceedings of a General Quarterly Sessions, held on the§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list for the snow Mercury continued with these further items. 6: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Duke of Albany 7: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Hawke 8: The effective state of the garrison 9: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Duke of Albany 10: The cash account from 28 to 30 June 1767 11: The cash account for the month of July 1767 12: The account of the snow Mercury 13: A duplicate of the account of the Duke of Albany 14: An abstract of the cargoes of the Nottingham, Anson and snow Mercury 15: The times at which ships' boats arrived at Banks's 16: The proceedings of a general quarterly sessions held on 15 July 1767 The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council wrote to the Court on the 2nd of that month by the snow Mercury. 2: The Company's ship Pigot arrived from Madras on the 3rd of that month, having left that place on 18 April. 3: Captain Howe applied to the Council for an anchor and a cable, and both were supplied to him. The Council reported the issue as the Court's orders required, so that the articles could be replaced. The Court already knew how necessary it was to keep such gear in store for the Company's shipping. 4: The Council was unable to send the Court an abstract of a cargo. Interpretations Paragraph 3 drew down a small reserve. The letter of 11 April 1767 counted the gear held for the Company's ships as two anchors, one cable and three topmasts, after a single cable went to the Grenville. The issue to Captain Howe therefore took the last cable and left one anchor, so the next ship to lose her ground tackle at the island could not be fully supplied. That is why the Council pressed for replacement at once. Under the terms set out in the letter of 2 April 1766, such articles were charged at 30 per cent above the invoice price. Items 10 and 11 closed the gap announced in the letter of 5 July 1767, when the quarter's accounts were not due before the Council until 20 July. The earlier account ended on 27 June, so a three-day account completed the quarter, as was done on 25 July 1766 and 26 April 1767. The Pigot was the ship the Anson left at Madras on 24 March, expected to sail about the middle of April, as the letter of 2 August 1767 recorded. The sessions of 15 July 1767 at item 16 were the sitting on which the law letter in the same packet reported. | |
87 | the Ship Pigots Cargoe, as Captain Richardson acquaints§ | The abstract of the Pigot's cargo could not be sent, because Captain Richardson told the Council that he held no copy of his bill of lading. 5: Governor Skottowe paid £70 0s 0d into the Company's cash. The Council gave him bills on the Court for that sum, dated the 10th of that month. They were payable to Robert Wood and drawn at 90 days' sight. 6: The passengers on board the Pigot were Major Kirkpatrick and Mr Perero. 7: Captain Richardson received an order to take Thomas Townsend, the mason, on board the Pigot and carry him to England. The Council paid the captain £5 0s 0d for the passage, and his receipt for that sum went enclosed with the letter. The payment was unavoidable, since Townsend held no money to meet the expense. The Council was determined that he would not stay on the island once out of the Company's service. When Townsend was sent for and told to get ready to go on board, he flatly refused to obey unless forced. The Council then ordered him into custody for twenty-four hours, until he was put on board. His wife petitioned to remain, as the consultation of the day before recorded, and the Council agreed for the reasons given in her petition. The Council hoped that this favour to her as a native of the island would not lead the Court to let Townsend come back. She stayed behind with his consent as well as her own. The Council was also convinced she would fare better without him, since he was a very bad husband and his repeated insolence made him a troublesome man. Interpretations Paragraph 7 records an expulsion carried out at the Company's cost and by force. The letter of 2 August 1767 announced that Townsend and his wife would both be sent away at the first opportunity. Two parts of that plan changed. The Council paid £5 0s 0d for a man who owed the Company nothing and whom it could have left to find his own passage, because waiting on his means would have kept him on the island. That was the rate paid for each invalid on 4 April 1766 and each French deserter on 27 June 1767. His confinement for twenty-four hours ensured he could not hide when the ship sailed. The wife's case was decided the other way. She was born on the island, so removing her meant exiling an islander for her husband's offence, and the Council let her stay. It saw the risk in that favour: a wife left behind gave Townsend a ground for asking the Court's leave to return, which is why the letter stressed his consent to the separation and his character as a husband. The Pigot was the latest ship to arrive without a copy of her bill of lading, after the Bombay ships of 1766 and the Prince of Wales on 26 March 1767. The Governor's bill was his fourth payable to Robert Wood, after £300 0s 0d on 9 April 1766, £205 4s 0d on 3 November 1766 and £400 0s 0d on 22 April 1767. | |
88 | very unfit object of Compassion, flying in the face of all§ | The Council judged Thomas Townsend a man who deserved no compassion, since he defied all order and authority. 8: The Council asked the Court for a ruling on craftsmen and servants who came from England in the Company's service and afterwards married on the island. Such men were sometimes dismissed for bad conduct. The question was how far the Council's authority reached in sending away, along with the husband, a wife who was a native of the island. One case arose where husband and wife both wished to part by mutual consent, and the wife's friends were willing to support her and give security that she would not become a charge on the parish. The other arose where she could find no such security and still wished to stay. The Council asked how far it could then compel her to leave the island. 9: Captain Howe received an order to take Henry [...], a discharged soldier, on board his ship towards making up the Nottingham's crew. Robert Shaffer, another discharged soldier, went on board the Anson towards making up that ship's crew. 10: The letter went to the Court by the Nottingham, which sailed from the island with the Anson and the Pigot. The letter was dated at St Helena on 16 August 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations Paragraph 8 turned the Townsend case into a request for a general rule. The Council announced on 2 August 1767 that the mason and his wife would both be sent away, then let her remain on her own petition, as the earlier part of this letter recorded. Having decided one case by indulgence, it asked the Court what its powers were before another arose. The same course was taken on 5 June 1766, when the Council declined to try Captain Fenner's seaman and asked how far its jurisdiction extended over acts at sea. The doubt here was of a different kind. A servant sent out from England was on the island by the Company's licence and could be removed when it ended, but a woman born there held no such conditional footing, and marriage to a dismissed man was her only connection with his offence. The two cases the Council distinguished show what the island's government feared from such a wife. The concern was cost and not conduct. A woman left without a husband's wages might fall on the parish, the body that relieved the island's poor from local funds, as an English parish did. Security from her friends, a bond to maintain her, removed that risk, and the Council evidently felt on safe ground in letting her stay. Its real question was the harder case, where no one would stand surety and she still refused to go. The anchor and cable supplied to Captain Howe, reported earlier in this letter, went to the Nottingham, the ship he commanded. | |
89 | List of the Honoble Company's Packet from St Helena§ §No 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated 16th August 1767§ §2 Duplicate Do and Do dat. 2d Do Do§ §3 Do Do and Do dat. 2 Do Do§ §4 Consultations from the 3d to the 15th Do Do§ §5 Duplicate Do from the 6th to the 27th July Do§ §6 First receipt for the Packet P Snow Mercury§ §7 Second Do for Do P Ship Duke of Albany§ §8 Effective state of the Garrison§ §9 Duplicate List of the Packet P Snow Mercury§ §10 Cash Account from the 1st to the 16th August 1767§ §11 Duplicate Do from the 28th to the 30th June Do§ §12 Do Do for the Month of July Do§ §13 Ship Nottinghams Account.§ §14 Do Pigots Do§ §15 Do Ansons Do§ §16 Duplicate Snow Mercury's Do§ §17 Time of the Pigots Boat arrival at Banks's§ §18 Captain Richardsons Receipt for £5..§ §19 Duplicate Proceedings of a General quarterly Sessions§ §20 List of 2 Discharged Soldiers§ | A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 16 August 1767 and sent by the Nottingham. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 16 August 1767 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 2 August 1767 3: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 2 August 1767 on law matters 4: The consultations from 3 to 15 August 1767 5: A duplicate of the consultations from 6 to 27 July 1767 6: The first receipt for the packet sent by the snow Mercury 7: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Duke of Albany 8: The effective state of the garrison 9: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the snow Mercury 10: The cash account from 1 to 16 August 1767 11: A duplicate cash account from 28 to 30 June 1767 12: A duplicate cash account for the month of July 1767 13: The account of the Nottingham 14: The account of the Pigot 15: The account of the Anson 16: A duplicate of the account of the snow Mercury 17: The time at which the boat of the Pigot arrived at Banks's 18: Captain Richardson's receipt for £5 0s 0d 19: A duplicate of the proceedings of a general quarterly sessions held on 15 July 1767 20: A list of 2 discharged soldiers Interpretations Item 18 was the receipt promised in the letter of 16 August 1767 for the £5 0s 0d paid to carry Thomas Townsend, the mason, to England in the Pigot. Sent as a separate numbered paper, it gave the Court proof of an outlay made for a man no longer in its service. Item 20 covered the two discharged soldiers placed in the Nottingham and the Anson by the same letter. The packet held no abstract of cargo. That of the Nottingham and Anson went by the snow Mercury on 2 August 1767, and Captain Richardson held no copy of his bill of lading for the Pigot, as the letter of 16 August 1767 explained. | |
90 | To the Honoble &ca§ | The Council addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on the 16th of the previous month. That letter went by the Nottingham, which sailed from the island with the Pigot and the Anson. 2: The Company's ship Devonshire arrived from Bombay on 29 August, and Captain Mercer reported leaving that place on 20 May. The Neptune came in on the 7th of that month, last from Mauritius. Captain Steward reported meeting a violent gale in latitude 19 degrees 30 minutes south. The ship lost her rudder in it, and he was forced to cut away his topmasts and lower yards to save the lower masts. He also cut away his small bower anchor and threw overboard two nine-pounder guns and many parcels of private trade, with six feet of water in the hold. On reaching Mauritius he unloaded the ship and repaired the damage. About 160 chests of the Company's Bohea tea proved entirely spoiled and were condemned. Captain Steward added that the governor and gentlemen at Mauritius received him very kindly and gave every other help the place could offer. 3: A Dutch ship from Batavia called the Elizabeth Dorothea, under Captain Grove, anchored to leeward of South West Point on the 4th of that month. She was of about 500 tons burthen and carried 22 guns and 105 men. Her cargo was pepper, and she was bound for Amsterdam. The reasons for her not coming into the road were set out in the Council's latest consultation, to which the Court was referred. She sailed for Holland the day before the letter. 4: The passengers on board the Devonshire were listed next. Interpretations Captain Steward's account confirmed the identification the Council made in the letter of 11 June 1767, when the French ship Ajax reported an unnamed English vessel at Mauritius without masts or rudder and with six or seven feet of water in her hold. The details were measures taken to keep a leaking ship afloat. Cutting away the topmasts and yards reduced the strain and top weight on a hull that could no longer be steered, and the anchor, guns and goods went overboard to lighten her. The private trade was the officers' own merchandise, so its loss fell on them and not on the Company. The bower anchors were the two main anchors carried at the bow, the small bower being the lighter of the pair. Bohea was the cheapest and most common grade of black tea shipped from Canton and made up the bulk of the Company's tea cargoes. Tea soaked by sea water was worthless, and the condemnation at Mauritius was the formal survey declaring the 160 chests unfit, which the owners and the Company needed in order to settle the loss. The friendly treatment by the French authorities mattered to the Court, since Mauritius was the base of its chief European rival and the Neptune lay there for months with a China cargo on shore. The Dutch ship anchored off South West Point, on the far side of the island from the road and its batteries. The Council left its explanation to the consultation, so the page does not show why she stayed outside. | |
91 | Captain Hassard and Messrs Johnstone and Hodson, and Mr§ | The passengers on board the Devonshire were: Captain Hassard Mr Johnstone Mr Hodson Mr Downs travelled on board the Neptune. 5: The Council granted the following bills of exchange, both drawn at 90 days' sight and dated the 7th of that month. One set to the Reverend Mr William Bearcroft, payable to Edward Bearcroft, £60 0s 0d One set to Captain John Howard, payable to Captain John Oliver, £100 0s 0d 6: The Nottingham brought the rest of the salt provisions that the president and council of Bengal promised in their letter by the Duke of Albany. Five casks of the beef were described by Bengal as a better and dearer sort, and on inspection they proved fairly good meat. The other beef was only middling, and so was the pork. All of it was sound, however, so the Council ordered both the beef and the pork to be issued to the Company's slaves. It hoped the meat would keep until it was all used. The Court was again asked to order the presidency of Bengal to send no more provisions from that place, since they answered in neither price nor quality. 7: Captain Mercer received an order to take four deserters on board the Devonshire to fill up her complement. James McDonald, deserter from the Nottingham Benjamin Burnett, deserter from the Nottingham William Troop, deserter from the Anson Anthony Dight, deserter from the Anson The Council also allowed Captain Mercer to take Martin Steel, another deserter from the Anson, on board his ship. The letter was dated at St Helena on 10 September 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations Paragraph 6 kept up a request that the second consignment did less to support than the first. The letter of 5 July 1767 reported the beef from the Duke of Albany as rotten and thrown into the sea, at more than £13 0s 0d a cask. The meat from the Nottingham was all sound, and five casks were fairly good. The Council could have softened its verdict on that evidence. It instead repeated the request to stop the supply, resting on price and on the middling quality of the bulk, and it issued the whole to the slaves instead of the garrison. Its preference for the European supply was therefore a settled judgement and not a reaction to one bad shipment. Five seamen deserted from the Nottingham and the Anson before those ships sailed on 16 August 1767. The same letter recorded that each of those ships took a discharged soldier towards making up her crew, so the soldiers perhaps replaced men already missing. The deserters could not be returned to ships that were gone, and the Council moved them into the next homeward vessel, as it did with the two men from the Plassey on 12 April 1766. Four went by order as part of the complement, and the fifth by permission, which suggests the Devonshire needed only four hands and carried Steel as an extra man. Mr Bearcroft was the chaplain whose salary and £100 0s 0d bond were dealt with in the letter of 11 April 1767. His bill sent £60 0s 0d to a relative in England within months of his arrival. | |
92 | List of the Honoble Company's Packet from St Helena§ §No 1 Governor & Councils General Letter dated 10th September 1767§ §2 Duplicate Do & Do dated 16th August Do§ §3 Consultations from the 17 August to 7th September Do§ §4 Duplicate Do from the 3 to the 15 August Do§ §5 First receipt for the Packet P Ship Nottingham§ §6 Second Do for Do P Snow Mercury§ §7 Effective state of the Garrison§ §8 List of Officers & Servants taken 10th Sept 1767§ §9 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Nottingham§ §10 Cash Account from the 17th to the 31 August 1767§ §11 Do from the 1st to the 10th Septr Do§ §12 Duplicate Do from the 1st to 16 August Do§ §13 Ship Devonshire's Account§ §14 Duplicate Ship Nottinghams Acct§ §15 Do Do Pigots Do§ §16 Do Do Ansons Do§ §17 Time of Ships Boats arrival at Banks's§ §18 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Devonshire & Anson§ §19 Capt Richardsons Receipt for £5..§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 10 September 1767 and sent by the Devonshire. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 10 September 1767 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 16 August 1767 3: The consultations from 17 August to 7 September 1767 4: A duplicate of the consultations from 3 to 15 August 1767 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Nottingham 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the snow Mercury 7: The effective state of the garrison 8: A list of officers and servants taken on 10 September 1767 9: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Nottingham 10: The cash account from 17 to 31 August 1767 11: The cash account from 1 to 10 September 1767 12: A duplicate cash account from 1 to 16 August 1767 13: The account of the Devonshire 14: A duplicate of the account of the Nottingham 15: A duplicate of the account of the Pigot 16: A duplicate of the account of the Anson 17: The times at which ships' boats arrived at Banks's 18: An abstract of the cargoes of the Devonshire and Anson 19: Captain Richardson's receipt for £5 0s 0d The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on the 10th of that month, sending that letter by the Devonshire. 2: The storekeeper reported to the Council that the hats and shoes received from each ship that year were of equal quality. Interpretations Paragraph 2 delivered the verdict promised in the letter of 11 April 1767, when the Council undertook to report which tradesmen served the Company best once the soldiers' hats and shoes were tried in use. The Court evidently split the order between suppliers and sent each one's goods by a different ship, so that the island could compare them. The storekeeper's finding of no difference gave the Court no ground for preferring one tradesman on quality. The abstract at item 18 named the Anson, although an abstract of the cargoes of the Nottingham, Anson and snow Mercury went home on 2 August 1767. The Neptune, which arrived on 7 September 1767 after her repairs at Mauritius, had no abstract in the packet. Item 19 was perhaps a duplicate of the receipt for Thomas Townsend's passage, first sent by the Nottingham on 16 August 1767, though the clerk did not mark it as one. | |
93 | which we could not ascertain, until we had experienced the§ §No 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated 14th September 1767§ §2 Duplicate Do & Do dated 10th Do Do§ §3 Consultation of the 14th Do Do§ §4 Duplicate Do from 17th August to 7th Do Do§ | The Council explained that the equal quality of the hats and shoes could not be established until they were tried in wear. 3: Mr Edwin Alcock applied to pay £700 0s 0d into the Company's cash. The Council received the money and gave him bills for that sum, dated the day of the letter. They were payable to himself and drawn at 90 days' sight. 4: The island enjoyed a very good season. The Company's pastures and plantations, and the island in general, were then in a flourishing condition. The disease among the black cattle still continued, however, and largely prevented any increase in the island's stock. The letter was dated at St Helena on 14 September 1767 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 14 September 1767 and sent by the Neptune. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 14 September 1767 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 10 September 1767 3: The consultation of 14 September 1767 4: A duplicate of the consultations from 17 August to 7 September 1767 Interpretations Paragraph 4 was the third report on the season in this correspondence, and it showed the cattle disease as a lasting problem. The letter of 23 April 1766 described flourishing pastures with no mention of sickness. The letter of 5 March 1767 reported the disease attacking the breeding animals, and six months later it was still checking the herds despite good grass. That persistence explained the measures the Council pressed in the letter of 27 June 1767: early ships calling at the Cape for another year, each bringing about 40 young cattle and 20 sheep, with some to be sold to the planters whose herds suffered most. Mr Alcock's £700 0s 0d added to a treasury already reported as full. The letter of 2 August 1767 told the Court that no treasure need be consigned for the following year and asked leave to forward spare cash to Fort Marlborough. The Neptune carried the packet home a week after arriving from Mauritius, where she was repaired after the gale described in the letter of 10 September 1767. | |
94 | 5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Devonshire§ §6 Second Do for Do P Ship Nottingham§ §7 Effective state of the Garrison§ §8 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Devonshire§ §9 Cash Account from the 11th to 14th September 1767§ §10 Duplicate Do from the 17th to 31st August Do§ §11 Do Do from the 1st to 10th September Do§ §12 Ship Neptunes Account§ §13 Duplicate Ship Devonshires Account§ §14 Courts Martial from the 5 August 1766 to 31st August 1767§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list for the Neptune continued with these further items. 5: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Devonshire 6: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Nottingham 7: The effective state of the garrison 8: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Devonshire 9: The cash account from 11 to 14 September 1767 10: A duplicate cash account from 17 to 31 August 1767 11: A duplicate cash account from 1 to 10 September 1767 12: The account of the Neptune 13: A duplicate of the account of the Devonshire 14: The courts martial from 5 August 1766 to 31 August 1767 The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council's previous news went to the Court by the Neptune in a letter dated 14 September 1767. 2: The Company's ship Lord Holland arrived from Bengal on the 12th of that month, last from the Cape. Captain Nairn reported parting with the pilot on 15 October, when the Company's ships Norfolk, Egmont, Calcutta and Europe lay in Bengal. The Hector, he said, sailed for the Coast with troops on 15 September. The Northington and the Earl of Elgin also sailed with troops for Madras on the 30th of the same month, and three or four country ships went on the same service. The troops sent were three battalions of sepoys. Captain Nairn further heard that the Company's ship Worcester was at Bombay. The Latham, Triton, Earl of Lincoln, Houghton, London, Earl of Chatham, Lord Mansfield and [...] were at the Coast. The Calcutta, he added, ran aground. Interpretations The movement of three battalions of sepoys from Bengal to Madras, in Company ships and hired country vessels, was the weightiest news in the paragraph. It meant that the Madras presidency was at war and drawing on Bengal for men. The earlier letters traced the cause: Hyder Ali Khan defeated the Tellicherry detachment, as the letter of 4 August 1766 reported, and by the letter of 26 March 1767 he commanded 30,000 men and a fleet of 30 vessels while assuring Bombay that he meant no harm. Regular ships diverted to carry troops were also ships delayed in loading for Europe, which the Court needed to know. The Coast meant the Coromandel coast, the shore of south-east India on which Madras stood. Parting with the pilot marked a ship's true departure from Bengal. Vessels were taken down the Hooghly by a river pilot, who left them at the mouth, so the date fixed the start of the sea passage. The Lord Holland was the outward ship met off the Cape on 13 April 1767, as the letter of 22 May 1767 recorded, and she was then on her way home. Item 14 was the yearly return of the garrison's military trials. The previous one, sent on 4 August 1766, ended on that day, and this began on the next, so the series ran unbroken. It took in the general court martial of Captain Richard Beale on 23 March 1767, whose proceedings went separately by the Speke on 11 April 1767. | |
95 | at the mouth of Bengal River, but got off & was about to§ | The Calcutta ran aground at the mouth of the Bengal river but got off again. She was about to sail for Bombay to be hove down. The Council also heard that Captain Morris spoke at sea with Captain Palmer of the Vansittart. Captain Palmer told him that his ship was leaking and that he intended to put into Mauritius. 3: Captain Nairn further reported news that reached Calcutta from the Coast. Hyder Naig joined forces with the Nabob of Golconda, and their combined army marched between Madras and the Company's army and cut all communication. On the day Captain Nairn left the river, however, he met a country ship from Madras with later news, given either to him or to his officer. The Company's army came up with the enemy and fought an engagement in which Hyder Naig was wounded. Communication between the settlement and the army was open again. 4: The general books of accounts, balanced to 30 September of the previous year, went home by this opportunity. 5: Captain Nairn received an order to take three seamen on board his ship towards making up her crew. All three were left on the island out of the Devonshire. Thomas Chapman Cornelius [...] Duncan McPherson 6: John Drawwater, the Company's cooper, petitioned for an increase in his salary, as the consultation of 9 November of the previous year recorded. He was a very diligent and sober man, and his salary was only £36 0s 0d a year. The Council promised him to recommend his case to the Court, since it thought his allowance too small to live on. 7: Captain Nairn brought 20 cattle and 54 sheep from the Cape. The Council paid him £79 13s 0d for them, as shown by his bill entered in the consultation of the 16th of that month. The cattle he brought were young. Interpretations Paragraph 3 explained the troop movements reported earlier in this letter. Hyder Naig, who told Bombay he meant the English no harm, as the letter of 26 March 1767 recorded, was by then in open war with Madras and allied with the Nabob of Golconda, the ruler of Hyderabad and the chief Muslim prince of southern India. An army placed between Madras and the Company's field force threatened the settlement itself, which is why three battalions of sepoys were shipped from Bengal. The Council took care to grade its sources. The alarming account was what Calcutta believed, while the report of a battle and of Hyder's wound came from a single country ship and perhaps reached Captain Nairn only through his officer. After the retractions of 8 June 1766 and 26 March 1767, the Council let the Court see how thin the good news was. Paragraph 6 followed the rule the Council adopted after the Court's rebuke over John Robinson's salary, answered on 2 April 1766. As with the armourer on 11 April 1767 and the clerk of the peace on 2 August 1767, it raised nothing itself and only recommended. A cooper made and repaired the casks in which the island's salt provisions, water and spirits were kept, so his work protected the stores. Paragraph 7 was the first return on the request made in the letter of 27 June 1767 for homeward ships to bring stock from the Cape. Captain Nairn carried half the 40 cattle asked of each ship and far more than the 20 sheep, and the animals were young, as the Council specified. The cost of £79 13s 0d was about a quarter of the £317 1s 0d paid for the Asia's consignment, reported on 5 March 1767. To heave a ship down was to haul her over on her side so that the bottom could be examined and repaired, which the Calcutta needed after grounding and which Bombay's dockyard could do. The Vansittart was the outward ship met off Cape Agulhas on 27 June, as the letter of 2 August 1767 recorded. The general books closed the year to 30 September 1767, as those sent on 5 March 1767 did for the year before. | |
96 | young and of a proper age for this place & answers better than§ | The young cattle brought by Captain Nairn were of the right age for the island and did better there than full-grown animals. 8: Captain Fasham Nairn applied to pay £100 0s 0d into the Company's cash. The Council granted him bills for that sum, dated the 16th of that month. They were payable to himself or to his order and drawn at 90 days' sight. 9: The Council expected to send home by this conveyance a plan of the Sandy Bay fortification, then finished, together with the cost of that work. The engineer's other business kept him from completing the plan. He was then at work on it and would finish it as quickly as possible. The Council promised to send it home, with its own opinions on it, as soon as it was ready. 10: The Court was referred to the consultations of 23 and 30 November and of 7 and 14 December of the previous year. They dealt with the engineer's proposals for altering the position and construction of Munden's battery. They also recorded the orders given to him on how to proceed in completing that work, with the Council's reasons in full. The Council ordered the works at Munden's and at Banks's upper battery to be carried on together. Doing so would speed the defences of the leeward coast, and the hands formerly employed at Sandy Bay were enough for both. 11: The passengers on board the Lord Holland were listed next. Interpretations Paragraph 10 shows the Council changing its manner towards the engineer after the Court's criticism, answered in the letter of 11 April 1767, that it merely forwarded his letters without comment. His proposals for Munden's battery were debated over four consultations in as many weeks, and the outcome was framed as the Council's orders to him, with its own reasons recorded. The promise in paragraph 9 to send the Sandy Bay plan with the Council's opinions made the same point. The substance still moved ahead of London, as it did when alterations at Sandy Bay were agreed on the spot and reported on 3 November 1766: the position and design of a battery were changed and work was ordered before the Court could answer. The decision to build two batteries at once was a choice about labour. Sandy Bay, begun in 1766 and given its own ledger head, as the letter of 2 April 1766 reported, was finished, and its workforce was free. The Council could have moved the men to one site and completed it before starting the next. It split them between Munden's, on the headland beside the anchorage, and the upper battery at Banks's, further along the same shore, so that both approaches to the road were strengthened together. The leeward coast was the north-western side of the island, sheltered from the prevailing south-east wind, where ships anchored and where a landing was most practicable. The plan and the cost of Sandy Bay were to go home together, which would give the Court its first completed account of a single work under the separate accounting promised on 2 April 1766. | |
97 | Mrs Martin & Mrs Higgins and Messrs Sage, [Rodney] &§ §No 1 Governor & Councils General Letter dated the 18th Jany 1768§ §2 Do & Do dated the 18th Do Do§ §3 Duplicate Do & Do dated the 14th Sept 1767§ §4 Consultations from 17th Sept 1767 to the 16 Jany 1768§ §5 Duplicate Do of the 14th Do Do§ §6 First receipt for the Packet P Ship Neptune§ §7 Second Do for Do P Ship Devonshire§ §8 Effective state of the Garrison§ §9 Muster Rolls of Do§ §10 List of Officers & Servants taken 18th Jany 1768§ | The passengers on board the Lord Holland were: Mrs Martin Mrs Higgins Mr Sage Mr [...] Mr Shrimpton The letter was dated at St Helena on 18 January 1768 and signed by: John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the Company's packet from St Helena, dated 18 January 1768 and sent by the Lord Holland. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 18 January 1768 2: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 18 January 1768 on law matters 3: A duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 14 September 1767 4: The consultations from 17 September 1767 to 16 January 1768 5: A duplicate of the consultation of 14 September 1767 6: The first receipt for the packet sent by the Neptune 7: The second receipt for the packet sent by the Devonshire 8: The effective state of the garrison 9: The muster rolls of the garrison 10: A list of officers and servants taken on 18 January 1768 Interpretations The packet covered the dead season of the island's shipping, as the Asia's did the year before. Item 4 held four months of consultations, from 17 September 1767 to 16 January 1768, against the stretch from 10 November 1766 to 2 March 1767 sent on 5 March 1767. No homeward Company ship left between the Neptune on 14 September 1767 and the Lord Holland, so the debates on Munden's battery in November and December, to which the letter of 18 January 1768 referred the Court, waited weeks for a conveyance. The date of the letter fixed the events it reported. The Lord Holland arrived on 12 January 1768, some three months after parting with her pilot in Bengal on 15 October 1767, and Captain Nairn's bill for the Cape cattle and sheep was entered on 16 January 1768. | |
98 | 11 List of Family's taken 30th Sept 1767§ §12 Do of Rents taken 30th Do Do§ §13 Do of the Honoble Compys Slaves taken 30th Sept 1767§ §14 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Neptune§ §15 Cash Account from 15 to 30th Sept 1767§ §16 Do for the Month of October Do§ §17 Do for the Month of November Do§ §18 Do for the Month of December Do§ §19 Do from the 1st to 18th Jany 1768§ §20 Duplicate Do from 11th to 14th Sept 1767§ §21 Ship Lord Hollands Account§ §22 Duplicate Ship Neptunes Do§ §23 Abstract of the Cargoe of Ship Lord Holland§ §24 Time of the arrival of the Lord Hollands Boat at Banks's§ §25 Proceedings of a General Quarterly Sessions held the 7th Octr 1767§ §26 General Books of Accounts§ §To the Honoble &ca§ | The packet list for the Lord Holland continued with these further items. 11: A list of families taken on 30 September 1767 12: A list of rents taken on 30 September 1767 13: A list of the Company's slaves taken on 30 September 1767 14: A duplicate list of the packet sent by the Neptune 15: The cash account from 15 to 30 September 1767 16: The cash account for the month of October 1767 17: The cash account for the month of November 1767 18: The cash account for the month of December 1767 19: The cash account from 1 to 18 January 1768 20: A duplicate cash account from 11 to 14 September 1767 21: The account of the Lord Holland 22: A duplicate of the account of the Neptune 23: An abstract of the cargo of the Lord Holland 24: The time at which the boat of the Lord Holland arrived at Banks's 25: The proceedings of a general quarterly sessions held on 7 October 1767 26: The general books of accounts The Council then addressed a further letter to the Court of Directors. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court by the Lord Holland, in a letter dated 18 January 1768. 2: The Company's ship Hector arrived from Madras on the 11th of that month, last from the Cape. Captain Williams reported leaving Fort St George on 6 November. The Company's ship Bute, he said, was never there, although Captain Nairn heard that she was and the Council reported it in the previous letter. The Council was pleased to pass on news of the Company's army. Interpretations Paragraph 2 opened with another correction of intelligence, the third in this correspondence after those of 8 June 1766 and 26 March 1767. The letter of 18 January 1768 listed the ships Captain Nairn heard were at the Coast, and the Bute was among them. Captain Williams came from Madras itself and left three weeks after Captain Nairn parted with his pilot in Bengal, so his word displaced a report that reached Calcutta at second hand. A ship wrongly placed at Madras would mislead the Court's reckoning of when she was due home. Items 11 to 13 were the annual returns of households, land rents and the Company's slaves, taken on 30 September as in the previous year, when they went by the Ponsborne on 3 November 1766. In 1767 no ship sailed between mid-September and January, so the returns and the general books at item 26 waited more than three months. The cash accounts again shifted to calendar months through the gap in shipping, as they did between November 1766 and March 1767. The sessions of 7 October 1767 at item 25 were the sitting on which the law letter of 18 January 1768 reported. | |
99 | the Coast had twice engaged Hyder Naig and defeated him each§ | The Council reported news that the forces on the Coast fought Hyder Naig twice and beat him on both occasions. The second battle cost him all his baggage and cannon, and the Council hoped this left him unable to cause any more alarm. 3: The Council issued four sets of bills of exchange, each drawn at 90 days' sight. Daniel Corneille Esquire, payable to Christopher Baron Esquire, dated 25 January 1768, £200 0s 0d The Reverend William Bearcroft, payable to Messrs Thomas and William Chisim, dated 22 January 1768, £100 0s 0d Captain John Williams, payable to himself, dated 22 January 1768, £100 0s 0d Mr James Powell, payable to Captain John Williams, dated 22 January 1768, £200 0s 0d 4: The Hector carried as passengers Mr and Mrs Pybus and the Misses Goring, Grey and Monsell. 5: The Hector ran aground on the day she arrived, apparently by accident. The Council sent every Company boat and 100 of the garrison's soldiers to help, and the ship floated free at high water. Captain Williams believed the only harm was the loss of her false keel and an injury to her rudder. He mended the rudder himself. 6: The Council referred the Court to its consultation of 22 January 1768 concerning one of the Company's longboats. The boat suffered so badly while helping the Hector that she could never be used again. She was more than three years old, and the Company's carpenter put her worth at only £10 0s 0d. The books still carried her at £35 0s 0d, the price first paid for her. The Council explained that it reported this valuation because of the way the damage came about. Interpretations A false keel was a sacrificial length of timber fastened beneath the main keel. It took the wear of a grounding and could be torn away without opening the hull, which explains why Captain Williams treated its loss as minor. Bills of exchange let residents and ship's officers pay money into the island treasury and have the equivalent paid out in London by the Company. The 90 days' sight term meant the Court had three months after a bill was presented before payment fell due. The bills gave the island a supply of cash without coin being shipped out, and gave the payers a safe way of sending funds home. Captain Williams appeared both as a drawer in his own favour and as payee of Mr Powell's bill, so £300 0s 0d of the £600 0s 0d issued was to reach him in London. The Council chose to report the carpenter's figure of £10 0s 0d for the longboat instead of simply writing off the £35 0s 0d at which she stood in the books. Its stated reason was the manner in which she was damaged. Since the boat was lost in the service of a ship and not through ordinary wear, the lower valuation was probably put forward as the fair measure of the loss should the cost be charged to the Hector's owners. The enemy named as Hyder Naig was Hyder Ali, ruler of Mysore, and the Coast was the Coromandel Coast, where the Madras presidency was then at war with him. The Council's hope that he could do no further harm was qualified in the letter itself, which shows that the report was passed on as welcome but unconfirmed news. | |
100 | not charged her present valuation to the Captain, but refer it to§ | The Council did not bill Captain Williams for the longboat at the carpenter's figure and left that question for the Court to settle. A replacement boat had to be bought as soon as one could be found. 7: The previous letter announced that the fortification at Sandy Bay was finished. The Council then held back its opinion of the work and a plan of the defences, because the Engineer had not yet completed his drawing. Both now went home with this letter. An estimate of the whole cost accompanied them, gathered under a single heading in the Company's books so that the Court could see it at a glance. The Council hoped the Court would judge from the plan that money was spent carefully, given the scale and strength of the work. Buildings of this kind had to be durable above all, since weak ones became a permanent drain on funds. Employing a number of the garrison's men on the work could not be avoided. The Company's slaves were too few for such a project and fell even further short in strength and capacity for labour. For those reasons the Council intended to go on using soldiers until all the works were finished. It hoped the Court would approve, both on these grounds and on those given in earlier letters. 8: The Court would have the plan of the Sandy Bay work and its key to hand when this letter arrived. The Council therefore pointed out that the work as built departed in a few respects from the design sent home earlier. Interpretations The Council passed over the obvious course of charging the longboat to Captain Williams at once, although she was wrecked in rescuing the Hector and paragraph 6 took care to fix her value at £10 0s 0d against a book figure of £35 0s 0d. Referring the matter home left the Court to decide whether to claim against the ship's owners in London, where the Company settled its accounts with them. The low valuation was thus put on record without the Council committing itself to a demand on a commander who was about to sail. The defence of soldier labour answered an objection the Court had evidently raised before, as the appeal to reasons given in earlier letters shows. Garrison men put to building work were paid extra for it on top of their military pay, so the practice added a direct charge that slave labour would not have carried. The Council's argument rested on two separate shortfalls, the number of the Company's slaves and their physical fitness for heavy masonry, and it presented the continued use of soldiers as settled until the works were complete instead of asking leave. The "references" sent with the plan were the lettered or numbered key explaining the features marked on the drawing. Gathering the scattered charges for Sandy Bay under one head in the books turned a run of separate entries for labour, materials and stores into a single total that could be set beside the Engineer's plan. | |
101 | general remarks and approved of by you; yet no ways§ | The Council explained that the Sandy Bay work differed in four ways from the design that went home with the Engineer's general remarks and won the Court's approval. None of the changes added much to the cost. All of them, in the Council's view, made the defences considerably stronger and safer. First: A flank for musketry was added to the left of the smaller line, covering the whole face of that line against a landing. Second: A short covered passage protected by a parapet was built between the two lines, making both easier to defend. The earlier plan left them cut off from each other by the hill lying between. Third: The old battery was removed from the drawing because it was completely pulled down. Its site served only as a landing place for loading and unloading boats. Fourth: A breastwork was raised on a point of the hill east of the bay for muskets, or more accurately wall pieces, which would badly harass boats. It also covered a gully opposite, marked K K and strongly walled up. The plan showed this gully forming a small bay to the right of the old battery's site. 9: The Council offered these as its main comments, so that the Court could understand the works as fully as anyone away from the island could. It also wished to give credit where credit was earned. Captain Mitchell, the Company's Engineer, carried out the fortification with skill, hard work and constant presence on site, as he did every other part of his duty. He worked with the Council to keep costs as low as so major a project allowed. His conduct did right by the Company that trusted him and reflected well on his own reputation. Interpretations Wall pieces were very heavy muskets, too large to fire from the shoulder, mounted on a swivel or rested on a parapet. They threw a larger ball further than an ordinary musket and suited a small post meant to trouble boats approaching a beach. The Council's correction of "small arms" to "wall pieces" shows the breastwork was designed for these fixed weapons and not simply for infantry. A breastwork was a low chest-high wall giving cover to men firing over it. A flank was a length of wall set at an angle so that its fire swept along the face of the neighbouring line, and the revetment was the stone facing of that line. A traverse of communication was a protected passage letting defenders move between two works without exposure. The Court approved one design and the Council built another. The obvious course was to build to the approved plan or seek leave before altering it, and the letter shows neither was done: the changes were reported only after the work was finished. The Council met the difficulty by stressing that the additions cost little and by tying each to a specific defensive gain. The second change in particular corrected a weakness in the approved design, where the hill left the two lines unable to support each other. Praise for Captain Mitchell followed directly on the admission of these departures and repeated the claim of economy made in paragraph 7. The commendation therefore served the Council's own case as well as the Engineer's, since the Court was being asked to accept both the cost of the works and the use of garrison labour on them. | |
102 | imployment in which he has the honour of serving You.§ §No. 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated the 23d Feby. 1768§ §2 Do. and Do. dated the 23 Do. Do.§ §3 Duplicate Governor & Councl. Genl. Letter dated the 18th Jany. Do.§ §4 Do. & Do. dated the 18 Do. Do.§ §5 Consultations from 18 Jany. to the 22d February 1768§ §6 Duplicate Do. from 17 Sept. 1767 to 16 Jany. Do.§ §7 First receipt for the Packet P Ship Lord Holland§ | Captain Mitchell's conduct did credit to his standing in the post he held under the Company. 10: The plan of the Sandy Bay fortification went home by the Hector in a box of its own. The Council asked Captain Williams to hand it to the Court in person, and his receipt for it was enclosed in the packet. The letter was dated at St Helena on 23 February 1768 and signed by four members of the Council. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille M Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Hector, dated 23 February 1768. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 23 February 1768 2: General letter from the Governor and Council on legal business dated 23 February 1768 3: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 18 January 1768 4: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council on legal business dated 18 January 1768 5: Consultations from 18 January 1768 to 22 February 1768 6: Duplicate of the consultations from 17 September 1767 to 16 January 1768 7: First receipt for the packet sent by the Lord Holland. Interpretations The Council passed over the ordinary course of putting the plan in the packet with the other papers. It was boxed separately, entrusted to Captain Williams by name and covered by his signed receipt, which travelled in the packet as proof of what he took charge of. A large drawing would have suffered from folding, and a plan of the island's defences was a document whose loss or exposure mattered more than that of routine correspondence. The receipt fixed responsibility on the commander personally if the box failed to arrive. Duplicates of the letters and consultations already sent in January went again by the Hector as insurance against the loss of the earlier ship. The same reasoning lay behind item 7: a commander signed more than one receipt for a packet, and the first copy was sent home by a different vessel so that the Court could hold him to account for its delivery. Legal business was kept in a letter of its own, separate from the general letter, so that it could be passed directly to those in London who handled the Company's legal affairs. | |
103 | 8 Second Receipt for the Packet P Ship Neptune§ §9 Effective state of the Garrison§ §10 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Lord Holland§ §11 Do. Do. of Family's taken 30th Sept. 1767§ §12 Do. Do. of Rents taken 30th Do. Do.§ §13 Do. Do. of the Hoble Compys. Slaves taken 30th Sept. 1767§ §14 Cash Account from 19th to 31 Jany. 1768§ §15 Do. Do. from 1 to 23 Feby. Do.§ §16 Duplicate Do. from 15 to 30th Sept. 1767§ §17 Do. for the Month of October Do.§ §18 Do. for the Month of Novemr. Do.§ §19 Do. for the Month of Decemr. Do.§ §20 Do. from the 1st to 18th Jany. 1768§ §21 Ship Hectors Account§ §22 Duplicate Ship Lord Hollands Acct.§ §23 Abstract of the Cargoe of Ship Hector§ §24 Time of the Arrival of the Hectors Boat at Banks's§ §25 Proceedings of a General Quartr. Sessions held 18th Jany. 1768§ §26 Duplicate Do. Do. held 7 Octr. 1767§ §27 Estimate of the Expence of Sandy Bay Fortification§ §28 First Receipt for a Box contg. the Plan of Sandy Bay§ §To the Honoble &ca.§ | The list of the packet's contents continued with the remaining enclosures. 8: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Neptune. 9: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 10: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Lord Holland. 11: Duplicate list of families taken on 30 September 1767 12: Duplicate list of rents taken on 30 September 1767 13: Duplicate list of the Company's slaves taken on 30 September 1767 14: Cash account from 19 January 1768 to 31 January 1768 15: Cash account from 1 February 1768 to 23 February 1768 16: Duplicate cash account from 15 September 1767 to 30 September 1767 17: Duplicate cash account for October 1767 18: Duplicate cash account for November 1767 19: Duplicate cash account for December 1767 20: Duplicate cash account from 1 January 1768 to 18 January 1768 21: Account of the Hector. 22: Duplicate account of the Lord Holland. 23: Summary of the cargo of the Hector. 24: Note of the time at which the Hector's boat reached Banks's. 25: Proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 13 January 1768 26: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 7 October 1767 27: Estimate of the cost of the Sandy Bay fortification 28: First receipt for a box containing the plan of the Sandy Bay fortification A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter went home on 23 February 1768 by the Hector. 2: The Northumberland arrived on the fifth of the month in which the new letter was written. Interpretations Banks's was the battery and signal post on the coast north-east of the anchorage, the first Company station an approaching ship passed. A ship was expected to send her boat ahead to report there before coming in, so the time of the boat's arrival was logged. Sending that note home in the same packet as the news of the Hector's grounding, recorded in paragraph 5 of the letter of 23 February 1768, gave the Court a timed record of the ship's approach on the day she went ashore. The three lists taken on 30 September 1767 formed the island's yearly return: the free households, the rents owed to the Company for land and the slaves the Company owned. Together they let the Court measure the settlement's population, its revenue from tenants and its own labour force at a single date. The count of slaves had a direct bearing on paragraph 7 of the letter, where the Council argued that the Company's slaves were too few and too weak for the Sandy Bay works. Cash accounts were closed and sent in sections matching the departure of each ship, which explains the broken periods ending on 18 January 1768 and 23 February 1768. The Court thus received an unbroken run of accounts with duplicates following by the next vessel. The receipt for the boxed plan was called a first receipt, showing that Captain Williams signed more than one copy. One travelled with him in the packet and another was held back to follow by a later ship, as the second receipt for the Neptune's packet at item 8 did for an earlier commander. | |
104 | the Earl of Lincoln (both from China) and the 10th your Ship§ | The Northumberland reached St Helena on the fifth of the month and the Earl of Lincoln on the eighth, both from China. The Norfolk followed from Bengal on the tenth. Captain Milford reported that the Osterly and the Triton left China in company with him. Four more Company ships, the Latham, Houghton, British King and Van Sittart, were due to leave Canton about the middle of January 1768. The London was still absent when he sailed. He counted the foreign and private shipping at China during the previous season. English country ships, 6 Danish ships, 2 Swedish ships, 2 Dutch ships, 4 French ships, 3 News also came of trouble at Canton. Some Chinese suppliers packed several of the Company's tea chests with sawdust and other rubbish, and the supercargoes ordered a sampan burnt in reply. All trade then stopped for about 25 days. The merchants known as the Cohong settled the dispute and business resumed as normal. A rebellion broke out in China during 1767, but it did no damage to trade. Captain Sandys left Bengal on 22 December 1767. Six Company ships lay there at the time: the Earl of Elgin, Northington, Calcutta, Admiral Pocock, Europa and Egmont. The Egmont was to complete her cargo on the Coast. He called at the Cape on 18 February 1768 and found His Majesty's Ship Dolphin there. The Admiral Watson sailed from the Cape three or four days before he arrived. The Osterly, he added, put in there on the twenty-fourth of the previous month. Captain Riddel told him that Captain Maitland went to Brazil for water and that everyone aboard was well. 3: The Norfolk carried as passengers Messrs Kingstone, Shand, Nichols and Davis and Mr Lynch. Interpretations The Cohong was the guild of Chinese merchants licensed by the imperial authorities to deal with foreign traders at Canton. Its members stood surety for the ships and their crews and answered to the officials for the foreigners' behaviour. A quarrel between the Company and its suppliers therefore went to the Cohong for settlement, since direct appeal to Chinese officials was closed to Europeans. Supercargoes were the Company's commercial agents at Canton, who bought the tea and managed each season's trade. A sampan was a small flat-bottomed Chinese harbour boat. Country ships were privately owned vessels trading between ports in Asia under the Company's licence, as distinct from the Company's own ships sailing to and from Europe. The supercargoes faced a fraud in the tea supply and passed over the ordinary remedy of rejecting the chests or claiming against the merchant who supplied them. They had a boat destroyed instead, perhaps the one that delivered the bad tea. The cost of that choice appears in the same sentence: a stoppage of about 25 days in a trade that ran to a tight seasonal timetable. The Council relayed the affair as settled and offered no opinion on the supercargoes' judgement. St Helena served here as a clearing house for intelligence. Commanders arriving from China and Bengal within five days of one another supplied the positions of some 20 ships, the state of the Canton market and the strength of rival nations' trade there. The Council gathered these reports into a single paragraph so that the Court could learn of its homeward fleet weeks before the ships themselves reached England. | |
105 | on board the Earl of Lincoln§ §No. 1 Governor & Councils General Letter dated 14th March 1768§ §2 Duplicate Do. & Do. dated 23 Do. Do.§ | Mr Lynch travelled as a passenger aboard the Earl of Lincoln. 4: The Council could not send the Court a summary of the Earl of Lincoln's bill of lading, because Captain Hardwicke reported that he held no copy of it. 5: The Council issued three sets of bills of exchange, each drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 14 March 1768. Captain John Milford, payable to Mr Robert Milford, £200 0s 0d Captain John Sandys, payable to himself, £100 0s 0d Mr Robert Bandy, payable to Mr George Martin, £371 5s 0d 6: The letter went home by the Earl of Lincoln, which sailed in company with the Norfolk. The Northumberland was to follow within a few days. The letter was dated at St Helena on 14 March 1768 and signed by four members of the Council. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Earl of Lincoln, dated 14 March 1768. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 14 March 1768 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 23 February 1768 Interpretations A bill of lading was the signed list of cargo a commander acknowledged taking aboard, and it bound him to deliver those goods. The Council normally drew a summary from each ship's copy and sent it ahead, as it did for the Hector at item 23 of the packet list of 23 February 1768. That gave the Court early notice of what each cargo held and a check against what was later landed. Captain Hardwicke's lack of a copy left the Council with nothing to summarise, and it reported the gap to the Court instead of compiling a list from the ship's own account of her lading. The explanation was recorded as the captain's statement, which placed responsibility for the missing paper on him. The date of 14 March 1768 fixed the month left open in the letter's second paragraph. The Northumberland therefore arrived on 5 March 1768, the Earl of Lincoln on 8 March 1768 and the Norfolk on 10 March 1768. The Osterly's call at the Cape on the twenty-fourth of the previous month fell on 24 February 1768. Two of the three bills were taken by commanders then in the road. Captain Milford's was made payable to Mr Robert Milford, probably a relative in England, which shows the bills being used to send private funds home to family as well as to the drawers themselves. | |
106 | 3 Duplicate Govr. & Councils General Letter dated 23 Feby. 1768§ §4 Consultations from 29 Febry. to 14th March Do.§ §5 Duplicate Do. from 18th Jany. to 22 Febry. Do.§ §6 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Hector§ §7 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Lord Holland§ §8 Do. Do. for a Box containg. the Plan of Sandy Bay Fortifn.§ §9 Effective State of the Garrison§ §10 List of Officers & Servants taken 14th March 1768§ §11 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Hector§ §12 Cash Account from 24th to the 29th Febry. Do.§ §13 Do. Do. from 1st to the 14th March Do.§ §14 Duplicate Do. from 19th to 31st Jany. Do.§ §15 Do. Do. from 1 to 23 Febry. Do.§ §16 Ship Earl of Lincolns Account§ §17 Do. Norfolks Do.§ §18 Duplicate Ship Hectors Do.§ §19 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Northumberland & Norfolk§ §20 Time of Ships Boats Arrival at Banks's§ §21 Duplicate Proceedings of a General Quartr. Sessions held on the§ §22 Do. Estimate of the Expence of Sandy Bay Fortification§ §To the Honble &ca.§ | The list of the packet sent by the Earl of Lincoln continued with the remaining enclosures. 3: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council on legal business dated 23 February 1768 4: Consultations from 29 February 1768 to 14 March 1768 5: Duplicate of the consultations from 18 January 1768 to 22 February 1768 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the Hector. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Lord Holland. 8: Second receipt for a box containing the plan of the Sandy Bay fortification 9: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 10: List of officers and servants taken on 14 March 1768 11: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Hector. 12: Cash account from 24 February 1768 to 29 February 1768 13: Cash account from 1 March 1768 to 14 March 1768 14: Duplicate cash account from 19 January 1768 to 31 January 1768 15: Duplicate cash account from 1 February 1768 to 23 February 1768 16: Account of the Earl of Lincoln. 17: Account of the Norfolk. 18: Duplicate account of the Hector. 19: Summary of the cargoes of the Northumberland and the Norfolk. 20: Note of the time at which the ships' boats reached Banks's 21: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 13 January 1768 22: Duplicate estimate of the cost of the Sandy Bay fortification A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter went home on 14 March 1768 by the Earl of Lincoln. Interpretations The cargo summary at item 19 covered the Northumberland and the Norfolk but left out the Earl of Lincoln, the ship carrying the packet. That gap matched paragraph 4 of the letter of 14 March 1768, where Captain Hardwicke reported that he held no copy of his bill of lading. The Council sent summaries for the two ships whose papers were available and let the omission stand in the list without a substitute. The receipts show the system of paired acknowledgements working across three ships. The first receipt for the Lord Holland's packet went home by the Hector on 23 February 1768, and the second now followed by the Earl of Lincoln. Captain Williams's first receipt for the boxed plan of Sandy Bay travelled in his own packet, and the second copy went by this later vessel. The Court could therefore hold each commander to account even if one ship's papers were lost. The list of officers and servants was taken on the day the letter was signed. It set out the Company's civil and military establishment on the island at that date, alongside the return of the garrison's effective strength. | |
107 | On the 17th instant Arrived his Majesty's Ship§ §No. 1 Gover. & Councils General Letter dated 21st March 1768§ §2 Duplicate Do. & Do. dated 14th Do. Do.§ §3 Consultation of the 21st March. Do.§ | 2: His Majesty's Ship Dolphin arrived from the Cape on 17 March 1768 and sailed for England the following day. The Osterly came in from China on 18 March 1768, with the Cape as her last port of call. Captain Vincent reported that no English ship lay at the Cape when he left it. 3: The Council gave Captain Milford leave to take Richard Moreton, a discharged sergeant, aboard his ship and carry him to England. Moreton signed a written undertaking that he would claim no wages for the voyage home. 4: The letter went home by the Osterly, which sailed in company with the Northumberland. The letter was dated at St Helena on 21 March 1768 and signed by four members of the Council. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Osterly, dated 21 March 1768. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 21 March 1768 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 14 March 1768 3: Consultation of 21 March 1768 Interpretations Moreton's signed undertaking closed off a claim that would otherwise have arisen. A man carried home in a Company ship could be entered on her books and worked as one of the crew, which entitled him to pay at the end of the voyage. The Council passed over that ordinary arrangement and made the waiver a condition of the permit, so that Moreton travelled as a passenger at no cost in wages to the ship's owners or the Company. Recording the document in the general letter gave the Court proof against any later demand from him in London. The permit named Captain Milford, whose ship left China in company with the Osterly and the Triton according to the letter of 14 March 1768. The Northumberland was the vessel still in the road and due to sail with the Osterly, which points to her as Milford's ship and Moreton's passage home. The Dolphin was reported at the Cape by Captain Sandys on 18 February 1768 and reached St Helena a month later. She stayed a single day, and the Council recorded nothing of her beyond her arrival and departure. Captain Vincent's news that no English ship remained at the Cape told the Court that the homeward vessels reported there earlier were all at sea again. | |
108 | 4 Duplicate Consultations from 29th February to 14th March 1768§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Earl of Lincoln§ §6 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Hector§ §7 Effective State of the Garrison§ §8 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Earl of Lincoln§ §9 Cash Account from 15th to 21 March 1768§ §10 Duplicate Do. from 24th to the 29th Febry. Do.§ §11 Do. Do. from 1st to 14th March Do.§ §12 Ship Osterlys Account§ §13 Do. Northumberlands Do.§ §14 Duplicate Ship Earl of Lincolns Account§ §15 Do. Do. Norfolks. Do.§ §16 Abstract of the Cargoe of Ship Osterly§ §17 Time of the Arrival of the Osterlys Boat at Banks's§ §18 Instrument in Writing from Rd. Moreton§ §To the Honble &ca.§ | The list of the packet sent by the Osterly continued with the remaining enclosures. 4: Duplicate of the consultations from 29 February 1768 to 14 March 1768 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Earl of Lincoln. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Hector. 7: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Earl of Lincoln. 9: Cash account from 15 March 1768 to 21 March 1768 10: Duplicate cash account from 24 February 1768 to 29 February 1768 11: Duplicate cash account from 1 March 1768 to 14 March 1768 12: Account of the Osterly. 13: Account of the Northumberland. 14: Duplicate account of the Earl of Lincoln. 15: Duplicate account of the Norfolk. 16: Summary of the cargo of the Osterly. 17: Note of the time at which the Osterly's boat reached Banks's. 18: Written undertaking from Richard Moreton A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter went home by the Osterly, which left the island on 22 March 1768 in company with the Northumberland. 2: The Triton arrived from China on 24 March 1768. 3: No new cash account could go home with this letter, only a duplicate of the one sent before. The quarterly accounts were not due to come before the Council until 18 April 1768. Interpretations The Council broke its usual practice of closing a cash account to the day each ship sailed, as it did for the periods ending 23 February 1768, 14 March 1768 and 21 March 1768. The reason given was that the quarter's accounts were not yet presented. The financial quarter ended in late March, so the entries after 21 March 1768 belonged to books that were still being made up and examined. The Council preferred to send nothing new than to send figures drawn from accounts it had not yet seen and passed, and it told the Court the date on which they were expected. The reference to the eighteenth of the current month, together with the Triton's arrival on the twenty-fourth of the previous month, placed the writing of this letter in April 1768, before the eighteenth. Moreton's waiver of wages, described in paragraph 3 of the letter of 21 March 1768, went home as item 18 in the same packet. The Court thus held the signed original and not merely the Council's report of it. | |
109 | Captain Willm. Elphinstone having applied to§ §No. 1 Governor & Councils General Letter dated 2d April 1768§ §2 Duplicate Do. & Do. dated 21st March Do.§ §3 Consultations from 28th to 31st Do. Do.§ §4 Duplicate Do. of the 21st Do. Do.§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Osterly§ §6 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Earl of Lincoln§ §7 List of Officers & Servants taken 2 April 1768§ | 4: Captain William Elphinstone asked to pay £100 0s 0d into the Company's treasury. The Council took the money and gave him bills on the Court for the same amount, payable to himself or to anyone he named. The bills were drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 31 March 1768. 5: The Council gave Captain Elphinstone a permit to take four discharged soldiers aboard his ship and carry them to England. Thomas Wansell John Brooks Thomas Marshall Edward Welch The letter was dated at St Helena on 2 April 1768 and signed by four members of the Council. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Triton, dated 2 April 1768. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 2 April 1768 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 21 March 1768 3: Consultations from 28 March 1768 to 31 March 1768 4: Duplicate of the consultation of 21 March 1768 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Osterly. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Earl of Lincoln. 7: List of officers and servants taken on 2 April 1768 Interpretations The words "or order" made Captain Elphinstone's bill transferable. He could sign it over to a third party, who then collected the money from the Court in his place. A bill in that form could settle a debt or be sold for cash before it fell due, which made it more useful to a commander than one payable to him alone. The four soldiers were sent home on a plain permit. The letter of 21 March 1768 recorded that Richard Moreton, a discharged sergeant, signed away any claim to wages before he was allowed a passage, and his undertaking went home in the packet. No such document was mentioned for Wansell, Brooks, Marshall and Welch, and none appeared among the enclosures listed here. The letter gave no reason for the difference. The date of 2 April 1768 corrected the inference drawn from the letter's opening paragraphs. The Triton therefore arrived on 24 March 1768 and the quarterly accounts were due before the Council on 18 April 1768, as already stated. The packet list bore this out, since it carried no new cash account. Captain Elphinstone, who took both the bills and the permit, was evidently the Triton's commander. | |
110 | 9 Effective state of the Garrison§ §10 Muster Rolls of Do.§ §11 Duplicate Cash Account from 15th to 21st March 1768§ §12 Ship Tritons Account§ §13 Duplicate Ship Osterlys Do.§ §14 Do. Do. Northumberlands Do.§ §15 Time of the Arrival of the Tritons Boat at Banks's§ §16 Abstract of the Cargoe of Ship Triton§ §To the Honorable &ca.§ | The list of the packet sent by the Triton continued with the remaining enclosures. 9: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 10: Muster rolls of the garrison 11: Duplicate cash account from 15 March 1768 to 21 March 1768 12: Account of the Triton. 13: Duplicate account of the Osterly. 14: Duplicate account of the Northumberland. 15: Note of the time at which the Triton's boat reached Banks's. 16: Summary of the cargo of the Triton. A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter went home on the second of the month by the Triton. 2: The Europa arrived from Bengal on the thirteenth of the month. Captain Pelly left Bengal on 12 January 1768, when the Earl of Elgin, Northington and Admiral Pocock still lay there. The Earl of Elgin was to sail for Europe about the middle of March 1768. The Egmont, he added, left Bengal for the Coast towards the end of December 1767. The Earl of Middlesex arrived from Bencoolen on the [...] of the month, with the Cape as her last port of call. Captain Hasell reported that the Pacifick and the Valentine were at the Cape when he left it. 3: A Danish ship from China, the Queen Sophia Magdalena, arrived on the sixth of the month under Captain Dixon. She measured about 1,100 tons and carried 26 guns and 140 men. Her cargo was tea, chinaware and silk. Interpretations The Council recorded the Danish ship's tonnage, guns, crew and cargo, details it never gave for the Company's own vessels. A foreign Indiaman was a commercial rival, and her lading of tea, chinaware and silk matched what the Company itself brought from Canton. The description gave the Court a measure of the Danish company's share of the China trade, adding to Captain Milford's count of two Danish ships at China in the letter of 14 March 1768. Bencoolen was the Company's settlement on the west coast of Sumatra, maintained chiefly for its pepper. Captain Pelly's news brought earlier intelligence up to date. Captain Sandys reported in the letter of 14 March 1768 that six ships lay at Bengal on 22 December 1767, the Europa among them, and that the Egmont was to complete her cargo on the Coast. Three weeks later only three remained, and the Egmont was confirmed as gone to the Coast. The muster rolls named every man of the garrison individually. They went home alongside the return of effective strength, which gave only the totals fit for duty, so the Court could check the numbers claimed against the names on the pay lists. | |
111 | Copenhagen, The 12th Arrived a Swede Ship from China§ Margin Notes: §to§ §8§ | The Queen Sophia Magdalena was bound for Copenhagen, and five more foreign ships followed her into the road during the same month. The Lovisa Ulrica, a Swedish ship from China under Captain Holmers, arrived on the twelfth: about 1,200 tons, 26 guns, 150 men, laden with tea, chinaware and silk, bound for Gothenburg. The Elizabeth, a Dutch ship from Bengal under Captain Moorland, arrived on the fourteenth: about 800 tons, 24 guns, 110 men, laden with saltpetre and pepper, bound for Holland. The Margaret Maria, a Dutch ship from China under Captain [...], arrived on the fifteenth: about 1,000 tons, 28 guns, 120 men, laden with tea, chinaware and silk, bound for Holland. The Prince Frederick, a Danish ship from China under Captain Hinie, arrived on the sixteenth: about 1,300 tons, 30 guns, 170 men, laden with tea, chinaware and silk, bound for Copenhagen. The Cornatona, a Dutch ship from Bengal under Captain Leaven, arrived on the sixteenth: about 1,000 tons, 32 guns, 110 men, laden with saltpetre and pepper, bound for Holland. 4: The Europa carried as passengers Mr and Mrs Campbell, Mr Court and Captain Grady. The Misses Carthy and Mr Quin travelled aboard the Earl of Middlesex. 5: The Council ordered Captain Hasell to take six discharged soldiers aboard his ship to bring her crew up to strength. Thomas Ransom David Davis Robert Saunders Francis Doane Thomas Cheverley Thomas Lee Captain Pelly received leave to carry eight discharged men home in the Europa. Thomas Clark Laurence Hall Daniel Tongue William Poulton John Pickering Luke Vernon Fisher Gamble Richard Linney These eight signed a written undertaking to claim no wages from the captain or the owners for the voyage. The document went home with the letter. Interpretations The two groups of discharged men were sent home on opposite terms, and the letter shows why. Captain Hasell's ship was short of hands, so his six were entered as crew under an order and would earn seamen's pay. The Europa needed no men, so Captain Pelly's eight travelled as passengers and signed away any wage claim, as Richard Moreton did in the letter of 21 March 1768. The waiver was thus required only where a man's labour was not wanted, protecting the owners from paying for hands they never asked for. The four soldiers sent by the Triton on 2 April 1768 went on a bare permit with no waiver recorded. Saltpetre, the chief ingredient of gunpowder, came almost wholly from Bengal and was shipped as heavy ballast cargo beneath lighter goods. The two Dutch ships from Bengal carried it with pepper, while every China ship of whatever nation carried the same three goods: tea, chinaware and silk. Chinaware was porcelain, packed low in the hold because water could not harm it. Six foreign Indiamen called within eleven days, against two Company ships. The Council logged the size, armament, crew and destination of each, continuing the practice begun with the Queen Sophia Magdalena. Captain Milford's count in the letter of 14 March 1768 gave two Danish, two Swedish and four Dutch ships at China in the previous season, and both Danish ships of that count now appeared at the island on their way home. | |
112 | In Consultation of the 18th April, your Honors will§ | 6: The consultation of 18 April 1768 contained the invoice for salted beef and pork shipped to the island from Bengal. The Council had hoped that these shipments would stop, since it warned the Court earlier about the poor quality of the 1767 supply. Most of that beef went into the sea. Much of the pork remained in store, where it was repacked in fresh brine and given every other care, in the hope that it could be fed to the Company's slaves. The storekeeper examined the consignment brought by the Europa and found it sound. He judged the meat very lean, however, and feared it would spoil. The Council therefore planned to issue it as quickly as possible. It asked the Court to end the practice altogether, because meat salted in Bengal never served its purpose and cost the Company heavily in losses and charges during 1767. 7: One of the Company's longboats was lent to Captain Hasell for his ship's use. His crew stove her in while she was in their hands, and she was beyond repair. The Council ordered the Company's carpenter and the carpenter of the Earl of Middlesex to inspect her and report her worth. They valued her at £4 0s 0d. The Council sent this figure home so that the Court could recover proper compensation for the damage. 8: The Council bought a replacement longboat from Captain Pelly, complete with masts, sails, oars, grapnel and cask. He received £35 0s 0d for her. Interpretations The Council passed over the obvious course of holding the lean Bengal meat in store as a reserve, which was the whole purpose of salted provisions. It chose to issue the meat at once on the storekeeper's warning that it would not last. The experience of 1767 explained the choice: most of that year's beef was thrown away and the pork survived only after repacking. Meat cured in Bengal's heat from thin cattle took the salt badly, and the Council treated the new consignment as perishable from the day it landed. The salvaged pork was reserved for the Company's slaves, which shows that provisions judged unfit for the garrison were still counted as usable rations for them. Two carpenters valued the second longboat, one the Company's and one from the ship whose crew wrecked her. The first longboat, lost in helping the Hector, was valued by the Company's carpenter alone, as the letter of 23 February 1768 recorded. Adding the ship's own carpenter gave the Earl of Middlesex a voice in the figure and left her owners little room to dispute it in London. As with the Hector, the Council did not charge the commander on the spot and left the Court to claim from the owners. The figures for the boats sat oddly together. The wrecked boat was put at £4 0s 0d, and the one lost in February at £10 0s 0d against a book value of £35 0s 0d. The replacement from Captain Pelly cost £35 0s 0d, the same sum the earlier boat first cost, though that price included her full gear. The purchase fulfilled the intention stated in the letter of 23 February 1768 to buy another boat at the first chance, and by then the island was two longboats short. A grapnel was a small anchor with several hooked arms, used for mooring a boat. | |
113 | We have Granted the following Bills of§ §1 Governor & Councils Genl. Letter dated 25th April 1768§ §2 Do. Do. & Do. dated 25th Do. Do.§ §3 Duplicate Govr. & Councils Genl. Letter dated 2d April 1768§ §4 Consultations from the 4 to 25th Do. Do.§ §5 Duplicate Do. from the 28th to 31st March Do.§ §6 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Triton§ §7 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Osterly§ | 9: The Council issued two sets of bills of exchange, each drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 25 April 1768. Captain Henry Pelly, payable to himself, £100 0s 0d Captain John Hasell, payable to himself, £155 15s 0d 10: The letter went home by the Europa, which sailed in company with the Earl of Middlesex. The letter was dated at St Helena on 25 April 1768 and signed by four members of the Council. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille M Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Europa, dated 25 April 1768. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 25 April 1768 2: General letter from the Governor and Council on legal business dated 25 April 1768 3: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 2 April 1768 4: Consultations from 4 April 1768 to 25 April 1768 5: Duplicate of the consultations from 28 March 1768 to 31 March 1768 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the Triton. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Osterly. Interpretations The date of 25 April 1768 fixed the month left open in the letter's earlier paragraphs. The previous letter therefore went by the Triton on 2 April 1768, and the Europa arrived on 13 April 1768. The foreign ships came in between 6 April 1768 and 16 April 1768. Captain Pelly received £35 0s 0d from the Council for his longboat under paragraph 8 and took a bill for £100 0s 0d in the same letter. The sale money thus perhaps returned to the treasury as part of the sum he paid in, leaving the Company to settle with him in London and the island's stock of coin undiminished. Captain Hasell took a bill for £155 15s 0d while the £4 0s 0d valuation of the longboat his crew wrecked went home unpaid. The Council kept the two matters apart, as it did with Captain Williams of the Hector on 23 February 1768, and left the claim for damage to the Court. A separate letter on legal business accompanied the general letter, as it did on 18 January 1768 and 23 February 1768. None was listed with the letters of 14 March 1768, 21 March 1768 or 2 April 1768, so such letters were written only when there was legal business to report. | |
114 | 8 List of 14 discharged Soldiers§ §9 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Triton§ §10 Effective state of the Garrison§ §11 Cash Account from the 22 to 31st March 1768§ §12 Do. Do. from the 1st to 25 April Do.§ §13 Ship Europa's Account§ §14 Do. Earl of Middlesex's Do.§ §15 Duplicate Ship Tritons Do.§ §16 Time of the Arrival of Ships Boats at Banks's§ §17 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Europa & E. of Middlesex§ §18 Proceeding of a General Quartr. Sessions held on the 18th Apl. 1768§ §19 Do. of Jno. Skottowe, Danl. Corneille & Mattw. Purling Esqrs.§ §20 Instrument in Writing from 8 discharged Soldiers§ §To the Honorable &ca.§ | The list of the packet sent by the Europa continued with the remaining enclosures. 8: List of 14 discharged soldiers 9: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Triton. 10: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 11: Cash account from 22 March 1768 to 31 March 1768 12: Cash account from 1 April 1768 to 25 April 1768 13: Account of the Europa. 14: Account of the Earl of Middlesex. 15: Duplicate account of the Triton. 16: Note of the time at which the ships' boats reached Banks's 17: Summary of the cargoes of the Europa and the Earl of Middlesex. 18: Proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 18 April 1768 19: Proceedings of John Skottowe, Daniel Corneille and Matthew Purling Esquires concerning Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick's not acting as a justice of the peace 20: Written undertaking from eight discharged soldiers A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter went home on 25 April 1768 by the Europa, which sailed in company with the Earl of Middlesex. 2: The Latham arrived on 27 April 1768 and the Houghton on 28 April 1768, both from China. The Worcester also came in on 28 April 1768 from Bombay, with the Cape as her last port of call. Captain Hall left Bombay on 28 December 1767, when the Pocock, Earl of Chatham and Lord Mansfield lay there. He met the Bute on 3 January 1768, bound for Mocha. Interpretations Item 19 recorded a division inside the Council. Three of its four members, Governor Skottowe among them, drew up formal proceedings about the fourth, Captain Kirkpatrick, who was not sitting as a justice of the peace. The councillors served as the island's magistrates, and the quarter sessions listed at item 18 were held on 18 April 1768, the same period the proceedings covered. The three passed over the ordinary course of noting the matter in the consultations and sent a separate document home in their own names. That placed the question before the Court as one for its decision. Captain Kirkpatrick nevertheless signed the general letter of 25 April 1768 with the others, so the dispute touched his judicial role and not his seat on the Council. The list gave no reason for his not acting. The 14 discharged soldiers at item 8 matched the two groups named in paragraph 5 of the letter of 25 April 1768: six entered in Captain Hasell's crew and eight carried as passengers by Captain Pelly. Only the eight signed the waiver of wages at item 20, which confirms that the six shipped as working hands kept their claim to pay. Cash accounts resumed with this packet. The letter of 2 April 1768 explained that none could be sent until the quarterly accounts came before the Council on 18 April 1768. The account now began on 22 March 1768, the day after the last one closed, so the run sent home stayed unbroken. Mocha was the Red Sea port in Yemen where the Company bought coffee. The Latham and the Houghton were two of the four ships that Captain Milford, in the letter of 14 March 1768, reported as due to leave Canton about the middle of January 1768. | |
115 | and the 7th of the same Month saw the Calcutta at Tillicherry§ | Captain Hall saw the Calcutta at Tellicherry on 7 January 1768, where she was reported leaky and on her way to Bombay to dock. He also spoke with the captain of a Portuguese vessel who saw Captain Motley of the London at Malacca. 3: A review of the consultations showed that Captain Hasell's bill for the cattle he brought from the Cape was added up £4 0s 0d too high. The error went unnoticed at the time under pressure of business, and he was paid the full amount of the bill. The Council reported the mistake so that the Court could recover the sum from Captain Hasell. 4: The Council could not send a summary of the Worcester's bill of lading, because Captain Hall reported that he held no copy of it. 5: The previous letter described the provisions from Bengal, which the storekeeper found sound but extremely lean. Issuing the meat since then gave the Council a better measure of its quality. Each piece shrank to less than half its size once taken out of the brine. The Council therefore stopped serving it to the garrison and gave it to the Company's slaves, raising each man's allowance from six pounds to ten pounds. The weights were also short. The first four casks issued held only 613 pounds each. The invoice put the whole consignment of 30 casks at 42,225 pounds, which worked out at 1,407½ pounds a cask. The Council accordingly found a shortfall in every cask. Interpretations The Council passed over the plan it announced on 25 April 1768, which was to issue the Bengal meat to the garrison as fast as possible before it spoiled. Trial showed that a soldier's ration of this meat yielded less than half its nominal weight in food, so continuing would have meant either short-feeding the garrison or doubling the issue. The meat went to the Company's slaves instead, with the allowance raised from six pounds to ten pounds to offset the shrinkage. That increase still fell short of making good a loss of more than half, so the slaves received less real food than their former ration supplied. The letter of 25 April 1768 recorded the same use for the salvaged pork of 1767. The weighing of the casks turned a complaint about quality into a claim about quantity. Four casks at 613 pounds each stood against an invoiced average of 1,407½ pounds, less than half the weight charged. By setting the invoice figure beside the weighed figure, the Council gave the Court grounds to dispute the charge with Bengal and strengthened its request that the shipments cease. The £4 0s 0d overpaid to Captain Hasell could not be recovered on the island, since he sailed with the Earl of Middlesex on 25 April 1768. The Council therefore sent the matter home, where the Court could deduct the sum in settling with him. The same figure of £4 0s 0d was the valuation of the longboat his crew wrecked, so two separate claims of that amount now stood against him and his ship in London. Captain Hall was the second commander that season to report holding no copy of his bill of lading, after Captain Hardwicke of the Earl of Lincoln on 14 March 1768. The Council again reported the gap in the captain's own words and sent no substitute. Tellicherry was the Company's trading post on the Malabar coast of India, a source of pepper. Bombay had the Company's dockyard, the nearest place where a leaking ship could be taken out of the water for repair. Malacca was the Dutch-held port on the strait between the Malay peninsula and Sumatra, on the route to China. The sighting there accounted for the London, which Captain Milford reported on 14 March 1768 as still absent from Canton when he sailed. | |
116 | each Cask of the above Issue of 794 lb, for these reasons as§ §No. 1 Governor & Councils General Letter dated 5th May 1768§ | The Council found each of the four casks issued short by 794 pounds. On these grounds and on those given in earlier letters about the poor quality of the meat, it asked the Court to end the Bengal shipments at the first chance. The practice raised the cost of the settlement and brought the island no benefit. 6: The Council issued two sets of bills of exchange, each drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 2 May 1768. John Skottowe Esquire, payable to Robert Wood Esquire, £400 0s 0d Mr M Purling, payable to John Purling Esquire, £250 0s 0d 7: The Worcester carried as passengers Mr and Mrs Wrench, Mr Matcham and Captain Skottowe. The Misses Collenson, Torin and Gab and Mr Todd travelled aboard the Latham. The letter was dated at St Helena on 5 May 1768 and signed by four members of the Council. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Worcester, dated 5 May 1768. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 5 May 1768 Interpretations The shortfall of 794 pounds a cask came from setting the weighed 613 pounds against the invoiced average of 1,407½ pounds, both given in the preceding part of the paragraph. The difference between those two figures was 794½ pounds, so the Council's sum held. More than half of every cask charged to the island was therefore missing before the shrinkage of the meat in cooking was counted. The Council rested its request on cost alone: the settlement was debited with the full invoice while receiving under half the weight, and that meat was fit only for the Company's slaves. Both bills in this letter were taken by members of the Council itself, Governor Skottowe for £400 0s 0d and Mr Purling for £250 0s 0d. The councillors used the same channel as the ships' commanders to move private money to England, and here they signed the letter that reported their own drafts. Mr Purling's bill was payable to John Purling Esquire, probably a relative in London. The two bills together came to £650 0s 0d, more than the £600 0s 0d issued to four parties on 23 February 1768. A Captain Skottowe sailed as a passenger in the Worcester. He shared the Governor's surname, and the letter did not state the connection between them. | |
117 | 2 Duplicate Governor and Councils General Letter dated 25th April 1768§ §3 Do. Do. and Do. dated 25th Do. Do.§ §4 Consultation of the 2d May 1768§ §5 Duplicate Do. from the 4 to 25 April 1768§ §6 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Europa§ §7 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Triton§ §8 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Europa§ §9 Effective state of the Garrison§ §10 Cash Account from the 26th to 30th April 1768§ §11 Do. from the 1st to 5th May Do.§ §12 Duplicate Do. from 22 to 31st March Do.§ §13 Do. Do. from 1st to 25th April Do.§ §14 Ship Worcester's Account§ §15 Duplicate Ship Europa's Acct.§ §16 Do. Ship Earl of Middlesex's Do.§ §17 Time of the Arrival of Ships Boats at Banks's§ §18 Abstract of the Cargoe's of Ships Latham & Houghton§ §19 Duplicate Proceedings of a General Quarterly Sessions§ §20 Do. Do. of Jno. Skottowe, Danl. Corneille &§ §To the Honble &ca.§ | The list of the packet sent by the Worcester continued with the remaining enclosures. 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 25 April 1768 3: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council on legal business dated 25 April 1768 4: Consultation of 2 May 1768 5: Duplicate of the consultations from 4 April 1768 to 25 April 1768 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the Europa. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Triton. 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Europa. 9: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 10: Cash account from 26 April 1768 to 30 April 1768 11: Cash account from 1 May 1768 to 5 May 1768 12: Duplicate cash account from 22 March 1768 to 31 March 1768 13: Duplicate cash account from 1 April 1768 to 25 April 1768 14: Account of the Worcester. 15: Duplicate account of the Europa. 16: Duplicate account of the Earl of Middlesex. 17: Note of the time at which the ships' boats reached Banks's 18: Summary of the cargoes of the Latham and the Houghton. 19: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 18 April 1768 20: Duplicate proceedings of John Skottowe, Daniel Corneille and Matthew Purling Esquires concerning Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick's not acting as a justice of the peace A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter went home on 5 May 1768 by the Worcester. Interpretations The cargo summary at item 18 covered the Latham and the Houghton but not the Worcester, the ship carrying the packet. Paragraph 4 of the letter of 5 May 1768 gave the reason: Captain Hall held no copy of his bill of lading. The same gap appeared in the packet of 14 March 1768, which lacked a summary for the Earl of Lincoln after Captain Hardwicke made the same report. The proceedings of the three councillors about Captain Kirkpatrick went home a second time, as a duplicate of item 19 in the Europa's packet of 25 April 1768. The document was thus treated like any other record needing the protection of a second ship. Captain Kirkpatrick again signed the general letter that carried it. | |
118 | Yesterday arrived your Ship Tilbury by which§ | 2: The Tilbury arrived the day before the letter was written and brought a packet from the Court. The Council opened it and read the orders and instructions it contained. The ships in the road were due to leave that same day, which left no time for a proper reply. The Council could only promise that every order would be carried out. 3: Governor Skottowe confirmed that a letter from the Secret Committee reached him. He undertook to follow all its orders. 4: An alarm was raised for a ship on the sixth of the month, and a boat from a Dutch ship came in the next day. The weather was calm and the ship herself could not get in, so she went past the road on the ninth. A Dutch ship from Batavia arrived on the day the letter was written. Her officers reported meeting the Company's ship Sea Horse off the Cape on the sixth of the previous month. 5: The Council ordered Captain Smith to take Richard Greeas, a discharged soldier, aboard his ship to help bring her crew up to strength. 6: The Council resolved in its consultation of the ninth of the month to send Samuel Black, the Company's gardener, off the island by one of the later ships. It asked the Court to send out another gardener the following year to replace him. 7: The letter went home by the Latham. Interpretations The Secret Committee was the small inner body of directors that handled confidential business, chiefly the safety of shipping and matters of war and defence. Its letter came addressed to the Governor alone and not to the Council. He acknowledged receiving it and promised obedience without disclosing anything of its contents, even in a letter signed by his fellow councillors. The general letter thus recorded only the fact of the correspondence, keeping the substance out of papers that passed through many hands. The Council passed over the ordinary course of holding the ships until it could answer the Court's newly arrived orders. It let them sail on the appointed day with a bare promise of compliance, leaving the full reply for a later vessel. Detaining loaded homeward ships cost their owners and the Company money, and the Council evidently judged a considered answer worth less than a prompt departure. Dismissing the gardener left the Company's gardens without a trained man for a year or more, since a replacement could only come out from England. The Council accepted that gap in preference to keeping Black, and it referred the Court to the consultation of the ninth for its reasons, giving none in the letter. Sending him by a later ship and not by the Latham suggests the decision was too recent for his passage to be arranged. Greeas was shipped under an order to make up Captain Smith's crew, the same footing as the six men entered with Captain Hasell on 25 April 1768. No waiver of wages was mentioned, in keeping with the pattern that only men carried as passengers signed one. Batavia, on Java, was the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company in Asia. The alarm of the sixth was the island's signal that an unidentified sail was in sight, raised before a ship's nationality could be known. | |
119 | that sails in Company with the Houghton§ §No. 1 Governor & Councils General Letter dated 13th May 1768§ §2 Duplicate Do. & Do. dated 5th Do. Do.§ §3 Consultations from the 9th to 12th Do. Do.§ §4 Duplicate Do. of the 2d Do. Do.§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Worcester§ §6 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Europa§ §7 List of Officers and Servants taken 13th May Do.§ §8 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Worcester§ §9 Effective State of the Garrison§ §10 Cash Account from the 6th to 13th May 1768§ §11 Duplicate Do. from the 26th to 30th April Do.§ §12 Do. Do. from the 1st to 5th May Do.§ | The Latham sailed in company with the Houghton. The letter was dated at St Helena on 13 May 1768 and signed by four members of the Council. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Latham, dated 13 May 1768. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 13 May 1768 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 5 May 1768 3: Consultations from 9 May 1768 to 12 May 1768 4: Duplicate of the consultation of 2 May 1768 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Worcester. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Europa. 7: List of officers and servants taken on 13 May 1768 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Worcester. 9: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 10: Cash account from 6 May 1768 to 13 May 1768 11: Duplicate cash account from 26 April 1768 to 30 April 1768 12: Duplicate cash account from 1 May 1768 to 5 May 1768 Interpretations The date of 13 May 1768 fixed the days left open in the letter's earlier paragraphs. The Tilbury therefore arrived on 12 May 1768 with the Court's packet, and the Dutch ship from Batavia came in on 13 May 1768. The alarm for a sail was raised on 6 May 1768, the Dutch boat landed on 7 May 1768 and her ship passed the road on 9 May 1768. The resolution to send Samuel Black off the island was taken in the consultation of 9 May 1768, which went home as part of item 3. The Dutch officers met the Sea Horse off the Cape on 6 April 1768. The consultations enclosed ran to 12 May 1768, the day the Tilbury arrived, while the letter and the cash account were both closed on 13 May 1768. No consultation of the thirteenth was listed, which agreed with the Council's statement that the ships' departure left no time to deliberate on the Court's new orders. | |
120 | 13 Ship Lathams Account§ §14 Do. Houghtons Do.§ §15 Duplicate Ship Worcesters Do.§ §16 Letter from Captn. Kirkpatrick to Jno. Skottowe, Danl. Corneille§ §17 Governor & Councils General Letter datd. 13th May 1768 relating§ §To the Honorable &ca.§ | The list of the packet sent by the Latham continued with the remaining enclosures. 13: Account of the Latham. 14: Account of the Houghton. 15: Duplicate account of the Worcester. 16: Letter from Captain Kirkpatrick to John Skottowe, Daniel Corneille and Matthew Purling 17: General letter from the Governor and Council on legal business dated 13 May 1768 A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter went home by the Latham, which left the island on 14 May 1768 in company with the Houghton. 2: News that every Company ship of the previous season reached home safely gave the Council great pleasure. It hoped the ships of the current year would fare as well. 3: The Council promised to carry out every order received from the Secret Committee, or from any three of its members. 4: The consultation of the twenty-fifth of the previous month showed that the Tilbury was sent on her way once her ten working days ran out. The Court could count on the same treatment for the Duke of Richmond. 5: The Council sincerely hoped that the ships taken into the Company's service that year would come home safely and with the success the Court wanted. Interpretations Captain Kirkpatrick answered his three colleagues in writing. Their proceedings about his not acting as a justice of the peace went home on 25 April 1768 and again on 5 May 1768, and his letter to them now followed as item 16. The dispute was thus conducted on paper between members of the same small Council, with each side's document sent to the Court. Captain Kirkpatrick's reply went by a later ship than the proceedings against him, so the Court first received only the majority's account. A letter on legal business accompanied it at item 17, the first since 25 April 1768. The ten working days were the period a ship was allowed at the island for landing stores and taking in water and provisions. The Court evidently fixed or reaffirmed the limit in the orders brought by the Tilbury on 12 May 1768, since the Council reported its compliance ship by ship. Counting working days only left Sundays out of the reckoning. The Tilbury arrived on 12 May 1768 and was released under a consultation of the twenty-fifth, which agreed with that count. A fixed limit curbed the delays that ran up charges for the owners and the Company. The phrase "or any three of them" set the number of Secret Committee members whose signatures made an order binding. The Council's acknowledgement recorded that rule back to the Court, extending to the whole Council the obedience that the Governor alone promised on 13 May 1768. The reference to the twenty-fifth of the previous month placed the writing of this letter in June 1768. | |
121 | We wish prosperity to your Honors Affairs in China§ | 6: The Council wished the Company's business in China every success under the men the Court appointed as its council there. Some small changes to the year's orders on Canton proved necessary, and the Council made them under the leave the Court gave. 7: The Court renewed its orders that commanders of returning ships should stock up in India with enough food and stores for the voyage home. The Council welcomed this. It intended to ask each commander for whatever salted provisions he could spare. Payment would be made on the island or left for the Court to settle, whichever suited best. Purchases from Captains Cooke and Hoare were paid for on the island at the customary price. 8: The Council expected the supplies sent out that year to meet every need except coal. The quantity shipped fell 20 chaldrons short of the amount requested. The Council felt sure that this shortage would cause the same difficulty the island suffered in 1767. 9: The Council promised to keep reporting which suppliers of hats and shoes it judged the best. 10: The Court also renewed its orders to the commanders of that year's outward ships to call at the Cape on the way home, restock their provisions and bring cattle and sheep to the island. The Council welcomed this too. It asked the Court to advise the commanders to buy cattle between a year and 18 months old, since experience showed that fully half of the old, large animals died soon after landing. The Council undertook to report what it received, with the price and quality of the animals. Interpretations Indents were the island's formal written orders for goods, sent to the place of supply. St Helena drew some stores directly from Canton by the homeward China ships, and the Council's wording shows that it could vary those orders only with the Court's leave. The council at Canton mentioned here was a new arrangement for managing the China trade, replacing direction by the supercargoes of individual ships, whose burning of a sampan was reported in the letter of 14 March 1768. A chaldron was the measure by which coal was sold, a volume and not a weight, equal in London to 36 heaped bushels and weighing well over a ton. A shortfall of 20 chaldrons was therefore a substantial quantity of fuel. The island had little timber, and coal from England served the forge and other Company works. The Council reported the gap as soon as the consignment was known, so that the Court could not later treat the year's supply as complete. The request for young cattle passed over the natural choice of a commander buying at the Cape, which was the largest beast for his money. Half of the big, old animals died shortly after arrival, so the heavier purchase yielded less meat in the end. Animals of a year to 18 months stood the passage and the change of pasture better and could be fattened on the island. The Council asked the Court to make the recommendation because the commanders bought on the Company's account under the Court's orders, not the Council's. Buying salted provisions from the homeward ships gave the island an alternative to the meat sent from Bengal, which the letters of 25 April 1768 and 5 May 1768 condemned as lean, short in weight and fit only for the Company's slaves. Ships stocked in India for the whole voyage reached St Helena with a surplus, and the Council paid the customary price for meat it could inspect before buying. The choice between paying on the island and leaving the account to London let it spare the treasury's coin when that was scarce. | |
122 | for them here, or refer the same to you, as you are pleased to§ | The Council offered to pay the commanders for the Cape livestock on the island if asked, or to refer the account to the Court, as the Court chose to direct. 11: The Court forbade its presidencies in India to send the island any more salted provisions, and the Council welcomed the news. It referred the Court to the letters of 25 April 1768 and 5 May 1768 for the quality, price and weight of the consignment brought by the Europa. The meat that came by the Earl of Elgin was much the same, very lean but sound. 12: The Court gave leave for homeward ships to call at Ascension for turtle. The Council thought this could bring benefits. It intended to use the permission at its own discretion, whenever a call seemed useful to the island, until the Court withdrew it. 13: The island enjoyed a very good season and was in general as prosperous as anyone could wish. The Council thanked the Court for its concern at hearing that the sickness among the cattle persisted. The disease was less severe in recent months than before. No cure was yet found, although every remedy that could be thought of was tried. 14: The Council promised to go on commenting on the Engineer's quarterly letters. It also undertook to give him all possible help by sending whatever soldiers could be spared from garrison duty to work on the fortifications. The consultation of the twenty-third of the previous month recorded that Captain Mitchell wrote to the Council asking for 30 more soldiers for about two months. Interpretations The Court's ban on salted provisions from India was issued before the Council's complaints of 25 April 1768 and 5 May 1768 could reach London, since it came out in the packet the Tilbury delivered on 12 May 1768. It therefore answered the earlier warnings about the 1767 supply, most of whose beef was thrown into the sea. The Earl of Elgin's consignment was already on its way when the order was made, so one more lean cargo arrived after the practice was condemned on both sides. Ascension, an uninhabited island some 700 miles north-west of St Helena, was a breeding ground of green turtles. Ships took them alive from the beaches, and the animals survived for weeks on deck, which made them a source of fresh meat at sea. The Court's leave was framed as a permission for the Council to grant, and the Council kept it that way. It passed over a standing instruction to every homeward ship and reserved the call for occasions when the island stood to gain, presumably when ships could bring turtle back or when St Helena's own fresh provisions were short. A detour to Ascension lengthened a voyage the Court otherwise wanted kept brief, as the ten working days allowed at St Helena showed. The cattle disease explained the weight the Council placed on livestock from the Cape in paragraph 10. With the island's herds reduced by a sickness that no treatment checked, imported animals were the main means of restocking, and the loss of half the old cattle soon after landing was felt the more sharply. The use of soldiers on the works had moved from something the Council defended to something the Court accepted. On 23 February 1768 the Council argued that the Company's slaves were too few and too weak for the Sandy Bay fortification and announced that it would keep employing garrison men. The promise here to send every soldier who could be spared answered an instruction from the Court to support the Engineer. Captain Mitchell's request for 30 men for two months shows that work on the defences continued after Sandy Bay was reported complete. | |
123 | we ordered the 26 Recruits that came by the Ship Tilbury to§ | The Council answered Captain Mitchell's request by sending the 26 recruits who came by the Tilbury to the works, since they were not yet fit for garrison duty. 15: The Council gave the gentlemen concerned copies of the various accusations made by John Bland and allowed them time to reply. Once those replies came in, the Council intended to answer in full paragraphs 30 to 36 of the Court's latest general letter. 16: Mr Philip Mahony was told of the appointment the Court made, and his name was struck off the military roll. 17: The two Bramins were told of the Court's orders about them. The Council awaited further directions on the matter. 18: John Stebley, a matross, was told what Lord Sandys reported to the Court. He replied that he had appointed a suitable attorney to handle that business. 19: The Council undertook to follow the Court's directions by sending whatever cash it could spare to the President and Council of Fort Marlborough by the Duke of Richmond. 20: Certificates in duplicate were to go home, as the Court ordered, once all the flour from the storeships was landed. A report on its quality was to follow when the flour was tried in use. 21: The Council thanked the Court for the library sent out for the chaplain and the senior servants. It promised to hand out the small tracts to the garrison and the inhabitants as directed. 22: Mr Bearcroft sent his sincere thanks to the Court for kindly granting his request. Interpretations The Council passed over the ordinary course of putting newly landed recruits into training for the garrison. Captain Mitchell asked for 30 soldiers for about two months, and the 26 untrained men from the Tilbury were sent to him instead. The choice met most of his demand without weakening the guard, since men not yet able to do duty were no loss to the garrison's effective strength. It also left him four short of his request and gave him raw labour in place of seasoned soldiers. Bland's accusations reached the Council from London, not from the island: the Court raised them in seven paragraphs of its general letter, and the Council was required to answer. It held back its reply until the accused men responded in writing, giving each a copy of the charges first. The Court was thus promised an answer built on the accused men's own statements, at the cost of a delay until a later ship. The letter named neither the men nor the substance of the charges. A matross was a gunner's assistant, the lowest rank in the artillery, who helped load, fire and sponge the guns. Stebley's business evidently lay in England, since word of it came through Lord Sandys and the Court, and it required an attorney to act for him there. The letter did not state what it was. Fort Marlborough was the Company's headquarters at Bencoolen on Sumatra, the settlement from which the Earl of Middlesex arrived in April 1768. St Helena took in coin from commanders and residents in exchange for bills on London, as the letters of 23 February 1768 to 5 May 1768 recorded, and the Court now directed its surplus to a settlement short of money. The Duke of Richmond was therefore an outward-bound ship, which also explains the Council's promise in paragraph 4 to release her within ten working days. Mahony's removal from the military roll followed an appointment by the Court, which shows that he moved from the garrison into another branch of the Company's service. The Bramins were recorded only by that name, and the letter gave no account of who they were or what the Court ordered. Mr Bearcroft was the Reverend William Bearcroft, who took a bill of exchange for £100 0s 0d on 23 February 1768. | |
124 | last Year in relation to a Library; and hopes the Books expected§ | Mr Bearcroft's request of 1767 concerned a library. He hoped that the books expected by the Duke of Richmond, intended as a collection for the senior servants on the island, would prove of real and lasting value. 23: Mr Bearcroft was equally pleased that the Court approved his other request, for small tracts to be handed out among the poorer people. He believed that anything which planted moral duty in individual minds on sound Christian grounds added greatly to private happiness, to the strength of government and to the good of society. Tracts, in his view, did this better than spoken and general teaching. They were especially needed on the island, where most people came to public worship very seldom. He put this down partly to the nature of the place and partly to other causes, which he hoped would soon end. 24: The Council told the storekeeper to describe very exactly the condition of any package in which goods arrived damaged or short. He was also to record the number of coils of cordage with their weight and to check that they matched the invoices. 25: John Preston, a mason, was to receive the salary the Court ordered once he arrived. 26: Mr Corneille sent the Court of Directors his sincere thanks for the courteous terms in which it asked him to stay another year at St Helena. He agreed most willingly. He also assured the Court that he would always try to fit his own convenience to its wishes. Interpretations Mr Bearcroft's reasoning set printed tracts above preaching, a notable position for the island's chaplain to take. The explanation lay in his own admission that most of the population rarely attended church. Sermons reached only those who came, whereas a tract could be put into the hands of a soldier or a poor inhabitant who stayed away. His argument was also framed for the Court's interests: he presented religious instruction as a support to government and social order, not only as a spiritual good. The "other causes" of poor attendance, which he hoped would soon end, were left unnamed. The two requests served different ranks. The letter of the same date recorded in paragraph 21 that the library was for the chaplain and senior servants, while the tracts went to the garrison and inhabitants. The books for the library were still expected by the Duke of Richmond, so the Council's thanks in paragraph 21 were given for a consignment not yet landed. The instruction to the storekeeper answered a demand from the Court for better evidence. A bare report that goods came short or damaged gave the Court nothing to claim on in London. A description of each package's condition showed whether loss arose from bad packing, damage at sea or pilfering, and so whether the supplier, the ship's owners or no one was liable. Cordage was singled out because rope was invoiced by weight, and counting the coils as well as weighing them exposed a shortfall that either measure alone could miss. Mr Corneille, second in the Council and a signatory of every letter since 23 February 1768, had evidently asked or been expected to leave. The Court requested another year instead of ordering it, and his reply was sent in his own name within the general letter. Preston's engagement as a mason from England bore on the fortification works, for which the Council reported on 23 February 1768 that the Company's slaves were too few and too weak. | |
125 | in preference of his own§ | Mr Corneille undertook to put the Court's wishes ahead of his own. 27: The British King arrived from China on the nineteenth of the previous month, and the Earl of Elgin came in from Bengal. Captain Hoare left Canton on 1 February 1768, and the Van Sittart was to sail about ten days after him. Captain Cooke parted with the pilot on 16 February 1768. He heard that the Northington was to be sent off about three weeks after he left Calcutta. 28: The Earl of Elgin carried as passengers Messrs Playdell and Holwell, Lady Hope and Mrs Bloomer. Messrs Spelman and Keys travelled aboard the British King. 29: Captain Hoare asked the Council for an anchor and cable, and both were supplied to him. The Council reported the issue as the Court's orders required. 30: The Council ordered Captain Cooke to take eight discharged soldiers aboard the Earl of Elgin. Edmund Leech Adam Creighton John Simcox Joseph Jordan William Greenaigh James Hodge Barnard Millard Benjamin Stranger Two more discharged men were ordered aboard the British King. John Martin Samuel Curd All ten were shipped to help bring the crews of the two vessels up to strength. 31: The Council raised the matter of Mr Philip Mahony's appointment. His prospects were limited, since he had no hope of rising to any higher post, and living on the island was extremely expensive. He was also a useful man as clerk of the peace. The Council thought he deserved to be placed at least on the level of a subaltern officer and hoped the Court would agree. The salary the Court granted him came to only £14 0s 0d more than he received before in sergeant's pay, clothing and his salary as clerk of the peace. Interpretations The Council passed over the ordinary course of simply putting the Court's appointment into effect, which paragraph 16 of the same letter reported as done. It went on to argue that the terms were too low. Mahony was a sergeant who also served as clerk of the peace, the officer who kept the records of the island's quarter sessions. Striking him off the military roll cost him his sergeant's pay and clothing, so the new salary left him only £14 0s 0d better off. The Council's case rested on three points visible in the paragraph: the post led nowhere, the island was costly to live in and his court work had real value. A subaltern was a commissioned officer below the rank of captain, so the request sought to lift a former sergeant to an officer's standing in pay. All ten discharged men went as working hands under orders, and no waiver of wages was mentioned. That matched the practice recorded on 25 April 1768, when six men entered in Captain Hasell's crew kept their claim to pay while eight passengers in the Europa signed it away. An anchor and cable from the Company's stores were costly items chargeable to the ship's owners. The Court required such issues to be reported so that it could recover the value in London, as with the longboats valued on 23 February 1768 and 25 April 1768. Captain Sandys reported on 14 March 1768 that the Earl of Elgin and the Northington lay at Bengal on 22 December 1767, and Captain Pelly on 25 April 1768 expected the former to sail about the middle of March 1768. She left a month sooner than that. The British King and the Van Sittart were two of the four ships Captain Milford expected to leave Canton about the middle of January 1768, and both were later than he forecast. Captains Cooke and Hoare were the commanders from whom the Council bought salted provisions under paragraph 7. | |
126 | The 26 of last Month arrived a French Ship from§ | 32: Two foreign ships called at the island during May 1768. The Marquis De Sancé, a French ship from Bengal under Captain Delalande, arrived on 26 May 1768: 500 tons, 14 guns, 130 men, laden with Bengal goods, bound for Lorient. The Schoonzight, a Dutch ship from Ceylon under Captain Kehkert, arrived on 29 May 1768: 700 tons, 22 guns, 110 men, laden with coffee and spice, bound for Holland. 33: The Council issued four sets of bills of exchange, each drawn at 90 days' sight. Daniel Corneille Esquire, payable to Mr John Paslow, dated 16 May 1768, £427 2s 9d Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick, on account of the late Captain Cornelius Inglis, payable to Luke Scrafton Esquire, £1,034 15s 0d Mr John Irwin, payable to Mr Robert Irwin, dated 23 May 1768, £100 0s 0d Captain Archibald Mitchell, payable to Alexander Hume Esquire, dated 30 May 1768, £400 0s 0d 34: The consultation of 1 June 1768 recorded a letter from Captain Cooke asking leave to call at Ascension for turtle. The Council agreed for the reasons he gave and referred the Court to his letter for them. 35: The letter went home by the Earl of Elgin. Interpretations Paragraph 12 of the same letter reserved the Ascension permission for occasions when a call served the island. The first use of it, however, came at a commander's own request and on his own reasons, which the Council adopted without restating them. Sending the Court to Captain Cooke's letter placed the justification for the detour on him, should the longer voyage be questioned in London. Captain Kirkpatrick's bill was drawn on account of a dead man, Captain Cornelius Inglis. He therefore acted for the estate, paying its money into the treasury so that £1,034 15s 0d could be collected in London by Luke Scrafton. A bill was the only safe means of turning property left on the island into funds in England. The sum was the largest single bill recorded in these letters since 23 February 1768. The four bills together came to £1,961 17s 9d, about three times the £650 0s 0d drawn on 2 May 1768. Captain Mitchell, the Engineer praised on 23 February 1768, sent home £400 0s 0d. Mr Corneille took his second bill of the year, after one for £200 0s 0d on 25 January 1768. The naming of May for both foreign arrivals confirmed that the letter was written in June 1768. The British King and the Earl of Elgin therefore arrived on 19 May 1768, and the consultations about the Tilbury and Captain Mitchell's request were those of 25 May 1768 and 23 May 1768. Lorient was the Breton port that served as the home base of the French East India trade. Ceylon was then held along its coasts by the Dutch, who drew cinnamon and other spices from it. "Bengal goods" meant chiefly cotton and silk textiles. | |
127 | sails in Company with the British King§ §No. 1 Governor & Councils General Letter dated 2d June 1768§ §2 Duplicate Do. & Do. dated 13th May Do.§ §3 Do. Do. & Do. dated 13th Do. Do. relating§ §4 Consultations from the 16th May to the 1st June 1768§ §5 Duplicate Do. from the 9th to the 12th May Do.§ §6 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Latham§ §7 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Worcester§ §8 List of ten Discharged Soldiers§ §9 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Latham§ §10 Effective state of the Garrison§ §11 Cash Account from the 14th to the 31st May 1768§ §12 Duplicate Do. from the 6th to 13 Do. Do.§ | The Earl of Elgin sailed in company with the British King. The letter was dated at St Helena on 2 June 1768 and signed by four members of the Council. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Earl of Elgin, dated 2 June 1768. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 2 June 1768 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 13 May 1768 3: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council on legal business dated 13 May 1768 4: Consultations from 16 May 1768 to 1 June 1768 5: Duplicate of the consultations from 9 May 1768 to 12 May 1768 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the Latham. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Worcester. 8: List of ten discharged soldiers 9: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Latham. 10: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 11: Cash account from 14 May 1768 to 31 May 1768 12: Duplicate cash account from 6 May 1768 to 13 May 1768 Interpretations The date of 2 June 1768 settled the month of writing, which the letter's references to the previous month left to inference. The consultation of 1 June 1768 granting Captain Cooke leave to call at Ascension was the last in the run enclosed at item 4, taken the day before the ships sailed. The ten discharged soldiers at item 8 were the eight entered in the Earl of Elgin and the two in the British King under paragraph 30. No written undertaking about wages was listed with them at this point, in keeping with their shipment as working hands. | |
128 | 13 Ship Earl of Elgins Account§ §14 Do. British Kings Do.§ §15 Duplicate Ship Lathams Account§ §16 Do. Ship Houghtons Do.§ §17 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Earl of Elgin & British King§ §18 Time of Ships Boats arrival at Banks's§ §To the Honble &ca.§ | The list of the packet sent by the Earl of Elgin continued with the remaining enclosures. 13: Account of the Earl of Elgin. 14: Account of the British King. 15: Duplicate account of the Latham. 16: Duplicate account of the Houghton. 17: Summary of the cargoes of the Earl of Elgin and the British King. 18: Note of the time at which the ships' boats reached Banks's A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter went home on 2 June 1768 by the Earl of Elgin, which left the island with the British King. 2: The Northington arrived from Bengal on 3 June 1768. Captain Sealy left Bengal on 1 March 1768, when the Admiral Pocock still lay there and was to sail about a month later. The Duke of Richmond came in from England on the same day and brought two letters from the Court, dated 5 February 1768 and 16 February 1768. The Van Sittart arrived from China on 6 June 1768. 3: The Council welcomed the Court's refusal to let Jonathan Lake come back to the island, since he deserted from it. His wife cost the Company nothing, because her relations supported her. 4: Peter Morrit, engaged by the Court as carpenter's mate, was to receive the salary the Court ordered. 5: The Council found nobody on the island properly qualified to make astronomical observations. Interpretations Lake evidently applied in London for leave to return, and the Court refused before asking the island's view. The Council's remark about his wife answered the one argument that might have favoured him: a deserter's family left behind could become a charge on the Company, and readmitting the man would have removed that burden. Her relations kept her, so no such cost arose and the refusal carried no penalty for the Company. The Council thus endorsed the exclusion of a deserter over the reunion of a household, and showed why it could afford to. The Duke of Richmond was the outward ship the Council promised on 2 June 1768 to release within ten working days. She was also to carry the island's spare cash to Fort Marlborough and was expected to bring the books for the library requested by Mr Bearcroft. The arrivals closed out earlier forecasts. Captain Cooke heard that the Northington was to leave about three weeks after his own departure in mid-February 1768, and Captain Sealy's sailing date of 1 March 1768 bore that out. The Van Sittart was the last of the four ships that Captain Milford, in the letter of 14 March 1768, reported as due to leave Canton about the middle of January 1768. The Admiral Pocock was by then the only ship of the six listed at Bengal on 22 December 1767 still to sail. Morrit's engagement in England as carpenter's mate, like that of the mason John Preston reported on 2 June 1768, added a skilled tradesman to the Company's small establishment of craftsmen on the island. | |
129 | Transit of Venus, that is expected to happen next Year,§ | The astronomical observations in question concerned the transit of Venus expected in 1769. The island also held no instruments suited to the purpose, such as those described in Mr Maty's letter. The Council promised to pass the Court's recommendations on the subject to the officers of any ships at the island before or during the event. 6: The invoices of the Tilbury and the Duke of Richmond showed that the Court sent none of the following stores. Deals Oil Pitch Tar Rosin Turpentine These goods were vital both to the island and to the Company's ships, and their absence left the Council in serious difficulty. Not one deal remained in store, and none could be bought from the storeships. The Council therefore expected to saw the [...] timber into boards. It also expected to buy masts or anything else the ships could supply, both for the fortifications and for the island's other needs. The lack of pitch, tar and rosin for the Company's boats and for the shipping threatened the gravest results. Nobody could tell how far it would hold back the fortifications, because the longboats were in constant use carrying materials to the various works and could not be kept afloat without these stores. Homeward ships always wanted them too, as did the island boats that supplied the inhabitants with fish. The garrison stood to suffer badly from the lack of oil. The Council named these items as the most pressing, although many other goods for the fortifications and the inhabitants also fell short of the previous year's order. Interpretations Deals were sawn planks of fir or pine, imported from the Baltic through England and used for flooring, scaffolding, gun platforms and general carpentry. Pitch and tar were distilled from pine wood. Tar preserved rope and timber, and pitch, the thicker product, sealed the seams of a hull after they were packed with fibre. Rosin was the hard residue left when turpentine was distilled from pine resin, and it was mixed with tar and tallow as a coating for ships' bottoms. Turpentine thinned paint and tar. All of these were products of northern pine forests, and St Helena had no means of making any of them. The oil was probably lamp oil, since its loss fell on the garrison, whose guardrooms and barracks needed light. The Council passed over the ordinary course of waiting for the next storeship and set out two costly substitutes. Sawing heavy timber into boards consumed labour and wasted wood meant for larger uses. Buying masts from passing ships meant paying a commander's price for spars that were then cut up as building material. Both measures were reported in advance, which placed the extra expense on record as a result of the Court's omission and not of the Council's management. The argument tied the missing stores to the project the Court most wanted advanced. Materials reached the works by sea in the longboats, so unsealed boats meant stalled fortifications. The island was already short of boats: one was wrecked helping the Hector in February 1768 and another by the crew of the Earl of Middlesex in April 1768, with a single replacement bought from Captain Pelly for £35 0s 0d. The same letter of 2 June 1768 reported the year's coal as 20 chaldrons short, so this was the second complaint that the supplies fell below what was ordered. Mr Maty's letter came out with the Court's orders by the Duke of Richmond, and the Council's reply shows that the Court asked whether the transit of Venus could be observed from the island. The Council declined on two separate grounds, the want of a qualified observer and the want of instruments. It offered only to brief ships' officers who happened to be present, which left any observation to chance. | |
130 | are mentioned in a seperate List, which we herewith enclose§ | The Council set out the other missing goods in a separate list enclosed with the letter. It feared that the lack of them would cause the island serious hardship. 7: The Council ordered Captain Palmer to take James Gaudy, a discharged soldier, aboard the Van Sittart to help bring her crew up to strength. 8: The Northington carried as passengers Major Sibbert and his wife, Mrs Williamson, Mr Hare and his two daughters and Messrs Thwaite and Padman. 9: The Council issued two sets of bills of exchange, each drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 13 June 1768. Daniel Corneille Esquire, payable to Mr Robert Carr, £41 16s 0d Captain Henry Bazett, payable to John Purling Esquire, £60 0s 0d 10: Captains Sealy and Palmer asked leave to call at Ascension for turtle, and the Council allowed both to do so. 11: The letter went home by the Northington, which sailed in company with the Van Sittart. The letter was dated at St Helena on 15 June 1768 and signed by four members of the Council. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille M Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations The Ascension permission was by now granted to every commander who asked. On 2 June 1768 the Council told the Court it would use the leave at its own discretion, when a call served the island. Captain Cooke's request was allowed on 1 June 1768 with a reference to his written reasons. Captains Sealy and Palmer received the same leave two weeks later with no reasons recorded at all, and nothing in the paragraph tied their detour to any benefit for St Helena. The test the Council announced was therefore not visibly applied, and the permission worked in practice as a favour to homeward commanders wanting fresh meat for their crews. The separate list of missing goods turned the complaint of paragraph 6 into a document the Court could check against the island's order of 1767. Deals, oil, pitch, tar, rosin and turpentine were named in the letter as the most urgent, and the list carried the remainder. Gaudy was shipped as a working hand under an order, on the same footing as the ten men sent by the Earl of Elgin and the British King on 2 June 1768. No waiver of wages was mentioned. Mr Corneille took his third bill of the year, after £200 0s 0d on 25 January 1768 and £427 2s 9d on 16 May 1768. Captain Bazett's bill was payable to John Purling Esquire, the same payee named in Mr Purling's own bill for £250 0s 0d on 2 May 1768. John Purling thus received island money in London for more than one drawer, which suggests that he acted as an agent there for people on St Helena. The two bills came to £101 16s 0d, a small sum beside the £1,961 17s 9d drawn in the letter of 2 June 1768. | |
131 | List of the Honble Company's Packet from St. Helena§ §No. 1 Govr. & Councils General Letter dated 13th June 1768§ §2 Duplicate Do. and Do. dated 2d Do. Do.§ §3 Consultations from the 6th to 13th Do. Do.§ §4 Duplicate Do. from 16 May to 1st. Do. Do.§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Earl of Elgin§ §6 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Latham§ §7 List of Officers & Servants taken the 13th June 1768§ §8 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Earl of Elgin§ §9 Effective state of the Garrison§ §10 Cash Account from 1st to 13 June 1768§ §11 Duplicate Do. from 14 to 31st May Do.§ §12 Ship Northingtons Account§ §13 Do. Vansittarts Do.§ §14 Duplicate Ship Earl of Elgins Do.§ §15 Do. Do. British Kings Do.§ §16 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Northington & Vansittart§ §17 Time of Ships Boats arrival at Banks's§ §18 List of sundry Stores deficient of the last Years Indent§ §To the Honble &ca.§ | A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Northington, dated 15 June 1768. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 15 June 1768 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 2 June 1768 3: Consultations from 6 June 1768 to 13 June 1768 4: Duplicate of the consultations from 16 May 1768 to 1 June 1768 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Earl of Elgin. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Latham. 7: List of officers and servants taken on 15 June 1768 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Earl of Elgin. 9: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 10: Cash account from 1 June 1768 to 15 June 1768 11: Duplicate cash account from 14 May 1768 to 31 May 1768 12: Account of the Northington. 13: Account of the Van Sittart. 14: Duplicate account of the Earl of Elgin. 15: Duplicate account of the British King. 16: Summary of the cargoes of the Northington and the Van Sittart. 17: Note of the time at which the ships' boats reached Banks's 18: List of various stores missing from the order of 1767 A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter went home by the Northington, which left the island on 15 June 1768 in company with the Van Sittart. Interpretations Item 18 was the separate list promised in paragraph 6 of the letter of 15 June 1768, where the Council named deals, oil, pitch, tar, rosin and turpentine as the most urgent of the goods the Court failed to send. Entering it among the numbered enclosures made the shortfall a formal part of the record, which the Court could set against the island's order of 1767. No duplicate of the letter on legal business dated 13 May 1768 appeared in this packet, and no new one was listed. Its duplicate went by the Earl of Elgin on 2 June 1768, so both copies were by then on their way home. | |
132 | On the 30th of last Month arrived the Admiral Pocock from§ | 2: The Admiral Pocock arrived from Bengal on the thirtieth of the previous month. Captain Riddell parted with the pilot on 7 April 1768. He heard that peace was made with the Nizam and that a naval expedition was fitting out at Bombay, supposedly against Hyder Ali's ports. Colonel Peach was returning from the Deccan and was expected to receive orders to subdue a minor rajah south of Masulipatam. 3: Work in the Company's stores grew considerably, because building the fortifications demanded constant issues of materials. The Secretary's office was also one writer short from the time Mr Francis Wrangham died. The Council therefore found it necessary to appoint Mr George Bazett as a writer in the Company's service, so that business could be kept up to date. He served for some time as an assistant in the stores and was a very steady, hard-working young man, well suited to the post. The Council directed him to help in the stores, the Secretary's office or any other office as pressure of work required. It hoped the Court would approve and confirm the appointment. 4: The gentlemen accused by John Bland in his paper of observations put their answers before Governor Skottowe and the Council on 20 June 1768. The Council examined each answer separately. It concluded that all of them fully refuted Bland's claims and stood cleared of every part of the accusations. The closest inquiry into the affair showed no harm of any kind to the Company, the inhabitants or the garrison. The Council judged the whole accusation false and baseless, the product of a spiteful temper. Interpretations The Council passed over the ordinary course of asking the Court to fill the writer's vacancy and waiting for a man from England. It made the appointment itself and sought confirmation afterwards, since writers were normally named by the Court. The paragraph supplied the grounds: stores business swollen by the fortification works, a post empty through death, and a candidate already trained in the stores. Giving Mr Bazett a roving duty across offices let one new salary cover two shortfalls. A writer was the junior grade of the Company's civil service, a clerk who kept books and copied correspondence. Mr Bazett shared a surname with Captain Henry Bazett, who took a bill for £60 0s 0d on 13 June 1768, and the letter did not state the connection. The inquiry into Bland's accusations fulfilled the promise made in paragraph 15 of the letter of 2 June 1768, where the accused were given copies and time to reply. The body that judged the answers was the Governor and Council, and the letter still did not name the accused or say whether any sat on the Council. The verdict went beyond acquittal to an attack on Bland's motives, which told the Court that the Council wanted his paper dismissed entirely and not merely answered. The finding that neither Company, inhabitants nor garrison suffered indicates that the charges alleged misconduct damaging to all three, probably in the management of stores or public business. The Nizam was the ruler of Hyderabad, who fought alongside Hyder Ali against the Company before making a separate peace. That peace left Hyder Ali isolated, and the expedition from Bombay against his ports on the Malabar coast opened a second front against him. The news followed the report in the letter of 23 February 1768 that he was twice beaten on the Coast. The Deccan was the plateau of central southern India, and Masulipatam a Company port on the Coromandel Coast. Captain Riddell's arrival accounted for the last of the six ships that Captain Sandys reported at Bengal on 22 December 1767. Captain Sealy stated on 15 June 1768 that the Admiral Pocock was to sail about a month after 1 March 1768, and her departure on 7 April 1768 was close to that forecast. The reference to the previous month and to June as past placed the writing of this letter in July 1768, so she arrived on 30 June 1768. | |
133 | actuated by the most inviterate Malice, conformable to the whole tenor§ | The Council attributed Bland's accusations to deep-seated spite, in keeping with his quarrelsome and disruptive behaviour throughout his time on the island. A separate paper in the packet set out the whole inquiry and the Council's opinions on it. The Council referred the Court to that paper and hoped for its approval. 5: The accusation that the Company's servants bought up goods in bulk and sold them on at retail was fully refuted and had no basis at all. The Council therefore asked the Court to reconsider the restriction placed on its civil and military servants in paragraph 32 of the general letter sent by the Tilbury. If the Court judged from this account that they did not deserve the restraint, the Council asked that it be lifted. It also asked the Court to grant them whatever favours their loyal service earned. Little or nothing could be gained on the island, and their salaries scarcely gave them a bare living. 6: The Council warned that the unrestricted retail trade allowed by paragraph 33 of the same general letter could do harm. It threatened to undo the sound rules recently made on the island about the retail sale of spirits. If people of every rank dealt freely with the ships that called, large quantities of liquor would come ashore. The buyers would then sell it off in small amounts to be rid of it, and some of that selling would escape even the closest watch. Drunkenness would spread among both soldiers and slaves. The Council traced the prevalence of that vice to arrack sold cheaply from the ships over several years. Many people bought far more than they could drink and turned to retailing it improperly to dispose of the surplus. Interpretations Engrossing meant buying up the whole available supply of a commodity in order to resell it at a higher price. On an island where almost all goods came from visiting ships, a few servants with ready money and first access to a ship's officers could corner a cargo and set their own retail price. This was the substance of Bland's charge, which the letters of 2 June 1768 and the earlier part of this paragraph left unstated. It explains the Council's finding that neither the Company, the inhabitants nor the garrison suffered, since all three were the supposed victims of inflated prices. The Court acted on Bland's paper before hearing the island's reply. Paragraph 32 of its letter by the Tilbury, which arrived on 12 May 1768, restricted the servants' private trade, and paragraph 33 opened retail dealing with the ships to everyone. The two orders together attacked the alleged monopoly by removing the servants from the trade and widening access to it. The Council passed over simple compliance, which it promised in general terms on 13 May 1768, and contested both orders. It used the acquittal as the ground for lifting the first, and it opposed the second on a wholly different ground, public order. The argument about liquor served the servants' interest as well as the island's. Open dealing with the ships ended the advantage the servants held, yet the Council objected to it only as a cause of drunkenness. Its reasoning was specific, however: buyers took more arrack than they needed because it was cheap, then sold the surplus in small quantities to soldiers and slaves, beyond the reach of the island's licensing rules. Arrack was a strong spirit distilled in Asia from palm sap, rice or molasses, carried in quantity by ships from Batavia, India and China. The plea of poverty supported the request for private trade. Salaries in the Company's service were low by design, and servants were expected to supplement them by trading on their own account. The Council made the same point about Mr Mahony on 2 June 1768, when it described living on the island as extremely expensive. | |
134 | Agreeable to your Orders we in Consultation of the 11th of June§ | 7: The Council followed the Court's orders in its consultation of 11 June 1768 and cut the number of punch houses from ten to five. It then drew up rules for the better management of spirit sales in those houses. Every publican was to obey them strictly, so that drunkenness and disorder could be put down. New clauses matching the rules were written into the licences recently granted. A copy of the current licence with its added clauses went home in the packet, together with a copy of the old one, for the Court to compare. The comparison would show that the Council used every means it could devise to bind the publicans to proper rules, keep their houses orderly and prevent heavy drinking in them. The Council believed that secret retailing of spirits in both town and country did much to spread drunkenness. It promised to make the detection of that trade its chief concern and to exact the penalty for every offence proved. 8: In framing the rules, the Council judged it highly unsuitable for women to keep public houses, since it thought them quite unable to maintain the order such houses needed. Five of the licence holders were women, and the Council withdrew all five licences on those grounds. Two of the women, Mrs Beale and Mrs Kennedy, were widows of Captains Beale and Kennedy, who served the Company for many years. Each man died leaving a wife and several young children in great poverty. A licence to keep a public house was granted to each widow for that reason, as a means of supporting her family. Interpretations Punch houses were the island's licensed drinking houses, named after the mixed drink of spirits, water, sugar and citrus that was their staple. They served the garrison and the crews of visiting ships. A licence was a privilege granted by the Council, and it could be made conditional or withdrawn, which gave the Council its hold over the trade. The Court ordered the houses halved, and the order left open which five were to close. The Council passed over any test of conduct, such as shutting the worst-kept houses, and chose by the sex of the holder. Five licences belonged to women and five closures were needed, so a general principle about women's fitness delivered the exact reduction required. No complaint against any of the five houses was recorded. The paragraph itself showed the cost of the choice: two licences were originally given as a form of relief to officers' widows with young children, in place of any pension, and the Council's own rule removed that support. The copies of the old and new licences were sent as evidence of zeal. The Council was at the same time resisting paragraph 33 of the Court's letter, which opened retail dealing with the ships to everyone. Strict rules for the licensed houses and a promise to hunt down secret selling supported its argument that drunkenness came from cheap arrack bought off the ships and resold unlicensed, not from any failing in its own regulation. | |
135 | under the present Regulations to continue the Licence any longer to§ | The new rules made it impossible to let Mrs Beale and Mrs Kennedy keep their licences any longer. The Widows' Fund, lately set up for the widows of dead Company servants, could not help them either, because their husbands died before it was formed and put into effect. The poverty of both women and their families led the Council to commend them to the Court's generosity in the strongest terms, as true cases for charity. It asked the Court to consider granting each a yearly pension. Any such allowance could not serve as a precedent, the Council argued. The fund gave the widow of every dead Company servant £30 0s 0d a year, and that sum could rise as the fund grew. 9: The settlement had no means of obtaining Madeira wine. The Council asked, as a very great favour, that one pipe be sent on the Company's account by each Company ship calling at Madeira. 10: Captain Kirkpatrick laid an accusation against Mr Corneille on 11 July 1768, alleging that he took part of the Company's property for his own use. Mr Corneille handed the board his defence on 19 July 1768. Governor Skottowe and Mr Purling then sat to review the whole inquiry. They held that Captain Kirkpatrick proved no part of his accusation, and they cleared Mr Corneille entirely. In their judgement Captain Kirkpatrick did not act from a sense of justice or a wish to serve the Company. He was moved by ill will alone, since he kept silent about the supposed frauds until he and Mr Corneille quarrelled. The Governor and Mr Purling also agreed in their view of Captain Kirkpatrick's remarkable behaviour. Interpretations The Council passed over the simplest way of sparing the two widows, which was to exempt them from its own rule against women licence holders. It held the rule to be absolute and asked the Court to pay pensions instead. The effect was to move the cost of supporting two officers' families from the profits of a punch house, which cost the Company nothing, to the Company's own funds. The Council foresaw the objection that this would invite further claims and answered it in advance: the Widows' Fund covered every later case, so only widows whose husbands died before it began could ever ask. The fund's fixed £30 0s 0d a year also gave the Court a measure for what the two women might be allowed. The quarrel inside the Council reached its sharpest point here. The proceedings of 25 April 1768 recorded that Captain Kirkpatrick was not acting as a justice of the peace, and his written reply to his three colleagues went home on 13 May 1768. He now accused the second member of the Council of misusing Company property. With accuser and accused both members of a board of four, only the Governor and Mr Purling remained to judge, and the acquittal rested on those two voices. Their reasoning turned on timing: an honest informant would have reported the frauds when he learned of them, whereas Captain Kirkpatrick spoke only after a personal dispute. That argument discredited his motive without itself answering the substance, for which the letter relied on Mr Corneille's defence. A pipe was a large cask holding roughly 100 gallons or more. Madeira was the usual wine of the Company's settlements because it kept and even improved in heat and on long voyages, and outward ships commonly called at the island to load it. St Helena lay off the outward track of most ships and had no direct trade with Madeira, so the Council asked that the wine come on the Company's account by any ship that called there. | |
136 | merited the highest Censure but refered the final determination thereof§ | Governor Skottowe and Mr Purling held that Captain Kirkpatrick's behaviour deserved the severest blame, but they left the final decision on it to the Court. Mr Corneille then chose to resign from the Company's service on 21 July 1768. He explained that he could not bring himself to sit in Council or act in any post beside Captain Kirkpatrick after such ill treatment from him. He accordingly took passage for England in the Admiral Pocock. The consultations of 11 July 1768, 19 July 1768, 20 July 1768 and 21 July 1768 contained the whole inquiry and gave a full and detailed account of the affair. 11: The island's order for the year asked for only 30 casks of salted provisions. The quantity was small because the stores already held enough to feed the island for more than two years. Frequent chances also arose to buy from homeward ships, and that meat cost much less than the supply from England. The Council therefore preferred buying from the ships to ordering a large quantity from Europe. 12: The list of remaining stores went home with this letter, together with the orders for goods needed in 1769. They were late that year for two reasons. The Tilbury brought no summary of the Duke of Richmond's cargo, which left the Council unsure what to ask for. The storekeeper was then so busy receiving stores when the Duke of Richmond arrived that the orders could not go by the previous ship. 13: The Council sent £2,000 0s 0d by the Duke of Richmond to the President and Council of Fort Marlborough, the whole of the cash it found it could spare. It hoped to meet the current year's running costs with the help of money paid in for bills. Interpretations The acquittal of Mr Corneille ended with the cleared man leaving and his accuser remaining. The Governor and Mr Purling condemned Captain Kirkpatrick in the strongest terms yet took no step against him, passing over suspension from the Council in favour of a reference home. Two members could hardly remove a third on their own authority, and a decision by the Court carried a weight theirs lacked. Mr Corneille's resignation was the visible cost: the Council lost its second member, the man whom the Court asked only weeks earlier to stay another year, as the letter of 2 June 1768 recorded. His bills of exchange that year, for £200 0s 0d on 25 January 1768, £427 2s 9d on 16 May 1768 and £41 16s 0d on 13 June 1768, show him already moving funds to England. By sailing in the Admiral Pocock he also reached London with the papers and could put his own case to the Court in person. The small order for salted provisions rested on the practice set out in paragraph 7 of the letter of 2 June 1768, where the Council undertook to buy whatever homeward commanders could spare. It passed over the usual security of a large yearly supply from England because meat from the ships was cheaper and could be inspected before purchase. The two-year stock in hand included the lean Bengal meat condemned on 25 April 1768 and 5 May 1768, so the figure measured quantity and not quality. The list of remains was the yearly statement of what the stores still held, and the island's orders were calculated from it together with what was known to be on its way. Without a summary of the Duke of Richmond's cargo, the Council risked ordering goods already at sea or omitting goods that were not. The same letter of 15 June 1768 that reported her arrival complained that she and the Tilbury brought no deals, oil, pitch, tar, rosin or turpentine. The remittance of £2,000 0s 0d carried out the undertaking given on 2 June 1768 to send spare cash to Fort Marlborough. It left the treasury dependent on future payments for bills, the mechanism by which commanders and residents handed over coin in return for drafts on London. The bills recorded from 23 February 1768 to 13 June 1768 show how uneven that income was, ranging from £100 0s 0d in one letter to £1,961 17s 9d in another. | |
137 | as for the Year 1769, so that we presume [...] your Honors will have no§ | The Council expected money paid in for bills to cover the costs of 1769 as well. It therefore assumed that the Court need send no cash by the next storeships. 14: The soldiers' shoes and hats received that year were all equally good. The storekeeper reported, however, that the suppliers' names were not marked on the packages, although the Court's latest general letter said they would be. 15: The coats and breeches sent for the garrison that year were good. The shirts were charged at the customary price but were of poor quality, the worst ever received. 16: The gold lace ordered in 1767 for the officers' uniforms did not come that season. The officers received their cloth and other materials but could not have their regimentals made up. They intended to keep the cloth until the next storeship arrived. The Council hoped the Court would send lace matching the pattern enclosed in the packet, so that the uniforms could be finished in the customary style. 17: The certificate of the flour landed that year went home as the Court ordered. The flour was so musty and so extremely bad that bread made from it was scarcely fit to eat. 18: The Reverend Mr Bearcroft advised the Council that the new church needed a marble font, which could stand on a stone or wooden pedestal made on the island. The Council planned to build the church at the first chance after the fortification works were finished. It asked the Court to send the font by the next storeships. 19: Captain Mitchell wrote to Governor Skottowe and the Council, and his letter came before the consultation of the eighth of the month. He reported on the works then in progress at Munden's and the further defences planned at Lemon Valley, which he hoped to finish by May or June 1769. Once those were done, none of his plans would remain to be carried out. Interpretations The Council passed over the ordinary safeguard of a yearly consignment of coin from England and told the Court to send none. It had just shipped £2,000 0s 0d to Fort Marlborough by the Duke of Richmond, and it now relied wholly on money paid in for bills to fund two years' expenses. The bills recorded between 23 February 1768 and 13 June 1768 ranged from £100 0s 0d in one letter to £1,961 17s 9d in another, so the income was real but uneven. The choice spared the Company the risk and cost of carrying specie to the island, and it rested on the steady demand of commanders and residents for drafts on London. The unmarked packages defeated an arrangement the Council itself supported. On 2 June 1768 it promised to keep reporting which suppliers of hats and shoes it thought best, and that judgement depended on knowing whose goods were in which package. With no names on them, the storekeeper could report only that all were equally good, which gave the Court nothing to choose between its contractors. The flour was the consignment for which the letter of 2 June 1768 promised certificates and a report on quality once it was tried. The verdict joined a run of complaints about that year's supplies: coal 20 chaldrons short, no deals, oil, pitch, tar, rosin or turpentine, and now the worst shirts ever received at the full price. The remark on price mattered because the garrison's clothing was charged to the men, so poor shirts at the customary rate were a loss to the soldiers themselves. Regimentals were an officer's full dress uniform, and gold lace was the metallic braid sewn on as trimming, which marked rank and could not be made on the island. Sending a pattern fixed the width and design, so that lace from London would match what the officers already wore. The church was placed behind the fortifications in the order of work. Labour was the limit: the Council argued on 23 February 1768 that the Company's slaves were too few for the defences and that soldiers had to be used, and on 2 June 1768 it sent 26 recruits to the works. The font was ordered early because marble had to come from England, while the pedestal could be made locally. Munden's was the battery on the point at the eastern side of the anchorage, and Lemon Valley a landing place on the coast to the west. Captain Mitchell's letter showed the programme of defences moving on from Sandy Bay to the approaches of the main anchorage, with an end in sight by the middle of 1769. | |
138 | unfinished except the rebuilding, with some alterations in the§ | Captain Mitchell listed the only works that would then be left. The two demi-bastions forming the flanks of the inner line in James's Valley needed rebuilding with some changes to their shape, and a few minor gullies in different parts of the island needed walling up. He thought these jobs easy enough to be built without an engineer directly in charge, so his staying beyond May or June 1769 would serve no purpose. The Council weighed his letter carefully and agreed in full. It judged that he could very properly be allowed to leave for England in 1769, once the works at Munden's and Lemon Valley were done. The remaining tasks would be slight enough to carry out without his inspection or presence. Keeping him longer would bring the Company no benefit and would in fact harm it, by holding back an able man of sound judgement from more valuable work at one of the principal settlements. The Council also felt bound to record Captain Mitchell's merits. Every part of the works already finished was built as skilfully as it was designed. He pressed the work on steadily and with close application, watched the cost and spent as little as defences of that kind allowed. 20: Captain Mitchell's departure in 1769 would leave the captain's commission in the artillery company vacant. Nobody on the island was properly qualified to command the artillery. The Council therefore asked the Court to send out by the next storeships a gentleman who had served in the train and was able to command that company. Interpretations The Council passed over the cautious course of keeping its Engineer until every planned work was complete. It backed his release with two rebuilt demi-bastions and several gully walls still to do, and the paragraph gave the reasoning: the leftover jobs were simple masonry that needed no designer on site, and a skilled officer idle at St Helena was a loss to the larger settlements. The request originated with Captain Mitchell himself, and the Council adopted his own assessment of the remaining work without any second opinion, since no one else on the island could give one. His bill for £400 0s 0d, dated 30 May 1768, shows him already sending money home. The praise repeated the commendation in the letter of 23 February 1768, again stressing economy. That emphasis answered the Court's standing concern over the cost of the works and the use of garrison labour on them, and it supported the case for his release by presenting him as a servant who had earned it. Captain Mitchell held two posts at once, Engineer and captain of the artillery company, so his going opened a gap the first argument did not cover. The fortifications could be finished without him, but the guns mounted on them needed a trained commander. The train was the artillery train, the body of gunners, guns and equipment that formed the artillery arm of an army. The Council wanted an officer with that professional service, since gunnery was a technical skill not learned in the infantry of the garrison. A demi-bastion was half a bastion, a projecting work with one face and one flank, set at the end of a line so that its guns could sweep the ground in front of the wall. The inner line in James's Valley was the second line of defence behind the sea front of the island's town and main landing place. Walling up gullies closed the narrow ravines by which a landing party could climb from the shore, as was done with the gully marked K K at Sandy Bay. | |
139 | Company and instructing the Men belonging to it in the knowledge of the§ | The officer sent out was also to train the men of the artillery company in the drill and handling of the guns, on which the defence of the island and its outposts would mainly rest. 21: Captain Mitchell particularly commended Lieutenant Thomas Bazett to the Council. The lieutenant supervised the works under him for more than two years and showed steady application and ability throughout. The Council knew his worth at first hand as well, including the effort he gave to learning something of engineering and improving his drawing. It therefore put him forward to the Court as very well suited to take over and carry on whatever works stood unfinished when Captain Mitchell left. He was also to oversee the repairs that the fortifications and other buildings needed from time to time. That duty demanded a great deal of his time, and the Council trusted that the Court would not think £100 0s 0d a year too much for it. It asked the Court to appoint Lieutenant Bazett to the post at that salary. The Council added that it could not, in fairness to the Company, place important works in future under any master mason. John Bland, the former master mason, left the Company's works and buildings with many failures, blunders and shallow repairs. Men of that trade knew no more than how to do the manual work, and they needed close watching or their tasks were certain to be skimped and ignored. 22: Two commissions stood vacant, the second through the death of Lieutenant De Launé on the eighth of the month. Leaving aside Lieutenant Bazett as superintendent of the works, only five lieutenants remained for the whole duty of the garrison. The two artillery lieutenants were not counted among them, since they had separate duties of their own. Interpretations John Bland was identified here for the first time as the Company's former master mason. His paper of accusations, which the Court took up in its letter by the Tilbury and the Council dismissed in July 1768 as spiteful, therefore came from a man who had held charge of the island's building work and left it. The Council used the recommendation of Lieutenant Bazett to strike at him a second time, on the separate ground of bad workmanship. That attack served its case against his charges, since it presented him to the Court as an incompetent tradesman as well as a malicious one. The Council passed over the ordinary arrangement of putting building work under a master mason, the post Bland held, and asked for a garrison officer to superintend it at £100 0s 0d a year. The paragraph gave the reason: a mason was treated as a mere workman who needed supervision himself, while an officer with some drawing and engineering could direct others. The choice also kept the post within the circle of the Company's commissioned servants. Lieutenant Bazett learned his engineering on the job under Captain Mitchell and had no formal training, a limit the Council's own wording, "some skill", conceded. The Council had earlier agreed that the remaining works were simple enough to need no engineer, which made that limit acceptable. Thomas Bazett was the third of that surname in these letters. Captain Henry Bazett took a bill for £60 0s 0d on 13 June 1768, and Mr George Bazett was appointed a writer in paragraph 3 of the same letter that recommended the lieutenant. The letter stated no relationship among them. The count of lieutenants showed how thinly the garrison was officered. Detaching one lieutenant to the works and losing two commissions left five men to share the routine of guards and duty, and the Council set out the figures as the ground for a request about the vacancies. The mason John Preston, whose engagement in England was reported on 2 June 1768, was expected as a workman and not as a successor to Bland's charge of the works. | |
140 | on the said five Officers therefore we have thought it most adviseable to§ | The shortage of lieutenants bore very heavily on the five officers who remained. The Council therefore thought it best to fill one of the vacant commissions with the cadet Mr James Greentree. It recommended him to the Court in 1767 as a very deserving young man, fully qualified in every respect for a commission in the Company's service. The Council hoped the Court would confirm his appointment and order the other vacancy to be filled as well. 23: The Admiral Pocock carried as passengers Mr and Mrs Jephson. 24: The Council gave Captain Riddell leave to take Daniel Corneille Esquire and his servant aboard his ship. It also ordered him to take four discharged men into the Admiral Pocock to bring her crew up to strength. George Trueman, sergeant William Bannister, sergeant Thomas McFarling, gunner Joseph Fellows, matross 25: The contracted terms of 50 soldiers were due to run out in March 1769, and nobody could tell how many of them would enlist again. Allowing for deaths and discharges as well, the Council expected to need at least 50 recruits in 1769 to fill the several companies. It asked the Court to send that number by the storeships. 26: Mr Richard Wright signed his bond, which went back to the Court in the packet. 27: Governor Skottowe told Captain Kirkpatrick on the day before the letter was written that the Council was to meet at ten o'clock that day. The purpose was to sign the consultations and other papers going home by the ship. Captain Kirkpatrick replied that he would come if he could. He appeared neither that day nor the next. The Council then agreed to send the consultations at which he was present to his house for signature. He had stayed away for some time, however, and the Council judged it unwise to send any other papers there. Interpretations The Council filled one vacant commission itself and left the other to the Court, where the ordinary course was to refer both home. The paragraph showed the reason for acting on one: five lieutenants could not carry the garrison's duty for the year or more a reply from London took. Mr Greentree was a safe choice because the Court already held the Council's recommendation of him from 1767, so the appointment anticipated a decision the Court had been asked to make. A cadet was a young man serving in the garrison without a commission while he waited for one. Leaving the second vacancy open kept the Court's right of patronage intact. Captain Kirkpatrick's absence by then extended from the bench to the Council table itself. The proceedings of 25 April 1768 recorded that he was not acting as a justice of the peace, and after his accusation against Mr Corneille failed in July 1768 he stopped attending altogether. The Council drew a careful line in dealing with it. Consultations of meetings he attended went to his house, since his signature properly belonged on them. Other papers were withheld, on the stated ground of his long absence, which kept current business out of the hands of a member the Governor and Mr Purling had just censured. With Mr Corneille resigned and sailing in the Admiral Pocock, the working Council was reduced to those two men, and the paragraph put on record why the papers might reach London without a third signature. The four discharged men sent by the Admiral Pocock included two sergeants and two artillerymen, shipped as working hands with no waiver of wages mentioned. The loss of a gunner and a matross fell on the artillery company, whose command the Council expected to be vacant in 1769. Soldiers enlisted with the Company for a fixed term of years, and a man whose time ran out could claim his discharge and a passage home. The request for 50 recruits therefore assumed the worst case, that none of the 50 would sign on again. The 26 recruits who came by the Tilbury in May 1768 showed the scale of a normal year's draft, so the Council was asking for about twice that number. A bond was the signed undertaking, backed by a money penalty, that a Company servant gave for the faithful performance of his duties. The letter did not state Mr Wright's post. | |
141 | all other Papers relative to the Compys. affairs are transmitted in the Packet§ §No. 1 Gove[...] & Council Genl. Letter dated the 13th. August 1768§ §2 Do. & Do. dated the 13th. Do. Do. relatg. to Law matters§ §3 Duplicate Do. & Do. dated the 15th. June Do.§ | Every other paper on the Company's business therefore went home in the packet without Captain Kirkpatrick's signature. 28: The Council issued nine sets of bills of exchange, each drawn at 90 days' sight. Mr Robert Wigram, payable to Mr William Cawden, dated 20 June 1768, £200 0s 0d Captain Thomas Hindman, payable to Andrew Moffatt Esquire, dated 20 June 1768, £150 0s 0d Daniel Corneille Esquire, payable to Messrs Stainforth and Gyborne, dated 25 May 1768, £36 0s 6d Captain Henry Bazett, payable to Mr Mathias Brightwell, dated 1 August 1768, £139 1s 7d Daniel Corneille Esquire, payable to himself, dated 8 August 1768, £400 0s 0d Mr Matthew Purling, payable to John Purling Esquire, dated 8 August 1768, £450 0s 0d Mr Jonathan Doveton, payable to Captain Richard Doveton, dated 8 August 1768, £487 14s 0d Hugh Jones, servant to Mr Corneille, payable to himself, dated 8 August 1768, £363 12s 6d Captain Thomas Riddell, payable to Sir John Riddell and Thomas Heathfield Esquires, dated 8 August 1768, £250 0s 0d The letter was dated at St Helena on 13 August 1768 and signed by two members of the Council. John Skottowe M Purling A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Admiral Pocock, dated 13 August 1768. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 13 August 1768 2: General letter from the Governor and Council on legal business dated 13 August 1768 3: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 15 June 1768 Interpretations Only two signatures stood under this letter, where every general letter from 23 February 1768 to 15 June 1768 carried four. Mr Corneille resigned on 21 July 1768 and Captain Kirkpatrick stayed away, so Governor Skottowe and Mr Purling alone answered for the island's government. The Council passed over the usual course of collecting every member's signature and sent the papers without Captain Kirkpatrick's, having sent to his house only the consultations of meetings he attended. Paragraph 27 put the reason on record in advance, so that the Court could not read the missing name as dissent from the contents. The same two men had judged his accusation against Mr Corneille, and the letter condemning his conduct thus reached London signed only by those who condemned him. The bills showed Mr Corneille winding up his affairs. He drew £400 0s 0d payable to himself on 8 August 1768, and his servant Hugh Jones, who sailed with him, drew £363 12s 6d on the same day. With the bill of £36 0s 6d dated 25 May 1768 and those reported earlier, for £200 0s 0d on 25 January 1768, £427 2s 9d on 16 May 1768 and £41 16s 0d on 13 June 1768, his drafts for the year came to £1,104 19s 3d. The size of the servant's bill was striking beside the £30 0s 0d a year that the Widows' Fund paid, and the letter gave no account of how a servant came by such a sum. The nine bills together amounted to £2,476 8s 1d, the largest total in any letter of the year and more than the £2,000 0s 0d shipped to Fort Marlborough by the Duke of Richmond. The Council's plan to run the island on money paid in for bills, with no coin sent from England, was therefore borne out in the same letter that proposed it. The date of 13 August 1768 also fixed the month of writing: the Admiral Pocock arrived on 30 July 1768, Captain Mitchell's letter came before the consultation of 8 August 1768, and Lieutenant De Launé died on 8 August 1768. The inquiry of 20 June 1768 into Bland's accusations accordingly fell in the month before the previous one, described in the letter simply as June past. John Purling Esquire was again the payee of island money, receiving Mr Purling's £450 0s 0d after his £250 0s 0d of 2 May 1768 and Captain Bazett's £60 0s 0d of 13 June 1768. Captain Riddell's bill was payable to Sir John Riddell, and Mr Doveton's to Captain Richard Doveton, which shows the bills serving once more to pass funds to relatives in England. | |
142 | 4 Consultations from the 17th. June to the 10th. Augst. 1768§ §5 Duplicate Do. from the 6th. to the 13th. June Do.§ §6 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Northington§ §7 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Earl of Elgin§ §8 List of Stores remaining in the Honble. Compys. Ware Houses 30th. April 1768§ §9 Do. of Garrison Stores remg. Do. Do. Do.§ §10 Do. of Artillery Stores from the 1st. Octr. 1767 to Do. Do. Do.§ §11 Do. of four Discharged Soldiers§ §12 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Northington§ §13 Do. Do. of Sundry Stores deficient of Last Years Indent§ §14 Indent of Stores wantd. for the Service of the Year 1769§ §15 Do. of Medicines Do. Do. Do.§ §16 Effective state of the Garrison§ §17 Muster Rolls of Do.§ §18 Cash Acct. from the 16th. to the 30th. June 1768§ §19 Do. for the Month of July Do.§ §20 Do. from the 1st. to the 13th. August Do.§ §21 Duplicate Do. from the 1st. to the 15th. June Do.§ §22 Ship Admrl. Pocock's Account§ §23 Do. Duke of Richmonds Do.§ §24 Duplicate Ship Northingtons Do.§ §25 Do. Vansittarts Do.§ §26 Abstract of the Cargo of Ship Admiral Pocock§ §27 Time of the Arrival of the Admiral Pocock's Boat at Banks's§ §28 Copy of the several Gentlemans Answers to John Blands Paper intitled§ §29 Patern of Lace for the Officers Regimentals§ §30 Certificate of Flour§ §31 Courts Martial from the 17th. Septr. 1767 to the 8th. August 1768§ §32 Copy of a New Licence§ §33 Do. of an Old Do.§ | The list of the packet sent by the Admiral Pocock continued with the remaining enclosures. 4: Consultations from 17 June 1768 to 10 August 1768 5: Duplicate of the consultations from 6 June 1768 to 13 June 1768 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the Northington. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Earl of Elgin. 8: List of stores remaining in the Company's warehouses on 30 April 1768 9: List of garrison stores remaining on 30 April 1768 10: List of artillery stores from 1 October 1767 to 30 April 1768 11: List of four discharged soldiers 12: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Northington. 13: Duplicate list of various stores missing from the order of 1767 14: Order for stores needed in 1769 15: Order for medicines needed in 1769 16: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 17: Muster rolls of the garrison 18: Cash account from 16 June 1768 to 30 June 1768 19: Cash account for July 1768 20: Cash account from 1 August 1768 to 13 August 1768 21: Duplicate cash account from 1 June 1768 to 15 June 1768 22: Account of the Admiral Pocock. 23: Account of the Duke of Richmond. 24: Duplicate account of the Northington. 25: Duplicate account of the Van Sittart. 26: Summary of the cargo of the Admiral Pocock. 27: Note of the time at which the Admiral Pocock's boat reached Banks's. 28: Copy of the answers of the several gentlemen to John Bland's paper of observations, with the opinions of the Governor and Council on them 29: Pattern of lace for the officers' regimentals 30: Certificate of flour 31: Courts martial from 17 September 1767 to 8 August 1768 32: Copy of a new licence 33: Copy of an old licence Interpretations The packet gathered the evidence for nearly every argument in the letter of 13 August 1768. Item 28 was the separate paper promised in paragraph 4, carrying the accused men's replies to Bland and the Council's verdict. Items 32 and 33 were the two punch house licences sent for comparison under paragraph 7. The lace pattern, the flour certificate and the orders for 1769 answered paragraphs 16, 17 and 12. The Court thus received the documents themselves and not only the Council's account of them. The lists of remaining stores were struck on 30 April 1768, more than three months before they went home. Paragraph 12 explained the delay: the storekeeper was fully occupied receiving the Duke of Richmond's cargo in June 1768, and the orders built on those lists could not be finished for the Northington. The list of goods missing from the 1767 order went a second time as item 13, keeping the complaint about deals, oil, pitch, tar, rosin and turpentine before the Court. The record of courts martial covered almost eleven months, from 17 September 1767 to 8 August 1768. It began on the same date as the duplicate consultations sent by the Hector on 23 February 1768, which suggests that such proceedings were sent home once a year in a single run and not ship by ship. | |
143 | 34 Mr. Richd. Wright's Bond§ §35 Proceedings of a general Quartr. Sessions held on the 18th. July 1768§ §To the Honble &ca.§ | The list of the packet sent by the Admiral Pocock closed with two further enclosures. 34: Mr Richard Wright's bond 35: Proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 18 July 1768 A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter was dated 13 August 1768 and went home by the Admiral Pocock. 2: The Greenwich arrived from Bombay on the twenty-second of the previous month. Captain Hooke left Bombay on 22 April 1768, when the Calcutta lay there and was to sail a few days later for Batavia. He left Tellicherry on 3 May 1768. The Earl of Chatham was then at Onore on her way to Bombay, and he supposed that she would be sent to England that year. Captain Hooke also reported that Hyder Ali retook Mangalore and that all the Company's troops got back to Tellicherry two days before he left that place. He spoke with the Grenville on 19 July 1768, eight degrees east of Cape Agulhas, with all well aboard. The Egmont arrived from Madras on the first of the month. Captain Mears left Madras on 13 May 1768, and the Admiral Watson arrived there a few days before he sailed. He put in at Mauritius to repair a leak. 3: The Council dismissed James Black, the gardener, as it told the Court it would in the letter of 13 May 1768. It ordered Captain Hooke to take him aboard his ship and paid the captain £5 0s 0d for the passage. Captain Hooke's receipt for that sum went home with the letter. The Council asked the Court to send a properly qualified man for the post by the next storeship. A soldier looked after the garden until one could arrive from England. Interpretations The Council paid for the gardener's passage, where every discharged soldier sent home that year either worked his way as one of the crew or signed away his wages as a passenger. Black was being removed by the Council's own decision and not at his request, so the ordinary terms did not fit: he could not be made to work the ship, and a commander had no reason to carry him free. The payment of £5 0s 0d secured his departure, and the receipt gave the Court proof of the charge. The letter of 13 May 1768 named the gardener as Samuel Black and this one as James Black. The dismissal was the same in both, and the later reading, tied to the passage money and receipt, was probably the correct one. The news of Mangalore reversed the hopeful reports of earlier letters. On 23 February 1768 the Council relayed that Hyder Ali was twice beaten on the Coast, and on 13 August 1768 that an expedition was fitting out at Bombay against his ports. Mangalore was the chief of those ports, on the Malabar coast, and its recapture with the troops' withdrawal to Tellicherry meant that the expedition took the place and then lost it again. Onore was a smaller port on the same coast, north of Mangalore. Mauritius was then the main French base in the Indian Ocean, so the Egmont repaired her leak in a foreign harbour. Captain Sandys reported on 14 March 1768 that she was to complete her cargo on the Coast, and her sailing from Madras bore that out. The Calcutta was seen leaky at Tellicherry on 7 January 1768, bound for Bombay to dock, and was now reported there and ready for sea. Cape Agulhas was the southernmost point of Africa, east of the Cape of Good Hope. The reference to the first of the current month and the twenty-second of the previous one, following a letter of 13 August 1768, placed the writing of this letter in September 1768. The Greenwich therefore arrived on 22 August 1768 and the Egmont on 1 September 1768. | |
144 | The Passengers on board the Egmont are Mrs. Tayler &§ | 4: The Egmont carried as passengers Mr Tayler and Messrs Sprat, Deaveaux, Tudman and Drought. The Misses Winsley, Farmer and Macpherson travelled aboard the Greenwich. 5: The Council issued six sets of bills of exchange, each drawn at 90 days' sight. Mr Colvill Mure, payable to Messrs Mure and Atkinson, dated 13 August 1768, £500 0s 0d Mr James Powell, payable to Captain John Williams, dated 5 September 1768, £350 0s 0d Mr Matthew Bazett, payable to Captain Thomas Riddell, dated 5 September 1768, £300 0s 0d Captain John Howard, payable to Mrs Mary Hall, dated 5 September 1768, £215 10s 0d Mr Robert Barclay, payable to Mr Robert Dallas, dated 5 September 1768, £30 0s 0d Mr William Wrangham, payable to John Purling Esquire, dated 5 September 1768, £120 0s 0d 6: The upper battery at Banks's was completely finished. The Council went to inspect it on 1 September 1768 and found every part extremely well built. The battery was much enlarged, and its merlons followed a new design. Each was faced front and back with stone set in lime mortar and filled with a mixture of lime, sand and earth. That filling bound so tightly that it set perfectly hard and dense. The Council expected it to stand up to the weather and last a long time. It also gave the men defending the battery far greater safety, since it stopped them being hurt by flying fragments of stone. In all the Company's other fortifications the defenders were badly exposed to that danger, because the parapets were solid stone and mortar right through and the embrasures were formed of the same materials. The Council thought the new method a very great improvement. It asked the Court to consider whether every parapet open to bombardment from ships ought to be rebuilt in the same way. Interpretations A merlon was the solid section of a parapet between two embrasures, the openings through which the guns fired. A cannonball striking solid masonry shattered the stone and sent sharp fragments among the gun crews, often doing more harm than the shot itself. An earth-based core absorbed the blow instead, while the thin stone skin kept the filling in place and protected it from rain. The mixture of lime, sand and earth was in effect a rammed lime concrete, made from materials found on the island. The ordinary method, used in every other work on the island, was solid stone and mortar throughout. The Engineer departed from it at Banks's, and the Council reported the change only once the battery was finished, as it did with the altered design at Sandy Bay on 23 February 1768. It stopped short of rebuilding the other parapets on its own authority and put the question to the Court, limiting the proposal to works that ships could bombard. That restriction kept the cost down, since batteries facing only a landing party stood in no danger from heavy shot. The proposal sat awkwardly beside the letter of 13 August 1768, which told the Court that hardly any work would remain after the middle of 1769 and that Captain Mitchell could go home. Banks's was the station where arriving ships' boats reported, as the packet lists recorded throughout the year. Strengthening its upper battery carried the programme of defences to the first post an approaching vessel passed. The date of 5 September 1768 on the bills confirmed that the letter was written in September 1768. Mr Powell again drew in favour of Captain John Williams of the Hector, as he did for £200 0s 0d on 22 January 1768. Mr Matthew Bazett was the fourth of that surname to appear in the year's letters, and his bill was payable to Captain Riddell of the Admiral Pocock, who sailed three weeks earlier. Mr William Wrangham shared a surname with Mr Francis Wrangham, the writer whose death was reported on 13 August 1768, and his bill went to John Purling Esquire, by then the payee of four island drafts. | |
145 | will be more exposed to danger by Splinters from Stones worked in the§ | The Council reasoned that the defenders of a battery faced more danger from fragments of the stone built into the merlons than from the enemy's shot itself. A ball striking a parapet of the new kind would be deadened and do far less harm. The plan of the two batteries at Banks's went home in the care of Captain Mears. It showed plainly how the upper battery, by then named Purling's Battery, dominated the approach. Every ship making for the road at James's Valley had to come close to Buttermilk Point and work up near the battery. The wind generally took such ships aback as Banks's Valley opened, leaving them heavily exposed to the fire of both the upper and lower batteries. The Council rated those batteries as of the highest importance to the island's defence. 7: No account of the cost of building the battery could go home with this letter. The figure could not be established until the current quarter's accounts of spending came before the Council, and a summary of the charges was to follow by the first ship after that. The Council assured the Court that the Engineer worked with it to keep the strictest watch on cost and avoid all needless spending. He carried the work through with his customary energy and care. The works at Munden's were going forward as fast as their nature allowed, and a start was made at Lemon Valley. The fortification lately built at Sandy Bay was by then called Mitchell's Line. 8: Captains Mears and Hooke asked leave to call at Ascension for turtle to restore their crews. Captain Hooke's men were very sickly, which kept his ship at the island somewhat longer than usual. Interpretations A sailing ship was taken aback when a sudden shift of wind struck the front of her sails and stopped her or drove her astern. The valley mouth at Banks's funnelled gusts off the land, so a ship rounding the point lost her way at the very spot the guns covered. The Council's case for the batteries rested on that local fact: an enemy vessel would lie almost helpless under fire from two levels, and the splinter-proof merlons described earlier in the paragraph protected the gunners during the exchange. The new works were named after the men who governed and built them. The upper battery at Banks's took the name of Mr Purling, by then the only councillor still acting beside Governor Skottowe, and the Sandy Bay work took that of Captain Mitchell, the Engineer. The letter reported both names as settled facts and did not ask the Court's approval. Naming a battery after a sitting member of a two-man Council, in a letter signed by that member, was a mark of honour the Council conferred on itself. The cost of the battery was held back for the same reason given on 2 April 1768, when no cash account could be sent before the quarterly accounts were presented. The Council again preferred a later, examined figure to an estimate, and it filled the gap with a renewed assurance of the Engineer's economy, as it did on 23 February 1768 and 13 August 1768. The requests for Ascension differed from those of June 1768 in giving a reason. Captains Sealy and Palmer received leave on 15 June 1768 with none recorded, whereas sickness in Captain Hooke's crew supplied a clear ground here, since fresh turtle meat was valued as a remedy for men worn down by a long passage on salted food. His ship, the Greenwich, arrived on 22 August 1768 and was still at the island in September, well beyond the ten working days normally allowed. | |
146 | give him they are yet not thoroughly recovered. & Captn. Mears§ §No. 1 Governor & Councils General Letter dated the 10th. September 1768§ §2 Do. Do. & Do. dated the 10th. Do. Do.§ §3 Duplicate Do. Do. & Do. dated the 13th. August Do.§ §4 Do. Do. Do. & Do. dated the 13th. Do. Do.§ §5 Consultations from the 15th. August to the 5th. Septr. 1768§ §6 Duplicate Do. from the 17th. June to 10th. Augst. Do.§ §7 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Adl. Pocock§ §8 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Northington§ §9 List of Officers & Servts. taken 10th. Septr. 1768§ §10 Duplicate List of Stores remg. in the Honble Compys.§ | Captain Hooke's men were still not fully recovered, despite all the supplies the island could give them. Captain Mears advised the Council that turtle would greatly benefit his crew on the voyage home. The Council accepted both cases and allowed the two commanders to call at Ascension. The letter was dated at St Helena on 10 September 1768 and signed by two members of the Council. John Skottowe M Purling A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Egmont, dated 10 September 1768. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 10 September 1768 2: General letter from the Governor and Council on legal business dated 10 September 1768 3: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 13 August 1768 4: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council on legal business dated 13 August 1768 5: Consultations from 15 August 1768 to 5 September 1768 6: Duplicate of the consultations from 17 June 1768 to 10 August 1768 7: First receipt for the packet sent by the Admiral Pocock. 8: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Northington. 9: List of officers and servants taken on 10 September 1768 10: Duplicate list of stores remaining in the Company's warehouses on 30 April 1768 Interpretations The two grounds for the Ascension leave were of different weight. Captain Hooke's rested on a sick crew that the island's own supplies failed to restore, a need the Council could see for itself. Captain Mears offered only the general benefit of fresh meat on the passage, the same reason any commander could give. The Council granted both together, so the test announced on 2 June 1768, that a call should serve the island, was again not applied. Neither request brought St Helena anything. Two signatures again stood under the letter, as on 13 August 1768. Captain Kirkpatrick's name was still absent a month after the Council reported his refusal to attend, and no successor to Mr Corneille sat. Governor Skottowe and Mr Purling therefore continued as the whole acting government, and the battery named after Mr Purling was reported in a letter that only he and the Governor signed. | |
147 | No. 11 Duplicate List of Garrison Stores remg. 30th Apl. 1768§ §12 Do. Do. of Artillery Do. from 1st Octr. 1767 to 30th Apl. Do.§ §13 Do. Do. of the Packet P Ship Admiral Pocock§ §14 Do. Indent of Stores wanted for ye Service of the Year 1769§ §15 Do. Do. of Medicines wanted for Do.§ §16 Effective State of the Garrison§ §17 Cash Act. from 14th to 31st Augst. 1768§ §18 Do. from 1st to 10th Sepr. Do.§ §19 Duplicate Do. from 16th to 30th June Do.§ §20 Do. Do. for the Month July Do.§ §21 Do. Do. from the 1st to 13th Augst. Do.§ §22 Ship Egmonts Account§ §23 Do. Greenwichs Do.§ §24 Duplicate Ship Admiral Pococks Account§ §25 Do. Do. Duke of Richmonds Do.§ §26 Time of Ships Boats arrival at Banks's§ §27 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Greenwich & Egmont§ §28 Duplicate of the several Gentlemens Answers§ §29 Do. Certificate of Flour§ §30 Do. Proceedings of a General Quarterly Sessions§ §31 Capt. Hookes first Receipt for £5.§ §32 Capt. Mears Do. for a Box containing a§ | The list of the packet sent by the Egmont continued with the remaining enclosures. 11: Duplicate list of garrison stores remaining on 30 April 1768 12: Duplicate list of artillery stores from 1 October 1767 to 30 April 1768 13: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Admiral Pocock. 14: Duplicate order for stores needed in 1769 15: Duplicate order for medicines needed in 1769 16: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 17: Cash account from 14 August 1768 to 31 August 1768 18: Cash account from 1 September 1768 to 10 September 1768 19: Duplicate cash account from 16 June 1768 to 30 June 1768 20: Duplicate cash account for July 1768 21: Duplicate cash account from 1 August 1768 to 13 August 1768 22: Account of the Egmont. 23: Account of the Greenwich. 24: Duplicate account of the Admiral Pocock. 25: Duplicate account of the Duke of Richmond. 26: Note of the time at which the ships' boats reached Banks's. 27: Summary of the cargoes of the Greenwich and the Egmont. 28: Duplicate of the answers of the several gentlemen to John Bland's paper of observations 29: Duplicate certificate of flour 30: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 18 July 1768 31: Captain Hooke's first receipt for £5 0s 0d 32: Captain Mears's first receipt for a box containing a plan of the batteries at Banks's Interpretations The plan of the batteries at Banks's travelled as the Sandy Bay plan did on 23 February 1768: boxed apart from the packet, entrusted to a named commander and covered by his signed receipt. Captain Williams of the Hector gave a first and second receipt for the earlier box, and Captain Mears's was likewise called a first receipt, so a second copy was held back for a later ship. The Council thus treated drawings of the island's defences as a class of document needing personal responsibility for delivery. Captain Hooke's receipt for £5 0s 0d was the voucher for the gardener's passage money reported in paragraph 3 of the letter of 10 September 1768. Sending it as a numbered enclosure let the Court pass the charge in the island's accounts. The duplicates of the 1769 orders for stores and medicines followed the originals sent by the Admiral Pocock on 13 August 1768. Those orders governed the next year's whole supply, and the loss of both copies would have left the island unprovided for, which explains their prompt repetition by the very next ship. | |
148 | To the Honble &ca§ | 1: The Council's previous letter was dated 10 September 1768 and went home by the Egmont, which left the island with the Greenwich. 2: His Majesty's Sloop Swallow arrived from the Cape on 21 January 1769. Captain Carteret reported that the Calcutta and the Harcourt were at Batavia during 1768. The Calcutta was on a country voyage, and the Harcourt sailed for China in August 1768. He added that no Company ship called at the Cape before he left it. 3: The island enjoyed a very good winter season and was in a prosperous state. The planters put forward 50 more cattle for slaughter than in 1768. More ships were expected that season, however, so the number allowed to each could not rise above the 1768 level. The cattle were in general heavier, and the meat promised to be much better. 4: Captain Carteret's stay was too short for the consultations and other customary papers to be made ready. The Council promised to send them, with the books of accounts for the past year, by the next ship. The letter was dated at St Helena on 23 January 1769 and signed by three members of the Council. John Skottowe Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations Captain Kirkpatrick's signature stood under a general letter again, for the first time since 15 June 1768. The letters of 13 August 1768 and 10 September 1768 carried only two names, and the first of them reported that he stayed away from the Council and that his conduct deserved the severest blame. This letter said nothing of how the breach was mended. No fourth name appeared, so Mr Corneille's seat remained empty six months after his resignation on 21 July 1768. The Council passed over the ordinary course of sending the full packet and let the Swallow carry a bare letter. A King's ship was not under the Council's orders and could not be held for the ten working days allowed to a Company vessel, so the papers had to wait. The gap in the record was also long: more than four months separated this letter from the last, the months in which no homeward shipping called. The planters' return was the yearly declaration of how many cattle each could spare for slaughter, from which the Council fixed the fresh meat each visiting ship might buy. Fifty extra animals did not raise the ration, because the total had to be shared among a larger fleet. The increase also marked a recovery from the cattle sickness reported on 2 June 1768, when no cure was found. The good winter fell in the middle months of 1768, the island's cool and wet season, which brought on the pastures. A country voyage was a trading passage between Asian ports, undertaken by a Company ship before she loaded for Europe. The Calcutta was reported on 10 September 1768 as about to leave Bombay for Batavia, and Captain Carteret's news confirmed that she arrived there. | |
149 | To the Honble &ca.§ | 1: The Council's previous letter was dated 23 January 1769 and went home by His Majesty's Sloop Swallow. 2: The Valentine arrived from Bengal on the third of the month. Captain Purvis left Bengal on 7 October 1768, when six Company ships lay there: the Verelst, Talbot, Salisbury, Anson, Queen and Kent, with the Duke of [...] perhaps among them. The Verelst was to be sent to Europe about a month after his departure. He heard that the Earl of Chatham was to leave Madras for England on 15 September 1768. News at the Cape was that the French gathered a great number of Europeans at Mauritius. 3: Sergeant Thomas Payne, who served as clerk of the works, laid an accusation against Captain Mitchell in the consultation of 12 December 1768. He alleged that the Engineer diverted the Company's workmen and materials to a private building, a billiard room and other premises, in which he and Captain Bazett were partners. The same matter was examined before, after John Bland made his claims against Captains Mitchell and Bazett. The evidence of the workmen employed on the building then showed the story to be baseless and spiteful. The Council nevertheless resolved to give Payne a full and fair hearing once the matter was raised again. It questioned his witnesses on oath, and their statements showed plainly that the whole accusation was false and unfounded, the product of ill will and deep-rooted spite. The Council wished to put a stop to all such false accusations and to protect innocent men from the schemes of bad ones. Interpretations Bland's accusations were given a substance here that the letters of 2 June 1768 and 13 August 1768 withheld. Besides the charge of buying up goods for resale, he alleged that Company labour and materials went into a private building owned jointly by the Engineer and Captain Bazett. Those two officers were therefore among the unnamed "gentlemen" cleared on 20 June 1768. The Council praised Captain Mitchell's economy on 23 February 1768, 13 August 1768 and 10 September 1768, and it recommended his release to England, so its own repeated testimony was at stake in the second inquiry. The Council passed over the easy course of dismissing Payne's charge as already decided. It heard his witnesses on oath, and the passage gave the reason: the matter was revived by a new accuser, and a refusal to hear him would have looked like concealment when the papers reached London. Payne was a more awkward accuser than Bland. As clerk of the works he kept the daily record of men and materials, so he spoke from inside the Engineer's own department, whereas Bland was a dismissed master mason writing from England. The finding nonetheless repeated the language used of Bland almost word for word, attributing the charge to malice. The judges were not disinterested. Captain Henry Bazett drew bills on 13 June 1768 and 1 August 1768, one of them payable to John Purling Esquire, the London payee of Mr Purling's own drafts, and the upper battery at Banks's was named after Mr Purling while Captain Mitchell built it. The gathering of Europeans at Mauritius was intelligence of possible French preparations in the Indian Ocean, relevant to an island then spending heavily on its defences. The reference to the third of the current month, after a letter of 23 January 1769, placed this letter in February 1769 or later. | |
150 | duty to dismiss the Said Payne from your Honors service & have sent§ | The Council judged it an unavoidable duty to dismiss Sergeant Payne from the Company's service and sent him to England in the Valentine. It thought a man of his temper quite unfit to stay on the island. Accusations of that kind showed a lawless spirit, and they were bound to disgust and dishearten the Company's officers. Their whole record of service proved their loyalty and honesty to the Company beyond question, yet their reputations were attacked. The Council ordered Captain Purvis to take Payne aboard as a charter-party passenger and paid the captain £5 0s 0d for the passage. Captain Purvis's receipt for that sum went home with the letter. 4: Lieutenant Nathan Sample of the artillery company presented a memorial to the board in the consultation of 14 November 1768. He explained that age and infirmity left him unable to do his duty as an artillery officer, and he asked leave to retire on a pension. The Council had no power to fix pensions for any of the Company's servants. It could only let him retire on half pay for the time being, until the Court's decision was known. Corporal Robert Gilson was appointed to do the duty meanwhile on the other half of the pay. The Council commended Lieutenant Sample to the Court as an officer whose long service and good conduct in the garrison earned him a pension in his worn-out state. Sergeant John Shirley was also appointed to do the duty and draw the pay of a lieutenant in the artillery company. He replaced Lieutenant Thomas Leech, whom a general court martial suspended for six months on 8 November 1768 for neglect of duty. Captain Mitchell strongly recommended both Sergeant Shirley and Corporal Gilson as steady, hard-working and well-qualified non-commissioned officers. The Council proposed, if the Court approved, to keep the two men on as lieutenants in the artillery company. It intended to appoint Lieutenant Leech to one of the other companies once his suspension ran out. Interpretations The Council passed over the ordinary outcome of a failed accusation, which was simply to record the acquittal. It dismissed the accuser and shipped him off the island at the Company's cost, and the passage gave its reason: such charges had to be suppressed for the sake of the officers' morale. Payne's witnesses were heard on oath, yet the penalty fell on him for bringing the charge at all. Bland made the same allegation from England and was beyond reach, whereas Payne was a serving sergeant whom the Council could remove. The Court would therefore meet in London a second man with inside knowledge of the works, sent home by the body whose favoured officers he accused. A charter-party passenger was one carried under the terms of the contract by which the Company hired the ship from her owners. That contract obliged the commander to take passengers ordered aboard by the Company's officers at a fixed rate. The £5 0s 0d matched the sum paid to Captain Hooke on 10 September 1768 for the dismissed gardener, so it was evidently the standard charge for a man removed by the Council's decision. Lieutenant Sample's retirement was arranged without cost to the Company. His pay was split in two, half to him and half to the corporal who did his work, which gave the old officer an income the Council had no authority to grant as a pension. The device also left the Court free to refuse. Both artillery lieutenancies fell vacant within a week in November 1768, one through infirmity and one through a court martial. The Council reported on 13 August 1768 that nobody on the island was qualified to command the artillery and that the two artillery lieutenants had duties of their own. It now filled both posts from the ranks, on the recommendation of Captain Mitchell, who commanded the company and was himself due to leave in 1769. Moving Lieutenant Leech to an infantry company after his suspension kept Shirley and Gilson in place and removed from the guns an officer convicted of neglecting them. Promotion of a sergeant and a corporal to do officers' duty was unusual, and the Council sought the Court's approval before treating it as permanent. | |
151 | served many Years before he was transfered to the Artillery, this Appointment§ | Lieutenant Leech served for many years in one of the other companies before his transfer to the artillery. His appointment there would bring the garrison's officers up to the full number allowed by the current establishment. 5: Sergeant Major William Roberts did the duty of adjutant from the death of Adjutant Jacobs and drew the pay as acting adjutant until further orders. Governor Skottowe was well aware, however, that no non-commissioned officer then in the garrison was properly fitted for that commission, which called for a very active and intelligent man. The Governor therefore offered his opinion that the three regiments of Foot Guards held many steady and hard-working non-commissioned officers. One of them would gladly accept the adjutant's commission on the island. Such a man could do much to establish the military discipline and good order that the garrison so badly needed. 6: The Council ordered Captain Purvis to take two men aboard his ship to bring her crew up to strength. Peter Morrit, carpenter's mate John Fish, sentinel Morrit was accused before the Council in the consultation of 30 September 1768 of stealing a door lock from Plantation House and keeping it for himself. Frequent complaints were also made of his neglect of duty, and he was described as a worthless drunkard. Fish was tried at the quarter sessions held on 3 October 1768 and found guilty of attempted sodomy. The Council judged both men quite unfit to stay on the island for those reasons. 7: The Valentine carried as passengers Mr and Mrs Dobbs, Mrs Fendersley, Mrs Owen and Messrs Kier and Pritchard. 8: The Council issued two sets of bills of exchange, each drawn at 90 days' sight and dated the thirteenth of the month. Captain Archibald Mitchell, payable to Alexander Hume Esquire, £800 0s 0d Mr William Wrangham, payable to Hutchinson Mure Esquire, £37 15s 3d Interpretations The Governor passed over the man already doing the adjutant's work and asked for a stranger from England. The ordinary course was to confirm the acting holder, as the Council proposed for Sergeant Shirley and Corporal Gilson in the artillery in the preceding paragraph. The stated reason was that nobody in the garrison had the energy and ability the post demanded, a judgement that covered Sergeant Major Roberts himself. The adjutant was the officer responsible for drill, the daily roster of duties and the garrison's discipline. The Foot Guards, the King's household infantry in London, set the standard of drill for the army, so a sergeant from those regiments could bring current practice to a garrison of Company soldiers. The opinion was offered in the Governor's name alone and not the Council's, and its closing remark amounted to an admission that discipline on the island was poor. Morrit and Fish were removed by a cheaper route than Sergeant Payne or the gardener, for each of whom the Council paid £5 0s 0d in passage money. Captain Purvis needed hands, so the two went under an order as working crew at no charge to the Company. The Council thus used the ship's shortage of men to rid the island of a thief and a convicted offender, and the paragraph recorded their offences to justify the removal. Fish's conviction was for an attempt, and banishment by this means followed it; the letter mentioned no other sentence. A sentinel was a private soldier of the garrison. Morrit lasted less than a year. The letter of 15 June 1768 reported his engagement by the Court as carpenter's mate, and by 30 September 1768 he stood accused of theft from Plantation House, the Governor's country residence. The island was therefore again short of a skilled tradesman sent out at the Company's expense. Captain Mitchell's bill for £800 0s 0d went to Alexander Hume Esquire, the payee of his £400 0s 0d bill of 30 May 1768. The Engineer was due to leave during 1769, and the larger sum showed him sending his money ahead. It was drawn in the same letter that cleared him of using the Company's workmen and materials on a private building. | |
152 | By this Conveyance we transmit your Honors§ §1 Governor & Councils General Letter dated 13th. February 1769§ §2 Do. & Do. Do. dated 13th. Do. Do. relatg. to Law Matters§ §3 Duplicate Do. & Do. Do. dated 10th. Septr. 1768§ §4 Do. Do. & Do. Do. dated 23d. January 1769§ §5 Do. Do. & Do. Do. dated 10th. Septr. 1768 relatg. to Law Matters§ §6 Consultations from the 12th. Septr. 1768 to the 13th. Febry. 1769§ §7 Duplicate Do. from the 15th. Augst. to the 5th. Septr. 1768§ §8 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Egmont§ §9 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Adml. Pocock§ §10 Do. Do. Captn. Hooke for £5..§ §11 Do. Do. Captn. Mears for a Box containg. a Plan of Banks's Batterys§ | 9: The general books of accounts, balanced to 30 September 1768, went home with this letter. A summary of the cost of the upper battery at Banks's accompanied them. 10: The fortification at Lemon Valley was finished. The Council promised to send a plan of it as soon as the Engineer presented one. It directed him to press on with the demi-bastions of the inner line in James's Valley and with the work still unfinished at Munden's battery. The letter was dated at St Helena on 13 February 1769 and signed by three members of the Council. John Skottowe M Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Valentine, dated 13 February 1769. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 13 February 1769 2: General letter from the Governor and Council on legal business dated 13 February 1769 3: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 10 September 1768 4: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 23 January 1769 5: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council on legal business dated 10 September 1768 6: Consultations from 12 September 1768 to 13 February 1769 7: Duplicate of the consultations from 15 August 1768 to 5 September 1768 8: First receipt for the packet sent by the Egmont. 9: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Admiral Pocock. 10: Second receipt from Captain Hooke for £5 0s 0d 11: Second receipt from Captain Mears for a box containing a plan of the batteries at Banks's Interpretations The order of work changed from the programme set out on 13 August 1768. Captain Mitchell then expected to finish Munden's and Lemon Valley by May or June 1769 and described the demi-bastions in James's Valley as a minor job that could be left to others after he sailed. Lemon Valley was now complete some months early, Munden's was not, and the Council set the Engineer to the demi-bastions himself. It thus passed over the plan of leaving them for Lieutenant Bazett and used the time gained to have the designer build them while he was still on the island. The summary of the cost of the upper battery fulfilled the promise of 10 September 1768, when the figure was held back until the quarter's accounts were examined. The books were balanced to 30 September 1768, which marked the close of the island's accounting year, the same date on which the lists of families, rents and slaves were taken in 1767. The date of 13 February 1769 fixed the days left open in the letter. The Valentine arrived on 3 February 1769, and the bills for Captain Mitchell and Mr Wrangham were dated 13 February 1769. The consultations enclosed ran unbroken for five months from 12 September 1768, covering the whole gap in homeward shipping and the hearings on Sergeant Payne, Lieutenant Sample, Morrit and Fish. | |
153 | 12 Captn. Purvis's first Receipt for £5..§ §13 Effective State of the Garrison§ §14 Muster Rolls of Do.§ §15 List of Officers and Servants taken the 13th. February 1769§ §16 Do. of Familys taken 30th. Septr. 1768§ §17 Do. of Rents taken 30 Do. Do.§ §18 Do. of the Honble Compys. Slaves taken 30th. Do. Do.§ §19 Duplicate Do. of the Packet P Ship Egmont§ §20 Cash Account from the 11th to the 30th. Septr. 1768§ §21 Do. for the Month of October Do.§ §22 Do. for the Month of Novr. Do.§ §23 Do. for the Month of Decr. Do.§ §24 Do. for the Month of Janry. 1769§ §25 Do. from the 1st. to the 13th. Febry. Do.§ §26 Duplicate Do. from the 14th. to the 31st. Augt. 1768§ §27 Do. Do. from the 1st. to the 10th. Septr. Do.§ §28 Ship Valentine's Acct.§ §29 Duplicate Ship Egmonts Do.§ §30 Do. Do. Greenwich's Do.§ §31 Time of the Arrival of the Valentines Boat at Banks's§ §32 Abstract of the Valentines Cargoe§ §33 Proceedgs. of a General Quarter Sessions held on the 3d. Octr. 1768§ §34 Do. Do. held on the 11th Janry. 1769§ §35 Abstract of the Expence of Banks's upper Battery§ §36 General Books of Accounts§ | The list of the packet sent by the Valentine continued with the remaining enclosures. 12: Captain Purvis's first receipt for £5 0s 0d 13: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 14: Muster rolls of the garrison 15: List of officers and servants taken on 13 February 1769 16: List of families taken on 30 September 1768 17: List of rents taken on 30 September 1768 18: List of the Company's slaves taken on 30 September 1768 19: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Egmont. 20: Cash account from 11 September 1768 to 30 September 1768 21: Cash account for October 1768 22: Cash account for November 1768 23: Cash account for December 1768 24: Cash account for January 1769 25: Cash account from 1 February 1769 to 13 February 1769 26: Duplicate cash account from 14 August 1768 to 31 August 1768 27: Duplicate cash account from 1 September 1768 to 10 September 1768 28: Account of the Valentine. 29: Duplicate account of the Egmont. 30: Duplicate account of the Greenwich. 31: Note of the time at which the Valentine's boat reached Banks's. 32: Summary of the cargo of the Valentine. 33: Proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 3 October 1768 34: Proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 11 January 1769 35: Summary of the cost of the upper battery at Banks's 36: General books of accounts Interpretations Captain Purvis's receipt was the voucher for Sergeant Payne's passage money, reported in paragraph 3 of the letter of 13 February 1769. It stood in the list beside the second copy of Captain Hooke's receipt for the gardener, so the Court held proof of both sums of £5 0s 0d spent on removing men from the island. The lists of families, rents and the Company's slaves were taken on 30 September 1768, a year to the day after those sent by the Hector on 23 February 1768. They went home with the general books balanced to the same date, giving the Court the island's population, revenue and labour force alongside its accounts at the close of the year. The slave list bore on the Council's argument of 23 February 1768 that the Company's slaves were too few for the fortification works. The quarter sessions of 3 October 1768 were those at which John Fish was convicted, as paragraph 6 of the letter recorded. The Court therefore received the trial record in the same packet as the news that he was shipped off in the Valentine. | |
154 | To the Honoble &ca.§ | 1: The Council's previous letter went home by the Valentine, which left the island on 14 February 1769. 2: The Bute arrived from Bombay on the twenty-fifth of the previous month. The Royal Captain came in on the fifth of the month, with Anjengo as her last port of call. The Kent followed on the ninth and the Verelst on the tenth, both from Bengal. Captain [...] left Bombay on 8 December 1768, when the Calcutta and the York lay there. He added that the Essex and the Grenville were on the Malabar coast. The Verelst and the Kent left Bengal on 5 December 1768, when five Company ships remained there: the Dutton, Queen, Salisbury, Talbot and Ankerwyke. The Dutton was to complete her cargo at Madras. The Queen and the Salisbury were to be sent to England in January 1769 and the Talbot in February 1769. The Ankerwyke was to go to Bombay to repair damage she suffered in the Bengal river, and she was for the time being out of the Company's service. 3: The Council ordered Captain Tanner to take James Burne, an invalid soldier, aboard his ship and paid the captain £5 0s 0d for the passage. Captain Tanner's receipt and the surgeon's certificate went home with the letter. 4: The Bute carried as passengers Major Gowan and his wife, Captain Scott and his wife and Captain Barr. Lieutenant Boles travelled aboard the Royal Captain and Mr Dixon aboard the Kent. The Verelst carried Mrs Grant and her sister, Captain Lewis and his wife, Mr Hewit and Captain Knot. 5: The Council went with the Engineer on the seventh of the month to inspect the battery at Lemon Valley. It found the work extremely well finished and built to the plan the Court approved. The Council judged the battery strong enough to oppose an enemy landing from boats and so to defend that valley. Interpretations Burne's passage was paid for, like those of the gardener on 10 September 1768 and Sergeant Payne on 13 February 1769, but on different grounds. He was sent home as unfit, not removed for misconduct. An invalid could not work his way as one of the crew, so the usual free passage for a discharged soldier shipped as a hand was closed to him. The surgeon's certificate travelled with the receipt as proof that his condition was genuine, which justified both the discharge and the £5 0s 0d charged to the Company. The Council stressed that Lemon Valley was built to the approved plan. That point had weight after Sandy Bay, where the letter of 23 February 1768 admitted four departures from the Court's design, and Banks's, where a new form of merlon was reported on 10 September 1768 only once built. The inspection also came soon after Sergeant Payne accused the Engineer of misusing the Company's workmen and materials, and the favourable report added to the Council's record of confidence in him. Captain Purvis reported on 13 February 1769 that the Verelst was to leave Bengal about a month after 7 October 1768. She sailed a month later than that. The Duke doubtfully read in his list was shown here to be the Dutton. The Bute was last reported on 3 January 1768, bound for Mocha. Anjengo was a small Company trading post on the Malabar coast, in the far south of India, kept for pepper and cloth. The dates placed the writing of this letter in March 1769, so the Bute arrived on 25 February 1769. | |
155 | Battery has been constructed sooner, than could reasonably have been§ §No. 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated the 13th. March 1769§ §2 Duplicate Do. & Do. Do. dated the 13th. February Do.§ §3 Do. Do. & Do. Do. dated the 13th. Do. Do. relatg. to Law matters§ §4 Consultations from the 20th. Febry. to the 13th. March Do.§ §5 Duplicate Do. from the 12th. September 1768 to the 13th. Febry. Do.§ | The Council also held that the Lemon Valley battery was built sooner than anyone could reasonably expect. Its plan went home in a separate box in the care of Captain Tanner. A summary of the cost was to follow once the gun platforms were laid, which could not be done until stones for them arrived from England. 6: Captains Maitland and Tanner asked leave to call at Ascension for turtle. Captain Maitland's crew was very sickly and, by his account, still not well enough recovered despite all the fresh supplies the island could give. Captain Tanner feared that his men would fall ill on the passage to England, as they did on his previous voyage. The Council accepted these reasons and gave each commander permission to call there. The letter was dated at St Helena on 13 March 1769 and signed by three members of the Council. John Skottowe M Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Royal Captain, dated 13 March 1769. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 13 March 1769 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 13 February 1769 3: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council on legal business dated 13 February 1769 4: Consultations from 20 February 1769 to 13 March 1769 5: Duplicate of the consultations from 12 September 1768 to 13 February 1769 Interpretations The battery was reported complete while its gun platforms were still unlaid. Platforms were the paved floors on which the guns stood and recoiled, and without them the work could not be fully armed. The Council passed over the island's own stone, used for every wall and merlon, and waited for stone from England. The letter gave no reason, but platforms needed large, flat, hard-wearing slabs able to bear the weight and shock of heavy guns, which the local rock evidently did not supply. The cost summary was held back on the same ground, so the Court received praise for speed and the plan before it could see the final charge. The plan travelled as the earlier ones did, boxed separately and entrusted to a named commander. Captain Williams carried the Sandy Bay plan on 23 February 1768 and Captain Mears that of Banks's on 10 September 1768. Captain Tanner's ground for the Ascension leave was a fear and not a fact: his crew was healthy, and he cited sickness on an earlier voyage. Captain Maitland's rested on men actually ill, as Captain Hooke's did on 10 September 1768. Both were granted together, and neither call served the island, the test the Council set itself on 2 June 1768. By this date no recorded request for the leave was refused. The date of 13 March 1769 confirmed the days left open in the letter. The Royal Captain arrived on 5 March 1769, the Kent on 9 March 1769 and the Verelst on 10 March 1769, and the inspection of Lemon Valley took place on 7 March 1769. | |
156 | No. 6 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Valentine§ §7 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Egmont§ §8 Do. Do. Captn. Purvis's for £5..§ §9 Captn. Tanners First Receipt for a Box containing a Plan of Lemon Valley Battery§ §10 Effective State of the Garrison§ §11 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Valentine§ §12 Do. Do. of Family's taken the 30th. September 1768§ §13 Do. Do. of Rents taken the 30th. Do. Do.§ §14 Do. Do. of the Honble. Companys Slaves taken 30th. Do. Do.§ §15 Cash Account from the 14th. to the 28th. February 1769§ §16 Do. Do. from the 1st to the 13th. March Do.§ §17 Duplicate Do. from the 11th. to the 30th Septr. 1768§ §18 Do. Do. for the Month of October Do.§ §19 Do. Do. for the Month of November Do.§ §20 Do. Do. for the Month of December Do.§ §21 Do. Do. for the Month of January 1769§ §22 Do. Do. from the 1st. to the 13th. Febry. Do.§ §23 Ship Royal Captain's Acct.§ §24 Do. Bute's Do.§ §25 Duplicate Ship Valentines Do.§ §26 Time of Ships Boats Arrival at Banks's§ §27 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Royal Captain, Bute, Verelst, & Kent§ §28 Duplicate Proceedings of a General Quarterly Sessions held on ye. 3d. October 1768§ §29 Do. Do. Do. held on ye. 11th. January 1769§ §30 Captn. Tanners First Receipt for £5..§ §31 Surgeons Certificate of James Burne an Invalid§ §32 Duplicate Abstract of the Expence of Banks's upper Battery§ | The list of the packet sent by the Royal Captain continued with the remaining enclosures. 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the Valentine. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Egmont. 8: Second receipt from Captain Purvis for £5 0s 0d 9: Captain Tanner's first receipt for a box containing a plan of the Lemon Valley battery 10: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 11: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Valentine. 12: Duplicate list of families taken on 30 September 1768 13: Duplicate list of rents taken on 30 September 1768 14: Duplicate list of the Company's slaves taken on 30 September 1768 15: Cash account from 14 February 1769 to 28 February 1769 16: Cash account from 1 March 1769 to 13 March 1769 17: Duplicate cash account from 11 September 1768 to 30 September 1768 18: Duplicate cash account for October 1768 19: Duplicate cash account for November 1768 20: Duplicate cash account for December 1768 21: Duplicate cash account for January 1769 22: Duplicate cash account from 1 February 1769 to 13 February 1769 23: Account of the Royal Captain. 24: Account of the Bute. 25: Duplicate account of the Valentine. 26: Note of the time at which the ships' boats reached Banks's. 27: Summary of the cargoes of the Royal Captain, Bute, Verelst and Kent. 28: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 3 October 1768 29: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 11 January 1769 30: Captain Tanner's first receipt for £5 0s 0d 31: Surgeon's certificate for James Burne, an invalid 32: Duplicate summary of the cost of the upper battery at Banks's Interpretations Captain Tanner gave two separate receipts, one for the boxed plan of the Lemon Valley battery and one for the £5 0s 0d paid for James Burne's passage. Both were called first receipts, so second copies were held back for a later ship, as with Captain Mears's receipt for the Banks's plan and Captain Hooke's for the gardener's passage money. The surgeon's certificate at item 31 supported the payment by showing that Burne was discharged as unfit, as paragraph 3 of the letter of 13 March 1769 reported. The packet listed accounts for the Royal Captain and the Bute only, although the cargo summary at item 27 covered four ships. The Verelst and the Kent arrived on 10 March 1769 and 9 March 1769, a few days before the packet closed, and their accounts were evidently left for a later ship. | |
157 | To the Honble§ | 1: The Council's previous letter went home by the Royal Captain, which left the island on 13 March 1769 in company with the Bute. 2: Two commanders brought sheep from the Cape. Captain Mills, 60 sheep Captain Baddison, 20 sheep Total cost of the 80 sheep as shown by the commanders' bills, £60 0s 0d Their bills were entered in the consultation of 17 March 1769. Neither commander wished to take the money on the island, so the Council gave them certificates for the amounts and left the Court to pay. The sheep were all good, and the Council found that sheep did much better on the island than black cattle. The letter was dated at St Helena on 17 March 1769 and signed by three members of the Council. John Skottowe Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations Black cattle was the ordinary term of the period for oxen, bulls and cows of any colour, as distinct from sheep and other small stock. The Council's letter of 2 June 1768 offered commanders a choice between payment on the island and a reference to the Court for livestock brought from the Cape. Both men here passed over ready cash and took certificates, the written acknowledgements of the debt that the Court honoured in London. The choice worked as a bill of exchange did, sparing a commander the risk of carrying coin home, and it left the island's treasury untouched at a time when the Council was relying on money paid in for bills to meet its running costs, as the letter of 13 August 1768 explained. The remark on sheep carried the argument of 2 June 1768 a step further. The Council then asked that only young cattle be bought at the Cape, since fully half of the old, large animals died soon after landing. It now reported that all 80 sheep arrived in good condition, at an average of £0 15s 0d a head, and set them above cattle as the better purchase. The comparison pointed the Court towards ordering sheep in preference, though the letter stopped short of asking for it. Captains Mills and Baddison were evidently the commanders of the Kent and the Verelst, the two ships that arrived from Bengal on 9 March 1769 and 10 March 1769 and remained after the Royal Captain and the Bute sailed. The letter did not say which man commanded which ship. | |
158 | List of the Honorable Company's Packet from St. Helena§ §No. 1 Govr. & Councils General Letter dated the 17th. March 1769§ §2 Duplicate Do. & Do. Do. dated the 13th. Do. Do.§ §3 Consultations of the 17th. March 1769§ §4 Duplicate Do. from the 20th. Febry to the 13th March 1769§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Royal Captain§ §6 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Valentine§ §7 Do. Do. Captn. Tanners for a Box containing a Plan of Lemon Valley Batty.§ §8 Do. Do. Do. for £5..§ §9 Effective State of the Garrison§ §10 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Royal Captain§ §11 Cash Acct. from the 14th. to the 17th. March 1769§ §12 Duplicate Do. from the 14 to the 28th. February Do.§ §13 Do. Do. from the 1st. to the 13th. March Do.§ §14 Ship Verelst Account§ §15 Do. Kents Do.§ §16 Duplicate Ship Royal Captain's Do.§ §17 Do. Do. Butes Do.§ §18 Duplicate Surgeons Certificate of James Burne Invalid§ §To the Honble &ca.§ | A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Verelst, dated 17 March 1769. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 17 March 1769 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 13 March 1769 3: Consultation of 17 March 1769 4: Duplicate of the consultations from 20 February 1769 to 13 March 1769 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Royal Captain. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Valentine. 7: Second receipt from Captain Tanner for a box containing a plan of the Lemon Valley battery 8: Second receipt from Captain Tanner for £5 0s 0d 9: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 10: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Royal Captain. 11: Cash account from 14 March 1769 to 17 March 1769 12: Duplicate cash account from 14 February 1769 to 28 February 1769 13: Duplicate cash account from 1 March 1769 to 13 March 1769 14: Account of the Verelst. 15: Account of the Kent. 16: Duplicate account of the Royal Captain. 17: Duplicate account of the Bute. 18: Duplicate surgeon's certificate for James Burne, an invalid A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter went home by the Verelst, which left the island on 17 March 1769 in company with the Kent. 2: Four Company ships arrived within six days: the Grosvenor on 19 March 1769, the Duke of Gloucester on 20 March 1769, the Lord Mansfield on 21 March 1769 and the Harcourt on 24 March 1769. Interpretations The accounts of the Verelst and the Kent, missing from the Royal Captain's packet of 13 March 1769, went home here at items 14 and 15. The two ships sailed four days after the others, which gave time for their accounts to be made up. Captain Tanner's second receipts for the boxed plan of Lemon Valley and for James Burne's passage money followed the first copies sent on 13 March 1769. The surgeon's certificate was duplicated with them, so the Court held the full voucher for the £5 0s 0d by two ships. | |
159 | from China, The above four Ships with the London left that Place the§ | The four ships that arrived between 19 March 1769 and 24 March 1769 all came from China, and they left Canton with the London on 27 December 1768. Twelve Company ships were at Canton that season. Seven were named, the Clive, Hector, True Briton, Sea Horse, Tilbury, Asia and Pacifick, and the remaining five were the four new arrivals and the London. The foreign and private shipping there was also counted. Country ships, 3 Danish ships, 1 Swedish ships, 1 Dutch ships, 4 French ships, 4 The Ponsborne and the Granby were still absent from Canton. Both lay at Batavia and meant to take the eastern passage. Captain Jackson died at Batavia. Captain Roddam, who called at the Cape, reported that a French snow arrived there from Europe full of officers bound for Mauritius. The French were reported to hold nearly 4,000 well-disciplined troops on that island, ready for any emergency. The Duke of Richmond arrived from Bencoolen on 29 March 1769. 3: The Council ordered Captain Saunders to take three discharged soldiers aboard the Grosvenor to help bring her crew up to strength. John Weaver Robert Davis Richard Vincent 4: Captain Macleod advised the Council that the fresh provisions the island could supply were not enough to restore his crew. He asked leave to call at Ascension for turtle, and the Council agreed. 5: The letter went home by the Lord Mansfield, which sailed in company with the Grosvenor and the Duke of Gloucester. The letter was dated at St Helena on 29 March 1769 and signed by three members of the Council. John Skottowe Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick Interpretations The report from Mauritius gave a figure to the rumour relayed on 13 February 1769, when Captain Purvis heard at the Cape that the French gathered a great number of Europeans there. Nearly 4,000 trained troops, with a shipload of officers on the way to lead them, was a force far larger than St Helena's garrison, and Mauritius lay on the same homeward route. The Council passed the news on without comment, but it bore directly on the batteries at Banks's, Lemon Valley and Munden's and on the request of 13 August 1768 for 50 recruits and a trained artillery officer. A snow was a two-masted merchant vessel, square-rigged on both masts, with a small extra mast set close behind the mainmast to carry a fore-and-aft sail. The eastern passage was the route to China through the islands east of Java and Borneo and into the Pacific, used by ships that reached the East Indies too late in the season to sail up the China Sea against the monsoon. The Ponsborne and the Granby were therefore late ships, expected at Canton only after the rest of the fleet left. The count of shipping at Canton could be set against Captain Milford's for the previous season, sent on 14 March 1768. Country ships fell from six to three, Danish ships from two to one and Swedish ships from two to one. Dutch ships held at four and French ships rose from three to four. The Company's own fleet of twelve, with two more expected, far outnumbered any single rival. Captain Macleod's ground for the Ascension leave was that the island's fresh provisions were insufficient for his crew. That reason again concerned the ship's needs and not the island's, the test set on 2 June 1768, and the leave was granted as on every earlier request. The Duke of Richmond returned from Bencoolen nine months after she carried £2,000 0s 0d out to Fort Marlborough in June 1768. The Hector, Tilbury and Sea Horse, all named in the letters of 1768, were by then on their next voyages to China. | |
160 | List of the Honble Compys. Packet from St. Helena P§ §No. 1 Govr. & Councils General Letter dated the 29th. March 1769§ §2 Duplicate Do. & Do. dated the 17th. Do. Do.§ §3 Consultations from the 20th. to the 27th. Do. Do.§ §4 Duplicate Do. of the 17th. Do. Do.§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Verelst§ §6 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Royal Captain§ §7 Effective State of the Garrison§ §8 List of Officers and Servants taken the 29th. March 1769§ §9 Do. of 3 discharged Soldiers§ §10 Duplicate List of Packet P Ship Verelst§ §11 Cash Account from 18th. to the 29th. March 1769§ §12 Duplicate Do. from the 14th. to the 17th. Do. Do.§ §13 Ship Lord Mansfields Acct.§ §14 Do. Grosvenor Do.§ §15 Do. Duke of Gloucesters Do.§ §16 Duplicate Ship Verelst Do.§ §17 Do. Ship Kents Do.§ §18 Time of Ships Boats arrival at Banks's§ §19 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Grosvenor, Duke of Gloucester, Lord§ | A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Lord Mansfield, dated 29 March 1769. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 29 March 1769 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 17 March 1769 3: Consultations from 20 March 1769 to 27 March 1769 4: Duplicate of the consultation of 17 March 1769 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Verelst. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Royal Captain. 7: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 8: List of officers and servants taken on 29 March 1769 9: List of 3 discharged soldiers 10: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Verelst. 11: Cash account from 18 March 1769 to 29 March 1769 12: Duplicate cash account from 14 March 1769 to 17 March 1769 13: Account of the Lord Mansfield. 14: Account of the Grosvenor. 15: Account of the Duke of Gloucester. 16: Duplicate account of the Verelst. 17: Duplicate account of the Kent. 18: Note of the time at which the ships' boats reached Banks's. 19: Summary of the cargoes of the Grosvenor, Duke of Gloucester, Lord Mansfield and Harcourt. Interpretations The cargo summary at item 19 covered four ships, but accounts were enclosed for three only. The Harcourt arrived on 24 March 1769, later than the others, and the letter of 29 March 1769 did not name her among the ships sailing with the Lord Mansfield. Her account was evidently left for the packet she herself carried, as happened with the Verelst and the Kent on 17 March 1769. The three discharged soldiers at item 9 were John Weaver, Robert Davis and Richard Vincent, entered in the Grosvenor's crew under paragraph 3 of the letter. No written undertaking about wages accompanied the list, in keeping with their shipment as working hands. | |
161 | To the Honble &ca.§ | The Council wrote to the Court on 29 March 1769 by the Lord Mansfield, and the Clive arrived from China the following day. Captain Allen left China on 3 January 1769 in company with the Pacifick and the Asia. He parted from the Pacifick in the Straits of Sunda, where he also saw the London. The Asia separated from him off the Cape about three weeks before he reached the island. The letter was dated at St Helena on 30 March 1769 and signed by three members of the Council. John Skottowe Matthew Purling Thomas Kirkpatrick A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below. 1: The Council's previous letter went home by the Lord Mansfield, which left the island on 30 March 1769 in company with the Grosvenor and the Duke of Gloucester. The Duke of Albany arrived on the first of the month and brought a packet from the Court. The Council opened it at once and read the instructions it contained. Captain Kirkpatrick was unwell and unable to attend, so the Council directed the Secretary to tell him of the Court's orders concerning him. The Secretary was also to press him for a prompt response. Interpretations The short letter of 30 March 1769 was written a day after the full one and carried a single piece of shipping news. The Lord Mansfield was still in the road, since the next letter recorded her sailing on 30 March 1769, and the Council chose to add a separate note instead of reopening a letter already signed and listed in the packet. The note accounted for three of the seven ships named at Canton on 29 March 1769 and placed the London, which left Canton on 27 December 1768, in the Straits of Sunda. Those straits, between Java and Sumatra, were the usual gateway from the China Sea into the Indian Ocean. The Court's packet by the Duke of Albany contained orders about Captain Kirkpatrick personally. They were the first reply from London to the quarrel reported on 13 August 1768, when Governor Skottowe and Mr Purling cleared Mr Corneille, condemned his accuser's conduct and referred the final decision home. Captain Kirkpatrick was absent again when the orders were read, this time on the ground of illness, and the Council passed over waiting for his recovery. It sent the Secretary to his house with the orders, which put the communication on an official footing and gave the Council a witness that he received them. The page did not state what the Court decided. The reference to the first of the current month, following a letter of 30 March 1769, placed the Duke of Albany's arrival on 1 April 1769. | |
162 | expeditious as possible in making up and rendering Us an Account of his§ | The Secretary was to ask Captain Kirkpatrick to make up and hand in, as quickly as he could, an account of his spending for the quarter that closed on 31 March 1769. The Harcourt sailed so soon after the Court's orders arrived that no reply to the general letter could go by her. The Council promised an answer as soon as possible and gave its assurance that every order would be strictly carried out. 3: The Asia arrived from China on 1 April 1769, with the Cape as her last port of call. Captain Preston saw the Lioness coming out of the Cape as he went in, but he did not speak with her. The True Briton came in from China on the day before the letter was written. Captain Johnson left China on 16 January 1769 in company with the Tilbury. He spoke with the London on 22 February 1769 in latitude 23 degrees south. 4: No new cash account could go home with this letter, only a duplicate of the one sent before. The quarter's accounts were not due to come before the Council until 17 April 1769. 5: The Court's general letter of 23 December 1757 stated in its thirtieth paragraph that the presidencies were forbidden to transport criminals and people of bad character from India to the island. The Governor and Council of Fort Marlborough nevertheless sent one such man by the Duke of Richmond. He was Mass Pangue, a Malay and a leading figure in his own country. Their stated reason was that he caused great trouble to the Company's business in the districts of Manna. The pepper investment there could have suffered badly if he stayed any longer on the West Coast. Fort Marlborough reported that he was equal in rank to Nockquedah Boccolum. The Council therefore agreed to give him the same allowance until the Court sent directions about him. It also pointed out that the old objections to keeping people of this kind on the island still held good. Interpretations Captain Kirkpatrick evidently held a post that handled the Company's money, since he owed the Council a quarterly account of his spending. The demand for that account came in the same message as the Court's orders about him, and the Council asked for speed. The page still did not state what the Court decided, but the pairing suggests that the orders touched his office and that his books had to be closed before they could take effect. The Council passed over the obvious course of refusing the exile or sending him back by the same ship. Fort Marlborough broke a standing order more than eleven years old, yet the man was landed and maintained. The Council had little real choice once he arrived, since returning him meant undoing a political decision made by another settlement for the sake of its pepper supply. It therefore accepted him provisionally, quoted the Court's own paragraph to show where the breach lay and left the decision to London. The Duke of Richmond, which carried £2,000 0s 0d to Fort Marlborough in June 1768, thus brought back a prisoner in return. Mass Pangue was a political exile, not a common criminal. Manna was one of the pepper districts on the coast south of Bencoolen, and the "West Coast" meant the west coast of Sumatra. The investment was the Company's yearly purchase of pepper, which depended on local chiefs obliging their people to grow and deliver it, so a chief who obstructed that system threatened the settlement's whole purpose. Nockquedah Boccolum was plainly an earlier exile of rank already kept on the island at the Company's cost. "Nockquedah" was a form of nakhoda, a Malay and Persian title for the master or owner of a trading vessel. Matching the newcomer's allowance to his settled the question of expense by precedent, without the Council fixing a new rate on its own authority. The dates placed this letter in April 1769, before the seventeenth. The withholding of a cash account repeated the practice of 2 April 1768, when the Council likewise sent nothing new until the quarter's accounts were examined. | |
163 | by the Governor and Council of this Place in their Letter dated the 21§ §1 Govr. & Councils general Letter dated the 3d. April 1769§ §2 Duplicate Do. & Do. dated the 29th. March Do.§ §3 Do. Do. & Do. dated the 30th. Do. Do.§ §4 Consultations from the 1st. to the 3d. April Do.§ §5 Duplicate Do. from the 20th. to the 27th. March Do.§ §6 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Lord Mansfield§ §7 Do. Do. for a Paper Do. P Ship Do.§ §8 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Verelst§ | The objections to keeping such exiles were first put to the Court by the island's Governor and Council in a letter of 21 June 1757. The Council wished to have less to do with Malays than with any other people, since Nockquedah Boccolum proved a very discontented and difficult man. It asked the Court to forbid the practice and to order the exiles removed from the settlement. 6: The Governor and Council of Fort Marlborough also sent by the Duke of Richmond one of the Company's Coffree slaves and his wife. The man made a habit of running off into the country and living by robbery. The Council allowed that the labour of these two slaves could be of use on the island. The Malays, by contrast, were a pure expense, and their vengeful temper made them unpleasant and therefore unsuitable people to keep there. The letter was dated at St Helena on 3 April 1769 and signed by two members of the Council. John Skottowe M Purling A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Harcourt, dated 3 April 1769. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 3 April 1769 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 29 March 1769 3: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 30 March 1769 4: Consultations from 1 April 1769 to 3 April 1769 5: Duplicate of the consultations from 20 March 1769 to 27 March 1769 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the Lord Mansfield. 7: First receipt for a paper packet sent by the Lord Mansfield. 8: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Verelst. Interpretations Coffree was the term used in the Company's eastern settlements for African slaves, most of them brought from Madagascar and the East African coast. Fort Marlborough kept a body of them as Company labourers. The man sent here was a runaway who lived by plunder in the Sumatran interior, and shipping him to a small island with no hinterland to escape into was a way of ending that. The Council drew a sharp line between the two kinds of unwanted arrival, and the test was labour. Both the slave couple and the Malay exile reached the island in breach of the Court's order of 23 December 1757. The Council passed over a consistent objection to all three and protested only against the exiles. A slave with a record of flight and robbery was accepted because he and his wife could be put to work, at a time when the Council held the Company's slaves too few for its needs, as it argued on 23 February 1768. A chief of rank could not be made to work and had to be paid an allowance, so he was all cost. The request that the Malays be "sent from this settlement" covered Nockquedah Boccolum as well as Mass Pangue. Only Governor Skottowe and Mr Purling signed, where the letters from 23 January 1769 to 30 March 1769 carried three names. Captain Kirkpatrick was reported unwell on 1 April 1769, and the Court's orders about him were delivered by the Secretary on the same occasion. The letter gave no further reason for the missing signature. The date of 3 April 1769 fixed the days left open in the letter. The True Briton arrived on 2 April 1769, and the quarter's accounts were due before the Council on 17 April 1769. The Harcourt sailed after only ten days at the island, within the limit of ten working days reported on 2 June 1768. | |
164 | 9 Effective State of the Garrison§ §10 Muster Rolls of Do.§ §11 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Lord Mansfield§ §12 Do. Cash Acct. from 18th. to the 29th. March 1769§ §13 Ship Harcourts Account§ §14 Duplicate Ship Lord Mansfields Acct.§ §15 Do. Ship Grosvenors Do.§ §16 Do. Ship Duke of Gloucesters Do.§ §17 Time of Ships Boats Arrival at Banks's§ §18 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Duke of Richmond & True Briton§ §19 Govrs. Letter to the Secret Committee§ §To The Honoble &ca.§ | The list of the packet sent by the Harcourt continued with the remaining enclosures. 9: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 10: Muster rolls of the garrison 11: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Lord Mansfield. 12: Duplicate cash account from 18 March 1769 to 29 March 1769 13: Account of the Harcourt. 14: Duplicate account of the Lord Mansfield. 15: Duplicate account of the Grosvenor. 16: Duplicate account of the Duke of Gloucester. 17: Note of the time at which the ships' boats reached Banks's. 18: Summary of the cargoes of the Duke of Richmond and the True Briton. 19: Letter from the Governor to the Secret Committee A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter went home by the Harcourt, which left the island on 4 April 1769. 2: The Duke of Richmond carried as passengers Messrs Blankern, Botham and Demeretz. 3: Captain Preston asked leave to call at Ascension for turtle to restore his crew, and the Council agreed. The letter was dated at St Helena on 8 April 1769 and signed by two members of the Council. John Skottowe M Purling Interpretations Governor Skottowe wrote to the Secret Committee in his own name, and the letter travelled as a numbered enclosure whose contents the list did not describe. The Committee's correspondence ran to the Governor alone, as the letter of 13 May 1768 showed when he acknowledged its orders without disclosing them. His reply here followed two reports of French strength at Mauritius, the gathering of Europeans relayed on 13 February 1769 and the figure of nearly 4,000 troops sent on 29 March 1769. The Committee dealt with war and the safety of shipping, so the letter perhaps concerned that intelligence, though the list gave no subject. The packet carried no new cash account, only the duplicate at item 12. That agreed with paragraph 4 of the letter of 3 April 1769, which held the next account back until the quarter's books came before the Council on 17 April 1769. Captain Preston commanded the Asia, which arrived on 1 April 1769. His request gave only the general ground of refreshing his crew, with no sickness alleged, and it was granted like every earlier one. The test set on 2 June 1768, that a call should serve the island, again went unapplied. Captain Kirkpatrick's name was missing for a second letter running. The letter of 3 April 1769 reported him unwell on 1 April 1769, when the Secretary took him the Court's orders, and this one gave no further explanation. | |
165 | List of the Honoble Company's Packet from St. Helena P Ship§ §No. 1 Govr. & Councils General Letter dated the 8th. April 1769§ §2 Duplicate Do. & Do. dated the 3d. Do. Do.§ §3 Consultation of the 8th. April 1769§ §4 Duplicate Do. from the 1st. to the 3d Do. Do.§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Harcourt§ §6 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Lord Mansfield§ §7 Do. Do. for a Paper Do. P Ship Do.§ §8 Effective State of the Garrison§ §9 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Harcourt§ §10 Ship Asia's Account§ §11 Duplicate Ship Harcourts Do.§ §12 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Clive and Asia§ §13 Governor's Letter to the Secret Committee§ §To the Honoble &ca.§ | A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Asia, dated 8 April 1769. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 8 April 1769 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 3 April 1769 3: Consultation of 8 April 1769 4: Duplicate of the consultations from 1 April 1769 to 3 April 1769 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Harcourt. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Lord Mansfield. 7: Second receipt for a paper packet sent by the Lord Mansfield. 8: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 9: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Harcourt. 10: Account of the Asia. 11: Duplicate account of the Harcourt. 12: Summary of the cargoes of the Clive and the Asia. 13: Letter from the Governor to the Secret Committee A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter went home on 8 April 1769 by the Asia. 2: News that every Company ship of the previous season reached home safely delighted the Council. It hoped for the same good fortune for the ships engaged to carry on the Company's trade that year. 3: The Council promised to carry out every order received from the Secret Committee, or from any three of its members. 4: The Duke of Albany and the Speke were to be sent on their way within the period fixed by charter-party, as was the Council's practice. That would spare the Company any charge for demurrage. Interpretations Demurrage was the daily payment the Company owed a ship's owners when it kept her beyond the time the hiring contract allowed. The charter-party was that contract, and it fixed the stay at each port. The letter of 2 June 1768 described the same limit as ten working days and reported the Tilbury released when they ran out. This paragraph supplied the reason the limit mattered: every extra day at the island was a direct money cost to the Company, not merely a delay. The Duke of Albany arrived on 1 April 1769, so the letter was written while her allowance was still running or just ending. Governor Skottowe sent a second letter to the Secret Committee, five days after the one enclosed in the Harcourt's packet of 3 April 1769. The list did not call it a duplicate, although every other repeated paper was so marked, which suggests a fresh letter and not a copy. Its subject was again left unstated. The packet held no cash account of any kind, new or duplicate. The quarter's accounts were not due before the Council until 17 April 1769, as the letter of 3 April 1769 explained, and the duplicate of the last account already went by the Harcourt. The opening paragraphs repeated almost exactly those of the letter of 2 June 1768, which answered the Court's orders brought by the Tilbury. The Council was therefore beginning its promised reply to the general letter that the Duke of Albany delivered on 1 April 1769, taking the Court's paragraphs in order. | |
166 | We wish Prosperity to your affairs in China, under the§ | 5: The Council wished the Company's business in China every success under the men the Court appointed as its council there. Any change needed in the island's orders on China was to be passed to the supercargoes by the Speke. 6: The Court's orders that commanders should stock up in India for the voyage home greatly benefited the island, and the Council asked for them to continue. Only sheep came from the Cape that year, and experience showed that they did much better than black cattle. Many of the cattle received in 1768 died although they arrived healthy. The survivors throve so poorly that they were still not ready for slaughter. The sheep, by contrast, were of great use at once in supplying the market and the hospital. More Company ships now had to call at the island each year, and the planters' returns showed that the commanders could not be given all the provisions they asked for. That held even though every ship calling at the Cape was limited to a single beast beyond the charter-party allowance. The Council therefore hoped the Court would keep ordering its early ships to call at the Cape, so that the remainder could be supplied more generously. Garden seeds from the Cape also did much better than those from England. The Council asked the Court to repeat its orders to commanders calling there to bring some. None did so that year, and the seeds received from England in 1768 proved so extremely bad that the island was very short of every kind of vegetable. 7: The Council sent no letter by His Majesty's Ship Dolphin, because the Earl of Lincoln left the island only four days before her. That ship carried a full account of everything of importance. Interpretations The preference for sheep, hinted at on 17 March 1769 when 80 arrived in good condition for £60 0s 0d, was here stated as settled experience. It went further than the request of 2 June 1768, which asked only that cattle bought at the Cape be young because half the old, large animals died soon after landing. The Council now reported that even sound cattle died or failed to fatten, while sheep could be killed for use straight away. Supplying the hospital mattered because fresh meat was the chief remedy offered to sick seamen and soldiers. The rationing of fresh meat showed the island's limits. Each ship was entitled under her charter-party to a fixed supply, and the Council allowed ships that had already called at the Cape only one animal beyond it. The planters' yearly returns of cattle for slaughter, 50 higher in the report of 23 January 1769, still could not keep pace with a growing fleet. The Council passed over raising the island's own output as the remedy and asked instead that early ships refresh at the Cape, shifting part of the demand to another port and leaving the island's stock for the later ships. Seeds from the Cape succeeded where English ones failed, perhaps because they came from a similar southern climate and spent weeks, not months, at sea. English seed lost its power to germinate on the long, warm outward passage. The failure of a single year's seed left the island short of vegetables, which shows that it could not reliably save its own seed and depended on fresh imports. The explanation about the Dolphin answered a reproach from the Court. She called on 17 March 1768 and sailed the next day, as the letter of 21 March 1768 recorded, and the Court evidently noticed that a King's ship reached England with no letter from the island. The Council's defence rested on the letter of 14 March 1768 sent by the Earl of Lincoln. | |
167 | Ships Osterly & Northumberland, were to be dispatched in a few days§ | The Council gave further reasons for sending nothing by the Dolphin. The Osterly and the Northumberland were due to leave within a few days of her. Captain Wallace was in a very great hurry and stayed only one day, and nothing out of the ordinary needed reporting. The Council undertook to come as near as it could to sending a copy of its letters by every ship that sailed with the one carrying the packet. Preparing current business for dispatch was very hard when many ships left together, because the various departments had few assistants. More ships than before now had to be sent off, which meant more packets, and the enlargement of the garrison was bound to add exceptional work. The Council felt certain that the Company's business could not be handled as exactly as it wished without two or three more writers. It hoped the Court would allow them to be taken on. 8: The island suffered great difficulty during 1768 from the lack of pitch, oil, coal and many other important and useful goods. The generous supply that the Court announced for the current year promised to remove that difficulty entirely. The Council undertook to send its orders home earlier in future than it did in 1768. The Engineer ordered 20 horsemen's tents in 1768 for the workmen who were to wall up a considerable number of gullies in different parts of the island, so that an enemy could not climb them. Several of those gullies lay far from any house and had no link with the main fort. A number of huts would otherwise be needed in each to house the men. The tents were meant to save the trouble and cost of building those huts by giving the workmen shelter. Interpretations The Council met a reproach with a request. The Court evidently complained that the Dolphin reached England in 1768 with no letter, and it asked for copies by every ship. The Council passed over a plain promise to comply and qualified its undertaking with "as near as possible", then used the same paragraph to argue that the office was too small for the work. It had already appointed Mr George Bazett a writer on its own authority, as the letter of 13 August 1768 reported, and it now sought leave for two or three more. The grounds were specific: the homeward fleet was larger, each sailing required its own packet with duplicates, and a bigger garrison meant more musters, pay lists and stores issues. The mention of an augmented garrison shows that the Court's letter by the Duke of Albany announced an increase in the island's troops, which followed the Council's request of 13 August 1768 for 50 recruits and the reports of French strength at Mauritius. The Court's promise of ample stores answered the complaints of 2 June 1768 and 15 June 1768, when coal came 20 chaldrons short and no deals, oil, pitch, tar, rosin or turpentine arrived at all. The Council's undertaking to send orders earlier conceded part of the fault. Its orders for 1769 went home only on 13 August 1768, a delay it then put down to a missing cargo summary and a busy storekeeper. A horseman's tent was the larger pattern of army tent issued to cavalry, roomy enough to hold a trooper's saddle and gear as well as the men. The Court evidently queried why an island without cavalry wanted 20 of them. The explanation tied the tents to the gully walls that Captain Mitchell described on 13 August 1768 as the last minor works, and it rested on economy: tents could be moved from one remote ravine to the next, whereas huts had to be built afresh at each site. Captain Wallace commanded the Dolphin, whose single day at the island on 17 March 1768 and 18 March 1768 was recorded in the letter of 21 March 1768. | |
168 | from the Inclemencies of the Weather, and they can without any Trouble§ | The tents kept the workmen out of bad weather and could be moved without difficulty from one gully to the next, wherever the men were needed. 9: The Duke of Albany brought 38 recruits, who seemed to be good men. The Council welcomed the news that the Court meant to send 80 more by the Speke. 10: The Council expected money to be paid in for bills. The state of the treasury therefore allowed it to send £1,000 0s 0d to the settlement of Fort Marlborough by the Duke of Albany. 11: The Court ordered three pipes of Madeira wine for the settlement. Once the wine arrived, it was to be charged to the Company's servants at the invoice price and shared out as the Court directed. 12: Certificates in duplicate were to go home once all the flour was received, as in 1768. 13: The consultation of 14 November 1768 recorded a resolution to lease none of the barren commons that the public had improved. The Council thought that handing such land to particular individuals would be a great injustice to the people whose labour went into improving it. Nor would leasing serve the island. It would instead discourage the improvements then being made on those lands every year. 14: Messrs James Greentree, George Bazett and Philip Mahony were told of the Court's orders about each of them. They sent the Court their sincere thanks for the favours shown. 15: The widows Beale and Kennedy were likewise told that the Court settled an annuity of £30 0s 0d a year on each of them. They sent their most sincere thanks for this mark of generosity. Interpretations The Council passed over a source of revenue. Leasing improved common land to individual tenants would have added to the rents the Company drew from the island, the income listed each year on 30 September, and the wording suggests that the Court or some applicants proposed it. The Council refused on a ground of fairness tied to how the land came to be worth leasing: the inhabitants improved it by their shared labour, and a lease gave the benefit of that work to one holder. It added a practical point, that people would stop improving commons if the result was to lose them. The commons were the unenclosed waste on which inhabitants held shared rights, chiefly of grazing, and the resolution kept the improved ground open to all who worked on it. The Court granted every personal request the Council made on 13 August 1768 and 2 June 1768. The two widows who lost their punch house licences received £30 0s 0d a year each, the exact sum the Widows' Fund paid, which the Council quoted when it argued that their case could set no precedent. Mr Greentree's commission and Mr Bazett's post as writer, both filled by the Council on its own authority, were evidently confirmed, and Mr Mahony's terms were improved after the plea that his new salary left him only £14 0s 0d better off. The request for Madeira was met as well, with three pipes ordered where the Council asked for one by each ship calling there. Charging the wine at invoice price meant that the servants paid cost and the Company took no profit. The 38 recruits already landed and the 80 promised made 118, more than twice the 50 the Council requested on 13 August 1768. That scale explained the reference to an enlarged garrison in paragraph 7 and matched the reports of French troops gathering at Mauritius. The second remittance to Fort Marlborough was half the £2,000 0s 0d sent in June 1768, and it again rested on expected payments for bills, the method of funding the island that the Council set out on 13 August 1768. | |
169 | John Drawwater Cooper shall be paid the additional Salary as§ | 16: John Drawwater, a cooper, was to receive the additional salary the Court directed. 17: John Bland's executors told the Court that the Council refused to let his executors on the island pay £700 0s 0d into the Company's treasury. The Council called this a plain falsehood, since no such request was ever made to it. It undertook to follow the Court's directions and accept the sum whenever it was offered. 18: The Court's orders about Captain Kirkpatrick were carried out. Before he left the island, the Council intended to make a careful inquiry into whether he held any plans of the Company's fortifications. Any that were found would have to be handed over. The Council also promised to make sure that nobody took or obtained plans of the works except the Engineer, and he only in the way the Court laid down. Captain Kirkpatrick had earlier passed off on the Council a fictitious advance to the commanding officers of the several military companies. Once the Council learned of this, it took firm steps at once to prevent any repetition. It also corrected from time to time every error over re-enlisting soldiers and similar matters that appeared in his accounts as paymaster. No further deception in that department could be laid to his charge. The Council undertook to examine his account of spending for the quarter just ended strictly before passing it, and to hold him answerable for anything found wrong. 19: The Court's general letter contained several paragraphs on the holding of courts of justice, with its opinions for the Council's guidance. The Council promised to follow them in every case of the kinds described there. 20: The Council directed the Engineer to set out in writing his views on whether the changes to the merlons mentioned earlier ought to be made. His paper was to go home for the Court's approval once finished. The Council then turned to the case of any gentleman arriving from India who had served there as an engineer. Interpretations Paragraph 18 showed what the Court decided about Captain Kirkpatrick: he was to leave the island. The orders were described as already carried out while his departure still lay ahead, so they removed him from his posts and required him to go home. He was thus the island's paymaster, which explains the demand on 3 April 1769 for his account of the quarter ending 31 March 1769 and the absence of his signature from the letters of 3 April 1769 and 8 April 1769. The Court ruled for Governor Skottowe and Mr Purling, who condemned his conduct on 13 August 1768 and referred the decision to London. The Council's account of his paymastership sat awkwardly with its earlier silence. A fictitious advance to the company commanders and errors over re-enlistment were faults in the handling of the garrison's pay, yet none was reported in the letters of 1768, even when the Council censured him for accusing Mr Corneille. The paragraph was framed as a defence: the Council stressed that it acted at once when it learned of the deception and that nothing further could be charged. The Court had evidently asked why such practices were allowed, and the Council answered by promising a strict audit of his last account before passing it. The order about plans treated drawings of the defences as secrets. A dismissed councillor returning to Europe with copies could have sold or shown them, at a time when nearly 4,000 French troops were reported at Mauritius on 29 March 1769. The Council's own practice already pointed the same way, since the plans of Sandy Bay, Banks's and Lemon Valley each went home boxed, in a named commander's charge and against his receipt. Bland was dead by this date, since executors acted for him both in England and on the island. Those on the island wished to pay £700 0s 0d into the treasury for a bill on London, the ordinary means of sending an estate home, as with the late Captain Inglis on 2 June 1768. The complaint of refusal continued the quarrel between Bland and the Council beyond his death, and the Court's direction to accept the money shows that it took the complaint seriously enough to rule on it. The Council's denial rested on a single fact, that nobody applied. The Court declined to order the island's parapets rebuilt on the Council's word alone. The proposal of 10 September 1768, to give every parapet exposed to ships the earth-filled merlons used at Banks's, came back with a demand for the Engineer's written opinion. A cooper made and repaired the casks in which the island's provisions, water and spirits were stored. | |
170 | your Service we shall desire them to give their Sentiments on this subject in§ | The Council undertook to ask any such officer for his opinion on the merlons, so that it could be sent home to the Court. 21: John Webbley, a matross, was discharged as the Court directed and took his passage for England in the Duke of Richmond. 22: Mr Corneille was to resume on his arrival the post he held before his resignation. He was also to take command of whichever company he chose, as the Court directed. 23: The Council gave Captain Hindman leave to take five men aboard his ship. Thomas Pearce, sergeant William Rowlands, sergeant Martin Newman, matross Thomas Woffington, sentinel Andrew Conner, sentinel 24: The Pacifick arrived from China on 10 April 1769. Captain Barkley spoke with the Pigot in latitude 35 degrees south, with all well aboard. 25: Captains Allen, Hindman and Johnson advised the Council that the fresh provisions obtained at the island were not enough to restore their crews. They asked leave to call at Ascension for turtle, and the Council allowed all three to do so. 26: Three Company ships sailed together, and the press of business made it impossible to prepare a letter for each, as the Court's latest general letter ordered. Captain Hindman instead took charge of a copy of the general letter sent by the Clive. 27: The letter went home by the Clive, which sailed with the Duke of Richmond and the True Briton. The letter was dated at St Helena on 11 April 1769 and signed by two members of the Council. John Skottowe M Purling Interpretations The Court reversed the outcome of the quarrel reported on 13 August 1768. Mr Corneille resigned on 21 July 1768 and sailed in the Admiral Pocock, while his accuser stayed. The orders brought by the Duke of Albany on 1 April 1769 removed Captain Kirkpatrick and sent Mr Corneille back to his former seat, with the choice of a company to command added as a mark of favour. His decision to go home and put his case in person therefore succeeded. Until he arrived, the Governor and Mr Purling remained the whole Council, as the two signatures showed. The Council passed over full obedience to a fresh order within days of receiving it. The Court required a letter by every ship, a point pressed after the Dolphin carried none in March 1768. Three ships left together and the Council produced one letter and one copy, leaving the third ship with nothing. It gave the same reason it used in paragraph 7 when asking for two or three more writers, so the shortfall served as immediate evidence for that request. The opinion sought from engineers arriving from India answered the Court's caution over the merlons. The Court wanted more than the word of the island's own Engineer before rebuilding parapets, and the Council offered a second professional view from any qualified officer who happened to pass through. The five men sent with Captain Hindman went on a permit, the term used for passengers, where men shipped as crew went under an order. No waiver of wages was mentioned, although eight passengers signed one on 25 April 1768. Webbley's discharge came by the Court's direction and not the Council's choice. The earlier reading of a matross named John Stebley on 2 June 1768, whose business in England involved Lord Sandys, perhaps referred to the same man. The Ascension leave was by now requested by three commanders at once in identical terms and granted to all. Captain Allen commanded the Clive and Captain Johnson the True Briton. Captain Hindman, who took a bill for £150 0s 0d on 20 June 1768 as commander of the outward Duke of Richmond, was thus on his way home in her. | |
171 | List of the Honoble Compys. Packet from St. Helena P Ship Clive dated§ §No. 1 Governor & Councils General Letter dated the 11th April 1769§ §2 Duplicate Do. & Do. dated the 8th. Do. Do.§ §3 Consultation of the 10th. Do. Do.§ §4 Duplicate Do. of the 8 Do. Do.§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Asia's§ §6 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Harcourt§ §7 Effective state of the Garrison§ §8 List of 6 Discharged Soldiers§ §9 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Asia§ §10 Ship Clives Acct.§ §11 Do. Duke of Richmonds Do.§ §12 Do. True Britons Do.§ §13 Duplicate Ship Asia's Do.§ §To the Honoble &ca.§ | A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Clive, dated 11 April 1769. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 11 April 1769 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 8 April 1769 3: Consultation of 10 April 1769 4: Duplicate of the consultation of 8 April 1769 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Asia. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Harcourt. 7: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 8: List of 6 discharged soldiers 9: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Asia. 10: Account of the Clive. 11: Account of the Duke of Richmond. 12: Account of the True Briton. 13: Duplicate account of the Asia. A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter went home on 11 April 1769 by the Clive, which left the island with the Duke of Richmond and the True Briton. 2: The Duke of Albany was sent on her way on the fourteenth of the month. She carried £1,000 0s 0d consigned to the settlement of Fort Marlborough. 3: The Council gave Captain Barkley a permit to take William Luke, a discharged soldier, aboard the Pacifick. Luke signed a written undertaking to claim no wages for the voyage home, and the document went with the letter. 4: Captain Stewart made an offer in the consultation of the fourteenth of the month. He proposed to take any old, unserviceable guns belonging to the Company as kentledge. Interpretations Kentledge was permanent iron ballast, usually pig iron or condemned cannon, laid along the bottom of a ship's hold to keep her stable. Worn-out guns were of no use to the island, which had no means of recasting them, and their weight made them worth carrying home as ballast and scrap. The six discharged soldiers at item 8 were the five men sent with Captain Hindman and the matross John Webbley, all named in the letter of 11 April 1769. Webbley sailed in the Duke of Richmond, which was Captain Hindman's ship. Luke went as a passenger and signed away his wages, as Richard Moreton did on 21 March 1768 and eight men in the Europa did on 25 April 1768. The five men carried by Captain Hindman also went on a permit, yet no waiver was recorded for them in the letter or among the enclosures listed here. The letter gave no reason for the difference. The Duke of Albany arrived on 1 April 1769 and left on 14 April 1769, within the charter-party time the Council promised to keep. The remittance to Fort Marlborough carried out the intention stated in paragraph 10 of the letter of 11 April 1769. The reference to the fourteenth placed this letter in April 1769, on or after that day. | |
172 | to carry them Fraught Free to England, we judged it a good opportunity§ §No. 1 Govr. & Councils General Letter dated the 18th April 1769§ §2 Duplicate Do. & Do. dated the 11th Do. Do.§ §3 Consultation of the 14th. Do. Do.§ §4 Duplicate Do. of the 10th Do. Do.§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Clive§ §6 Do. Do. for a Paper Do. P Ship Duke of Richmond§ §7 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Asia§ | Captain Stewart offered to carry the old guns to England free of freight, and the Council judged this a good chance to send them home. It put 31 guns of various calibres aboard the Duke of Albany and took the captain's receipt for them. That document bound him and the ship's owners to deliver the guns to the Company on the terms he proposed, once the ship reached the River Thames, and it went home with the letter. Another 15 guns of various calibres remained on the island, and the captain of artillery reported them unserviceable as well. The Council thought it wrong to leave the works without guns and kept those 15 until the replacements ordered from England arrived. It proposed, if the Court approved, to send them home free of freight at the first chance after that. 5: The accounts for the quarter just ended came before the Council only on 17 April 1769. The business arising from them made the consultation too long to be copied in time for this ship. The letter was dated at St Helena on 18 April 1769 and signed by two members of the Council. John Skottowe M Purling A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Pacifick, dated 18 April 1769. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 18 April 1769 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 11 April 1769 3: Consultation of 14 April 1769 4: Duplicate of the consultation of 10 April 1769 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Clive. 6: First receipt for a paper packet sent by the Duke of Richmond. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Asia. Interpretations The Council passed over the tidy course of clearing all 46 condemned guns at once, although free carriage was on offer for as many as the ship could take. It sent 31 and held back 15 that its own artillery officer declared just as useless. The reason given was appearance and precaution: a battery with a worn gun was thought better than an empty one, at a time when nearly 4,000 French troops were reported at Mauritius on 29 March 1769. The 15 were to follow only when new guns from England stood in their place, and the Council asked approval for that second shipment instead of assuming it. The Duke of Albany was an outward ship bound for Fort Marlborough, to which she carried £1,000 0s 0d. The guns therefore travelled out to Sumatra and back before reaching London, serving as ballast for the whole voyage. That explains the form of the receipt, which bound the owners as well as the captain and fixed delivery at the ship's arrival in the Thames, perhaps a year or more away. The captain gained ballast he would otherwise have had to buy, and the Company gained free carriage of scrap iron. The consultation of 17 April 1769 was held back because of its length, and the business it contained arose from the quarter's accounts. Those accounts included Captain Kirkpatrick's last statement as paymaster, which the Council promised on 11 April 1769 to examine strictly before passing. The Court thus received notice that the examination took place, with the record of it left for a later ship. | |
173 | [Small hole in the upper centre of the page.] 8 List of Officers and Servants taken the 18th April 1769§ §9 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Clive§ §10 Effective State of the Garrison§ §11 Ship Pacificks Account§ §12 Do. Duke of Alban[...] Do.§ §13 Duplicate Ship Clives Do.§ §14 Do. Do. Duke of Richmonds Do.§ §15 Do. Do. True Britons Do.§ §16 Cash Account from the 30th to the 31st March 1769§ §17 Do. from the 1st to the 18th April Do.§ §18 Abstract of the Pacificks Cargoe§ §19 Time of the Arrival of the Pacifick's Boat at Banks's§ §20 Instrument in writing from William Luke Soldier§ §21 Captn. Stewarts First Receipt for 31 Iron Guns§ §To the Honble &ca.§ | The list of the packet sent by the Pacifick continued with the remaining enclosures. 8: List of officers and servants taken on 18 April 1769 9: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Clive. 10: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 11: Account of the Pacifick. 12: Account of the Duke of Albany. 13: Duplicate account of the Clive. 14: Duplicate account of the Duke of Richmond. 15: Duplicate account of the True Briton. 16: Cash account from 30 March 1769 to 31 March 1769 17: Cash account from 1 April 1769 to 18 April 1769 18: Summary of the cargo of the Pacifick. 19: Note of the time at which the Pacifick's boat reached Banks's. 20: Written undertaking from William Luke, soldier 21: Captain Stewart's first receipt for 31 iron guns A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter went home on 18 April 1769 by the Pacifick. 2: Four Company ships arrived within a week. The London came in from China on 22 April 1769 and the Queen from Bengal on 23 April 1769, with the Cape as her last port of call. The Tilbury followed from China on 26 April 1769. The Calcutta arrived from Bombay on 28 April 1769, also by way of the Cape. Captain Motley spoke with the Salisbury off the Cape on 23 March 1769, with all well aboard. The Nottingham, Tryton and Havannah were reported to have called at the Cape of Good Hope for fresh supplies. News also came that the gentlemen sent by the President and Council of Bengal on a mission to Sujah Dowlah were on their way back to Calcutta. Everything was reported settled with him on friendly terms, and the country was in complete peace when the Queen left Bengal. Interpretations Sujah Dowlah was Shuja-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Oudh, whose territory lay on the north-western border of the Company's possessions in Bengal. A friendly settlement with him secured that frontier. The news of peace in Bengal stood in contrast to the war with Hyder Ali in the south, where the letter of 10 September 1768 reported the loss of Mangalore. Cash accounts resumed with this packet, after none was sent on 3 April 1769, 8 April 1769 or 11 April 1769. The quarter's accounts came before the Council on 17 April 1769, as the letter of 18 April 1769 recorded. The new run began on 30 March 1769, the day after the last account closed, so the series sent home stayed unbroken. The same practice was followed on 25 April 1768. Captain Stewart's receipt for the 31 guns was called a first receipt and described them as iron. A second copy was therefore held back for a later ship, a sensible precaution for an obligation that fell due only when the Duke of Albany returned to the Thames from Sumatra. Luke's waiver of wages went home as item 20, as Richard Moreton's did on 21 March 1768. The London was the last of the ships that left Canton on 27 December 1768 to reach the island. She was seen in the Straits of Sunda by Captain Allen and spoken with on 22 February 1769 by Captain Johnson, and Captain Motley was named as her commander on 5 May 1768. The Calcutta was reported at Bombay on 8 December 1768, and the Queen and the Salisbury were due to leave Bengal in January 1769. | |
174 | On the 24th instant arrived a Dane Ship from China called the§ | 3: A Danish ship from China arrived on 24 April 1769. The Fredericksborg, under Captain Swane: 1,300 tons, 28 guns, 170 men, laden with tea, chinaware and silk, bound for Copenhagen. 4: The Court's latest general letter called in its forty-second paragraph for the Engineer's opinion, and the Council directed him accordingly. He presented his views in the consultation of 17 April 1769 on rebuilding the parapets of the island's various fortifications in the manner used at the upper battery at Banks's and at Munden's. The Council referred the Court to that paper. 5: The Council issued nine sets of bills of exchange, each drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 29 April 1769. John Skottowe Esquire, payable to Robert Wood Esquire, £600 0s 0d John Skottowe Esquire, payable to Mr Archibald Dobson, £67 6s 0d Mr Matthew Purling, payable to John Purling Esquire, £760 0s 0d Mr Matthew Bazett, payable to Captain Thomas Riddell, £324 0s 7d Mr Matthew Bazett, payable to Miss Mary Bazett, £100 0s 0d Captain Henry Bazett, payable to John Purling Esquire, £100 0s 0d Captain Richard Beale, payable to the Reverend Mr William Lee, £42 0s 0d Mr Thomas Kirkpatrick, payable to Mr Allen Auld, £400 0s 0d Captain George Stainforth, payable to George Stainforth Esquire, £112 10s 0d 6: The Queen carried as passengers Francis Sykes Esquire, Mr Sample and Captain Douglas. The letter was dated at St Helena on 30 April 1769 and signed by two members of the Council. John Skottowe M Purling Interpretations The Engineer's paper answered the Court's demand, reported on 11 April 1769, for a written opinion before any parapets were rebuilt with the earth-filled merlons first described on 10 September 1768. The paragraph showed that Munden's was by then built in the same manner as Banks's, so the new method was already used on a second work while the Court's approval for extending it was still awaited. The Council sent the paper without adding a view of its own, leaving the Engineer's reasoning to stand before the Court. Captain Kirkpatrick appeared among the drawers as plain Mr Thomas Kirkpatrick, without his military rank. The Court's orders removing him were reported as carried out on 11 April 1769, and the change of style agreed with the loss of his commission. His bill for £400 0s 0d showed him sending his money home before leaving the island, as Mr Corneille did in August 1768. The two acting councillors drew the largest sums. Governor Skottowe's two bills came to £667 6s 0d and Mr Purling's to £760 0s 0d, against £400 0s 0d and £250 0s 0d on 2 May 1768. John Purling Esquire received a further £860 0s 0d from two drawers. The treasury's reliance on such payments, set out on 13 August 1768, was what allowed £1,000 0s 0d to go to Fort Marlborough on 14 April 1769. The Fredericksborg was the single Danish ship counted at Canton in the report of 29 March 1769. Mr Sample, a passenger in the Queen, was perhaps Lieutenant Nathan Sample, whose retirement on half pay through age and infirmity was reported on 13 February 1769. | |
175 | List of the Honoble Company's Packet from St. Helena P Ship§ §No. 1 Govr. & Councils General Letter dated the 30th Apl. 1769§ §2 Do. Do. & Do. dated the 30th. Do. Do. relatg. to Law matters§ §3 Duplicate Do. & Do. dated the 18th Do. Do.§ §4 Consultations from the 17th. to the 29th. Do. Do.§ §5 Duplicate Do. of the 14th Do. Do.§ §6 First Receipt of the Packet P Ship Pacifick§ §7 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Clive§ §8 Do. Do. for a Paper Do. P Ship Duke of Richmond§ §9 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Pacifick§ §10 Effective State of the Garrison§ §11 Cash Acct. from the 19th to the 30th. April 1769§ §12 Duplicate Do. from the 30th to the 31st March Do.§ §13 Do. Do. from the 1st to the 18th April Do.§ §14 Ship Queens Account§ §15 Duplicate Ship Pacificks Do.§ §16 Ship Duke of Albany's Do.§ §17 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships, Queen, London, Tilbury, & Calcutta§ §18 Time of the arrival of Ships Boats at Banks's§ §19 Captn. Stewarts Second Receipt for 31 Iron Guns§ §20 Proceedgs. of a General Quarterly Sessions held on ye 3d April 1769§ §To the Honoble &ca.§ | A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Queen, dated 30 April 1769. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 30 April 1769 2: General letter from the Governor and Council on legal business dated 30 April 1769 3: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 18 April 1769 4: Consultations from 17 April 1769 to 29 April 1769 5: Duplicate of the consultation of 14 April 1769 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the Pacifick. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Clive. 8: Second receipt for a paper packet sent by the Duke of Richmond. 9: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Pacifick. 10: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 11: Cash account from 19 April 1769 to 30 April 1769 12: Duplicate cash account from 30 March 1769 to 31 March 1769 13: Duplicate cash account from 1 April 1769 to 18 April 1769 14: Account of the Queen. 15: Duplicate account of the Pacifick. 16: Account of the Duke of Albany. 17: Summary of the cargoes of the Queen, London, Tilbury and Calcutta. 18: Note of the time at which the ships' boats reached Banks's 19: Captain Stewart's second receipt for 31 iron guns 20: Proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 3 April 1769 A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter was dated 30 April 1769 and went home by the Queen. 2: A Dutch ship from Batavia arrived on the day before the letter was written. Interpretations The consultation of 17 April 1769, held back from the Pacifick's packet because of its length, went home here within item 4. It carried both the business arising from the quarter's accounts, including the examination of Captain Kirkpatrick's last statement as paymaster promised on 11 April 1769, and the Engineer's paper on rebuilding the parapets. The Court therefore received the record itself twelve days after being told that it existed. A letter on legal business accompanied the general letter for the first time since 13 February 1769. Such letters were written only when there was legal business to report, and this one followed the quarter sessions of 3 April 1769 at item 20. Captain Stewart's second receipt for the 31 guns followed the first copy sent on 18 April 1769, so the owners' obligation to deliver them in the Thames was on record by two ships. | |
176 | [...] Leer, Captn. William [K]elbar, burthen 300 Tons carry's 24 Guns§ §No. 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated the 2d May 1769§ §2 Duplicate Do. & Do. dated the 30th April Do.§ §3 Do. Do. & Do. dated the 30 Do. Do. relatg. to Law matters§ §4 Consultation of the 1st May 1769§ §5 Duplicate Do. from the 17th to 29 April Do.§ §6 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Queen§ §7 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Pacifick§ §8 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Queen§ §9 Effective State of the Garrison§ §10 Cash Acct. from the 1st to the 2d May 1769§ §11 Duplicate Do. from the 19th to the 30th Apl. Do.§ §12 Ship Calcutta's Acct.§ §13 Duplicate Ship Queens Do.§ §14 Do. Proceedings of a Genl. Quarterly Sessions held on the 3d Apl. 1769§ | The Dutch ship from Batavia that arrived on 1 May 1769 was described in the same form as the earlier foreign arrivals. The Silver Le[...], under Captain William Kibbers: 300 tons, 24 guns, 100 men, laden with pepper, bound for Rotterdam. 3: Captain Thomson advised the Council that his crew remained sickly despite the fresh supplies obtained at the Cape and at the island. He asked leave to call at Ascension for turtle, and the Council allowed it. The letter was dated at St Helena on 2 May 1769 and signed by two members of the Council. John Skottowe Matthew Purling A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Calcutta, dated 2 May 1769. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 2 May 1769 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 30 April 1769 3: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council on legal business dated 30 April 1769 4: Consultation of 1 May 1769 5: Duplicate of the consultations from 17 April 1769 to 29 April 1769 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the Queen. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Pacifick. 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Queen. 9: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 10: Cash account from 1 May 1769 to 2 May 1769 11: Duplicate cash account from 19 April 1769 to 30 April 1769 12: Account of the Calcutta. 13: Duplicate account of the Queen. 14: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarter sessions held on 3 April 1769 Interpretations Captain Thomson's request rested on a crew still sick after two ports of refreshment, the same ground as Captain Hooke's on 10 September 1768 and Captain Maitland's on 13 March 1769. He was evidently the commander of the Calcutta, which arrived from Bombay by way of the Cape on 28 April 1769 and carried this packet. The leave was granted as on every earlier request, and the call again served the ship and not the island, the test the Council set on 2 June 1768. The letter closed with an address to a single "Sir" and the plain form "humble servants", where every earlier general letter was addressed to the Court as a body. The page gave no reason for the change. The duplicates of the consultations of 17 April 1769 to 29 April 1769 went home two days after the originals. They contained the Engineer's paper on rebuilding the parapets and the business arising from the quarter's accounts, so both reached the Court by two ships. The date of 2 May 1769 fixed the Dutch ship's arrival, given in the letter only as the day before it was written, at 1 May 1769. | |
177 | To the Honble &ca§ | 1: The Council's previous letter went home on 2 May 1769 by the Calcutta. 2: A very violent surf struck Sandy Bay shortly before the letter was written. It damaged part of the glacis of Mitchell's Line and swept away a wall built to close a gully some distance from that line. The Council set about repairing the damage at once and hoped that the cost would not be great. 3: The Council ordered Captain Motley to take two discharged soldiers aboard his ship to help bring her crew up to strength. John Osborne David Derrick 4: Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick asked to pay £168 3s 0d into the Company's treasury. The Council took the money and gave him bills on the Court for that sum, payable to Mr Allen Auld or to anyone he named. The bills were dated 5 May 1769 and drawn at 90 days' sight. 5: The Speke arrived on the night of 6 May 1769. Daniel Corneille Esquire, Lieutenant Governor, came ashore the next morning and took his seat at the board. The Council then opened the Court's packet and read its orders and instructions. It promised to carry them out exactly and to answer the Court's letter as soon as it possibly could. The letter was dated at St Helena on 7 May 1769 and signed by three members of the Council. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations Mr Corneille came back with a higher title than he left with. He resigned as second in Council on 21 July 1768 after Captain Kirkpatrick accused him, and the letter of 11 April 1769 reported only that he was to resume his former post. He landed as Lieutenant Governor, the formal deputy to Governor Skottowe, and signed the letter on the day he arrived. The order of events in the paragraph was deliberate: he took his seat first, and the packet was opened afterwards, so the Court's new orders were read by a board of three. The man who accused him was at the same time winding up his affairs. Captain Kirkpatrick's bill for £168 3s 0d followed one for £400 0s 0d on 29 April 1769, both payable to Mr Allen Auld, and the two together moved £568 3s 0d home ahead of his departure. A glacis was the long, gentle bank of earth sloping away from the front of a fortification. It hid the base of the wall from an attacker's guns and left men advancing up it exposed to fire from the parapet. At Sandy Bay it lay close enough to the beach for heavy seas to reach it. The surf also destroyed a gully wall, one of the works meant to stop a landing party climbing inland, like the walled gully marked K K described on 23 February 1768. The damage fell on a work the Council had repeatedly praised. It reported Sandy Bay complete in early 1768, stressed its solidity and durability on 23 February 1768 and named it after the Engineer on 10 September 1768. The sea breached part of it little more than a year later. The Council met the awkwardness by reporting the repair as already begun and the cost as probably small, and it offered no comment on whether the siting or construction was at fault. Osborne and Derrick were shipped as working hands under an order, with no waiver of wages mentioned, as with every earlier group entered to complete a crew. Captain Motley commanded the London, which arrived from China on 22 April 1769. The Speke was the ship by which the Court promised 80 more recruits, as the letter of 11 April 1769 recorded. | |
178 | List of the Honoble Compys. Packet from St. Helena§ §No. 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated the 7th May 1769§ §2 Duplicate Do. and Do. dated the 2d Do. Do.§ §3 Consultation of the 5th Do. Do.§ §4 Duplicate Do. of the 1st Do. Do.§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Calcutta§ §6 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Queen§ §7 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Calcutta§ §8 List of 2 Discharged Soldiers§ §9 Effective State of the Garrison§ §10 Cash Account from the 3d to the 7th March 1769§ §11 Duplicate Do. from the 1st. to 2d Do. Do.§ §12 Ship Londons Account§ §13 Duplicate Ship Calcutta's Do.§ §To the Honoble &ca.§ | A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the London, dated 7 May 1769. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 7 May 1769 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 2 May 1769 3: Consultation of 5 May 1769 4: Duplicate of the consultation of 1 May 1769 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Calcutta. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Queen. 7: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Calcutta. 8: List of 2 discharged soldiers 9: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 10: Cash account from 3 May 1769 to 7 May 1769 11: Duplicate cash account from 1 May 1769 to 2 May 1769 12: Account of the London. 13: Duplicate account of the Calcutta. A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter went home on 7 May 1769 by the London. 2: Captain Kirkpatrick and his family took their passage for England in the Tilbury. 3: The Council issued four sets of bills of exchange, each drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 9 May 1769. Captain William Hunt, payable to Mr William Downes, £300 0s 0d Captain John Howard, payable to Mrs Mary Hall, £25 0s 0d Mr George Sibley, payable to himself, £350 0s 0d Start of crossed out section [...] End of crossed out section Captain William Kibbers of the Dutch ship Silver Le[...], payable to himself, £1,200 0s 0d. 4: Captain Hunt asked leave to call at Ascension to give his crew some further fresh food, and the Council agreed. The letter was dated at St Helena on 11 May 1769 and signed by three members of the Council. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille M Purling Interpretations A foreign commander used the Company's treasury to send money to Europe. Captain Kibbers, whose ship arrived from Batavia on 1 May 1769 with pepper for Rotterdam, paid in £1,200 0s 0d and took a bill on the Court payable to himself. The sum was the largest single bill in these letters, above the £1,034 15s 0d drawn for the estate of Captain Inglis on 2 June 1768. The Council passed over any reserve about dealing with an officer of a rival company and accepted the money, since the island's finances rested on such payments, as it explained on 13 August 1768. The coin of a Dutch captain served the treasury as well as any other, and it came days after £1,000 0s 0d left for Fort Marlborough. For the captain, a Company bill was a safer way of carrying private gains home than cash in his own ship, and perhaps a more discreet one. A clerk struck out a passage in the middle of the paragraph so heavily that it could not be recovered. Captain Kirkpatrick's departure closed the quarrel that began with the proceedings of 25 April 1768. He left with his family a few days after Mr Corneille landed as Lieutenant Governor on 7 May 1769, and his bills of 29 April 1769 and 5 May 1769 sent £568 3s 0d ahead of him. The Council's promise of 11 April 1769 to ask before he sailed whether he held any plans of the fortifications received no mention in this letter. Captain Hunt's request for Ascension alleged no sickness, only a wish for further refreshment, and it was granted like all the others. He was evidently the commander of the Tilbury, which arrived from China on 26 April 1769 and carried Captain Kirkpatrick home. The two discharged soldiers at item 8 of the packet list were John Osborne and David Derrick, entered in the London's crew under the letter of 7 May 1769. Captain Howard again drew in favour of Mrs Mary Hall, to whom he sent £215 10s 0d on 5 September 1768. | |
179 | List of the Honorable Compys. Packet from St. Helena P Ship Tilbury§ §No. 1 Govr. & Councils General Letter dated the 11th May 1769§ §2 Duplicate Do. & Do. dated the 7th Do. Do.§ §3 Consultations from the 8th to the 9th Do. Do.§ §4 Duplicate Do. of the 5th Do. Do.§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship London§ §6 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Calcutta§ §7 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship London§ §8 Effective State of the Garrison§ §9 Cash Account from the 8th to the 11th May 1769§ §10 Duplicate Do. from the 3d to the 7th Do. Do.§ §11 Ship Tilbury's Account§ §12 Duplicate Ship Londons Do.§ §To the Honorable &ca.§ | A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Tilbury, dated 11 May 1769. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 11 May 1769 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 7 May 1769 3: Consultations from 8 May 1769 to 9 May 1769 4: Duplicate of the consultation of 5 May 1769 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the London. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Calcutta. 7: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the London. 8: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 9: Cash account from 8 May 1769 to 11 May 1769 10: Duplicate cash account from 3 May 1769 to 7 May 1769 11: Account of the Tilbury. 12: Duplicate account of the London. A new letter to the Court of Directors opened below the list. 1: The Council's previous letter was dated 11 May 1769 and went home by the Tilbury. 2: The Council expected the supplies brought by the Duke of Albany and the Speke to meet all the island's needs until the following season. The Speke was sent off within her charter-party time and continued her voyage on the twenty-fourth of the previous month. 3: James Gordon, whom the Court appointed gardener, left the ship at Plymouth. His chest reached the island and was in the Council's keeping. The Council intended to sell its contents at public auction and pay the proceeds into the Company's treasury. Interpretations The island lost its second gardener before he arrived. The Council dismissed the previous one and paid £5 0s 0d for his passage home, as the letter of 10 September 1768 reported, and it asked for a qualified replacement by the next storeship. Gordon was engaged in England and quit the ship at her last home port, so the garden stayed in the hands of the soldier put in charge of it in 1768. The Council passed over the ordinary course of keeping an absent man's chest for him or sending it back. It chose to sell the contents and pay the money to the Company. A servant engaged for the island normally received an advance of wages before sailing, and a man who deserted the ship kept that advance while giving no service. Selling his belongings recovered part of the loss, and a public auction fixed their value openly so that the sum credited could not be disputed later. The report on supplies marked a change from 1768, when the letters of 2 June 1768 and 15 June 1768 complained that coal came short and that no deals, oil, pitch, tar, rosin or turpentine arrived at all. The Court promised an ample supply in the orders received on 1 April 1769, and the Council here confirmed that the two ships' cargoes were enough for the year. The Speke arrived on the night of 6 May 1769 and sailed on the twenty-fourth of a month described as the previous one. She therefore left on 24 May 1769, and this letter was written in June 1769. | |
180 | as the things are disposed of. We are greatly distressed for a Gardener§ | The account of the sale of James Gordon's belongings was to go home as soon as the goods were sold. The Council was badly in need of a gardener and asked the Court to send another in his place in 1770. 4: The Court gave Captain Mitchell leave to return to England, and the Council followed its directions by appointing Lieutenant Thomas Bazett superintendent of the works. The Engineer spoke well of the trouble and care the lieutenant took to learn something of engineering. Captain Mitchell was also to leave plans of the necessary alterations and repairs for his guidance. On both grounds the Council had every reason to expect the work to be properly carried out. Lieutenant Bazett was to receive the salary the Court fixed in place of his former allowance, and he sent his sincere thanks. The Council told Captain Mitchell that he was free to go home in July 1769 or sooner. It asked him at the same time to draw up the fullest instructions for Lieutenant Bazett, which he was then preparing. He was not to leave the island until the Council was fully satisfied about the method of completing the unfinished repairs and alterations. 5: The gentlemen accused by John Bland were glad to learn that their replies fully satisfied the Court of their innocence. They had always meant to do their duty and earn the Court's approval. 6: Paragraphs 9 to 21 of the Court's general letter of 19 January 1769 gave orders and instructions on the future sale of arrack and other spirits on the island. The Council considered them carefully and drew up rules on the basis the Court laid down. It added others of its own devising to prevent abuses by sellers or buyers and to discourage drunkenness and the many disorders that came with it. Interpretations The Court's leave let Captain Mitchell go in July 1769 or sooner, and the Council passed over releasing him on those terms alone. It made his departure wait on a full set of written instructions and on its own satisfaction with them. The reason lay in the successor's limits, which the Council's wording again conceded: Lieutenant Bazett had "some knowledge" of engineering, learned under Captain Mitchell, and no one else on the island could correct him once the Engineer sailed. The instructions and plans were to stand in for the designer's presence. The need was sharper than when the Council proposed the arrangement on 13 August 1768, since the surf at Sandy Bay damaged the glacis of Mitchell's Line and carried off a gully wall, as the letter of 7 May 1769 reported. The Court granted both requests of 13 August 1768 concerning the works. Lieutenant Bazett was appointed, and the phrase "in place of his former allowance" shows that he was already paid something extra for supervising, now replaced by a fixed salary. The Council had asked for £100 0s 0d a year, and the letter did not say what figure the Court set. The Court accepted the Council's verdict of 20 June 1768 on Bland's accusations, so the acquittal sent home on 13 August 1768 was confirmed in London. That confirmation could not cover the second inquiry, in which Sergeant Payne repeated the charge about the billiard room and was dismissed and shipped home on 13 February 1769, since the Court's letter of 19 January 1769 was written before that news arrived. Thirteen paragraphs of the Court's letter dealt with spirits, a measure of how seriously it took the dispute opened on 13 August 1768. The Council then objected that open retail dealing with the ships would flood the island with cheap arrack and undo its licensing rules. The Court replied with a framework of its own, and the Council built its new rules on that basis while adding to them, which kept some of the control it had argued for. | |
181 | therefrom, and we have the greatest reason to hope that the present§ | The Council had every reason to hope that the new system would put an end to the secret retailing that did so much harm, and would achieve what the Court intended. The consultation of 29 May 1769 set out the various orders and rules for the parties concerned, and the Council referred the Court to it for a full account. Governor Skottowe and the Lieutenant Governor added their own assurance that they would see these measures strictly enforced, knowing how much depended on them personally. The Council followed the orders in paragraphs 20 and 21 of the Court's letter by appointing Mr Richard Wright collector of the customs at the salary the Court directed, and it swore him into office. Strict orders were given about collecting the duties. The Council felt sure that this would stop spirits coming ashore without its knowledge, which was one great cause of the abuses that arose under the opposite practice. 7: The Council was fully persuaded that enlarging the military establishment was vital to the island's defence. The Court proposed to raise each company to 100 privates, and the Council thought that would meet the need, provided the artillery company was included as a body of men essential on an island so placed. The failure of the 80 recruits expected by the Speke to arrive was badly felt. The existing strength was too small for the current duty, which the Council was forced to cut back, and for carrying on the works, whose importance earlier letters explained. The Council therefore asked the Court to send 180 recruits in 1770 if possible. That number would bring the four marching companies and the artillery up to the new establishment. It would also allow proper attention to the discipline of the troops, which was almost impossible up to that time. Interpretations The control of spirits shifted from the punch houses to the landing place. The rules of 11 June 1768 worked through licences, and the Council admitted on 13 August 1768 that selling outside the licensed houses could escape the closest watch. A collector of customs taking a duty on every cask landed gave the Council a record of who imported spirits and how much, so an unlicensed seller could be traced back to his supply. The duty also raised the price of the cheap arrack that the Council blamed for drunkenness among soldiers and slaves. Mr Wright was the servant whose bond went home on 13 August 1768, when his post was not stated. A collector handled the Company's money, which explains why a bond and an oath were required of him. The personal pledge by the Governor and Lieutenant Governor answered a pointed passage in the Court's letter. The Court evidently told the two senior men that enforcement rested on them, after a year in which its orders on retail trade were contested in the letter of 13 August 1768. Mr Corneille, back as Lieutenant Governor since 7 May 1769, joined in the assurance within weeks of his return. The 80 recruits promised by the Speke, welcomed in advance on 11 April 1769, did not come. The garrison therefore received only the 38 landed from the Duke of Albany, at the moment the Court raised the establishment. The Council passed over keeping the full round of guards with too few men and reduced the duty instead, a choice it reported in a bracket and did not explain further. The shortfall arose partly from its own practice: soldiers were detached to the fortifications, as the letters of 23 February 1768 and 2 June 1768 recorded, and the Council again named the works beside the guard as a claim on the same men. The request for 180 recruits was more than three times the 50 asked for on 13 August 1768. An establishment of 100 privates in each of four marching companies and the artillery meant 500 men, and the figure showed how far below it the garrison stood. Marching companies were the infantry, as distinct from the artillery. The Council's insistence that the gunners be counted within the new scale reflected its reliance on the batteries at Banks's, Munden's, Lemon Valley and Sandy Bay, and the reports of 13 February 1769 and 29 March 1769 that the French held nearly 4,000 troops at Mauritius gave the increase its urgency. The link to discipline echoed the Governor's admission of 13 February 1769 that good order in the garrison was badly wanting. | |
182 | not having at present even one relief for the Detail of the Island§ | The garrison did not then have enough men to provide even a single relief for the island's guard duties. 8: Paragraph 26 of the Court's latest general letter contained two articles that needed the agreement of every officer on the establishment. The Council called all the officers before it, and each one gave his assent. The commissions of the second lieutenants sent out by the Speke were then examined and found to carry the substance of those articles in their wording. The Council therefore thought it essential to have new commissions made out for all the officers already in the Company's service. The dates stayed as they were, and only the form changed to match the commissions lately issued by the Court. The Court also favoured the officers with a rise in pay. Paragraph 23 of its letter named first and second lieutenants alike at an extra £0 2s 0d a day. The Lieutenant Governor reported, however, that he understood in England that the Court meant to distinguish between the two ranks, giving £0 2s 0d to a first lieutenant and £0 1s 0d to a second. The Council thought such a difference reasonable, since the King's service paid those two commissions at different rates. It settled the pay on that footing until the Court made its wishes known. If the lower figure proved a mistake, the balance could be made up to the second lieutenants as soon as the Council was sure that the Court intended equal pay. 9: The Council hoped that the measures taken against drunkenness among the troops and the poorer inhabitants would work as intended and prevent such excess and disorder in future. It promised to give particular care to keeping up strict discipline. Interpretations The Council set aside the written text of the Court's letter on the strength of one man's recollection. Paragraph 23 gave both ranks of lieutenant the same increase, and the plain course was to pay what it said. Mr Corneille, who was in London while the matter was decided and landed as Lieutenant Governor on 7 May 1769, recalled a different intention, and the Council paid the second lieutenants half the stated sum. The passage gave two reasons: the practice of the King's army, where the ranks were paid differently, and the ease of correction. Arrears could be handed over later without difficulty, whereas money overpaid to junior officers would have been hard to recover. The choice also shows how much weight the returned Lieutenant Governor's word carried within weeks of his arrival, and it left the second lieutenants bearing the cost of the doubt. A relief was the second body of men that took over a guard so the first could stand down. With not even one available, the same soldiers stayed on duty without proper rest, which supported the request for 180 recruits and explained why the Council cut the duty back. It also gave substance to the claim that discipline could hardly be attended to. The reissue of commissions kept each officer's original date and so preserved seniority, the order in which officers ranked and succeeded to promotion. Only the wording changed. The two articles thus became part of the terms on which every officer held his rank, new arrivals and old hands alike, and the earlier summons gave the Council each man's personal assent before the new document bound him. The letter did not state what the articles required. The Speke brought second lieutenants with commissions from the Court although the 80 recruits expected by her did not come. The grade of second lieutenant appeared here for the first time in these letters, and the pay distinction turned on it. The Court's enlargement of the establishment to 100 privates a company evidently brought a second subaltern rank with it, sent out ready-commissioned from England. | |
183 | the additional Adjutant as solely for that purpose will be a means of§ | The Council expected the additional adjutant, appointed solely to enforce discipline, to help in keeping the garrison in good order. That depended on numbers rising far enough to supply men for the works and for the garrison's guard duties, with enough left off duty to be drilled constantly. 10: Sergeant Roberts did the adjutant's duty from the death of Adjutant Jacob until the Speke arrived, and the Council appointed him to succeed. He proved himself a suitable man during that time. The Court allowed a town adjutant separate from the garrison adjutant, and the Council thought he deserved that commission. 11: The Council undertook to follow the Court's directions in future by entering the date of each military officer's commission beside his name. The muster rolls were to use the word private in place of sentinel. The orders on the additional bounty for good men were also to be observed, and the Council promised to try every means of persuading all those it thought worthy of that encouragement. 12: The Lieutenant Governor received his salary and allowances for the whole period from his resignation to the arrival of the Speke, as the Court ordered. He was also to enjoy all the further privileges and payments the Court directed. 13: The Court called for a plan of Governor Skottowe's house in the country and for the Engineer's opinion on whether to finish that house or build a new one. The Council promised to send both by the next ship, together with the plans of houses for the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor that the Court would need to see. The Engineer already held that the existing house could never be made fit to live in. His reasons were to go home with the plans. 14: The Governor thanked the Court for the increase made to his salary. Interpretations The Council changed its mind about Sergeant Major Roberts. On 13 February 1769 the Governor told the Court that no non-commissioned officer in the garrison was fit to be adjutant and asked for a man from the Foot Guards. The Court sent an adjutant by the Speke and at the same time created a second post, that of town adjutant. The Council then gave Roberts the new commission on the ground that he had proved himself. The two posts divided the work: the adjutant from England was to concentrate on drill and discipline, and the town adjutant took the daily routine of guards and duties in the fort and town. Roberts was thus judged good enough for the routine he had already carried for months, though not for reforming the garrison. Mr Corneille was paid as if he had never left. He resigned on 21 July 1768 and landed again on 7 May 1769, and the Court ordered salary and allowances for the whole gap of more than nine months. The back pay treated his resignation as forced on him by Captain Kirkpatrick's accusation and not as a voluntary act, which completed his vindication after his reinstatement and promotion. The Court asked a narrow question about the country house, finish or rebuild, and the Council answered with a wider project. It reported the Engineer's verdict before his reasons were written and promised plans for two houses, one of them for the Lieutenant Governor, about whom the Court's question was silent. The Council thus passed over waiting for the Court's choice and prepared the case for new building in advance. Captain Mitchell had leave to go home in July 1769, so the opinion and plans had to be drawn before he sailed. The house was presumably Plantation House, named on 13 February 1769 as the place from which a door lock was stolen. The additional bounty was a payment to deserving soldiers who agreed to stay on. The Council reported on 13 August 1768 that the terms of 50 men ran out in March 1769, and the 80 recruits expected by the Speke did not arrive. Persuading time-expired men to re-enlist was therefore the quickest way of holding numbers, which explains the promise to press every worthy man. The change from sentinel to private brought the island's muster rolls into line with ordinary army usage. | |
184 | Mr. Purling esteems himself much obliged to your Honors§ | 15: Mr Purling counted himself much obliged to the Court for its favourable notice of his services. He sent his humble thanks for the increase in his salary and for the share allotted to him in the Society for the Sale of Arrack. He assured the Court that he would always remember these marks of favour with gratitude. He also undertook to work faithfully at his duty and to make his future service equally acceptable. 16: The gentlemen appointed by the Court to the Society set up for the sale of arrack sent their sincere thanks for the interest granted to them in it. 17: The Company's civil and military servants sent their warmest thanks for the increases to their salaries and pay. They hoped that faithful work in their several departments would always earn the Court's approval. 18: The Council undertook to accept the money whenever Lieutenant Stewart found it convenient to pay off his bond, and to hand the document back to him. 19: A Danish ship from Bengal arrived on 15 May 1769. The Rigernes Onske, under Captain Bagge: 600 tons, 20 guns, 90 men, laden with Bengal goods, bound for Copenhagen. 20: The Salisbury arrived from Bengal on 22 May 1769. Captain Wyche parted with the pilot on 26 February 1769. The Talbot and the Shrewsbury were to be sent to England, the Talbot a few days after he sailed. The Thames was to call at Madras on her way to Europe. No news of the Earl of Chatham reached Bengal before he left. Interpretations The Society for the Sale of Arrack was the Court's answer to the dispute opened on 13 August 1768. The Court first restricted its servants' private trade and threw retail dealing with the ships open to all, after John Bland accused the servants of buying up goods to resell. The Council objected that open dealing would flood the island with cheap spirits. The Court then reversed course and placed the arrack trade in the hands of a body of named servants, each holding a share. Buying up the supply, the practice Bland complained of, thus became an authorised monopoly in this one commodity. The arrangement gave the Council the control it argued for, since spirits entered through a single channel watched by the new collector of customs. It also met the plea of poverty made in the same letter, because the profit went to the servants as a supplement to their pay. The interest of those who governed was plain. Mr Purling, one of the two men who signed the objection of 13 August 1768, received a share in the Society together with a rise in salary. The same body of servants who were to enforce the rules against drunkenness now profited from every cask sold. The general increase in salaries and pay answered the Council's statement that island salaries scarcely gave a bare living. The silence about the Earl of Chatham was reported as news in itself. Captain Purvis heard, as the letter of 13 February 1769 recorded, that she was to leave Madras for England on 15 September 1768. More than five months later Bengal still had no word of her, and she had not called at St Helena, so the Council passed on a first sign that the ship was missing. Lieutenant Stewart's bond was evidently a written obligation for a sum he owed the Company, since paying the money was to release him from it. The Court left the timing to his convenience, and the letter did not say how the debt arose. The Salisbury was spoken with off the Cape on 23 March 1769 by Captain Motley and was one of the ships due to leave Bengal in January 1769. | |
185 | further tells us, he met with the Devonshire the 24th April 1769 in the§ | Captain Wyche also met the Devonshire on 24 April 1769 in latitude 29 degrees 30 minutes south, with all well aboard. News came too that Hyder Ali overran the Carnatic with his cavalry but always avoided battle. The Horsendon arrived from China on 2 June 1769. Captain Jameson left China on 1 February 1769, when the Sea Horse lay there and was to be sent off a day or two later. 21: Two French ships called at the island. The Actionaire, from Pondicherry under Captain Demarnaise, arrived on 29 May 1769: 1,100 tons, 16 guns, 300 men, laden with redwood, saltpetre and bale goods, bound for Lorient. The Le Sage, from Mauritius under Captain Beaulieu, arrived on 2 June 1769: 250 tons, no guns, 40 men, laden with Bengal goods, bound for Lorient. 22: The Salisbury carried as passengers Captains Wilding and Agnew, Mr and Mrs Baillie and Mrs Ironsides. 23: The Council ordered Captain Wyche to take William Bunn, a discharged soldier, aboard the Salisbury to bring her crew up to strength. 24: The Council issued two sets of bills of exchange to one drawer, each drawn at 90 days' sight. Mr Alexander T[...], payable to himself, dated 22 May 1769, £100 0s 0d Mr Alexander T[...], payable to Bryant Sh[...] Esquire, dated 29 May 1769, £255 17s 0d 25: Captain Wyche asked that he might send his boat ashore for turtle if he reached the island of Ascension. The Council agreed and urged him to make no needless delay. The letter was dated at St Helena on 3 June 1769 and signed by three members of the Council. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille M Purling Interpretations The Ascension leave came with a condition for the first time. Every request from 1 June 1768 onward was granted without recorded qualification, including those of 11 April 1769 from three commanders at once. Here the Council added a warning against needless delay, and the request itself was framed more modestly, as sending a boat ashore if the ship happened to fetch the island. The Court's orders received on 1 April 1769 and 6 May 1769 stressed prompt dispatch and the cost of demurrage, and the caution suggests that the Council had become wary of appearing to license long detours. The news of Hyder Ali marked a further turn against the Company in the south. He was reported twice beaten on 23 February 1768 and as retaking Mangalore on 10 September 1768. His horsemen now ranged over the Carnatic, the coastal territory around Madras, and his refusal to fight denied the Company's infantry the pitched battle in which it had the advantage. Peace in Bengal, reported on 30 April 1769, stood in contrast. Redwood was red sanders, a dense timber from southern India valued in Europe as a source of red dye and shipped as heavy cargo low in the hold. Bale goods were textiles, the cottons of the Coromandel Coast pressed and bound into bales. Pondicherry was the chief French settlement in India, south of Madras. The Actionaire carried 300 men, far more than the 170 of the largest Danish ship described in these letters, which suggests that she had soldiers or passengers aboard beyond her crew. The small, unarmed Le Sage came from Mauritius, where nearly 4,000 French troops were reported on 29 March 1769, and the Council again recorded each foreign ship's size, guns and men. The date of 3 June 1769 confirmed the days left open in the letter: the Speke sailed on 24 May 1769 and the Danish ship from Bengal arrived on 15 May 1769. Bunn was shipped as a working hand under an order, with no waiver of wages mentioned. | |
186 | To the Secret Committee of the Honoble United§ | The Council wrote separately to the Secret Committee of the United East India Company, acknowledging the Committee's letter of 19 January 1769. As that letter ordered, Mr Wrangham was sent aboard the Speke as soon as she finished unloading, to search for the illicit trade it described. The consultations of 19 May 1769 and 22 May 1769 recorded the whole inquiry, and the Council referred the Committee to them. The search found 35 chests of wine belonging to the captain and the chief mate, and five cases of clockwork belonging to the chief mate. The Council detained none of them. The captain explained that his victualling bill allowed that quantity of wine to him and his chief mate. The Council could not confirm this from its own knowledge but thought it could well be true. The clockwork exceeded the three cases entered in the manifest. The chief mate assured the Council that the Company permitted him to ship eight cases, and all five bore the Company's seal. The passengers were also put on oath and declared that they knew of no illicit trade aboard the ship. The Council trusted that these reasons together fully justified leaving the goods alone and would satisfy the Committee. The letter was dated at St Helena on 3 June 1769 and signed by three members of the Council. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille M Purling Interpretations The Council carried out the search and then declined to act on what it found. The Committee's order pointed to seizure of any goods beyond what the ship's papers allowed, and the search turned up two such items: wine the Council could not verify and two cases of clockwork more than the manifest showed. The Council passed over detention and released everything on the officers' own explanations. Its reasons were set out with care, because each rested on something it could not check. The victualling bill was a London document, the allowance of eight cases was the mate's word, and only the Company's seal on the cases was evidence the Council could see for itself. The passengers' oaths were added as the one independent testimony available. Detaining an outward ship's goods on a mistaken suspicion risked a claim from her officers and delay beyond her charter-party time, and the Speke sailed on 24 May 1769, two days after the second consultation. Illicit trade meant private goods carried in a Company ship beyond the allowance granted to her officers. Commanders and mates were permitted a fixed quantity of cargo on their own account, known as their privilege, and anything above it defrauded the Company of freight and competed with its own sales. Clockwork was a favoured article of that trade on a ship bound for China. Clocks, watches and mechanical toys with moving figures and music sold at very high prices at Canton, where they served as presents for officials, and a few cases represented a large sum. Wine in such quantity could likewise be sold abroad instead of drunk at the officers' table, which was why the captain tied it to his victualling allowance. The Secret Committee here wrote to the whole Council and received a reply signed by all three members. Its earlier letters went to the Governor alone, who acknowledged them on 13 May 1768 without disclosing their contents and answered in his own name on 3 April 1769 and 8 April 1769. A search of a ship needed the Council's authority and a named officer to conduct it, which explains the wider address. Mr Wrangham was presumably Mr William Wrangham, who drew bills on 5 September 1768 and 13 February 1769. | |
187 | List of the Honorable Company's Packet from St. Helena P Ship Salisbury§ §No. 1 Governor and Councils General Letter dated the 3d June 1769§ §2 Duplicate Do. and Do. dated the 11th May Do.§ §3 Consultations from the 15th May to the 1st June Do.§ §4 Duplicate Do. from the 8th to the 9th May Do.§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Tilbury§ §6 Second Do. for Do. per Ship London§ §7 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Tilbury§ §8 Effective State of the Garrison§ §9 Cash Account from the 11th to the 31st May 1769§ §10 Do. from the 1st to the 3d June Do.§ §11 Duplicate Do. from the 8th to the 11th May Do.§ §12 Ship Salisbury's Account§ §13 Do. Speke's Do.§ §14 Duplicate Tilburys Do.§ §15 Time of the Arrival of Ships Boats at Banks's§ §16 Abstract of the Cargoes of Ships Salisbury and Horsendon§ §17 Certificate of Flour§ §18 Governor and Councils Letter to the Secret Committee§ | A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Salisbury, dated 3 June 1769. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 3 June 1769 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 11 May 1769 3: Consultations from 15 May 1769 to 1 June 1769 4: Duplicate of the consultations from 8 May 1769 to 9 May 1769 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Tilbury. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the London. 7: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Tilbury. 8: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 9: Cash account from 12 May 1769 to 31 May 1769 10: Cash account from 1 June 1769 to 3 June 1769 11: Duplicate cash account from 8 May 1769 to 11 May 1769 12: Account of the Salisbury. 13: Account of the Speke. 14: Duplicate account of the Tilbury. 15: Note of the time at which the ships' boats reached Banks's. 16: Summary of the cargoes of the Salisbury and the Horsendon. 17: Certificate of flour 18: Letter from the Governor and Council to the Secret Committee Interpretations Item 18 was described as a letter from the Governor and Council, where the enclosures of 3 April 1769 and 8 April 1769 were each called the Governor's letter to the Secret Committee. The change matched the letter of 3 June 1769 about the search of the Speke, which all three members signed. The consultations at item 3 included those of 19 May 1769 and 22 May 1769 recording that search, and the rules on the sale of spirits adopted on 29 May 1769, so the Court and the Committee received the full record with the letters that referred to it. The certificate of flour was promised on 11 April 1769 for the time when all the flour was received. The supplies came by the Duke of Albany and the Speke, and the certificate followed once the second ship was unloaded. No report on the flour's quality accompanied it in the letter, unlike 1768, when the consignment was condemned on 13 August 1768 as musty and scarcely fit to eat. | |
188 | To the Honble &ca§ | 1: The Council's previous letter went home by the Salisbury, which left the island on 4 June 1769. 2: The orders for stores needed in 1770 went home with this letter, together with the list of remaining stores. The Speke arrived after the date fixed for taking that list, so her stores could not be included in it and were entered separately. The Council ordered 500 casks of provisions and more soldiers' clothing than usual. This heavy demand arose from the increase the Court planned to make to the military establishment in 1770. The Council also asked the Court to be sure of sending the 70 chaldrons of coal ordered, which were badly needed for the fortifications, the smith's shop and the shipping. 3: The officers' sashes were completely worn out, and the Council directed that they be written off the Company's books. It asked the Court to send the number ordered for 1770. It also asked whether the new sashes were to stand on the books as before or be charged to the officers who received them. 4: The waistcoats sent for the Company's slaves were too heavy for the climate. The Council asked that future ones be made of coarse duffel, double-breasted and lined with thin flannel, which it thought better suited than the current pattern. The breeches were to be of the customary kind. Each slave was also to have a pair of long canvas drawers to protect his breeches, a necessary addition since the slaves received clothing only once a year. 5: The Council ordered Captain Jameson to take charge of two boxes and deliver them to the Court on his arrival. Interpretations The order for salted provisions rose from 30 casks to 500 in a single year. On 13 August 1768 the Council explained the small figure by a stock in store sufficient for more than two years and by cheap purchases from homeward ships. The new figure rested on the Court's plan to raise each company to 100 privates, for which the Council requested 180 recruits on 3 June 1769. A garrison enlarged on that scale could not be fed from a dwindling reserve and occasional surplus bought in the road, so the Council returned to a large supply from England. The extra soldiers' clothing followed from the same cause. Coal was requested with unusual emphasis because the island went short in 1768, when the consignment arrived 20 chaldrons below the order, as the letter of 2 June 1768 reported. The three uses named show where it went: the forge that made and mended ironwork for the fortifications, the smith's shop and the needs of visiting ships. An officer's sash was the crimson silk band worn round the waist as a mark of commissioned rank. The Company evidently issued sashes from its stores and kept them on its books as its own property. The Council's question raised whether that should continue or whether officers should pay for them as part of their personal dress. Putting the question, after writing off the old ones, invited the Court to shift the cost just as it raised the officers' pay. Duffel was a coarse woollen cloth with a thick nap, cheap and hard-wearing, used for working men's clothing. The slaves' whole issue came once a year, so each garment had to last twelve months of labour. The canvas drawers were overalls worn above the breeches to take the wear, a small added cost that spared the dearer garment. The Council specified cut, cloth and lining in detail because the clothing was made up in England to its description. The list of remains was struck on a fixed day each year, 30 April in 1768, and the next year's orders were reckoned from it. The Speke arrived on 6 May 1769, just after that day, and listing her cargo separately kept the Court from sending again what she had already delivered. | |
189 | contains 194 Bayonet Scabbards, we received 200 this Year, six of§ | One of the two boxes entrusted to Captain Jameson contained 194 bayonet scabbards. The island received 200 that year, and the master of arms kept six for the artillery officers' fusees. The remainder went back because they were at least four inches too short for the muskets and therefore useless. A pattern scabbard was enclosed in the box, and the Council asked for 200 of that length to be sent the following season. The other box held a pipe from one of the fire engines, which lost a joint. The Council asked the Court to have it repaired and returned in 1770. The maker was named Bristow and lived in Ratcliff Highway. 6: Mr George Bazett signed his covenants, which went back to the Court in the packet. He had no friends in England, and he asked the Court to accept Messrs James Powell and Jonathan Doveton as his sureties in the sum of £500 0s 0d. 7: The captain of artillery ordered ironwork for mortar beds and gun carriages and copper powder measures. These items stood in the copy of his 1768 order that he gave the storekeeper. A copying error left them out of the general order sent to England. 8: The Lieutenant Governor used the general letter of Governor Skottowe and the Council to put a scheme before the Court of Directors. He believed it would greatly benefit the Company's livestock on the island at very small cost. The Company's herd was held back from slaughter for three years and had grown considerably, as the quarterly returns showed. The island's black cattle came originally from England, and over a long period the breed declined somewhat for lack of crossing. He therefore proposed that the Court send out a cow and a bull calf in each storeship for a few years. That would be of the greatest benefit to the Company's stock and to the cattle of every private owner. Interpretations Mr Corneille's scheme took a different line from the Council's earlier answers to the cattle problem. The letters of 2 June 1768 and 11 April 1769 dealt with imports from the Cape for slaughter, first asking for young animals and then preferring sheep, since Cape cattle died or failed to thrive. He passed over buying meat animals altogether and proposed to improve the island's own herd by bringing in fresh English blood. His reasoning was that of a stockbreeder: a small, closed population bred among itself for generations and lost size and vigour. The mention of private owners shows that he meant the new bulls to serve the planters' cows as well as the Company's, spreading the gain across the island. The proposal was put forward in his own name within the Council's letter, a month after he returned as Lieutenant Governor. Covenants were the written contract a writer signed on entering the Company's service, and they had to be backed by sureties who stood liable for a fixed sum if he defaulted. Sureties were normally relatives or patrons in England, where the Company could pursue them. Mr Bazett offered two island residents instead, both of whom appeared earlier as drawers of bills, Mr Powell on 22 January 1768 and 5 September 1768 and Mr Doveton on 8 August 1768. The Council appointed him on its own authority on 13 August 1768, and the request asked the Court to relax its usual rule for a man recruited locally. A fusee was a light musket carried by officers in place of the heavier weapon of the rank and file. Its shorter bayonet explains why six of the undersized scabbards could be kept for the artillery officers while the rest were useless. Sending a pattern fixed the length exactly, as the lace pattern did for the officers' uniforms on 13 August 1768. The fire engines were hand-worked pumps on wheels for throwing water on a burning building, and a broken joint in the pipe could only be mended by the London maker, a year's round trip away. The omission from the general order was a plain admission of clerical error. It bore out the Council's plea of 11 April 1769 that the offices were short of writers, and its cost was real: mortar beds and gun carriages were the mountings without which the new batteries could not be armed. | |
190 | selling a Bull of the breed of those Cows so sent out to such of the§ | The Lieutenant Governor also proposed selling a bull bred from the imported cows to any planter who wanted one, whenever that could be done without harm to the Company's property. 9: The letter sent by the Salisbury conveyed the thanks of the civil and military servants for the increases to their salaries. The Council forgot at that time to speak for Mr Barclay, the surgeon, and Mr Pritchard, the surgeon's mate. They were the only two servants left out of the Court's generosity. The surgeon's salary and diet money came to no more than £79 0s 0d and the mate's to £65 0s 0d. Both were valuable men of long service whose conduct deserved approval. The Council hoped the Court would receive its recommendation kindly and give them a share in the increase granted to all the other servants. 10: Captain Mitchell was about to leave the island, and the command of the artillery company fell vacant as a result. The Council regretted that it could not recommend the first lieutenant of that company for promotion. His bad conduct had already forced a suspension of six months, and his place now depended on his future behaviour. The Council was resolved to dismiss him from the service, under the authority the Court gave it, if he failed to keep the promise he made. It therefore asked the Court to send an artillery officer in 1770 to fill the vacancy. The command of that company, in its firm opinion, always needed an experienced officer trained for the work. The discipline of the artillery differed greatly from that of other troops, since it rested on a thorough knowledge of heavy guns and mortars. Interpretations The Council passed over promotion by seniority, the ordinary way of filling a captain's vacancy, and asked for an outsider. The first lieutenant in line was evidently Lieutenant Thomas Leech, whom a general court martial suspended for six months on 8 November 1768 for neglect of duty. The letter of 13 February 1769 proposed to move him to one of the other companies once his suspension ended, keeping Sergeant Shirley and Corporal Gilson as acting lieutenants of artillery. That plan was not carried out, since he stood here as first lieutenant of the same company, on probation under a promise of good behaviour. The threat of dismissal rested on a power the Court had newly granted, perhaps one of the two articles to which every officer assented, as reported on 3 June 1769. The request repeated that of 13 August 1768 for a gentleman who had served in the artillery train, and the vacancy it anticipated then was now at hand. The plea for the surgeon and his mate showed the limits of the general pay rise acknowledged on 3 June 1769. The Council presented their omission as an oversight by the Court and its own silence as forgetfulness, and it gave their exact incomes to make the case. Diet money was a cash allowance paid in place of meals at the Company's table. A surgeon on £79 0s 0d a year, all told, earned less than the £100 0s 0d the Council sought for Lieutenant Bazett as superintendent of the works on 13 August 1768. Mr Barclay was presumably the Mr Robert Barclay who drew a bill for £30 0s 0d on 5 September 1768. The sale of bulls completed the breeding scheme set out in the preceding paragraph. The Company would keep the imported English cows and their best offspring and sell surplus bulls to the planters, so the improvement reached private herds while the cost of the imports was partly recovered. The condition about the Company's property kept its own herd's needs first. | |
191 | thing relative to the defence of the fortifications of this Island§ | Command of the artillery called for knowledge of everything bearing on the defence of the island's fortifications. 11: The unfinished works now came under Lieutenant Bazett's management. The Council thought it advisable, and indeed essential, that he should have an experienced master mason under him. The man then in the post was of very little use for a long time past and was very unskilled at his trade. He had only the current year left to serve under his contract. The Council asked the Court to send out in 1770 a fully qualified man of good and sober character. The present mason was a very drunken and idle fellow and was also very infirm with age. 12: The Council regretted having to report Captain Mitchell's conduct towards the board, recorded in the consultations of 12 June 1769 and 14 June 1769, as highly damaging to authority and government. His behaviour first became erratic directly after the Duke of Albany, the first storeship, arrived. He resigned from the Company's service at that time without giving any reason or any warning to the board. Governor Skottowe and Mr Purling persuaded him not to take so hasty a step. They pointed out that it could harm him in the Court's opinion, especially as the Court asked him to stay until its wishes were made known by the second ship. He gave way, withdrew his resignation and went back to his work as before. On Saturday 10 June 1769 he called on the Governor and handed in his commission. He then behaved in the manner described in those consultations. The Council was at a loss to explain such conduct. Putting the kindest interpretation on it, the Council judged that his mind was somewhat disturbed. Interpretations The officer the Council praised more than any other ended his service in open breach with it. Captain Mitchell was commended for skill and economy on 23 February 1768, 13 August 1768 and 10 September 1768, the Sandy Bay work was named Mitchell's Line, and the Council cleared him of Sergeant Payne's accusation on 13 February 1769 and dismissed the accuser. The letter of 3 June 1769 still described him as preparing instructions for his successor and bound him to stay until the Council was satisfied with them. A week later he gave up his commission. The Council passed over a formal censure of the kind it directed at Captain Kirkpatrick on 13 August 1768 and offered the explanation of a disordered mind. That reading spared a man it had repeatedly vouched for, and it also protected the Council's own earlier testimony from the charge of misjudgement. The letter did not state what he did on or after 10 June 1769, leaving that to the consultations. The paragraph disclosed an event the earlier letters withheld. Captain Mitchell first resigned soon after 1 April 1769, when the Duke of Albany arrived, and the Governor and Mr Purling talked him out of it. None of the letters of 3 April 1769, 8 April 1769, 11 April 1769 or 18 April 1769 mentioned this, and the last of them reported his paper on the parapets as routine business. The Council revealed the first resignation only when the second made concealment pointless. The request for a master mason reversed the position taken on 13 August 1768. The Council then held that important works could not be placed under any man of that trade, citing the failures of John Bland, and put forward Lieutenant Bazett as superintendent instead. With the Engineer gone and the instructions for his successor perhaps incomplete, it now called an experienced master mason essential. The change conceded that an infantry lieutenant with some knowledge of engineering could not direct masonry without a skilled craftsman beside him. The man then in post was serving out a contract for a fixed term, and the Council condemned him as drunken, idle, unskilled and old, much as it had condemned Bland. | |
192 | with more mildness and lenity than the insult offered merited, yet at§ | The Council treated Captain Mitchell with more mildness and leniency, on account of his supposed state of mind, than the insult he offered deserved. It could not help thinking, however, that his resignation looked like a deliberate precaution, taken so that he could behave badly with greater safety. The Council's whole treatment of him during his time on the island made his conduct towards it all the more blameworthy. He lost its regard as a worthy member of society, although it still thought well of his professional ability as shown in the works he built. His behaviour from the arrival of the first storeship was absurd, and his latest conduct left him in a poor light. The Council therefore counted his departure a fortunate event. In his state of mind, the cause of which he alone knew, a longer stay could do the Company no good. He took his passage in the Horsendon as he asked, and his commission went home in the packet. 13: The Council issued three sets of bills of exchange, each drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 14 June 1769. Captain Archibald Mitchell, payable to himself, £400 0s 0d Captain Henry Bazett, payable to Mr Alexander Warrand, £300 0s 0d Mr Matthew Bazett, payable to Mr Alexander Warrand, £1,000 0s 0d The letter was dated at St Helena on 16 June 1769 and signed by three members of the Council. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille M Purling Interpretations The Council gave two accounts of the same conduct, and they pulled against each other. It first excused Captain Mitchell as disturbed in mind, then suggested that he resigned on purpose before insulting the board. The second reading had a precise logic. An officer holding a commission was subject to military discipline and could be suspended or tried by court martial, as Lieutenant Leech was on 8 November 1768. A man who handed in his commission on 10 June 1769 and misbehaved afterwards stood outside that jurisdiction. The Council passed over any attempt to hold or punish him and let him sail in the ship he chose. It presented that restraint as leniency towards an unsettled man, though the paragraph itself showed that it had little power left to do otherwise. The Council took care to separate the man from his work. It withdrew its good opinion of his character while keeping its praise of the fortifications, which it had commended to the Court on 23 February 1768, 13 August 1768, 10 September 1768 and 13 March 1769. Had it condemned the engineer as well as the man, its own repeated testimony and the soundness of works costing the Company heavily would have come into question. The letter still did not say what the insult was, and it was silent on whether he finished the written instructions for Lieutenant Bazett that the Council made a condition of his leaving on 3 June 1769. Captain Mitchell drew £400 0s 0d payable to himself two days after the first consultation on his conduct, and the Council issued the bill. With £400 0s 0d on 30 May 1768 and £800 0s 0d on 13 February 1769, his drafts came to £1,600 0s 0d. The other two bills went to members of the Bazett family, with whom he was linked: Sergeant Payne alleged on 12 December 1768 that he and Captain Bazett were partners in a private building. Mr Matthew Bazett's £1,000 0s 0d was among the largest sums in these letters, following his £300 0s 0d of 5 September 1768 and £424 0s 7d of 29 April 1769. | |
193 | List of the Honoble Companys Packet from St.§ §No. 1 Governor & Councils General Letter dated the 16th June 1769§ §2 Duplicate Do. & Do. dated the 3d Do. Do.§ §3 Do. Do. to the Secret Committee dated the 3d Do. Do.§ §4 Consultations from the 6th to the 14th June 1769§ §5 Duplicate Do. from the 15 May to the 1st Do. Do.§ §6 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Salisbury§ §7 Second Do. for Do. P Ship Tilbury§ §8 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Salisbury§ §9 Effective State of the Garrison§ §10 Cash Account from the 4th to the 16th June 1769§ §11 Duplicate Do. from the 11th to the 31st May Do.§ §12 Do. Do. from the 1st to the 3d June Do.§ §13 Ship Horsendons Account§ §14 Duplicate Ship Salisbury's Do.§ §15 Do. Do. Spekes Do.§ §16 Do. Certificate of Flour§ §17 Indent of Stores wanted for the Service of the Year 1770§ §18 Do. of Medicines Do. Do. Do.§ §19 List of Stores remaing. in the Honoble Compys. Ware Houses the 30th April 1769§ §20 Do. of Garrison Stores remaing. the 30th Do. Do.§ §21 Do. of Artillery Stores from the 1st October 1768 to the 30th. Do. Do.§ §22 Mr. Geo. Bazetts Covenants§ §23 List of Books and Mathematical Instruments for the Engineer§ §24 Captn. Mitchels Commission§ | A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Horsendon, dated 16 June 1769. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 16 June 1769 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 3 June 1769 3: Duplicate of the letter from the Governor and Council to the Secret Committee dated 3 June 1769 4: Consultations from 6 June 1769 to 14 June 1769 5: Duplicate of the consultations from 15 May 1769 to 1 June 1769 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the Salisbury. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Tilbury. 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Salisbury. 9: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 10: Cash account from 4 June 1769 to 16 June 1769 11: Duplicate cash account from 11 May 1769 to 31 May 1769 12: Duplicate cash account from 1 June 1769 to 3 June 1769 13: Account of the Horsendon. 14: Duplicate account of the Salisbury. 15: Duplicate account of the Speke. 16: Duplicate certificate of flour 17: Order for stores needed in 1770 18: Order for medicines needed in 1770 19: List of stores remaining in the Company's warehouses on 30 April 1769 20: List of garrison stores remaining on 30 April 1769 21: List of artillery stores from 1 October 1768 to 30 April 1769 22: Mr George Bazett's covenants 23: List of books and mathematical instruments for the Engineer 24: Captain Mitchell's commission Interpretations The year's orders went home two months sooner than in 1768. The orders for 1769 left only on 13 August 1768, a delay the Council put down to a missing cargo summary and a busy storekeeper, and on 11 April 1769 it promised to do better. The lists of remains were again struck on 30 April, and this time the orders built on them were ready by the middle of June. The Court therefore had longer to assemble the 500 casks of provisions, the extra clothing and the coal requested in the letter of 16 June 1769. Item 23 asked for books and mathematical instruments for the Engineer's post, a request the letter itself did not mention. Captain Mitchell's commission travelled home as the next item in the same packet, so the list was drawn up as he left. The Council evidently meant to equip whoever carried on the works with the texts and drawing and surveying instruments of the profession. Lieutenant Bazett, by the Council's own account on 13 August 1768 and 3 June 1769, had only some knowledge of engineering, and such an outfit offered him the means of adding to it. The consultations at item 4 included those of 12 June 1769 and 14 June 1769, to which the letter referred the Court for Captain Mitchell's conduct. The Court thus received the record of the affair, his surrendered commission and the Council's commentary together, carried in the ship that took him home. | |
194 | To the Honble &ca.§ | 1: The Council's previous letter went home on 16 June 1769 by the Horsendon. 2: The York arrived from Bombay on 21 June 1769. Captain Hayter left Bombay on 26 February 1769, when the Grenville and the Essex lay there. The Grenville was to sail about a fortnight after his departure. 3: The Court advised commanders calling at the Cape to bring livestock for the island. Only three of the seven ships that called there in 1769 brought sheep, and the Council regretted that the advice received so little attention. A supply of sheep in particular greatly benefited the island's market and hospital and served the shipping too. The letters of 17 March 1769 and 11 April 1769 reported that Cape cattle throve less well than expected. The Council therefore judged it better for the Company and the island that commanders should be told to bring no more black cattle in future, only sheep. It felt sure that sheep would serve the purpose far better. 4: The previous letter asked the Court to send in 1770 the number of officers' sashes given in the order for stores. That number was left out of the order by mistake. The Council now asked for 12 sashes to come the following season. 5: The storekeeper and the paymaster advised the Council that they had no secure place to keep the cash that necessarily passed through their hands. Interpretations The Council's view of Cape livestock reached its conclusion here. It asked on 2 June 1768 for young cattle only, noted on 17 March 1769 that sheep did much better and reported on 11 April 1769 that sound cattle died or failed to fatten. It now passed over any further trial of cattle and asked the Court to stop them altogether. The complaint about the commanders showed the weakness of the arrangement: the Court's direction was advice and not an order, and four ships of seven ignored it. Livestock took deck space, fodder and water, and a commander gained nothing by carrying it beyond the price paid on the island. The Council asked for the advice to be redirected towards sheep but stopped short of requesting that it be made binding. The missing figure for the sashes was the second copying error admitted within a month. The letter of 16 June 1769 reported that ironwork for mortar beds and gun carriages and copper powder measures were dropped from the general order sent to England in 1768. Both slips bore out the plea of 11 April 1769 that the offices needed two or three more writers. The figure of 12 gave a rough count of the commissioned officers for whom sashes were kept on the Company's books. The storekeeper and the paymaster were the two servants who held the Company's cash day by day, the one for purchases and the other for the garrison's pay. The paymaster's post was held by Captain Kirkpatrick until the Court's orders removed him in April 1769, and the Council then reported a fictitious advance and errors in his accounts. A new holder asking for a secure place to keep the money raised the question of how it was kept before. The York was reported at Bombay on 8 December 1768 by the commander of the Bute. The Grenville and the Essex, then on the Malabar coast, had since reached Bombay. | |
195 | well founded we beg you will send the next Year two Small Iron§ | The Council judged the complaint of the storekeeper and the paymaster well founded and asked the Court to send two small iron chests in 1770 for keeping the cash. 6: The Council appointed Mr William Wrangham paymaster on 7 April 1769, when Captain Kirkpatrick was dismissed. Mr Wrangham was an assistant in the Accountant's office, and no other civil servant had worked there. Removing him would have left that office without an assistant able to keep the books of accounts under Mr Purling. He therefore held both posts, which together demanded close attendance. The Council thought it fair to allow him £50 0s 0d a year for the paymaster's duty until the Court's wishes were known. It also asked the Court to consider whether the paymaster's department ought properly to stand on the same level as the storekeeper's and the Secretary's, with the paymaster receiving the same salary and allowances as the heads of those offices. The consultation of 19 June 1769 set out the Council's views in full. The same consultation gave the reasons for taking Mr James Desfountain and Mr William Webber Doveton into the Company's service as writers. The Council hoped the Court would approve and confirm the appointment of these two young men. Only absolute necessity could have led it to put the Company to this added cost. A look back at earlier years showed six covenanted servants working as assistants in the various offices in 1744. With the two new writers the island had only seven, counting Mr Wrangham the paymaster. The Council felt able to state that business in every department had grown considerably since 1744, through the increase in the Company's ships, in the garrison and in the works then in progress. It trusted that these reasons, with the others offered, would seem strong grounds for engaging the two writers. Interpretations The Council asked on 11 April 1769 for leave to take on two or three more writers and then appointed two before any answer could arrive. It passed over waiting a year for the Court's reply, as it did when it appointed Mr George Bazett on 13 August 1768, and sought confirmation afterwards. The argument from 1744 met the expected objection of cost with a comparison the Court could check in its own records: the clerical staff had grown by one in 25 years while the homeward fleet, the garrison and the building programme all expanded. The two admitted copying errors of June and July 1769, over the artillery ironwork and the officers' sashes, gave the case immediate support. The paymaster's post changed character with its holder. Captain Kirkpatrick held it as a military officer and councillor, and the letter here called his removal a dismissal in plain terms. The Council reported on 11 April 1769 that he imposed a fictitious advance on it and that his accounts contained errors over re-enlisted soldiers. It replaced him with a civil servant trained in the Accountant's office under Mr Purling, which put the garrison's pay in the hands of a man used to keeping books and brought it under the oversight of the councillor who kept the general accounts. The proposal to rank the paymaster with the storekeeper and the Secretary would have made the change permanent and turned Mr Wrangham's temporary £50 0s 0d into a full head of office's income. Covenanted servants were those who signed the Company's formal contract and gave sureties, as Mr Bazett did under the letter of 16 June 1769. Both new writers were probably island-born. Mr Doveton shared a surname with Mr Jonathan Doveton, who drew a bill on 8 August 1768 and stood surety for Mr Bazett, and the Council's description of them as young men already at hand points the same way. Recruiting locally spared the Company a passage from England, though it also kept the posts within the island's established families. Mr Wrangham was the officer sent aboard the Speke in May 1769 to search for illicit trade. | |
196 | We have given Captain Hayter an order to§ | 7: The Council ordered Captain Hayter to take three discharged soldiers aboard his ship to bring her crew up to strength. William Caleb Bauldwin Thomas Wiatt Thomas James Captain Hayter also received leave to carry Thomas Durham, another discharged man, in the York. 8: Captain Hayter handed over Robert Nickles on 27 June 1769. Nickles was a soldier who deserted from one of the Company's settlements on the Malabar coast. The Council enlisted him to serve out his contracted term of five years on the island. 9: The Council issued four sets of bills of exchange, each drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 1 July 1769. John Skottowe Esquire, payable to Messrs G[...] and [...]house, £25 0s 0d Mr Robert Barclay, payable to Messrs Ballentine and Annat, £220 0s 0d Captain George Hayter, payable to Richard Hotham Esquire, £316 12s 4d Mr Michael Lascells, payable to Samuel Way Esquire, £132 8s 0d 10: No new cash account could go home with this letter, only a duplicate of the one sent before. The quarter's accounts were not due to come before the Council until 17 July 1769. The letter was dated at St Helena on 2 July 1769 and signed by three members of the Council. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille M Purling Interpretations The Council passed over punishing the deserter or sending him back to the settlement he left. A commander brought him in as a prisoner, and the Council put him straight into the garrison for the full five years he originally contracted to serve. The reason lay in the letters of June 1769: the 80 recruits expected by the Speke did not come, guard duty was cut back for want of men, and the Council asked for 180 recruits to reach the new establishment. A trained soldier delivered to the island was worth more in the ranks than in confinement. St Helena also offered what the Malabar coast did not, since a man could not desert from a small island with no hinterland, the same reasoning that led Fort Marlborough to send a runaway slave there, as the letter of 3 April 1769 recorded. The three men shipped under an order went as working hands, and Durham went by permission as a passenger. No waiver of wages was recorded for him, although William Luke signed one on 18 April 1769 when carried on the same footing. Mr Barclay drew £220 0s 0d two weeks after the Council pleaded on 16 June 1769 that his salary and diet money as surgeon came to only £79 0s 0d a year. The bill was nearly three years of that income. Like the servants whose poverty the Council urged on 13 August 1768, he evidently had means beyond his official pay, whether from private practice or from trade. The date of 2 July 1769 fixed the letter's month. The consultation on the paymaster and the two new writers was that of 19 June 1769. The withholding of a cash account until the quarter's books were examined repeated the practice of 2 April 1768 and 3 April 1769. | |
197 | List of the Honble Company's Packet from St. Helena P Ship York§ §No. 1 Governor & Councils General Letter Dated 2 July 1769§ §2 Duplicate do. & do. Dated 16th June do.§ §3 Consultations from 19th June to 1st. July do.§ §4 Duplicate do. from 6th to 14th June do.§ §5 First Receipt for the Packet P Ship Horsendon§ §6 Second do. for do. P Ship Salisbury§ §7 List of Officers & Servants taken 2d July 1769§ §8 do. of four discharged Soldiers§ §9 Duplicate List of the Packet P Ship Horsendon§ §10 do. of Stores remaining in the Honble Company's Ware Houses the 30 April 1769§ §11 do. of Garrison Stores remaining 30. do. do.§ §12 do. of Artillery Stores from 1st October 1768 to the 30th April 1769§ §13 do. of Books & Mathematical Instruments for the Engineer§ §14 Effective State of the Garrison§ §15 Duplicate Cash Acct. from 4th to 16th June 1769§ §16 Ship Yorks Account§ §17 Duplicate Ship Horsendon's do.§ §18 do. Indent of Stores wanting for the Service of the Year 1770§ §19 do. do. of Medicines do. do. do.§ §20 Abstract of the Cargoe of Ship York§ §21 Time of the Arrival of Ship Yorks Boat at Banks's§ §22 Captain Jamesons Receipt for a Box containing Bayonet Scabbards§ §23 do. do. do. containing a Pipe of a fire Engine§ | A list followed of the contents of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the York, dated 2 July 1769. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 2 July 1769 2: Duplicate of the general letter from the Governor and Council dated 16 June 1769 3: Consultations from 19 June 1769 to 1 July 1769 4: Duplicate of the consultations from 6 June 1769 to 14 June 1769 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Horsendon. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Salisbury. 7: List of officers and servants taken on 2 July 1769 8: List of 4 discharged soldiers 9: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Horsendon. 10: Duplicate list of stores remaining in the Company's warehouses on 30 April 1769 11: Duplicate list of garrison stores remaining on 30 April 1769 12: Duplicate list of artillery stores from 1 October 1768 to 30 April 1769 13: Duplicate list of books and mathematical instruments for the Engineer 14: Return of the effective strength of the garrison 15: Duplicate cash account from 4 June 1769 to 16 June 1769 16: Account of the York. 17: Duplicate account of the Horsendon. 18: Duplicate order for stores needed in 1770 19: Duplicate order for medicines needed in 1770 20: Summary of the cargo of the York. 21: Note of the time at which the York's boat reached Banks's. 22: Captain Jameson's receipt for a box containing bayonet scabbards 23: Captain Jameson's receipt for a box containing a pipe of a fire engine Interpretations Captain Jameson's two receipts covered the boxes he took home in the Horsendon under paragraph 5 of the letter of 16 June 1769. They followed him by the next ship, so the Court held his signed acknowledgement for the 194 returned scabbards and the broken fire engine pipe separately from the boxes themselves. The practice matched that used for the boxed plans of Sandy Bay, Banks's and Lemon Valley, though these receipts were not numbered first or second. The four discharged soldiers at item 8 were the three men entered in the York's crew and Thomas Durham, carried by permission, all named in paragraph 7 of the letter of 2 July 1769. No written undertaking about wages appeared in the list for Durham. The duplicates of the 1770 orders and the lists of remains went by the very next ship after the originals, as the 1769 orders did on 10 September 1768. The packet held only a duplicate cash account, in keeping with paragraph 10 of the letter, which held the next one back until the quarter's accounts came before the Council on 17 July 1769. | |
198 | To the Honble &ca.§ | 1: The Council's previous letter was dated 2 July 1769 and went home by the York. 2: The Sea Horse arrived from China on 8 July 1769 and the Dutton from Madras on 12 July 1769. Captain Rice left Madras on 11 March 1769. He reported that a ceasefire between the Company's troops and Hyder Ali's held for a few days, and that Hyder Ali's army laid waste most of the Carnatic. Mr Andrews went on an embassy to Hyder Ali and returned to Madras before the Dutton sailed. He was expected to go again within a few days on the same business. Captain Rice also spoke with the Duke of Grafton off the Cape on 23 June 1769, with all well aboard. 3: The Court ordered its commanders to stock up with fuel in India for the voyage home. Several of them nevertheless asked the island for it. The Council could not meet those demands unless the Court either sent a larger supply of coal or enforced its orders. Commanders ought to lay in a full quantity for the homeward voyage and not rely on the island for fuel of any kind. They were too often careless about providing enough to cover a slow passage. 4: Plans and elevations of houses for Governor Skottowe and the Lieutenant Governor went home with this letter. An earlier letter mentioned that the Council was obliged to pull down the new Plantation House. Interpretations The news from Madras showed the war with Hyder Ali turning towards a negotiated end. He was reported beaten on 23 February 1768, as retaking Mangalore on 10 September 1768 and as overrunning the Carnatic with cavalry on 3 June 1769. A ceasefire and repeated embassies from Madras, with most of the surrounding country destroyed, meant that the Madras presidency was the party seeking terms. Fuel was a scarce commodity on the island. St Helena had little timber, and the Council relied on coal from England for the forge, the smith's shop and other needs, as its request of 16 June 1769 for 70 chaldrons showed. A ship that reached the island short of firing for her galley drew on that same small stock. The Council put the choice to the Court in plain terms: send more coal or make the commanders obey. The complaint paralleled that of 2 July 1769, when only three of seven ships brought sheep from the Cape, and both showed commanders treating the Court's directions as optional and the island as a place to make good their own shortfalls. The Court asked, as the letter of 3 June 1769 recorded, whether the Governor's country house should be finished or rebuilt, and called for the Engineer's opinion and a plan. The Council went past the question. It reported the house as already being pulled down from necessity and sent designs for two new houses, one of them for the Lieutenant Governor, about whom the Court did not ask. The description of the building as the new Plantation House shows that it was itself a recent and unfinished work, so the Company faced the loss of what it had spent there as well as the cost of the replacements. Captain Mitchell gave up his commission on 10 June 1769 and sailed in the Horsendon, which left open who drew the plans and elevations now sent. The Sea Horse was reported at China on 1 February 1769 by Captain Jameson, ready to sail within a day or two. The Dutton was to complete her cargo at Madras, as the letter of 13 March 1769 stated. | |
199 | we could for future use. many of which are totally Decayed, Occasiond§ | The Council reported that many of the materials saved for later use were completely rotten, because the old roofs could never be made watertight. The enclosed plans therefore showed roofs with one single pitch, which experience proved to be the only kind suited to the island's climate. The Council asked the Court to send out slate for these roofs. Slate would cost more than tiles at the outset, but the Council was sure its long life would more than repay the difference. The Lieutenant Governor explained that he drew the plan of his house as compactly as he could, with an eye to sparing the Company's money. He would have sent an estimate of the cost had one been possible. No reliable figure could be worked out on the island, where the Company built far more cheaply than any private person. The stone and lime belonged to the Company, which also kept many craftsmen on permanent wages. Its own slaves supplied most of the labour on its buildings. An architect in England priced a building at so much per foot, assuming that every material except the ornamental work had to be bought. That method could not be applied at St Helena. The Lieutenant Governor further asked that the Court, on approving his plan, would supply the enclosed order for sashes and frames, along with balusters for a staircase. Such articles were much better finished and much more cheaply made in England than on the island. 5: Mr R. Bagley applied to pay £156 0s 0d into the Company's treasury. The Council accepted the money and gave him bills drawn on the Court for that amount, payable to Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick. Interpretations The Council passed over tiles, the cheaper and more obvious covering, in favour of slate, and admitted openly that the first cost would be higher. The reason lay in the failure recorded at the head of the passage: stored materials rotted because the existing roofs could not be kept tight. A single-pitch roof under slate was presented as a lesson of local experience, with durability set against the initial outlay. The Lieutenant Governor declined to send an estimate, which the Court would ordinarily expect before approving a building. His explanation showed how the Company's works were costed on the island. Stone and lime came from the Company's own property, and labour came from salaried craftsmen and Company slaves, so none of these appeared as a separate purchase. The English method of pricing by the foot assumed bought materials and hired labour, and so had no basis at St Helena. The effect was that the true cost of the house was absorbed into the standing establishment and could not be isolated. The request for sashes, frames and balusters from England showed the limits of local joinery. Fine finished woodwork was both dearer and poorer when made on the island, so the structural shell was built locally while the fitted components were ordered from home by an indent, the formal requisition for stores sent to the Court. Bagley's transaction was a means of remitting money to England. He paid cash into the island treasury and received bills of exchange drawn on the Court, which Captain Kirkpatrick could present in London for payment. The Company gained ready cash on the island for local expenses, and the payer moved funds home without risking coin at sea. | |
200 | or order drawn at Ninety days Sight, & dated the 17th Instant§ | The bills given to Mr R. Bagley for his £156 0s 0d were drawn to Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick or his order at 90 days' sight and carried the date 17 July 1769. 6: Mr James Hodges was the only passenger aboard the Sea Horse. The Dutton carried Roger Carter Esquire, Mr and Mrs Callend, Mrs Campbell, Mr Therson, Captain Morrice of the Earl of Chatham, Captains Adair and Drinnian, Lieutenant Chislen and Messrs Sadlier and Evans. 7: The Council ordered Captain Dampier to take two invalid soldiers, John Fexon and William Ford, aboard his ship and paid him £10 0s 0d for their passage. Both men signed a written undertaking to claim no wages for the voyage, and that paper travelled in the packet. 8: The accounts for the previous quarter and other business came before the Council on 17 July 1769. Too little time remained to copy out the consultation of that day for dispatch by the departing ships. The letter closed at St Helena on 19 July 1769 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations The undertaking signed by Fexon and Ford closed off a claim that could otherwise have arisen in London. Men carried home on a Company ship might later assert that they worked their passage and were owed seamen's pay. The Council therefore paid the captain a fixed fare, treated the two soldiers strictly as passengers and sent the signed paper home so the Court held the evidence if either man applied for wages. Bills at 90 days' sight gave the Court three months from the day the bill was presented in London before payment fell due. The words "or his order" made the bill transferable, so Captain Kirkpatrick could sign it over to another person instead of collecting the money himself. The Council chose to send the letter without the consultation of 17 July 1769, although the Court ordinarily expected the record of proceedings to accompany each dispatch. Only two days separated that meeting from the date of the letter, and the ships' sailing took priority over the clerks' copying. The quarterly accounts considered that day therefore reached London by a later ship. The passenger list recorded Captain Morrice of the Earl of Chatham travelling home in the Dutton, a commander sailing as a passenger in another ship. The passage gave no reason for his separation from his own vessel. | |
201 | List of the Honble Company's Packet from St Helena pr§ | The Company's packet from St Helena by the Sea Horse, dated 19 July 1769, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 19 July 1769 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 2 July 1769 3: Consultations from 3 to 10 July 1769 4: Duplicate consultations from 19 June to 1 July 1769 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship York. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Horsenden. 7: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship York. 8: Effective state of the garrison 9: Muster rolls of the garrison 10: Cash account from 17 to 30 June 1769 11: Cash account from 1 to 19 July 1769 12: Account of the ship Sea Horse. 13: Duplicate account of the ship York. 14: Abstract of the cargoes of the ships Sea Horse and Dutton. 15: Time of the arrival of ships' boats at Banks's 16: Plan and elevation of the Governor's house 17: Plan and elevation of the Lieutenant Governor's house 18: Order for sash frames and other fittings for the Lieutenant Governor's house 19: Surgeon's certificate for two invalid soldiers 20: Written undertaking of the two invalid soldiers 21: Captain Dampier's first receipt for £10 0s 0d Interpretations The consultations in the packet stopped at 10 July 1769. This matched the Council's statement in the letter of 19 July 1769 that the proceedings of 17 July 1769 could not be copied in time. The Court therefore received the letter without the record of the meeting at which the quarterly accounts were considered. Duplicates made up a large part of the packet. The letter of 2 July 1769, the consultations from 19 June to 1 July 1769, the packet list and the ship's account sent by the York were all repeated here. Sending a second copy by a later ship protected the Company's correspondence against the loss of any one vessel. The numbered receipts served the same purpose of control: each commander signed for the packet he carried, and the receipt went home by a different ship so the Court could hold him to account for its delivery. Items 19 to 21 formed the paper trail for John Fexon and William Ford. The surgeon's certificate justified their discharge as unfit, the signed undertaking barred any wage claim for the voyage, and Captain Dampier's receipt proved the £10 0s 0d fare was paid. The label "first receipt" indicated that a further copy was to follow by another ship. The list showed that a plan and elevation of the Governor's house went home alongside the Lieutenant Governor's. Only the Lieutenant Governor's house carried an order for sashes and frames, the fitted joinery that the letter described as better and cheaper made in England. Item 15 recorded when boats from arriving ships reached Banks's, a named point on the island. The return gave the Court a check on how promptly ships reported themselves on arrival. | |
202 | To the Honble &c.§ | The Council opened a new letter to the Court by recalling its previous one, sent on 19 July 1769 by the Sea Horse. 2: Captain Rice received an order to take five discharged soldiers aboard his ship to help fill out her crew. The men were John Jack, Richard Wellmore, Thomas Roberts, Nicholas Burket and Stephen Papps. Papps had not completed the term he signed for. The quarterly court of October 1768 convicted him of attempted sodomy, and the Council described him as a thoroughly bad character in many other ways. On those grounds the Council judged him unfit to stay on the island any longer. 3: Mr Carter applied to exchange Walpole, a male slave belonging to the Company, for another man of equal quality whom he would supply. Carter himself sent Walpole to the island about 15 years earlier for cheating the Company of some money. The Council asked for the Court's instructions if it approved the exchange. 4: The Council granted four sets of bills of exchange, all drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 24 July 1769. Governor Skottowe, payable to Robert Wood Esquire, £350 0s 0d Mr James Greentree, payable to Digby Dent Esquire, £260 0s 0d Captain Henry Bazett, payable to Mr Richard B[...]dman, £219 1s 0d John Whitchurch on account of John Bland's orphans, £325 6s 3d 5: The cash balance stood at about £12,000. The Council hoped that this sum, together with money still to come in for bills, stores and other receipts, would be enough to cover current expenses. Interpretations Papps was released before his time was up, although the ordinary course was to hold a soldier to the full term of his contract. The Council explained the departure itself: a conviction for attempted sodomy and a generally bad reputation made him unwelcome in a small garrison community. Discharge and shipment home served as a means of removal, and placing him among men needed to complete a ship's crew cost the Company no passage money. The contrast with the two invalids sent by Captain Dampier, for whom £10 0s 0d was paid on 19 July 1769, was plain. Walpole's history showed that a man could be sent to St Helena as a Company slave as a penalty for fraud against the Company. Carter, who dispatched him, now wanted him back and offered a substitute of equal value so the Company's labour force lost nothing. The Council did not settle the matter locally. A Company slave was Company property, so the decision to part with him was referred to the Court. This Carter was perhaps the Roger Carter Esquire listed as a passenger in the Dutton in the letter of 19 July 1769, though the passage did not say so. The bills showed who used the island treasury to send money home. The Governor remitted £350 0s 0d on his own account. The largest sum after his, £325 6s 3d, belonged to the orphans of John Bland and was remitted by John Whitchurch on their behalf, which indicated that he was managing the children's inheritance and moving it to England. As with the bills given to Mr R. Bagley, dated 17 July 1769, each payment into the treasury added to the island's ready cash, which helped explain a balance of about £12,000. | |
203 | Current Year as well as for the Year 1770 we therefore presume your§ | The Council expected the cash in hand, about £12,000 with further receipts, to meet the costs of the rest of 1769 and of 1770 as well. The Court was therefore advised that no money needed to be shipped to the island the following season. The letter closed at St Helena on 1 August 1769 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Dutton, dated 1 August 1769, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 1 August 1769 2: Governor and Council's letter dated 1 August 1769 relating to law matters 3: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 19 July 1769 4: Consultations from 17 to 31 July 1769 5: Duplicate consultations from 3 to 10 July 1769 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Sea Horse. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship York. 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Sea Horse. 9: List of five discharged soldiers 10: Effective state of the garrison 11: Cash account from 20 to 31 July 1769 12: Duplicate cash account from 17 to 30 June 1769 13: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 19 July 1769 14: Account of the ship Dutton. 15: Duplicate account of the ship Sea Horse. 16: Captain Dampier's second receipt for £10 0s 0d 17: Proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 12 July 1769 Interpretations The Council told the Court to send no cash for the coming season, although a remote garrison would ordinarily expect a regular supply of coin from home. The reason was visible in the same letter. Residents and ships' officers kept paying money into the island treasury in return for bills on London, as the four sets dated 24 July 1769 showed, and stores sold on the island brought in more. The treasury was in effect being filled locally, and the Company settled the debt in London when the bills fell due. Shipping coin would have added risk and cost for no gain. The consultation of 17 July 1769, which could not be copied in time for the Sea Horse, went home in this packet as the first of the consultations from 17 to 31 July 1769. The Court therefore received the quarterly accounts considered that day about a fortnight behind the letter that mentioned them. Law matters were dealt with in a separate letter of the same date and not in the general letter, and the proceedings of the quarterly court of 12 July 1769 travelled with it. Keeping judicial business apart allowed the Court to pass those papers to its legal advisers without circulating the whole of the general correspondence. The list of five discharged soldiers matched the men named in the letter of 1 August 1769, including Stephen Papps. Its presence in the packet carried by the Dutton suggested that Captain Rice commanded that ship, though neither the letter nor the list said so directly. Captain Dampier's second receipt for the £10 0s 0d fare of John Fexon and William Ford followed the first, sent by the Sea Horse on 19 July 1769. | |
204 | To the Honble &c§ | The Council began a fresh letter by noting that its previous one went to the Court on 1 August 1769 by the Dutton. 2: The Company's ship Grenville arrived on 13 August 1769 from Bombay, having last called at the Cape. Captain Abercromby reported leaving Bombay on 7 April 1769. The Company's ship Essex lay there at the time and was due to sail for Europe towards the end of that month. He put into False Bay for fresh provisions. The Company's ship Royal Charlotte called there before him and resumed her voyage about 12 May 1769. A Dutch captain at False Bay told him that the Prince of Wales sprang a leak after leaving the island of St Jago and made for Brazil to repair. 3: Captain Abercromby received an order to take two discharged soldiers, John Jacks and Thomas Richards, aboard his ship to help fill out her crew. 4: The Council's letter of 3 June 1769 told the Court that the contents of a chest belonging to James Gordon, gardener, would be sold and the proceeds paid into the Company's treasury. The sale took place and raised £20 17s 8d. That sum was entered in the island's books against the running account with London. The detailed statement of the sale appeared in the consultations of 14 August 1769. Interpretations Entering the £20 17s 8d against the account current with London turned Gordon's property into a credit held by the Company at home. The cash itself stayed in the island treasury for local use, while the Court became answerable in London for the same amount to whoever was entitled to Gordon's effects. The account of sale copied into the consultations gave the Court an itemised record against which any claimant could be paid. The mechanism was the same one that underlay the bills of exchange dated 24 July 1769: money received on the island, liability discharged in England. The second paragraph served as shipping intelligence for the Court. St Helena was a point where homeward commanders reported what they saw and heard on the way, and the Council forwarded it by the first ship. The news of the Prince of Wales was hearsay at one remove, passed from a Dutch captain to Captain Abercromby, and the Council reported it as such without vouching for it. A leak serious enough to send a ship to Brazil meant a long delay to her voyage, which the Court would need to know for insurance, cargo and scheduling purposes. As with the five men sent by Captain Rice in the letter of 1 August 1769, the two discharged soldiers were shipped as hands to complete the crew of the Grenville. No fare was recorded for them, unlike the £10 0s 0d paid to Captain Dampier for two invalids unable to work. | |
205 | Captain Abercromby acquainted the Governor§ | Captain Abercromby told Governor Skottowe that a deserter from Bombay named Robert Grosvenor was aboard his ship. The Council took the man off and kept him at St Helena to serve out his contracted term in the island's garrison. The letter closed at St Helena on 17 August 1769 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Grenville, dated 17 August 1769, held the following papers. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter dated 17 August 1769 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 1 August 1769 3: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's letter dated 1 August 1769 relating to law matters 4: Consultations from 7 to 17 August 1769 5: Duplicate consultations from 17 to 31 July 1769 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Dutton. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Sea Horse. 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Dutton. 9: List of two discharged soldiers 10: Effective state of the garrison 11: Cash account from 1 to 17 August 1769 12: Duplicate cash account from 20 to 31 July 1769 13: Account of the ship Grenville. 14: Duplicate account of the ship Dutton. 15: Abstract of the cargo of the ship Grenville. 16: Time of the arrival of the boat of the Grenville at Banks's. 17: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 12 July 1769 Interpretations Grosvenor deserted from the Company's service at Bombay, and the obvious courses were to send him back there to face punishment or to let him continue to England in the Grenville. The Council did neither. His contract was with the Company, not with a particular station, so the Council treated the unserved years as still owing and claimed them for St Helena. The choice suited the island's needs. The letters of 1 August 1769 and 17 August 1769 recorded seven soldiers discharged and shipped home as crew, and two invalids left on 19 July 1769. A trained man already bound to serve cost nothing to recruit or transport. The captain reported the deserter to the Governor personally, and the Council then acted on it. A commander who knowingly carried a Company deserter home risked blame in London, so disclosure at the first Company settlement protected him and handed the problem to the nearest authority able to deal with it. The two discharged soldiers in item 9 were John Jacks and Thomas Richards, named in the letter of 17 August 1769 as joining the crew of the Grenville. The packet again paired each new document with duplicates from the previous dispatch, so the letter on law matters and the court proceedings of 12 July 1769, first sent by the Dutton, went home a second time by a different ship. | |
206 | To the Honble &ca§ | The Council opened a new letter by recalling its previous one, sent on 17 August 1769 by the Grenville. 2: The Company's ship Essex arrived from Bombay on 25 August 1769. The Shrewsbury followed on 28 August 1769 from Bengal, having last called at Mauritius. Captain Jones reported leaving Bengal on 18 April 1769, and the Company's ship Talbot sailed from there on 24 March 1769. After clearing Ingelie he met a country vessel on passage from Madras to Bengal. Her captain told him that the Madras presidency made peace with Hyder Ally, though he knew nothing of the terms. Captain Jones also described his reception at Mauritius. A message from the French governor, Monsieur De La Roche, reached him as soon as he entered the port. Neither Jones nor any of his officers could come ashore, but the French would deliver whatever provisions or water he needed with their own boats and men. Jones replied that French commanders were always allowed to land at St Helena. He asked only for the same courtesy, so that he could call on the governor in person. The request was flatly refused. The same reply carried an invitation, since De La Roche was holding a ball that evening and wished Jones and any officers he chose to attend. A boat would collect them at eight o'clock at night and wait to take them back, because none of them could sleep ashore. Jones allowed some of his officers and a passenger, Mr Barwell, to accept. They were escorted to the settlement and back again. Interpretations The French governor's arrangements kept British officers from seeing anything of Mauritius. Supplies came out in French boats with French crews, so no boat from the Shrewsbury touched the shore. The only visit allowed was after dark, to a ball, with the guests fetched, escorted and returned by the same boat. The hospitality was real but so was the purpose: no Company officer could observe the harbour works, defences or garrison by daylight or move about unaccompanied. Jones's appeal to the treatment of French commanders at St Helena showed that he understood the refusal as a breach of the usual reciprocity between the two nations' stations. The Council reported the episode in detail because it bore on how French ships ought to be received at St Helena in return. Jones did not go to the ball himself, as far as the passage showed. Having been refused the formal call he asked for, he let officers and a passenger attend while keeping his own distance. Accepting in person an invitation offered in place of a proper reception would have conceded the point he had just argued. A country vessel was a ship owned and based in the East, trading between Asian ports and not sailing to Europe. Ingelie lay at the seaward end of the river approach to Calcutta, where outward ships left the pilotage and took their departure. The news of a peace with Hyder Ally, ruler of Mysore and the Madras presidency's opponent in war, was third-hand and without terms. The Council passed it on regardless, since any ship from St Helena might reach London ahead of the official dispatches from Madras. | |
207 | Settlement by an Officer, and strictly attended by the same, during§ | An officer escorted the visitors from the Shrewsbury to the French settlement at Mauritius and back, and kept close beside them for the whole of their stay. The guests noticed an extraordinary number of military officers at the ball, more than 400 by their estimate. They were told that the island held troops in proportion to that figure and a large body of cavalry besides. The Council thought the Court ought to have this information exactly as Captain Jones gave it. Affairs in Europe stood at a dangerous point, and the Council resolved to call out the island's militia. Any French ships calling at St Helena would be refused permission to land. They would be supplied in the same way the French governor supplied the Shrewsbury, until the Court sent further instructions. 3: The Council referred the Court to its consultation of 4 August 1769, which recorded an exchange of letters with Captain R[...]. He asked to land 20 gallons of arrack for his own use without paying the Company's duty fixed by the regulations. The Council regarded the request as highly irregular, and nothing like it was allowed since those regulations came into force. The Council took the chance to explain why the duty was collected so strictly. No workable line could be drawn once exemptions began. Commanders and their officers would have claimed personal use as a cover for bringing large quantities of spirits to many of the inhabitants. The old problem of unlicensed retailing would then have returned, which did great harm to the soldiers and the poorer islanders. The new system of selling arrack put a stop to that trade. The Council assured the Court that the benefits were already plain in the steadier conduct and better behaviour of the garrison. Any relaxation of the system, the Council was convinced, would do serious damage to the settlement as a whole. Interpretations Arrack was a strong spirit distilled in the East from palm sap, rice or sugar-cane molasses, and reached St Helena in ships returning from India and Batavia. It was the common drink of soldiers and sailors in the Company's settlements, cheap and potent. At St Helena the Company charged a duty on every gallon landed and, under the regulations mentioned here, controlled how it was sold. The duty raised revenue, but the passage showed that its main purpose was control: by channelling all arrack through one regulated outlet, the Council limited how much drink reached the garrison and shut out private sellers. The Council refused an exemption for 20 gallons claimed as a captain's personal supply, a modest quantity that could easily have been waved through as a courtesy to a commander. The reason given was specific. A personal allowance could not be policed, since any officer could land spirits under that label and pass them to islanders for resale. The Council therefore chose a rule with no exceptions over one that depended on judging each claim. Writing to the Court unprompted suggested that the Council expected the captain to complain in London and wanted its justification on record first. The response to the French was a deliberate change of practice. French commanders were previously free to land at St Helena, as Captain Jones reminded the governor of Mauritius. The Council dropped that courtesy and adopted the French method exactly, supplying ships by boat without allowing anyone ashore. Two reasons appeared on the page: the treatment of the Shrewsbury and the report of more than 400 officers with troops and cavalry to match, a force far larger than the defence of Mauritius required. Such a concentration pointed to preparations for war in the East, and St Helena lay on the route home. The Council framed the measure as temporary and subject to the Court's orders, since refusing landing rights to a foreign power at peace was a matter of state beyond its ordinary authority. Raising the militia put the island's civilian men under arms alongside the garrison. This was a precaution taken on the strength of a ship's report alone, before any word from London. | |
208 | We request you will please to Order two five Inch Hawsers§ | The Council asked the Court to order two five-inch hawsers and 50 fathoms of iron chain for mooring the longboats, to come out the following season. Both were badly needed, but they were left off the general order for stores when it was drawn up. 5: Lieutenant Welch died on 21 August 1769. The Council gave his vacant commission to a cadet, Mr Richard Mason. Mason was a very deserving young man who worked hard to learn his duties during his time as a cadet. The Council hoped the Court would confirm the appointment. 6: Messrs Barwell and Starkee and Mr Tingle were the passengers aboard the Shrewsbury. 7: The Council granted six sets of bills of exchange, all drawn at 90 days' sight. Governor Skottowe, payable to Robert Wood Esquire, dated 4 September 1769, £120 0s 0d Daniel Corneille Esquire, payable to Messrs John Parker and Edward Wakelin, dated 4 September 1769, £88 0s 0d Mr Matthew Purling, payable to John Purling Esquire, dated 4 September 1769, £400 0s 0d Mr Jonathan Doveton, payable to Mr George [...]itherden, dated 4 September 1769, £65 0s 0d Captain Henry Bazett, payable to John Purling Esquire, dated 11 September 1769, £100 0s 0d Mr William Wrangham, payable to Captain Gabriel Steward, dated 11 September 1769, £150 0s 0d 8: The Shrewsbury was due to sail on 17 September 1769. By her the Council intended to send its views on the petition of Mr Bea[...] and a request for a suitable person to succeed him as schoolmaster. The letter closed at St Helena on 14 September 1769 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations The Council filled Welch's commission from the island's own cadets instead of leaving it open for the Court to fill from England, which was where the power to grant commissions lay. Mason's promotion was therefore provisional, and the praise of his diligence was the case for confirming it. With the militia newly called out and French intentions in doubt, as the same letter reported, a vacant lieutenancy in a small garrison could not wait a year for a reply. All three members of the Council remitted money home in this one batch, as did two other Company servants and a ship's captain. The Governor again named Robert Wood as his payee, as in the bills dated 24 July 1769, which pointed to Wood acting as his regular agent in London. Matthew Purling's £400 0s 0d and Captain Bazett's £100 0s 0d were both payable to John Purling Esquire, who was probably a relation of the councillor handling funds in London for more than one island correspondent. These six sets brought £923 0s 0d into the treasury, further support for the Council's advice on 1 August 1769 that no cash need be shipped out. The hawsers and chain were a supplementary request. The general indent, the yearly list of stores required from England, had already gone, so the omission could only be repaired by a separate paragraph asking for delivery a season later. Longboats moored in the open roadstead were the island's link with every ship, and under the new rule of supplying French vessels by boat alone their upkeep mattered more than before. The schoolmaster's petition was held over for a fuller letter by the Shrewsbury three days later. The mention of a successor showed that Mr Bea[...] was leaving the post, though the passage gave neither the grounds of his petition nor the Council's opinion of it. | |
209 | List of the Honble Company's Packet from St Helena pr Ship§ | The Company's packet from St Helena by the Essex, dated 14 September 1769, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 14 September 1769 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 17 August 1769 3: Consultations from 21 August to 11 September 1769 4: Duplicate consultations from 7 to 17 August 1769 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Grenville. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Dutton. 7: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Grenville. 8: Effective state of the garrison 9: Cash account from 18 to 31 August 1769 10: Cash account from 1 to 14 September 1769 11: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 17 August 1769 12: Account of the ship Essex. 13: Duplicate account of the ship Grenville. 14: Abstract of the cargoes of the ships Essex and Shrewsbury. 15: Time of the arrival of ships' boats at Banks's | |
210 | To the Honble &ca§ | The Council began a further letter by noting that its previous one went to the Court on 14 September 1769 by the Essex. 2: Captain Jones received an order to take Thomas Harris aboard the Shrewsbury to help fill out her crew. Harris was a seaman left behind on the island from the Grenville. 3: Mr Hugh Jones applied to pay £40 0s 0d into the Company's treasury. The Council accepted the money and gave him bills on the Court for that amount, payable to Mr Morrice Jones. The bills were drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 16 September 1769. 4: Mr Richard Beale presented a petition at the consultation of 4 September 1769. Age and illness so weakened him, he explained, that he could no longer serve as Judge Advocate or teach the island's children. He therefore felt obliged to give up both posts. The Council saw the resignation as a clear sign of his goodwill towards the parents and young people of the island. Beale recognised that he was past work. He also knew that the Council would never have considered removing a man of his proven worth after so many years of loyal service without first putting his case to the Court. The Council added its strongest appeal for a pension for the rest of his life. Every islander knew how much the community gained from his teaching and hard work, and the Council held that this made him deserving of the Court's generosity. All the Company's servants in the settlement shared that view. The inhabitants did too, as the record of the vestry meeting held on 8 September 1769 showed. Interpretations Beale held two offices at once, Judge Advocate and schoolmaster. The Judge Advocate was the Company's legal officer on the island, who prepared and conducted cases before its courts. Combining that post with the school showed how thin the establishment of educated men was: one literate, trusted individual served both the law and the classroom. His retirement therefore opened two vacancies, although the request sent home, noted in the letter of 14 September 1769, concerned a successor as schoolmaster. The Council could accept a resignation but could not award a pension. That power rested with the Court, so the letter was written as a case for one. The account of the resignation was shaped to that end. Beale was presented as stepping down for the children's sake, when he could have stayed in post drawing his salary because the Council admitted it would not have removed him unasked. By going voluntarily he gave up an income he could have kept, and the Council asked the Court to make good that sacrifice. The vestry meeting of 8 September 1769 was the parish assembly of the island's inhabitants. Its proceedings were cited to show that the appeal did not come from the Council alone but had the backing of the free population. A recommendation supported by both the Company's servants and the islanders was harder for the Court to refuse than one resting on the word of three councillors. Harris, a seaman who stayed behind when the Grenville left after 17 August 1769, was placed in the next homeward ship short of hands. The practice matched the shipping of discharged soldiers as crew recorded on 1 August 1769 and 17 August 1769: stray men on the island were used to make up ships' complements at no cost to the Company. | |
211 | to the welfare of the Youth & Inhabitants, and not being able to§ | The Council regarded a schoolmaster as vital to the wellbeing of the island's young people and inhabitants, and nobody on the island was capable of taking on the work. Mr Beale therefore kept both his posts, Judge Advocate and schoolmaster, until the Court made its wishes known. The Council required the Chaplain and churchwardens to call the inhabitants together in a vestry. The meeting was to consider what income and housing would suit a schoolmaster sent out from England at the Council's request. The Chaplain was also asked for his own opinion. He gave it, and it came before the Council at the consultation of 11 September 1769 together with the resolutions passed by the inhabitants. Those resolutions set aside £450 0s 0d, then held in the fund for the poor, to build a house and other facilities for the schoolmaster. The inhabitants also raised the quarterly fees paid for teaching their children. Spelling and reading, former fee per quarter, £0 6s 0d Spelling and reading, new fee per quarter, £1 0s 0d Writing and arithmetic, former fee per quarter, £0 12s 0d Writing and arithmetic, new fee per quarter, £1 10s 0d The Council hoped the larger income from pupils would help make the post worth a schoolmaster's voyage out, since he could always count on 20 scholars. The Company's salary for the post stood at £30 0s 0d a year. The Council proposed adding the office of Judge Advocate, worth a further £50 0s 0d a year. With a house to live in rent-free, the schoolmaster's position would be far better than before. The Council trusted that this package and the Court's generosity would together attract a good and capable man. Mr Bearcroft argued persuasively in his written opinion that a clergyman would be the most suitable person for the work, and the Council agreed with him. A difficulty followed over giving such a man the post of Judge Advocate. The Council thought it improper for a clergyman to take part in court proceedings involving criminal prosecutions. Interpretations The fund for the poor was the parish's own money, raised and held locally for relief of the needy, and the vestry controlled it. The inhabitants voted to spend £450 0s 0d of it on a schoolhouse. The obvious course was to ask the Company to build, since the schoolmaster was a salaried Company servant. The islanders instead committed their own capital, which strengthened the Council's request to the Court: the community had already paid for the building and raised the fees, and the Company was asked only for a man and its usual salary. The new fees more than trebled the cost of basic schooling and raised the higher subjects by two and a half times. Fees were paid per child each quarter, so the schoolmaster's income rose with his roll. On the Council's figure of 20 pupils the fees alone would exceed the Company's £30 0s 0d salary several times over. Most of the schoolmaster's living thus came from parents, not from the Company. This matched the ordinary practice of fee-paying schools in England at the time, though the fixing of fees by a parish meeting gave the islanders a collective say that English parents seldom had. The proposal to attach the Judge Advocate's post to the school repeated Beale's own arrangement and was a way of making one salary do the work of two. The £50 0s 0d for legal duties was worth more than the teaching salary, so the plan depended on finding a man fit for both. The Chaplain's recommendation of a clergyman broke that link. A clergyman acting for the prosecution in criminal trials, some of which could end in severe punishment, was at odds with his calling. The Council accepted the objection even though it removed the larger part of the proposed income, and so undid the financial case it had just set out. Keeping Beale in both offices, despite a petition declaring him unfit for either, showed that the Council preferred a nominal holder to a vacancy. An empty Judge Advocate's post would have hampered the island's courts, and an empty school would have left the children untaught for the year or more that a reply from London required. | |
212 | case the Schoolmaster would fail in an Emolument of Fifty§ | A clergyman appointed as schoolmaster could not hold the post of Judge Advocate, and the schoolmaster would then lose £50 0s 0d a year. The Council hoped the Court would approve Mr Bearcroft's proposal to prefer a clergyman over a layman, given the reasons he set out. Only the Court's generosity could then make up the missing £50 0s 0d. The Council asked for the schoolmaster's salary to be raised to match what a layman would have earned from the two posts combined, as Mr Beale then did. One of the Company's civil servants on the island could easily take over as Judge Advocate if a clergyman became schoolmaster. For the time being the Council directed Beale to find a suitable person to copy out the proceedings of the regimental courts martial. A temporary Judge Advocate would be appointed to act whenever a general court martial had to be held, until the Court's decision and instructions arrived. The letter closed at St Helena on 17 September 1769 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Shrewsbury, dated 17 September 1769, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 17 September 1769 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 14 September 1769 3: Consultation of 16 September 1769 4: Duplicate consultations from 21 August to 11 September 1769 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Essex. Interpretations The Council backed the dearer option. Uniting the two posts in a layman cost the Company nothing new, since both salaries already existed and Beale drew them together. A clergyman as schoolmaster meant paying a separate Judge Advocate and also lifting the teaching salary from £30 0s 0d to £80 0s 0d, an added charge of £50 0s 0d a year. The Council chose that course on the strength of the Chaplain's reasons and left the Court to decide whether to fund it. The earlier emphasis on the islanders' own contribution, the £450 0s 0d for a house and the higher fees recorded in the same letter, prepared the ground for this request. The interim measures showed what the Judge Advocate's work consisted of. Regimental courts martial dealt with lesser military offences inside the garrison and needed only an accurate written record, so a copyist working under Beale was enough. A general court martial tried serious charges and required a legal officer to conduct the case, so one would be named for each occasion. Beale thus kept his title and salary while the duties he could no longer perform were divided between a clerk and a temporary appointee. The suggestion that a civil servant could "easily" fill the Judge Advocate's post indicated that the office was not thought to demand formal legal training. It was treated as an administrative duty that a competent Company writer or factor could add to his existing work. The packet list recorded the consultation of 16 September 1769 as a single item. The bills for Mr Hugh Jones's £40 0s 0d carried that date, and the consultation was held one day before the Shrewsbury sailed. | |
213 | Second Receipt for the Packet pr Ship Grenville§ | The packet sent by the Shrewsbury on 17 September 1769 also held the following papers. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Grenville. 7: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Essex. 8: Effective state of the garrison 9: Cash account from 15 to 17 September 1769 10: Duplicate cash account from 18 to 31 August 1769 11: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 14 September 1769 12: Account of the ship Shrewsbury. 13: Duplicate account of the ship Essex. The Council opened its next letter by recalling the previous one, dated 17 September 1769 and sent by the Shrewsbury. 2: A Dutch ship from Batavia, the Rhynsburg under Captain Stuurman, arrived on 22 September 1769. She measured about 700 tons, carried 23 guns and 100 men, and was bound for Amsterdam with a cargo of pepper. 3: The Company's ship Thames arrived on 7 October 1769 from Madras, having last called at the Cape. Captain Haggis reported leaving Fort St George on 1 July 1769. Twelve Company ships lay there when he sailed. Pigot Hector Triton Plassey Nottingham Ashburnham Earl of Lincoln Havannah Osterley Devonshire Norfolk Lord Holland Captain Haggis added that the Lioness sailed from Bengal on 22 May 1769. Nothing was heard of the Earl of Chatham by the time he left Madras, and he had no news of the Talbot. He confirmed that peace was concluded with Hyder Ally and that calm had returned to the Carnatic. Interpretations The peace with Hyder Ally first reached the Council as a third-hand report from Captain Jones, relayed in the letter of 14 September 1769 with the terms unknown. Captain Haggis came directly from Madras, the presidency that fought the war, and sailed on 1 July 1769, so his statement turned a rumour into firm news. The Carnatic was the coastal region of south-east India around Madras, where the fighting took place. Its return to quiet mattered to the Court because the war disrupted the Company's trade and revenue there. The Council recorded the Dutch ship's tonnage, guns, crew, cargo, origin and destination. No such detail was given for the Company's own ships. A foreign vessel calling at the island was noted as intelligence: the Court could gauge from such entries the scale and armament of Dutch shipping and the volume of pepper reaching Amsterdam, a trade in direct competition with its own. The list of twelve ships at Fort St George was an unusually large gathering for one port. The passage did not say why so many lay there together, though the war just ended in the Carnatic and the delays it caused to cargoes offered a probable reason. The two ships reported missing were both named in earlier letters. Captain Jones stated that the Talbot left Bengal on 24 March 1769, yet more than three months later Madras knew nothing of her. A Captain Morrice of the Earl of Chatham went home as a passenger in the Dutton, according to the letter of 19 July 1769, while Madras had no word of that ship on 1 July 1769. The passage offered no explanation of either case. | |
214 | Carnatick, he further tells us that a Great number of French men§ | Captain Haggis of the Thames also brought news of French activity in the East. Large numbers of Frenchmen were wandering about the town of Calcutta. He heard that several French ships reached Bengal crowded with men and carrying twice the usual number of officers, then sailed away with no more than a working crew. At the Cape he learned that a great many troops were stationed at Mauritius. The French had seized and fortified the island of St Mary's and were advancing rapidly on Madagascar, and the Dutch appeared very uneasy about it. He added that the Company's ship Fox continued her voyage the day after he reached the Cape. 4: The latest consultation recorded a request from Captain Haggis for fuel, which his ship badly lacked. The Council could spare him only one chaldron of coal, and even that came out of the stock set aside for burning lime. The Court was asked to send the following year everything ordered under that head. Commanders often applied to the island for fuel despite the Court's orders to stock up in India. The Council felt bound to point this out, since every such issue caused the island great difficulty. 5: The same consultation dealt with letters about Munden's Point from the Lieutenant Governor and from Lieutenant Bazett, Superintendent of the Works. It also covered a further letter from the Lieutenant Governor, writing as Company's Husband, about the livestock. The Council referred the Court to that record for the letters and for the decisions taken on them. 6: Mr Richard Beale died on 7 October 1769. The Council's recent letters had commended him as a valuable and deserving old servant and asked the Court to provide for him in his old age. 7: Mrs Mackay and Messrs Barlow, Foster and Barry were the passengers aboard the Thames. Interpretations The report from Bengal described a way of moving soldiers without declaring them. Ships arrived with far more men and officers than were needed to sail them and left with ordinary crews, so the surplus stayed ashore. Double the normal number of officers pointed to cadres for raising or commanding troops, not to seamen. Read with the account from the Shrewsbury in the letter of 14 September 1769, of more than 400 officers at Mauritius, the picture was of a French build-up at several points at once: Bengal, Mauritius, St Mary's and Madagascar. St Mary's was a small island off the east coast of Madagascar, useful as a fortified anchorage on the route between Mauritius and India. The Dutch alarm was noted because their Cape settlement lay on the same route and they had as much to fear as the Company. This intelligence gave further grounds for the Council's decisions to call out the militia and to keep French crews from landing. A chaldron was the standard measure by which coal was sold, a little over a ton in weight. St Helena had almost no timber, so coal shipped from England was the island's working fuel and was reserved for particular uses. The stock drawn on here was for burning lime, the process of roasting limestone in a kiln to make the lime needed for mortar and plaster. The stone and lime were the Company's own, as the Lieutenant Governor observed in the letter of 19 July 1769, but the kilns still depended on imported coal. The Council gave Captain Haggis the coal although the Court's standing orders required commanders to take on fuel in India, and refusing him was the course those orders implied. A ship without fuel could not cook for her crew on the passage home, so the Council yielded and took the chaldron from the building works. It then used the incident to press two points on the Court: that the island's full order of coal be sent, and that commanders were ignoring their instructions at St Helena's expense. The Lieutenant Governor acted in a second capacity as Company's Husband, the officer who managed the Company's farms, livestock and produce on the island. Lieutenant Bazett held the post of Superintendent of the Works, in charge of building and fortification. Munden's Point was a defensive position, and letters about it from both men at this moment were consistent with the wider concern over the French, though the passage left the substance to the consultation. Beale's death came exactly three weeks after the letter of 17 September 1769 asked for his pension and arranged for him to keep both offices. The request reached London as a plea for a man already dead. Both the post of Judge Advocate and the school now stood vacant in fact, and the interim plan of a copyist working under Beale fell away with him. | |
215 | As the Quarters Accounts will not be laid§ | The accounts for the quarter were not due before the Council until 16 October 1769. No cash account could therefore go home by the departing ship except a duplicate of the previous one. 9: Mr Jonathan Doveton applied to pay £100 0s 0d into the Company's treasury. The Council accepted the money and gave him bills on the Court for that amount, payable to Captain Alexander Jameson. The bills were drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 13 October 1769. The letter closed at St Helena on 14 October 1769 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Thames, dated 14 October 1769, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 14 October 1769 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 17 September 1769 3: Consultations from 18 September to 13 October 1769 4: Duplicate consultation of 16 September 1769 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Shrewsbury. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Essex. 7: List of officers and servants taken on 14 October 1769 8: List of families taken on 30 September 1769 9: List of Blacks taken on 30 September 1769 Interpretations Items 7 to 9 were the island's returns of population, a kind of paper absent from the five earlier packets of 1769 recorded here. The lists of families and of Blacks were both taken on 30 September 1769, the end of the Company's accounting quarter, which indicated a count made at a fixed point in the year. Together the three lists gave the Court the whole population in separate categories: the Company's own officers and servants, the free households, and the Black population, most of whom were slaves owned by the Company or by the inhabitants. The division mirrored the island's social order and let the Court measure the garrison and establishment it paid for against the settlers and labour force it governed. The cash account was withheld for the same reason given in the letter of 19 July 1769. The books were closed quarterly and examined by the Council before being sent, and the ship sailed two days before that review. The Council sent a duplicate of the last account instead of an unexamined one, which showed that the review in Council was treated as a condition of dispatch and not a formality. Doveton's bills were his second remittance in six weeks. He sent £65 0s 0d by bills dated 4 September 1769 and now a further £100 0s 0d, payable this time to a ship's captain. Regular payments on this scale by a Company servant pointed to private dealings beyond his salary, probably in goods supplied to or bought from the ships. | |
216 | List of Slaves taken 30th Sepr. 1769§ | The packet sent by the Thames on 14 October 1769 also held the following papers. 10: List of slaves taken on 30 September 1769 11: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Shrewsbury. 12: Effective state of the garrison 13: Muster rolls of the garrison 14: Courts martial from 15 August 1768 to 31 August 1769 15: Duplicate cash account from 15 to 17 September 1769 16: Account of the ship Thames. 17: Duplicate account of the ship Shrewsbury. 18: Time of the arrival of the boat of the Thames at Banks's. 19: Abstract of the cargo of the ship Thames. The Council opened a short letter by noting that its previous one went to the Court on 14 October 1769 by the Thames. 2: The Company's ship Talbot arrived on 17 October 1769 from Bengal, having last called at Madagascar. Sir Charles Hudson reported struggling against the weather off the Cape for six weeks. His crew were falling sick so quickly that he was forced to turn back for Madagascar, where he spent the winter. 3: Mr and Mrs Davies, Miss Wilding and Messrs Charlton, Scott, Jones, Moore and Randall were the passengers aboard the Talbot. The letter closed at St Helena on 27 October 1769 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations The arrival of the Talbot ended a run of anxious reports. Captain Jones stated in the letter of 14 September 1769 that she left Bengal on 24 March 1769, and Captain Haggis could give no news of her when he left Madras on 1 July 1769. She reached St Helena almost seven months after sailing, on a passage that normally took a fraction of that time. Sir Charles Hudson met the Cape in the southern winter, when strong westerly winds blew against homeward ships. After six weeks of failing to get round, with men going down faster than they could be replaced, he abandoned the attempt and ran back north-east to Madagascar to wait for the season to change. The obvious refuge was the Dutch settlement at the Cape itself, but a ship unable to weather the Cape could not easily reach its anchorage either, and Madagascar lay downwind. The illness was probably scurvy, the usual consequence of weeks at sea without fresh food, and Madagascar offered provisions and rest. The Council wrote this letter for the single purpose of reporting her safe arrival and her passengers. A ship so long overdue affected the Court's insurance, its expected cargoes and the families of those aboard, so the news went home at once without waiting for other business to accumulate. Item 10 listed slaves separately from the Blacks counted in item 9, although both lists were taken on 30 September 1769. The two headings therefore covered different groups. The more probable reading was that the Blacks of item 9 were free, a small class distinct from both the settler families and the slave population, and counted on their own for that reason. The courts martial records ran from 15 August 1768 to 31 August 1769, just over a year of military justice sent home in one bundle. Keeping and copying those proceedings was part of the Judge Advocate's duty. The letter of 17 September 1769 arranged for a copyist to do that work under Beale, and Beale died on 7 October 1769, a week before this packet closed. | |
217 | List of the Honble Company's Packet from St. Helena pr Ship§ | The Company's packet from St Helena by the Talbot, dated 27 October 1769, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 27 October 1769 2: Governor and Council's letter dated 27 October 1769 relating to law matters 3: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 14 October 1769 4: Consultations from 16 to 27 October 1769 5: Duplicate consultations from 18 September to 13 October 1769 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Thames. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Shrewsbury. 8: Duplicate list of families taken on 30 September 1769 9: Duplicate list of rents taken on 30 September 1769 10: Duplicate list of slaves taken on 30 September 1769 11: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Thames. 12: Effective state of the garrison 13: Cash account from 18 to 30 September 1769 14: Cash account from 1 to 27 October 1769 15: Account of the ship Talbot. 16: Duplicate account of the ship Thames. 17: Time of the arrival of the boat of the Talbot at Banks's. 18: Abstract of the cargo of the ship Talbot. 19: Proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 4 October 1769 Interpretations The three returns dated 30 September 1769 formed a yearly statement of the island's settled population and the Company's income from it. The list of families counted the free households. The list of slaves recorded the labour force held as property. The list of rents set out what each tenant owed for Company land held on lease, and so served as the rent roll against which the cash accounts could be checked. Taking all three on the last day of the accounting quarter tied the count of people and the count of dues to the same date as the books. The cash account from 18 to 30 September 1769 went home in this packet and not by the Thames. The letter of 14 October 1769 explained that the quarter's accounts were not due before the Council until 16 October 1769. The consultations sent here began on that same date, so the account was released as soon as the Council examined it. Legal business again travelled in its own letter, accompanied by the proceedings of the quarterly court of 4 October 1769. The same pairing appeared in the packet sent by the Dutton on 1 August 1769, with the court of 12 July 1769. A separate law letter with each set of court proceedings looked like settled routine. The court of 4 October 1769 sat three days before Mr Richard Beale died, so it was the last held while he was Judge Advocate, and any questions arising from his death and the vacancy belonged naturally in that letter. | |
218 | To the Honble &ca.§ | The Council opened a new letter by recalling its previous one, dated 27 October 1769 and sent by the Talbot. 2: The Company's ship Ponsborne arrived from China on 16 January 1770, having last called at the Cape. Captain Payne reported leaving China on 8 July 1769, two days after the Company's ship Cruttenden arrived there. On the day he sailed he saw the Granby lying at anchor to the south. He put into Batavia on 16 September 1769 and learned that the Company's ship Duke of Albany left that port for Bencoolen early in the same month. At the Cape, which he reached on 11 December 1769, he found the King's frigates Stagg and Aurora and the sloop Hawke. The Company's ship Duke of Kingston was there too, newly come from Brazil after a refit. The Stagg, the Aurora and the Duke of Kingston all sailed before Captain Payne left the Cape on 31 December 1769. Messrs Vansittart, Scrafton and Ford were all in good health. 3: Captain Payne received an order to take William Hodges, a discharged soldier, aboard his ship to help fill out her crew. A second order covered two soldiers, John Dobson and William Brown, who travelled as charterparty passengers. A special meeting of the justices found both men guilty of counterfeiting rupees, and the record of that hearing went home with the letter. The Council judged them unfit to remain on the island and paid Captain Payne £10 0s 0d for their passage. His first receipt for the money travelled in the packet. Interpretations The conviction for counterfeiting rupees showed that Indian silver coin passed as money at St Helena. Ships from Bengal, Madras and Bombay called constantly, and their officers and crews spent what they carried, so rupees circulated beside sterling. A soldier able to pass false rupees among islanders and ships' people threatened confidence in the coin on which everyday trade depended. Counterfeiting was among the gravest crimes in England at this date and carried the death penalty there. The Council took a different course and removed the men from the island, the same remedy applied to Stephen Papps in the letter of 1 August 1769. Expulsion rid the garrison of them at once and left any further reckoning to the Court. The two men were tried by a special meeting of the justices and not at the regular quarterly court, the last of which sat on 4 October 1769. The offence was evidently dealt with as soon as it came to light. Sending the proceedings home gave the Court the evidence on which the Council acted and its authority for ending two soldiers' contracts early. A charterparty was the contract under which the Company hired each ship, and it fixed the terms on which the owners had to carry persons at the Company's order. Dobson and Brown were shipped under those terms at £5 0s 0d a head, the rate paid to Captain Dampier for two invalids on 19 July 1769. Hodges, an ordinary discharged man, went as a working hand and cost nothing. Convicted men were kept out of the crew and carried as paid passengers, perhaps because a commander could not be asked to rely on them. Captain Payne's report again served as shipping intelligence. The Duke of Kingston was a second Company ship driven to Brazil for repairs, after the Prince of Wales noted in the letter of 17 August 1769. The mention of three named gentlemen in the same breath as the King's ships implied that they were travelling with the frigates, and the care taken to report their health marked them as men whose welfare concerned the Court. | |
219 | Honors General Books of Accounts Balanced to the 30th Sepr last§ | The Council used the sailing of the Ponsborne to send home the Company's general books of accounts, balanced to 30 September 1769. 5: Miss Sa[...]ways and Messrs Smith and Waddell were the passengers aboard the Ponsborne. The letter closed at St Helena on 25 January 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Ponsborne, dated 25 January 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 25 January 1770 2: Governor and Council's letter dated 25 January 1770 relating to law matters 3: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 27 October 1769 4: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's letter dated 27 October 1769 relating to law matters 5: Consultations from 30 October 1769 to 22 January 1770 6: Duplicate consultations from 16 to 27 October 1769 7: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Talbot. 8: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Thames. 9: Effective state of the garrison 10: Muster rolls of the garrison 11: Cash account from 28 to 31 October 1769 12: Cash account for November 1769 13: Cash account for December 1769 14: Cash account from 1 to 25 January 1770 15: Duplicate cash account from 18 to 30 September 1769 Interpretations The general books were the island's full set of ledgers, as distinct from the short cash accounts sent with every ship. They were closed once a year at 30 September, the date on which the lists of families, rents and slaves were also taken. Balancing them took the better part of four months, and they left by the first ship to call after the work was done. With these books the Court could audit the whole year: every receipt and payment, the stores issued, and the bills of exchange drawn on London. The packet covered an unusually long interval. Between July and October 1769 a ship left roughly every fortnight, and each cash account spanned days or a few weeks. Here the consultations ran from 30 October 1769 to 22 January 1770 and the cash accounts filled two whole calendar months. No homeward Company ship called between the Talbot, which left after 27 October 1769, and the Ponsborne, which arrived on 16 January 1770. The gap reflected the rhythm of the trade. Ships from India passed in the middle of the year, and the first of the China ships did not reach the island until the turn of the year. A second letter on law matters accompanied the general letter, as on 1 August 1769 and 27 October 1769. The proceedings of the special meeting of justices against John Dobson and William Brown, mentioned in the letter of 25 January 1770, gave this one its probable subject. | |
220 | Duplicate Cash Acct from 1st to 27th Octor. 1769§ | The packet sent by the Ponsborne on 25 January 1770 also held the following papers. 16: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 27 October 1769 17: Account of the ship Ponsborne. 18: Duplicate account of the ship Talbot. 19: Time of the arrival of the boat of the Ponsborne at Banks's. 20: Abstract of the cargo of the ship Ponsborne. 21: Proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 10 January 1770 22: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 4 October 1769 23: Proceedings of a special meeting of justices held on 8 November 1769 24: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Talbot. 25: List of three discharged soldiers 26: Captain Payne's first receipt for £10 0s 0d 27: General books of accounts The Council opened its next letter by noting that the previous one, dated 25 January 1770, went by the Ponsborne. 2: The Company's ship Ankerwyke arrived from Bengal by way of the Cape on the 8th of the month in which the Council wrote. The Hampshire followed from Bengal on the 15th. Captain Smith reported leaving Bengal on 4 December 1769, when five Company ships lay there. Lioness Royal Charlotte Duke of Grafton Anson Britannia The Council heard that the Lioness and the Royal Charlotte were to sail for Europe towards the end of December 1769, and that the Britannia was to go on to Madras to complete her cargo. News also came that the Company's ship Lord Holland was lost in September 1769 while coming out of the river of Bengal. Interpretations The special meeting of justices sat on 8 November 1769, yet John Dobson and William Brown did not leave until the Ponsborne sailed after 25 January 1770. The two men convicted of counterfeiting rupees therefore stayed on the island for about eleven weeks after the verdict. No homeward ship called in that time, so a sentence of removal could only take effect when one arrived. The date also confirmed that the case was heard out of the regular cycle, about five weeks after the quarterly court of 4 October 1769 and two months before that of 10 January 1770. The list of three discharged soldiers covered William Hodges, Dobson and Brown, the men named in the letter of 25 January 1770. The two convicted men appeared on it as ordinary discharges. Their offence was recorded in the justices' proceedings, while the garrison's books simply showed three men struck off the strength. Captain Payne's receipt for £10 0s 0d related to the passage of Dobson and Brown alone. The loss of the Lord Holland was the first wreck of a Company ship reported in these letters. Captain Haggis saw her at Fort St George on 1 July 1769, according to the letter of 14 October 1769. She evidently went on to Bengal to load and was lost two months later on her way out. The river of Bengal was the Hooghly, the long, shifting channel between Calcutta and the sea, where sandbanks made the passage dangerous even under pilotage. The Council gave the report as hearsay and offered no details of the crew or cargo. The instruction for the Britannia to "fill up" at Madras described a common practice. A ship that could not obtain a full cargo at one presidency was sent to another to complete her lading before sailing home, so that she did not make the voyage part empty. | |
221 | The Passengers on board the Hampshire are§ | Captain Ross applied to pay £339 10s 0d into the Company's treasury. The Council accepted the money and gave him bills on the Court for that amount, payable to himself or his order 90 days after sight. 3: General Smith, Mr Skinner and Captain Nairne were the passengers aboard the Hampshire. Major Hill travelled in the Ankerwyke. 5: Captain Ross also supplied the Council with 50 Cape sheep, valued at £37 10s 0d. He preferred not to be paid on the island. The Council therefore gave him certificates for the amount and referred the payment to the Court. The letter closed at St Helena on 17 February 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Ankerwyke, dated 17 February 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 17 February 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 25 January 1770 3: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's letter dated 25 January 1770 relating to law matters 4: Consultations from 29 January to 12 February 1770 5: Duplicate consultations from 30 October 1769 to 22 January 1770 Interpretations Cape sheep were the fat-tailed breed kept at the Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope, hardy animals raised for meat and valued for the heavy store of fat carried in the tail. Homeward ships calling at the Cape could buy them cheaply and carry them on deck. The 50 delivered here worked out at 15s 0d a head. They gave the island fresh mutton for the garrison and for visiting ships, and breeding animals to strengthen the Company's flocks, which the Lieutenant Governor managed as Company's Husband. Captain Ross was owed £37 10s 0d and the treasury was able to pay him, since the Council reported a balance of about £12,000 on 1 August 1769. He declined the cash. The obvious course was to take coin on the spot, but coin was of little use to a man sailing for England and already converting £339 10s 0d of his own money into bills. A certificate recorded that the Company owed him the sum and left the Court to settle it in London. The effect was the same as a bill of exchange without a fresh payment into the treasury: the island kept its cash and the debt moved home. The Council noted his choice expressly because paying a local purchase in London was outside the usual routine and needed the Court's sanction. His bills were made payable to himself, unlike those of the island's residents, who named agents or relations in London. A commander returning in his own ship could present them in person. Carrying paper in place of coin protected his money against loss at sea, the same advantage the bills offered to everyone who used them. The date of the letter fixed the arrivals reported in it. The Ankerwyke came in on 8 February 1770 and the Hampshire on 15 February 1770. The Ankerwyke last called at the Cape, which made her the probable source of the sheep and Captain Ross her probable commander, though the letter did not name his ship. | |
222 | First Receipt for the Packet pr Ship Ponsborne§ | The packet sent by the Ankerwyke on 17 February 1770 also held the following papers. 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Ponsborne. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Talbot. 8: Effective state of the garrison 9: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Ponsborne. 10: Cash account from 26 to 31 January 1770 11: Cash account from 1 to 17 February 1770 12: Duplicate cash account from 28 to 31 October 1769 13: Duplicate cash account for November 1769 14: Duplicate cash account for December 1769 15: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 25 January 1770 16: Account of the ship Ankerwyke. 17: Duplicate account of the ship Ponsborne. 18: Time of the arrival of ships' boats at Banks's 19: Abstract of the cargoes of the ships Ankerwyke and Hampshire. 20: Captain Payne's second receipt for £10 0s 0d 21: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 10 January 1770 22: Duplicate proceedings of a special meeting of justices held on 8 November 1769 The Council opened a further letter by recalling its previous one, sent on 17 February 1770 by the Ankerwyke. 2: Three Company ships arrived from China on successive days: the Plassey on 18 February 1770, the Cruttenden on 19 February 1770 and the Glatton on 20 February 1770. The Council learned that the Granby left China in company with the Glatton and parted from her in the Straits of Sunda. Interpretations Three China ships reached the island within three days, a month after the Ponsborne arrived alone on 16 January 1770. Captain Payne left China on 8 July 1769, well ahead of the rest, and reported the Cruttenden arriving there only two days earlier. She therefore discharged, loaded and made the whole passage home in the time since. Ships of the China trade commonly sailed in company for mutual protection and help, which explained both the close arrivals and the care taken to report where the Granby dropped out. The Straits of Sunda, between Java and Sumatra, formed the usual gateway from the China Sea into the Indian Ocean. A ship last seen there was past the most confined and hazardous waters of the voyage, so the report told the Court that the Granby was safely on her way though not yet arrived. Captain Payne saw the same ship at anchor to the south on the day he left China, as the letter of 25 January 1770 recorded. The packet sent the proceedings against John Dobson and William Brown home a second time, with Captain Payne's second receipt for their £10 0s 0d passage. Papers bearing on the early discharge of two soldiers for counterfeiting were duplicated by a different ship like every other record, so that the Court held the evidence even if the Ponsborne failed to arrive. | |
223 | Canton this Year sixteen of your Honors Ships vizt. Neptune Pigot§ | Sixteen Company ships lay at Canton during the season, according to the reports brought by the China fleet. Twelve were named, and the four already mentioned, the Plassey, the Cruttenden, the Glatton and the Granby, made up the number. Neptune Pigot Havannah Earl of Lincoln Devonshire Earl of Ashburnham Osterley Nottingham Hector Triton Norfolk Speke Ships of other owners and nations were also there. Country ships, 4 Danish ships, 1 Swedish ships, 2 Dutch ships, 4 French ships, 3 The Council further learned that the Company's ship Earl of Middlesex lost her passage and went to Batavia. Captain Waddell reported that he was sent away from China on 29 November 1769. The Pigot, the Hector, the Triton and the Nottingham were due to leave about the middle of December 1769. 3: Messrs MacClintock and Hickey were the passengers aboard the Plassey. 4: Captain Waddell received an order to take Silvanus Rolf, an invalid soldier, aboard his ship, and the Council paid him £5 0s 0d for the passage. His receipt and the surgeon's certificate went home with the letter. 5: Captains Smith and Waddell asked permission to call at Ascension for turtle, to give their crews more fresh food. The Council agreed. Captains Payne and Ross were given the same permission earlier, a fact left out of the two previous letters. 6: The letter went by the Hampshire, which sailed in company with the Plassey and the Cruttenden. Copies travelled in those two ships. The letter closed at St Helena on 22 February 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations The count of shipping at Canton was commercial intelligence of the first importance. Canton was the one Chinese port open to European trade, and tea was its chief export. Sixteen Company ships against ten from all the rival European nations together showed the Company's dominance of that trade in the season, while the Danish, Swedish, Dutch and French ships represented tea that would reach Europe outside its control. The four country ships were vessels owned in India and trading between Asian ports, which brought Indian goods to Canton and helped pay for the tea. Eleven of the Company ships at Canton had been together at Fort St George on 1 July 1769, as Captain Haggis reported in the letter of 14 October 1769. That gathering puzzled at the time. The Canton list explained it: those ships were bound for China and called at Madras on the way, a common route that let them carry goods and silver onward. The twelfth ship in the Madras list, the Lord Holland, went instead to Bengal and was lost there in September 1769. A ship "lost her passage" when she arrived too late to catch the seasonal winds that carried vessels up the China Sea. Those winds reversed with the monsoon, and a ship that missed them could not reach Canton until the following season. The Earl of Middlesex therefore put into Batavia, the Dutch headquarters in Java, to wait. For the Court this meant a cargo delayed by the better part of a year. Ascension, an uninhabited island north-west of St Helena, was a nesting ground for sea turtles. Crews turned the animals on their backs on the beach and carried them aboard alive, where they survived for weeks and supplied fresh meat on the long run to England. The captains needed the Council's permission because a call there was a departure from the direct voyage. A commander who deviated without leave risked blame for any loss or delay, and the owners' insurance could be affected. A written permission from the Company's nearest authority covered him. The Council's admission that it failed to report the leave given to Captains Payne and Ross showed that such permissions were expected to be notified to the Court each time. Rolf's passage cost £5 0s 0d, the same rate per head paid for John Fexon and William Ford on 19 July 1769 and for John Dobson and William Brown on 25 January 1770. The surgeon's certificate again accompanied the receipt, since a medical finding was the Council's warrant for releasing a soldier before his time on grounds of health. Three ships sailing together each carried the letter, one the original and two the copies. A convoy offered no protection against all three meeting the same storm, but it guarded against the loss of any single vessel, and the Council took the chance to multiply the copies at no cost. | |
224 | List of the Honble Company's Packet from St. Helena pr Ship§ | The Company's packet from St Helena by the Hampshire, dated 22 February 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 22 February 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 17 February 1770 3: Consultations from 19 to 21 February 1770 4: Duplicate consultations from 29 January to 16 February 1770 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Ankerwyke. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Ponsborne. 7: Effective state of the garrison 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Ankerwyke. 9: Cash account from 18 to 22 February 1770 10: Duplicate cash account from 26 to 31 January 1770 11: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 17 February 1770 12: Account of the ship Hampshire. 13: Account of the ship Cruttenden. 14: Account of the ship Plassey. 15: Duplicate account of the ship Ankerwyke. 16: Time of the arrival of ships' boats at Banks's 17: Abstract of the cargoes of the ships Cruttenden and Plassey. 18: Captain Waddell's first receipt for £5 0s 0d 19: Surgeon's certificate for Silvanus Rolf, an invalid soldier | |
225 | To the Honble &ca§ | The Council began a brief letter by noting that its previous one went on 22 February 1770 by the Hampshire, which sailed in company with the Plassey and the Cruttenden. 2: The weather was exceptionally dry for several months, and the summer rains were still awaited. The Council feared the island would suffer, since the cattle were starting to lose condition for lack of grazing. The letter closed at St Helena on 24 February 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Glatton, dated 24 February 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 24 February 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 22 February 1770 3: Consultation of 23 February 1770 4: Duplicate consultations from 19 to 21 February 1770 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Hampshire. 6: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Cruttenden. 7: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Plassey. 8: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Ankerwyke. 9: Captain Waddell's second receipt for £5 0s 0d 10: Effective state of the garrison 11: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Hampshire. Interpretations February fell in the southern summer at St Helena, and the Council treated rain at that season as the normal expectation. Its failure after months of dry weather left the pastures bare. Cattle were central to the island's purpose. Fresh beef was among the chief supplies furnished to the garrison and to the crews of homeward ships, who arrived after months on salt provisions. Thin cattle meant less meat, fewer animals fit to slaughter and a risk of losing breeding stock. The warning came at the busiest point of the shipping year, with eight Company ships calling between 16 January 1770 and 20 February 1770, each with a crew to be fed. The Council wrote this letter for the sake of that one paragraph, two days after its last. Reporting the drought before any real loss occurred put the Court on notice. Later shortfalls in fresh provisions, or requests for salt meat and grain from England, could then be read against a warning already on record. The purchase of 50 Cape sheep from Captain Ross, reported on 17 February 1770, took on added weight in that light, since stock brought in from outside did something to offset the decline of the island's own herds. Items 6 and 7 showed how the copies of the letter of 22 February 1770 were handled. The Hampshire carried the full packet, while the Cruttenden and the Plassey each took only a small paper packet containing the letter. Each commander signed a receipt even for that, so the Court could account for every copy by ship and captain. | |
226 | Cash Acct. from 23 to 24th February 1770§ | The packet sent by the Glatton on 24 February 1770 also held the following papers. 12: Cash account from 23 to 24 February 1770 13: Duplicate cash account from 18 to 22 February 1770 14: Account of the ship Glatton. 15: Duplicate account of the ship Hampshire. 16: Duplicate account of the ship Cruttenden. 17: Duplicate account of the ship Plassey. 18: Abstract of the cargo of the ship Glatton. 19: Duplicate surgeon's certificate for Silvanus Rolf, an invalid soldier The Council opened its next letter by noting that the previous one, dated 24 February 1770, went by the Glatton. 2: A Swedish ship from China, the Adolph Frederick under Captain St[...], arrived on the 13th of the month in which the Council wrote. She measured 1,300 tons, carried 20 guns and 140 men, and was bound for Gothenburg with tea, porcelain and silk. 3: The Company's ship Speaker arrived on the 17th and the Deptford on the 18th, both from Bombay by way of the Cape. Captain T[...] reported leaving Bombay on 4 December 1769, when the Company's ships Lord Camden and Duke of Cumberland lay there. He added that the Houghton was at the Cape and resumed her voyage on the 26th of the preceding month. He himself left the Cape on the 2nd, and the Granby was still there. 4: The Speaker brought a letter from the President and Council of Madras. It enclosed a copy of paragraph 33 of the Court's general letter of 17 May 1769, which concerned six of the Company's ships. Interpretations The Swedish ship was one of the two Swedes counted at Canton in the letter of 22 February 1770. At 1,300 tons she was far larger than the Dutch Rhynsburg of about 700 tons, recorded on 14 October 1769, and her cargo of tea, porcelain and silk was the classic lading of the China trade. Gothenburg was the home port of the Swedish East India Company. Much of the tea landed there was known to be re-exported and smuggled into Britain, where heavy duties made the Company's own tea dear. Her tonnage and cargo were therefore of direct interest to the Court as a measure of the competition its tea faced at home. The Council again recorded a foreign ship's size, guns and crew, as with the Dutch vessel, and gave no such details for Company ships. A Swedish ship was allowed to call. Sweden was no threat to the island, and the restrictions adopted on 14 September 1769 applied to French vessels alone. The Granby was traced a stage further. She left China with the Glatton and parted from her in the Straits of Sunda, as the letter of 22 February 1770 reported. She was now placed at the Cape, safe but behind the rest of the China fleet, which reached St Helena between 18 and 20 February 1770. A letter from Madras reached St Helena by a Bombay ship, enclosing an extract from the Court's own orders. The presidencies passed on to one another those paragraphs of the Court's letters that affected a station other than the one addressed. The Court's instruction of 17 May 1769 thus arrived at the island by way of India some ten months after it was written. | |
227 | of your orders laid in a larger quantity of salt provisions than§ | The paragraph forwarded from Madras explained that six Company ships, acting on the Court's orders, took on more salt provisions than they would need. Their commanders were to apply to the Council on arrival. The Council undertook to follow the Court's instructions and receive whatever part of those provisions remained unused and fit to eat. The Court would be told the quantity taken in and its price. 5: Captain Scott received an order to take two invalid soldiers, George Wells and Benjamin Tooles, aboard his ship. The Council paid him £10 0s 0d for their passage. His receipt and the surgeon's certificate went home with the letter. 6: The passengers aboard the Deptford were Colonel Brewer, Mrs Clough, Miss Stephenson, Miss Peachy, Miss Bride[...] and Mr Keating. Captain Gwinnett and Messrs Heysham, Mou[...] and Watson travelled in the Speaker. 7: Captain Scott supplied the Council with goods brought from the Cape, valued together at £7 18s 0d. Sheep, 7 Garden seed, 12 pounds He preferred not to be paid on the island, so the Council gave him certificates for the amount and referred the payment to the Court. 8: Captain Scott asked permission to call at Ascension for turtle, to give his crew more fresh food. The Council agreed. The letter closed at St Helena on 20 March 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations The Court's order turned six homeward ships into supply vessels for the island at almost no cost. Salt provisions were beef and pork preserved in brine and packed in casks, the standard long-keeping food of ships and garrisons. Each of the six loaded more than her own voyage required, and the surplus was to be landed at St Helena on the way home. The Company thereby stocked the island's stores without chartering a storeship, using hold space that would otherwise have carried nothing on that leg. The Council's promise to accept only what was "fit to eat" and to report the price showed that the provisions were to be bought from the ships' accounts and inspected first, since meat that had crossed the tropics twice was not always sound. The timing was fortunate for reasons the Court could not have foreseen when it wrote on 17 May 1769. The Council reported on 24 February 1770 that months of drought were weakening the cattle. A reserve of salt meat arriving by six ships offered exactly the cushion the island needed if fresh beef ran short. The date of the letter fixed the events reported in it. The Swedish ship Adolph Frederick arrived on 13 March 1770, the Speaker on 17 March 1770 and the Deptford on 18 March 1770. The Houghton left the Cape on 26 February 1770, and the captain who brought that news sailed from there on 2 March 1770. Captain Scott's small consignment from the Cape followed the example of Captain Ross, who delivered 50 Cape sheep on 17 February 1770. The garden seed deserved notice. Vegetables grown on the island were a chief defence against scurvy for ships' crews, and seed had to be renewed from outside because stock saved locally lost vigour over time. Seed from the Cape, raised in a comparable southern climate, was better suited to the island than seed from England. Like Ross, Scott declined cash and took certificates payable in London. Two commanders making the same choice within five weeks suggested it was becoming the usual way of settling such purchases. Wells and Tooles went home at £5 0s 0d a head, the rate paid in every earlier case in these letters. Captain Scott was also the fifth commander of the season given leave to call at Ascension for turtle, after Captains Payne, Ross, Smith and Waddell. | |
228 | List of the Honble Company's Packet from St. Helena pr Ship Speaker§ | The Company's packet from St Helena by the Speaker, dated 20 March 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 20 March 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 24 February 1770 3: Consultations from 26 February to 20 March 1770 4: Duplicate consultation of 23 February 1770 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Glatton. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Hampshire. 7: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Cruttenden. 8: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Plassey. 9: Effective state of the garrison 10: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Glatton. 11: Cash account from 25 to 28 February 1770 12: Cash account from 1 to 20 March 1770 13: Duplicate cash account from 23 to 24 February 1770 14: Account of the ship Speaker. 15: Duplicate account of the ship Glatton. 16: Abstract of the cargoes of the ships Speaker and Deptford. 17: Time of the arrival of ships' boats at Banks's 18: Surgeon's certificate for two invalid soldiers 19: Captain Scott's first receipt for £10 0s 0d The Council opened a further letter by recalling its previous one, sent on 20 March 1770 by the Speaker. 2: Captain Tryon made a purchase at the Cape on the Company's account. Interpretations The packet settled which commander had which ship. Captain Scott's receipt for the £10 0s 0d passage of George Wells and Benjamin Tooles travelled in the packet of the Speaker, the ship that carried the two invalids, so he commanded her. Captain Tryon, who brought the news from Bombay and the Cape reported on 20 March 1770, therefore had the Deptford, and the new letter was written for dispatch by her. Captain Tryon bought at the Cape on the Company's account, whereas Captains Ross and Scott sold the island sheep and seed as private ventures and took certificates for payment in London. A purchase made for the Company from the outset was a different transaction: the commander acted as the Company's buyer, and the goods were its property from the moment of sale. | |
229 | Company twelve black Cattle and fifty five Sheep amounting in the§ | Captain Tryon bought livestock at the Cape for the Company at a total cost of £69 6s 0d. Black cattle bought, 12 Sheep bought, 55 Black cattle died on the passage, 1 Sheep died on the passage, 5 Black cattle delivered, 11 Sheep delivered, 50 He paid for the animals out of his own pocket. The Council therefore gave him certificates for the full original cost and referred the payment to the Court. 3: Captain Tryon asked permission to call at Ascension for turtle to feed his crew. The Council gave him leave to stop there for that purpose. The letter closed at St Helena on 22 March 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Deptford, dated 22 March 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 22 March 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 20 March 1770 3: Consultation of 22 March 1770 4: Duplicate consultations from 26 February to 20 March 1770 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Speaker. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Glatton. Interpretations The Council reimbursed Captain Tryon for all 67 animals he bought, including the six that died at sea. Paying only for the 61 landed was the alternative, and it was the footing on which Captains Ross and Scott were paid: each was credited for what he delivered, at a price agreed on the island. Tryon's case differed because he bought on the Company's account. The animals were the Company's from the moment of purchase, so losses on the voyage fell on the Company and not on him. He received his outlay and nothing more, with no profit and no allowance for carrying the stock. The Council stated the deaths plainly so the Court could see why the sum certified exceeded the value of what arrived. "Black cattle" was the ordinary term of the period for oxen, cows and bulls as a class, as distinct from sheep and horses. It did not describe the colour of the animals. Three commanders brought livestock from the Cape within five weeks: Ross with 50 sheep on 17 February 1770, Scott with seven sheep on 20 March 1770 and Tryon with cattle and sheep on 22 March 1770. Tryon's was the only consignment that included cattle and the only one made on the Company's behalf. The Council reported on 24 February 1770 that drought was wasting the island's herds. Tryon left the Cape on 2 March 1770, too early for that warning to have reached him, so his purchase rested on instructions or a request given before the drought was reported. The arrival of eleven head of cattle nonetheless met the island's most pressing shortage. Captain Tryon became the sixth commander of the season given leave to take turtle at Ascension. Every Company ship named as sailing from the island since January 1770, except the Glatton, obtained that permission, which showed that the call was by then a regular part of the homeward voyage and the Council's leave a matter of form. | |
230 | [Two holes in the lower part of the page: one in the centre of the line below "Port L'Orient", one at the left edge of the writing block at the start of the following line. The right-hand edge is irregularly lost along its length.] Effective state of the Garrison§ | The packet sent by the Deptford on 22 March 1770 also held the following papers. 7: Effective state of the garrison 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Speaker. 9: Cash account from 21 to 22 March 1770 10: Duplicate cash account from 25 to 28 February 1770 11: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 20 March 1770 12: Account of the ship Deptford. 13: Duplicate account of the ship Speaker. 14: Duplicate surgeon's certificate for two invalid soldiers 15: Captain Scott's second receipt for £10 0s 0d The Council opened its next letter by noting that the previous one, dated 22 March 1770, went by the Deptford. 2: Six Company ships arrived from China over three days. The Nottingham and the Granby came in on 29 March 1770, the Speke and the Pigot on 30 March 1770, and the Hector and the Havannah on 31 March 1770. The Granby last called at the Cape. The Triton left China together with the Pigot, the Nottingham and the Hector. The Council was told that the Earl of Lincoln and the Earl of Ashburnham sailed at the same time as the Speke and the Havannah. 3: A French ship from Bengal, Le Duc de Praslin under Captain Mag[...], arrived on 28 March 1770. She measured about 600 tons, carried 20 guns and 164 men, and was bound for Port L'Orient with a cargo of Bengal goods. The Council dealt with her in line with the position set out in its general letter of 14 September 1769. Interpretations Le Duc de Praslin was the first French ship recorded at the island since the Council changed its policy. The letter of 14 September 1769 resolved that French crews would no longer be allowed ashore and that their ships would be supplied by boat, in the manner the governor of Mauritius treated the Shrewsbury. The Council's reference back to that letter showed the rule being applied when the occasion came, six months after it was adopted and before any reply from the Court could have arrived. Her crew stood out against the other foreign ships described in these letters. The Dutch Rhynsburg, of about 700 tons, carried 100 men, and the Swedish Adolph Frederick, more than twice the size of the French ship, carried 140. At 164 men for about 600 tons, the French vessel was far more heavily manned than a merchant voyage required. Captain Haggis reported in the letter of 14 October 1769 that French ships reached Bengal crowded with men and returned with only a working crew. A homeward ship with so large a complement did not fit that pattern neatly, and the Council recorded the figure without comment, leaving the Court to weigh it. Port L'Orient, on the coast of Brittany, was the home base of French trade with the East. The second wave of the China fleet arrived five weeks after the first, which came in between 18 and 20 February 1770. Captain Waddell stated in the letter of 22 February 1770 that the Pigot, the Hector, the Triton and the Nottingham were to leave China about the middle of December 1769, and three of those four now appeared together. The Triton sailed with them but was not among the arrivals, so the Council reported her as on the way. The same applied to the Earl of Lincoln and the Earl of Ashburnham. The Granby reached the island at last, having been traced through four earlier reports: at anchor off China, parted from the Glatton in the Straits of Sunda, and lying at the Cape on 2 March 1770. She left China with the first group and arrived with the second, more than a month behind her consort. | |
231 | Not permit the Capt. or any of the Officers belonging to the said Ship,§ | The Council refused to let the captain or any officer of Le Duc de Praslin enter the garrison. The one exception was the officer sent ashore to wait on Governor Skottowe, and the Town Adjutant accompanied him throughout. The captain received the provisions he asked for and was allowed to take as much water as he wanted. 4: A Danish ship from China, the Queen Sophia Magdalena under Captain Holm, arrived on 28 March 1770. She measured about 1,100 tons, carried 26 guns and 160 men, and was bound for Copenhagen with tea, porcelain and silk. A Swedish ship from China, the Rickenstander under Captain Habbicht, arrived on 2 April 1770. She measured 1,300 tons, carried 32 guns and 140 men, and was bound for Gothenburg with tea, porcelain and silk. 5: The accounts for the previous quarter were not due before the Council until 16 April 1770. No cash account could therefore go home by the departing ship except a duplicate of the last one. 6: Captain Swa[...] brought livestock from the Cape, valued together at £40 5s 0d. Black cattle, 6 Sheep, 25 He preferred not to be paid on the island, so the Council gave him certificates for the amount and referred the payment to the Court. 7: The Council granted four sets of bills of exchange, all drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 2 April 1770. Daniel Corneille Esquire, payable to John Lewin Smith Esquire, £599 10s 0d Mr Matthew Purling, payable to Captain Fasham Nairne, £226 5s 0d Mr Matthew Purling, payable to John Purling Esquire, £1,000 0s 0d John Barnes, a discharged soldier, payable to himself, £20 0s 0d Interpretations The treatment of the French ship copied, almost point for point, what Captain Jones met at Mauritius. There the governor forbade any landing and supplied the Shrewsbury by boat, as the letter of 14 September 1769 related. At St Helena the French captain was kept out of the town and fort, given his provisions and allowed his water. The Council admitted a single officer to pay the customary call on the Governor, a courtesy the French governor had refused to Jones outright, and placed him under the escort of the Town Adjutant, the garrison officer responsible for its daily order and discipline. That escort served the same end as the French officer who shadowed the visitors from the Shrewsbury: the stranger saw nothing of the defences except what lay on his path. The Council thus matched the French restriction while stopping short of its discourtesy, a measured answer that kept the peace between two nations not at war. The detailed report gave the Court the first account of the policy in operation, still without instructions from London. Three foreign China ships called within a week of the French vessel, and none met any restriction. The Danish ship was the single Dane counted at Canton in the letter of 22 February 1770, and the Rickenstander was the second of the two Swedes, following the Adolph Frederick on 13 March 1770. All three carried the same lading of tea, porcelain and silk. Copenhagen and Gothenburg were the bases of the Danish and Swedish companies, whose tea competed with the Company's and fed the smuggling trade into Britain. The guns and crews were noted as before. At 32 guns the second Swede was the most heavily armed foreign ship recorded in these letters. The bills were the largest batch of the series. Matthew Purling alone remitted £1,226 5s 0d and Daniel Corneille £599 10s 0d, sums far beyond a councillor's salary. They fell at the end of the busiest shipping weeks of the year, when 17 Company ships and five foreigners called between mid January and early April 1770. The timing pointed to private dealings with the ships as the source, probably the sale of island produce and the handling of goods on commission. One of Purling's bills was payable to Captain Fasham Nairne, a passenger in the Hampshire named in the letter of 17 February 1770, which suggested a debt between the two men settled in London. John Barnes, a discharged soldier, paid £20 0s 0d into the treasury and took a bill payable to himself. A private soldier going home thus used the same facility as the councillors. The sum represented the savings of his service, turned into paper he could cash in London and safe from theft or loss on the voyage. The livestock was the fourth consignment from the Cape since 17 February 1770 and, like Captain Tryon's on 22 March 1770, included cattle. With the drought reported on 24 February 1770 still unrelieved so far as these letters showed, each delivery of cattle helped to make good the island's failing herds. | |
232 | The Passengers on board these Ships are Capt. Veneret,§ | 8: Captain Vene[...]t travelled as a passenger in the Pigot, and Mr Yard, a French gentleman, in the Granby. The letter closed at St Helena on 4 April 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Granby, dated 4 April 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 4 April 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 22 March 1770 3: Consultations from 26 March to 2 April 1770 4: Duplicate consultation of 22 March 1770 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Deptford. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Speaker. 7: Effective state of the garrison 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Deptford. 9: Duplicate cash account from 21 to 22 March 1770 10: Account of the ship Granby. 11: Duplicate account of the ship Deptford. 12: Time of the arrival of ships' boats at Banks's 13: Abstract of the cargoes of the ships Hector, Granby, Speke, Pigot, Nottingham and Havannah. Interpretations A French gentleman went home as a passenger in a Company ship in the same week that the Council kept the captain and officers of Le Duc de Praslin out of the garrison. The letter of 4 April 1770 recorded both facts without linking them. The restriction adopted on 14 September 1769 was aimed at French ships and their officers, who might observe the island's defences on behalf of their own service. A private individual who took passage from China under a Company commander's eye fell outside that concern. The Council nonetheless identified his nationality to the Court, the only passenger in these letters described in that way. Of the six China ships that arrived between 29 and 31 March 1770, only the Granby carried a packet. She reached China with the first group, dropped behind in the Straits of Sunda and at the Cape, and was the first of the second group sent on, within six days of anchoring. Her call at the Cape made her the probable carrier of the six cattle and 25 sheep delivered by Captain Swa[...], who was therefore perhaps her commander. The packet contained no new cash account, only a duplicate of the one for 21 and 22 March 1770. The quarter ended on 31 March 1770, and the letter explained that the accounts were not due before the Council until 16 April 1770. The bills for £1,845 15s 0d dated 2 April 1770 thus fell in a period for which the Court had as yet no account at all. | |
233 | To the Honble &ca.§ | The Council began a new letter by noting that its previous one went by the Granby, which sailed on 4 April 1770. 2: The Triton arrived from China by way of the Cape on the day before the Council wrote. Captain Elphinston reported that the Company's ships Earl of Lincoln and Valentine were at the Cape when he left, and the Earl of Lincoln was due to sail the next day. Three outward-bound French ships and one homeward-bound lay there as well. He heard that the outward ships carried about 700 soldiers, part of the Regiment of Conti. 3: Several discharged soldiers went aboard the departing ships. Captain Richardson received an order to take James Hamington to help fill out his crew. Captain Williams was allowed to take four men in the Hector, Captain Stoakes was given permission to take three, and Captain Jackson was allowed to take one in the Speke. Captain Richardson: James Hamington, discharged soldier Captain Williams: William Stone, matross Captain Williams: John Crawley, private Captain Williams: William Harper, private Captain Williams: John Tucker, private Captain Stoakes: Robert Hopkinson, serjeant Captain Stoakes: William Hunt, private Captain Stoakes: James [...]ary, private Captain Jackson: John Barnes, private 4: Captains Richardson, Williams, Stoakes and Jackson asked for leave to call at Ascension for turtle. The Council allowed them to stop there for that purpose. 5: Captain Jeffry Jackson applied to pay £700 0s 0d into the Company's treasury. The Council accepted the money and gave him bills of exchange on the Court for that amount, payable to himself or his order. The bills were drawn at 90 days' sight and dated the day of the letter. Interpretations The news from the Cape added a named regiment and a number to the earlier reports of French strength. Captain Jones's officers counted more than 400 officers at Mauritius, as the letter of 14 September 1769 related, and Captain Haggis described ships landing surplus men in Bengal in the letter of 14 October 1769. Captain Elphinston now reported about 700 regular infantry of the Regiment of Conti on their way east in three ships. A regiment of the French line sent out in strength was a reinforcement of a different order from stray officers and adventurers. The Cape was the point where outward French ships and homeward Company ships crossed, so intelligence gathered there was the freshest available on what France was sending to the Indian Ocean. Nine soldiers left the garrison in a single dispatch, the largest number in these letters, and among them a serjeant and a matross. A matross was an artilleryman of the lowest grade, who assisted the gunners in loading, firing and sponging the guns. The letter gave no grounds such as illness or misconduct, in contrast to the invalids and convicted men of earlier months, so these were probably men whose contracted terms had run out. Their release came while the militia stood embodied and French troops were moving east, and the Council offered no comment on the loss to the garrison's strength. The wording distinguished two kinds of arrangement. Captain Richardson was ordered to receive a man to complete his crew, the formula used on 1 August 1769 and 17 August 1769. The other three captains were "allowed" or "given permission" to take theirs, which implied that the request came from the commanders. Ships at the end of a long voyage were commonly short of hands through death and sickness, and time-expired soldiers wanting a passage home supplied the need. No fare was paid for any of them. John Barnes appeared for the second time. The bills dated 2 April 1770 recorded him as a discharged soldier remitting £20 0s 0d payable to himself. He now sailed in the Speke under Captain Jackson, carrying his savings home as paper. Four more commanders received leave for Ascension, bringing the number in this season to ten. Captain Jackson's bills for £700 0s 0d were payable to himself, like those of Captain Ross on 17 February 1770. A commander's own trading profits from the voyage were the probable source, converted on the island into a claim on the Company in London. | |
234 | would give them Certificates for the Amount of the Salt§ | Captains White and Jackson asked for certificates covering the salt provisions the Council bought from them on the Company's account. The Council agreed, and the amounts certified to each were entered in the consultation of 6 April 1770. 7: The letter went by the Pigot, which sailed in company with the Hector, the Nottingham and the Speke. Copies travelled in those three ships. The letter closed at St Helena on 6 April 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Pigot, dated 6 April 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 6 April 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 4 April 1770 3: Consultation of 6 April 1770 4: Duplicate consultations from 26 March to 2 April 1770 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Granby. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Deptford. 7: Effective state of the garrison 8: Muster rolls of the garrison 9: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Granby. 10: List of 9 discharged soldiers 11: Account of the ship Pigot. Interpretations The purchase of salt provisions put into effect the Court's order of 17 May 1769, which reached the island through Madras and was reported in the letter of 20 March 1770. Six ships were told to load more salt meat than they needed, and the Council undertook to take over the unused surplus when their commanders applied. Captains White and Jackson were the first to do so. Captain Jackson commanded the Speke, one of the China ships that arrived on 30 March 1770. The island thus gained a reserve of preserved meat within six weeks of the Council's warning, on 24 February 1770, that drought was wasting the cattle. Payment took the form of certificates and not cash, as with the livestock supplied by Captains Ross, Scott, Tryon and Swa[...]. Here the request came from the commanders. The provisions belonged to the ships' owners, who had laid them in at their own cost, so the money was due to the owners in London and a certificate was the natural instrument. The Council left the sums to the consultation, which the Court could set against the promised report of quantity and price. The date of the letter fixed the events it described. The Triton arrived on 5 April 1770, and Captain Jackson's bills for £700 0s 0d were dated 6 April 1770. The list of nine discharged soldiers matched the nine men named in the letter as embarking with Captains Richardson, Williams, Stoakes and Jackson. Four ships sailed together, and four commanders took the discharged soldiers and asked leave for Ascension. Captain Williams had the Hector and Captain Jackson the Speke, as the letter stated. Captains Richardson and Stoakes therefore commanded the Pigot and the Nottingham between them, though the letter did not say which man had which ship. As on 22 February 1770, one ship carried the full packet and her consorts carried copies of the letter. | |
235 | Ship Hectors Account§ | The packet sent by the Pigot on 6 April 1770 also held the following papers. 12: Account of the ship Hector. 13: Account of the ship Speke. 14: Account of the ship Nottingham. 15: Duplicate account of the ship Granby. 16: Time of the arrival of the boat of the Triton at Banks's. 17: Abstract of the cargo of the ship Triton. The Council wrote again a day after its letter of 6 April 1770, which went by the Pigot. That ship sailed on 7 April 1770 in company with the Hector, the Nottingham and the Speke. 2: Captain White was allowed to take three discharged soldiers aboard his ship. Captain Stoakes took three more on the same day with the Council's permission. Captain White: John Reed, discharged soldier Captain White: James Armstrong, discharged soldier Captain White: John Sabo[...], discharged soldier Captain Stoakes: Edward Dudley, discharged soldier Captain Stoakes: Edward Haddock, discharged soldier Captain Stoakes: William Cl[...], discharged soldier The letter closed at St Helena on 7 April 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Havannah, dated 7 April 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 7 April 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 6 April 1770 Interpretations Six more soldiers left on 7 April 1770, the day after nine were listed in the packet of the Pigot. Fifteen men thus quit the garrison in two days, spread across five ships. Earlier departures in these letters came singly or in small groups and usually carried a stated reason, such as illness, a conviction or a wish to be rid of a bad character. Here the men were simply described as discharged, which pointed to contracts that had run their term and to soldiers taking the last ships of the season home. The Council wrote a separate letter for the sole purpose of reporting the six names, so that the Court's record of who was struck off the garrison's strength stayed complete to the day. The loss fell at an awkward moment. The militia was embodied on the strength of French movements, and the letter of 6 April 1770 reported about 700 French regulars bound east. The garrison's only recorded gain in the period was Robert Grosvenor, the deserter from Bombay kept on the island on 17 August 1769. Replacements could come only from England by the outward storeships, so each such exodus left the establishment below strength until the next arrivals. Captain Stoakes took three men on 6 April 1770 and three more on the day he sailed, six in all, the most of any commander. A ship coming home from China with a crew thinned by the voyage had room for as many able men as offered, and the Council's permission cost the Company nothing. The letter went by the Havannah, and Captain White was the only commander named in it who did not sail with the convoy of four. He was therefore her captain. That identification also placed the Havannah among the six ships ordered to carry extra salt provisions, since Captain White received certificates for his surplus on 6 April 1770. | |
236 | Duplicate Consultations of 6th April 1770§ | The packet sent by the Havannah on 7 April 1770 also held the following papers. 3: Duplicate consultation of 6 April 1770 4: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Pigot. 5: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Nottingham. 6: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Speke. 7: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Hector. 8: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Granby. 9: Effective state of the garrison 10: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Pigot. 11: Account of the ship Havannah. 12: Duplicate account of the ship Pigot. 13: Duplicate account of the ship Hector. 14: Duplicate account of the ship Speke. 15: Duplicate account of the ship Nottingham. 16: List of 6 discharged soldiers The Council opened a further short letter by recalling its previous one, dated 7 April 1770 and sent by the Havannah. 2: When the Triton arrived, the Council informed her commander, Captain Elphinston, of the Court's orders about salt provisions. Those orders required the island to take over whatever remained of the stock put aboard for the recruits bound for India. He replied that he had none to spare. The letter closed at St Helena on 9 April 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations This paragraph explained the origin of the surplus that the earlier letters left unstated. The six ships named in the Court's order of 17 May 1769 carried recruits out to India, soldiers enlisted in England for the Company's armies. Extra salt provisions were loaded to feed those men on the outward voyage. Once the recruits were landed, whatever was left over had no further use aboard, and the Court directed that it be delivered at St Helena on the way home. The route through Madras, reported on 20 March 1770, now made sense: the ships landed their recruits in India and went on to China for cargo, and the Triton was among the vessels seen at Fort St George on 1 July 1769 and at Canton later that season. The Council reported a nil return. Captains White and Jackson sold their surplus on 6 April 1770, and Captain Elphinston had nothing left to offer. Recording his answer protected the Council. The Court expected provisions from six ships, and a letter stating that the commander was asked and had none prevented any later suggestion that the island failed to apply. It also left the Court to judge whether the stock was fully consumed or whether the commander chose to keep it for his own crew on the run home. The Council wrote three letters in four days, on 6, 7 and 9 April 1770, each prompted by a ship's sailing and each confined to what had happened since the last. The practice kept the Court's information current to the departure of every vessel, at the price of very short dispatches such as this one. | |
237 | List of the Honoble Company's Packet from St. Helena pr Ship§ | The Company's packet from St Helena by the Triton, dated 9 April 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 9 April 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 7 April 1770 3: Consultation of 9 April 1770 4: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Havannah. 5: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Pigot. 6: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Hector. 7: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Nottingham. 8: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Speke. 9: Effective state of the garrison 10: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Havannah. 11: Account of the ship Triton. 12: Duplicate account of the ship Havannah. 13: List of officers and servants taken on 9 April 1770 The Council opened its next letter by noting that the previous one went by the Triton, which sailed on 9 April 1770. 2: The Company's ship Earl of Lincoln arrived from China by way of the Cape on 10 April 1770. Captain Hardwicke reported that some of the salt provisions loaded for passengers bound to India remained unused. The Council took them over and gave him certificates on the Court for their value. Salt beef, 425 pieces Salt pork, 294 pieces 3: John Harrison, a deserter from the ship Earl of Ashburnham, gave himself up after the crew of the Earl of Lincoln was mustered. The Council enlisted him as a soldier for a contracted term of five years. Interpretations Harrison ran from one Company ship and surfaced at St Helena in the wake of another. He came forward only after the muster of the Earl of Lincoln was over, which suggested that he had travelled in her unlisted and stayed out of sight while her people were counted. The usual course with a deserting seaman was to hold him for his own ship, and the Earl of Ashburnham was expected, having left China with the same group. The Council instead signed him on as a soldier for five years. The garrison had just lost 15 men in two days, on 6 and 7 April 1770, and a volunteer already on the island filled one of those places at once. The decision repeated the handling of Robert Grosvenor, the deserter from Bombay kept to serve in the garrison on 17 August 1769. In both cases the Council turned a man in breach of one engagement with the Company into a recruit under another, and reported the fact so the Court could settle any claim by the ship. The passage also showed that the Council mustered the crews of arriving ships. A roll call under the island's authority checked the men present against the ship's books, and it was the means by which stowaways, deserters and men wanted elsewhere came to light. Salt meat was counted in pieces and not weighed. The carcass was cut to a standard size before salting, so that one piece served as a fixed ration and casks could be issued and accounted for by number. The 719 pieces delivered here formed the third lot received under the Court's order of 17 May 1769, after those of Captains White and Jackson on 6 April 1770, while Captain Elphinston of the Triton had none to give. The letter described the provisions as loaded for "passengers" to India, where the letter of 9 April 1770 spoke of recruits. Both words referred to the men carried out at the Company's charge and fed from stores put aboard for the purpose. A fresh list of officers and servants was taken on 9 April 1770, six months after the last, dated 14 October 1769. The lists of families, rents and slaves were drawn up once a year on 30 September, but the roll of the Company's own establishment was evidently renewed every half year. The departures of the previous days made the new one timely. | |
238 | 4 Captain Hardwicke applied to Us for liberty to§ | Captain Hardwicke applied for leave to call at Ascension for turtle, to give his crew more fresh food. The Council allowed him to stop there for that purpose. The letter closed at St Helena on 16 April 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Earl of Lincoln, dated 16 April 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 16 April 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 9 April 1770 3: Consultation of 14 April 1770 4: Duplicate consultation of 9 April 1770 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Triton. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Havannah. 7: Effective state of the garrison 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Triton. 9: Account of the ship Earl of Lincoln. 10: Duplicate account of the ship Triton. 11: Time of the arrival of the boat of the Earl of Lincoln at Banks's. 12: Abstract of the cargo of the ship Earl of Lincoln. 13: Cash account from 23 to 31 March 1770 14: Cash account from 1 to 16 April 1770 Interpretations The cash accounts resumed in this packet after a gap of four dispatches. The letter of 4 April 1770 stated that the quarter's accounts were not due before the Council until 16 April 1770, and the packets sent by the Granby, the Pigot, the Havannah and the Triton carried no new account. The packet closed on the very day of that review, and both outstanding accounts went with it. The account for 23 to 31 March 1770 completed the quarter, and the one for 1 to 16 April 1770 covered the bills for £1,845 15s 0d dated 2 April 1770 and Captain Jackson's £700 0s 0d of 6 April 1770. The Council thus kept to its rule of sending no account it had not examined, and lost no time once the examination was done. Captain Hardwicke was the eleventh commander of the season to receive leave for Ascension. Every Company ship that carried a letter home from the island since January 1770 obtained it, with the single exception of the Glatton. | |
239 | To the Honoble &ca§ | The Council opened a new letter by recalling its previous one, dated 16 April 1770 and sent by the Earl of Lincoln. 2: The Company's ship Royal Charlotte arrived on 27 April 1770 and the Lioness on 3 May 1770, both from Bengal by way of the Cape. Captain Larkins reported leaving the Cape on 16 April 1770. The Company's ship Europa reached there the day before, with all well aboard. A Spanish frigate bound outward, of 28 guns and about 300 men, sailed from the Cape on the same day he did, and her people gave Manila as their destination. The Council also heard that the Lapwing under Captain Gardiner arrived at Bengal just before the two ships left. 3: The passengers aboard the Lioness were Harry Verelst Esquire, Major Pearson, Captain Cox and Messrs R[...] and Den[...]y. Thomas Rumbold Esquire, Mr Buller and Mr Fisher travelled in the Royal Charlotte. 4: No Madeira wine reached the island from the Company's settlement in Bengal, and the Council had reason to think none would come that season. The President and Council at Bengal made no mention in their letters of any orders to send it. Wine was needed for the Company's table, and the Council therefore bought one pipe of Madeira for £40 0s 0d. 5: The Council drew the Court's attention to the serious difficulties caused by the lateness of the island's storeships, which had still not arrived. Interpretations The island's Madeira came by a roundabout route. Outward ships loaded wine at Madeira and carried it to India, and a share was then sent back from Bengal to St Helena in homeward vessels. The long passage through warm latitudes was held to improve the wine, so a cask that had been to India was preferred to one shipped direct. The system depended on the Court sending orders to Bengal each year. Silence in the letters from Bengal told the Council that no such order had gone, and that waiting would leave the island without wine for a year. The Company's table was the public table kept by the Governor at the Company's expense. Senior officers of the garrison dined there, and so did the commanders and principal passengers of visiting ships. Its supply was a charge on the Company and a matter of the settlement's standing, particularly in a season that brought men such as Harry Verelst and Thomas Rumbold ashore. A pipe was a large cask holding roughly 100 gallons. The Council bought one locally at £40 0s 0d, almost certainly from a ship's commander, and reported both the purchase and the reason. Buying outside the Company's own supply needed justifying, and the explanation also put the Court on notice that its orders to Bengal had been omitted. The Spanish frigate was reported with a note of reserve: Manila was her destination "as they report". Spain's ordinary link with the Philippines ran across the Pacific from Mexico, so a warship taking the Cape route was unusual, and one with about 300 men was strongly manned. With French troops also moving east, as the letters of 14 October 1769 and 6 April 1770 recorded, the Council passed on the sighting and left the Court to judge its meaning. The two Bengal ships were expected. The letter of 17 February 1770 reported that the Lioness and the Royal Charlotte were to leave Bengal towards the end of December 1769, and they reached the island about four months later. The complaint about the storeships opened a subject that the earlier letters approached only indirectly. Storeships were the outward vessels that brought the island its yearly supplies from England: coal, building materials, clothing, provisions and recruits. The Council had already asked for coal, hawsers and chain, lost 15 soldiers in two days in April 1770 and reported a drought. Each of those needs depended on ships that were now overdue. | |
240 | want of Sundry Stores, and other necessarys, will put a§ | The shortage of various stores and other necessities was about to halt the Company's building works and bring hardship to most of the inhabitants. The Council therefore asked the Court to consider sending the storeships out earlier in the year, so that the same difficulties did not recur. St Helena was cut off from contact with any other country and had few resources of its own, which left it exposed to many hardships at all times. A late supply could do worse and bring the island to real distress. Experience showed how close that came in 1768. The letter closed at St Helena on 7 May 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Royal Charlotte, dated 7 May 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 7 May 1770 2: Governor and Council's letter dated 7 May 1770 relating to law matters 3: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 16 April 1770 4: Consultations from 16 April to 7 May 1770 5: Duplicate consultation of 14 April 1770 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Earl of Lincoln. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Triton. Interpretations The Council asked the Court to change the timing of its shipping, a matter the Court settled in London to suit its own trade. The modest course was to report the shortage and wait. The Council went further and proposed a remedy, resting its case on two facts stated in the letter. The island could obtain nothing from any neighbour, so a late storeship could not be made good from elsewhere. And the danger was not theoretical, since the settlement came near to serious want in 1768. Citing a recent year within the Court's own knowledge gave the request a precedent that general complaint would have lacked. The works threatened with stoppage were the Company's building projects. The letter of 19 July 1769 sent home plans for the Governor's and Lieutenant Governor's houses and asked for slate, sashes, frames and balusters from England, and the letter of 14 October 1769 referred to correspondence on Munden's Point. Construction used the Company's own stone and lime but depended on imported coal to burn the lime, on ironwork and on finished joinery. When those ran out the masons and craftsmen on permanent wages had nothing to work with, yet their pay continued, so delay cost the Company money as well as time. The inhabitants suffered alongside the works because the Company's store was their main source of imported goods. Clothing, tools, flour and household articles came out in the storeships and were sold to settlers from the Company's warehouse. Private purchases from passing ships, such as the livestock and Madeira bought in recent months, could ease particular wants but were no substitute for the yearly cargo. The letter was written in early May, after the homeward fleets from India and China had largely passed. Ships sailing from England late in the year arrived when the island had already gone through its busiest season on the previous year's stock. An earlier departure would have landed the stores before the homeward ships came in to be supplied, which was the practical point behind the Council's proposal. A further letter on law matters went with the packet, the fourth of the series after those of 1 August 1769, 27 October 1769 and 25 January 1770. The three earlier ones each followed a quarterly court by a few weeks, and this one fell in the same quarterly rhythm. | |
241 | No 8 Effective State of the Garrison§ | The packet sent by the Royal Charlotte on 7 May 1770 also held the following papers. 8: Effective state of the garrison 9: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Earl of Lincoln. 10: Cash account from 17 to 30 April 1770 11: Cash account from 1 to 7 May 1770 12: Duplicate cash account from 23 to 31 March 1770 13: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 16 April 1770 14: Account of the ship Royal Charlotte. 15: Duplicate account of the ship Earl of Lincoln. 16: Time of the arrival of ships' boats at Banks's 17: Abstract of the cargoes of the ships Royal Charlotte and Lioness. 18: Proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 25 April 1770 The Council wrote a few lines two days after its letter of 7 May 1770, which went by the Royal Charlotte. A packet from the Court arrived by the British King on the evening of 8 May 1770, and a second came by the Company's ship Harcourt on the morning of 9 May 1770. The Council opened and read the Court's orders and instructions and gave its assurance that they would be carried out exactly. The ship taking the letter was about to sail at once, which left no time to write more. The letter closed at St Helena on 9 May 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations Two ships from England reached the island within a day and a half of the letter of 7 May 1770, in which the Council complained that the storeships were late and asked for earlier sailings. That complaint had already left in the Royal Charlotte and could not be recalled. The Court would therefore read the protest and, by the next ship, learn that the vessels came in almost as it was written. The arrival did not weaken the Council's argument. The stores landed in the second week of May, after the homeward fleets of the season had been supplied from the previous year's stock, which was precisely the timing the Council wanted changed. The note was an acknowledgement and nothing else. Its purpose was to place on record, by the first ship to leave, that both packets came safely to hand and on what dates. The Court sent its orders in more than one ship for the same reason the Council duplicated its own papers, and a prompt receipt told London that neither copy was lost. A considered reply had to wait, since the Council could not answer instructions it had read only that morning. Those instructions were the first word from the Court to appear in these letters. Since July 1769 the Council had referred a series of matters home: the plans and slate for the new houses, the exchange of the slave Walpole, the appointment of Mr Richard Mason, the schoolmaster's post and salary, and above all the decision of 14 September 1769 to raise the militia and keep French crews from landing. The note said nothing of which questions the Court had answered. The quarterly court of 25 April 1770 fitted the cycle seen earlier, after those of 12 July 1769, 4 October 1769 and 10 January 1770. Its proceedings travelled with the letter on law matters dated 7 May 1770, the same pairing as in the three previous quarters. | |
242 | To the Honble &ca.§ | The Council opened its next letter by noting that the previous one went on 9 May 1770 by the Royal Charlotte and reported the arrival of the Company's ships British King and Harcourt. The Court could rely on both ships being sent on their way once the ten working days ran out. The Council promised them every help within its power so that each could continue her voyage without delay. 2: The Lioness sailed so soon after those two ships came in that there was no time to answer the letters they brought. The Council undertook to reply as early as possible. 3: The principal inhabitants made a representation to the Council about the costs attached to the office of Sheriff. In the Company's other settlements, all necessary expenses of sheriffs and bailiffs were paid by the Company, together with the cost of serving warrants and of executing criminals. The Council thought it only fair to meet such unavoidable outlays at St Helena too. It ordered the previous year's Sheriff to be repaid his expenses and recorded the decision in the consultation of 14 May 1770. 4: Captain Larkins applied for leave to go to Ascension for turtle, to give his crew more fresh food. The Council allowed him to call there for that purpose. The letter closed at St Helena on 14 May 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations The Sheriff was an inhabitant who served for a year and carried out the orders of the island's courts: serving warrants, seizing goods, holding prisoners and putting sentences into effect, including executions. Until this decision he bore the running costs himself. The post was thus a burden laid on the leading settlers in turn, and the more work the courts generated, the more it cost the holder. The representation came from the principal inhabitants as a body, the class from which sheriffs were drawn, which showed a shared grievance and not one man's claim. The Council granted the request on its own authority and applied it to the previous year's Sheriff at once. Referring the matter home was the cautious course, and the Council took exactly that course over Mr Beale's pension and the schoolmaster's salary in the letter of 17 September 1769. Here it acted first and reported afterwards. The stated ground was the practice of the other settlements, where the Company already paid such charges. The Council presented the measure as bringing St Helena into line with an established rule, not as a new expense requiring leave, and limited it to outlays that could not be avoided. The mention of executing criminals indicated that the Sheriff's expenses included the cost of carrying out death sentences passed by the island's courts. The ten working days were the time allowed to an outward ship at the island to land her cargo for St Helena and take in water and provisions. The allowance was fixed in the terms on which the Company hired its ships, and if the island detained a vessel beyond it the owners could claim compensation for each further day. The Council's assurance answered a concern the Court evidently raised in the orders that arrived on 8 and 9 May 1770: that ships bound onward to the East should not lose their season through slow handling at St Helena. The letter corrected the record of the Royal Charlotte. Her packet was dated 7 May 1770, but she was still in the road two days later and carried the note of 9 May 1770 as well. The Lioness, which arrived on 3 May 1770, took the letter of 14 May 1770. Captain Larkins, who brought the news from the Cape reported on 7 May 1770, was her commander and the twelfth of the season given leave for Ascension. | |
243 | List of the Honble Company's Packet from St. Helena pr Ship§ | The Company's packet from St Helena by the Lioness, dated 14 May 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 14 May 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 7 May 1770 3: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 9 May 1770 4: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's letter dated 7 May 1770 relating to law matters 5: Consultations from 9 to 14 May 1770 6: Duplicate consultations from 16 April to 7 May 1770 7: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Royal Charlotte. 8: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Royal Charlotte. 9: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Earl of Lincoln. 10: Cash account from 8 to 14 May 1770 11: Duplicate cash account from 17 to 30 April 1770 12: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 7 May 1770 13: Account of the ship Lioness. 14: Duplicate account of the ship Royal Charlotte. 15: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 25 April 1770 16: The Governor's letter to the Court of Directors 17: The Governor's letter to the Secret Committee 18: Effective state of the garrison 19: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Royal Charlotte. The Council began its next letter by noting that the previous one went on 14 May 1770 by the Lioness. The Company's ships Earl of Ashburnham and Osterley arrived from China that same night. Captain Fortescue reported leaving China on 22 January 1770, and the Company's ships Neptune and Norfolk were sent away at the same time. He also saw two ships in the Straits of Banca. Interpretations Items 16 and 17 were letters from the Governor alone, the first of their kind in these packets. Every earlier dispatch went in the joint name of the Governor and Council. The Secret Committee was the small body of directors that handled the Company's confidential political and military business, apart from the general correspondence read by the whole Court. A governor wrote to it personally on matters too sensitive for the Council's letters and the clerks who copied them. Both letters were written within five days of the Court's orders arriving on 8 and 9 May 1770. The Council told the Court on 14 May 1770 that it had no time yet to answer those orders, but the Governor evidently replied at once on his own account. The subject was not stated. The business most fitting a secret channel was the defence of the island and the treatment of French ships, on which the Council had acted without instructions since 14 September 1769. The small paper packet in item 8 was the note of 9 May 1770. The Royal Charlotte had already signed for her main packet, dated 7 May 1770, and gave a separate receipt for the later addition. The two receipts confirmed that she carried both letters, as the letter of 14 May 1770 stated. The Earl of Ashburnham was the ship from which John Harrison deserted. He gave himself up after the muster of the Earl of Lincoln, and the Council enlisted him for five years, as the letter of 16 April 1770 recorded. His own ship reached the island a month later. By then he was a soldier under contract to the Company, and the question of returning him to her had been closed by the Council's earlier decision. The Straits of Banca ran between Sumatra and the island of Banca, on the usual track of ships coming south from China towards the Straits of Sunda. Ships sighted there were on the homeward route, so the report bore on vessels still expected. With the Earl of Ashburnham and the Osterley in, the Neptune and the Norfolk were the last of the 16 Company ships listed at Canton in the letter of 22 February 1770 not yet accounted for at St Helena. | |
244 | under Spanish Colours, one appeared to be a Ship of 74 Guns the§ | Captain Fortescue saw two ships under Spanish colours in the Straits of Banca, one apparently of 74 guns and the other a frigate. The Duke of Albany arrived from Bencoolen on 16 May 1770, and the Council heard that Captain Alexander Stewart died there in November 1769. The letter closed at St Helena on 18 May 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Council opened a further letter by noting that its latest reports, dated 14 and 18 May 1770, both went by the Lioness. 2: Four Company ships came in over a few days. The Neptune arrived from China on 20 May 1770 and the Duke of Grafton from Bengal on 21 May 1770. The Norfolk from China and the Britannia from Madras, last from Mauritius, arrived the day before the Council wrote. Captain Rous reported leaving Madras on 8 February 1770. On 10 March 1770, in latitude 20 degrees south and about 10 degrees east of Mauritius, a violent gale struck his ship. She came close to sinking and took five feet of water into the hold. The water dissolved part of the saltpetre and damaged a number of bales, and Captain Rous was forced to put into Mauritius. There he found 100 bales so thoroughly soaked with sea water that washing them was unavoidable. That work was going to take some months. Interpretations Saltpetre was the chief ingredient of gunpowder and one of the Company's staple imports from India. It was a heavy crystalline salt, shipped in bags and stowed at the bottom of the hold, where its weight helped to steady the ship. The same position made it the first cargo reached by water, and it dissolved on contact, so a flooded hold meant a direct and unrecoverable loss. The bales held Indian cloth, the most valuable part of a Madras cargo. Sea water did not destroy cloth at once, but salt left in the fibres drew damp and rotted them. The only remedy was to open each bale, wash the pieces in fresh water and dry them before repacking, a slow task for 100 bales. The gale drove a Company ship into the very port where, according to the letter of 14 September 1769, the French governor refused the Shrewsbury any landing. A leaking ship with a spoiling cargo needed far more than water and provisions alongside: she had to be lightened, repaired and her goods handled ashore. The account showed that this was permitted, since the bales were examined and the washing put in hand there. Distress at sea thus obtained from the French what Captain Jones could not get by request. The Spanish ships were a second report of that nation's forces in eastern waters. The letter of 7 May 1770 mentioned a frigate of 28 guns and about 300 men leaving the Cape for Manila. Captain Fortescue now described a ship of 74 guns, a full ship of the line, with a frigate in company, on the route between China and the Straits of Sunda. A vessel of that force was far beyond anything needed to protect trade. Set beside the French troop movements reported on 14 October 1769 and 6 April 1770, it added to a picture of the two Bourbon powers strengthening themselves in the East at the same moment. The arrivals of the Neptune and the Norfolk completed the tally. All 16 Company ships listed at Canton in the letter of 22 February 1770 were now reported at or past St Helena. The Britannia and the Duke of Grafton were both seen at Bengal on 4 December 1769, and the Britannia was then under orders to finish loading at Madras, as the letter of 17 February 1770 stated. The Duke of Albany was last heard of leaving Batavia for Bencoolen in September 1769, in Captain Payne's report of 25 January 1770. Bencoolen was the Company's pepper settlement on the west coast of Sumatra, notorious for sickness. The Lioness carried three letters. Her packet was dated 14 May 1770, yet she was still at anchor four days later and took the letter of 18 May 1770 too, just as the Royal Charlotte took a second letter two days after her packet was closed. | |
245 | them in the Hands of a Responsible Merchant, who entered into§ | Captain Rous left the 100 soaked bales at Mauritius with a reliable merchant, who signed a contract to have them washed and to carry them back to Madras. He was obliged to take in 70 tons of ballast before sailing. He left Mauritius on 15 April 1770 and exchanged news with the Company's ship Europa on 1 May 1770 in latitude 34 degrees 57 minutes south, where all aboard her were well. Captain Sampson reported dropping the pilot on 18 February 1770. The Company's ship Anson was to sail from Bengal a few days later and complete her cargo on the Coast. 3: The ten working days allowed by charterparty for unloading the British King and the Harcourt ran out on 21 May 1770. Captains Hoare and Paul received their sailing papers the day before the Council wrote. Captain Paul offered to take any worn-out cannon and similar articles aboard his ship as ballast and carry them to England without charge for freight. The Council ordered the Captain of Artillery to inspect the iron guns and report which were unfit for service. He condemned 38 pieces of various calibres, and these were loaded into the Harcourt. Captain Paul signed two bills of lading for them. He bound himself and his owners to deliver the guns to the Company on the ship's arrival in the Thames, on the terms he proposed. The first bill of lading went home with the letter. 4: The passengers travelled in three ships. Britannia: Charles Bourchier Esquire Britannia: James Bourchier Esquire Britannia: John Call Esquire Britannia: Lieutenant Colonel De Beck Britannia: Lieutenant Colonel Frischman Britannia: Mr P[...] Duke of Grafton: Major Graham Duke of Grafton: Major McKenzie Duke of Grafton: Mr Hunter Duke of Grafton: Mr Petrie Duke of Grafton: Mr Fr[...] Duke of Grafton: Mr Curt Duke of Grafton: Mr Adams Duke of Grafton: Mr Christie Duke of Grafton: Mrs Griffith Duke of Grafton: Mrs Mad[...]son Duke of Grafton: Mrs Hunter Duke of Grafton: Miss Vincent Duke of Grafton: Mr Ras[...], the Danish Chief of Salampore Neptune: Mr Pa[...] The three vessels named in that list were the Company's ships Britannia, Duke of Grafton and Neptune. 5: A Spanish frigate from Manila, La Venus [...] under Captain Manuel Gonzales De Guer[...], arrived on 20 May 1770. She carried 28 guns and 170 men. A second Spanish frigate from Manila, the St [...] under Captain Don John [...], arrived the day before the Council wrote, with 26 guns and 180 men. Both were bound for Spain. Interpretations Captain Paul's offer suited both sides, and the Council's handling showed why it was accepted. The Harcourt landed her stores at St Helena and faced the voyage home light, so she needed weight low in the hold to sail safely. Stone would have served, but condemned iron guns served as well and had a value in England as scrap for the foundries. Left on the island they were useless and could never have repaid the cost of freight at ordinary rates. The Council therefore took a passage that cost nothing, yet guarded the Company's interest at each step. The Captain of Artillery made a formal survey so that no sound gun was sent away, and the island's defences were a live concern while the militia stood embodied. The captain then signed bills of lading that made him and his owners answerable for delivering all 38 pieces in the Thames. A bill of lading was a commander's signed receipt for cargo and his contract to deliver it, and it was issued in more than one copy so that one could travel by another ship as proof of what was loaded. The storeships were cleared within the time allowed. They arrived on 8 and 9 May 1770, and the ten working days expired on 21 May 1770. The assurance given on 14 May 1770 was thus kept to the day, and no claim for detention could arise against the island. Captain Rous entrusted Company property to a merchant in a French colony, under a contract to wash the cloth and ship it back to Madras. The governor of the same island refused Captain Jones leave even to land, as the letter of 14 September 1769 related. Commerce evidently ran on easier terms than official dealings. The alternative was to keep the bales aboard and lose the cargo to rot or lose months at Mauritius, so the risk of relying on a French merchant was the smaller evil. The 70 tons of ballast replaced the weight of the dissolved saltpetre and the landed bales, without which the ship would have been too light to carry sail. To "drop the pilot" marked a ship's true departure from Bengal. Pilots took vessels down the Hooghly to the open sea and then left them, so the date fixed the start of the ocean passage. "The Coast" meant the Coromandel coast of south-east India, where Madras lay and where a ship short of cargo could finish loading. Two Spanish frigates from Manila called on their way to Spain. With the frigate reported at the Cape on 7 May 1770 and the two warships seen in the Straits of Banca, they made five Spanish ships of war noticed in a fortnight's letters. Vessels sailing between Manila and Spain by the Cape were using a direct route in place of the long-established crossing of the Pacific to Mexico. The Council recorded their guns and crews as it did for every foreign ship, and noted no restriction on them, since the rule of 14 September 1769 applied to the French alone. The Danish Chief of Salampore, the head of the Danish trading station on the Hooghly above Calcutta, went home as a passenger in a Company ship. Senior officers of rival European companies sometimes travelled this way when no ship of their own nation was sailing, and the Council marked his rank and nationality for the Court's information. | |
246 | 6 A Dutch Ship arrived Yesterday from§ | A Dutch ship from Batavia, the Maria Jacoba under Captain Arrians, arrived on 22 May 1770. She measured 800 tons, carried 20 guns and 100 men, and was bound for Holland with a cargo of spices. 7: The letter went by the Earl of Ashburnham. A copy travelled in the Osterley, which sailed in her company. The letter closed at St Helena on 23 May 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Earl of Ashburnham, dated 23 May 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 23 May 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 14 May 1770 3: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 18 May 1770 4: Consultations from 21 to 22 May 1770 5: Duplicate consultations from 9 to 14 May 1770 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Lioness. 7: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Lioness. 8: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Royal Charlotte. 9: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Royal Charlotte. 10: Effective state of the garrison 11: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Lioness. 12: Cash account from 15 to 23 May 1770 13: Duplicate cash account from 8 to 14 May 1770 14: Account of the ship Earl of Ashburnham. Interpretations The date of the letter fixed the events it described as happening the day before. The Norfolk and the Britannia arrived on 22 May 1770, and the second Spanish frigate from Manila came in on the same day. Captains Hoare and Paul also received their sailing papers on 22 May 1770, one day after their ten working days expired. The roadstead was unusually crowded in those few days. Between 20 and 22 May 1770 the island received four Company ships, two Spanish frigates and a Dutch Indiaman, while the Earl of Ashburnham, the Osterley, the Duke of Albany, the British King and the Harcourt were already at anchor. A dozen vessels of four nations lay together off a settlement whose pastures had been failing since the drought reported on 24 February 1770, and whose yearly stores had only just been landed. The Dutch ship carried spices, where the Rhynsburg, recorded on 14 October 1769, carried pepper. Cloves, nutmeg and mace came from islands in the eastern archipelago that the Dutch company controlled outright, and the trade in them was a monopoly closed to every other nation. Pepper, by contrast, was grown widely and bought by the English at Bencoolen as well. A cargo described simply as spices therefore represented the most protected and profitable branch of Dutch commerce. The Council noted her tonnage, guns and crew in the usual way, and at 100 men for 800 tons she was manned on the same modest scale as the earlier Dutch vessel. The receipts in items 6 to 9 confirmed how the two previous ships were used. Each gave one receipt for her main packet and another for a small paper packet added afterwards: the Royal Charlotte for the note of 9 May 1770 and the Lioness for the letter of 18 May 1770. | |
247 | 15 Ship Osterly's Account§ | The packet sent by the Earl of Ashburnham on 23 May 1770 also held the following papers. 15: Account of the ship Osterley. 16: Duplicate account of the ship Lioness. 17: Time of the arrival of ships' boats at Banks's 18: Abstract of the cargoes of the ships Earl of Ashburnham, Osterley, Duke of Albany, Neptune, Norfolk and Duke of Grafton. 19: First bill of lading for 38 iron guns put aboard the ship Harcourt. 20: The Governor's letter to the Secret Committee The Council opened its next letter by noting that the previous one went by the Earl of Ashburnham, which sailed on 25 May 1770 in company with the Osterley. 2: The Council was very glad to learn that all the Company's ships of the previous season reached home safely, and hoped the same good fortune would attend those of the current year. 3: Orders from the gentlemen of the Secret Committee, or from any three of them, would be faithfully obeyed. 4: The consultation of 22 May 1770 showed that the British King and the Harcourt were sent on their way when the ten working days expired. 5: The Court's direction that captains provide their own fuel for the homeward passage needed to become a standing order. The island's supply of fuel shrank every year. When commanders arrived short, the Council had nothing to give them but coal. That demand, together with the need to burn enough lime to keep the works going, explained the large quantity of coal the island ordered. The Council asked that future orders for it be met in full wherever possible. Interpretations This letter was the Council's considered reply to the orders that arrived by the British King and the Harcourt on 8 and 9 May 1770. Its form showed how the correspondence worked. The Council took the Court's letter paragraph by paragraph and answered each in turn, so that the numbered items here corresponded to the points London raised. The Court's own words were not repeated, and its concerns had to be read from the replies: the safe return of the previous season's fleet, the authority of the Secret Committee, the prompt clearing of outward ships and the supply of fuel to homeward ones. The third paragraph recorded a change in the chain of command. The Council bound itself to obey orders from the Secret Committee, and the words "or any three of them" set the number of signatures that made such an order valid. Until then the island took its instructions from the Court as a whole through the general letters. The Court had now told the Council that a small inner group could issue binding commands on its own authority, without the knowledge of the other directors or the many hands through which ordinary letters passed. Such an arrangement was made for war and for matters needing secrecy and speed. It came after months in which the Council reported French troops and officers gathering at Mauritius and elsewhere, called out the militia and shut French crews out of the garrison, as set out in the letters of 14 September 1769, 14 October 1769 and 6 April 1770. The Governor wrote to the Secret Committee twice within a fortnight, in the packets of 14 May 1770 and 23 May 1770. The substance of the committee's orders was kept out of the general letter, as secrecy required. The fuel paragraph answered a point the Council itself raised. The letter of 14 October 1769 complained that commanders ignored the Court's orders to stock up in India, and described giving Captain Haggis a chaldron of coal taken from the lime kilns. The Court responded by repeating its direction to captains, and the Council now pressed for it to be made permanent. The reason given was new and significant: the island's own fuel was decreasing year by year. St Helena's native woodland had been cut for generations for firewood, building and lime burning, and goats prevented its regrowth. With local wood failing, coal from England became the only fuel for the kilns and the only reserve for ships, which tied the building works, the garrison's needs and the shipping to a single imported article. The request that the coal order be met in full implied that earlier consignments fell short of what the island asked for. The first bill of lading for the 38 condemned guns went home by a different ship from the one carrying them. If the Harcourt was lost or her captain disputed the delivery, the Court held independent proof of what was loaded and on what terms. | |
248 | [The right-hand edge is irregularly lost along its length, most deeply at the lower right.] Acquaint you with the Names of those Commanders that shall be§ | The Council promised to report the names of any commanders who arrived short of fuel. 6: A letter to the Company's representatives at Canton was entered in the consultation of 22 May 1770. It showed that the Council found a small addition to the island's order from China necessary. 7: The Council welcomed the Court's instruction that captains calling at the Cape should buy sheep alone on the Company's account. Experience proved that cattle brought from there did not do well on the island. Once the wheat arrived and was given a fair trial, the Council would report on the usefulness of that measure. 8: The Court's approval of the Council's conduct towards French visitors, past and future, gave great satisfaction. The third paragraph of the general letter of 4 April 1770 described how the captain and officers of the French ship then at the island were treated. The Court could rely on the Council to take particular care that no one of that nation had fair grounds for complaint. 9: The Council trusted that the money coming in during the year for bills, stores and other receipts would cover the island's running costs. 10: The supplies sent that season were expected to meet the island's needs in full, with one exception. Purbeck stone was certain to run short, and the quantity would have to be increased in the next order. For three months the Council was forced to put off finishing the important battery at Munden's Point for lack of it. 11: The second paragraph of the letter of 24 February 1770 reported that the summer rains failed. A great many cattle died after that date, mainly from want of food. The animals still on the list for slaughter were very thin and small. The Council had strong reason to fear for the following year's returns. Interpretations The Court approved what the Council did on its own authority. The letter of 14 September 1769 announced that French crews would be kept from landing and supplied by boat, and asked for instructions. Approval reached the island on 8 and 9 May 1770, about eight months later, so for that whole time the Council ran a policy touching relations with a foreign power without sanction. The reply showed that the approval carried a caution. The Council's promise to give the French no "fair grounds for complaint" answered a concern that restrictions should stop short of insult, since the two nations were at peace. The Council pointed to its handling of Le Duc de Praslin as evidence: her officers were excluded from the garrison, but one was received by the Governor under escort and her captain got all the provisions and water he asked for. Purbeck stone was a hard, dense limestone quarried on the Dorset coast and shipped widely for paving. On a battery it formed the platforms on which the guns stood and recoiled. A platform had to be level, smooth and strong enough to bear the weight and shock of heavy cannon, and the island's own volcanic rock evidently did not answer. Stone and lime for walls were the Company's own, as the Lieutenant Governor observed on 19 July 1769, yet the finishing material for the gun floors came from England. The battery at Munden's Point, which guarded the anchorage, therefore stood unfinished for three months at a time when the Council was calling out the militia against the French. The letters about that work from the Lieutenant Governor and Lieutenant Bazett, mentioned on 14 October 1769, belonged to the same project. The order about sheep changed the practice seen earlier in the year. Captains Ross, Scott, Tryon and Swa[...] brought livestock from the Cape between 17 February 1770 and 4 April 1770, some as private sales and some for the Company, and two consignments included cattle. The Court now directed that such purchases be made on the Company's account and confined to sheep. The Council agreed from experience that Cape cattle failed on the island's pastures. Buying for the Company from the start, as Captain Tryon did, removed the commander's private profit and put the risk of loss at sea on the Company. The wheat mentioned alongside was a separate experiment ordered by the Court, probably seed for trial sowing, on which the Council reserved judgement until it could be tested. The eleventh paragraph confirmed the fears of 24 February 1770. The drought killed a large part of the herds outright, and the survivors marked for slaughter were poor. The slaughter list was the roster of animals due to be killed for the garrison and the shipping in the coming months. Thin beasts yielded little meat, and heavy losses among breeding stock cut the number of calves, so the damage carried into the next year. The surplus salt provisions taken from Captains White, Jackson and Hardwicke in April 1770 thus arrived when the island's own supply of fresh beef was collapsing. The island sent its own order to Canton each year through the Company's resident agents there, who bought goods for St Helena and shipped them in homeward vessels. Tea, sugar and porcelain were the usual articles. The Council recorded the addition in the consultation so the Court could see what was requested outside the main order. | |
249 | very inadequate to the Demands we shall have for Beef, but the Rains§ | The Council expected the following year's supply of cattle to fall well short of the demand for beef. Rain fell shortly before the letter was written and did the countryside a great deal of good. If it continued, the island would soon turn green again and the cattle would stop dying. The cattle sent out by the Court to improve the island's breed, as requested the previous year, did not bring the success hoped for. Only three of the eight arrived. The Council still held that the scheme could be very useful if kept up, and hoped for better fortune another year. The commanders of the two storeships reported that the losses were due entirely to rough weather at the start of their voyage. Three of the animals in the Harcourt were washed overboard. 12: James Carmichael, gardener, would receive his salary and be fed at the Company's expense, as the Court directed. 13: The Court refused to sanction the removal of the two Malay prisoners from the island, and the Council undertook to go on paying their allowance. It could not refrain from one observation. If the Company's presidencies abroad were free to send to St Helena, as a place of banishment, everyone who might prove troublesome to their governments, the island could suffer serious harm. Once Mr Carter supplied a man as good as the Company's slave Walpole, the Council would carry out the exchange he asked for. 14: Only 94 of the 100 recruits announced by the Court as coming in the British King and the Harcourt reached the island. John G[...]an and William Cooper died on the passage in the British King, and David [...]yle in the Harcourt. 15: The Council regretted that the Court was unable to send a master mason that year. Such a man was badly needed, as the previous season's letters explained in describing the incapacity of the late master mason, William Holbrook, who had died in the meantime. 16: The Court gave permission to build the Governor's and Lieutenant Governor's houses according to the plans. The Council promised to keep costs down in carrying out the work. It asked that the windows, sashes and balusters ordered for the houses be sent the following year. Interpretations The thirteenth paragraph recorded a disagreement with the Court, stated with unusual directness. Two Malay prisoners were held on the island at the Company's cost, sent there by one of the eastern settlements. The Council evidently proposed to send them away, and the Court said no. The Council obeyed but added a protest of principle. Its objection went beyond the two men: if every presidency could rid itself of difficult people by shipping them to St Helena, a small and isolated community would become a general place of exile, with the expense of feeding the banished and the risk of keeping them among a population of settlers, soldiers and slaves. The usual course on receiving a refusal was to comply in silence. The Council chose to put its dissent on record, and its wording treated the Court's ruling as opening a door that ought to be shut. The sentence on Walpole, inserted beside it, bore on the same question. The letter of 1 August 1769 explained that Mr Carter sent Walpole to the island as a Company slave about 15 years earlier for defrauding the Company, and now wished to exchange him. The Court's reply allowed the exchange once a man of equal quality was delivered, so the Company's labour force was kept whole. Walpole was himself an example of the island used as a place of punishment by an authority elsewhere. Eight breeding cattle left England and three were landed. The request for them went home before the drought, and their purpose was to improve the island's stock over generations, not to supply meat. Their arrival in May 1770, with the herds devastated, gave the scheme more importance than when it was proposed. The Council urged its continuance despite a loss of five animals in eight, and supported the case with the commanders' explanation that bad weather at the outset, not any fault in the plan, caused the deaths. The same letter welcomed the Court's order to buy only sheep at the Cape because Cape cattle did not thrive. English cattle were thus preferred for breeding, while the Cape remained a source of sheep. The recruits answered the garrison's losses. Fifteen men were discharged on 6 and 7 April 1770 alone, after smaller groups in August 1769 and January 1770. A draft of 100 replaced them several times over, and the Council accounted for the shortfall by naming the three who died at sea, as it named every man struck off the strength. Carmichael's appointment filled the place of James Gordon, the gardener whose chest was sold for £20 17s 8d, as the letter of 17 August 1769 reported. The gardener managed the Company's gardens, which grew the vegetables supplied to ships and garrison. To be "dieted" was to receive daily food from the Company in addition to salary, a standard part of a servant's pay on the island. The lack of a master mason touched both the major works then in hand. The battery at Munden's Point was stalled for want of Purbeck stone, and the two houses were now authorised. A master mason directed the Company's stoneworkers and slaves and set out the building. Without one the Council had to rely on whoever among the tradesmen could lead, at the moment its building programme was largest. The Court approved the house plans sent on 19 July 1769, some ten months after they were dispatched. The promise of economy answered a condition that plainly accompanied the approval. The Lieutenant Governor had declined to give an estimate, arguing that costs could not be calculated on the island, and the Court responded by granting leave while insisting on restraint. The joinery ordered from England had not come with the storeships, so the Council renewed the request. | |
250 | [The right-hand edge is irregularly lost along its length.] mention in the general Indent (as near as possible) how many Squares§ | The Council undertook to state in the general order, as closely as it could, how many squares of slate the two houses needed. It recommended that the slate be packed in cases to prevent breakage. 17: The Court confirmed the appointment of Messrs James Deffountain and William Webber Doveton as writers, and the Council was glad of it. The extra expense would never have been laid on the Company had the two posts not proved absolutely necessary for carrying on its business. Both men sent their sincere thanks and signed their covenants, which went home in the packet. Lieutenant Samuel Deffountain and Mr James Greentree stood as securities for Mr James Deffountain. Messrs William Wrangham and Jonathan Doveton did the same for Mr William Webber Doveton. The Court was asked to accept them. 18: Mr George Bazett's securities signed his bond, which was enclosed. 19: Messrs Robert Barclay and John Pritchard received the additional salary ordered by the Court and returned their best thanks. 20: The Court approved the proposal to place the paymaster's department under a civil servant, which pleased the Council. The arrangement would continue, since the Council judged it good for the service. Mr William Wrangham would receive the same salary and allowances as the Storekeeper and the Secretary. He would go on assisting Mr Purling until Mr Wright, appointed to the Accountant's office, was able to do that work. Mr Wrangham sent his sincere thanks for the appointment. 21: The Court appointed Mr Tippett as Captain of Artillery and principal Engineer. He would receive the salary and allowances of that post and rank next below the junior captain. Interpretations Putting the paymaster's department under a civil servant changed who controlled the garrison's money. The paymaster issued the soldiers' wages and kept the pay accounts. When an officer of the garrison held the post, the military both certified its own numbers and paid itself. A civil servant answered to the Council and stood outside the chain of command, so the muster rolls drawn up by the officers were now checked by a separate hand before money left the treasury. The Council proposed the change, the Court approved it, and the reply stressed that it would be kept. The salary fixed for Mr Wrangham, level with the Storekeeper and the Secretary, placed the office among the senior civil posts. A writer was the lowest grade of the Company's covenanted civil service, a clerk who copied letters, kept books and learned the business with a view to promotion. The covenant was the signed agreement by which he bound himself to serve faithfully and to account for everything that passed through his hands. Two securities then guaranteed him with their own property, so that the Company could recover any loss from them if he defaulted. The arrangement gave the Court a financial hold over young men handling its goods and cash at a great distance. The names showed how closely the island's establishment was knit. James Deffountain was guaranteed by Lieutenant Samuel Deffountain, plainly a relation, and William Webber Doveton by Jonathan Doveton, who remitted £65 0s 0d on 4 September 1769 and £100 0s 0d on 13 October 1769. The other two securities, James Greentree and William Wrangham, also appeared in the bills of 24 July 1769 and 11 September 1769. The Council had made both appointments locally and asked for confirmation, and its remark about expense showed that the Court questioned whether two more salaried clerks were needed. The new writers were sons of island families, backed by relations and neighbours already in the Company's pay, and the service was thus recruited from within the settlement itself. A square was the measure by which roofing was reckoned, equal to 100 square feet of covered surface. The reference showed that the Court accepted the argument of 19 July 1769 for slate over tiles on the single-pitch roofs, though the quantity remained to be worked out. The advice on packing reflected the risk to a brittle material on a long voyage, handled several times between quarry, ship and shore. Mr Tippett came out by the Court's appointment to a combined post, commanding the artillery and directing the fortifications. The Council fixed his standing in the garrison by placing him immediately after the most junior captain. Rank decided who commanded whom, so the place of a new arrival appointed from England had to be settled at once, and the Council put him below every existing captain. The Captain of Artillery who condemned the 38 guns loaded into the Harcourt on 22 May 1770 acted days after the storeships arrived, so that survey was probably among Mr Tippett's first duties. | |
251 | Captain as you direct, & Lieut Thos. Bazett shall be employed as§ | Mr Tippett took rank below the junior captain as the Court directed, and Lieutenant Thomas Bazett was assigned to assist Captain Tippett in carrying on the works, in line with the Court's orders. 22: The Council summoned Lieutenant Leech, as directed, and read him the fortieth paragraph of the Court's latest general letter. He was told that he had already been treated leniently. If his future conduct did not earn continued approval, the Council would no longer consider him fit to remain in the service. 23: Lieutenant Nathan Sam[...]ell was informed of the pension the Court granted him and returned his thanks. 24: The second lieutenants received their arrears as ordered in the forty-second paragraph of the Court's letter. Their pay would continue from then on as directed. 25: The Council thanked the Court for its care in sending out the plans. It could not understand how Captain Mitchel came to tell the Court that the island held no copies of them, since he neither designed nor drew them. 26: Mr John Congreve, the schoolmaster, was appointed Judge Advocate. The schoolhouse was still unbuilt. The Council promised the inhabitants every help in its power to speed the work, and allowed them to buy materials from the Company's stores. Mr Congreve had already started teaching the children. The Council expected to judge his ability and conduct in the post better after some experience of them. 27: The thirty-first paragraph of the Court's general letter of 29 March 1751 strictly forbade any foreigner, of whatever rank, to go into the interior of the island, whether in the company of the Governor or of any Company servant. The Council had always obeyed that order in full. It nevertheless submitted that the order could not have been meant to cover gentlemen or ships' officers who spent many years in the Company's service and served with credit at Bengal, Madras and elsewhere. Interpretations The standing order of 1751 kept every foreigner out of the island's interior. St Helena's strength lay in its cliffs and the few valleys where a landing was possible, and a visitor who rode inland could observe the paths, the water, the batteries commanding the landing places and the distances between them. The Court therefore confined strangers to the town, and made no exception for rank or for the Governor's own invitation. The Council now asked for one. Foreign-born men held commissions in the Company's armies and commands in its ships, and passed through the island as trusted servants. The passenger list of 23 May 1770 included Lieutenant Colonels De Beck and Frischman, whose names suggested officers of that kind. To treat such men as potential spies, while they were free to see every fortress in India, was an awkwardness the Council wished removed. The request came in the same letter that promised strict care in dealing with the French, so the Council was drawing a line between foreigners in a rival's service and foreigners in the Company's own. Mr Congreve's double appointment settled the question debated on 17 September 1769. The Council then proposed to join the schoolmaster's post to that of Judge Advocate, as Mr Richard Beale held them, to make a living worth £80 0s 0d a year. The Chaplain urged a clergyman instead, and the Council supported him while admitting that a clergyman could not prosecute criminals. The Court sent a layman. The Council thereupon gave him both offices, which was its original plan and cost the Company nothing extra. Both posts stood vacant after Beale died on 7 October 1769, so the island went about seven months without a schoolmaster or a regular Judge Advocate. The schoolhouse remained the inhabitants' project. The vestry voted £450 0s 0d from the fund for the poor to build it, as the letter of 17 September 1769 recorded. The Council's help took the form of selling building materials from the Company's stores, not giving them, so the islanders bore the cost while gaining access to goods they could not obtain elsewhere. The storeships that arrived on 8 and 9 May 1770 had just replenished those stores. The reading of a paragraph to Lieutenant Leech was a formal reprimand delivered on the Court's instruction. The offence was not stated. The Council's words showed that the matter had gone home, that the Court chose leniency over dismissal, and that the warning was final. Having it read before the whole Council put the censure on record and left the officer no room to claim later that he was not told. Lieutenant Bazett appeared in the letter of 14 October 1769 as Superintendent of the Works, in charge of the Company's building. He was now placed under Captain Tippett, the engineer newly sent from England. The Court thus put a professional over the local officer who had directed the works, at the point when the battery at Munden's Point and two large houses were in hand. The remark about Captain Mitchel was a correction of the record. He apparently told the Court that the island lacked copies of certain plans, and the Court sent a set. The Council thanked the Court and at the same time denied him any credit for the designs. The exchange showed a former officer giving information in London about the island's affairs, and the Council taking care that his account was not accepted unchallenged. | |
252 | [The right-hand edge is irregularly lost along its length.] Garrisons abroad, and we apprehend that the hardships such§ | Such officers served in the Company's garrisons abroad, and the Council feared that refusing them brought it serious trouble. They felt the refusal as a hardship. In their position they regarded themselves as naturalised Englishmen, yet they were denied the small favour of taking exercise in the countryside, which was often essential to restoring their health. The Council asked for the Court's further instructions on the point. 28: Ships returning from Bengal arrived at the island very light, owing to the nature of their cargoes, and at times had to take in ballast there. The Council put a proposal to the Court. Such ships might load a set quantity of bricks at Bengal as ballast, land them for the use of the settlement and receive stone in exchange. The Council believed this could be of the greatest value to the fortifications and the other public buildings on the island. 29: Mr Matthew Purling applied to pay £307 17s 4d into the Company's treasury. The Council accepted the money and gave him bills of exchange on the Court for that amount, payable to Mr William Alexander or his order 90 days after sight and dated 28 May 1770. 30: The Company's ship Devonshire arrived from China on 29 May 1770. 31: Captain Rous asked for leave to call at Ascension for turtle, to give his crew more fresh food. The Council granted his request. The letter closed at St Helena on 30 May 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations The brick proposal applied to building materials the reasoning that put 38 condemned guns into the Harcourt on 22 May 1770. A ship needed weight in her hold whatever she carried, so anything heavy travelled free if it served as ballast. Bengal cargoes were bulky for their weight, cloth and silk above all, and ships loaded with them rode high. The Britannia showed the problem a few weeks earlier, when Captain Rous took in 70 tons of ballast at Mauritius. The Council suggested that such ships carry Bengal bricks in place of sand or shingle and exchange them at St Helena for the island's stone, which would ballast them equally well for the run home. The island would gain bricks at no cost in freight, and the ships would lose nothing. The need behind the proposal was real. Bricks could not readily be made on the island, since firing them required fuel, and the same letter stated that local fuel dwindled every year and that coal had to be imported even to burn lime. Island stone served for walls but was laborious to cut and unsuited to some uses, as the delay to the battery at Munden's Point for want of Purbeck stone showed. Brick was quick to lay and suited vaults, ovens, chimneys and linings. The Council named both the fortifications and the public buildings as beneficiaries, at a time when a battery and two large houses were in progress under a newly arrived engineer and with no master mason. The close of the paragraph on foreigners gave the Council's motive for raising the standing order of 1751. Officers of foreign birth who gave their careers to the Company resented being confined to the town like strangers, and their complaints fell on the Governor and Council, who had no power to relent. The ground urged was health. Passengers landed after months at sea, often ill, and riding or walking in the cooler uplands was the accepted means of recovery. The Council did not relax the rule on its own authority, as it did over the Sheriff's expenses on 14 May 1770. An order touching the island's security was left to the Court, and the Council merely argued for a change. The date of the letter fixed the reply as a whole. The Court's orders arrived on 8 and 9 May 1770, the Council explained on 14 May 1770 that it had no time to answer, and the full response went home on 30 May 1770, three weeks after the packets were opened. Matthew Purling remitted a further £307 17s 4d, after £1,226 5s 0d on 2 April 1770 and £400 0s 0d on 4 September 1769. He named a different payee each time except for John Purling, which suggested payments to several creditors or correspondents in London and not a simple transfer of savings. Captain Rous of the Britannia was the thirteenth commander of the season given leave for Ascension. The Devonshire was one of the Company ships listed at Canton in the letter of 22 February 1770, and among the last of that fleet to reach the island. | |
253 | [The left-hand edge is irregularly lost along its length, most deeply at the lower left.] List of the Honble Company's Packet from St. Helena pr Ship§ | The Company's packet from St Helena by the Britannia, dated 30 May 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 30 May 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 23 May 1770 3: Consultation of 28 May 1770 4: Duplicate consultations from 21 to 22 May 1770 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Earl of Ashburnham. 6: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Osterley. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Lioness. 8: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Lioness. 9: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Earl of Ashburnham. 10: Effective state of the garrison 11: Cash account from 24 to 30 May 1770 12: Duplicate cash account from 15 to 23 May 1770 13: Account of the ship Britannia. 14: Duplicate account of the ship Earl of Ashburnham. 15: Duplicate account of the ship Osterley. 16: Abstract of the cargoes of the ships Britannia and Devonshire. 17: Second bill of lading for 38 iron guns put aboard the ship Harcourt. 18: Time of the arrival of the boat of the Devonshire at Banks's. 19: Mr George Bazett's security bond 20: Mr James Deffountain's covenants 21: Mr William Webber Doveton's covenants The Council wrote again a day after its letter of 30 May 1770, which went by the Britannia. 2: Captain B[...] applied for leave to call at Ascension for turtle, to give his crew more fresh food. The Council allowed him to stop there. Interpretations Items 19 to 21 were legal instruments, and their place was in London. A covenant bound the servant who signed it, and a security bond bound the men who guaranteed him with their own property. If a writer or officer defaulted, the Company's remedy was an action in the English courts against him or his sureties, and the Court needed the signed originals to bring one. Papers kept on the island would have been useless for that purpose. The letter of 30 May 1770 reported the signing, and the documents travelled in the same packet. The securities named for the two writers were Lieutenant Samuel Deffountain, James Greentree, William Wrangham and Jonathan Doveton, all men settled on the island, whose liability the Court could only enforce through such bonds. The second bill of lading for the condemned guns followed the first, which went by the Earl of Ashburnham on 23 May 1770. Captain Paul signed two copies on 22 May 1770, and the Council sent them by separate ships. The Court would thus hold proof of the cargo and of the owners' undertaking even if one packet was lost, the same safeguard applied to every receipt and letter. The pattern of receipts continued to show which ships carried what. The Earl of Ashburnham took the full packet of 23 May 1770 and her consort the Osterley a small paper packet with a copy of the letter, as that letter stated. The Lioness was credited with both her main packet and the later addition of 18 May 1770. The commander asking leave for Ascension was the fourteenth of the season. The Devonshire arrived on 29 May 1770 and was the only Company ship in the road not yet dispatched, so he was probably her captain and the letter written for her sailing. | |
254 | touch there for that Purpose —§ | Captain B[...] received the Council's leave to call at Ascension for turtle. The letter closed at St Helena on 31 May 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Norfolk, dated 31 May 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 31 May 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 30 May 1770 3: Duplicate consultation of 28 May 1770 4: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Britannia. 5: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Earl of Ashburnham. 6: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Osterley. 7: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Britannia. 8: Effective state of the garrison 9: Cash account for 31 May 1770 10: Duplicate cash account from 24 to 30 May 1770 11: Account of the ship Norfolk. 12: Duplicate account of the ship Britannia. The Council opened its next letter by noting that its latest reports went by the Norfolk, which sailed on 1 June 1770 in company with the Britannia. 2: The new letter went by the Duke of Grafton, and a copy travelled in the Neptune. Interpretations The letter of 31 May 1770 consisted of a single item of business, the leave for Ascension, and went by the Norfolk. Its only purpose was to cover that ship's departure with a dispatch of her own, so that the commander who asked the favour was the captain of the vessel carrying the letter. The Council's practice throughout was to give each departing ship a letter dated to her sailing, however little there was to say, and to record in it any permission granted to her commander. The packet and sailing dates showed how the two ships left. The Britannia had her packet closed on 30 May 1770 and the Norfolk on 31 May 1770, yet both sailed together on 1 June 1770. A ship's packet was therefore sealed a day or two before she weighed, and vessels ready at about the same time waited to leave in company. The Britannia had nearly foundered in a gale on 10 March 1770 and taken in 70 tons of ballast at Mauritius, so a consort for the passage home was of particular value to her. The cash account in item 9 covered one day. The Council closed its accounts to the date of each packet, and where two ships left on consecutive days the second account ran only from the end of the first. With the Duke of Grafton and the Neptune next to sail, again as a pair with the letter in one and a copy in the other, the same procedure was about to be repeated. | |
255 | that Sails from hence with the aforesaid Ship —§ | Both ships sailed from the island together, the Duke of Grafton with the letter and the Neptune with its copy. The letter closed at St Helena on 2 June 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Duke of Grafton, dated 2 June 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 2 June 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 31 May 1770 3: Consultation of 2 June 1770 4: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Norfolk. 5: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Britannia. 6: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Norfolk. 7: Effective state of the garrison 8: Cash account from 1 to 2 June 1770 9: Duplicate cash account for 31 May 1770 10: Account of the ship Duke of Grafton. 11: Account of the ship Neptune. 12: Duplicate account of the ship Norfolk. The Council began a further letter by recalling its previous one, sent on 2 June 1770 by the Duke of Grafton, which sailed in company with the Neptune. 2: The Council took the occasion to send home its orders for the stores the island needed in the following year, together with the list of remaining stock and related papers. Interpretations The yearly order for stores went home with a list of "remains", the inventory of what was still in the Company's warehouses. The two documents worked as a pair. The order stated what the island wanted, and the inventory let the Court test each request against the quantity already in hand before it bought and shipped anything. A demand for an article of which a large stock remained could be cut down in London, and one for an article shown as exhausted was harder to refuse. The inventory was thus the Court's check on the Council's requests and the Council's evidence in support of them. The order was drawn up within a month of the storeships' arrival on 8 and 9 May 1770. Only when that year's cargo was landed and counted could the Council know what it held and what the next year required. The earlier letters had already marked several articles for increase or special mention: Purbeck stone for the battery at Munden's Point, coal for the kilns and for ships short of fuel, slate by the square for the two houses, the windows, sashes and balusters outstanding from the previous year, and the hawsers and chain requested on 14 September 1769 after being left off the last order. Its timing bore on the complaint of 7 May 1770 that the storeships came too late. An order leaving the island in June reached London in the autumn, and the goods could not return before the following spring at the earliest. Each year's supply therefore answered wants identified about a year before, and any delay in the ships' departure from England stretched that interval further. The Council's request for earlier sailings and its care to dispatch the order promptly were two parts of the same effort to shorten the cycle. | |
256 | received for some Years past, have proved so extreemly bad, that§ | The flints supplied to the island for some years proved so poor that they failed after one or two shots, and many never sparked at all. The Council complained of this article several times. Samples were shown to the Court, and bad flints still came out every year. The island's defence depended to a great extent on flints of the best quality. The Council therefore asked that those in the new order be examined and tested before shipment. A large stock remained on the island that was completely useless. 3: The curved timbers ordered that year for repairing the longboats were requested so that such pieces need not be cut from the island's own trees. The local wood did not suit the purpose, and trees had to be felled to obtain the bent pieces required. 4: The breeches received that year for the slaves were too small. The Council asked that future supplies for both men and boys be of a larger size. 5: The Council granted eight sets of bills of exchange, all drawn at 90 days' sight. Governor Skottowe, payable to Robert Wood Esquire, dated 5 June 1770, £557 0s 0d Daniel Corneille Esquire, payable to Messrs Staniforth and Gi[...], dated 5 June 1770, £55 0s 0d Daniel Corneille Esquire, payable to John Caillaud Esquire, dated 5 June 1770, £110 16s 11d Daniel Corneille Esquire, payable to Charles Bourchier Esquire, dated 5 June 1770, £176 6s 0d Mr Richard Bagley, payable to Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick, dated 5 June 1770, £566 3s 10d Lieutenant Solomon [...], payable to Mrs Ann Bo[...], dated 5 June 1770, £30 0s 0d Mr Jonathan Doveton, payable to Captain Richard Doveton, dated 11 June 1770, £63 0s 0d Mr Richard Goodwin, payable to Captain William Tryon, dated 11 June 1770, £126 14s 6d Interpretations Every musket and pistol in the garrison fired by a flint. A shaped piece of flint was clamped in the lock and struck a steel plate when the trigger was pulled, throwing sparks into the priming powder. A good flint lasted for many shots before it needed replacing, and a poor one shattered or failed to spark, leaving the weapon useless at the moment of firing. Flint was quarried and shaped in England and could not be had on the island, so the garrison depended entirely on what was sent. The complaint was a serious one. The militia stood embodied against a possible French attack, 94 recruits had just arrived, and the Council stated that much of its stock would not fire. The request for testing before shipment proposed a specific remedy after general complaints and samples failed, and placed responsibility on the Court's suppliers and inspectors in London. Curved timbers were the naturally bent pieces of wood from which a boat's ribs and knees were cut. A piece that grew to the required curve was far stronger than one sawn to shape across the grain, so boatbuilders sought out crooked branches and trunks. The longboats were the island's only link with ships in the road, and were of greater importance since the rule of 14 September 1769 that French ships be supplied by boat. The Council gave two reasons for ordering the timber from England. The island's wood was unsuitable, and getting the few bent pieces meant felling whole trees. The second reason matched the statement of 30 May 1770 that the island's fuel decreased every year. Trees were by then scarce enough that the Council preferred to import shaped timber across several thousand miles than to cut what remained. The breeches were part of the clothing the Company issued to its own slaves, ordered from England in fixed sizes with the other stores. The mention of men and boys showed that the Company's slave force included children old enough to be clothed and put to work. A consignment that did not fit was wasted, and the Council treated the matter as one of ordinary supply, alongside flints and boat timber. The bills totalled £1,684 1s 3d and showed the same circle of remitters as before. The Governor used Robert Wood as his payee for the third time, after 24 July 1769 and 4 September 1769. Richard Bagley again named Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick, to whom his £156 0s 0d was payable on 17 July 1769. Two payees had recently passed through the island. Charles Bourchier Esquire was a passenger in the Britannia, listed on 23 May 1770, and Captain William Tryon commanded the Deptford, which sailed after 22 March 1770. Bills in favour of men who had just left pointed to debts contracted during their stay, for goods bought from a commander's private trade or money advanced by a wealthy passenger, and settled by a claim on the Company in London. Jonathan Doveton's bill was payable to Captain Richard Doveton, evidently a relation, and was his third remittance in these letters. | |
257 | receive on board his Ship John Carfoot Bombardier, George Charitt§ | Captain Stewart received an order to take four men aboard his ship to help fill out her crew. John Car[...]t, bombardier George Char[...], drummer Samuel Perry, private John Black, private 7: A Danish ship from Tranquebar, the Countess of Moltke under Captain W[...], arrived on 3 June 1770. She measured 700 tons, carried 22 guns and 60 men, and was bound for Copenhagen with a cargo of Bengal goods. 8: Captain Stewart applied for leave to call at Ascension for turtle, to give his crew more fresh food. The Council allowed him to stop there for that purpose. The letter closed at St Helena on 12 June 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Duke of Albany, dated 12 June 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 12 June 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 2 June 1770 3: Consultations from 5 to 11 June 1770 4: Duplicate consultation of 2 June 1770 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Duke of Grafton. 6: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Neptune. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Norfolk. 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Duke of Grafton. 9: Effective state of the garrison 10: Cash account from 3 to 12 June 1770 11: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 2 June 1770 12: Account of the ship Duke of Albany. Interpretations The Duke of Albany carried the letter that held the island's yearly order for stores, the complaint about the flints and eight sets of bills. She arrived from Bencoolen on 16 May 1770 and stayed almost four weeks, far longer than the China and Bengal ships, which were mostly sent on within a week or two. The letter of 18 May 1770 reported that Captain Alexander Stewart died at Bencoolen in November 1769. A Captain Stewart nonetheless commanded her at St Helena, received the four soldiers and asked leave for Ascension. The passage did not explain the connection. Bencoolen was known for heavy mortality, and a ship that lost her commander there had probably lost many of her people too, which fitted both her long stay and her need for hands. The four men were soldiers of different standing. A bombardier was a junior non-commissioned officer of artillery, trained in preparing shells and fuses and in serving mortars. A drummer beat the signals that regulated the garrison's day and its movements under arms. Neither was described as discharged or invalid, in contrast to the men shipped on 6 and 7 April 1770. With 94 recruits landed in May 1770, the garrison could spare men whose time was up, and the order treated all four alike as working hands for a short-handed ship. Tranquebar was the Danish company's settlement on the Coromandel coast of south-east India. A ship sailing from there with "Bengal goods" had gathered cloth and other produce of Bengal, probably through the Danish station on the Hooghly whose chief went home in the Duke of Grafton in May 1770. The cargo was of the kind that weighed little for its bulk, as the Council observed of Bengal ships on 30 May 1770. Her crew of 60 for 700 tons was by far the smallest proportion among the foreign vessels recorded: the Dutch ships of 700 and 800 tons each carried 100 men, and the French Le Duc de Praslin of about 600 tons carried 164. A ship so thinly manned was plainly a trader and nothing more, and the comparison made the French figure look heavier still. Captain Stewart was the fifteenth commander of the season given leave to take turtle at Ascension. By this date the homeward traffic of the year had almost run its course, and the Devonshire, which arrived on 29 May 1770, was the only Company ship named in these letters still to be dispatched. | |
258 | 13 Ship British Kings Account§ | The packet sent by the Duke of Albany on 12 June 1770 also held the following papers. 13: Account of the ship British King. 14: Account of the ship Harcourt. 15: Duplicate account of the ship Duke of Grafton. 16: Duplicate account of the ship Neptune. 17: Order for stores wanted for the service of the year 1771 18: Order for medicines wanted for the service of the year 1771 19: List of stores remaining in the Company's warehouses on 30 April 1770 20: List of garrison stores remaining on 30 April 1770 21: List of artillery stores from 1 October 1769 to 30 April 1770 22: List of four discharged soldiers The Council opened its next letter by noting that the previous one, dated 12 June 1770, went by the Duke of Albany. 2: The British King and the Harcourt continued their voyages on 13 June 1770. The number of ships at the island at the same time greatly slowed the landing of their stores, and so prevented them from getting away as quickly as they otherwise would. 3: Lieutenant Frost laid a petition before the Council, setting out his long service and the severe ill health that left him unable to do an officer's duty in future. The Council considered it and entered it in the consultation held on the day of the letter. It was fully satisfied that his blindness and great bodily weakness had been growing on him for some years. Keeping him on full pay seemed a needless expense. The Council therefore placed him on the same pension as Lieutenant Sampell. Interpretations The second paragraph revised what the Court had been told. The letter of 14 May 1770 promised that both storeships would be sent on when their ten working days expired, and the letter of 30 May 1770 pointed to the consultation of 22 May 1770 as proof that this was done. The ships in fact left on 13 June 1770, five weeks after arriving and three weeks after receiving their papers. The Council now attributed the delay to congestion. Between 14 and 29 May 1770 the road held ten Company ships, two Spanish frigates and a Dutch Indiaman, all needing the island's few boats for water and provisions while the storeships needed the same boats to land cargo. The explanation mattered because of the charterparty. If the island detained an outward ship beyond her allowed days, her owners could claim payment for each day lost. By stating that the formal dispatch was given on time and that the later delay arose from pressure of shipping, the Council set out the grounds on which such a claim could be answered. The episode also bore out the argument of 7 May 1770: storeships arriving in May met the height of the homeward season, when the anchorage was fullest. The Council pensioned Lieutenant Frost on its own authority. When Mr Richard Beale asked to retire, the letter of 17 September 1769 referred the question of a pension to the Court and kept him in both his posts meanwhile. Here the Council decided first. Two reasons appeared in the passage. A blind officer on full pay cost more than a pensioner and did no duty, so the measure saved money from the day it took effect. And a rate already existed, since the Court granted Lieutenant Sampell a pension that the Council announced to him on 30 May 1770. Extending the same terms to a second officer in like condition applied a precedent the Court itself set only weeks before. The decision also freed a lieutenant's commission for an officer fit to serve, which counted for something with the militia embodied and a draft of recruits to train. The yearly order went home with three inventories, each for a separate department: the general warehouse, the garrison and the artillery. All were drawn up to 30 April 1770, nine days before the storeships arrived. They therefore showed the stock at its lowest point of the year, after twelve months of issues and before the new cargo was landed. An inventory taken at that moment made the strongest case for the quantities requested, and it was also the honest basis for an order meant to cover the year 1771. Medicines were ordered on a separate list, since the surgeon's requirements were compiled apart from the general stores. The list of four discharged soldiers matched the men Captain Stewart took in the Duke of Albany: a bombardier, a drummer and two privates. The letter of 12 June 1770 gave their ranks without saying that they were discharged, and the packet list supplied that fact. | |
259 | have no Establishment for half pay, Yet considering the number§ | The Council knew well that the Company kept no establishment for half pay. It held all the same that Lieutenant Frost deserved a small allowance for his future support, given his many years in the service, his blameless conduct throughout and the countless ailments he then suffered. The Court was asked to let him continue on the pension. Lieutenant Lambert, the senior second lieutenant in the garrison, was promoted to first lieutenant in the second company. The Council requested that an officer be sent out the following year to fill the resulting vacancy for a second lieutenant in that company. 4: The Council granted two sets of bills of exchange, both drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 16 June 1770. Captain Richard Beale, payable to the Reverend Mr William Lee, £20 0s 0d Captain Henry Bazett, payable to Miss Mary Bazett, £60 0s 0d 5: The balance of the cash account showed that the island held enough, with the money expected for bills, stores and other receipts, to meet the costs of 1771. No money would therefore be needed from the Court for that year. 6: Captain Hore applied for leave to call at Ascension for turtle, to give his crew more fresh food. The Council allowed him to stop there for that purpose. The letter closed at St Helena on 16 June 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations The Council admitted in plain terms that it had no authority for what it did. Half pay was the reduced salary given to officers no longer employed, a regular feature of the King's army. The Company made no such provision, and an officer who could not serve had no claim on it. The proper course was to keep Lieutenant Frost on the strength at full pay and refer his petition home, as with Mr Richard Beale on 17 September 1769, or to discharge him with nothing. The Council took neither. It put him on a pension at once and then asked the Court to ratify the step, resting the case on length of service, good character and present helplessness. A blind officer of long standing turned out without support would have been a hard example to set before a garrison whose loyalty mattered more than usual that year. The request was framed as a "small allowance" and tied to a rate the Court had itself just approved for Lieutenant Sampell, so that refusing it would have meant treating two officers in like condition differently. The promotion that followed went by seniority. Lieutenant Lambert, the longest-serving second lieutenant, moved up to the first lieutenancy that Frost's retirement opened. The Council filled that step itself but asked the Court to supply the junior vacancy from England. This reversed the course taken on 14 September 1769, when Lieutenant Welch died and the Council commissioned a cadet, Mr Richard Mason, on the spot and sought confirmation afterwards. In June 1770 there was no pressing need to act locally: the storeships had just brought 94 recruits and a new Captain of Artillery, and a year's wait for a subaltern was acceptable. The statement on cash repeated the advice of 1 August 1769, when the Council reported about £12,000 in hand and told the Court to send no money for the following season. A year later the position held, and the forecast was extended to cover 1771. The bills recorded in these letters showed where the money came from. Residents, officers and ships' commanders paid well over £9,000 into the treasury between July 1769 and June 1770 in return for claims on London. The island's expenses were thus met from private remittances, and the Company settled in England without risking coin at sea. Both bills were small family or personal payments. Captain Henry Bazett sent £60 0s 0d to Miss Mary Bazett, evidently a relation supported from his pay. He had remitted larger sums before, £219 1s 0d on 24 July 1769 and £100 0s 0d on 11 September 1769. Captain Richard Beale shared the name of the Judge Advocate and schoolmaster who died on 7 October 1769, which pointed to a member of the same island family holding a commission in the garrison. Captain Hore was the sixteenth commander of the season given leave for Ascension. The Devonshire, which arrived from China on 29 May 1770, was the only Company ship in these letters not yet sent on, so the letter of 16 June 1770 was probably written for her sailing. | |
260 | List of the Honble Company's Packet from St. Helena§ | The Company's packet from St Helena by the Devonshire, dated 16 June 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 16 June 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 12 June 1770 3: Consultation of 16 June 1770 4: Duplicate consultations from 5 to 11 June 1770 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Duke of Albany. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Duke of Grafton. 7: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Neptune. 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Duke of Albany. 9: Duplicate list of stores remaining in the Company's warehouses on 30 April 1770 10: Duplicate list of garrison stores remaining on 30 April 1770 11: Duplicate list of artillery stores from 1 October 1769 to 30 April 1770 12: Duplicate order for stores wanted for the service of the year 1771 13: Duplicate order for medicines wanted for the service of the year 1771 14: Effective state of the garrison 15: Cash account from 13 to 16 June 1770 16: Duplicate cash account from 3 to 12 June 1770 17: Account of the ship Devonshire. 18: Duplicate account of the ship Duke of Albany. 19: Duplicate account of the ship British King. 20: Duplicate account of the ship Harcourt. The Council opened its next letter by noting that its latest reports went by the Company's ship Devonshire under the date 16 June 1770. 2: A Company ship arrived on the 29th of the month before the letter was written. Interpretations The yearly order for stores and its three supporting inventories went home twice within four days, first by the Duke of Albany on 12 June 1770 and again by the Devonshire. No other papers in these packets mattered more to the island's survival. A letter lost at sea cost the Court some news, but a lost order meant that the goods for 1771 were never bought or shipped, and the gap could not be repaired for a further year. The Council reported on 7 May 1770 how close the island came to distress in 1768 through late supply. Sending the duplicate by the very next ship, instead of waiting for a later opportunity, reflected that experience. The packet confirmed the Devonshire as the ship that carried the letter of 16 June 1770, and with it Captain Hore as her commander. She was the last of the 16 Company ships listed at Canton on 22 February 1770 to leave St Helena. Her departure closed the homeward season that began with the arrival of the Ponsborne on 16 January 1770. The accounts of the two storeships appeared here in duplicate, after the originals went by the Duke of Albany. Those accounts recorded what each ship landed and what she received from the island, and were the basis on which any claim by her owners for time lost would be settled. The letter of 16 June 1770 explained that crowding in the road delayed their unloading, and both ships sailed on 13 June 1770. With the accounts in London in two copies, the Court had the figures to set beside that explanation. | |
261 | Ship Anson from Madrass (last from Mauritius) the 2d instant§ | The Company's ship Anson arrived from Madras by way of Mauritius on 29 June 1770, and the Fox came in from Bombay on 2 July 1770. Captain Lennox reported leaving Madras on 8 April 1770. The Prince of Wales sailed from there for Bengal the day before. Captain Mitchel left Anjengo on 8 May 1770. He heard that the Company's ships Duke of Kingston and Houghton reached Madras in the middle of April 1770. Sir John Lindsay had arrived at Bombay, he added, and sent his ship on to the Gulf of Persia under her captain while staying at Bombay himself. Trade with Persia was open again and that country entirely quiet. The Council also learned that the Company's settlements on the Malabar coast were at peace with all the Indian states. Hyder Ally was in retreat before the Marathas. He offered them 37 lakh of pagodas for peace, but they held out for a crore of pagodas. 3: The Council asked the Court to send 100 recruits the following year. That number was needed to bring the garrison up to the strength fixed in the Court's latest establishment. 4: The Council granted six sets of bills of exchange, all drawn at 90 days' sight. Daniel Corneille Esquire, payable to Mrs Barbara Ba[...], dated 30 June 1770, £36 5s 0d Mr Matthew Purling, payable to John Purling Esquire, dated 30 June 1770, £400 0s 0d Mr William Wrangham, payable to Mr John Morgan, dated 30 June 1770, £222 10s 0d Mr William Wrangham, payable to Captain Gabriel Steward, dated 30 June 1770, £122 0s 0d Mr John Pritchard, payable to Captain George Thomson, dated 30 June 1770, £228 0s 0d The Reverend Mr William Bearcroft, payable to Mr Charles Sta[...] senior, dated 4 July 1770, £40 0s 0d 5: Captain Lennox received an order to take two soldiers aboard his ship to help fill out her crew. Nicholas Wootton, serjeant Robert Allum, private Interpretations The pagoda was the gold coin of southern India and the money of account at Madras, worth roughly eight shillings sterling. A lakh was 100,000 and a crore was ten million, the standard Indian units for large sums. Hyder Ally therefore offered 3,700,000 pagodas and the Marathas demanded 10,000,000, a gap of well over two million pounds. The figures showed the scale of the war then being fought in the south and how far apart the two sides stood. The report marked a sharp turn in Hyder Ally's fortunes. He was the ruler of Mysore who fought the Madras presidency to a peace, news of which reached the island on 14 September 1769 and was confirmed on 14 October 1769. Less than a year later he was retreating before the Marathas, the confederacy that dominated western and central India, and trying to buy them off. For the Court the news cut two ways. An enemy of Madras was being weakened, but a Maratha victory would bring a stronger power to the borders of the Company's southern territories. The phrase the Council used for the Indian states, "the Black Powers" in the manuscript's wording, was the Company's ordinary term for the country governments as distinct from the European ones. Anjengo was a small Company fort and trading station on the Malabar coast, in the far south-west of India, kept chiefly for buying pepper. A ship from Bombay called there on the way home to complete her cargo, and it was a listening post for news of the southern states. Sir John Lindsay's movements were reported in the manner reserved for persons of consequence. He had a ship at his disposal and a captain under him, and he sent the vessel on while remaining at Bombay, which marked him as a senior officer of the King whose presence mattered to the Company's government there. The reopening of trade with Persia concerned the Company's factories in the Gulf, where disorder had interrupted business. Three ships whose troubles were noted earlier were now accounted for. The Prince of Wales sprang a leak and went to Brazil, as the letter of 17 August 1769 reported, and the Duke of Kingston refitted there too, according to the letter of 25 January 1770. Both reached India and were continuing their voyages. The Houghton left the Cape on 26 February 1770 and arrived at Madras about seven weeks later. The Anson was at Bengal on 4 December 1769 and due to complete her cargo on the Coast, as the letter of 23 May 1770 stated, and she now came in from Madras. Like the Britannia before her, she called at Mauritius on the way. The request for 100 recruits came only weeks after 94 landed from the British King and the Harcourt. The Council tied the figure to the Court's "latest establishment", the authorised strength set out in the orders received on 8 and 9 May 1770. The Court had evidently enlarged the garrison, and the draft just received did not fill the new numbers. Discharges continued meanwhile: four men left in the Duke of Albany on 12 June 1770 and a serjeant and a private now went in the Anson. The increase fitted the same concern that put the island under the Secret Committee's orders. The bills for £1,048 15s 0d brought further remittances from familiar names. Matthew Purling again sent £400 0s 0d to John Purling Esquire, and William Wrangham, newly confirmed as paymaster, paid £122 0s 0d to Captain Gabriel Steward, to whom his £150 0s 0d was payable on 11 September 1769. The Chaplain appeared for the first time as a remitter. John Pritchard was one of the two servants granted additional salary in the letter of 30 May 1770. | |
262 | Bombay these two Years past for Gun Carriages, they have not§ | The Council had ordered gun carriages from Bombay for two years running and received none, although Bombay acknowledged the order the previous year. A survey of the island's gun carriages found a great many completely unfit for service. A separate paper in the packet listed the carriages required, and the Council asked for them to be sent from England. Nobody could tell whether the presidency of Bombay meant to supply them or had simply forgotten. In the island's situation at that time, the Council thought it quite wrong to depend on so uncertain a source. The packet also held an order for window glass for the church and the schoolhouse, to be sent the following year. 7: A petition from Mr Philip Ma[...]y, Clerk of the Peace, reached the Council on 30 July 1770. It was entered in the consultation of that day for the Court's attention. 8: The passengers travelled in two ships. Anson: Mr Ra[...]die Anson: Captain Calvert and [...] Anson: Captain Reid Anson: Mr Austin Anson: Mr Smith Anson: Mr Maynard Anson: Mr Mattocks Anson: Mr Whittall Anson: Mr Fountain Fox: Captain Hamilton Fox: Mr Hough Fox: Mr Angus Fox: Mr Wood The vessels named in that list were the Company's ships Anson and Fox. The letter closed at St Helena on 4 August 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations The Council gave up on Bombay as a supplier and turned to England. Bombay was the natural source for gun carriages. Its dockyard built in teak, a timber that resisted rot and insects far better than English oak or elm, and a carriage made there could be expected to last for many years in an exposed battery. The Council accordingly ordered from Bombay in two successive years. Continuing to wait was the cheaper and, on grounds of quality, the better course. The Council rejected it for a reason it stated openly: in the island's "situation at that time" delay was unacceptable. The phrase pointed to the French and Spanish movements reported since September 1769 and to the Secret Committee's orders acknowledged on 30 May 1770. A gun on a rotten carriage could not be trained or fired safely, so the batteries were weaker than their count of guns implied. The doubt whether Bombay "had simply forgotten" was a mild rebuke to a sister presidency, placed before the Court that governed both. The carriages were the third defect in the island's ordnance reported in ten weeks. The Captain of Artillery condemned 38 iron guns on 22 May 1770, and the letter of 12 June 1770 stated that the flints supplied for years would hardly fire. Each finding followed the arrival of Captain Tippett as Captain of Artillery and principal Engineer, announced on 30 May 1770. A newly appointed professional was evidently inspecting the guns, their mountings and their stores in turn, and the Council passed each result home as it came. The battery at Munden's Point stood unfinished for want of Purbeck stone throughout the same period. The date of the letter fixed the events it reported. The Anson arrived on 29 July 1770 and the Fox on 2 August 1770. The bills of exchange were dated 31 July 1770, except the Chaplain's, which was dated 4 August 1770. No Company ship called between the sailing of the Devonshire after 16 June 1770 and the arrival of the Anson, a gap of six weeks that marked the end of the homeward season and matched the longer silence of November and December 1769. Window glass was ordered for two buildings that belonged to the community as much as to the Company. The schoolhouse was the one for which the inhabitants voted £450 0s 0d from the fund for the poor, as the letter of 17 September 1769 recorded, and which was still unbuilt on 30 May 1770. An order for its glazing showed that the work had advanced far enough for the windows to be measured. Glass could not be made on the island and broke easily in transit, so it had to be requested a year ahead like every other finished article. The Clerk of the Peace kept the records of the island's justices and of the quarterly courts. His petition was noted without a word on its subject or the Council's view of it. The same reserve applied to Mr Beale's petition in the letter of 14 September 1769, which was announced first and explained in a later letter. | |
263 | List of the Honble Company's Packet from St. Helena pr Ship§ | The Company's packet from St Helena by the Anson, dated 4 August 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 4 August 1770 2: Governor and Council's letter dated 4 August 1770 relating to law matters 3: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 16 June 1770 4: Consultations from 18 June to 4 August 1770 5: Duplicate consultation of 16 June 1770 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Devonshire. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Duke of Albany. 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Devonshire. 9: Effective state of the garrison 10: The Governor's letter to the Court of Directors 11: Cash account from 17 to 30 June 1770 12: Cash account for July 1770 13: Cash account from 1 to 4 August 1770 14: Duplicate cash account from 13 to 16 June 1770 15: Account of the ship Anson. 16: Duplicate account of the ship Devonshire. 17: Time of the arrival of ships' boats at Banks's 18: Abstract of the cargoes of the ships Anson and Fox. 19: Proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 11 July 1770 20: Order for gun carriages to be sent in the year 1771 21: Order for glass for the church and schoolhouse to be sent in the year 1771 The Council opened its next letter by noting that the previous one went on 4 August 1770 by the Anson. Interpretations The quarterly court of 11 July 1770 completed a full year of the island's judicial calendar as recorded in these packets. Courts sat on 12 July 1769, 4 October 1769, 10 January 1770, 25 April 1770 and 11 July 1770, one in each quarter. Each time the proceedings went home by the next ship with a separate letter on law matters, here dated 4 August 1770. Mr John Congreve was appointed Judge Advocate on his arrival in May 1770, as the letter of 30 May 1770 stated, so this was the first quarterly court to sit with that office filled since Mr Richard Beale died on 7 October 1769. The petition of the Clerk of the Peace, received on 30 July 1770, fell naturally within the business of the law letter, though the general letter left its subject unstated. The Governor again wrote to the Court of Directors in his own name, as in the packet of 14 May 1770. On that occasion a second letter went to the Secret Committee. This time only the Court was addressed, which suggested business of a personal or administrative kind and not the confidential matters reserved for the committee. The two supplementary orders were dated for delivery in 1771, the same year as the main order for stores sent on 12 June 1770. They were added seven weeks after that order left, when the survey of the gun carriages and the progress of the schoolhouse showed further needs. An order sent in August could still be combined in London with the one sent in June and shipped by the same storeships. The Council thus avoided a second year's delay on carriages it described as urgently wanted. The consultations ran from 18 June to 4 August 1770 and the cash accounts covered a whole calendar month, as in the packet of 25 January 1770. Both marked the slack season, when no homeward ship called for six weeks and the records accumulated between opportunities. | |
264 | 2 We have given Captn. Mitchell an Order to§ | Captain Mitchell received an order to take four invalid soldiers aboard his ship, and the Council paid him £20 0s 0d for their passage. His receipt and the surgeon's certificate went home with the letter. Abraham Harding, invalid soldier Thomas Matthews, invalid soldier Richard Wallis, invalid soldier Josiah Johnson, invalid soldier 3: The Council granted three sets of bills of exchange, all drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 6 August 1770. Mr James P[...]ell, payable to Captain John Lennox, £130 0s 0d John Whitchurch, attorney to the orphans of John Bland, payable to Mr Roger G[...], £313 6s 4d Mr Jonathan Doveton, payable to Captain Richard Doveton, £407 0s 0d 4: Mr Barclay, the surgeon, paid £5 14s 11d into the Company's treasury on the day of the letter. The money came from the sale of effects belonging to George Cr[...]ge, formerly caulker of the ship Duke of Grafton, who died in the hospital. The Council entered the sum against the running account with London. 5: The Madeira wine received that year from Bengal was invoiced at £39 3s 0d a pipe. The Court's orders required 30 per cent to be added to the invoice price, which brought it to £50 17s 11d a pipe and made it extremely dear. With the invoice so high, the Council could only suppose that the 30 per cent and every other charge had already been added at Bengal. It asked for further instructions, since the wine would not sell on the island at such a price. 6: The summer was very dry, and more than 500 head of cattle were already dead, chiefly from starvation. Deaths were continuing. The Council warned that very few cattle would be available for slaughter the following year, since the loss fell mainly on the younger animals. Interpretations The Company sold goods from its stores at St Helena at a fixed advance on the invoice price. The invoice stated what an article cost the Company, and the addition, here 30 per cent, covered freight, risk and profit. The rule was simple to apply but depended on the invoice showing true first cost. The Council suspected that Bengal had invoiced the Madeira at its own selling price, with the advance and charges already included. Adding 30 per cent again at St Helena charged the buyer twice. The Council had a ready comparison: it bought a pipe locally for £40 0s 0d, as the letter of 7 May 1770 reported, almost exactly the Bengal invoice figure and far below £50 17s 11d. It did not lower the price on its own authority. The 30 per cent stood by the Court's order, so the Council stated the difficulty and waited, leaving the wine unsold meanwhile. The same letter of 7 May 1770 predicted that no Madeira would come from Bengal that season, and it arrived after all. More than 500 cattle had died. The figure gave the first measure of the disaster reported in stages since 24 February 1770, when the Council warned that the herds were losing condition, and 30 May 1770, when it wrote that "a great many" had perished. Rain was mentioned at the end of May 1770 as bringing hope, but the deaths went on into August, the middle of the southern winter, when pasture grew slowly and weakened animals could not recover. The loss of the young stock was the gravest part. Those were the beasts that would have been fattened for slaughter over the next two or three years, so the shortage of beef was set to last well beyond a single season. The eight English breeding cattle of which three arrived in May 1770, the Cape livestock bought earlier in the year and the 719 pieces of salt meat taken from the Earl of Lincoln were small against a loss on that scale. The four invalids went home at £5 0s 0d a head, the rate paid in every earlier case. With a serjeant and a private sent as crew in the Anson, six more men left the garrison within days of the Council asking for 100 recruits. The description of John Whitchurch as "attorney to the orphans of John Bland" confirmed what the bills of 24 July 1769 implied. He acted under legal authority for children who could not manage property themselves, and he remitted their money to England in two instalments, £325 6s 3d then and £313 6s 4d now. The Company's bills thus served for moving an inheritance as well as for trade and savings. The dead caulker's effects were handled as James Gordon's were on 17 August 1769. His belongings were sold, the proceeds paid into the treasury and the sum credited in London, where his family or the ship's owners could claim it. He died in the island's hospital after his ship left on 2 June 1770. Sick seamen were evidently landed and left in the surgeon's care when their ships sailed, and the surgeon acted as custodian of what they left behind. Jonathan Doveton's £407 0s 0d was his fourth and largest remittance, again payable to Captain Richard Doveton. One of the other bills was in favour of Captain John Lennox, commander of the Anson, which had sailed two days earlier. | |
265 | intended for Slaughter we therefore to provide against the Want of§ | The cattle lost were mostly the young animals meant for slaughter, and the Council looked for a way to guard against a shortage of provisions for the shipping and the island alike. It asked the Court to send orders by the first ship dispatched to India, to be left at the Cape for every homeward commander calling there the following year. Each was to bring 100 sheep. The Council could think of no other means of obtaining provisions for the coming year. Orders left at the Cape were certain to reach the returning commanders in time. Without such orders the island would not be supplied at all, as experience already showed. The Court had recommended commanders to bring livestock from the Cape, yet very few did so. Only 132 sheep arrived in the whole season, too few even for the needs of the hospital. 7: The Council hoped not to be disappointed of a master mason the following year, since the want of one was already felt. The need was the greater because Preston, the second mason, was a heavy drinker, and the Council did not expect to keep him in the service much longer. The letter closed at St Helena on 9 August 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations The Council asked the Court to replace a recommendation with a command, and gave the season's figures as its reason. Commanders were encouraged to bring livestock from the Cape, and the result was 132 sheep. That total agreed exactly with the deliveries reported in these letters: 50 from Captain Ross on 17 February 1770, seven from Captain Scott on 20 March 1770, 50 landed by Captain Tryon on 22 March 1770 and 25 from Captain Swa[...] on 4 April 1770. Four commanders out of more than 30 who called acted on the Court's wish. Sheep took up deck space, needed fodder and water, and died on the passage, as five of Captain Tryon's did, so a commander had little reason to carry them unless ordered. A fixed quota of 100 a ship removed the choice. Thirty ships under such an order would land 3,000 sheep, a supply on a different scale from anything the island's own pastures could give after the loss of more than 500 cattle. The proposal also solved a problem of communication. Orders sent from London to St Helena reached the island after the homeward ships had already passed the Cape, too late to affect what they loaded there. Orders sent to India would reach commanders at the start of their return voyages but might be forgotten or overtaken by events. The Council's solution was to have the first outward ship of the season drop the orders at the Cape itself, where every homeward commander called and where the sheep were bought. The instruction would then meet each captain at the one place he could act on it. The detail showed how carefully the Council thought about the timing of ships and letters, the same concern behind its request of 7 May 1770 for earlier storeships. The mention of the hospital showed where fresh meat went first. Sick seamen were landed from the ships and nursed ashore, as the case of the caulker who died there after his ship sailed made clear. Fresh mutton and broth were the standard diet for men recovering from scurvy and fever. A supply that could not even feed the patients left nothing for the garrison, the inhabitants or the healthy crews, who had to rely on salt provisions. The remark about Preston completed the picture of the island's building trades. The master mason, William Holbrook, was incapable before he died, and the Court sent no replacement, as the letter of 30 May 1770 regretted. The second mason, on whom the direction of the stonework then fell, was a drunkard near dismissal. Two houses were authorised and a battery stood unfinished, with Captain Tippett newly arrived to direct works for which he had no reliable foreman. The Council named Preston's failing bluntly so that the Court would treat the request for a master mason as pressing. The letter went by the Fox, the ship commanded by Captain Mitchell, five days after the Anson sailed. | |
266 | List of the Honble Company's Packet from St. Helena pr Ship§ | The Company's packet from St Helena by the Fox, dated 9 August 1770, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 9 August 1770 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 4 August 1770 3: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's letter dated 4 August 1770 relating to law matters 4: Consultation of 6 August 1770 5: Duplicate consultations from 18 June to 4 August 1770 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Anson. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Devonshire. 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Anson. 9: Effective state of the garrison 10: Muster rolls of the garrison 11: Cash account from 5 to 9 August 1770 12: Duplicate cash account from 17 to 30 June 1770 13: Duplicate cash account for July 1770 14: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 4 August 1770 15: Account of the ship Fox. 16: Duplicate account of the ship Anson. 17: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 11 July 1770 18: Duplicate order for gun carriages to be sent in the year 1771 19: Duplicate order for glass for the church and schoolhouse to be sent in the year 1771 20: Captain Mitchell's first receipt for £20 0s 0d 21: Surgeon's certificate for four invalid soldiers 22: The Governor's letter to the Court of Directors | |
267 | To the Honble &ca.§ | The Council opened a short letter by noting that its previous one, dated 9 August 1770, went by the Fox. 2: A Dutch ship from Batavia, the West Friesland under Captain Mooy, arrived on 1 September 1770. She measured about 700 tons, carried 28 guns and 90 men, and was bound for Holland with sugar, coffee and pepper. Her captain said he meant to call at a port in the English Channel, and the Council took the chance to send the letter by him. 3: Captain Martin Pietersz Mooy of the Dutch ship applied to pay £591 0s 0d into the Company's treasury. The Council accepted the money and gave him bills on the Court for that amount, payable to himself. The bills were drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 12 September 1770. 4: The previous letter reported a very dry season. The drought had not broken, and without rain soon the Council greatly feared the harm it would do to the island as a whole. The letter closed at St Helena on 12 September 1770 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations The Council entrusted a letter to a foreign ship. Every earlier dispatch in these records went by a Company vessel under a commander who signed a receipt and answered to the Court for delivery. A Dutch captain owed the Company nothing and could not be held to account. The Council used him because no Company ship was at the island or expected, the last having sailed after 9 August 1770, and because he volunteered that he would put into an English Channel port, from which a letter could be posted to London. The contents were chosen to suit the carrier. The letter ran to four short paragraphs, carried no packet, no accounts and no consultations, and said nothing of defence, the French or the Secret Committee's orders. Its real business was the fourth paragraph. The drought was worsening, and the Council judged that the warning should reach London by any means available instead of waiting weeks or months for a Company ship. A Dutch commander bought Company bills. Until then the remitters were island residents, Company officers and commanders of Company ships. Captain Mooy paid £591 0s 0d into the treasury and took a claim on the Court payable to himself, which he could collect in London when he touched in the Channel or negotiate in Amsterdam. The transaction suited both sides. The island gained ready money without cost, and the Council reported on 16 June 1770 that local receipts were covering its expenses. The Dutch captain turned cash earned from private trade on his voyage into paper that was safer to carry and good in Europe. His intended call in the Channel and his purchase of sterling bills pointed the same way: he had private dealings in England that his own company's rules would not have favoured. The cargo of sugar, coffee and pepper came from Java and the Dutch company's other possessions. Coffee and sugar were plantation crops grown there under the company's control, and they appeared here for the first time among the Dutch cargoes noted at the island, after pepper on 14 October 1769 and spices on 23 May 1770. At 28 guns for about 700 tons she was more heavily armed than the two earlier Dutch ships, which carried 23 and 20. The drought had by then lasted through a full year of seasons. The summer rains failed, as the letter of 24 February 1770 reported, a little rain fell in May 1770, and the letter of 9 August 1770 counted more than 500 cattle dead. September was early spring at St Helena, when new growth ought to have begun. The Council's fear for "the island as a whole" widened the concern beyond the herds to the crops, gardens and water on which the inhabitants and the shipping depended. | |
268 | To the Honble &ca.§ | The Council opened a new letter by noting that its latest report, dated 12 September 1770, went by a Dutch ship, the West Friesland. 2: The Company's ship Lapwing under Captain Owen arrived on the day of writing from Madras, having last called at the Cape. He reported leaving Fort St George on 14 October 1770, when none of the Company's ships lay there. He sailed from Bengal on 20 September 1770. Six Company ships were at Bengal when he left. Prince of Wales Duke of Kingston Houghton Europa Verelst Vansittart He met the Company's ship Egmont going up the river as he came down. The Prince of Wales was due to sail from Bengal for Europe soon after his own departure. Captain Owen left the Cape on 27 December 1770, where the King's ship Dolphin and the Company's ship [...] were lying. Nothing was heard of the Aurora, with the Commissioners aboard, after she sailed from the Cape. The Council was also told that General Coote was returning to England by the overland route. 3: The winter rains failed again, and the countryside was in a terrible condition. Losses of cattle in the course of the previous year were heavy on both sides. Cattle lost by the Company, 150 head Cattle lost by the planters, 550 head The Council feared that a great many more would die for want of food unless the summer rains set in quickly. Without a large supply of sheep from the Cape by the homeward ships, as requested in August 1770, the island would be unable to give the ships of the season proper fresh provisions. The Council resolved to cut the charterparty allowance from one third to one quarter. Interpretations The Council reduced what the ships were entitled to receive. The charterparty, the contract under which the Company hired each vessel, fixed the scale on which homeward ships were supplied with fresh provisions at St Helena. The Council lowered that scale from a third to a quarter on its own authority, a cut of one part in four in every ship's entitlement. A term of the Company's contracts with shipowners was a matter for the Court, and the regular course was to supply at the agreed rate for as long as stock lasted. The Council chose rationing instead. With the herds collapsing, meeting the full allowance for the first ships would have left nothing for those arriving later, and the season's fleet was just beginning to come in. The decision spread a shortage evenly and was reported at once, so the Court could answer any owner or commander who complained. The losses were now stated for both owners. The Company lost 150 head and the planters 550, some 700 between them, against the "more than 500" reported on 9 August 1770. The planters' share showed where the island's beef really came from. The settlers' herds were several times larger than the Company's, and their animals supplied the garrison and the shipping under the Council's regulation. Their ruin was therefore a threat to the island's main purpose as a place of refreshment, and to the livelihood of the free inhabitants. Three successive rainy seasons had failed. The summer rains did not come early in 1770, as the letter of 24 February 1770 reported, the drought continued through September 1770, and the winter rains of the middle of the year failed too. The Council's request of 9 August 1770 for orders at the Cape requiring 100 sheep from each homeward ship could not yet have produced any result. That letter left the island in August 1770 and needed several months to reach London, after which the orders had to travel out again to the Cape. The news of the Aurora was grave. Captain Payne saw the frigate at the Cape in December 1769 and reported Messrs Vansittart, Scrafton and Ford all well, as the letter of 25 January 1770 recorded. The present passage identified those passengers as "the Commissioners", men sent out with special powers over the Company's affairs in India. A year after she left the Cape, Captain Owen found that nothing was known of her there, and he came from Bengal and Madras, where she ought long since to have arrived. A ship unreported for so long on that passage was almost certainly lost. The Council passed on the bare fact, which the Court would have understood as the probable loss of its whole commission. General Coote was a senior officer of the Company's forces in India. The overland route ran by way of the Persian Gulf or the Red Sea and across the Middle East to the Mediterranean, and was used when speed mattered more than comfort or safety. His choice of it was reported as news in itself. The letter was the first to go by a Company ship since the Fox sailed after 9 August 1770. The interval of about five months was the longest in these records and spanned the same slack months as the gap between 27 October 1769 and 16 January 1770. Captain Owen and the Lapwing were last mentioned on 7 May 1770, when word came of their arrival at Bengal. Two of the ships he named, the Verelst and the Vansittart, bore the names of men who figured in these letters: Harry Verelst, a passenger in the Lioness in May 1770, and one of the missing Commissioners. | |
269 | 4 As the Lapwing sails immediately we have§ | The Lapwing was to sail at once, which left no time to send any papers by her except duplicates of the two previous general letters. The letter closed at St Helena on 6 January 1771 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Council began its next letter by recalling the previous one, dated 6 January 1771 and sent by the Company's ship Lapwing. 2: The Prince of Wales arrived from Bengal on 28 January 1771. Captain Court reported dropping the pilot on 10 November 1770. The Company's ships Worcester and Lord Mansfield reached Bengal after the Lapwing sailed. The Company's ship Duke of Cumberland arrived from Bombay on 2 February 1771. Captain Savage sailed from there on 4 December 1770 and left the Pocock and the Northington in port. The Pocock was to leave Bombay a few days later and complete her cargo at Anjengo. The Greenwich sailed from Bombay on 18 November 1770 to finish loading at the same place. The Company's ships Portland and True Briton had not yet arrived. Interpretations The Lapwing arrived and left on the same day, 6 January 1771. Every other ship in these records stayed at least several days to water and take in provisions, and most stayed a week or two. Her haste left the Council time for one short letter and no packet of accounts or consultations. A ship that would not wait was nonetheless too valuable an opportunity to lose after five months without a Company vessel, so the Council gave her the two things that mattered most. The first was the warning that the winter rains had failed and the allowance to ships was cut. The second was a duplicate of each of the last two letters. One of those was the letter of 12 September 1770, which went by the Dutch ship West Friesland with no receipt and no assurance of delivery. Its duplicate by a Company ship made good that risk at the first chance. Her brief stay also fitted the state of the island. The Council had just resolved to reduce what ships received, and the herds were dying. A commander who found little fresh food to be had gained nothing by lingering. The Prince of Wales reached St Helena homeward bound some 18 months after the first report of her. A Dutch captain at False Bay said that she sprang a leak after leaving St Jago and bore away for Brazil, as the letter of 17 August 1769 related. She was at Madras in April 1770 and sailed for Bengal, according to the letter of 4 August 1770, and Captain Owen saw her there in September 1770 preparing to leave. Her voyage was thus traced through four separate reports before she appeared in person. The Council's practice of forwarding every commander's news allowed the Court to follow a troubled ship from one ocean to another in this way. Two ships were described as completing their cargoes at Anjengo. Vessels loading at Bombay commonly took in part of their lading there and then ran down the Malabar coast to the Company's southern station for pepper before turning for home. The dates showed the Bombay ships leaving in a steady sequence from the middle of November 1770, which gave the Court a forecast of when each might be expected. The new season opened later than the last. In 1770 the first homeward ship, the Ponsborne, arrived on 16 January, and ten Company ships called by 20 February. In 1771 only three were reported by 2 February: the Lapwing, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cumberland. | |
270 | at Bombay when he left it, neither had they been heard of on§ | Neither the Portland nor the True Briton had reached Bombay when Captain Savage left, and nothing was heard of them on the Coast. 3: Messrs Gardiner, D[...], Goodwin, Atkinson and Fr[...]well were the passengers aboard the Prince of Wales. Mr Mostyn and Captain R[...] travelled in the Duke of Cumberland. 4: The packet held the plans of the fortifications at Munden's Point and Lemon Valley as completed, together with a summary of what the two batteries cost. 5: The Council granted two sets of bills of exchange, both drawn at 90 days' sight and dated [...] February 1771. Mr Matthew Purling, payable to John Purling Esquire, £800 0s 0d Captain Henry Bazett, payable to Miss Mary Bazett, £100 0s 0d 6: Captain Savage informed the Council on 4 February 1771 that three deserters from Bombay were aboard his ship. The Council kept them on the island to serve as soldiers for the whole of their contracted terms. John Thorp, deserter from Bombay Joseph Bristow, deserter from Bombay James Hadley, deserter from Bombay 7: The Company's general books of accounts, balanced to 30 September 1770, went home by the same ship. 8: Captain Court received an order to take two soldiers, Sutton L[...] and Patrick Newland, aboard his ship to help fill out the crew of the Prince of Wales. Both men stood trial at the quarterly court of 3 October 1770 for sodomy, and both were suspected of the same offence before. The Council decided to send the pair off the island. 9: Captain Court applied for leave to call at Ascension for turtle, to give his crew more fresh food. Interpretations The battery at Munden's Point was finished. On 30 May 1770 the Council reported that the work had been held up for three months for want of Purbeck stone and that the island's defence was a pressing concern. Some eight months later it sent home the completed plans of that battery and of a second at Lemon Valley, a landing place on the leeward coast west of the main anchorage. Munden's Point covered the approach to the road where ships lay, and Lemon Valley guarded one of the few other spots where boats could put men ashore. Closing both answered directly to the fears raised since September 1769 by reports of French and Spanish forces. The summary of costs accompanied the plans for a reason the earlier letters made clear. The Lieutenant Governor argued on 19 July 1769 that building costs on the island could not be estimated in advance, since the stone, lime, craftsmen and slaves were the Company's own. The Court could not be given a forecast, so it was given an account after the event. The work was carried through under handicaps the Council had described: no master mason, a second mason given to drink, gun carriages unfit for service and no carriages from Bombay. Captain Tippett, appointed Captain of Artillery and principal Engineer, arrived in May 1770, and the completion of two batteries within his first months suggested where the direction came from. The three deserters were handled as Robert Grosvenor was on 17 August 1769 and John Harrison on 16 April 1770. Men who broke one engagement with the Company were held to another, and the island kept them. The wording was firmer than before: they were to serve "the whole" of their terms, with no credit for time already given at Bombay. The garrison's need explained the choice. The Council asked on 4 August 1770 for 100 recruits to reach the strength the Court had fixed, and continued to discharge invalids and time-expired men. Three trained soldiers delivered by a passing ship cost nothing. Returning them to Bombay for punishment, the course that presidency would have preferred, was passed over once again. The letter said the two soldiers were tried and did not say they were convicted. It rested the decision on the trial together with earlier suspicion, which implied that the court did not reach a finding sufficient for the penalty the law provided. The Council then removed them by its own administrative act. The method followed the case of Stephen Papps, who was convicted of attempted sodomy at the court of October 1768 and shipped home as crew, as the letter of 1 August 1769 recorded. Here too the men went as working hands with no fare paid, unlike the two counterfeiters carried as paid passengers on 25 January 1770. Four months passed between the court of 3 October 1770 and their departure, because no Company ship fit to take them called in the interval. The general books went home at the same point in the year as before. Those balanced to 30 September 1769 left by the Ponsborne on 25 January 1770, and the next set left about a year later. Matthew Purling's £800 0s 0d was his largest single remittance after the £1,000 0s 0d of 2 April 1770, and went as usual to John Purling Esquire. Captain Henry Bazett again sent money to Miss Mary Bazett, £100 0s 0d after £60 0s 0d on 16 June 1770. | |
271 | People, we have permitted him to call there for that purpose —§ | Captain Court received the Council's leave to call at Ascension for turtle. The letter closed at St Helena on 7 March 1771 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Prince of Wales, dated 7 March 1771, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 7 March 1771 2: Governor and Council's letter dated 7 March 1771 relating to law matters 3: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 6 January 1771 4: Consultations from 13 August 1770 to 4 March 1771 5: Duplicate consultation of 6 August 1770 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Fox. 7: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Lapwing. 8: First receipt for the letter sent by the Dutch ship West Friesland. 9: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Anson. 10: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Fox. 11: Effective state of the garrison 12: Muster rolls of the garrison 13: Cash account from 10 to 31 August 1770 14: Cash account for September 1770 15: Cash account for October 1770 16: Cash account for November 1770 17: Cash account for December 1770 Interpretations The date of the letter fixed the events reported in it. The Prince of Wales arrived on 28 February 1771 and the Duke of Cumberland on 2 March 1771. Captain Savage disclosed the three deserters from Bombay on 4 March 1771, and the consultations sent in the packet ran to that same day. The two sets of bills were dated in the last days of February 1771. Those dates showed how thin the shipping was. Apart from the Lapwing, which touched for a single day on 6 January 1771, no Company ship called between the departure of the Fox after 9 August 1770 and the end of February 1771, an interval of nearly seven months. The packet reflected it. The consultations covered almost seven months in one bundle, and the cash accounts ran month by month from August to December 1770. In the previous year the equivalent gap lasted under three months, from 27 October 1769 to 16 January 1770, and ten Company ships called by 20 February 1770. The China fleet that made up most of those early arrivals had not appeared at all by 7 March 1771. The letter gave no reason. The delay nonetheless meant fewer mouths to feed during the worst of the drought, at the very time the Council cut the allowance to ships from one third to one quarter. Captain Mooy of the West Friesland signed a receipt. The letter of 12 September 1770 went by a foreign commander who owed the Company no duty, and the Council still required from him the same written acknowledgement it took from its own captains. The receipt now went home as evidence that the letter was handed over and to whom. It could not compel delivery, but it let the Court know exactly what to enquire after if the Dutch ship failed to forward it. The duplicate of that letter had already left by the Lapwing on 6 January 1771. The Lapwing was credited with a small paper packet only. She sailed on the day she arrived, and the letter of 6 January 1771 stated that there was time to send nothing but that letter and two duplicates. Her receipt matched that account, and the full run of papers for the period waited for the Prince of Wales. A letter on law matters accompanied the general letter once more. The quarterly court of 3 October 1770, at which Sutton L[...] and Patrick Newland were tried, fell within the period covered, and a further court was due in January 1771 on the pattern of the previous year. The Council's decision to remove the two men by its own order, reported in the general letter, was a matter the law letter could be expected to explain more fully. | |
272 | [The right-hand edge is irregularly lost along its length.] 18 Cash Account for the Month of January 1771§ | The packet sent by the Prince of Wales on 7 March 1771 also held the following papers. 18: Cash account for January 1771 19: Cash account for February 1771 20: Cash account from 1 to 7 March 1771 21: Duplicate cash account from 5 to 9 August 1770 22: Account of the ship Prince of Wales. 23: Duplicate account of the ship Fox. 24: Plans of the fortifications at Munden's Point and Lemon Valley 25: Summary of the cost of those fortifications 26: List of officers and servants taken on 7 March 1771 27: List of families taken on 30 September 1770 28: List of rents taken on 30 September 1770 29: List of slaves taken on 30 September 1770 30: Courts martial from 1 September 1769 to 26 February 1771 31: Proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 3 October 1770 32: Proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 9 January 1771 33: Captain Mitchell's second receipt for £20 0s 0d 34: General books of accounts 35: Time of the arrival of ships' boats at Banks's 36: Abstract of the cargoes of the ships Prince of Wales and Duke of Cumberland. 37: The Governor's letter to the Court of Directors The Council wrote again a day after its letter of 7 March 1771. The Prince of Wales, which carried that letter, sailed on 8 March 1771. The Company's ship Earl of Middlesex arrived from China after her packet was closed. Captain Rogers reported leaving China on 26 November 1770. Four ships were to sail from there soon afterwards, in December 1770. Lord Camden Kent Valentine Royal Captain Interpretations The Earl of Middlesex was the first China ship of the 1771 season, and her history explained why she led. The letter of 22 February 1770 reported that she "lost her passage", arriving too late for the winds up the China Sea, and went to Batavia to wait. She therefore spent an extra year in the East. Reaching Canton at the very start of the next season, she loaded early and sailed on 26 November 1770, three days ahead of the date on which the Plassey left the year before. Her arrival on 7 or 8 March 1771 was nonetheless nearly three weeks later than the first China ships of 1770, which came in between 18 and 20 February. The four ships due to follow in December 1770 could thus be expected from the end of March. The packet gathered the yearly returns that had waited seven months for a ship. The lists of families, rents and slaves were taken on 30 September 1770, exactly a year after the previous set, and the general books were balanced to the same day. In the earlier year those lists went home within a fortnight, by the Thames on 14 October 1769. This time no Company ship called in October, so the returns left more than five months late. The list of officers and servants was renewed on 7 March 1771 to give the establishment as it stood on the day of dispatch, after the earlier lists of 14 October 1769 and 9 April 1770. The courts martial records ran for 18 months, from 1 September 1769 to 26 February 1771. The previous bundle ended on 31 August 1769 and went home on 14 October 1769, so the new one took up where it stopped. For the first eight months of that period the island had no Judge Advocate in post, between the death of Mr Richard Beale on 7 October 1769 and the appointment of Mr John Congreve in May 1770. The letter of 17 September 1769 arranged for a copyist to keep the regimental proceedings in the meantime. The unbroken dates suggested that the record was maintained through the vacancy. Two sets of quarterly court proceedings went together. The court of 3 October 1770 was the one that tried Sutton L[...] and Patrick Newland, who sailed in this ship. The court of 9 January 1771 followed in the regular quarterly sequence. With the accompanying letter on law matters, the Court received the judicial record of half a year at once, along with the two men whose removal arose from it. | |
273 | [The left-hand edge is irregularly lost along its length.] the Hawke, Latham, Princess Royal, and Gloucester the beginning of§ | Captain Rogers gave the dates on which the remaining Company ships were due to leave China. Hawke, Latham, Princess Royal and Gloucester, at the beginning of January 1771. Bridgewater and Resolution, towards the end of January 1771. Huntingdon, early in February 1771. Prime, the last ship, at some point in February 1771. He also reported that the Bute, the Stafford, the Elgin and the British King lost their passages to China. An alarm was raised for another ship sighted five leagues off. Nothing more was known of her, since the boat had not yet come in. The letter closed at St Helena on 8 March 1771 over two signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille The Council began its next letter by noting that its latest report went by the Prince of Wales, which sailed on 8 March 1771. The Greenwich arrived from Bombay the same day. Captain Carr exchanged news with the True Briton and the Duke of Portland off Cochin about 12 December 1770. Ships of other owners and nations were at China in the previous season alongside the Company's own. English country ships, 1 Dutch ships, 5 Danish ships, 2 Swedish ships, 2 French ships, 2 2: Captain Rogers received an order to take five invalid soldiers aboard his ship. John Hurlock, invalid soldier John Gl[...], invalid soldier Abel Ba[...], invalid soldier William F[...], invalid soldier Archibald Graham, invalid soldier Interpretations The British King was one of the four ships that failed to reach China. She was the storeship that arrived at St Helena on 8 May 1770. The Council promised on 14 May 1770 to clear her within ten working days and stated on 30 May 1770 that this was done, yet she did not sail until 13 June 1770. The letter of 16 June 1770 blamed the crowded anchorage for slowing the landing of her stores. The consequence now appeared. A ship bound for China had to enter the China Sea before the seasonal winds turned against her, and three weeks lost at St Helena could decide whether she arrived in time. Her failure meant a year's delay to her cargo, as with the Earl of Middlesex the season before, and gave her owners grounds to look for the cause. The Council's explanation of the delay, sent nine months earlier, took on a weight it did not have when written. The episode also bore out the argument of 7 May 1770 that storeships sent late from England reached the island at the worst moment of the year. Four ships losing their passage in one season was a serious setback for the Company's tea trade. Only one was recorded the year before. The schedule of departures given by Captain Rogers, running from December 1770 to February 1771, was later throughout than that of the previous season, when the bulk of the fleet left between November 1769 and January 1770. A late season at Canton explained why no China ship reached St Helena before March 1771. The count of foreign ships at Canton could be set against the figures in the letter of 22 February 1770. Dutch ships rose from four to five and Danish from one to two, while Swedish ships held at two. French ships fell from three to two, and country ships from four to one. The European rivals together numbered eleven against ten, so the competition for tea was at least as strong as before, at a time when four of the Company's own ships missed the market. The sharp drop in country ships meant less Indian produce carried to Canton to help pay for the Company's purchases there. The alarm showed the island's lookout system at work. A watch on the heights sighted any sail far out at sea, here at five leagues, about 15 miles, and the garrison was alerted until the stranger proved friendly. An arriving ship sent her boat ahead to report her name and nation at the outer battery. Every packet list in these records carried an entry for the time ships' boats arrived at Banks's, and this passage explained it. Until the boat came in, the ship was unidentified and the alarm stood. The Council closed its letter with the matter unresolved, since the Prince of Wales was sailing and could not wait. The ship proved to be the Greenwich, which the next letter reported as arriving that same day. Only two members signed the letter of 8 March 1771. Matthew Purling's name, present on every earlier letter in these records, was absent, and the passage gave no reason. Off Cochin, a port on the Malabar coast, Captain Carr met the two ships that Captain Savage reported as missing from Bombay, in the letter of 7 March 1771. The True Briton and the Duke of Portland were therefore safe and on the coast in mid December 1770. The five invalids were the largest group sent home on medical grounds in a single ship so far. | |
274 | [The right-hand edge is irregularly lost along its length.] paid him £25. for their Passage, Captn. Rogers Receipt§ | The Council paid Captain Rogers £25 0s 0d for the passage of the five invalid soldiers. His receipt and the surgeon's certificate went home with the letter. 3: Unknown thieves broke into the Company's stores on the night of 12 March 1771. They used an iron crowbar to make a hole through the wall near the door, large enough for a man to get in. Once inside they forced open the cash chest and took £355 12s 11½d in coin of various kinds. The Council had the strongest grounds for thinking the corporal's guard, which spent the night in the Castle, was involved, since the sentry posted over the stores was relieved from that guard. All the enquiries made up to the date of the letter failed to produce evidence strong enough to commit the men for trial. Every one of them was held separately on suspicion, so that each could be questioned further. The Council published a notice offering a reward of £40 0s 0d and a pardon to anyone who exposed the robbery, even an accomplice in it. 4: Captain Fa[...]r travelled as a passenger in the Greenwich. The letter closed at St Helena on 16 March 1771 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations The Council confined the whole guard without evidence against any one of them. It admitted that nothing found would support a formal committal, and the lawful course in that case was to release the men and continue the search. It held them instead, and its reasoning rested on how the theft was done. Breaking through a wall with a crowbar took time and made noise, and the sentry at the stores stood within hearing. That sentry was changed through the night from the corporal's guard, so the work could hardly have gone on unless the man on duty, and probably those who relieved him, allowed it. The suspicion therefore fell on a small, identifiable group, and the Council acted on that inference alone. Keeping the men apart was the essential step. Soldiers who could confer would agree on a story, while men questioned singly, each unsure what the others had said, were likely to contradict one another or to break. The reward and pardon worked on the same weakness. A robbery by several hands could be proved only if one of them talked, and no participant would talk at the risk of his own neck. The pardon removed that risk for the first man to come forward, and the reward, more than a private soldier earned in several years, gave him a reason. The offer turned every member of the gang into a danger to the rest. It was the standard device of the period for breaking a conspiracy, used here because ordinary enquiry had failed. The phrase "coin of various kinds" described the mixed money of the treasury. Sterling coin was scarce on the island. Ships brought Spanish dollars, Indian rupees and pagodas, Dutch and Portuguese pieces, and all passed at fixed rates and were reckoned in pounds, shillings and pence in the accounts. The conviction of two soldiers for counterfeiting rupees, reported on 25 January 1770, showed the same mixture in daily use. The odd halfpenny in the total came from converting foreign coin at those rates. The loss was small beside the island's reserves, which stood at about £12,000 on 1 August 1769 and were described on 16 June 1770 as enough for two years. The gravity lay elsewhere. The Castle was the fortified centre of the settlement and held the stores and the treasury, and the men set to guard it were the suspects. A garrison whose night guard robbed the cash chest could not be fully relied on, and this came while the militia stood embodied and the Council waited on the Secret Committee's orders. The Council had been paying residents, officers and captains in bills on London against cash deposited in that same chest, so its security underpinned the whole system of remittance. The five invalids cost £5 0s 0d a head, the rate paid without variation since 19 July 1769. Captain Rogers commanded the Earl of Middlesex, the China ship that arrived on 7 or 8 March 1771, and the letter of 16 March 1771 went by her or by the Greenwich. Matthew Purling signed again, after his name was missing from the letter of 8 March 1771. | |
275 | [The left-hand edge is irregularly lost along its length.] List of the Honble Company's Packet from St. Helena pr Ship§ | The Company's packet from St Helena by the Earl of Middlesex, dated 16 March 1771, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 16 March 1771 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 7 March 1771 3: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's letter dated 7 March 1771 relating to law matters 4: Consultations from 11 to 16 March 1771 5: Duplicate consultations from 13 August 1770 to 4 March 1771 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Prince of Wales. 7: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Prince of Wales. 8: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Fox. 9: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Lapwing. 10: Second receipt for the letter sent by the Dutch ship West Friesland. 11: Captain Rogers's first receipt for £25 0s 0d 12: Effective state of the garrison 13: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Prince of Wales. 14: Duplicate list of families taken on 30 September 1770 15: Duplicate list of rents taken on 30 September 1770 16: Duplicate list of slaves taken on 30 September 1770 17: Cash account from 8 to 16 March 1771 18: Duplicate cash account from 10 to 31 August 1770 19: Duplicate cash account for September 1770 20: Duplicate cash account for October 1770 21: Duplicate cash account for November 1770 22: Duplicate cash account for December 1770 23: Duplicate cash account for January 1771 24: Duplicate cash account for February 1771 25: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 7 March 1771 26: Account of the ship Earl of Middlesex. 27: Duplicate account of the ship Prince of Wales. 28: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 3 October 1770 29: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 9 January 1771 Interpretations The cash account for 8 to 16 March 1771 was the first to cover the night of the robbery. The theft of £355 12s 11½d from the cash chest on 12 March 1771 had to appear in it as a loss, since the treasury's balance no longer matched the books. The account therefore gave the Court the exact sum missing in the form the accountant recorded it, alongside the narrative in the general letter. The consultations for 11 to 16 March 1771 covered the same days and held the Council's proceedings on the break-in: the examination of the guard, their confinement and the notice offering £40 0s 0d and a pardon. The Prince of Wales was credited with two receipts, one for her packet of 7 March 1771 and one for a small paper packet. The second was the letter of 8 March 1771, written after her packet closed and handed over before she sailed that day. The same arrangement was used for the Royal Charlotte and the Lioness in May 1770. Seven months of duplicate accounts and consultations followed the originals within nine days. After so long without a ship, the Council held a large body of records of which London had no copy at all until the Prince of Wales sailed. Sending the whole set again by the very next vessel halved the time during which a single wreck could have destroyed the island's entire record for the latter half of 1770. | |
276 | [The right-hand edge is irregularly lost along its length.] 30 Time of the Arrival of Ships Boats at Banks's§ | The packet sent by the Earl of Middlesex on 16 March 1771 also held the following papers. 30: Time of the arrival of ships' boats at Banks's 31: Abstract of the cargoes of the ships Earl of Middlesex and Greenwich. 32: Surgeon's certificate for five invalid soldiers 33: The Governor's letter to the Court of Directors The Council wrote again a day after its letter of 16 March 1771, which went by the Earl of Middlesex. 2: Captain Carr received an order to take four invalid soldiers aboard his ship, and the Council paid him £20 0s 0d for their passage. His receipt and the surgeon's certificate went home with the letter. Thomas S[...], invalid soldier John Slade, invalid soldier John [...], invalid soldier Richard Ma[...], invalid soldier 3: Captains Savage and Carr asked for leave to call at Ascension for turtle. The Council allowed them to stop there for that purpose. 4: The Council granted two sets of bills of exchange, both drawn at 90 days' sight and dated the day of the letter. Captain Robert Carr, payable to himself, £500 0s 0d Mr John T[...], payable to Mr John P[...], £220 0s 0d 5: The Council's letter of 3 July 1769 asked the Court to send two small iron chests, in which the Storekeeper and the Paymaster could keep the cash in their hands. The Council hoped the request would now be met. It considered the chests essential for the safety of the Company's money, which had to be in those officers' keeping from time to time. The recent incident proved how reasonable the request was. Interpretations The robbery of 12 March 1771 gave the Council an argument it used at once. Nearly two years earlier it asked for two iron chests and received none. The thieves who broke through the storehouse wall then forced the cash chest and carried off £355 12s 11½d. The Council's account of 16 March 1771 said they "forced open" the chest once inside, which they could hardly have done so readily to a proper iron strongbox. The stolen money was the working cash held in the stores, the very kind the 1769 request was meant to protect, and distinct from the main treasury. By recalling the date of its earlier letter the Council placed part of the responsibility on London. It did not say so outright. It described the theft as an "incident" and let the sequence of dates make the point: the island asked, the Court did not send, and the loss followed. The passage showed how the Company's money was held day to day. The Storekeeper took cash for goods sold from the warehouse, and the Paymaster drew cash to pay the garrison. Each necessarily kept sums in hand between settling with the treasury. The paymaster's office was placed under a civil servant, Mr William Wrangham, as the letter of 30 May 1770 reported, so that the garrison's pay passed through hands independent of its officers. Sound chests for both men were the physical counterpart of that reform. Nine invalid soldiers left in two ships within two days, five in the Earl of Middlesex and four in the Greenwich. In the whole of the previous season, from July 1769 to August 1770, the letters recorded eleven invalids sent home. The surge followed seven months without a ship, during which men found unfit could not be removed and accumulated on the island. The fare was £5 0s 0d a head as always. The garrison also lost two soldiers shipped off after their trial and gained three deserters from Bombay, as the letter of 7 March 1771 recorded, so its strength fell further below the establishment for which 100 recruits were requested on 4 August 1770. Captain Carr commanded the Greenwich and took £500 0s 0d in bills payable to himself, like Captains Ross and Jackson the year before. Captain Savage had the Duke of Cumberland. The two Bombay ships were dispatched together, and their commanders were the first of the 1771 season after Captain Court to receive leave for Ascension. | |
277 | [The left-hand edge is irregularly lost along its length.] 6 This Letter waits on you by the Ship Duke of§ | 6: The letter went by the Duke of Cumberland, which sailed in company with the Greenwich. A copy travelled in the Greenwich. The letter closed at St Helena on 17 March 1771 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Duke of Cumberland, dated 17 March 1771, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 17 March 1771 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 7 March 1771 3: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 16 March 1771 4: Duplicate consultations from 11 to 16 March 1771 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Earl of Middlesex. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Prince of Wales. 7: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Prince of Wales. 8: Captain Carr's first receipt for £20 0s 0d 9: Captain Rogers's second receipt for £25 0s 0d 10: Effective state of the garrison 11: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Earl of Middlesex. 12: Cash account for 17 March 1771 13: Duplicate cash account from 8 to 16 March 1771 14: Account of the ship Duke of Cumberland. 15: Account of the ship Greenwich. | |
278 | 16 Duplicate Ship Earl of Middlesex's Account§ | The packet sent by the Duke of Cumberland on 17 March 1771 also held the following papers. 16: Duplicate account of the ship Earl of Middlesex. 17: Surgeon's certificate for four invalid soldiers 18: Duplicate surgeon's certificate for five invalid soldiers The Council opened its next letter by noting that its latest reports went on 17 March 1771 by the Duke of Cumberland and the Greenwich. 2: The King's ship Portland arrived from England on 24 March 1771. She brought a packet addressed to Governor Skottowe and the Lieutenant Governor, which enclosed two letters from the Court dated 23 November 1770 and 2 January 1771. 3: The Company's ship Lord Camden arrived from China on 25 March 1771. Captain Smith reported parting company with the Kent on 3 March 1771 in latitude 34 degrees south, about 8 or 10 degrees east of the Cape. 4: Captain Swa[...] of the Danish ship Fredericksborg told the Council that he meant to sail up the British Channel, and the Council took the chance to send the letter by him. The letter closed at St Helena on 26 March 1771 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations The Court's letters came by a warship and were addressed to two men, the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor. Every earlier instruction in these records travelled in a Company ship and was directed to the Governor and Council as a body. Both changes pointed the same way. A King's ship was sent when speed and safety outweighed the usual arrangements, and the second of the two letters, dated 2 January 1771, reached the island in under twelve weeks. Addressing the packet to the Governor and his deputy alone kept its contents from the third member of the Council and from the clerks who handled the general correspondence. The Council had bound itself on 30 May 1770 to obey orders signed by any three of the Secret Committee, and the present packet had the marks of such an order: a restricted address, a naval carrier and no word of the subject. The naming of the Lieutenant Governor ensured that the orders could still be acted on if the Governor died or was absent. He was also the officer at the head of the garrison under the Governor. The Council's reply disclosed nothing. It recorded the ship, the date, the address and the dates of the two enclosures, which was enough to tell the Court that both letters arrived. The matters that prompted them were left out entirely. The island had by then spent 18 months reporting French troops moving east, Spanish warships in the eastern seas and its own measures of defence, and had just completed the batteries at Munden's Point and Lemon Valley. Dispatches sent out by a ship of war in the middle of the northern winter belonged to that same context. A foreign ship carried the letter for the second time. The first occasion was 12 September 1770, when no Company vessel was at hand and the Dutch West Friesland offered to touch in the Channel. Here a Company ship, the Lord Camden, lay in the road, having arrived the day before. The Council still chose the Dane. A ship newly anchored needed days to water and provision, while the Fredericksborg was evidently ready to leave, and her captain's intention to pass up the Channel made delivery practicable. The purpose of the letter was to acknowledge the warship's packet without delay, and the fastest carrier served that purpose. As before, the letter went without any packet of accounts or consultations and held nothing a stranger could not safely carry. The Lord Camden was the first of the four ships that Captain Rogers reported, in the letter of 8 March 1771, as leaving China in December 1770. She and the Kent kept company across the Indian Ocean and separated only when nearing the Cape, so the Kent could be expected within days. | |
279 | To the Honble &ca§ §The Kent§ §Admiral Pocock§ §Houghton from Madrass§ §Latham§ §Duke of Richmond§ §Princess Royal§ | The Council opened a new letter by recalling its previous one, dated 26 March 1771 and sent by the Danish ship Fredericksborg. A duplicate went by a second Danish ship, the King of Denmark. Both carried the Council's acknowledgement of the orders brought by the King's ship Portland. 2: A Swedish ship from China, the Crown Prince Gustaff under Captain T[...], arrived on 18 March 1771. She measured 1,200 tons and carried 30 guns and 150 men. Another Swedish ship from China, the Finland under Captain Ek[...], followed on 20 March 1771, measuring 1,100 tons with 28 guns and 140 men. Both were bound for Gothenburg with tea, porcelain and silk. 3: The Danish ship Fredericksborg under Captain Swa[...] arrived from China on 22 March 1771. She measured 1,300 tons and carried 28 guns and 170 men. The King of Denmark under Captain D[...], also Danish and from China, came in the next day, measuring 1,200 tons with 30 guns and 170 men. Both were bound for Copenhagen with tea, porcelain and silk. 4: Seven ships arrived from India and elsewhere after the Council's last report. Kent, from China, 29 March 1771. Admiral Pocock, from Bombay, 30 March 1771. Houghton, from Madras, 3 April 1771. Calcutta, from England, 3 April 1771. Latham, from China, 4 April 1771. Duke of Richmond, from England, 5 April 1771. Princess Royal, from China, 7 April 1771. Interpretations Two ships came out from England in the first week of April 1771. The year before, the outward ships British King and Harcourt arrived on 8 and 9 May 1770, and the Council had complained two days earlier that the storeships came too late and asked for earlier sailings. That complaint left the island on 7 May 1770 and could have reached London by the late summer, in time to influence the dispatch of the next season's ships. The Calcutta and the Duke of Richmond arrived about five weeks earlier in the year than their predecessors. The letter did not say that they were the storeships or that the Court acted on the request, but the timing was consistent with both. An arrival at the start of April still fell in the busy weeks of the homeward season, with seven other ships in the road within nine days, so the crowding that delayed the British King was not avoided. All four foreign China ships of the season called within six days. The letter of 8 March 1771 counted two Swedish and two Danish ships at Canton, and each of them was now recorded at St Helena with her tonnage, guns and crew. They were large vessels of 1,100 to 1,300 tons, bigger than the Dutch and French ships noted in earlier letters, and all carried the same cargo of tea, porcelain and silk. They reached the island ahead of every Company China ship of the season except the Earl of Middlesex. Tea that arrived first in Europe sold best, and four of the Company's own ships had missed the season altogether, so the northern companies held an advantage that year which the Court would have noted from these figures. The Council used both Danish ships as carriers. The Fredericksborg took the letter of 26 March 1771 and the King of Denmark its duplicate, so the acknowledgement of the warship's orders went home twice by foreign vessels sailing together. Company ships were at hand by then, the Lord Camden from 25 March 1771, and the duplicate could have waited for one. The Council evidently judged that confirming receipt of those orders by the earliest possible conveyances mattered more than keeping to its own shipping. The new letter repeated the fact a third time, and for the first time by a Company ship. The Kent arrived four days after the Lord Camden, as her parting from that ship near the Cape on 3 March 1771 suggested she would. The Latham and the Princess Royal were among the four ships that Captain Rogers reported as due to leave China at the beginning of January 1771. The Houghton was last mentioned at Bengal in September 1770, in Captain Owen's report of 6 January 1771, and now came in from Madras. | |
280 | Hawke§ §Valentine from China§ §Royal Captain 10th do§ §His Majesty's Ship Swallow§ §His Majesty's Ship Endeavour§ §Europa§ §5 It gives us very great pleasure to hear all your§ | The list of arrivals continued with eight more ships. Hawke, from China, 7 April 1771. Valentine, from China, 8 April 1771. Duke of Kingston, from Bengal, 8 April 1771. Royal Captain, from China, 10 April 1771. Duke of Gloucester, from China, 15 April 1771. The King's ship Swallow, from England, 30 April 1771. The King's ship Endeavour, from the Cape, 1 May 1771. Europa, from Bengal and last from the Cape, 7 May 1771. 5: The Council was very glad to hear that all the Company's ships of the previous season arrived safely, and hoped those of the current year would be as fortunate. 6: Orders from the gentlemen of the Secret Committee, or from any three of them, would receive proper attention. 7: The Calcutta and the Duke of Richmond were given their dispatch when the ten working days expired, as the consultations of 16 and 18 April 1771 showed. Both ships continued their voyages on 25 April 1771. 8: A letter to the Company's representatives at Canton was entered in the consultation of 18 April 1771. It showed that the Council found some change to the island's order from China necessary, as the Court allowed. 9: The supplies already received, together with those the Court intended to send by the Pigot, were expected to meet all the island's needs. 10: The Court directed the President and Council of Fort William to send gunny bags in place of the sandbags ordered the previous year. The Council trusted they would serve the purpose. No gunny bags remained in store, and they were always wanted for other uses. The bags that arrived holding rice and paddy would not do as sandbags, since their weave was far too open to hold sand or fine earth. Interpretations Gunny was the coarse cloth woven in Bengal from jute, made up into sacks for carrying grain and other bulk goods. Paddy was rice still in the husk. The island received both rice and paddy from Bengal in such sacks, and the empties were put to general use. Sandbags were a different article. Filled with earth and stacked, they formed quick breastworks, repaired parapets and protected gun crews, and the Council ordered them from England the year before as part of the same effort that completed the batteries at Munden's Point and Lemon Valley. The Court substituted a cheaper supply from India, with Bengal ships calling at the island on their way home. The Council accepted the change but drew a careful distinction. Grain sacks were loosely woven because grain did not sift through, and they could not hold sand. The bags from Fort William would answer only if made for the purpose, and the Council put that condition on record before any arrived. The exchange resembled the proposal of 30 May 1770 to bring bricks from Bengal as ballast: the island's needs met from India at little cost in freight. This letter was the Council's reply to the Court's yearly orders, and it followed the letter of 30 May 1770 almost item by item. The paragraphs on the safe arrival of the previous season's ships and on obedience to the Secret Committee were close repetitions of the fifth and third paragraphs of that letter. The Court evidently opened its annual letter with the same matters each year, and the Council answered in the same order. The renewed mention of the Secret Committee showed that its authority over the island continued into a second year. The two outward ships were cleared far faster than their predecessors. The Calcutta arrived on 3 April 1771 and the Duke of Richmond on 5 April 1771, and both sailed on 25 April 1771, about three weeks after anchoring. The British King and the Harcourt took five weeks in 1770 and left on 13 June, and the British King afterwards lost her passage to China. The ships of 1771 got away seven weeks earlier in the year. The road was at least as crowded, with 14 other arrivals between 29 March and 15 April 1771, so the improvement came from the earlier start and from prompt unloading. The ten working days were again observed on paper, with the formal dispatch given in the consultations of 16 and 18 April 1771. Three King's ships called within six weeks: the Portland from England on 24 March 1771, the Swallow from England on 30 April 1771 and the Endeavour from the Cape on 1 May 1771. No ship of the Royal Navy appeared at the island in the previous 20 months of these records. Two warships sent out from England in succession, the first carrying sealed orders for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, indicated that the government at home was taking a direct interest in the island and the homeward trade that passed it. The Pigot was named as a further supply ship still to come. She was at St Helena homeward bound from China a year earlier, sailing on 7 April 1770, and was now on a fresh outward voyage with stores for the island. The Duke of Kingston completed a long and troubled voyage, having refitted in Brazil before reaching the Cape in December 1769. | |
281 | 11 We have received 64 Recruits by the Ship§ | The island received 6[...] recruits by the Calcutta and 60 by the Duke of Richmond. Nicholas S[...] and Edward Lester died on the passage, and Edward Bryce, William Parker and Peter D[...] deserted from the Duke of Richmond. The men who arrived looked like good soldiers and brought the garrison up to its full establishment. 12: The Council was glad that the Court agreed to supply the gun carriages ordered, which were badly needed after the disappointment over those expected from Bombay. The seventeenth paragraph of the Court's general letter of 23 November 1770 complained that the order failed to state the dimensions of the carriages. The Council did not fully understand the objection. A check of the copy kept on the island showed the carriages specified by the weight of shot of each gun, as 32, 24, 18 pounders and so on. Orders for gun carriages had always been drawn up that way, on the understanding that the size of each cannon settled the dimensions of the timbers. In future the Council would take more care to say whether trucks were wanted. 13: A copy of the will of Mrs Mary Hunt, who died at Bengal, was registered in the Secretary's office on the island the previous year. The Council thanked the Court for its care in securing her estate to the poor of the island in the event of the death of Charles Bl[...]. 14: The Council learned with pleasure that the Court's orders about foreigners going into the interior were never meant to restrict gentlemen who served the Company honourably. All such men calling at the island in future would be allowed into the countryside, as the Court permitted. 15: Printed copies arrived of the deed of covenant between the Company and Lord Clive concerning the establishment of a fund. Interpretations The Court granted both of the requests on which the Council had acted or argued most firmly. The gun carriages were ordered from England on 4 August 1770, after two years of silence from Bombay, on the ground that the island's situation would not bear delay. The Court's letter of 23 November 1770 agreed to send them, less than four months after the order left St Helena, which showed the urgency was accepted in London. The standing order of 1751 against foreigners entering the interior was questioned on 30 May 1770, with the plea that foreign-born officers in the Company's service resented being treated as strangers. The Court replied that the order was never intended to cover such men. The Council thus gained a discretion it lacked before, limited to those who had "served honourably", while the bar remained for foreigners in other employ, the French above all. The exchange over dimensions turned on how guns and their mountings were described. A cannon was classed by the weight of the iron ball it fired, so a 24 pounder threw a shot of 24 pounds. The Council assumed that naming the class was enough, since a carriage maker knew the timber sizes proper to each. The Court wanted measurements. Guns of the same class differed in length and girth according to their age and pattern, and a carriage built to a standard might not fit an old or irregular piece. The Council defended its practice as the customary one and conceded only a smaller point. Trucks were the small solid wheels on which a garrison carriage ran back under recoil, and whether they were needed with each carriage had been left unstated. The mild disagreement showed the Court's officers scrutinising the order closely, as the Council asked them to do with the flints on 12 June 1770. The general letter of 23 November 1770 was one of the two brought by the King's ship Portland on 24 March 1771 in a packet addressed to the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Its seventeenth paragraph dealt with gun carriages, so the letter ran to routine business at length and was answered here by the Council as a whole. The warship thus carried the Court's ordinary annual instructions as well as whatever called for a naval conveyance. The recruits filled the garrison. The Council asked for 100 on 4 August 1770, and about 120 landed from the two ships after two deaths and three desertions. The statement that the establishment was complete marked the end of a shortage that ran through the previous year, when the Council enlisted deserters from Bombay and from the Earl of Ashburnham to make up numbers. The naming of the dead and the deserters followed the practice of 30 May 1770, accounting for every man the Court was told to expect. Mrs Hunt's will left her estate so that it passed to the poor of the island if a named beneficiary died. The island's parish kept a fund for the poor, from which the vestry voted £450 0s 0d for a schoolhouse, as the letter of 17 September 1769 recorded. A bequest of that kind made by a woman who died in Bengal had to be proved and enforced far from the island, and the Court used its authority to protect the parish's future interest. Registering the will in the Secretary's office gave the island its own legal record of the claim. Lord Clive's fund was created by an agreement between him and the Company, and printed copies were circulated to the settlements. The Council told the Court on 16 June 1770 that the Company had no establishment for half pay, when it pensioned the blind Lieutenant Frost on its own authority. A fund set up by covenant and notified to every station was a provision of the kind that had been lacking. | |
282 | Fund established for the Relief and maintenance of European§ | The fund set up with Lord Clive was for the relief and support of European officers and soldiers. The Council promised to follow the Court's orders carefully when granting certificates to any officer or soldier. Every man discharged at his own request would be told that he had no claim on that generous institution and should expect no relief from it. 16: The Council admitted a serious omission. Seven men of the garrison deserted on 28 July 1770, and no letter reported the fact in detail. The Council regretted that the Court found the entry in the consultation slight and hasty, and was confident that every circumstance uncovered by the fullest enquiry was set down there. It acknowledged again that it deserved blame for not describing in its general letter the orders and precautions taken to prevent a repetition. Soldiers necessarily worked in the longboats, and the Council saw only one way to stop them from attempting the same escape. The rudder and sails of each boat were to be brought ashore and locked up whenever the boat lay idle. That order was given at once and remained in force. 17: Mr Philip Mahoney would be paid the additional salary ordered by the Court, and returned his sincere thanks for the favour. 18: Edward Daniels, the master mason, would receive the sum the Court directed for his son's labour and the usual salary of £120 0s 0d a year. The Company owned no house in which to lodge him. For the time being he rented one at £20 0s 0d a year. Interpretations Seven soldiers took a longboat and fled the island on 28 July 1770, and the Council said nothing of it in its letters. The general letter of 4 August 1770, written a week after the event, reported shipping news, bills, a request for 100 recruits, unfit gun carriages and window glass. The request for recruits and the description of the island's "situation" as too precarious to wait for carriages from Bombay were both written with the desertion fresh, yet neither mentioned it. The Court found the episode in the consultations, judged the entry inadequate and rebuked the Council. A mass desertion by boat from a garrison under the Secret Committee's orders was exactly what the Court expected to be told plainly. Men who escaped could carry knowledge of the defences to a foreign port, and their success showed others the way. The Council's reply conceded the main charge twice over and defended only its record. It did not explain why the letter was silent. It offered instead the remedy already applied, and the remedy showed how the escape was made. Soldiers manned the longboats that served the shipping, so they had lawful access to seaworthy craft with sails and steering gear aboard. Stripping the rudder and sails from every idle boat left a hull that could not be taken to sea. The measure cost nothing and removed the means without removing the men from work the island could not do without. Those boats were the link with every ship in the road, and had carried more of the island's business since French vessels were supplied by boat alone from September 1769. The admission was unusual in tone. Elsewhere in these letters the Council answered criticism with argument, as over the dimensions of gun carriages in the same letter, or anticipated it with explanation, as over the delay to the storeships on 16 June 1770. Here it accepted blame in so many words. The Court's displeasure was evidently sharp, and a Council that had concealed a failure of discipline had little ground to stand on. Lord Clive's fund supplied the pension scheme that the Company lacked. The Council stated on 16 June 1770 that there was no establishment for half pay when it pensioned Lieutenant Frost. The fund now provided for European officers and soldiers who could no longer serve, on the strength of a certificate from their own government. The exclusion of men discharged at their own request drew the line between those worn out or disabled in the service and those who simply chose to go home when their time expired. The Council shipped many of the second kind as crew in homeward ships, 15 of them on 6 and 7 April 1770, and was now bound to warn each that he left without any claim. A master mason arrived at last. The Council asked for one on 30 May 1770 and again on 9 August 1770, when it described the second mason, Preston, as a drunkard it could not keep. Edward Daniels came out at £120 0s 0d a year, four times the Company's salary for the schoolmaster, with a separate allowance for his son working under him. The rate reflected what it cost to draw a skilled tradesman from England to so remote a station. The two houses approved in 1770 and the fortifications then had a qualified man to direct the stonework. The Clerk of the Peace, whose petition was received on 30 July 1770 and referred home without comment, obtained the increase of salary he evidently sought. | |
283 | instructions to Us to provide him with proper accommodations, we§ | The Court gave firm instructions that the master mason was to have proper lodging, and the Council therefore agreed to pay his house rent of £20 0s 0d a year. It pointed out all the same that every other servant without a Company house received an allowance of only £10 0s 0d a year. 19: Certificates of the quantity of flour landed on the island from the Duke of Richmond and the Calcutta went home in the packet. Duplicates would follow by the next ship. 20: The Court put eight cattle aboard the Duke of Richmond and the Calcutta. Only three yearling cows reached the island, and the other five died on the passage. 21: The Court could be sure that the Council would use every means in its power to put the island in the best state of defence. Work was in hand on walling up the leeward valleys and repairing the merlons of P[...]ling's Battery. The Council meant to finish those works before starting any others, regarding them as the most urgent. 22: The Madeira wine sent from Fort William the previous year was priced so high that the Company's servants on the island could not afford it at the invoice price with 30 per cent added. The Council thanked the Court for directing the President and Council there to stop adding 30 per cent to the prime cost. It would follow the Court's orders for the wine still in store and for any received from Bengal in future. 23: The seventh paragraph of the Court's letter of 2 January 1771 censured the Council for its letter by the Dutch ship West Friesland, which sailed in September 1770. The Court complained that it said too little, particularly about the arrival of the Company's ships and the state of its settlements and affairs in general. The Council answered that the Dutch ship came directly from Batavia, where none of the Company's ships had been. Interpretations The Court's ruling on the wine confirmed the Council's suspicion. The letter of 9 August 1770 reported that Bengal invoiced Madeira at £39 3s 0d a pipe, that the standing 30 per cent raised it to £50 17s 11d, and that Bengal had probably added the advance already. The Court's answer was to order Fort William to stop adding 30 per cent to the prime cost. Bengal had indeed been charging the advance before shipment, so the island's buyers were asked to pay it twice. The Council did not cut the price itself in August 1770 and left the wine unsold for the better part of a year until the instruction came. The remark that the Company's servants could not afford it showed who bought from the stores: salaried officers and writers purchasing for their own tables, for whom an inflated price was a real hardship. The censure over the Dutch ship was the second in the same letter, after the rebuke about the seven deserters. The letter of 12 September 1770 was four short paragraphs with no shipping news. The Court evidently expected any letter, by whatever carrier, to include the usual intelligence. The Council's defence was a matter of fact. No Company ship called between 9 August 1770 and 6 January 1771, so there were no arrivals to report, and a Dutchman straight from Batavia brought no word of the Company's settlements. The criticism showed how much the Court relied on St Helena as a relay of news. A letter that told it nothing about its ships was a disappointment even when nothing had happened. It also showed that the Dutch captain delivered the letter, since the Court quoted the name of his ship and the month of sailing. The defence works described were of two kinds. The leeward valleys were the ravines running down to the sea on the sheltered side of the island, each a possible landing place and a path inland. Building a wall across the mouth of a valley closed it to boats and to troops, and required only stone and labour, which the island had. Merlons were the solid sections of a battery's parapet between the openings through which the guns fired. Their repair restored cover for the gunners. The Council stated an order of priority: these works first, others afterwards. The arrival of a master mason in April 1771 made that programme practicable, and the paragraph answered an instruction on defence that came with the Court's letters. The batteries at Munden's Point and Lemon Valley were reported complete on 7 March 1771, so the effort had moved on to the remaining gaps. Three of eight breeding cattle survived the voyage, the same result as the year before. The letter of 30 May 1770 reported three landed out of eight and still urged that the scheme continue. The Court repeated the shipment and lost five animals again. The island had lost some 700 head to drought by January 1771, and six breeding cows in two years were all that the programme added. The comment on the mason's rent was a quiet objection. The Council obeyed a direct order but noted that Edward Daniels received twice the housing allowance of any other servant, on top of a salary of £120 0s 0d. Other officers and writers would notice the difference, and the Council put the comparison on record so that any resentment could not be laid at its door. The flour certificates recorded what the two ships delivered against what they were sent with. Flour was a staple the island could not produce in quantity, and the Council reported on 30 May 1770 that a trial of wheat was to be made. Certificates in duplicate gave the Court the means to check the commanders' accounts of a cargo easily damaged or diverted on a long passage. | |
284 | neither could the Captain give us any intelligence of the situation§ | The Dutch captain could give no information about the state of the Company's affairs in India either. Dutch news in general deserved little trust, and their commanders were neither forthcoming nor well informed. Nothing came to the Council's knowledge about the Company's settlements or trade, so it had nothing to report by that ship. The Court could be sure that the Council always questioned the captains of Company and foreign ships as closely as it could. Everything learned about the Company's affairs was passed on by every ship that offered. 24: At least a third of the cattle on the island died after January 1770. The number returned for slaughter that year was small in consequence. The planters put forward only 199 animals for killing, and those were very thin and poor. The Council was forced to ration what ships received. Healthy ships, 2 cattle each Ships that called at the Cape, 0 cattle Outward-bound ships, 7 cattle each Ships with sick crews, 7 cattle each The charterparty allowance of beef was cut to one eighth. The King's ship Portland was allowed fresh provisions on one day a week, in place of the three days she demanded. Even with good rains from that time on, the Council was certain that the island would be in the same distress the following year without a supply of sheep from the Cape. Cattle were still dying, and few or no calves were being born. The failure of the seasons for two years running was a great misfortune, and recovery would take some time. The market was supplied with one small beast a week. The bullock sent there every fortnight had to be withdrawn some time earlier, which made fresh provisions extremely hard to come by for the gentlemen in the Company's service. Interpretations The Council distributed a shortage according to need. With 199 thin animals to last a season in which more than 20 ships had already called, an equal share for each would have helped nobody. The Council sorted the ships into classes. Those with sick crews received seven cattle, since fresh meat was the remedy for scurvy and men could die without it. Outward-bound ships also received seven. They faced months at sea before their next port, and the two that came from England carried about 120 recruits between them. Healthy homeward ships, within a few weeks of home, received two. Ships that had called at the Cape received none, having taken on fresh food there a few weeks before. The scale put the island's stock where it would save most lives and denied it where the want was least. It also gave commanders a reason to provision at the Cape, the same end the Council sought on 9 August 1770 in asking for 100 sheep from every homeward ship. The allowance under the charterparty fell again. The letter of 6 January 1771 reported a cut from one third to one quarter, and it now stood at one eighth, well under half of what the Company's contracts with the shipowners provided. The Council set aside a term of those contracts twice in four months on its own authority and reported each step. It had no alternative supply to offer, and the figures it sent home were its justification. A ship of the Royal Navy was refused what she asked. The Portland demanded fresh provisions three days a week and was given one. A King's captain was not bound by the Company's arrangements and could complain to the Admiralty, and she was the ship that brought the Court's sealed orders. The Council applied the rationing to her regardless and told the Court plainly, so that any complaint from the Navy would find the facts already on record. The firmness matched its treatment of commanders who landed arrack without duty or arrived short of fuel. The state of the market showed the effect on the island's own people. The Council regulated a public market at which a bullock was killed for sale at fixed intervals. Supply dropped from an animal every fortnight in addition to the weekly beast to a single small one each week. The Company's officers and writers bought their fresh meat there, and the Council named them as the sufferers. The garrison and the poorer inhabitants, lower in the order of purchase, can have had very little. The losses were now given as a proportion. The letter of 6 January 1771 counted 150 head lost by the Company and 550 by the planters. A third of all the cattle dead in 16 months implied a herd of rather more than 2,000 before the drought. With breeding almost stopped, the stock was still shrinking, and the Council's forecast rested on that fact: rain could restore the grass within a season, but cattle took years to replace. Six breeding cows landed in two years were no answer on that scale. The reply on the Dutch letter turned from defence to a general assurance. The Council's low opinion of Dutch commanders as sources explained why it sent so little by the West Friesland. The promise to question every captain described what these letters showed it doing throughout, in the reports from Captains Jones, Haggis, Payne, Elphinston and others. | |
285 | equally scarce and notwithstanding your recommendations to§ | Everything else was just as scarce as beef. The Court had recommended captains calling at the Cape to bring sheep, wheat and other supplies for the island, yet not one sheep nor anything else arrived by that route during the season. 25: Captain John Lauder applied to pay £130 0s 0d into the Company's treasury. The Council accepted the money and gave him bills of exchange on the Court for that amount, payable to himself or his order. The bills were drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 3 May 1771. 26: Captain [...]lly reported that he was sent away from Bengal on 25 January 1771. The Company's ships Worcester and Verelst were expected to sail about a month after him, and the Lord Mansfield very late. The Vansittart had left for Madras. The Egmont was loading and was due to leave at the end of April or the beginning of May 1771, to complete her cargo at Madras. He added that the Ponsborne reached the Cape on 16 April 1771 with a great deal of sickness aboard. 27: Richard Becher Esquire, Mrs Becher, Mr Sampson and Messrs Cox and Grant were passengers in the Europa. Mr Maynard travelled in the Hawke and Mr Browne in the Latham. Captain Leith, his wife and Mr [...]ley were in the Admiral Pocock. Colonel [...]wood, his wife, Lieutenant Clarke, Mr Bell and Mr Cunningham sailed in the Houghton. Captain Hallen, Messrs Gosling, Brown and Broadbank and Mr Crawford were in the Duke of Kingston. 28: Captain Nathaniel Smith asked for salt provisions, and the Council supplied them from the island's stores at a cost of £142 10s 0d. Salt beef, 10 half puncheons Salt pork, 10 half puncheons With the charge for the gunpowder he did not deliver, the balance of his ship's account came to £143 5s 0d. At his request that sum was to be paid to the Court by his owners in England. Interpretations The flow of salt provisions reversed. In April 1770 the island took surplus salt meat from homeward ships: Captains White, Jackson and Hardwicke sold their unused stock under the Court's order, and the Earl of Lincoln alone landed 719 pieces. A year later a homeward commander asked the island for 20 casks to feed his crew, and the Council supplied them. Captain Smith commanded the Lord Camden, which arrived from China on 25 March 1771. A healthy homeward ship was allowed two cattle under the rationing set out in the same letter, far too little to carry a crew to England. The reserve built up the year before thus served a purpose nobody planned when it was bought. It let the Council send ships away fed while keeping the remaining cattle for the sick and the outward-bound. A half puncheon was a cask of roughly 40 gallons, the common size for packing salt meat. The Court's recommendation to bring livestock from the Cape produced nothing at all. In the season of 1770 four commanders landed 132 sheep, a result the Council called inadequate on 9 August 1770 when it asked for binding orders to be left at the Cape. In 1771 not one animal came. The Council's request for a compulsory 100 sheep a ship left the island in August 1770 and could not have reached London, been approved and travelled out to the Cape in time for that season's fleet. The failure of persuasion was therefore complete in the very year the island needed it most, which gave the strongest support to the Council's case for an order. Captain Smith settled nothing on the island. His account showed two debts: the provisions and a small charge of 15s 0d for gunpowder not delivered. Ships calling at St Helena were evidently required to hand over a quantity of powder for the island's magazine, and a commander who failed to do so was charged its value. The whole balance was transferred to England, where the ship's owners would pay the Company. The arrangement mirrored the certificates given to commanders the year before, with the direction of the debt reversed. In both cases no money changed hands at St Helena and the account was closed in London. The Ponsborne was reported at the Cape with a sickly crew. A ship in that condition fell into the class the Council favoured with seven cattle, but as a ship that had touched at the Cape she belonged to the class given none. The letter did not say how the two rules were reconciled, and her arrival would test the scale. The commander who brought the Bengal news left on 25 January 1771 and reached the island on 7 May 1771, the date the Europa arrived from Bengal by way of the Cape. He was therefore her captain. Two of the ships he named, the Worcester and the Lord Mansfield, were first reported at Bengal in the letter of 7 March 1771. | |
286 | 29 As we were informed that Captn. Petty had§ | Captain Pelly's ship had measles aboard, as the Council learned. The disease was never known on the island before, and it was contagious. The Council therefore thought an order to Captain Pelly necessary, forbidding any infected person or their linen to come ashore. The order was entered in the consultation of 8 May 1771. 30: The Council was obliged to supply the Portland with part of her beef from the Company's own stock during her stay, since the list of cattle for slaughter that year was so short. Her people paid cash for it, and the sum would be credited in the plantation account. 31: The bark Endeavour arrived on 1 May 1771 with Mr Banks and Doctor Solander aboard. Her company stayed perfectly healthy until she called at Batavia, where a great many of her men died. They recovered a good deal at the Cape of Good Hope, and she went on in company with the convoy. 32: Four soldiers were found missing from their barracks: Thomas Williams, Esau Nowland and Alexander Henderson of the artillery company and James Beard of the second company. Orders went out at once for a general search of every ship in the road. Three of them were found. Beard was aboard the King's ship Portland, and Nowland and Henderson were in the Duke of Kingston. Williams was not heard of again despite the strictest search. The Council had reason to think he slipped past the sentries at night among the many seamen going by, disguised as a sailor. The sentries were under the strictest orders to examine all garrison men whenever ships were about to sail. 33: The letter went by the Lord Camden, which sailed in company with the King's ships Portland and Endeavour and the Company's ship Kent. Interpretations The Council imposed a quarantine against measles. In England the disease was a common childhood illness, always present, and nobody thought of excluding it. Quarantine there was reserved for plague and applied to ships from infected ports. St Helena was differently placed, and the Council understood why. A population that had never met the infection had no resistance to it, and the Council stated that fact as its ground. Among people of every age with no previous exposure, measles could spread through settlers, soldiers and slaves alike and kill on a scale unknown where it was familiar. The order was precise. It barred the sick and also their linen, on the belief that clothing and bedding carried contagion. It did not close the island to the ship or her healthy people, which would have meant refusing water and provisions to a Company vessel. The island's isolation, described on 7 May 1770 as its great hardship, was here its protection, and the Council acted to keep it. Three soldiers were caught hiding in ships and a fourth got away. The episode came nine months after seven men escaped in a longboat on 28 July 1770, and three weeks after the Court's rebuke for under-reporting that event reached the island. The Council had since ordered rudders and sails taken out of idle boats. With that route closed, men turned to the ships themselves, where a homeward commander short of hands might ask few questions. The Council reported this attempt in full and at once, naming each man, his company and where he was found. The detail was itself an answer to the censure. It also showed the limits of control. Seamen passed the sentries in numbers when ships were preparing to sail, and one soldier in sailor's clothes was indistinguishable in the dark. One deserter was found in a King's ship. The Company had no authority over the Royal Navy, and a naval captain needing men had every reason to keep a willing recruit. The search of the Portland therefore depended on her captain's consent, and Beard was given up. The Council recorded the fact without comment, a week after refusing the same ship two thirds of the fresh provisions she demanded. The word "convoy" explained the gathering of ships. The Portland came out from England with orders for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, stayed more than six weeks and sailed with the homeward fleet under her protection. Merchant ships were escorted in that way when war was feared, and in no other circumstances. The 20 months of reports about French and Spanish forces, the Secret Committee's authority and the urgent works of defence all led to this point: the government sent a warship to bring the season's China and India ships home together. The Endeavour, a naval vessel returning from a distant voyage with her crew weakened, joined them for the same security. The beef sold to the Portland came from the Company's own herd, kept on its plantations under the Lieutenant Governor as Company's Husband. Ships were ordinarily supplied from the planters' cattle on the slaughter list. That list held only 199 thin animals, so the Company's stock made up the difference for the warship, and the cash was credited to the account of its farms. The Navy paid on the spot where Company commanders settled through their owners in London. Mr Banks and Doctor Solander were named as passengers of note, in the way these letters marked persons the Court would wish to hear of. Batavia's reputation for deadly fevers was borne out again. The Duke of Albany lost her captain at Bencoolen, another unhealthy station in the same seas, as the letter of 18 May 1770 reported. | |
287 | Kent, Admiral Pocock, Houghton, Latham, Princess Royal,§ | The Company ships sailing in the convoy with the Lord Camden were eleven in number. Kent Admiral Pocock Houghton Latham Princess Royal Hawke Valentine Duke of Kingston Royal Captain Duke of Gloucester Europa Time did not allow the Council to send a letter by every ship. A duplicate was therefore put aboard the King's ship Portland and a third copy aboard the Duke of Kingston. The letter closed at St Helena on 4 May 1771 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Company's packet from St Helena by the Lord Camden, dated 4 May 1771, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 4 May 1771 2: Governor and Council's letter dated 4 May 1771 relating to law matters 3: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 17 March 1771 4: Third copy of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 26 March 1771 5: Consultations from 18 March to 3 May 1771 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Duke of Cumberland. 7: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Greenwich. Interpretations Twelve Company ships and two King's ships left the island together. Nothing on that scale appeared earlier in these records, where ships sailed singly or in groups of two to four as each was ready. The Lord Camden arrived on 25 March 1771 and the Kent on 29 March 1771, and both were still in the road on 4 May 1771. In the previous season a China ship was sent on within a week or two. Here the earliest arrivals waited about six weeks until the whole fleet had assembled and the Portland was ready to escort it. Holding valuable cargoes at anchor for so long, against the Company's constant pressure for quick dispatch, was done only under orders, and the orders were evidently those the warship brought on 24 March 1771. The intention was that the season's trade from China and India should cross the Atlantic as one protected body. The cost to the island was severe, and it explained the rationing described in the same letter. Fourteen ships lay at St Helena together for weeks during the worst shortage of cattle on record, each with a crew to feed and the planters able to offer only 199 thin animals for the year. The Council's scale of two cattle for a healthy ship, none for a ship that had called at the Cape and one day's fresh provisions a week for the Portland was drawn up with that fleet in the road. Twenty casks of salt meat went to the Lord Camden from the reserve bought the year before. The drought and the convoy thus fell on the island at the same moment. The date of the letter fixed several events. The consultations in the packet ended on 3 May 1771, and the order keeping Captain Pelly's sick and their linen from the shore was entered on that day. Captain Lauder's bills carried the same date. The Europa, Captain Pelly's ship, was already at the island when the letter closed, and sailed with the convoy only days after arriving with measles aboard. Her short stay suited the Council's purpose, since the less time she lay in the road the smaller the risk of the infection landing. The usual way of spreading copies was adapted to the occasion. When three or four ships sailed in company the Council gave one the packet and the others a copy of the letter. With twelve ships that was impracticable, so three copies went in all. One of the three was given to the warship. A King's ship was the best-armed and, as the escort, the vessel likeliest to arrive, and she had carried the Court's own orders out. The Council thus used the Navy as a carrier for the Company's correspondence, which it had never done before in these records. A third copy of the letter of 26 March 1771 went in the packet. The original and the duplicate left by the Danish ships Fredericksborg and King of Denmark. This was the first copy of that acknowledgement to travel by a Company vessel, and the Council sent it although two had already gone, since neither Dane was under the Court's control. | |
288 | 8 First Receipt for a small Paper Packet pr Dane Ship Fredericksborg§ | The packet sent by the Lord Camden on 4 May 1771 also held the following papers. 8: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Danish ship Fredericksborg. 9: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Danish ship King of Denmark. 10: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Earl of Middlesex. 11: Effective state of the garrison 12: Muster rolls of the garrison 13: Captain Carr's second receipt for £20 0s 0d 14: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Duke of Cumberland. 15: Cash account from 18 to 31 March 1771 16: Cash account for April 1771 17: Cash account from 1 to 4 May 1771 18: Duplicate cash account for 17 March 1771 19: Account of the ship Lord Camden. 20: Account of the ship Kent. 21: Account of the ship Admiral Pocock. 22: Account of the ship Houghton. 23: Account of the ship Duke of Gloucester. 24: Account of the ship Princess Royal. 25: Account of the ship Valentine. 26: Account of the ship Hawke. 27: Account of the ship Latham. 28: Account of the ship Royal Captain. 29: Account of the ship Duke of Kingston. 30: Account of the ship Europa. 31: Account of the ship Duke of Richmond. 32: Account of the ship Calcutta. 33: Duplicate account of the ship Duke of Cumberland. 34: Duplicate account of the ship Greenwich. 35: Duplicate surgeon's certificate for five invalid soldiers 36: Time of the arrival of ships' boats at Banks's 37: Abstract of the cargoes of the ships Lord Camden, Kent, Admiral Pocock, Houghton, Duke of Gloucester, Princess Royal, Valentine, Hawke, Latham, Royal Captain, Duke of Kingston and Europa. Interpretations Fourteen ships' accounts went home in one packet, more than in any earlier dispatch. Each recorded what the island supplied to a ship and what the ship owed or delivered in return. In an ordinary year they were routine. In this one they were the evidence for the rationing reported in the letter of 4 May 1771. The Council told the Court that healthy ships received two cattle, ships that had called at the Cape none, and outward-bound or sickly ships seven, and that the charterparty allowance of beef stood at one eighth. The accounts let the Court see the scale applied ship by ship, and gave it the figures to answer any owner who claimed his vessel was sent to sea short of what the contract promised. The account of the Lord Camden also carried the 20 casks of salt meat and the balance of £143 5s 0d that her owners were to pay in England. Two of the accounts belonged to the outward ships Duke of Richmond and Calcutta, which sailed on 25 April 1771. They were the ships entitled to seven cattle each as outward-bound, and their accounts recorded the stores, flour and recruits they landed. Both Danish captains signed receipts for the letters they carried. The Council took the same acknowledgement from Captain Mooy of the Dutch West Friesland in September 1770, and the Court's letter of 2 January 1771 showed that he delivered what he was given. The practice of requiring a receipt from every carrier, whatever his flag, was thus kept up, and the receipts now went home by a Company ship as proof of what was sent and by whom. The abstract of cargoes listed twelve ships, the whole Company fleet in the convoy. Together they made up most of a season's imports from China, Bengal, Madras and Bombay, gathered at one anchorage and about to sail under one escort. A single document summarising them gave the Court advance notice of what the year's sales would contain, weeks before the ships themselves could reach the Thames. | |
289 | 38 Certificate of Flour§ | The packet sent by the Lord Camden on 4 May 1771 also held the following papers. 38: Certificate of flour 39: Proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 10 April 1771 40: The Governor and Lieutenant Governor's letter to the Secret Committee The Council opened its next letter by noting that the previous one went by the King's ship Portland, which sailed on 4 May 1771. The bark Endeavour and twelve Company ships left under her convoy. Lord Camden Kent Admiral Pocock Houghton Duke of Gloucester Princess Royal Valentine Hawke Latham Royal Captain Duke of Kingston Europa 2: A Danish ship from Bengal, the Carolina Matilda under Captain Sh[...], arrived on 21 May 1771. She measured 800 tons, carried 20 guns and 60 men, and was bound for Copenhagen with a cargo of Bengal goods. Her captain left Bengal on 17 January 1771. 3: The Company's ship Resolution arrived from China on 24 May 1771. Captain Poynting reported that Captain A[...] died on 5 May 1771. The ship left Canton on 6 February 1771, when the Huntingdon and the Prime were still there, and the Huntingdon was to sail the following day. He parted company with the Bridgewater on 21 April 1771 in latitude 35 degrees 10 minutes south. He met the Vansittart on 6 April 1771 in latitude 30 degrees 12 minutes south and parted from her on 11 April 1771. Interpretations Item 40 was a letter to the Secret Committee from the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor jointly. The packet that the Portland brought on 24 March 1771 was addressed to those two officers, and their reply went back in the same restricted form. On 14 May 1770 and 23 May 1770 the Governor wrote to the committee alone. The Lieutenant Governor's name was now joined to his, which showed that the committee's orders of that winter were directed to both men and that both were answerable for carrying them out. The third member of the Council, Matthew Purling, signed the general letter but had no part in this one. The island's government was thus divided for the purpose: ordinary business went through the Governor and Council to the Court, and the confidential matter through the two senior officers to the committee. The contents stayed out of the general correspondence entirely. The letter stated in terms that the fleet sailed "under her convoy". The Portland came out with orders, waited six weeks and took twelve Company ships and a naval bark home under her guns. That confirmed the reading suggested by the long detention of the Lord Camden and the Kent. Escorting a whole season's trade was a wartime measure, and its use in May 1771 showed that the government at home still treated a rupture with a European power as a real possibility. The Resolution reached the island 20 days after the convoy left. Captain Rogers reported in the letter of 8 March 1771 that she and the Bridgewater were due to leave China towards the end of January 1771, and she in fact sailed on 6 February. Ships that arrived after 4 May 1771 had no escort and were sent on in the ordinary way. The protection offered by the warship therefore covered only the earlier part of the season's shipping. The Huntingdon, the Prime and the Bridgewater were still to come. A captain died at sea and the ship came in under another officer. Captain A[...] died on 5 May 1771, less than three weeks before the Resolution anchored, and Captain Poynting made the report. The chief mate succeeded to the command on the death of a commander, and took the title with it. The Duke of Albany arrived in the same condition on 16 May 1770 after her captain died at Bencoolen. The Danish ship was the second of that nation from Bengal in these records, after the Countess of Moltke on 3 June 1770. Both carried "Bengal goods" for Copenhagen and both had crews of 60, a small complement for their size. The Danish station on the Hooghly thus sent home one ship a year by this route, in addition to the two China ships that called in March 1771. The quarterly court of 10 April 1771 continued the regular sequence after those of 3 October 1770 and 9 January 1771, and its proceedings accompanied a letter on law matters as before. The certificate of flour was the one promised in the letter of 4 May 1771 for the quantity landed from the Duke of Richmond and the Calcutta. | |
290 | proposes going up the British Channel we take the opportunity§ | Captain Sh[...] of the Carolina Matilda intended to sail up the British Channel, and the Council took the chance to send its letter by him. The letter closed at St Helena on 26 May 1771 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling The Council began its next letter by recalling the previous one, sent on 26 May 1771 by the Danish ship Carolina Matilda. 2: The Company's ships Bridgewater and Huntingdon arrived from China the day before the Council wrote. 3: The island's orders for the stores it needed the following year went home by the same ship, together with the list of remaining stock and related papers. The furniture in the Castle was extremely old and poor, and there was very little of it. The Governor added some chairs, tables and looking glasses to the order and asked that they be sent out the next season. 4: Mr William Roberts, Town Adjutant, petitioned the Council at the consultation of 27 May 1771. He asked to be placed on the same footing as a lieutenant in point of salary. Interpretations The Council used a foreign ship for the third time, and the letter it sent differed from the first. The letter of 12 September 1770 by the Dutch West Friesland ran to four brief paragraphs with no shipping news, and the Court censured it in the seventh paragraph of its letter of 2 January 1771 for saying too little about the Company's ships and affairs. That rebuke reached the island on 24 March 1771. The letter of 26 May 1771 by the Danish ship reported the sailing of the convoy with all twelve Company ships named, the arrival of the Resolution, the death of her captain, her date of leaving Canton and the positions of three other ships met at sea. The Council thus gave a foreign carrier exactly the kind of intelligence the Court said it wanted. A Company ship lay in the road, the Resolution having arrived two days earlier, but she needed time to water and the Dane was ready to leave. The choice of carrier followed the practice of 26 March 1771, and the fuller contents followed the Court's instruction. The yearly order for stores went home with its inventory at the end of May. The previous one left on 12 June 1770 with inventories made up to 30 April 1770. The outward ships came five weeks earlier in 1771, arriving on 3 and 5 April, so the stock could be counted sooner and the next order sent about a fortnight earlier. Each gain of that kind shortened the cycle of supply the Council described on 7 May 1770 as too slow for the island's safety. The Castle was the fortified building that held the Company's offices, stores and treasury, and the Governor's official quarters. Its furnishing was a Company charge. The request for chairs, tables and looking glasses was made in the Governor's own name within the general order, which marked it as his personal requisition and distinct from the stores wanted for the service. The Court approved a new house for the Governor in 1770, and its windows, sashes and balusters were requested from England in the letter of 30 May 1770. Furniture for the existing building suggested that the new house was still some way from being habitable. Visiting commanders and passengers of rank were received at the Company's table, and three King's ships had lately called, so the state of the rooms touched the settlement's standing as well as the Governor's comfort. The Town Adjutant was the officer who managed the daily routine of the garrison: guards, parades, orders and the discipline of the town. He escorted the French officer who waited on the Governor in the letter of 4 April 1770. His petition showed that the post carried less pay than a lieutenant's commission, although its holder exercised authority over the whole garrison's duty. The Council recorded the request in the consultation and brought it before the Court, as it did with Lieutenant Frost's petition on 16 June 1770. The Bridgewater and the Huntingdon came in together, as Captain Poynting's report implied. He parted from the Bridgewater on 21 April 1771, and the Huntingdon was to leave Canton a day after the Resolution. Of the ships Captain Rogers listed on 8 March 1771 as still to leave China, only the Prime remained unaccounted for. | |
291 | behaved himself in his Station very well and as we are sensible§ | The Council supported Mr Roberts's petition. He conducted himself very well in his post, and his statement that the Town Adjutant carried a great deal of duty was true. His request seemed reasonable, and the Council submitted it to the Court with its recommendation. 5: The Council inspected all the leeward valleys on 14 May 1771. Its remarks and observations on them were entered in the consultation of 20 May 1771, to which the Court was referred. 6: The captains of the Earl of Middlesex, the Duke of Cumberland and the Greenwich asked to borrow the cable of the Company's longboat. It was worn out in the service of those ships and left useless. The three captains promised Governor Skottowe that the owners of their ships would pay the Company for it in London. The cable stood in the books at £39 14s 5d. 7: The Council granted three sets of bills of exchange, all drawn at 90 days' sight. Daniel Corneille Esquire, payable to John Caillaud Esquire, dated 27 May 1771, £200 0s 0d Captain Henry Bazett, payable to Mr Richard Bodman, dated 31 May 1771, £108 6s 8d Captain Thomas Poynting, payable to himself, dated 31 May 1771, £260 0s 0d 8: Captain Poynting applied for leave to call at Ascension for turtle, to feed his crew. The Council allowed him to stop there for that purpose. The letter closed at St Helena on 31 May 1771 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations The Council and the Governor went in person to every valley on the leeward coast. Those ravines were the possible landing places on the sheltered side of the island, and the letter of 4 May 1771 reported that work was in hand on walling them up as the most urgent of the defence works. An inspection by the whole government, ten days after the convoy sailed, showed the priority given to that programme. The findings went into the consultation and were kept out of the general letter. A written survey of where the island could and could not be assaulted was the most sensitive paper the Council produced, and the consultations travelled under the same cover as the letters to the Secret Committee. The visit also followed the arrival of a master mason in April 1771, so the Council was deciding what to build with the means at last available. The ruined cable arose from the island's difficult anchorage. The three ships were in the road together in March 1771, the first arrivals after seven months without a Company vessel. A cable was the heavy rope by which a boat or ship rode at anchor, and the longboat's was evidently used to help moor or shift the ships and was chafed through in the process. The Council treated the loss as a debt owed by the ships. Each captain gave his word to the Governor, and the owners were to pay in London at the book value. No money was taken on the island, the same method used for the salt provisions supplied to the Lord Camden on 4 May 1771. The report served as the Court's authority to collect. The longboats mattered more than their cost suggested. The Council asked for hawsers and mooring chain for them on 14 September 1769 and for curved timbers to repair them on 12 June 1770, and they were the craft from which seven soldiers deserted on 28 July 1770. The Council handled the Town Adjutant's petition by recommendation and left the decision to the Court. A year earlier it pensioned Lieutenant Frost on its own authority and asked for approval afterwards, as the letter of 16 June 1770 recorded. An increase of salary for a serving officer had no such urgency, and the Council had since been censured twice in the Court's letters for other matters. Its endorsement was nonetheless firm: it vouched for both the man's conduct and the truth of his claim about the weight of his duties. The date of the letter placed the arrival of the Bridgewater and the Huntingdon on 30 May 1771. Captain Poynting, who succeeded to the Resolution when her commander died on 5 May 1771, took bills for £260 0s 0d payable to himself and asked leave for Ascension, acting in every respect as her captain within a month of taking over. Captain Henry Bazett's payee, Mr Richard Bodman, was the same man named in his bills of 24 July 1769. Daniel Corneille again paid John Caillaud Esquire, to whom his £110 16s 11d was payable on 5 June 1770. | |
292 | List of the Honble Company's Packet from St. Helena pr Ship§ | The Company's packet from St Helena by the Resolution, dated 31 May 1771, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 31 May 1771 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 4 May 1771 3: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 26 May 1771 4: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's letter dated 4 May 1771 relating to law matters 5: Consultations from 6 to 31 May 1771 6: Duplicate consultations from 18 March to 3 May 1771 7: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Lord Camden. 8: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Duke of Kingston. 9: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Danish ship Carolina Matilda. 10: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Duke of Cumberland. 11: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Greenwich. 12: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Danish ship Fredericksborg. 13: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Danish ship King of Denmark. 14: Effective state of the garrison 15: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Lord Camden. 16: Cash account from 5 to 31 May 1771 17: Duplicate cash account from 18 to 31 March 1771 18: Duplicate cash account for April 1771 19: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 4 May 1771 20: Account of the ship Resolution. 21: Duplicate account of the ship Lord Camden. 22: Duplicate account of the ship Kent. 23: Duplicate account of the ship Admiral Pocock. 24: Duplicate account of the ship Houghton. 25: Duplicate account of the ship Duke of Gloucester. 26: Duplicate account of the ship Princess Royal. 27: Duplicate account of the ship Valentine. 28: Duplicate account of the ship Hawke. 29: Duplicate account of the ship Latham. 30: Duplicate account of the ship Royal Captain. Interpretations The receipts accounted for two of the three copies of the letter of 4 May 1771 and were silent on the third. The Lord Camden signed for the packet and the Duke of Kingston for the small paper packet holding the third copy. The duplicate went aboard the King's ship Portland, as that letter stated, and no receipt for it appeared in the list. A Company commander gave a receipt because he was the Court's servant and answerable for what he carried. A captain of the Royal Navy stood outside that discipline. He took the Company's letters as a courtesy and could not be asked to sign for them in the same form, so the copy in the warship travelled on trust alone. The Danish captains, strangers to the Company, did sign, since they carried letters as a private favour and had no rank to stand on. The duplicates of the convoy ships' accounts followed the originals within four weeks. All twelve ships and the warship sailed together on 4 May 1771, so every original copy of those accounts was in one body of ships exposed to the same weather. Sending the duplicates by a ship that left a month later, alone, gave the Court a second set that could not be lost in the same storm. The accounts documented the rationing of cattle during the drought and the debt of £143 5s 0d owed by the owners of the Lord Camden, both matters on which the Council's word might be challenged. The consultations from 6 to 31 May 1771 covered the business of the weeks after the convoy left. They held the Council's survey of the leeward valleys, entered on 20 May 1771, and the Town Adjutant's petition of 27 May 1771. The defence survey therefore went home once only at this stage, by a single ship sailing without escort. | |
293 | 31 Duplicate Ship Duke of Kingston's Account§ | The packet sent by the Resolution on 31 May 1771 also held the following papers. 31: Duplicate account of the ship Duke of Kingston. 32: Duplicate account of the ship Europa. 33: Duplicate account of the ship Duke of Richmond. 34: Duplicate account of the ship Calcutta. 35: Duplicate certificate of flour 36: Order for stores wanted for the service of the year 1772 37: Order for medicines wanted for the service of the year 1772 38: List of stores remaining in the Company's warehouses on 31 March 1771 39: List of garrison stores remaining on 31 March 1771 40: List of artillery stores from 1 October 1770 to 31 March 1771 41: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 10 April 1771 42: Time of the arrival of ships' boats at Banks's 43: Abstract of the cargoes of the ships Resolution, Huntingdon and Bridgewater. The Council opened its next letter by noting that the previous one went on 31 May 1771 by the Resolution. 2: The Company's ship Vansittart arrived on 6 June 1771 from Madras, having last called at the Cape. The Northington came in from Bombay on 7 June 1771, and the Worcester arrived from Bengal on the day the Council wrote. Captain [...]win reported leaving Madras on 8 February 1771, when none of the Company's ships lay there. Captain Sealy sailed from Bombay on 8 February 1771 and left the Company's ships True Briton and Duke of Portland in port. The True Briton was to sail for Europe towards the end of April 1771. Interpretations The inventories were made up to 31 March 1771, a month earlier than the year before. Those sent on 12 June 1770 were dated 30 April 1770, nine days before the storeships of that year arrived. In 1771 the outward ships Calcutta and Duke of Richmond came in on 3 and 5 April, and the count was taken three days ahead of them. In both years the stock was measured at its lowest point, immediately before the new cargo landed. The Council evidently timed the inventory to the expected arrival of the ships and not to a fixed date in the calendar, so that the order for the following year always rested on what remained after a full twelve months of issues. The whole cycle moved forward with the ships. The order for 1772 left on 31 May 1771, where the order for 1771 left on 12 June 1770. The artillery return covered exactly six months, from 1 October 1770 to 31 March 1771, against seven months in the previous year. That half year took in the completion of the batteries at Munden's Point and Lemon Valley and the start of work on the leeward valleys, so the return recorded the powder, shot and stores drawn for a period of unusual activity. The shipping news filled gaps left by earlier reports. Captain Pelly stated in the letter of 4 May 1771 that the Vansittart had sailed from Bengal for Madras and that the Worcester was to leave Bengal about a month after him. Captain Poynting then met the Vansittart at sea between 6 and 11 April 1771. Both ships now reached the island within days of each other. The True Briton and the Duke of Portland were first reported missing from Bombay in the letter of 7 March 1771 and then sighted off Cochin in December 1770. Captain Sealy found them safe at Bombay in February 1771, which closed the question of their whereabouts. The Northington was in port at Bombay on 4 December 1770, according to Captain Savage's report of 7 March 1771. She left two months later and took four months to reach the island. The Bombay, Madras and Bengal ships arriving in June 1771 were the tail of the season, sailing home without the escort that took the main fleet on 4 May 1771. | |
294 | reported Capt. Hasell was to go to Madrass to fill up, he§ | Captain Sealy added a report that Captain Hasell was to go on to Madras to complete his cargo. He exchanged news with Captain S[...] off the Cape on 11 May 1771 and with Captain Cl[...] on 13 May 1771, and all was well with both. Captain Hall left Bengal on 4 March 1771 in company with the Verelst and parted from her three weeks later. He spoke with the sloop of war Swallow off Cape Agulhas. 3: The Council granted two sets of bills of exchange, both drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 5 June 1771. Governor Skottowe, payable to Captain Nicholas Skottowe, £500 0s 0d Mr Richard Bagley, payable to Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick, £[...]99 0s 0d 4: The passengers aboard the Northington were Major B[...], Captains Wilder and Sch[...] and Ensign Ba[...]. Mr Peach, Lieutenant Colonel Leslie and Messrs Taylor and Wilkins travelled in the Worcester. Major Fitzgerald sailed in the Vansittart with Messrs Briggs, Moses, Orton, Bowles, Landell, Fowler, Churchill and Adams, Mrs Rose and Mrs Me[...]. 5: Captain Lewin received an order to take James Newport, a discharged soldier, aboard his ship to help fill out the crew of the Vansittart. The letter closed at St Helena on 8 June 1771 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations The Governor changed his payee. His three earlier remittances in these records, on 24 July 1769, 4 September 1769 and 5 June 1770, all went to Robert Wood Esquire, who was evidently his agent in London. The £500 0s 0d of 5 June 1771 was payable to Captain Nicholas Skottowe, a man of his own surname and so almost certainly a relation. The bill was either a family payment or the settlement of a private account between the two. It brought the Governor's remittances in these letters to more than £1,500, about the same order as the sums sent home by his two colleagues on the Council over the same period. Richard Bagley continued to pay Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick, as he did on 17 July 1769 and 5 June 1770. Three bills in favour of one ship's captain across two years pointed to a standing commercial connection. The captain probably supplied goods on each voyage for Bagley to sell on the island, and was paid through the Company's treasury in London. The sloop of war Swallow was the King's ship that arrived at St Helena from England on 30 April 1771, as the letter of 4 May 1771 recorded. Captain Hall met her afterwards off Cape Agulhas, the southern tip of Africa, so she had gone on eastward after calling at the island. The Portland turned back with the convoy while the Swallow continued towards the Indian Ocean. A second warship sent beyond the Cape, at the time the homeward trade was being escorted, showed the Navy extending its presence along the whole route to India. The date of the letter fixed the arrival of the Worcester on 8 June 1771, two days after the Vansittart and one after the Northington. Captain Hall was her commander and Captain Lewin commanded the Vansittart. The three ships came from Bengal, Bombay and Madras and reached the island within three days of one another, each without company on the last stage of the passage. One discharged soldier went as a hand in the Vansittart. After the arrival of about 120 recruits in April 1771 the garrison stood at its full establishment, as the letter of 4 May 1771 stated, and time-expired men could again be released without weakening it. Under the terms announced with Lord Clive's fund, a man discharged in this way left with no claim to relief. | |
295 | List of the Honorable Company's Packet from St. Helena§ | The Company's packet from St Helena by the Vansittart, dated 8 June 1771, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 8 June 1771 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 31 May 1771 3: Consultations from 3 to 8 June 1771 4: Duplicate consultations from 6 to 31 May 1771 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Resolution. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Lord Camden. 7: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the ship Duke of Kingston. 8: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Danish ship Carolina Matilda. 9: Effective state of the garrison 10: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Resolution. 11: Cash account from 1 to 8 June 1771 12: Duplicate cash account from 5 to 31 May 1771 13: Account of the ship Vansittart. 14: Duplicate account of the ship Resolution. 15: Duplicate order for stores wanted for the service of the year 1772 16: Duplicate order for medicines wanted for the service of the year 1772 17: Duplicate list of stores remaining in the Company's warehouses on 31 March 1771 18: Duplicate list of garrison stores remaining on 31 March 1771 19: Duplicate list of artillery stores from 1 October 1770 to 31 March 1771 20: Time of the arrival of ships' boats at Banks's 21: Abstract of the cargoes of the ships Vansittart and Worcester. Captain Sealy held no bill of lading for the ship Northington. Interpretations The note on the Northington explained a gap in the papers and showed how the cargo abstracts were made. Three ships arrived between 6 and 8 June 1771, yet the abstract covered only two. The Council compiled each abstract from the bill of lading a commander carried, the signed list of the goods loaded into his ship and the terms of their delivery. Captain Sealy had none to show. The Council could not describe a cargo for which it had no document, and it would not rely on a captain's word for the contents of his hold. It recorded the reason so the Court would not take the omission for carelessness, a point on which it had cause for care after two censures in the Court's letters of that year. The absence was itself worth the Court's notice. A ship from Bombay ought to have carried a bill of lading issued there when she was loaded. A commander without one could not be held to an agreed list of goods on arrival in the Thames, which weakened the Company's check against loss or private dealing on the voyage. The fault might have lain with the Bombay government for failing to supply the document or with the captain for failing to produce it. The Council stated the fact and left the enquiry to London, where the Bombay copy could be compared when it arrived by another ship. The order for 1772 and its inventories went home a second time eight days after the first, by the next ship to sail. The same was done with the order for 1771, sent on 12 June 1770 and repeated on 16 June 1770. Neither copy of the new order travelled with the convoy, since the fleet left on 4 May 1771, before the order was ready. | |
296 | [The right-hand edge is irregularly lost along its length.] To the Honble &c§ | The Council opened a short letter by recalling its previous one, sent on 8 June 1771 by the Vansittart. 2: The outlying guards were in great need of hourglasses, which were forgotten when the order for stores was drawn up. The Council asked for one dozen to be sent the following year for that use. 3: The Council granted two sets of bills of exchange, both drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 10 June 1771. Mrs Elizabeth D[...], payable to Mr William Douglass, £109 0s 0d Mr Matthew Bazett, payable to John Blake Esquire, £600 0s 0d 4: Captain Nicholas Skottowe was given permission to take William Jones, a corporal, aboard his ship and carry him to England. 5: The letter went by the Huntingdon, which sailed in company with the Bridgewater. The letter closed at St Helena on 14 June 1771 over three signatures. John Skottowe Daniel Corneille Matthew Purling Interpretations The hourglasses were instruments of discipline. A sentry stood a fixed turn of duty and was then relieved, and at a post far from the town there was no clock or bell to mark the time. A sand glass turned at each relief gave the guard its only measure, so that no man stood too long and none was left unwatched through a missed change. The outlying guards were the small detachments at the batteries and landing places away from the Castle. Their number and importance grew with the works of the previous two years: the batteries at Munden's Point and Lemon Valley, reported complete on 7 March 1771, and the walls then being built across the leeward valleys. A dozen glasses pointed to about that many posts needing one. The matter was small enough to be left out of the yearly order, and the Council thought it worth a separate paragraph within a fortnight. The robbery of 12 March 1771, in which the sentry at the stores and his reliefs were the suspects, had shown how much turned on the changing of a guard. Captain Nicholas Skottowe proved to be the commander of a Company ship. The Governor's bill of 5 June 1771 for £500 0s 0d was payable to him, and he was now named as receiving a soldier aboard "his ship". He commanded either the Huntingdon or the Bridgewater, both of which arrived from China on 30 May 1771 and sailed together after 14 June 1771. A commander of the Governor's surname, in the road for a fortnight and the payee of a large bill, was almost certainly a close relation. The bill was then a transaction within the family, made while the captain was at the island in person. The wording about the corporal differed from the usual forms. Discharged men were "ordered" aboard to complete a crew, and invalids were sent with a fare and a surgeon's certificate. Here the captain was given "permission" to take a named corporal and "carry him to England", with no mention of discharge, illness, a fare or service as a hand. The initiative came from the commander, and the man went as something other than crew. The letter gave no reason. A non-commissioned officer released as a favour to the Governor's kinsman was an arrangement the Council recorded for the sake of the muster rolls and left unexplained. A woman appeared among the remitters for the first time in these records. Mrs Elizabeth D[...] paid £109 0s 0d into the treasury on her own account, which showed a widow or independent woman of the settlement with money to send home. Matthew Bazett's £600 0s 0d added a third member of that family to the bills, after Captain Henry Bazett and the Lieutenant Thomas Bazett who assisted in the works. | |
297 | [The left-hand edge is irregularly lost along its length.] List of the Honble Company's Packet from St. Helena pr§ | The Company's packet from St Helena by the Huntingdon, dated 14 June 1771, held the following papers. 1: Governor Skottowe and Council's general letter dated 14 June 1771 2: Duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter dated 8 June 1771 3: Consultation of 10 June 1771 4: Duplicate consultations from 3 to 8 June 1771 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the ship Vansittart. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the ship Resolution. 7: Effective state of the garrison 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the ship Vansittart. 9: Cash account from 9 to 14 June 1771 10: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 8 June 1771 11: Account of the ship Bridgewater. 12: Account of the ship Huntingdon. 13: Duplicate account of the ship Vansittart. 14: Abstract of the cargo of the ship Northington. The Council opened its next letter by noting that the previous one went on 14 June 1771 by the Huntingdon, which sailed in company with the Bridgewater. 2: The Company's ship Harcourt arrived from Bencoolen on the day the Council wrote. 3: Mr Herbert and Messrs Bailey, Baker, He[...]y and Ho[...]s were the passengers aboard the Harcourt. Interpretations The Harcourt returned to the island a year after leaving it. She was one of the two outward ships that arrived in May 1770 and sailed on 13 June 1770, and she took 38 condemned iron guns aboard as ballast. Captain Paul signed bills of lading on 22 May 1770 binding himself and his owners to deliver them when the ship reached the Thames. Her reappearance from Bencoolen showed the route by which she was to get there. She went on from St Helena to the Company's settlement in Sumatra, loaded pepper and was only now homeward bound. The guns therefore travelled halfway round the world and back as ballast before they could be landed in England. The arrangement cost the Company no freight, as the Council said at the time, but it also meant the scrap iron spent well over a year at sea. The two bills of lading sent home on 23 May 1770 and 30 May 1770 had been in the Court's hands for most of that time, waiting for the ship. Her consort of 1770 fared worse. The British King sailed from the island on the same day and was reported on 8 March 1771 as having lost her passage to China. The Harcourt, bound for a nearer destination on the west coast of Sumatra, completed her voyage and returned within twelve months. The abstract of the cargo of the Northington went home six days after the Council explained that it could not be made. The packet list of 8 June 1771 noted that Captain Sealy held no bill of lading. An abstract was now supplied all the same, which meant the particulars were obtained in the interval from some other source, probably the ship's own books or her officers' account of what was stowed. The Council thus repaired the omission as far as it could, having first put on record that the proper document was missing. Three of the tail-end ships had by then been dispatched. The Vansittart took the packet of 8 June 1771, and the Huntingdon and the Bridgewater sailed together after 14 June 1771 with the Governor's kinsman in command of one of them. The Northington and the Worcester remained in the road, and the new letter was written for one of them or for the Harcourt. | |
298 | [The right-hand edge is irregularly lost along its length.] receive on board his Ship, John Moyer a discharged Soldier, and§ | Captain Sealy was given a permit to take two men aboard his ship and carry them to England. John Mo[...], discharged soldier John G[...], a man left on the island from the ship Admiral Pocock The ship named in that entry was the Company's Admiral Pocock. 5: Captain Hall received an order to take twelve invalid soldiers aboard his ship. Edward Co[...]er, invalid soldier, recommended to the Military Fund John Shaw, invalid soldier, recommended to the Military Fund John Lemon, invalid soldier, recommended to the Military Fund William Rowland, invalid soldier, recommended to the Military Fund Thomas Hunt, invalid soldier John Wallis, invalid soldier Thomas Baillie, invalid soldier William Emmerson, invalid soldier James Ro[...], invalid soldier John Bul[...]ck, invalid soldier James Westbroke, invalid soldier Thomas Watson, invalid soldier The first four were recommended for the Military Fund on account of their long service, age and infirmities, which made them fitting objects of that charity in the Council's view. Each received a certificate authenticated in the manner the Court directed. The Council paid Captain Hall £5 0s 0d for the passage of each of the twelve. His receipt went home with the letter, and copies of the certificates travelled in the packet. 6: The Governor published in garrison orders the terms of the covenant and the regulations of the Military Fund, so that every soldier knew the conditions that would entitle him to its benefit. A copy was also posted at the barracks for the men's information. 7: The Council granted three sets of bills of exchange, all drawn at 90 days' sight and dated the day of the letter. Governor Skottowe, payable to Captain Nicholas Skottowe, £168 5s 0d Mr Jonathan Doveton, payable to Mr George [...]therden, £76 12s 0d Captain Richard Hall, payable to himself, £60 0s 0d 8: Captains Hall and Sealy asked for leave to call at Ascension for turtle, to give their crews more fresh food. The Council allowed them to stop there for that purpose. 9: The letter went by the Worcester. Interpretations The Military Fund was put to use for the first time. This was the fund established by covenant with Lord Clive, whose printed terms reached the island in April 1771 and were acknowledged in the letter of 4 May 1771. The Council sent twelve invalids home and recommended four of them. The remaining eight were just as unfit to serve, since all twelve went with a paid passage as invalids, yet they received no certificate. The Council named the grounds on which it chose: long service, age and infirmity together. A man disabled early in his engagement had no long service to plead, and the fund was meant for soldiers worn out in the Company's employment. The Council thus acted as gatekeeper, and its certificate was the document on which a discharged man's claim in England depended. Copies went home separately in the packet, so that a claimant could not alter his paper or present one the Council never gave. Publishing the terms served discipline as much as fairness. The Governor had the conditions read in orders and posted at the barracks, where every soldier could see what earned a pension and what forfeited one. The letter of 4 May 1771 stated that men discharged at their own request were excluded. A soldier now knew that serving on until age or injury ended his usefulness brought support for life, while leaving when his time expired brought nothing. The garrison had lost seven men by desertion in a longboat on 28 July 1770 and four more had tried to stow away in May 1771. A visible reward for long and faithful service gave the men a reason to stay that orders and sentries could not supply. Twelve invalids in one ship was the largest number in these records, after nine in two ships in March 1771. The arrival of about 120 recruits in April 1771 allowed the Council to clear the garrison of men past service, and the fund gave it a way to do so without casting the oldest of them adrift. The fare stayed at £5 0s 0d a head, as in every case since 19 July 1769. The second man in Captain Sealy's charge was a seaman left behind by the Admiral Pocock, which sailed with the convoy on 4 May 1771. He was probably landed sick and unable to rejoin before she left. Captain Sealy received a "permit" for both men, the same form of words used for the corporal carried home by Captain Nicholas Skottowe on 14 June 1771, and no fare was mentioned. The Governor drew a second bill in favour of Captain Nicholas Skottowe, for £168 5s 0d, after the £500 0s 0d of 5 June 1771. The captain had sailed some days earlier, so the bill was sent after him for collection in London. Jonathan Doveton's payee was the Mr George [...]itherden named in his bill of 4 September 1769. Captain Hall commanded the Worcester and Captain Sealy the Northington, and the two were dispatched together. | |
299 | Worcester which sails in Company with the Northington§ | The letter closed by noting that the Worcester sailed in company with the Northington. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille and [...] Purling signed it at St Helena on 17 June 1771. A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Worcester, dated 17 June 1771. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 17 June 1771. 2: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 14 June 1771. 3: Consultation of 17 June 1771. 4: Duplicate consultation of 10 June 1771. 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Huntingdon. 6: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Bridgewater. 7: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Van Sittart. 8: Effective state of the garrison. 9: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Huntingdon. 10: Cash account from 15 to 17 June 1771. 11: Duplicate cash account from 9 to 14 June 1771. 12: Account of the Worcester. 13: Account of the Northington. 14: Duplicate account of the Bridgewater. 15: Duplicate account of the Huntingdon. Interpretations The packet shows how the island guarded its correspondence against loss at sea. Each homeward ship carried the fresh papers together with duplicates of what the previous ship took, so the letter of 14 June 1771 and the consultation of 10 June 1771 travelled a second time in the Worcester. Had an earlier vessel been wrecked or captured, the Company would still have received a complete record. The receipts served as proof of delivery. A commander signed for each packet he took on board, and the island forwarded those receipts home by a different ship, allowing the Company to hold a named captain answerable for any packet that failed to arrive. Numbering them first and second indicates that more than one copy of each receipt was signed, so that copies could travel separately. The effective state of the garrison was a return of the soldiers actually fit and present for duty, as distinct from the nominal strength on the books. The ships' accounts recorded what each vessel owed for water, provisions and other supplies taken at the island. The cash accounts covered very short spans, 9 to 14 June 1771 and 15 to 17 June 1771. Each appears to have been closed at the date of a departing ship, giving the Company a running statement of the treasury brought up to the moment of sailing. | |
300 | No 16. Time of the Arrival of Ship Harcourts Boat at Banks's§ | The list of papers in the packet continued with six further items. 16: Time of arrival of the boat of the Harcourt at Banks's. 17: Abstract of the cargo of [...]. 18: First receipt from Captain Hall for £60 0s 0d. 19: Certificates from the Governor and Council for four invalid soldiers recommended for the Military Fund. 20: Surgeon's certificate for eight invalid soldiers. 21: Letter from the Governor and Lieutenant Governor to the Secret Committee. A new general letter to the Court of Directors then began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on 17 June 1771 by the Worcester, which left the island together with the Northington. 2: The Egmont arrived from Madras on 29 June 1771. Captain Mears reported leaving that port on 22 March 1771. 3: The Harcourt brought a letter from the President and Council of Fort Marlborough about the return of Nagudale Poulim, the Malay prisoner. The Council copied that letter into its consultation of 24 June 1771 and referred the Court to it there. Instructions were requested for the following year on whether the man should go back to Bencoolen or stay on the island. If he was to go back, the Council also asked how to treat his costs, which stood in the island's books as a charge against Fort Marlborough. Those costs could either be written off to the London current account or recovered by drawing on that settlement. 4: The Egmont also brought the Council a letter. Interpretations The Council chose to refer the prisoner's future to London and wait a full year for an answer. Fort Marlborough's letter had already raised his return, and a ship bound for Sumatra could have carried him without further authority. Holding him instead kept the island clear of responsibility for a decision that belonged to another settlement, and it tied his release to the unsettled question of who would bear the cost of keeping him. That cost question shows how the Company's settlements accounted with one another. St Helena recorded the prisoner's maintenance as a debt owed by Fort Marlborough. Writing it off to the London current account would have passed the expense to the Company at home, while drawing on Fort Marlborough meant issuing a bill that the Sumatran settlement had to honour from its own funds. Fort Marlborough was the Company's settlement at Bencoolen on the west coast of Sumatra. St Helena served it as a place of exile for troublesome local figures, remote enough to prevent any return without the Company's consent. Banks's was the battery on the north-eastern coast that homeward ships passed before reaching the anchorage. A ship sent its boat ahead to report there, and noting the time of that arrival gave the Company a record of when the vessel first made contact with the island. The Military Fund supported soldiers no longer fit to serve. Admission needed both a medical finding and the government's recommendation, which explains the two sets of certificates. The surgeon certified eight men as invalids, while the Governor and Council put forward only four for the fund. The letter to the Secret Committee travelled outside the general correspondence. That committee of the Court handled confidential matters, and only the Governor and Lieutenant Governor signed to it, not the full Council. | |
301 | from the President and Council of Fort St. George with respect§ | The letter brought by the Egmont came from the President and Council of Fort St George and concerned three deserters sent to the island. The Council copied it into the consultation of 1 July 1771 for the Court to read. The three men were kept on the island to serve out their terms in the garrison. 5: The passengers aboard the Egmont were Captain Dent, Captain Nixon, the Honourable Mr Stewart, Mr Stratton and Messrs Ewer, Wright and Nash. 6: The Council issued five sets of bills of exchange, all drawn at 90 days' sight. The first two were dated 1 July 1771 and the other three bore the date of the letter. Lieutenant Thomas Bazett, payable to Captain Robert Carr, £76 12s 0d Mr William Wrangham, payable to Captain John Cotton, £1,000 0s 0d Mr Matthew Purling, payable to Messrs Cotton and Sons, merchants in London, £133 11s 7d Captain Nathaniel Paul, payable to himself, £650 0s 0d Captain Eccles Nixon, payable to himself, £300 0s 0d 7: The accounts for the previous quarter were not due before the Council until 16 July 1771. No cash account could therefore go by this ship except the duplicate of the earlier one. 8: Patrick Elliott, a man left behind sick by the Northington, died on 22 June 1771. The Council had his belongings sold at public auction. The balance of £18 7s 7d went into the Company's cash and was credited to the London current account. The sale account and related papers were entered in the consultation of 24 June 1771. 9: Andrew Tedrick, a matross, confessed before the Council at the consultation of 22 June 1771. He admitted breaking into the Company's stores on 12 March 1771 and said nobody helped him in the act itself. He named Stephen Swartson, another matross, as the man who encouraged and advised him. Interpretations The bills of exchange were the means by which people on the island sent money to England. A buyer paid cash into the Company's treasury at St Helena and received a bill ordering the Company in London to pay the named person. Payment fell due 90 days after the bill was presented there. The arrangement spared the buyer the risk of shipping coin and kept the island's treasury supplied with cash for its running costs. Bills were issued in sets of several copies sent by different ships, and only the first to arrive was paid. Elliott's estate was handled in the same way. Crediting the £18 7s 7d to the London current account meant the island kept the cash while the Company at home became answerable for that sum to his heirs, who could claim it in England. The deserters from Madras could have been returned to Fort St George for punishment or sent on to England. The Council instead put them into its own garrison for the remainder of their terms, which turned another settlement's offenders into soldiers for an island that depended on passing ships for recruits. A matross was an artillery soldier ranking below a gunner, who assisted in loading, firing and sponging the guns. Tedrick's confession separated the break-in itself from the encouragement behind it. By insisting that he acted alone while naming Swartson as adviser, he exposed a second man to prosecution as an accessory without lessening his own guilt as the one who committed the theft. | |
302 | sharer of the Money with the said Sedrick, in consequence of which§ | Tedrick also named Swartson as the man who took a share of the stolen money with him. The Council therefore decided to try both men at the next quarterly court. The money recovered lay in two separate parcels and came to only £165 12s 0d. Under close questioning, each man could recall spending no more than between £30 0s 0d and £40 0s 0d at various times. Even if those figures were accurate, a large part of the stolen sum remained missing. Tedrick's confession gave the Council strong grounds to suspect that Swartson had a second partner whom Tedrick did not know. Tedrick had shown Swartson where the money was hidden. On his second visit to the hiding place he found the bag lighter than before. The Council pressed Swartson on this point. He flatly denied removing any money before the two men divided it and denied having any partner other than Tedrick. Swartson admitted nothing more, so the Council waited for the outcome of the trials in the hope that they would reveal where the rest went. The Court was referred to the consultation of 22 June 1771 for the full proceedings. Once the trials ended, the Council intended to credit the Company's account with the money already recovered and with any further sum that came to light. 10: Captains Mears and Paul asked for leave to stop at Ascension to collect turtle, and the Council allowed them to call there for that purpose. 11: The letter went by the Egmont. Interpretations The Council held the recovered £165 12s 0d outside the Company's books until after the trials. The money was Company property taken from its own stores on 12 March 1771, and returning it to the account at once was the plain course. Keeping it apart preserved the two parcels as evidence for the court and allowed a single entry once the full amount recovered was known. Tedrick's observation about the lighter bag carried weight because of its timing. Only Swartson had been shown the hiding place before the second visit, so any loss between the two visits pointed to him or to someone he told. This turned the confession from a simple admission into the main evidence against his fellow soldier, and it explains why the Council questioned Swartson again without result. The quarterly court was the island's regular criminal sitting, held four times a year. Serious charges waited for it instead of being dealt with by the Council at an ordinary consultation, which is why two men who had already confessed or been accused in June still awaited trial. Ascension, an uninhabited island to the north-west on the homeward route, was a breeding ground for green turtles. Ships took them alive on board as a supply of fresh meat for the remaining voyage. Company commanders were expected to make their passage without unauthorised stops, so the two captains needed the Council's permission before calling there. | |
303 | of which we have put on board the Harcourt§ | A copy of the letter also went aboard the Harcourt. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille and Matthew Purling signed it at St Helena on 3 July 1771. A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Egmont, dated 3 July 1771. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 3 July 1771. 2: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 17 June 1771. 3: Consultations from 22 June to 3 July 1771. 4: Duplicate consultation of 17 June 1771. 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Worcester. 6: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Northington. 7: First receipt for the letter from the Governor and Lieutenant Governor to the Secret Committee. 8: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Huntingdon. 9: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Bridgewater. 10: Second receipt from Captain Hall for £60 0s 0d. 11: Muster rolls of the garrison. 12: Effective state of the garrison. 13: List of officers and servants taken on 3 July 1771. 14: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Worcester. 15: Duplicate cash account from 15 to 17 June 1771. 14: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Worcester. 16: Account of the Egmont. Interpretations The second receipts for the Huntingdon and Bridgewater packets completed a pattern visible in the packet of 17 June 1771, which carried the first receipts for those same two ships. Each commander signed more than one copy on taking a packet aboard, and the island spread those copies across successive departures. The loss of any single ship therefore could not destroy the proof that a named captain had accepted the papers. The muster rolls listed every soldier by name and company, while the effective state gave only the numbers fit for duty. Sending both let the Court compare the men it was paying against the men actually able to serve. The list of officers and servants did the same for the civil establishment, fixing who held each post on the day the letter was signed. Only a duplicate cash account went home, as the letter itself explained: the previous quarter's accounts were not due before the Council until 16 July 1771. | |
304 | No 17 Ship Harcourts Account§ | The list of papers in the packet continued with six further items. 17: Account of the Harcourt. 18: Duplicate account of the Worcester. 19: Duplicate account of the Northington. 20: Time of arrival of the boat of the Egmont at Banks's. 21: Abstract of the cargo of the Egmont. 22: Duplicate surgeon's certificate for 8 invalid soldiers. A new general letter to the Court of Directors then began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court by the Egmont, which left the island on 3 July 1771 together with the Harcourt. 2: Three ships reached the island in the same month. The Prime arrived from China on 5 July 1771, the Lord Mansfield from Bengal on 7 July 1771 and the True Briton from Bombay on 20 July 1771. Captain Broadley reported sailing from Bombay on 16 April 1771 and leaving the Northumberland there. He added that the Duke of Portland was expected at that port any day. News had also reached him at Tellicherry that the Morse arrived at Madras about the middle of April 1771. 3: The Pigot arrived on 26 July 1771 and brought the Court's letter of 17 May 1771. The Council promised to do everything possible to speed her unloading and send her away within the time allowed. 4: The Council undertook to pay Mr Lauchlan Leslie his salary and confirmed his appointment to his rank, as the Court ordered. An appointment made by the Council was mentioned in the consultation of 1 April 1771. Interpretations The shipping news in paragraph 2 served the Court as intelligence. A homeward captain's report of which vessels lay at Bombay, which were expected and which had reached Madras gave London its earliest word on ships it would not hear from directly for months. Tellicherry, a Company trading post on the Malabar coast, was a usual port of call for Bombay ships loading pepper, which explains how Captain Broadley picked up news of a vessel on the opposite side of India. The Pigot was an outward-bound ship carrying the Court's letter and stores for the island, unlike the homeward vessels listed before her. The Company's charter terms allowed such a ship only a fixed stay for unloading, after which the owners could claim compensation for delay. The Council's assurance about her dispatch answered that financial risk. The duplicate surgeon's certificate repeated the one for eight invalid soldiers sent in the packet of 17 June 1771, following the island's practice of sending each paper twice by different ships. | |
305 | Mr. Richard Powell a Cadet, and according to his future good§ | The appointment mentioned in the consultation of 1 April 1771 was that of Mr Richard Powell as a cadet, with a promise of promotion to officer on the island's establishment if he continued to behave well. A second lieutenant's post fell vacant when the Council allowed Lieutenant Frost to retire. The Court's general letters by the Calcutta and the Duke of Richmond did not fill it, and the Council meant the commission for Powell. No appointment was made before the Pigot arrived, in case the Court chose to fill the post itself. The Court then gave the vacancy to Mr Lauchlan Leslie, which left the Council unable to help Powell. Powell served as a cadet for five months and did his duty steadily throughout. The Council judged that he showed spirit, earned credit for himself and gave full satisfaction. His father was a very old and faithful servant of the Company. The Governor and Council of the day recommended the young man for a writer's post in 1764, but the Court of Directors then thought him too young. In view of his character, that earlier disappointment and this fresh one, the Council asked permission to appoint him a supernumerary second lieutenant until a vacancy occurred. 5: The Council promised to obey punctually any orders received from the Secret Committee or from any three of its members. 6: Sixty recruits were needed the following year to bring the garrison up to its full establishment, and the Council asked the Court to send them. 7: The passengers on these ships included Mr Sharpe on the Prime and Mr Skelton on the Lord Mansfield. Interpretations The Council held back a commission it was free to grant. Frost's retirement left a post open, Powell was on the spot and the Council had already marked him for it. Waiting for the Pigot deferred to the Court's right to name officers from London, and the caution proved justified when the letter of 17 May 1771 gave the place to Leslie. An appointment made earlier would have had to be undone. A supernumerary officer held rank above the fixed number of posts allowed to the garrison. The request therefore asked the Court to accept an extra officer for a time, with Powell stepping into the first regular vacancy. The Council could not create such a post on its own authority, since the size of the establishment was set in London. A cadet was a young man serving with the garrison in expectation of a commission, without yet holding an officer's rank. A writer was the most junior grade of the Company's civil service, a clerk who could rise through the civil ranks. Powell had thus been put forward first for the civil line in 1764 and later for the military one. The case rested as much on the father's long service as on the son's conduct. Patronage within the Company ran through such family claims, and the Council presented two failed applications as a debt the Court might now settle. | |
306 | Crockatt on board the True Briton.§ | The passenger list closed with Messrs Dodwell and Crockatt, who travelled aboard the True Briton. 8: The Prime stayed at the island far longer than usual because of the sickly state in which she arrived. Scurvy struck her crew very severely. Many died between the Cape and St Helena, and nine more men died after she anchored. Captain Eglinton told the Council that the ship would be ready to resume her voyage some time in the following week. 9: The Council issued seven sets of bills of exchange, all drawn at 90 days' sight. The first was dated 12 July 1771 and the other six were dated 26 July 1771. Daniel Corneille Esquire, payable to Messrs Stainforth, Giberne and Stainforth, £19 7s 0d Mr Matthew Purling, payable to John Purling Esquire, £450 0s 0d Mr Matthew Purling, payable to Messrs Jonas Cotton and Sons, merchants in London, £69 11s 2d Mr Matthew Purling, payable to Captain Charles Mears, £54 8s 10d Digby Dent Esquire, payable to himself, £200 0s 0d Mr William Wrangham, payable to Mr John Morgan, £52 10s 10d Hugh Jones, payable to John Robins, £250 0s 0d 10: Captain Willson applied for leave to call at Ascension to collect turtle as further fresh food for his crew. Interpretations Scurvy, caused by a long want of fresh food, was the chief killer on the passage home from China. The Prime arrived on 5 July 1771 and was still at anchor at the end of the month. Her losses explain the delay: a ship that buried many of her men before the island and nine more in the road lacked the hands to work her safely. The weeks at St Helena gave the survivors fresh meat, greens and water, and gave the captain time to make up his crew. The deaths after arrival show how far gone some of the men were when they landed. The same concern lay behind Captain Willson's request. Live turtle taken at Ascension kept a crew in fresh meat for weeks on the last leg to England, and Captains Mears and Paul obtained the same permission in the letter of 3 July 1771. The bills show the island's officials using the treasury to remit their own money. Matthew Purling, a member of the Council, took three sets on one day worth £574 0s 0d in all, and Daniel Corneille took another. One of Purling's bills was payable to Captain Charles Mears, who commanded the Egmont and left the island on 3 July 1771. That bill probably settled a private debt for goods bought from the captain during his stay, since commanders carried trade goods of their own for sale at the island. | |
307 | his People, we have permitted him to touch there for that purpose§ | The Council allowed Captain Willson to call at Ascension for that purpose. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille and [...] Purling signed the letter at St Helena on 29 August 1771. A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Lord Mansfield, dated 29 August 1771. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 29 August 1771. 2: Letter from the Governor and Council dated 29 August 1771 relating to law matters. 3: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 3 July 1771. 4: Consultations from 15 July to 26 August 1771. 5: Duplicate consultations from 22 June to 3 July 1771. 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the Egmont. 7: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Harcourt. 8: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Worcester. 9: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Northington. 10: Second receipt for the letter from the Governor and Lieutenant Governor to the Secret Committee. 11: Effective state of the garrison. 12: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Egmont. 13: Cash account from 18 to 30 June 1771. 14: Cash account for the month of July 1771. Interpretations The letter began after the Pigot arrived on 26 July 1771 and its bills carried that date, yet it was signed on 29 August 1771. The consultations enclosed with it ran to 26 August 1771. The Council therefore appears to have drafted the letter in late July and held it for a month until a ship was ready to carry it, dating it only at the point of dispatch. A separate letter on law matters travelled beside the general one. Keeping legal business apart allowed the Court to pass that letter to its own legal advisers without circulating the island's general correspondence. The cash accounts resumed with this packet. The letter of 3 July 1771 explained that the previous quarter's accounts were not due before the Council until 16 July 1771, so only a duplicate went home then. The account from 18 to 30 June 1771 closed that quarter, and the account for July 1771 opened the next. | |
308 | No. 15 Cash Account from the 1st to the 29th August§ | The list of papers in the packet continued with seven further items. 15: Cash account from 1 to 29 August 1771. 16: Account of the Lord Mansfield. 17: Duplicate account of the Egmont. 18: Duplicate account of the Harcourt. 19: Time of arrival of the ships' boats at Banks's. 20: Abstract of the cargoes of the Prime, the Lord Mansfield and the True Briton. 21: Proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 10 July 1771. A new general letter to the Court of Directors then began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on 29 August 1771 by the Lord Mansfield. 2: Mr Bearcroft brought a warning to Governor Skottowe and the Council on 13 July 1771. Andrew Tedrick, then under sentence of death, had spoken to him with every sign of deep remorse. Tedrick claimed to know of certain ill-intentioned people on the island who planned to set fire to the main powder magazine in the valley and blow it up. They meant to kill the sentry posted over it first. The Governor and Council took immediate steps to secure the magazine for the time being. They went with the engineer the following morning to inspect it. The walls of the passages leading to its first chamber were built only of small stones and mud mortar, and the Council judged them very unsafe. The engineer was ordered to move all the powder out. Interpretations Tedrick was the matross who confessed on 22 June 1771 to breaking into the Company's stores on 12 March 1771. The quarterly court of 10 July 1771, whose proceedings went home in this packet, evidently condemned him, since he was under sentence of death three days later. A condemned man had an obvious motive to offer information that might earn mercy, and the letter's remark on his apparent remorse suggests the Council weighed that possibility. Mr Bearcroft was probably the island's chaplain, the person a prisoner awaiting execution would most naturally confide in. The Council acted on the word of a convicted thief without waiting to test it. Treating the story as a bid for a reprieve and leaving the powder where it lay was the easier course. The inspection changed the question: walls of small stones bound with mud were a danger whether or not any plot existed, so the removal was justified by the building's own weakness. The main magazine held the garrison's reserve of gunpowder. Its position in the valley, beside the town and the fort, meant an explosion threatened the settlement itself as well as the island's means of defence. | |
309 | said Magazine to the one in the Castle, and to rebuild the interior§ | The engineer moved the powder from the valley magazine to the one in the castle. He rebuilt the inner walls with lime mortar and large stones. The outer wall was built of Purbeck stone laid in lime and cramped with iron. A door was added, and the outer door was faced entirely with copper. All this work was finished, and the Council was satisfied that the magazine was as secure as skill could make it. The Council did not know what to make of the plot itself. From the day of his sentence to the day of his execution Tedrick held to the same story. He accused Godfrey Smith of the artillery, Peter Buckman and [...] of the marching companies of knowing about the plan. At the gallows he withdrew everything and declared firmly that he made the whole story up. The Council questioned the accused men again. Each denied any part in such a plan or any thought of it. Buckman, however, was a man of thoroughly bad character, and the Council decided to discharge him from the garrison. The others were warned that only their future conduct could persuade the Council that Tedrick's charge was false. 3: Governor Skottowe and the Council ordered Captain Eglinton to take seven invalid soldiers aboard his ship. John Langton William England John Whittingdale John Thorpe Timothy [...] James McGrew George Oliver The Council recommended George Oliver as a fit person for the Military Fund. He suffered from pleurisy and was injured at Munden's Point when a rock fell on him. He received certificates authenticated in the way the Court directed. Captain Eglinton was paid £35 0s 0d for the passage of the seven invalids. His receipt and Oliver's certificate went in the packet. 4: Captain Eglinton was also ordered to take John McAllister and John Buckman, two discharged soldiers, to help make up the crew of the Prime. Interpretations The Council discharged Buckman although the only evidence against him was withdrawn at the gallows. Tedrick's retraction cleared all the accused equally, and keeping every man in the ranks under warning was the consistent course. Buckman's bad name set him apart. Removing him cost the garrison one soldier and rid the island of a man it distrusted, without any need to prove the plot. The Buckman sent aboard the Prime appears with the first name John, while the accused man is called Peter, though the letter treats them as the same person. That discharge also met a practical need. The Prime lost many men to scurvy, as the letter of 29 August 1771 recorded, and two discharged soldiers went some way towards filling the gaps in her crew. The island thus exported an unwanted man as a working hand. The warning to the remaining accused left them under open suspicion with no charge to answer. Their own behaviour became the test of their innocence, a form of control that needed no trial. The rebuilding shows what the Council thought a secure magazine required. Lime mortar set hard where mud mortar crumbled. Purbeck stone, a durable limestone from Dorset, must have come out as cargo or ballast from England. Iron cramps tied the blocks together against being prised apart. Copper was chosen for the door because it does not strike sparks as iron does, a standard precaution wherever powder was stored. The passage money came to £5 0s 0d for each invalid. Munden's Point was the fortified headland on the eastern side of the anchorage, where work on the batteries exposed soldiers to falling rock from the cliffs above. | |
310 | Company and have put onboard that Ship Peter Sidington and§ | The Council also put Peter Sidington and Peter White aboard the Prime, two seamen whom the Northington left behind sick. Both were treated in the hospital at 7d a day. Peter Sidington, 53 days in hospital at 7d a day, £1 10s 11d Peter White, 37 days in hospital at 7d a day, £1 1s 7d The Court was told of these charges in order to recover both sums from the owners of the Northington. 5: The merlons of Purling's Battery fell out of repair because the material they were made of could not withstand the salt air. The engineer was ordered to face the cheeks of the embrasures with stone, which would secure them effectively. The battery's guard room also needed rebuilding. While workmen were there, the Council proposed to mount two guns and a mortar on the point above the battery. Only two guns on the battery itself could be trained on ships rounding the Sugar Loaf, and the Council was convinced that the new pieces would be useful in harassing vessels coming round that point. The position commanded the approach and the work needed little money or labour. The Council hoped for the Court's approval and undertook to do nothing beyond repairing the embrasures until instructions arrived. 6: Captain Eglinton received a permit to take John Robins, formerly the armourer, and his family aboard his ship and carry them to England. 7: The look of the weather gave the Council serious fears that the spring rains would fail again. In that event the island faced a terrible situation and could offer the following season's ships very little fresh food unless sheep arrived from the Cape. The Council had asked for such a supply repeatedly and hoped the Court gave the necessary orders to its early ships of the next year. Interpretations The Council repaired the embrasures at once and held back the new guns for London's approval. Mounting two guns and a mortar while the workmen were already on the spot was the convenient course, and the Council plainly believed in the scheme. The line it drew separated maintenance, which lay within its own authority, from an addition to the island's fortifications, which did not. Stressing the low cost was a way of asking the Court to agree quickly. A merlon was the solid part of a battery's parapet between two gun openings, and the cheeks were the side faces of each opening, or embrasure. These took the blast of the guns as well as the weather, so a soft or crumbling material failed there first. The Sugar Loaf was the conical hill at the island's northern point, which ships from the Cape rounded closely to reach the anchorage. Guns able to bear on that turn could engage an enemy before he reached the road. The hospital charges show how the island recovered the cost of sick seamen. A ship's owners remained liable for men left ashore, so the Council billed their keep at a fixed daily rate and reported the sums home, where the Company deducted them from what it owed the owners for freight. Sidington's stay of 53 days and the death of Patrick Elliott on 22 June 1771 indicate that the Northington left several sick men behind when she sailed with the Worcester in June. The fear for the spring rains reflected the island's southern seasons, in which spring fell in the months immediately following the letter. Pasture depended on those rains, and the island's ability to supply ships with fresh meat depended on its pasture. The word "again" shows that an earlier season had already failed. Sheep from the Cape were the remedy because the Dutch settlement there was the nearest source of livestock, and outward-bound Company ships calling at the Cape could carry them on to St Helena. John Robins was named as payee of the £250 0s 0d bill taken by Hugh Jones on 26 July 1771. The former armourer thus sent his savings ahead through the Company's treasury before sailing home with his family. | |
311 | 8 Captain Tippet having Addressed a Letter to Us as§ | 8: Captain Tippet wrote to the Council asking for an allowance of candles, and his letter was entered in the consultation of the same day. He argued that officers in his department customarily received one at the Company's other settlements. The Council passed the request to the Court for a decision. Tippet also applied for a piece of ground on which to build himself a house. The Council felt bound to refuse. The Company bought that ground some years earlier for its own use, and it might later prove very valuable as a site for warehouses and similar buildings. The Council nonetheless recognised how badly he was placed for lodging and thought an engineer ought to have a house. With the Court's approval, one would be built for that department as soon as the more essential works were finished. 9: The Reverend Mr Bearcroft sent the Council a letter that day enclosing another addressed to the Court, which he asked to have forwarded. It went home in the packet. His letter sought an increase in salary, and the Council left that question to the Court. In fairness to him, the Council described Mr Bearcroft as a very deserving man, clergyman and gentleman. 10: The Council issued three sets of bills of exchange, all drawn at 90 days' sight and dated the same day as the letter. Mr Robert Barclay, payable to the Reverend Mr Elias Thackeray, £[...] 16s 8d Captain Anthony Eglinton, payable to Robert Child Esquire, £221 0s 0d Captain John Broadley, payable to Henry Broadley Esquire, £170 0s 0d 11: Captains Eglinton and Broadley applied for leave to call at Ascension to collect turtle as further fresh food for their crews. The Council allowed them to stop there for that purpose. 12: The letter went by the Prime. Interpretations The Council refused Tippet the ground and offered him a Company house instead. Granting a plot to an officer willing to build at his own cost was the cheap answer to his want of lodging. It would also have put land bought for the Company into private hands, on a site the Council wanted kept for warehouses. A house built for the engineer's department stayed Company property and passed to each successor, so the proposal met his need without giving up the land. Captain Tippet was evidently the engineer who rebuilt the powder magazine and was to repair Purling's Battery. Neither the candles nor the chaplain's salary lay within the Council's power to grant. Allowances were fixed in London, so both requests went home, each with a different degree of support. Tippet's claim rested on the custom of other settlements and was forwarded without comment. Bearcroft's came with a warm testimonial, the nearest the Council could come to backing a rise it could not itself award. Candles were a recognised perquisite of office, issued in kind to officials whose duties involved writing or drawing after dark. An allowance of them was in effect an addition to pay. The letter confirms that Mr Bearcroft was the island's clergyman, as his role in receiving Tedrick's story on 13 July 1771 suggested. | |
312 | Sails in company with the True Briton) Copy of which we§ | The Prime sailed together with the True Briton, and a copy of the letter went by that second ship. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille and [...] Purling signed it at St Helena on 7 September 1771. A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Prime, dated 7 September 1771. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 7 September 1771. 2: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 29 August 1771. 3: Duplicate letter from the Governor and Council dated 29 August 1771 relating to law matters. 4: Consultations from 2 to 7 September 1771. 5: Duplicate consultations from 15 July to 26 August 1771. 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the Lord Mansfield. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Egmont. 8: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Harcourt. 9: Effective state of the garrison. 10: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Lord Mansfield. 11: Cash account from 30 to 31 August 1771. 12: Cash account from 1 to 7 September 1771. 13: Duplicate cash account from 18 to 30 June 1771. Interpretations The duplicate consultations appear in this list as running from 25 July to 26 August 1771, whereas the packet list of 29 August 1771 gave the same set as starting on 15 July 1771. The earlier date is the more probable, since a duplicate repeated the original set in full. The cash account of 30 to 31 August 1771 covered only two days. The account sent by the Lord Mansfield stopped at 29 August 1771, the day that ship's packet closed, so this short statement finished the month before the September account began. Each account was thus cut off at a sailing date and the remainder carried into the next packet, leaving the Court with an unbroken record of the treasury. | |
313 | No 14 Duplicate Cash Account for the Month of July 1771§ | The list of papers in the packet continued with 11 further items. 14: Duplicate cash account for the month of July 1771. 15: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 29 August 1771. 16: Account of the Prime. 17: Account of the True Briton. 18: Duplicate account of the Lord Mansfield. 19: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 10 July 1771. 20: List of 9 discharged soldiers. 21: Surgeon's certificate for 6 invalid soldiers. 22: Certificate from the Governor and Council for George Oliver, an invalid recommended for the Military Fund. 23: First receipt from Captain Eglinton for £35 0s 0d. 24: Letter from the Reverend Mr Bearcroft to the Court of Directors. A new general letter to the Court of Directors then began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on 7 September 1771 by the Prime, which left the island together with the True Briton. 2: The Duke of Portland arrived from Madras on 13 October 1771. Captain Hasell reported leaving that port on 23 July 1771. He left two of the King's ships there, the Dolphin and the Swallow, along with the Company's ships Queen, Salisbury, York, Grosvenor and Horsenden. The Council also learned that a Danish ship reached Fort St George. Interpretations The surgeon certified six invalid soldiers, while the letter of 7 September 1771 named seven men sent home in the Prime at a passage cost of £35 0s 0d. George Oliver accounts for the difference. His case went forward under a separate certificate from the Governor and Council, because a recommendation to the Military Fund needed the government's backing as well as a medical finding. The other six were simply returned to England as unfit, with no claim on the fund. The list of nine discharged soldiers recorded men released from the garrison in the same weeks, among them John McAllister and the Buckman accused by Tedrick, both put aboard the Prime as hands. Nine discharges and seven invalids in a single packet show the scale of the loss behind the request for 60 recruits made in the letter of 29 August 1771. Captain Hasell's report of the shipping at Madras again served the Court as intelligence. The presence of two royal warships beside five Company vessels told London what naval force lay on the Coromandel coast in July 1771. The arrival of a Danish ship mattered because the Danes traded from their own settlement at Tranquebar and competed with the Company for cargoes on that coast. | |
314 | George the day the Duke of Portland Sailed that four English Men were§ | The Danish ship reached Fort St George on the day the Duke of Portland sailed. Four Englishmen were aboard her who claimed to belong to the Verelst, a ship wrecked on Mauritius. Most of her crew survived but were held prisoner on that island, and these four escaped in the Danish vessel. The Council also heard that the French detained the Danish ship for three weeks and unshipped her rudder. 3: Governor Skottowe received word on 30 September 1771 that six men of the garrison planned to desert in one of the Company's longboats. John Moore, sergeant of Lemon Valley guard William Harper, gunner of Lemon Valley guard Robert Johnson, private of Lemon Valley guard William Harrison, patron of one of the longboats John Coulson, member of that longboat's crew Nicholas Dennis, member of that longboat's crew A party of soldiers under Captain Tippet and Lieutenant Thomas Bazett left the garrison as soon as the Governor heard the news. They secured the longboat. Their report to the Council showed that they did everything possible to stop the desertion, though without success. The Council supposed that the six men, finding their plan blocked and their position desperate, put off in one of the Company's yawls. Their aim was probably to board the longboat lying to windward. The wind and sea ran very high that night, and no small boat could survive in that direction. The men were presumed to have been driven out to sea and drowned. This unhappy affair led Captain Tippet to lodge a protest with the Council against the Lieutenant Governor. He considered himself badly treated in being reprimanded by Mr Corneille. Interpretations The conspiracy joined the two groups a seaborne escape required. The sergeant, gunner and private formed the guard at Lemon Valley, a landing place on the leeward coast west of the town, and were the very men posted to prevent such an attempt. The patron was the man in charge of a longboat, and he brought two of his crew to handle her. A guard that included its own sergeant left nobody at the post to raise the alarm, which is probably why the warning reached the Governor from elsewhere. The longboats were the Company's largest open boats at the island, used for fishing and for carrying stores and water around the coast. One of them could make an ocean passage with luck, whereas a yawl, a small ship's boat, could not. Seizing the longboat therefore ended any real chance of escape, and the men's flight in the yawl was an act of desperation. The Council could only infer their fate, since no boat or body was reported found. The French took the rudder off the Danish ship to make sure she could not leave Mauritius without their consent. Holding the Verelst's crew as prisoners in peacetime, and delaying a neutral vessel for three weeks, told the Court how jealously the French guarded that island against foreign visitors. Captain Tippet's protest turned a failed pursuit into a dispute between officers. Daniel Corneille, the Lieutenant Governor, evidently blamed him for the men's escape, while the Council's own account credited Tippet and Bazett with doing their utmost. A formal complaint to the Council placed the quarrel on record for the Court to judge. | |
315 | upon his returning with the Party he was Ordered out with, by the§ | The reprimand came when Captain Tippet returned with the party that Governor Skottowe sent out on first news of the conspiracy. Mr Corneille answered that complaint and the other papers Tippet handed in. The whole proceedings were entered in the consultations of 7, 14, 21 and 28 October 1771, together with the opinions of the Governor and Mr Purling. The Council referred the Court to those entries for a fuller account. The Governor and Mr Purling gave their opinions, and the final decision was left to the Court. 4: A second plot came to light on 19 October 1771, when men of the garrison were reported to be planning to desert in one of the boats of the Duke of Portland. Steps taken on its discovery stopped the attempt completely. A general court martial tried the offenders and sentenced them to the punishment their crime deserved. The Council hoped that this punishment and the reward paid to the informers would discourage others from such dangerous schemes. The court martial proceedings went home with the letter. The Council traced these desertions largely to a story spread by a black woman who came back to the island in the Pigot. She apparently claimed to have seen and spoken in London with some of the men who deserted from the island on 23 July 1770. Her story circulated through the garrison and, in the Council's view, drove the men to these desperate attempts. 5: The passengers aboard the Duke of Portland included Colonel Campbell and Messrs McNamara, Paget, Foley and Froud. Interpretations The dispute between Tippet and Corneille went to London undecided. A Council of three normally settled such matters by majority, but Corneille was himself the party complained against and answered as a defendant. That left only the Governor and Mr Purling to give opinions, and they chose to record their views and leave the ruling to the Court instead of passing judgement on the island's second-ranking officer. Four successive weekly consultations were taken up with the affair, a measure of how seriously it divided the small government. The woman's story mattered because it turned desertion from a gamble into a proven route. The men who left on 23 July 1770 were not known on the island to have survived. A report that they were alive and at liberty in London showed soldiers that an open boat could reach safety and that deserters went unpunished afterwards. The Council's reading explains why two plots followed within three weeks, the first on 30 September 1771 and the second on 19 October 1771, soon after the Pigot arrived on 26 July 1771. The second plot targeted a boat belonging to a visiting ship. After the loss of the men from Lemon Valley, the Company's own longboats were presumably under closer watch, and the Duke of Portland, which anchored on 13 October 1771, offered a fresh opportunity. Punishment and reward worked as a pair. A general court martial was the highest military tribunal available in the garrison and could impose severe corporal sentences. Paying the informers gave every soldier a reason to betray a plot, which made conspiracy among several men far more dangerous to attempt. | |
316 | Snow, Savage, Logan, Jones, Wilson, Simpson, & Willson.§ | The passenger list for the Duke of Portland closed with Messrs Snow, Savage, Logan, Jones, Wilson, Simpson and Willson. 6: The Council issued three sets of bills of exchange, all drawn at 90 days' sight. The first two were dated 21 October 1771 and the third was dated 4 November 1771. Daniel Corneille Esquire, payable to John Caillaud Esquire, £100 0s 0d Mr Matthew Purling, payable to John Purling Esquire, £600 0s 0d Colonel Donald Campbell, payable to himself, £400 0s 0d 7: The Pigot resumed her voyage on 27 September 1771. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille and [...] Purling signed the letter at St Helena on 10 November 1771. A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Duke of Portland, dated 10 November 1771. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 10 November 1771. 2: Letter from the Governor and Council dated 10 November 1771 relating to law matters. 3: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 7 September 1771. 4: Consultations from 9 September to 4 November 1771. 5: Duplicate consultations from 2 to 7 September 1771. Interpretations The Pigot arrived on 26 July 1771 and sailed on 27 September 1771, a stay of two months. The letter of 29 August 1771 promised to unload her and send her off within the time allowed, since delay to an outward-bound ship exposed the Company to claims from her owners. Reporting the sailing date gave the Court the figure it needed to judge whether that promise was kept. Matthew Purling sent a further £600 0s 0d to John Purling, after the £450 0s 0d remitted to the same payee on 26 July 1771. A councillor moving £1,050 0s 0d home to a relative within three months points to substantial private earnings on the island, far beyond what a salary alone would supply. Colonel Campbell, a passenger in the Duke of Portland, used the treasury in the same way as the ships' captains did, paying in cash at the island and collecting it in London. | |
317 | No 6 First Receipt for the Packet [...] Ship Prime§ | The list of papers in the packet continued with 25 further items. 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the Prime. 7: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the True Briton. 8: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Lord Mansfield. 9: List of families taken on 30 September 1771. 10: List of stock taken on 30 September 1771. 11: List of the Company's slaves taken on 30 September 1771. 12: Effective state of the garrison. 13: Muster rolls of the garrison. 14: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Prime. 15: Cash account from 8 to 30 September 1771. 16: Cash account for the month of October 1771. 17: Cash account from 1 to 10 November 1771. 18: Duplicate cash account from 30 to 31 August 1771. 19: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 7 September 1771. 20: Account of the Pigot. 21: Account of the Duke of Portland. 22: Duplicate account of the Prime. 23: Duplicate account of the True Briton. 24: Proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 9 October 1771. 25: Duplicate surgeon's certificate for 6 invalid soldiers. 26: Second receipt from Captain Eglinton for £35 0s 0d. 27: Abstract of the cargo of the Duke of Portland. 28: Time of arrival of the boat of the Duke of Portland at Banks's. 29: General court martial held on 24 October 1771. 30: Duplicate of the letter from the Reverend Mr William Bearcroft to the Court of Directors. Interpretations Three returns were all taken on 30 September 1771: the families, the stock and the Company's slaves. Together they formed a yearly census of the island, counting the free households, the cattle and other animals they kept and the slaves the Company itself owned. The Court used such returns to judge how many people the island had to feed and how much fresh meat it could spare for shipping. The stock list carried particular weight that year, since the letter of 7 September 1771 warned that a second failure of the spring rains would leave little to offer the next season's ships. The general court martial of 24 October 1771 sat five days after the second desertion plot was reported on 19 October 1771. This was the trial described in the letter of 10 November 1771, and its speed shows how urgently the Council wanted an example made while the Duke of Portland, whose boat the men meant to take, still lay at anchor. | |
318 | To the Honble &c§ | A new general letter to the Court of Directors began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on 10 November 1771 by the Duke of Portland. 2: The King's ship Stagg arrived on the second day of the month, coming last from the Cape. She brought word that the Hampshire left the Cape some time in September 1771 and the Lapwing packet at the beginning of December 1771. The Ponsborne and the Morse were reported safe at Bengal. The Council also heard that the Presidency of Fort St George was at war with the King of Tanjore. General Smith, who commanded the army, overran that ruler's country and was besieging his capital when the Stagg sailed from Madras. Three French warships from Mauritius lay at the Cape taking in provisions for that island when Sir John Lindsay left. The Dutch were further reported to have refused to supply the French with wheat any longer. 3: Mr Matthew Purling applied to pay £1,600 0s 0d into the Company's cash. The Council accepted the money and gave him bills of exchange on the Court for that sum, payable to John Purling Esquire at 90 days' sight and dated the third day of the month. 4: Some useful rain fell towards the end of winter. The two months before the letter were extremely dry, however, and the Council feared a terrible situation for the island unless the summer rains came soon. The return of cattle fit for slaughter that year came to only 237 head. So small a number made it impossible to supply the market and the hospital. Interpretations The count of 237 cattle for slaughter was the figure on which the island's whole provisioning turned. The same herd had to feed the townspeople through the market, the sick in the hospital and the crews of calling ships, and the Council judged that it could not meet even the first two. The warning of 7 September 1771 that the spring rains might fail was thus borne out: the late winter rain gave brief relief, and two dry months followed. In the island's southern seasons those dry months fell in spring, when pasture should have recovered. Purling's remittance of £1,600 0s 0d was by far his largest. He sent £450 0s 0d to John Purling on 26 July 1771 and £600 0s 0d on 21 October 1771, so the three bills together moved £2,650 0s 0d to the same payee in under six months. The letter records this one as a formal application, perhaps because a sum of that size from a sitting councillor needed the Council's express consent. Sums on this scale point to private trade or lending on the island well beyond any official salary. The news from the Cape bore directly on the island's own position. Mauritius depended on the Dutch settlement for grain, and a refusal of wheat put the French island under strain. St Helena looked to the same settlement for sheep, as the letter of 7 September 1771 showed, so any tightening of Dutch supply touched both islands. Three French warships provisioning there also told the Court what naval strength France kept in those waters. Tanjore was a wealthy Hindu kingdom in the south of India, inland from the Coromandel coast. The campaign reported here was fought by the Madras army, and news of it reached the Court by this route months before the official dispatches from Fort St George could arrive. A packet, in the case of the Lapwing, was a small fast vessel employed to carry dispatches, as distinct from the large ships that carried cargo. | |
319 | the Ships of this Season proper refreshment, without we receive§ | The shortage of cattle also left the island unable to give that season's ships proper fresh food unless sheep came from the Cape by the early ships. Two years of failed rains reduced the island's livestock severely. Even with good seasons afterwards, the Council expected recovery from those losses to take some years. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille and [...] Purling signed the letter at St Helena on 4 February 1772. A new general letter to the Court of Directors then began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on 4 February 1772 by the King's ship Stagg. 2: The British King arrived from China on 28 February 1772. Captain Hoare reported leaving China on 25 November 1771. The Company's ships Earl of Elgin, Stafford, Bute, Northumberland, Glatton, Sea Horse, Calcutta, Cruttenden, Thames, York, Horsenden, Pacific, Grenville, Duke of Richmond, Salisbury, Queen and Grosvenor were among those he left there. Interpretations The Council sent its letter of 4 February 1772 by a royal warship. Company correspondence normally waited for a Company ship, whose commander signed a receipt for the packet. The Stagg was the first vessel to call since the Duke of Portland took the letter of 10 November 1771, and the homeward China fleet was still weeks away. Using her got the warning about livestock to London in time for the Court to order sheep by its early ships, which a later letter could not have done. That warning had hardened over five months. The letter of 7 September 1771 feared that the spring rains would fail again. By February the Council was reporting two failed years and a herd that would need several good seasons to rebuild, with only 237 cattle available for slaughter. The island's value to the Company lay in feeding ships on the long passage home, so a lasting shortage of meat threatened the purpose for which it was held. The 17 ships named at China show the scale of the fleet due to call at the island in the following months. Each expected fresh provisions for a crew weakened by the passage, as the losses of the Prime to scurvy in July 1771 demonstrated. Captain Hoare's list therefore gave the Court shipping intelligence and at the same time measured the demand about to fall on an island that could not supply its own market and hospital. | |
320 | Talbot, & Ankerwyke there, he also tells Us there were§ | Captain Hoare's list of Company ships at China closed with the Talbot and the Ankerwyke. Foreign and private shipping was also there that season: two English country ships, one Danish ship, one Swedish, four Dutch, two French and a snow from Mauritius. The Earl of Elgin, Stafford, Bute and Northumberland were due to sail about a fortnight after he left Canton. The Ponsborne arrived from Bengal on the fourth day of the month, coming last from the Cape. Captain Hough reported sailing from Bengal on 3 December 1771 together with the Morse, which reached the Cape some days before he left it. He left the Lord North, Asia, Speke, Rochford and Lord Holland at Bengal, and the Lord North was to sail soon afterwards to complete her cargo on the Coast. Three French warships and two transports lay at the Cape when he departed. Report had it that the warships would wait there for orders from Europe. 3: Governor Skottowe and the Council reported with satisfaction that every leeward valley was walled up and the work complete. The masonry of the officers' barracks was nearly finished. Once it was done, the Council intended to start building the church. 4: The general books of accounts, balanced to 30 September 1771, went home with the letter. 5: The passengers on these ships were Captain Burnet aboard the British King, and Messrs Edwith, Hadley and Bird, Mr Williams and Mrs Hadley aboard the Ponsborne. Interpretations The Council put the church last in its building order. Fortification came first, then housing for the officers, and only afterwards the place of worship, although the island had a resident clergyman in Mr Bearcroft. The letter of 7 September 1771 applied the same ranking when it promised the engineer a house only after "the more essential works" were done. Defence and the garrison's needs governed how the island's few masons were used. Walling up the leeward valleys closed the island's weak points. The coast was cliff almost everywhere, and the narrow valleys running down to the sheltered north-western shore were the only places where an enemy could land from boats. A masonry wall across each valley mouth, with guns behind it, turned those gaps into defended lines. The same walls made it harder for soldiers to reach the shore unseen, a matter of fresh concern after the desertion plot at Lemon Valley on 30 September 1771. Country ships were privately owned vessels trading between Asian ports under the Company's licence, as distinct from the Company's own ships sailing to and from Europe. A snow was a two-masted merchant vessel, smaller than a ship. The count of foreign vessels at Canton told the Court how much competition its supercargoes faced for that season's teas. The French squadron at the Cape appeared for the second time. The letter of 4 February 1772 reported three warships there provisioning for Mauritius, and they were now joined by two transports and said to be awaiting orders from Europe. A force held ready on the route home was of direct concern to an island that lay on the same route and had just finished its sea defences. The "Coast" meant the Coromandel coast of south-eastern India. A ship that could not load a full cargo at Bengal called there to take in the remainder before sailing for England. | |
321 | 6 This day arrived a Dane Ship from China§ | 6: A Danish ship from China arrived on the day of the letter. She was the Queen Sophia Magdalena, Captain Nomus, of about 1,100 tons, carrying 26 guns and 160 men. Her cargo was tea, chinaware and silk, and she was bound for Copenhagen. 7: Captain Hough applied for leave to stop at Ascension to collect turtle, and the Council allowed him to call there for that purpose. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille and [...] Purling signed the letter at St Helena on 10 March 1772. A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Ponsborne, dated 10 March 1772. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 10 March 1772. 2: Letter from the Governor and Council dated 10 March 1772 relating to law matters. 3: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 10 November 1771. 4: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 4 February 1772. 5: Duplicate letter from the Governor and Council dated 10 November 1771 relating to law matters. 6: Consultations from 11 November 1771 to 9 March 1772. 7: Duplicate consultations from 9 September to 4 November 1771. Interpretations The description of the Danish ship was a piece of commercial intelligence. Her tonnage, guns, crew and cargo told the Court exactly what a rival company was bringing to Europe from Canton that season. Tea, chinaware and silk were the same goods the Company's own China ships carried, and much of the tea landed at Copenhagen was smuggled on into Britain, where heavy duties made the Company's tea dear. The Danish vessel seen by Captain Hoare at China, reported earlier in the same letter, was probably this ship. The packet carried duplicates of two general letters, those of 10 November 1771 and 4 February 1772. No Company ship left the island between the Duke of Portland in November and the Ponsborne in March, and the February letter went by the King's ship Stagg without the usual enclosures. The Ponsborne was therefore the first vessel able to carry second copies of both, along with four months of consultations in a single set. | |
322 | 8 First Receipt for the Packet [...] Ship Duke of Portland§ | The list of papers in the packet continued with 27 further items. 8: First receipt for the packet sent by the Duke of Portland. 9: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Prime. 10: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the True Briton. 11: List of officers and servants taken on 10 March 1772. 12: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Duke of Portland. 13: Duplicate list of families taken on 30 September 1771. 14: Duplicate list of stock taken on 30 September 1771. 15: Duplicate list of slaves taken on 30 September 1771. 16: Effective state of the garrison. 17: Muster rolls of the garrison. 18: Cash account from 11 to 30 November 1771. 19: Cash account for the month of December 1771. 20: Cash account for the month of January 1772. 21: Cash account for the month of February 1772. 22: Cash account from 1 to 10 March 1772. 23: Duplicate cash account from 8 to 30 September 1771. 24: Duplicate cash account for the month of October 1771. 25: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 10 November 1771. 26: Account of the Ponsborne. 27: Duplicate account of the Duke of Portland. 28: Duplicate account of the Pigot. 29: Proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 8 January 1772. 30: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 9 October 1771. 31: Abstract of the cargoes of the Ponsborne and the British King. 32: Time of arrival of the ships' boats at Banks's. 33: Courts martial from 4 March 1771 to 2 March 1772. 34: General books of accounts. Interpretations The courts martial went home as a single yearly set covering 4 March 1771 to 2 March 1772. The general court martial of 24 October 1771 travelled separately in the packet of 10 November 1771, because the Council wanted the Court to see at once how the second desertion plot was punished. The annual set gave London the full record of military discipline, from which it could judge how often and how severely the garrison's officers resorted to trial. The general books of accounts were the island's complete ledgers, balanced to 30 September 1771 as the letter of 10 March 1772 stated. The short cash accounts sent with every ship showed only money received and paid out. The general books set out every head of expense and every debt owed to or by the island, and allowed the Company's accountants in London to audit the year as a whole. | |
323 | To the Honble &c§ | A new general letter to the Court of Directors began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on 10 March 1772 by the Ponsborne. 2: Governor Skottowe and the Council ordered Captain Hoare to take 12 invalid soldiers aboard his ship. John Marsh John Robinson Stephen Redding Thomas Pearce William Phillips William Children Jasper Jasperman John Johnson James Hadley Henry Bayfield John Eastman Murdock McCleod The Council recommended Murdock McCleod as a fit person for the Military Fund because of his long service and the loss of the use of his left arm. He received the proper certificates. Captain Hoare was paid £60 0s 0d for the passage of the 12 invalids. His receipt went in the packet with the certificates for McCleod and the other invalids. A written undertaking was also enclosed, in which the men agreed to claim no wages for the voyage home. 3: The Council issued two sets of bills of exchange, both drawn at 90 days' sight and dated the same day as the letter. Captain Daniel Griffiths Hoare, payable to himself, £1,300 0s 0d Mr James Farrel, payable to himself, £100 0s 0d 4: Captain Hoare applied for leave to call at Ascension to collect turtle, and the Council gave him permission. Interpretations The written undertaking closed off a claim the invalids might otherwise have made. Soldiers sent home as passengers sometimes helped to work a short-handed ship and then demanded seamen's wages from her owners on arrival. The Company paid £5 0s 0d a head for these men, the same rate as for the seven invalids sent in the Prime on 7 September 1771, and that fare covered their passage in full. A signed paper sent ahead to London gave the owners and the Company a defence against any later demand. No such document accompanied the invalids of September 1771, which suggests that a dispute of this kind had arisen in the meantime or that the Court asked for the safeguard. Twelve invalids in one ship was the largest group sent home in this run of letters, after seven in September 1771. Added to the nine soldiers discharged in the same period and the six men lost from Lemon Valley on 30 September 1771, the departures show why the Council asked on 29 August 1771 for 60 recruits. Captain Hoare's bill for £1,300 0s 0d was payable to himself. A commander homeward bound from China sold his private trade goods at the island for cash, and paying that cash into the treasury turned it into a claim on the Company in London without the risk of carrying coin for the rest of the voyage. | |
324 | to touch there for that purpose.§ | Captain Hoare was allowed to stop at Ascension for that purpose. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille and [...] Purling signed the letter at St Helena on 12 March 1772. A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the British King, dated 12 March 1772. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 12 March 1772. 2: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 10 March 1772. 3: Duplicate letter from the Governor and Council dated 10 March 1772 relating to law matters. 4: Consultation of 12 March 1772. 5: Duplicate consultations from 11 November 1771 to 9 March 1772. 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the Ponsborne. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Duke of Portland. 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Ponsborne. 9: Effective state of the garrison. 10: Cash account from 11 to 12 March 1772. 11: Duplicate cash account from 11 to 30 November 1771. 12: Duplicate cash account for the month of December 1771. 13: Duplicate cash account for the month of January 1772. Interpretations The British King left two days after the Ponsborne, and her packet was built almost wholly of duplicates. Only the letter of 12 March 1772, a single consultation and a cash account covering two days were new. The Council nonetheless sent a full second set of four months' consultations and accounts by her. Two ships sailing so close together offered the best chance of getting both copies home quickly by separate vessels, after a winter in which no Company ship called between November and March. | |
325 | No 14 Duplicate Cash Account for the Month of Feby 1772§ | The list of papers in the packet continued with 10 further items. 14: Duplicate cash account for the month of February 1772. 15: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 10 March 1772. 16: Account of the British King. 17: Duplicate account of the Ponsborne. 18: Duplicate proceedings of a general quarterly court held on 8 January 1772. 19: List of 12 discharged soldiers. 20: Surgeon's certificate for 11 invalid soldiers. 21: Certificate from the Governor and Council for Murdock McCleod, an invalid recommended for the Military Fund. 22: Written undertaking from 12 invalid soldiers. 23: First receipt from Captain Hoare for £60 0s 0d. A new general letter to the Court of Directors then began. The Council wrote to the Court on 12 March 1772 by the British King and used the same ship a day later to add a short note. The Morse had just arrived from the Cape. She brought no news from that place beyond what the Council reported by the Ponsborne. Governor Skottowe and Daniel Corneille signed the letter at St Helena on 13 March 1772. Interpretations The Council wrote a separate letter for a single piece of news. The British King had not yet sailed, and the arrival of the Morse could have waited for the next packet. Captain Hough reported on 10 March 1772 that three French warships and two transports lay at the Cape awaiting orders from Europe. The Court would want to know whether a ship leaving the Cape later brought any change, so a note saying that nothing further was known had real value as intelligence. The surgeon certified 11 invalids while 12 men signed the undertaking to claim no wages. Murdock McCleod made up the difference, as George Oliver did in the packet of 7 September 1771. His recommendation to the Military Fund went under the government's own certificate, and the other 11 were returned simply as unfit. | |
326 | To the Honble &c§ | A new general letter to the Court of Directors began. The Council wrote to the Court by the British King, which sailed on 13 March 1772, simply to report the arrival of the Morse. A Swedish ship from China arrived on 14 March 1772. The officer who came ashore in her boat reported leaving the Earl of Elgin at Princes Island on 16 January 1772. That ship leaked so badly that her crew kept the pumps working day and night. The Swedish vessel left Canton on 21 December 1771, and the Stafford was due to sail from there a day or two later. The letter went by the Danish ship Queen Sophia Magdalena. Governor Skottowe and [...] Purling signed the letter at St Helena on 14 March 1772. Interpretations The Council entrusted this letter to a foreign ship. Company correspondence normally waited for a Company vessel, whose commander signed a receipt for the packet, and the Danes were commercial rivals bound for Copenhagen, not London. The British King had sailed the day before and no other Company ship lay in the road. News that the Earl of Elgin was in danger of foundering could not wait, since the Court and the ship's owners and insurers needed the earliest possible warning. The letter held nothing confidential, so the risk of sending it through foreign hands was small. The report on the Earl of Elgin changed the picture given four days earlier. Captain Hoare stated in the letter of 10 March 1772 that she was to sail from Canton about a fortnight after he left on 25 November 1771. By 16 January 1772 she had got only as far as Princes Island and was kept afloat by constant pumping, with the whole passage across the Indian Ocean and round the Cape still ahead of her. Princes Island lay in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. Homeward ships from China stopped there for wood and water before entering the Indian Ocean, which made it the last place in the eastern seas where one vessel could gather news of another. | |
327 | To the Honble &c§ | A new general letter to the Court of Directors began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court by the Danish ship that sailed on 14 March 1772. 2: The passengers aboard the Morse were Messrs Russell, Kelsall, May, Palmer and Chester and Mrs May. 3: Captain Watson bought 40 head of black cattle at the Cape on the Company's account. Only 21 were landed at the island, and the rest died on the passage. He told the Council that he drew on the Court for the cost. A copy of his account was entered in the consultation of 16 March 1772. The Council regretted having to raise the matter of Cape livestock once more. It had asked repeatedly for sheep, and the Court recommended its homeward captains to bring sheep from the Cape instead of cattle. Experience showed that sheep suited the island far better, since they could be used at once. Cattle proved very costly because so many died at sea and more died after landing. The survivors arrived in such poor condition that they could not be slaughtered for 18 months or two years. The Council also had grounds to suspect that cattle from the Cape introduced the disease then present on the island, which was unknown there before those animals came. Captain Hoare, though commanding an early ship, did not call at the Cape. Captain Hough did call there and brought no supplies of any kind for the island. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille and [...] Purling signed the letter at St Helena on 19 March 1772. Interpretations Captain Watson bought cattle where the Council and the Court both wanted sheep. The Court's wish reached its captains only as a recommendation, which left the choice to each commander, and the letter shows three of them using that freedom in three ways. Hoare bypassed the Cape, Hough called and brought nothing, and Watson brought the wrong animal. The Council's complaint was therefore aimed less at Watson than at the weakness of an instruction that bound nobody. Setting the three cases side by side made the argument for a firm order. The purchase was also poor value on its own terms. Watson drew on the Court for all 40 animals, so the Company paid for 19 that died at sea. The 21 landed could not be eaten for up to two years and needed pasture in the meantime. That pasture was already failing: the letter of 4 February 1772 reported two years of poor rains and only 237 cattle fit for slaughter. Lean cattle added mouths to a starved range, whereas sheep could go straight to the market, the hospital and the ships. The suspicion about disease added a further charge. An infection brought in with Cape cattle threatened the island's own herd, the stock on which recovery depended. The Council offered this as a reasoned inference from timing, since the disorder appeared only after such cattle were received, and did not claim proof. Black cattle was the ordinary term of the period for horned cattle of any colour kept for beef, as distinct from horses or sheep. Drawing on the Court meant that Watson paid the Cape sellers with a bill which the Company in London had to honour, so the cost fell on the Company at home and never passed through the island's treasury. | |
328 | List of the Honble Companys Packet from St. Helena [...] Ship§ | A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Morse, dated 19 March 1772. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 19 March 1772. 2: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 12 March 1772. 3: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 13 March 1772. 4: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 14 March 1772. 5: Consultation of 16 March 1772. 6: Duplicate consultation of 12 March 1772. 7: First receipt for the packet sent by the British King. 8: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the British King. 9: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Danish ship. 10: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the British King. 11: Effective state of the garrison. 12: Cash account from 13 to 19 March 1772. 13: Duplicate cash account from 11 to 12 March 1772. 14: Account of the Morse. 15: Duplicate account of the British King. 16: Duplicate surgeon's certificate for 11 invalid soldiers. 17: Second receipt from Captain Hoare for £60 0s 0d. 18: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Ponsborne. 19: Abstract of the cargo of the Morse. 20: Time of arrival of the boat of the Morse at Banks's. Interpretations The Danish captain signed a receipt for the letter of 14 March 1772, just as a Company commander would. The Council thus applied its own safeguard to a foreign carrier over whom the Company held no authority. The receipt could not make a Danish officer answerable in London, but it gave the Court proof that the letter left the island and by which ship. A duplicate of that letter travelled in the Morse as well, so the news of the leaking Earl of Elgin did not depend on the goodwill of a rival company. Three short letters written on 12, 13 and 14 March 1772 all went home again in this packet. Each first travelled alone, two by the British King and one by the Danish ship, and the Morse was the earliest vessel able to carry second copies of all three. | |
329 | To the Honble &c§ | A new general letter to the Court of Directors began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on 19 March 1772 by the Morse. 2: The Northumberland arrived from China on 28 March 1772, coming last from the Cape. The Bute arrived on the second day of the following month and the Stafford on the night before the letter, both from China. Captain Lell reported seeing a ship under English colours entering the Cape as he rounded it. He also saw a homeward-bound French snow on the St Helena side of the Cape. 3: A French brigadier general from the Cape and a supercargo from China came to the island as passengers in the Northumberland. The Governor of Mauritius allowed no Company gentleman to go ashore at that island. Governor Skottowe and the Council therefore treated these two passengers in the same way and kept them aboard. The brigadier general in particular was reported to be a very good engineer, which made him an unsuitable person to let ashore. 4: Unusually high surf in recent weeks made several breaches in the wharf leading to the landing place. The Council had no choice but to repair them as soon as possible. 5: Captain Rutford was ordered to take three discharged soldiers aboard his ship to make up her crew. Edward Steventon Henry Earnshaw Joseph [...] The Council also put William Freeman aboard the Northumberland. He was a carpenter's mate who suffered an injury to his chest, as his petition showed. That petition was entered in the consultation of 16 March 1772, which went home by the Morse, and the Council referred the Court to it. Freeman came to the island as a soldier and was recently discharged from the garrison on his appointment as carpenter's mate. He behaved extremely well during his five years on the island, and the Council hoped the Court would consider him deserving of its protection. Interpretations The Council confined two passengers to their ship, although travellers from homeward vessels normally came ashore to recover during a stay. Two reasons appear in the letter. The first was reciprocity: the French shut Company men out of Mauritius, and the letter of 10 November 1771 recorded how they held the crew of the Verelst and disabled a Danish ship there. The second was specific to the brigadier general. A trained engineer walking through the town could judge the batteries, the newly walled leeward valleys reported on 10 March 1772 and the rebuilt powder magazine. With French warships reported at the Cape awaiting orders from Europe, the Council would not give such an observer a view of the defences. A supercargo was the merchant who travelled with a ship to manage the buying and selling of her cargo. This one was returning from Canton, and both men were evidently making their way to Europe by an English ship. The wharf was the island's only practical landing. The anchorage lay open to the ocean swell, and periods of heavy surf, known locally as rollers, could make landing dangerous and damage the masonry. Every cask of water, every bullock and every passenger passed over it, so breaches there interrupted the supply of ships at the start of the busy homeward season. Freeman's case rested on the Council's good word. A man hurt in the Company's service on the island had no automatic claim once discharged from the garrison, since the Military Fund served soldiers. Asking for the Court's protection invited it to grant him some relief as a favour, on the strength of five years' good conduct. | |
330 | we have paid Capt. Mitford £5 for his Passage his Receipt§ | The Council paid Captain Rutford £5 0s 0d for Freeman's passage. His receipt went in the packet together with a paper signed by Freeman, in which he agreed to claim no wages for the voyage home. 6: No cash account could go by this ship except the duplicate of the earlier one. The quarter's accounts were not due before the Council until 20 April 1772. 7: Captain Rutford asked for leave to call at Ascension to collect turtle, and the Council allowed him to stop there for that purpose. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille and [...] Purling signed the letter at St Helena on 6 April 1772. A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Northumberland, dated 6 April 1772. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 6 April 1772. 2: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 19 March 1772. 3: Consultations from 19 March to 6 April 1772. 4: Duplicate consultation of 16 March 1772. 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Morse. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the British King. 7: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the British King. 8: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Danish ship. 9: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Morse. 10: Effective state of the garrison. 11: Muster rolls of the garrison. 12: Duplicate cash account from 13 to 19 March 1772. Interpretations Freeman signed the same kind of undertaking as the 12 invalids sent home in the British King on 12 March 1772. His case shows why the safeguard mattered. A carpenter's mate was a skilled hand whom a short-handed ship could put to work, and the Northumberland was taking three discharged soldiers at the same time to fill out her crew. The fare of £5 0s 0d, the rate paid for each invalid, marked him as a passenger carried at the Company's cost. His signed paper prevented any later claim on the owners for seaman's pay. The gap in the cash accounts repeated the one explained on 3 July 1771, when the quarter's accounts were not due until 16 July 1771. At each quarter's end the Council sent no fresh statement until the accounts were formally laid before it, so a ship sailing in the first weeks of a new quarter carried only a duplicate. | |
331 | No. 13 Ship Northumberlands Account§ | The list of papers in the packet continued with seven further items. 13: Account of the Northumberland. 14: Duplicate account of the Morse. 15: Abstract of the cargoes of the Northumberland, the Bute and the Stafford. 16: Time of arrival of the ships' boats at Banks's. 17: First receipt from Captain Rutford for £5 0s 0d. 18: Written undertaking from William Freeman. 19: List of 3 discharged soldiers. A new general letter to the Court of Directors then began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court by the Northumberland, which left the island on 6 April 1772. 2: The Earl of Elgin arrived from China in a leaky state on the eighth day of the month. She came to off Munden's Point, but a very strong wind drove her out into 60 fathoms of water, where she lay at anchor. 3: The Council issued two sets of bills of exchange, both drawn at 90 days' sight and dated the same day as the letter. Mr William Wrangham, payable to John May Esquire, £50 0s 0d The Reverend Mr William Bearcroft, payable to Captain John Rutford, £145 16s 0d 4: Captain Maitland applied for leave to stop at Ascension to collect turtle, and the Council allowed him to call there for that purpose. 5: The boat of the Glatton arrived as the letter was being written. Interpretations The Earl of Elgin survived a passage that the Council had reason to fear she would not. The letter of 14 March 1772 reported her at Princes Island on 16 January 1772, kept afloat by pumping day and night. Her arrival answered that alarm, though her position remained poor. Sixty fathoms was far deeper than the usual anchorage close under the town, and a ship lying so far out was hard to reach by boat for water, provisions or repairs. A leaking vessel with a tired crew thus lay exposed at the edge of the road, in a season when heavy surf had already breached the wharf. Mr Bearcroft's bill was payable to Captain Rutford, the commander who carried the previous packet. The clergyman probably bought goods from the captain's private trade during the ship's stay and settled the debt through the treasury, as Matthew Purling did with Captain Mears on 26 July 1771. A purchase of £145 16s 0d sits beside his request for a higher salary, forwarded to the Court on 7 September 1771. | |
332 | Officer that came on shore acquaints Us they have not seen§ | The officer who came ashore from the Glatton reported that her crew saw no ship during the passage. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille and [...] Purling signed the letter at St Helena on 10 April 1772. A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Bute, dated 10 April 1772. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 10 April 1772. 2: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 6 April 1772. 3: Consultation of 10 April 1772. 4: Duplicate consultations from 23 March to 6 April 1772. 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Northumberland. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Morse. 7: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Northumberland. 8: Effective state of the garrison. 9: Account of the Bute. 10: Duplicate account of the Northumberland. 11: Time of arrival of the boat of the Earl of Elgin at Banks's. 12: Second receipt from Captain Rutford for £5 0s 0d. Interpretations The duplicate consultations appear here as running from 23 March to 6 April 1772, whereas the packet list of 6 April 1772 gave the original set as starting on 19 March 1772. The earlier date is the more probable, since a duplicate repeated the original set in full. No cash account of any kind travelled in this packet. The letter of 6 April 1772 explained that the quarter's accounts were not due before the Council until 20 April 1772, and the only available duplicate had already gone by the Northumberland four days earlier. | |
333 | To the Honble &c§ | A new general letter to the Court of Directors began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court by the Bute, which left the island on 11 April 1772. 2: Governor Skottowe and the Council ordered Captain Lell to take three discharged soldiers aboard his ship to help make up the crew of the Stafford. William Metcalf John Willson Joseph Purdy 3: James Hogg, formerly carpenter's mate, died without leaving a will. The Council received £53 4s 4d into the Company's cash on the day of the letter. That sum was what his belongings raised after his debts were paid, and it was credited to the London current account. 4: Captain Lell asked for leave to call at Ascension to collect turtle, and the Council allowed him to stop there for that purpose. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille and [...] Purling signed the letter at St Helena on 13 April 1772. Interpretations Hogg's estate followed the route used for Patrick Elliott's on 22 June 1771. With no will and no executor on the island, the government acted as administrator: it sold the dead man's goods, paid his local creditors first and kept the remainder. Crediting £53 4s 4d to the London current account left the cash in the island's treasury and made the Company at home answerable to whoever proved a claim as next of kin in England. Creditors on the island were thus paid in full before any heir, and the heirs had to apply in London. Hogg's death probably explains William Freeman's recent appointment as carpenter's mate, recorded in the letter of 6 April 1772. Freeman was discharged from the garrison to take that post, was then injured and went home in the Northumberland, so the island lost two holders of the same skilled post within a short time. The Stafford was the third ship in this run of letters to make up her crew from discharged soldiers, after the Prime on 7 September 1771 and the Northumberland on 6 April 1772. Ships arriving short-handed from China gave the Council a ready means of sending home men whose service had ended, at no cost in passage money. | |
334 | List of the Honble Company's Packet from St. Helena [...] Ship§ | A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Stafford, dated 13 April 1772. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 13 April 1772. 2: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 10 April 1772. 3: Consultation of 13 April 1772. 4: Duplicate consultation of 10 April 1772. 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Bute. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Northumberland. 7: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Bute. 8: Effective state of the garrison. 9: Account of the Stafford. 10: Duplicate account of the Bute. 11: Time of arrival of the boat of the Glatton at Banks's. 12: Abstract of the cargoes of the Earl of Elgin and the Glatton. 13: List of 3 discharged soldiers. A new general letter to the Court of Directors then began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on 13 April 1772 by the Stafford. 2: Two ships arrived on 15 April 1772. The Dutton came from Bombay, last from the Cape, and the Lord Camden came from England. The second brought a packet from the Court, which the Council opened to read the orders and instructions it contained. Mr Matthew Bazett then took his seat, as paragraph 17 of the Court's letter directed. Interpretations The Court's packet changed the membership of the island's government. Mr Matthew Bazett took a seat by order from London, set out in a numbered paragraph of the Court's letter, and not by any choice of the Governor and Council. Appointments to the Council lay with the Court alone, as the letter of 29 August 1771 showed for military commissions when the vacancy meant for Richard Powell went to Lauchlan Leslie. A Lieutenant Thomas Bazett served in the garrison and helped pursue the Lemon Valley deserters on 30 September 1771, so the new member perhaps belonged to a family already established on the island. | |
335 | List of the Honble Company's Packet from St. Helena [...] Ship§ | Mr Matthew Bazett joined the Council as its fourth member and offered the Court his humble thanks for the favour shown him. The ships then in the road sailed so soon after the Lord Camden arrived that no reply to the Court's letter could go by them. The Council promised an answer by the first convenient ship. 3: Captain Rice reported leaving Bombay on 25 December 1771, with the Company's ships Shrewsbury, Hampshire and Godfrey still there. He met a homeward-bound French ship at sea in latitude 33 degrees. Four French warships lay at the Cape, bound for France with a large number of troops from Mauritius aboard. The Nottingham and the Earl of Lincoln were at the Cape when he left. He saw an English ship entering Table Bay on the day he came out but did not speak with her. 4: The passengers aboard the Dutton were Colonels Keating and Kay, Mr and Mrs Nowland, Mr and Mrs Smith and Messrs Pemberton, Loubard, Crandale and Scott. Mr Barlow travelled aboard the Earl of Elgin. 5: Captains Rice and Wilkinson applied for leave to stop at Ascension to collect turtle, and the Council allowed them to call there for that purpose. 6: The letter went by the Dutton, and a copy went by the Earl of Elgin. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille, Matthew Purling and Matthew Bazett signed the letter at St Helena on 19 April 1772. Interpretations The Council sent the ships away without answering the Court's letter. Holding the Dutton and the Earl of Elgin for a few days would have allowed a full reply, since the packet arrived on 15 April 1772 and the letter was signed four days later. Detaining homeward ships exposed the Company to claims for delay, however, and the Earl of Elgin was a leaking vessel lying in 60 fathoms off an open road. The Council therefore sent only an acknowledgement and the seating of the new member, and left the substance for a later ship. Captain Rice's report resolved the question raised by earlier letters. French warships were noted at the Cape on 4 February 1772 and again on 10 March 1772, when they were said to be waiting for orders from Europe. Four of them were now bound for France carrying many troops from Mauritius. A squadron taking soldiers home pointed to a reduction of French strength in the Indian Ocean, not a gathering of it, which was welcome news for an island that had kept a French engineer aboard his ship on 6 April 1772. Bazett's seat as fourth of Council enlarged a government of three. The dispute between Captain Tippet and the Lieutenant Governor in October 1771 showed the weakness of so small a body, since only the Governor and Mr Purling could give opinions when the third member was himself accused. A fourth councillor made a working majority possible in such a case. | |
336 | List of the Honble Company's Packet from St. Helena [...]§ | A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Dutton, dated 19 April 1772. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 19 April 1772. 2: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 13 April 1772. 3: Consultation of 16 April 1772. 4: Duplicate consultation of 13 April 1772. 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Stafford. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Bute. 7: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Stafford. 8: Effective state of the garrison. 9: Account of the Earl of Elgin. 10: Account of the Dutton. 11: Duplicate account of the Stafford. 12: Time of arrival of the boat of the Dutton at Banks's. 13: Abstract of the cargo of the Dutton. A new general letter to the Court of Directors then began. 1: The Council wrote to the Court on 19 April 1772 by the Dutton and sent a copy by the Earl of Elgin. 2: The Council issued several sets of bills of exchange, of which the first three were as follows. Mr Matthew Purling, payable to John Purling Esquire, £460 0s 0d Captain Richard Doveton, payable to himself, £1,000 0s 0d Captain Henry Rice, payable to himself, £200 0s 0d Interpretations Matthew Purling's bill for £460 0s 0d was his fourth to John Purling in nine months. He sent £450 0s 0d on 26 July 1771, £600 0s 0d on 21 October 1771 and £1,600 0s 0d in the letter of 4 February 1772, so the four together moved £3,110 0s 0d to the same payee. Sums of that size from one councillor point to private trade or lending on the island on a considerable scale, with the Company's treasury serving as his channel for sending the proceeds home. The packet carried no cash account, original or duplicate. The letter of 6 April 1772 explained that the quarter's accounts were not due before the Council until 20 April 1772, one day after this packet closed. | |
337 | to Mr. John Brown for one hundred pounds payable to himself all§ | The fourth set of bills went to Mr John Brown for £100 0s 0d, payable to himself. All four sets were drawn at 90 days' sight and dated the same day as the letter. 3: Captain Doveton received a permit to take two discharged soldiers, Arundel Cairnes and John Perry, aboard his ship and carry them to England. Both men signed a paper agreeing to claim no wages for the passage, and it went in the packet. 4: The consultation held on the day of the letter could not go by this ship, because the quarter's accounts were entered in it. 5: Captain Doveton asked for leave to stop at Ascension to collect turtle, and the Council allowed him to call there for that purpose. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille, Matthew Purling and Matthew Bazett signed the letter at St Helena on 20 April 1772. Interpretations The Council held back a consultation that would normally have travelled with the letter of the same date. The letter of 6 April 1772 stated that the quarter's accounts were due before the Council on 20 April 1772, and they were duly laid that day and written into the minutes. A consultation carrying a full quarter's accounts was probably too long to copy fair before the ship sailed. Sending the letter alone avoided delaying a homeward vessel, and the minutes could follow by the next ship. Cairnes and Perry went home on different terms from the other discharged soldiers in these letters. The men put aboard the Prime, the Northumberland and the Stafford were sent by order to make up short crews, and so worked their passage as hands. These two travelled by permit as passengers. The undertaking to claim no wages, first used for the 12 invalids on 12 March 1772 and again for William Freeman on 6 April 1772, was therefore extended to them. No passage money was recorded, which suggests that the captain agreed to carry them without charge to the Company. | |
338 | List of the Honble Companys Packet from St. Helena [...] Ship§ | A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Glatton, dated 20 April 1772. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 20 April 1772. 2: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 19 April 1772. 3: Duplicate consultation of 16 April 1772. 4: First receipt for the packet sent by the Dutton. 5: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Earl of Elgin. 6: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Stafford. 7: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Dutton. 8: Effective state of the garrison. 9: Account of the Glatton. 10: Duplicate account of the Dutton. 11: Duplicate account of the Earl of Elgin. 12: List of 2 discharged soldiers. 13: Written undertaking from the 2 discharged soldiers. 14: Cash account from 20 to 31 March 1772. 15: Cash account from 1 to 20 April 1772. 16: Letter from the Governor to the Secret Committee. A new general letter to the Court of Directors then began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on 20 April 1772 by the Glatton. 2: News that every Company ship of the previous season arrived safely pleased the Council, which hoped for the same good fortune for the ships of the current year. Interpretations The cash accounts resumed with this packet. The last account sent home ran to 19 March 1772, and the letters of 6 and 10 April 1772 carried no new one because the quarter's accounts were not yet laid before the Council. Once that was done on 20 April 1772, the statements for the rest of March and for April to date could go at once, leaving no gap in the Court's record of the treasury. The letter to the Secret Committee came from Governor Skottowe alone. The earlier one, listed in the packet of 17 June 1771, was signed by the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor together. Confidential correspondence bypassed the full Council in both cases, but here it bypassed Daniel Corneille as well. The Court's packet by the Lord Camden arrived five days before, and the Governor was perhaps answering secret instructions addressed to him personally. The packet list identifies Captain Doveton's ship. The two discharged soldiers and their undertaking, described in the letter of 20 April 1772, travelled in the Glatton, so Doveton commanded her. His bill for £1,000 0s 0d payable to himself matches the pattern set by Captain Hoare on 12 March 1772, a China commander turning the proceeds of his private trade at the island into a claim on the Company in London. | |
339 | Our Consultation of the 29th of April that We dispatched the Ship Lord§ | The Council sent the Lord Camden on her way as soon as her ten working days ran out, as the consultation of 29 April 1772 recorded. 4: With the Court's permission, the Council added to its China order for tea, sugar and candy. The details appeared in a letter to the Company's representatives at Canton, entered in the consultation of 29 April 1772. 5: The Council hoped that the supplies sent out that season would fully meet the island's needs for the coming year. 6: The Council welcomed the Court's decision to enforce its orders to the commanders of chartered ships. Any who called at the Cape on the way home were to buy sheep and corn for the island, and the Council hoped for better supplies in future as a result. The island had nonetheless suffered until then from the commanders' neglect of repeated instructions. Few ships called at the Cape that year. Among those that did, only Captain Watson brought black cattle and Captain Rice sheep on the Company's account. Captains Hough and Rutford each spared a few animals at the Council's special request, for immediate use by the sick in the hospital. 7: Three calves arrived by the Lord Camden. The Council had no doubt that they would serve their purpose of improving the island's breed of black cattle, and hoped the Court would continue sending such animals. 8: The Court's orders on the prices at which store goods were issued to the planters and inhabitants were announced by public notice. The islanders offered the Court their thanks for the concession. 9: The Council informed the Reverend Mr William Bearcroft of the Court's orders that he keep a register of all births, christenings, marriages and burials on the island. Both he and his predecessors always kept a regular register. Interpretations The ten working days were the time the charter allowed an outward-bound ship to unload at the island. Beyond that limit the owners could claim compensation for each day of delay. The Lord Camden arrived on 15 April 1772 and was cleared by 29 April 1772, exactly within her allowance. The Pigot, by contrast, arrived on 26 July 1771 and did not sail until 27 September 1771. Citing the consultation gave the Court a dated record that this time the island met the terms. The Court's letter turned a recommendation into an enforced order. The Council's complaint of 19 March 1772 showed why a mere recommendation failed: Captain Hoare bypassed the Cape, Captain Hough brought nothing for the island and Captain Watson bought cattle, of which 19 out of 40 died at sea. The present paragraph softened that account in one respect. Hough and Rutford did hand over a few animals, though only when asked and from their own ships' stock, not as a purchase for the Company. Corn was now added to sheep, a sign that two years of failed rains left the island short of grain as well as meat. The three calves from England served a different end from the Cape livestock. They were breeding animals, meant to raise the quality of the island's herd over time, whereas Cape stock was wanted for slaughter. They also came from a source free of the disease that the Council suspected Cape cattle of introducing. The China order was the island's yearly requisition on the Company's agents at Canton, who shipped the goods by homeward vessels calling at St Helena. Candy meant sugar candy, sugar crystallised into large hard lumps, a regular Chinese export that kept well in a damp sea climate. The Council needed leave to enlarge the order because such goods were bought with the Company's money and sold on the island from its stores. Those stores were the islanders' main source of imported goods, and the Court set the prices. The thanks returned for a concession indicate that the new prices were lower, a relief to planters whose own income from livestock had fallen with the drought. | |
340 | Register thereof, we shall by two conveyances annually§ | The Council undertook to send the Court an attested copy of Mr Bearcroft's register every year by two separate ships. 10: With the Court's permission, the Council discharged William Dowsing, a gunner, and intended to put him aboard the Africa to help make up her crew. The King's free pardon for Stephen Swartson also arrived. The Council released him from gaol on receiving it and planned to send him to England in the same ship, which was due to sail within a few days. 11: Mr Powell, the cadet whom the Court appointed a supernumerary lieutenant, was told of his promotion and offered his humble thanks. 12: Nagudale Poulim was informed that the Court allowed him to return to his own country. He appeared for the moment to decline. 13: Mr Matthew Bazett took his seat as fourth member of the Council, as the Court ordered, and was to receive the additional salary it directed. He sent his sincere thanks and promised to earn the Court's approval by faithful and diligent service. His promotion left a gap among the offices, which the Council filled as follows. Mr Matthew Bazett, accountant Mr [...] Alexander Wright, factor, secretary Mr John Goodwin, factor, collector of customs Mr Matthew Purling had long managed the accountant's office. He assured the Council that he would readily help in that or any other department whenever needed. 14: Mr John Bazett, a writer appointed to Bengal, was to travel there by way of Bencoolen aboard the Earl of Sandwich, as the Court directed and at no cost to the Company. Interpretations Swartson's pardon closed the case that began with the break-in at the Company's stores on 12 March 1771. Andrew Tedrick named him on 22 June 1771 as adviser and sharer in the stolen money, and both men went before the quarterly court of 10 July 1771. Tedrick was hanged. Swartson remained in gaol for some nine months until the King's pardon came, which shows that the Council did not carry out whatever sentence the court passed on him and referred his case to England instead. Executing both men was the course open to it. Tedrick's own insistence that he broke in alone, and his later invention and retraction of the magazine plot, probably made the Council unwilling to hang a second man on his word. The pardon freed Swartson but did not restore him to the garrison, and he left the island by the first ship. The Court's reply on Nagudale Poulim made the Council's accounting question of 3 July 1771 irrelevant for the time being. That letter asked whether his costs should be written off in London or charged to Fort Marlborough if he went back to Bencoolen. A prisoner of state who preferred exile to release suggests that return held more danger for him than St Helena did, and his maintenance continued as a charge on the island's books. The appointments show how the island's offices were shared out. Councillors held the senior executive posts in addition to their seats, so a new councillor brought a reshuffle. Factor was the civil rank above writer, and two factors took the posts of secretary and collector of customs. The accountant's office passed from Purling to Bazett. Purling had run the island's accounts during the months in which he remitted £3,110 0s 0d to John Purling through the same treasury, a combination of roles the Company's system permitted. Powell's commission granted the request made on 29 August 1771, when the Council pleaded his five months of good service and his father's long record after the vacancy went to Lauchlan Leslie. The Court accepted an extra officer above the fixed establishment on those grounds. John Bazett was the third of that surname in these letters, after Lieutenant Thomas Bazett and the new councillor. A writer's post in Bengal was among the most sought-after openings in the Company's service, and the family evidently had the interest in London to secure it. Travelling at his own cost meant that the favour extended only to the appointment. Sending the register by two ships applied the island's rule for all official papers to its parish records. An attested copy in London gave the Company legal proof of births, marriages and deaths, which mattered when the estates of men such as Patrick Elliott and James Hogg were claimed by heirs in England. | |
341 | a Surgeon of this Island shall succeed Mr. Barclay to the§ | 15: The Court appointed Mr Thomas Stroud a surgeon of the island, to take over Mr Barclay's pay and allowances whenever Barclay chose to resign from the Company's service. Stroud might spend some time on the island before Barclay left. The Council therefore agreed to give him full use of the medicine chest for his practice during that period. 16: John Fortune, the slave who was carried off from the island by force in one of the Company's longboats, was handed back to his mistress. The Council assured the Court that he would not be punished, since it regarded his departure as no act of his own will. 17: Four ships arrived within three days. The Speke came from Bengal and the Sea Horse from China on 28 April 1772, the Asia from Bengal on 29 April 1772 and the Thames from China on 30 April 1772. Captain Jackson reported leaving Bengal on 2 February 1772, with the Lord Holland, Rochford, Clive and Colebrooke still there. Captain Baker spoke with the Granby about two days after that ship left the Cape of Good Hope and found all well aboard. 18: A receipt for the Court's Europe packets sent by the Speke went home with the letter. The President and Council of Bengal enclosed it by mistake in their letter to the island by that ship. 19: The Council that day issued a set of bills of exchange to Mr [...] Doveton for £147 15s 0d, payable to Captain Richard Doveton or to his order. 20: The passengers aboard the Speke were Miss Poole, Joseph Jekyll Esquire, Thomas Forbes Esquire, Captains Mestayer and Goodyear and Messrs Allen, Hayden, Edwards and Parker. Major Grant, Captains Geary and Warren and Messrs Watts, Irvine and Young travelled aboard the Asia. 21: Captains Dampier and Baker applied for leave to stop at Ascension to collect turtle, and the Council allowed them to call there for that purpose. Interpretations The Council chose not to punish a slave who left the island. A slave found to have gone off in a boat was ordinarily treated as a runaway, and running away by sea was among the gravest offences a slave could commit there. Fortune's case turned on force. The deserters of 23 July 1770, whom the letter of 10 November 1771 reported as later seen in London, perhaps took him with them as an extra hand for the boat. His return from overseas, and the Court's evident interest in his treatment, fit that reading. Declaring his absence involuntary cleared him of the offence, and he was restored to his owner as her property. Stroud arrived with a promise of a post that was not yet vacant. The Court named him as successor, leaving the timing to Barclay, so he drew no surgeon's pay in the meantime. Access to the Company's medicine chest was the Council's answer to that gap. It let him treat private patients for fees and so support himself, at the cost only of medicines the Company supplied. A Mr Robert Barclay took a bill of exchange in the letter of 7 September 1771 and was probably this surgeon. The misplaced receipt shows the packet system at work across settlements. Bengal obtained a signed receipt from the commander of the Speke for the packets he carried to London, and that paper should have gone home by another ship. Having received it in error, the island simply passed it on, which served the same purpose of separating proof of dispatch from the packet itself. A bill payable to a named person "or to his order" could be signed over to someone else. Captain Richard Doveton sailed in the Glatton on 20 April 1772, so the bill followed him by a later ship, and he could collect the money in London or transfer it to a creditor. The buyer shared his surname and was probably a relative living on the island. | |
342 | 22 This Letter waited on your Honors by the Ship§ | 22: The letter went by the Sea Horse, and a copy went by the Cruttenden. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille, Matthew Purling and Matthew Bazett signed the letter at St Helena on 3 May 1772. A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Sea Horse, dated 3 May 1772. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 3 May 1772. 2: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 20 April 1772. 3: Consultations from 20 April to 2 May 1772. 4: First receipt for the packet sent by the Glatton. 5: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Dutton. 6: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Earl of Elgin. 7: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Glatton. 8: Effective state of the garrison. 9: Account of the Cruttenden. 10: Account of the Sea Horse. 11: Duplicate account of the Glatton. 12: Cash account from 21 to 30 April 1772. 13: Cash account from 1 to 3 May 1772. 14: Duplicate cash account from 20 to 31 March 1772. 15: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 3 April 1772. Interpretations The consultation of 20 April 1772 travelled in this packet as the first of the set. The letter of that date explained that it could not go by the Glatton because the quarter's accounts were entered in it. Thirteen days later the copy was ready, and the Court received the quarter's accounts together with the minutes that followed them. This letter was also the full reply promised on 19 April 1772, when the Council acknowledged the Court's packet by the Lord Camden but had no time to answer it. Its paragraphs took the Court's orders in turn, from the dispatch of that ship to the surgeon's succession, and it went by two vessels at once to make sure the answer arrived. The last duplicate cash account appears as running from 1 to 3 April 1772. The original, listed in the packet of 20 April 1772, covered 1 to 20 April 1772, and that longer span is the more probable for its duplicate. | |
343 | 16 Captn. Jackson's Receipt for one Large & one Small Packet directed§ | The list of papers in the packet continued with three further items. 16: Receipt from Captain Jackson for one large and one small packet addressed to the Court of Directors. 17: Abstracts of the cargoes of the Sea Horse, the Speke, the Cruttenden, the Asia and the Thames. 18: Time of arrival of the ships' boats at Banks's. A new general letter to the Court of Directors then began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court by the Sea Horse and sent a copy by the Cruttenden. 2: The Calcutta arrived from China on 3 May 1772, coming last from the Cape, and the Pacific arrived from China on 5 May 1772. Captain Thomson heard in the Sunda Strait on 19 February 1772 that the Pigot reached Batavia. He found the Company's ships Lioness and Royal Henry at the Cape when he arrived there. The first sailed on 9 April 1772 and the second on 19 April 1772. 3: The Council issued four sets of bills of exchange, all drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 6 May 1772. Mr Matthew Bazett, payable to Miss Mary Bazett, £130 0s 0d Mr Robert Barclay, payable to Captain Robert Preston, £140 12s 6d Captain John Reddall, payable to himself, £500 0s 0d Mr Sober Hall, payable to himself, £337 10s 0d 4: The passenger aboard the Calcutta was Captain Russell. Interpretations Captain Jackson's receipt was the paper that the President and Council of Bengal enclosed by mistake in their letter to the island, as the letter of 3 May 1772 explained. Jackson commanded the Speke and signed at Bengal for one large and one small packet addressed to the Court. The island forwarded the receipt by the Sea Horse, a different ship from the one carrying those packets, which restored the separation between proof of dispatch and the papers themselves. The report on the Pigot gave the Court its first news of that ship since she left St Helena on 27 September 1771. Batavia, on Java, was the headquarters of the Dutch company in Asia, and ships bound for China often called there. Word picked up in the Sunda Strait travelled home by this roundabout route faster than any direct report from the ship could. Mr Barclay's bill was payable to a ship's commander, as Mr Bearcroft's was on 10 April 1772 and Matthew Purling's on 26 July 1771. Such bills probably settled purchases from a captain's private trade goods. The surgeon was awaiting his own departure, since the letter of 3 May 1772 named Mr Stroud as his successor whenever he chose to resign. | |
344 | We have put on board the Asia, Willm. Dowsing and Stephen§ | 5: The Council put William Dowsing and Stephen Swartson aboard the Asia to make up her crew, as the previous letter proposed. 6: Captains Jackson, Preston and Clarke asked for leave to stop at Ascension to collect turtle as further fresh food for their crews. The Council allowed them to call there for that purpose. 7: The letter went by the Asia, and copies went by the Speke and the Thames. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille, Matthew Purling and Matthew Bazett signed the letter at St Helena on 7 May 1772. A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Asia, dated 7 May 1772. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 7 May 1772. 2: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 3 May 1772. 3: Consultations from 4 to 6 May 1772. 4: Duplicate consultations from 20 April to 2 May 1772. 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Sea Horse. 6: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Cruttenden. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Glatton. 8: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Sea Horse. 9: Effective state of the garrison. 10: Account of the Speke. 11: Account of the Asia. 12: Account of the Thames. Interpretations Swartson left the island as a working hand. The King's pardon, reported in the letter of 3 May 1772, freed him from gaol but gave him no place in the garrison, and the Council sent him away by the first ship that needed men. The same method removed Buckman in the Prime on 7 September 1771 after Tedrick accused him of the magazine plot. In both cases a man the Council no longer wanted filled a gap in a short-handed crew, and the Company paid no passage money. Three ships sailed together, and the letter travelled in all of them. The Council normally sent an original and one copy by separate vessels. A third copy cost only a clerk's time when the Asia, the Speke and the Thames left in company, and it gave the Court's correspondence a further margin of safety. | |
345 | 13 Duplicate Ship Cruttenden's Account§ | The list of papers in the packet continued with seven further items. 13: Duplicate account of the Cruttenden. 14: Duplicate account of the Sea Horse. 15: Cash account from 4 to 7 May 1772. 16: Duplicate cash account from 21 to 30 April 1772. 17: Duplicate cash account from 1 to 3 May 1772. 18: Abstracts of the cargoes of the Calcutta and the Pacific. 19: Time of arrival of the ships' boats at Banks's. A new general letter to the Court of Directors then began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on 7 May 1772 by the Asia, which left the island on 8 May 1772 together with the Speke and the Thames. 2: The Council issued three sets of bills of exchange, all drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 9 May 1772. Captain Charles Barkley, payable to himself, £107 12s 0d Captain William Thomson, payable to himself, £600 0s 0d Captain William Thomson, payable to himself, £500 0s 0d 3: The Lord Camden resumed her voyage to China on the day before the letter. 4: Governor Skottowe and the Council ordered Captain Barkley to take three men aboard the Pacific to help make up her crew. William Hill, discharged soldier Nicholas Swats, seaman left behind by the Cruttenden John Whiteman, seaman left behind by the Speke 5: Captain Barkley applied for leave to stop at Ascension to collect turtle, and the Council allowed him to call there for that purpose. 6: The letter went by the Pacific. Interpretations The two seamen show how the island redistributed stray hands among the homeward fleet. A ship that sailed without a sick man left him in the Company's care, as the Northington left Peter Sidington and Peter White in June 1771. Once recovered, such men were placed in the next vessel short of crew, whoever her owners were. The Cruttenden and the Speke both left within the previous week, so Swats and Whiteman waited only days before the Pacific took them. The Lord Camden stayed about three and a half weeks in all. She arrived on 15 April 1772 and the letter of 3 May 1772 recorded her as cleared when her ten working days ended on 29 April 1772, yet she remained in the road for some days more. The Council's care to date her clearance protected the island from any claim that it held her beyond the allowed time, since her later stay was the commander's own affair. Captain Thomson took his £1,100 0s 0d in two separate sets instead of one. Each set was a distinct claim on the Company in London, so splitting the sum let him assign one bill to a creditor or partner and keep the other for himself. | |
346 | Copy of which we transmit you by the Calcutta§ | A copy of the letter went by the Calcutta. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille, Matthew Purling and Matthew Bazett signed it at St Helena on 10 May 1772. A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Pacific, dated 10 May 1772. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 10 May 1772. 2: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 7 May 1772. 3: Consultation of 9 May 1772. 4: Duplicate consultations from 4 to 6 May 1772. 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Asia. 6: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Speke. 7: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Thames. 8: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Sea Horse. 9: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Cruttenden. 10: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Asia. 11: Effective state of the garrison. 12: Account of the Calcutta. 13: Account of the Pacific. 14: Account of the Lord Camden. 15: Duplicate account of the Speke. 16: Duplicate account of the Asia. 17: Duplicate account of the Thames. 18: Cash account from 8 to 10 May 1772. 19: Duplicate cash account from 4 to 7 May 1772. Interpretations The receipts explain what a small paper packet was. The letter of 7 May 1772 went by the Asia with copies by the Speke and the Thames. This list holds a receipt for the packet by the Asia and receipts for small paper packets by the other two. The full packet, with consultations, accounts and returns, thus travelled in one ship, while each companion vessel carried only a copy of the letter under separate cover. Every commander signed for what he took, however slight, so that even a single copied letter could be traced to a named captain. The date of the letter fixes the sailing of the Lord Camden at 9 May 1772. Her account went home in this packet, the first after her departure, giving the Court the charges she ran up during her stay alongside the Council's record that her unloading finished within the ten working days. | |
347 | To the Honoble &c.§ | A new general letter to the Court of Directors began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on 10 May 1772 by the Pacific, which left the island together with the Cruttenden. 2: The Horsenden arrived from China on 13 May 1772, coming last from the Cape, and the York arrived from China on 14 May 1772. Captain Jameson reported that the Earl of Ashburnham lay at the Cape when he left and was due to sail on 26 April 1772. 3: The Council issued a set of bills of exchange to Lieutenant Thomas Bazett for £100 0s 0d, payable to Captain William Thomson. The bills were drawn at 90 days' sight and dated 15 May 1772. 4: Governor Skottowe and the Council ordered Captain Jameson to take two seamen aboard his ship to make up her crew. Nicholas Swats, seaman left behind by the Cruttenden Michael Callaghan, seaman left behind by the Lord Camden 5: The passenger aboard the Horsenden was Mr [...] De Castro. 6: Captain Jameson asked for leave to stop at Ascension to collect turtle as fresh food for his crew, and the Council granted it. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille, Matthew Purling and Matthew Bazett signed the letter at St Helena on 15 May 1772. Interpretations Nicholas Swats appears a second time. The letter of 10 May 1772 recorded an order placing him aboard the Pacific, yet five days later he was still on the island and assigned to Captain Jameson's ship. He evidently did not sail in the Pacific, perhaps because he was not yet fit when she left. The Council simply reissued the order for the next vessel short of hands. Callaghan's case differed from the others in one respect. The Lord Camden was outward bound for China, so a man she left behind could not rejoin her. Sending him home in a returning ship was the only practical course, and it gave Jameson a seaman at no cost. Lieutenant Bazett's bill was payable to Captain Thomson, who took bills for £1,100 0s 0d on his own account on 9 May 1772. The lieutenant probably owed him for goods bought from his private trade, as the bills of Mr Barclay, Mr Bearcroft and Matthew Purling to other commanders suggest. Thomson's ship had already left, so the bill followed him home by a later vessel. | |
348 | List of the Honoble Company's Packet from St. Helena§ | A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the Horsenden, dated 15 May 1772. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 15 May 1772. 2: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 10 May 1772. 3: Consultations from 11 to 15 May 1772. 4: Duplicate consultation of 9 May 1772. 5: First receipt for the packet sent by the Pacific. 6: First receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Calcutta. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Asia. 8: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Speke. 9: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Thames. 10: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Pacific. 11: Effective state of the garrison. 12: Cash account from 11 to 15 May 1772. 13: Duplicate cash account from 8 to 10 May 1772. 14: Account of the Horsenden. 15: Duplicate account of the Pacific. 16: Duplicate account of the Calcutta. 17: Duplicate account of the Lord Camden. 18: Abstract of the cargoes of the Horsenden and the York. 19: Time of arrival of the ships' boats at Banks's. A new general letter to the Court of Directors then began. 1: The Council last wrote to the Court on 15 May 1772 by the Horsenden. 2: The Council issued further bills of exchange. One set went to Mr Matthew Purling for £512 17s 0d, payable to John Purling Esquire and dated 18 May 1772. Interpretations Matthew Purling's bill was his fifth to John Purling in ten months. The earlier four, dated 26 July 1771, 21 October 1771, early February 1772 and 20 April 1772, came to £3,110 0s 0d. This one raised the total to £3,622 17s 0d. The bills clustered at the height of the shipping season, when homeward vessels crowded the road and their commanders and passengers spent freely on the island. That timing supports the view that his money came from trade with the ships. The packets left at short intervals in these weeks, on 3, 7, 10 and 15 May 1772. Each cash account therefore covered only a few days, and each packet carried the previous one's papers again as duplicates. The Court received an almost daily record of the treasury during the busiest part of the year. | |
349 | for £69 payable to himself dated this day, both drawn§ | The second set of bills went to Captain Thomas Hayter for £69 0s 0d, payable to himself and dated the same day as the letter. Both sets were drawn at 90 days' sight. 3: Captain Hayter asked for leave to call at Ascension to collect turtle, and the Council allowed him to stop there for that purpose. Governor Skottowe, Daniel Corneille, Matthew Purling and Matthew Bazett signed the letter at St Helena on 21 May 1772. A list followed of the Company's packet sent from St Helena by the York, dated 21 May 1772. 1: General letter from the Governor and Council dated 21 May 1772. 2: Letter from the Governor and Council dated 21 May 1772 relating to law matters. 3: Duplicate general letter from the Governor and Council dated 15 May 1772. 4: Consultation of 18 May 1772. 5: Duplicate consultations from 11 to 15 May 1772. 6: First receipt for the packet sent by the Horsenden. 7: Second receipt for the packet sent by the Pacific. 8: Second receipt for a small paper packet sent by the Calcutta. 9: Duplicate list of the packet sent by the Horsenden. 10: Effective state of the garrison. 11: Cash account from 16 to 21 May 1772. 12: Duplicate cash account from 11 to 15 May 1772. 13: Account of the York. 14: Duplicate account of the Horsenden. 15: Proceedings of the last quarterly court, held on 29 April 1772. Interpretations The letter on law matters travelled with the proceedings of a quarterly court, as each of its predecessors did. The law letter of 29 August 1771 accompanied the court of 10 July 1771, that of 10 November 1771 the court of 9 October 1771 and that of 10 March 1772 the court of 8 January 1772. The pairing shows what the separate letter was for. After every quarterly sitting the Council reported on the cases tried and sent the record with it, so the Court's legal advisers could review the island's justice without reading the general correspondence. The court of 29 April 1772 sat later in its quarter than the other three, which all met in the second week of the opening month. April was crowded with other business: the Court's packet arrived on 15 April 1772, a fourth councillor was seated, the quarter's accounts were laid on 20 April 1772 and homeward ships came in almost daily. | |
350 | Blank page | ||
351 | Blank page | ||
352 | Blank page | ||
353 | Blank page | ||
354 | Book cover | ||
355 | EAP 1364 St Helena§ §Document Name and Date§ §Dimensions§ §No. written pages:§ §No. blank pages:§ §Spine and cover§ §Inside pages§ §Additional comments§ §Time taken to photograph§ |