A Collection Transcribed
and Digitized
by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.
List of Letters
|
About This Collection
Electronic Text Center
, University of Virginia Library
Summary
Letter from Robert Carter to [Francis] Chamberlayne and[Francis] Sitwell, July 27, 1720
Robert Carter writes to [Francis] Chamberlayne and [Francis]Sitwell, July 27, 1720, following up on a joint letter that he andRobert Tucker had written to the slave traders the previous day,enclosing his "Quota of the bills of Exch[ange]" for the sale ofslaves brought to Virginia by the ship Mercury,
and noting that hehas instructed his "Correspondents in London," Micajah and RichardPerry, to be responsible on his behalf for any protested bills ofexchange.
Letter from Robert Carter to [Francis] Chamberlayne
and [Francis] Sitwell, July 27, 1720
-1
-
Rappa [hannock, LancasterCounty, Virginia]
July 27.1720
Messrs. Chamberlayne
& Sitwell
Gentlemen -- --
Mr. Robert Tucker
and myself have
Just now signed a Joint Letter to You, wherein we
have given You the best account we can, Inthe present
hurry and haste we are of the Affairs of Your Ship
Mercury
This accompanies my Quota of the bills of exchange
amounting as You are already advised to Two Thousand
fourhundred Eight seven pound Thirteen Shills. &
Seven pence, And I have directed Messrs. Micajah &
Richard Perry myCorrespondents in London to take
up all such bills as You shall be forc't to Protest &
to make payment to You according to our proposals
not doubting their complyance [sic] there with I am --
Gentlemen
Your most humble Servant
NOTES
Source copy consulted:
Robert CarterLetter Book, 1720 July-1721 July, BR 227, Huntington Library, ArtCollections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California. Printed:Wright. Letters of Robert Carter. . ..
p. 41.
Robert Carter generally used a return address of"Rappahannock" for the river on which he lived rather than"Corotoman," the name of his home, on his correspondence, especiallyto merchants abroad. The county and colony have been added forclarity.
See also RC's letters to Chamberlayne and Sitwell concerningthis sale of slaves on July 26 and September 27, 1720, and on July 2,1723.
[1] Francis Chamberlayne (abt. 1667-1728) was from a Warwickshire family. His father was also a London merchant, and "Chamberlayne engaged in commercehimself and may have been involved in the slave trade." He was quite wealthy, and representedNew Shoreham in Parliament at two different times, first as a Whig, and later as a Tory.( David Hayton, et al.,
The House of Commons, 1690-1715.
[CambridegeUniversity Press, 2002], 507-508.. Found online on Google books,. 9/14/2009
)
[2] Robert Tucker (d. 1722), a merchant and justice ofNorfolk County. ( "Charges Against Spotswood." Virginia Magazine of History and Biography
. 4(April1897): 360.
)
This text revised January 22 andSeptember 16, 2009.