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and Digitized
by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.
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Summary
Letter from Robert Carter to the Commissioners of Customs, February [15], 1727
Letter from Robert Carter to the Commissioners of Customs, February [15], 1727, to inform them that he has appointed, with the approval of the Council, Robert Carter, Jr., as naval officer of the Rappahannock.
Letter from Robert Carter to the Commissioners of Customs,
February [15], 1727
-1
-
[Williamsburg, Virginia]
Febry 1726/7
To the Comrs of the Customs
Honbles
Since the [illegible]
of
death of the late Governor
and the
administration devolving on me nothing has happened in relation to the
Customs to give me occasion of troubles [to]
Yor Board: but now the
Naval officer of Rappa [hannock] District becoming Vacant by the death
of Mr Christopher Robinson I take
lay hold of this opportunity to
notify to Yor Honors that I have appointed
(with the approbation
of the Council) appointed Robert Carter junior
to succeed in that office
with directions to give security as your Board will as he has done
here and I doubt not the Bond he offers offers will be acceptable
to you
he lives more convenient for the Trade & for discharging
the duty
the waste than any other person I could have found
capable of that
Employment and I should might
could
say more to recommend him to Yor
Honrs approbation
Favour
if he was not my Son however as he will
forthwith offer very Substantial Security at Yor Board and has
given the like here in the mean time I doubt not Yor Honrs will
this [illegible]
appointment
will meet
deserve Yor Honors approbation I am
NOTES
Source copy consulted:
State Records, Colonial Government (RG-1), Colonial Papers, 1630-1778, Library of Virginia, Richmond. This is a heavily edited draft. The date is taken from the endorsement, but as the Council did not consider the appointment of Robert Carter II to be naval officer until March 1, 1727 (see McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . .
, 4[1721-1739]:128
), the recipient's copy certainly was not sent until later in March, and may never have been sent. It does not appear in Journal of the Commissioners for Trade and Plantations from January 1722-3 to December 1728.
(London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1928).
It is endorsed: "President's ltr | to the Commissrs | of the Customs | Febry 1726/7 | Robt. Carter appd. | Naval Offr. Rappk Dist."
Published: Wm. P. Palmer. Calendar of Virginia State Papers and Other Manuscripts, 1652-1875.
(Richmond, 1875). p. 210.
[1] The Commissioners of Customs had first been established in 1663 and the group was reorganized several times, especially after 1688. The board was "intrusted with collection of customs both in England and the colonies." The board helped write many of the instructions for colonial governors in collaboration with the Privy Council. "Their direct connection with the colonies was through the governors, who were instructed to correspond with the commissioners, and to send them, every three months, lists of clearances, and also reports of illegal trading. The governor's agent in matters of trade was the naval officer whom he was empowered to appoint, but who was required by the 7th and 8th William III to give security to the commissioners of customs." (Louise Phillips Kellogg. The American Colonial Charter. A Study of English Administration in Relation Thereto, Especialy after 1688.
[Annual Report, American Historical Association. Vol. 1, Govt. Print. Off., 1904], p. 226.)
This text, originally posted in 2003, was revised October 5, 2011, to add a footnote, and to strengthen the modern language version text.