A Collection Transcribed
and Digitized
by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.
List of Letters
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, University of Virginia Library
Summary
Letter from Robert Carter to Edward Tucker, June 28 and July 25, 1727
Robert Carter writes to Weymouth merchant Edward Tucker, June 28 and July 25, 1727, reporting his shipment of 6 hogsheads of tobacco on board the merchant's ship, the Portland,
and ordering a "hogshead of your fine Dorchester Ale" which he wants carefully bottled and packed because the last shipment was poorly packed and was damaged. He also wants a hogshead of Southam cyder in bottles. In a lengthy post script dated July 25th, he reports bills of exchange, increases his order of the Dorchester ale, and notes that the colony has learned of the ending of the siege of Gibralter.
Letter from Robert Carter to Edward Tucker,
June 28 and July 25, 1727
-1
-
Mr. Edward Tucker Rappahannock, [Lancaster County, Virginia]
June the. 28th: 1727
Sir --
Your Portland
is gon to York to fill up I have
Six hhds of my Crop Tobbo: on board her which Sent you a bill of Lading
had Russell bin at liberty to have
Sent a Sloop for this Tobbo: he might have
got redy for this Fleet I must desire you to Send me in the next year
in one of your Ships a hogshead of your fine Dorchester Ale well and
Carefully bottled of and under very good Package Your Master
Britt
will tell you how I was abused in the last. The Southam Cyder
the Portland brought me I doubt will never be fine it is not yet
-2
-
Bottled If you can Send me a hogshead of it in bottles that is right good
Such as I had two Years ago, it would [be]
Acceptable but in Cask I will
have no more I am with a great deal of Sincerity
Sir
Yor: very humble Servt:
herein is a bill of Exchange
upon
you drawn by Hugh Brent
for £23:-: which I desire Credit for
per Watkinson
Copy per Trice
-3
-
Mr. Edward Tucker Added to his Letter the 28 June Rappahannock July 25th: 1727
Sir --
You have already bin advised of a bill I drew
on [you]
to Geo: Braxton
for £200 I
now Send you some
Second bills
Hugh Brents bills
Likewise some first bills on your Self
to witt, Henry Ashtons
for £4"12"-Peter
Hack
for £3"-"-Thos: Berry
for £23"11"10 amounting to Thirty
one pounds three and Ten pence.
]I] Find your Dorchester ale is so pleasing to the company
I am forced to give Entertainmt too that Instead of one hhd of it I desire
-4
-
you to Send me in four hogsheads well and Carefully bottled of and Safely
packt up I have already given you an Accot: of the large loss I Sustaind
by Bretts men
in the hogshead you Sent not less then four doz: and four bottles
came Short to me I would also desire you to Send me in three hogsheads of yor.
best Malt,
Wee have now news from Several parts that the Seige of
Gibralter
is raised and the latest from new York tells us the Differences
between the Contending powers is
are
to be Ended
Settled
in a Congress I am
per Trice --
Sir --
Yor: very humble Servt. --
NOTES
Source copy consulted:
Robert Carter Letter Book, 1727 April 13-1728 July 23, Carter Family Papers, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond.
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, especially to merchants abroad. The county and colony have been added for clarity to the heading on the draft.
[1] John Russell commanded the Portland,
a vessel owned by Weymouth merchant Edward Tucker. ( Survey Report 9729 detailing the Weymouth Port Books, Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
)
[2] John Brett (Britt) was master of Weymouth merchant Edward Tucker's ship, the Princess Amelia,
which had been commanded by a Captain Lawrence until he was drowned. (Survey Report 9729 detailing the Weymouth Port Books, found in the microfilms of the Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.)
[3] A bill of exchange is a kind of check or promissory note without interest. It is used primarily in international trade, and is a written order by one person to pay another a specific sum on a specific date sometime in the future. If the bill of exchange is drawn on a bank, it is called a bank draft. If it is drawn on another party, it is called a trade draft. Sometimes a bill of exchange will simply be called a draft, but whereas a draft is always negotiable (transferable by endorsement), this is not necessarily true of a bill of exchange. ( "Dictionary of Financial Scam Terms,"
8/22/2005
)
[4] Hugh Brent was a resident of Christ Church parish in the 1716 survey of tithables of Lancaster County, and he would be sheriff in 1734. ( "Tithables in Lancaster Co., 1716." William and Mary Quarterly
1st. ser., 21[July 1912]: 106-11,
and McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . .
, 4[1721-1739]:319.
)
[5] Watkinson was captain of the Vine,
a ship that may have been owned by Micajah Perry. (Carter to Pemberton
, March 25, 1724.)
[6] The 140 ton Welcome
was owned by London merchant James Bradley to whom Carter would write about her on May 17, 1727
. John Trice (Frice) was her captain, 1723-1727. ( Adm 68/195, 154r, found in the microfilms of the Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
)
[7] Henry Ashton (1670-1731) was a prominent citizen of Westmoreland County where he was burgess, justice, and sheriff. (Norris. Westmoreland County, Virginia.
p. 107;
and David W. Eaton. Historical Atlas of Westmoreland CountyVirginia.
Richmond: Dietz Press, 1942, in an undated reprint. p. 43.
)
[8] A Peter Hack (1695-) would be appointed tobacco insector "at Andersons" in 1738. (Online citation at O.A. Keach. "The Hack Family." Genealogies of Virginia Families: From Tyler's Quarterly ...,
Volume 1. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Company , 153;
and McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . .
, 4[1721-1739]: 414.
)
[9] Thomas Berry (1683-1743) of Northumberland Cunty would be tobacco inspector at Wicomocco in 1731 and 1732. An abstract of his 1743 will is online through the USGenWeb Project
. (McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . .
, 4[1721-1739]:238, 286.
)
[10] John Brett was master of Weymouth merchant Edward Tucker's ship, the Princess Amelia,
which had been commanded by a Captain Lawrence until he was drowned in 1725. (Survey Report 9729 detailing the Weymouth Port Books, found in the microfilms of the Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
)
10[] In early 1727, Britain was allied with France and Prussia against Spain and Austria, and the Spanish had laid siege to Gibraltar; it was not successful. The conflict would end in 1729 with the treaty of Seville by which Britain obtained Gibraltar.( J. H. Plumb. England in the Eighteenth Century (1714-1815).
[Hammersmith, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1953] pp. 64-65.
)
This text, originally posted in 2003, was revised February 22, 2013, to strengthen the footnotes and modern language version text.