A Collection Transcribed
and Digitized
by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.
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Summary
Letter from Robert Carter to Peter Leheup, September 6, 1727
Robert Carter writes to Virginia's agent in London, Peter Leheup, September 6, 1727, to report that unofficial news has been received in the colony of the death of King George I but that he must await official word from Whitehall before proclaiming the new king. He speculates that the official news may come with the new governor.
Letter from Robert Carter to Peter Leheup,
September 6, 1727
-1
-
Treasury Chamber
Peter Leheup Esqr.
Rappahannock, [Lancaster County, Virginia]
Sepr. the 6th. 1727
Sir --
The last trouble I gave you was of the 24th of
July Since by the Carter
the 23d: of last month I Sent away the
public packets to the Secretary of State and to the Lords of Trade
I think it not amiss to acquaint you with the news we have
of the King's Death
which
came from new York about a fortnight ago
Accompanied with pretty Strong Circumstances last night
I was advised of a Sloop Just come from Barbados into Jam [es]
river the Master whereof reports The King
was proclaimed at
the Bridgetown before he came away by the name of George the
Second. here is no public notification of this yet arrived to
this Government until I have directions from Whitehall I
must take no notice of these private advices By what way
I am to receive my Orders for proclaiming the King here or
whether our Governor
is at hand and bring brings them himself we are
yet to learn I am
Sir
Yor: most humble Servt:
By the Cranfield Captain Venn --
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 persons abroad. The county and colony have been added for clarity to the heading on the draft.
[1] Peter Leheup, an English Treasury clerk, was Virginia's (1722-1754) and other colonies' agent in England for many years. "Peter Leheup was one of those almost invisible behind-the scenes personalities whose exsposure reveals so much about the character of eighteenth-century society and administration." He became underclerk (later, chief clerk) at the Treasury in 1721, and married that year "Clara the daughter of William Lowndes, secretary of the treasury. . . . Very early his father-in-law . . . made him a comptroller of exchequer bills. In addition, he served for decades (c. 1721-1742) as deputy to Horatio Walpole in his capacity as Auditor-General of Plantation Revenues." ( Jacob M. Price, "The Excise Affair Revisited: Administrative and Colonial Dimensions of a Parliamentary Crisis" in Stephen Barlow Baxter, ed.
England's Rise to Greatness, 1660-1763.
[Los Angles: University of California Press, 1983] 274-5
; and Price. Perry of London. . . .
pp. 75-77, 80, 83.
)
[2] Established in 1696 as successor to a similar body, the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations was "an advisory group, subordinate to king and Privy Council, and with no executive, financial, or penalizing powers, the Board of Trade was nevertheless able . . . to exert a far reaching and often determining influence in colonial matters. . . . It prepared the royal instructions for the governors overseas. . . ." ( Henry Hartwell, James Blair, and Edward Chilton. Hunter Dickinson Farish, ed.
The Present State of Virginia, and the College.
[First published, 1940, by Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., and reprinted Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1964.] pp. xvi-xvii.
)
[3] King George I (1660-1727) who reigned 1714-1727. ( "George I."
)
[4] King George II (1683-1760) reigned from 1727 until 1760. ( George II [r. 1727-1760] "The Official Website of the British Monarchy.
"
)
This text, originally posted in 2004, was revised May 13, 2014, to add footnotes and strengthen the modern language version text.