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 James Bradley, May 25, 1728
Robert Carter writes to London merchant James Bradley, May 25, 1728, to inform him of tobacco he is sending on one of Bradley's ships, and to report that the colony is sending John Randolph to Lodnon to work for the repeal of the prohibition on the production of stemmed tobacco.
Letter from Robert Carter to James Bradley,
May 25, 1728
-1
-
[Rappahannock, Lancaster County, Virginia]
May the 25th: 1728
Mr. James Bradley
Sr
This is to own the receipt of Several Letters
from you this year I do not at present remember to have
written you any answer nor shall I say much now Captain Trice
has been with me and has Some of my Tobacco on Board
whether he [illegible]
will
want any more or whether I shall have
any more for him I dont yet know
We are in the great design of getting a repeal
of the clause in the Act of Parliament
prohibiting the Stemming
of Tobacco repealed
The Council & Burgesses have addressed
his Majesty
and made Application to the parliament about it
Mr. John Randolph
one of our Eminentest Lawyers
is coming home
as the Country's Agent to Solicit the
Affair our Great
hopes are that all the Merchants both the
London [illegible]
& Out ports & the North Britains
will be Strongly
our friends in joining their Interst in getting this
grievous restraint taken off to the relief of the Trade in
General as to well as to
& the poor makers of Tobacco in particular
the
many reasons we have to Urge to prove it will be no
Detriment to the Crown as well as the great benefit
that will Accrue to the Merchant and to
the planter our Agent
is fully Instructed in, and will much better Illustrate [illegible]
than I can; I shall only wish you will be one of those if
that will show your self forward in heartily promoting
this good design I am
Sir
Your most humble Servt
per Clack
Trice
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. His location, the county and colony have been added for clarity to this unheaded draft.
[1] James Bradley was a London merchant with whom Carter dealt from at least 1723 until his death. As noted in his letter to Bradley of May 17, 1727,
Bradley owned the Welcome,
but little information about Bradley has been located. (There is a listing of the firm of Bradly & Griffin, Merchants, Fenchurch-street, opposite the Mitre Tavern, on page 13 of Kent's Directory
For the Year 1740 Containing An Alphabetical List of the Names and Places of Abode of the Directors of Companies, Persons in Publick Business, Merchants, and other Eminent Traders in the Cities of London and Westminster, and the Borough of Southwark.
[London: Printed and Sold by Henry Kent in Finch-Lane, near the Royal Exchange: and by the Booksellers and Pamphlets Shops of London and Westminster, 1740]. p. 39. Online, examined 8/12/2005 and 6/14/2012.
)
[2] 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.
)
[3] Parliament had passed the act forbidding the importation of stemmed tobacco in 1722. Randolph would not leave for England until 1729; his mission would be successful. ( Arthur Pierce Middleton. Tobacco Coast: A Maritime History of the Chesapeake Bay in the Colonial Era.
[Newport News, VA: Mariners' Museum, 1953.] p. 116.
)
[4] King George II (1683-1760) reigned from 1727 until 1760. ("The Royal English Monarchy." http://scotlandroyalty.org/kings.html.
11/20/03)
[5] England
[6] Scots
[7] No information has been located on Captain Clack who is mentioned in several of Carter's letters of this period.
This text, originally posted in 2004, was revised October 16, 2014, to add footnotes and strengthen the modern language version text.