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 William Dawkins, August 27, 1728
Robert Carter writes to London merchant William Dawkins, August 27, 1728, as an addendum to an ealier letter not extant, to report the arrival of letters and accounts of sales, noting his unhappiness at finding a charge of 3 per cent, the basis for which is not clear. He encloses three bills of exchange.
Letter from Robert Carter to William Dawkins,
August 27, 1728
-1
-
Add to Mr. Dawkins Letter Augst. 6th: 1728 Bills & Draft
[Rappahannock, Lancaster County, Virginia]
Augst. the. 27th. 1728
Sir --
Two days ago I received your Letters under the Care of Colonel
Darnell via Maryland One to myself the other to Colonel Page
and I
Enclosing the Sale of 28 hogsheads belonging to Mr. Burwells
Estate By the Bailey
before the
Carter
left us I had your Sale of the 20 hogsheads Sent you by the Spotswood
in both these Accounts I find you have charged 3 per cent Commission from
what hurr [ . . . ] proceeds I cant tell or what you mean by it I must
be so b [old . . . ] to let you know I cannot Set down Contented
under it
-2
-
but this you knew from me long before now therefore pray let right be
done to these Accots: that we may not enter into any new discords
herein Send you three first bills of Exchange
Robert Carter
Junior on yourself for £88. Charles Fallin on Captain John Sharp White
haven £10"17"11 Elizabeth Nelmes on G. Buck of Biddiford for £3"-
which request your management of, Two days after the Carter left us we
had a violent Storm it was but Short She must ride it in the Bay
have heard nothing of her Since hope She received no damage I am
Sir --
Your very humble Servant
per Captain Willcox
NOTES
Source copy consulted:
Robert Carter Letter Book, 1727 April 13-1728 July 23, Carter Family Papers, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond. No letter of 1728 August 6 to Dawkins is extant, but a page is missing from the letter book that could have borne the letter. There is damage to the foot of the first page bearing this letter causing the loss of some words.
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] The Bailey
was a London ship owned by William Dawkins and commanded at various times by Adam Graves (1725-1730) and by Thomas Dove (1731-1732). She was a vessel of some 250 tons and carried 15-17 crew members. ( Survey report 6801 summarizing Adm. 68/195, 156v, and other data in Adm. 68/194 and /196, found in the microfilms of the Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia;
A letter of Carter's to Dawkins May 12, 1732,
refers to "your ship Bailey." as does a letter of August 10, 1733, from Carter's executors to Dawkins. [ Lloyd T. Smith, Jr., ed.
The Executors' Letters of Robert Carter of Corotoman, 1732-1738.
(Irvington, VA: Foundation for Historic Christ Church, 2010) p. 76].
)
[2] The Spotswood
was a London ship commanded by James Bradby, 1727-1732, and was owned by Micajah Perry. ( Adm 68/195, 70r ff., found in the microfilms of the Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia. See Carter to Micajah Perry
April 16. 1730.
)
[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] Chesaxpeake Bay
[5] No information about Captain Willcox has been located.
This text, originally posted in 2004, was revised December 18, 2014, to add footnotes and strengthen the modern language version text.