A Collection Transcribed
and Digitized
by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.
List of Letters
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About This Collection
Electronic Text Center
, University of Virginia Library
Summary
Letter from Robert Carter to Richard Oswald and Company, August 11, 1729
Robert Carter writes to Glasgow mechants Richard Oswald and Company, August 11, 1729, to cover a bill of lading (not present) for tobacco belonging to his son John shipped on one of the company's vessels.
Letter from Robert Carter to Richard Oswald
and Company, August 11, 1729
-1
-
Rappa [hannock, Lancaster County, Virginia]
Augst 11th. 1729
Mr. Richd. Oswald & Compa
Gent
This Serves only to enclose a bill of lading
for 12 hogsheads of Tobacco on board the Martha Captain Dunlop
belonging to the Secretary
to whom You Are to Account for them
I am
Gent --
your most Humble Servant
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] Richard Oswald (1687-1766) was a prominent Glasgow merchant who was "involved in West Indies and Madeira trade as well as tobacco importation." In partnership with his brother Alexander, the firm owned three ships (the Martha,
the Amity,
and the Speedwell
) of the 41 sailing from Glasgow in 1735. ( Devine, T.M. The Tobacco Lords: A Study of the Tobacco Merchants of Glasgow and their Trading Activites c. 1740-90.
[Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers Ltd]. p. 183;
and "The Old Country Houses
of the Old Glasgow Gentry: LXXXVII: Scotstoun." )
[2] A bill of lading is "an official detailed receipt given by the master of a merchant vessel to the person consigning the goods, by which he makes himself responsible for their safe delivery to the consignee. This document, being the legal proof of ownership of the goods, is often deposited with a creditor as security for money advanced." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online
. Oxford University Press.
)
This text, originally posted in 2005, was revised April 28, 2015, to add footnotes and strengthen the modern language version text.