A Collection Transcribed
and Digitized
by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.
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Summary
Letter from Robert Carter to Alderman [Micajah] Perry, May 29, 1732
Robert Carter writes to London merchant Alderman [Micajah] Perry, May 29, 1732, pointing out that he has been charged incorrectly for the freight of wine, and requesting correction. He has enough wine for two years and no more is to be sent without his orders. The colony's assembly is in session and he sends (not present) the governor's speech and those made in reply to it.
Letter from Robert Carter to Alderman [Micajah] Perry,
May 29, 1732
-1
-
Rappahannock, [Lancaster County, Virginia]
May 29. 1732
Alderman Perry
Sir
Captain Malbon
has been sailed this fortnight
he took
his leave of my house when I was performing my last duty at
the Obsequies
of my dear Son Robert
there remains an Account to
be settled between us I am indebted to him 4 £ Current money for the
freight of two pipes of Wine
you were pleased to charge me in my
account Current for two pipes of wine brought Me by the Burwell
at
the rate of 40 Shillings Sterling per pipe this is an error you will please
Order to be rectified the difference of Exchange is 20 percent and if
you carry the freight of these two pipes by the Rebeccah to my Accot
I expect to be allowed this discount
I am now in so full [a] stock of wine that I shall not want
any supply these two years I desire to have no more wine ordered
to me until I give fresh orders for it. Bills of lading for the tobacco in
the Rebecca were sent away in the Ship and some letters I had prepa=
red went away with her Captain Brooks
Surprizes me and will hardly
allow me time for this short letter
We are now in assembly I send you the Governour's
Speech
& the Council & Burgesse's addresses in Answer you will
see what great hopes the Country entertains from the tobacco Law
pray
God grant we find the good effects of it by Experience for we are brought
to our last prayers I am
Sir
Your most humble Servt
NOTES
Source copy consulted:
Letter book, 1731 July 9-1732 July 13 , Robert Carter Papers (acc. no. 3807), Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
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.
[1] The Rebecca
was probably a London ship; she was of 300 tons, had a crew of 11, and was commanded by Samuel Malbon in 1731-32. ( Survey Report 06445 sumarizing "Adm. 68/196," "Greenwich Hospital: General Accounts. the Names of Ships and The Accounts Paid for Sixpences at the Port of London."
)
[2] A fortnight is two weeks or 14 days.
[3] funeral
[4] A pipe is "a large container of definite capacity for storing solids or liquids, such as meat, fish, or oil. Now: spec. a large cask for storing wine or cider." Wikipedia, citing a book by Ronald E. Zupco, states that a pipe was half a tun which was "a large vat or vessel, most often holding 252 wine gallons," meaning a pipe was roughly 126 gallons of wine. ( Oxford English Dictionary Online
. Oxford University Press
and Ronald E. Zupko. A Dictionary of Weights and Measures for the British Isles: The Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century
. [Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society
, 1985, 168.]
)
[4] This vessel was commanded by Captain Constantine Cant and may have been owned by William Dawkins and Micajah Perry as Carter reported her December 1723 arrival to each of them. ( Survey Report 06445 sumarizing "Adm. 68/196," "Greenwich Hospital: General Accounts. the Names of Ships and The Accounts Paid for Sixpences at the Port of London;" Survey Report 05336 summarizing "Admiralty-Miscellanea, Register of Passes, 1731-1733," etc., found in the microfilms of the Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
)
[5] The Cambridge
made voyages to Virginia from London in 1727 and 1729. In the first she was commanded by Peter Moore, and in the latter by Christopher Brooks. She was a vessel of 70-100 tons with about 11 men. She may have been oowned by Haswell & Brooks.( Survey Reports 6800 and 6801 for Adm. 68/194-195, found in the microfilms of the Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
)
[6] The record of the governor's speech and the replies may be found at McIlwaine, H. R., ed
. Journal of the House of Burgesses, 1727-1734 1736-1740.
[Richmond: Library Board, 1910]. pp. 119 ff.
[7] The tobacco inspection act of 1730 was introduced and steered through the legislature by Lieutenant Governor Sir William Gooch. " The "bill called for the inspection and bonding at public warehouses of all tobacco shipped abroad; for the destruction of all unacceptable tobacco; for standardization of the size of hogsheads . . . ; for maintenance of detailed records to prevent smuggling; and for the circulation of warehouse receipts as legal tender in lieu of tobacco iteself. . . ." Gooch also managed to obtain approval of the act in England. It went into effect August 1, 1731. (Billings. et al.
Colonial Virginia: A History.
pp. 236-39.)
This text, originally posted in 2006, was revised May 20, 2016, to add footnotes and strengthen the modern language version text.