Journal, April 1734: Journal Book L.L

Journal, April 1734

April 2. Present:—Earl of Westmorland, Mr. Pelham, Mr. Ashe, Sir O. Bridgeman, Mr. Brudenell.

Barbadoes.

Letter from Lord Howe, extract of it sent to Duke of Newcastle.

A letter from the Lord Howe, Governor of Barbadoes, dated February, 4th, 1733–4, relating to an Act for the further, better and more certain regulating and appointing the fees of the several officers, etc., and to intelligence of the preparations of the French at Martinique to the danger of Barbadoes, was read; and Minutes of the Council of Barbadoes, in November and December, 1733, about regulating and settling the fees of the several officers there, referred to in the said letter, was laid before the Board; ordered that a letter be prepared, for inclosing to his Grace the Duke of Newcastle, an extract of so much of the said letter, as relates to the preparations of the French against Barbadoes.

Act about fees, sent to Mr. Fane.

And that the Act for regulating fees be sent to Mr. Fane, for his opinion thereupon in point of law.

Leeward Islands.

State of the islands, and want of stores of war.

Mr. Yeamans, agent for Antigua, Mr. Dunbar, Surveyor General of the Customs, and Mr. Soulegre, late one of the Council at St. Christophers, attending, they presented to the Board a representation about the state of defence of the Leeward Islands, and the want of stores of war, etc.; which being read, ordered that a copy thereof be likewise inclosed to the Duke of Newcastle.

St. Christophers.

Mr. Payne's relations enquired into.

These gentlemen being withdrawn, and Mr. Soulegre attending again, as he had been directed, their Lordships desired he would inform them what relations Mr. Abraham Payne, lately proposed to be a member of the Council of St. Christophers, had among the members thereof, and he said, that Sir Charles Payne was his father, Mr. Abraham Payne his uncle, Mr. Phipps, a very distant relation, and that his sister was married to a son of the President, Mr. Estridge; Mr. Soulegre being withdrawn, directions were given for preparing the draught of a representation to the Lords of the Committee, in answer to their Order of Reference upon this subject, read the 29th of the last month.

Leeward Islands.

Letter from General Mathew.

Acts sent to Mr. Fane.

A letter from General Mathew, Governor of the Leeward Islands, to the Secretary, dated the 28th of January and 11th of February, 1733–4, was read, and the two Acts of St. Christophers, one of Nevis and two of Montserrat, received therewith, were ordered to be sent to Mr. Fane, for his opinion thereupon in point of law.

April 3. Present:—Earl of Westmorland, Mr. Docminique, Mr. Pelham, Mr. Bladen, Mr. Ashe, Sir O. Bridgeman.

New York.

Mr. Goodwin heard against Miserol's Act, pleadings against the Act.

Mr. Paris, who attended the Board the 26th of the last month, in behalf of Thomas Goodwin and his wife, against an Act, passed at New York in 1719, entituled, An Act for annulling and making void a fraudulent conveyance of Mary Davenport, made by her when she was sole, attending again, as he had been desired, with the said Goodwin and his wife, and Mr. Solicitor General, their Lordships took again into consideration the said Act, and Mr. Solicitor General in behalf of the said Goodwin and his wife, informed the Board:

That John Miserol of New York, had by his will given part of his estate to his children therein named, and the remainder, being an estate called Turtle Bay Farm, to his wife Mary, with a power to sell or dispose of the same during her life; but if she should not dispose of it, then it was to be equally divided between his children; soon after this Miserol died, and his wife assigned over her estate to one Brown, in trust for one Price, whom she soon after married, and Brown made over the said estate to Price; in the year 1714, Price made his will, and left the said estate to his wife during her life, and after her death to his cousins Jane Alley and James Bennet and their heirs; that her husband Price dying, and she wanting to have the fee simple of the estate again vested in her, applied to the Assembly of New York in 1717, unknown to the said Alley and Bennet and their children, who were infants, and obtained the Act in question to set aside the conveyance, which she had formerly made to Brown in trust for Price, under pretence of its having been fraudulently obtained; whereby Mrs. Goodwin, the present petitioner, who was then an infant, was defrauded of her right; that about the year 1720 Alley applied to this Board against the Act, who having referred the same to Mr. West, for his opinion in point of law, Mr. West had reported the same as not proper to be confirmed; but that the Board, wanting some further accounts of this affair, the consideration was put off till Mrs. Alley and Bennet could have a return from New York; that they had wrote several times, but could not get any particular informations; the widow Price being then living, was returned them as a reason why they had no right to make any inquiry; that the widow Price died about a year and a half ago, and that Mrs. Goodwin, the only surviving heir of Alley and Bennet, had been applied to Mr. Paris to solicit the repeal of the said Act; who, having since obtained the necessary informations from New York, did some time ago make his application to the Board, who having once more referred this Act to one of the King's Council, Mr. Fane, he had reported the same as proper to be repealed.

Mr. Solicitor General then remarked to the Board, that this Act was not proper to have been passed, because, had the aforementioned conveyance from Mrs. Price to Brown, in trust for her husband, been obtained in a fraudulent way, a court of equity would have relieved the oppressed; that even supposing there had been no court of equity there, it is a general and known rule that any deed, fraudulently obtained, is null and void, and would have been declared so by any court of justice, and that Acts of this nature are contrary to the known practice of this kingdom; he hoped, in behalf of Mrs. Goodwin, that their Lordships would please to lay this Act before His Majesty for his disallowance.

Mr. Paris then presented to the Board an affidavit of the said Mrs. Goodwin, giving an account of what she knew concerning this affair, which was read.

Mr. Solicitor General, Mr. Paris, etc., being withdrawn, and their Lordships not seeing any reason, from what had been offered, for the repeal of the said Act, agreed that the same should lye by.

Leeward Islands.

Two Acts for additional salary to the Governor.

Reported for confirmation.

Mr. Fane's two reports, one on two Acts passed in St. Christophers, for settling the sum of £1200 for one year, and after the expiration of the said year, the sum of £800 current money, per annum upon his Excellency William Mathew, Esq., and for raising the same by a poll on all negroes and other slaves, the other, on one Act passed at Nevis in 1733–4, for providing an honourable support for his Excellency William Mathew, Esq., during his Government, and for laying a duty upon negroes for the payment thereof, were read, and their Lordships taking the said Acts into consideration, representations, for confirming the same, were agreed and signed.

Barbadoes.

Extract of Lord Howe's letter about French preparations, sent to Duke of Newcastle.

The letter, ordered yesterday to be prepared, for inclosing to the Duke of Newcastle an extract of the Lord Howe's letter of the 4th of February, 1733–4, relating to the preparations of the French at Martinique, designed against Barbadoes, together with the copy of a representation of several merchants and others trading to Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands, on the same subject, was agreed and signed.

April 4. Present:—Earl of Westmorland, Mr. Docminique, Mr. Bladen, Sir O. Bridgeman.

Trade.

Sweden.

Grainger's effects.

Mr. Norris and Mr. Wordsworth, two merchants trading to Sweden, attending, as they had been desired, the Board took again into consideration the letter and papers from the Lord Harrington, relating to some pretensions upon the heiresses of Mr. Grainger at Stockholm, read the 22nd of the last month, and, after some discourse with these gentlemen upon this subject, gave directions for preparing the draught of a representation thereupon.

April 5. Present:—Mr. Docminique, Mr. Bladen, Mr. Ashe, Sir O. Bridgeman, Sir A. Croft.

St. Christophers.

Mr. Payne's relations enquired into.

The draught of a representation to the Lords of the Committee of Council, upon their Lordships' Order of the 22nd of the last month, directing the Board to enquire what relations Mr. Payne has in the Council of St. Christophers, ordered to be prepared the 2nd instant, was agreed.

April 9. Present:—Earl of Westmorland, Mr. Docminique, Mr. Ashe, Sir O. Bridgeman.

Newfoundland.

Commodore Falkingham's answer to enquiries.

Two letters from Captain Falkingham, Commodore and Governor of Newfoundland, dated the 30th of July and 4th of October, 1732, with answers to several articles of his instructions, etc., were read, and the papers, therein referred to, were laid before the Board, viz:—

State of the garrison at Placentia, in the year 1732.

Ordnance stores sent to Placentia, in the year 1732.

Expences of ordnance at Placentia, in the year 1732.

State of ordnance stores at Placentia, in the year 1732.

Scheme of the fishery at Newfoundland, for the year 1732.

Several bonds taken by Captain Falkingham at Newfoundland in 1732, to prevent the New England men carrying off the British fishermen.

Several papers relating to the complaint of Mr. White, of Poole, against Mr. Keen, one of the justices of the peace in Newfoundland.

Lord Muskerry's answer to enquiries.

A letter from Lord Muskerry, dated September 29th, 1733, with
Answers to heads of enquiry, also a scheme of the fishery at Newfoundland, for the year 1733.
State of the garrison at Placentia, and a survey of the stores there in 1733,
were also read and

French settled on Cape Breton.

The Lord Muskerry attending, their Lordships had some discourse with him upon the state of Newfoundland and upon the memorials from Captain Taverner, read the 6th and 12th of February last, relating to a settlement of the French at the westermost point of Newfoundland, contrary to the Treaty of Utrecht, consisting of men, women and children, chiefly deserters from Cape Breton; and after some discourse with Lord Muskerry upon this subject, the draught of a letter to the Duke of Newcastle, inclosing copies of the said memorials, was agreed.

Leeward Islands.

Stores of war wanted.

Mr. Coope, agent for St. Christophers, attending, presented to the Board a memorial from himself and Mr. Yeamans, agent for Antigua, desiring a supply of stores of war for the Leeward Islands, which being read, directions were given for preparing the draught of a representation thereupon.

Barbadoes.

Leeward Islands.

Surveyor of the Customs prays to be a Councillor.

The draught of a representation upon the memorial of Mr. Dunbar, Surveyor General of the Customs in Barbadoes, etc., praying to be a Councillor in ordinary in the islands under his inspection, agreed the 20th of December last, was reconsidered, and, with some amendments, ordered to be transcribed.

St. Christophers.

Mr. Payne's relations enquired into.

The draught of a representation to the Lords of the Committee of Council upon their Lordships' Order of the 22nd of the last month, directing the Board to enquire what relations Mr. Payne, (recommended by this Board's representation of the 20th of December last to be a Councillor in St. Christophers), has in the Council of that island, ordered to be prepared the 2nd instant, was signed.

April 10. Present:—Earl of Westmorland, Mr. Docminique, Mr. Bladen, Mr. Ashe, Sir O. Bridgeman.

Trade.

Sweden.

Grainger's heiresses.

The draught of a representation upon the case of the heiresses of Mr. Grainger in Sweden, ordered to be prepared the 4th instant, was agreed.

Barbadoes.

Surveyor of the Customs represented for a Councillor.

The representation of Mr. Dunbar's memorial, ordered yesterday to be transcribed, was signed, and

St. Christophers.

Report setting forth Payne's relations.

The representation to the Lords of the Committee of Council, giving an account of Mr. Payne's relations in the Council of St. Christophers, as agreed yesterday, was signed.

April 11. Present:—Earl of Westmorland, Mr. Bladen, Mr. Ashe, Sir O. Bridgeman, Sir A. Croft.

Islands.

Their trade, etc., to be reported to the House of Lords.

A letter from the Duke of Newcastle, dated the 5th instant, with an address from the House of Lords of the 1st instant, directing the Board to lay before that House the next session, a state of the islands, with regard to their trade, strength and fortifications, and

Plantations General.

Proposals for encouraging the production of naval stores, to be enquired into.

A second letter from the Duke of Newcastle, dated the 6th instant, with another address from the House of Lords of the 5th instant, to know what proposals have been offered to induce the planters in America to apply themselves to the raising of naval stores or other products, that do not interfere with the products of this kingdom, and

Circular letter to Governors thereupon.

A letter from the Earl of Westmorland, inclosing another copy of the last mentioned address, were severally read, and directions were given for preparing a circular letter to the several Governors of His Majesty's plantations upon the subject of the said addresses.

Leeward Islands.

Stores wanting, representation thereon, signed.

A representation upon the memorial of Mr. Yeamans and Mr. Coope, desiring a supply of stores of war for the Leeward Islands, ordered to be prepared the 9th instant, was agreed and signed.

Trade.

Report on Grainger's case in Sweden, signed.

A representation upon the case of the heiresses of Mr. Grainger in Sweden, agreed yesterday, was signed, as also a letter, inclosing the same to the Lord Harrington.

Antigua.

Debt due to Colonel Parke claimed.

An Order of the Committee of the Council, referring to the Board a petition from Thomas Dunbar Parke, Esq., claiming a debt due from the Island of Antigua to Colonel Parke, was read; and directions were given for preparing the draught of a representation thereupon.

April 17. Present:—Earl of Westmorland, Mr. Ashe, Sir O. Bridgeman.

South Carolina.

Beresford's Act.

The draught of a representation for repealing an Act, passed at Carolina in 1723–4, for settling the estate of Richard Beresford, Esq., deceased, ordered to be prepared the 19th of the last month, was agreed [fo. 39].

April 18. Present:—Earl of Westmorland, Mr. Ashe, Sir O. Bridgeman.

Antigua.

Report on Parke's claim, signed.

The representation to the Lords of the Committee of Council upon the petition of Dunbar Parke, ordered to be prepared the 11th instant, was agreed and signed.

Newfoundland.

Mr. Burchet's letter for heads of enquiry.

A letter from Mr. Burchet, dated April 17th, 1734, for heads of enquiry for the Newfoundland convoy for the year 1734, was read; and their Lordships, taking into consideration a letter from Captain Fytche, giving an account of the fishery of Canço in 1733, gave directions for preparing an answer to Mr. Burchet.

Carolina.

Report on Beresford's Act, signed.

The representation for repealing the Act of Carolina for settling the estate of Mr. Beresford, agreed yesterday, was signed.

April 19. Present:—Mr. Ashe, Sir O. Bridgeman.

Canco.

Heads of enquiry for the Commodore.

A letter from Mr. Burchet, dated yesterday, for heads of enquiry for the Newfoundland and Canço fisheries, was read, and directions were given for preparing the usual heads of enquiry for Canço.

April 23. Present:—Earl of Westmorland, Sir O. Bridgeman.

Nova Scotia.

Heads of enquiry sent to Mr. Burchet.

The heads of enquiry for the fishery at Canço, ordered yesterday to be prepared, being laid before the Board and agreed, were ordered to be sent to Mr. Burchet, to be laid before the Lords of the Admiralty; and directions were given for acquainting Mr. Burchet at the same time, that the commission and instructions given the last year to the Lord Muskerry still subsisting, the Board have nothing to add thereto.

Barbadoes.

Leeward Islands.

Stores of war wanting.

An Order of the Committee of Council, of the 18th instant, referring back to this Board two of their reports, dated the 8th of the last month and the 11th instant, upon the state of defence of the Island of Barbadoes, and to a supply of stores of war for the Leeward Islands, was read; and letters were ordered to be wrote to the agents of the said respective islands, containing the substance of the said Order, and to desire they will put into writing what they have to offer thereupon.

Newfoundland.

French settled there.

The letter to the Duke of Newcastle with the copy of two memorials from Captain Taverner, relating to the French settling and fishing at Newfoundland, and to their fur trade carried on there, contrary to the Treaty of Utrecht, ordered to be prepared the 12th of February last, was agreed and signed.

April 24. Present:—Earl of Westmorland, Sir O. Bridgeman.

Jamaica.

Letters from Hunter considered.

The Board taking into consideration several letters from General Hunter, made a progress therein.

April 25. Present:—Earl of Westmorland.

Draught of Governor's commission sent.

A letter from the Lord Harrington, directing the Board to prepare draughts of a commission and instructions for Henry Cunningham, Esq., appointed Governor of Jamaica, was read; and the draught of a commission accordingly prepared, being laid before the Board, a representation therewith was signed, as also a letter, inclosing the same to the Lord Harrington.

April 26. Present:—Earl of Westmorland, Sir O. Bridgeman.

Governor Hunter's letters and papers considered.

The Board took again into consideration several letters from General Hunter, Governor of Jamaica, which had been read on the 28th of June, 28th of November, 1733, 21st of February and 21st March last, and one from him, dated the 13th of October, 1733, and the papers, therein referred to, being laid before the Board, viz:—
The Governor's speech to the Assembly, October 3rd, 1733.
Message from the Assembly to his Excellency, of 1st August, 1733, with the answer thereto.
Copy of his Excellency's letter to Lieut. James Draper, the commanding officer at Port Antonio, inclosing copies of Lieut. Thomas Allam's and Lieut. Thomas Swanton's orders, of the 6th of August, 1733.
Copy of his Excellency's orders and instructions to Lieut. Thomas Swanton, of 6th August, 1733.
Copy of his Excellency's orders and instructions to Lieut. Thomas Allam, of 6th August, 1733.
The further examination of Sara alias Ned, taken by order of his Excellency, October 1st, 1733.
Journal of the Council in Assembly, from July 3rd to August 17th, 1733.
Journal of the Assembly, from 26th April to the 20th of July, 1733.
Seven Acts, passed in Jamaica, in 1733.

Their Lordships gave directions for preparing the draught of an answer thereto.