The meeting of the Board of Trade came to order on 8 Aug 1716, and in the new business was Mr. Dodd asking, on behalf of Mr. Blathwayt, Auditor General of the Plantations on the Continent of America, for a copy of the complaint made by Col. Spotswood against Col. Ludwell, Deputy in Virginia for Blathwayt. Mr. Bumpfield applied in person for another copy of the same complaint, and Mr. Byrd (late Receiver General of Virginia) asked for a copy of the Lt. Gov.'s complaint against him (i.e., Byrd). The Board agreed to do so when they got a copy of the original complaints.
[One might observe that things were not going very well for Spotswood. He had made a few enemies by this time. This is one of the blackest marks on his stewardship, since he was destroying his own effectiveness.]
10 Sep 1716. Spotswood warned that pirates were becoming very active and were establishing a permanent base of operations in the Bahama Islands. On 27 Sep 1716, Byrd handed to the Commissioners his written reply to the charges made by Spotswood against him. Shortly thereafter, he informed the Board that they might wish to examine some people about to return to Virginia on the questions that Spotswood had raised. On 2 Nov, Byrd and three gentlemen from Virginia attended a Board and were examined on six points that Byrd had suggested.
On 5 Dec 1716, the Secretary of State asked the Board what the best course of action was to dislodge the pirates from the Bahamas. The same day, agents for South Carolina presented documents representing the miserable condition of the colony.
On 31 Jan 1716/17, the Secretary of State directed the Commissioners to submit, for His Majesty's information, a statement showing the quantity of naval stores imported into Britain from the American Plantations, and to suggest how the volume could be increased. Four days later the Customs Office supplied data on rosin, turpentine, cordage, pitch, tar, and mast timber. In March, Mr. M. Perry, Capt. Hyde, Mr. Bradley, and Mr. Joshua Gee discussed with the Board how the production of naval stores might be increased [mostly these were merchants or traders].
[Naval stores became an important part of Spotswood's personal economic plans, which included a large tract of land and a ship load of Germans to work at the activity and to provide the seating for the land. For a month, almost every meeting of the Board was concerning with some aspect of naval stores. In doing this, much testimony was taken from merchants and traders who dealt in these products.]
13 Mar 1716/17. Byrd testified on the production of hemp and iron in Virginia. Hemp could be grown on land unsuitable for tobacco. He also testified there was excellent iron ore in Pennsylvania and Virginia. He was invited to submit proposals for encouraging the production of naval stores in Virginia.
(26 Aug 00)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.