24 Jan 1717/18. The Commissioners of the Board of Trade invited Mr. Joshua Gee to reconsider his views on naval stores and then submit a proposal in writing.
29 Jan 1717/18. The Commissioners read a letter from the Secretary of State enclosing a copy of the address, to His Majesty from the House of Commons, relating to the importation of naval stores from the American Plantations. The Commissioners arranged for their report on naval stores to be laid before the House of Commons.
In the next month, many of the topics previously mentioned here (courts, Acts of Virginia, and pirates) were discussed.
13 Feb 1717/18. The Commissioners wrote to the Commissioner of the Navy, asking what premiums had been paid for naval stores from the Plantations for the five years ending at Christmas 1717, and what quantities of pitch and tar from the American Plantations had been bought for the use of the Royal Navy during the same period. The information was forth coming very quickly and the Commissioners asked that this information be sent every year.
5 Mar 1717/18. The Commissioners signed a letter to the Governors of all H. M.'s Plantations on the Continent of America, regarding the prevention of fraud by claiming premiums on poor quality tar and pitch exported to Britain.
27 Jun 1718. The Commissioners considered three Acts of Assembly passed in Virginia in 1714. The first Act established the parish of St. George and relieved German Protestants of payment of levies for seven years. They had no objection to this Act. [Of course, this Act is familiar to students of Germanna history. The main point of interest is that it was being reviewed four years after the enactment.]
16 Jul 1718. With the assistance of Mr. West, a Counsel at law to His Majesty, the Commissioners considered five Acts of Assembly passed in Virginia in November of 1714. One was approved, no objections were raised to two, one had had its effect, and one was "tabled."
Later in the month, six Acts of the Virginia Assembly were considered and the results were again divided as to approved, tabled, out of date, consider more, etc.
19 Aug 1718. The Earl of Orkney, Governor of Virginia, appeared in person to ask the Commissioners to enquire into the circumstances of the bitter dispute between Col. Spotswood and the Council of Virginia, and either to remove the former or to reconstitute the second. His Lordship spoke favorably of Col. Spotswood, but repeated his opinion that either he or the Council should be changed. The Commissioners agreed to examine the question at their first opportunity.
(02 Sep 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.