These recent notes have looked at the Minute Book of the Board of Trade for the information they give of how the English viewed the "Plantations", as they called the Colonies. We have seen several things. The English were not adverse to interfering in the affairs of Virginia. They reviewed their laws and appointments and made changes as seemed necessary. The whole purpose of the colonies was the enrichment of Great Britain.
We just looked at the question of iron and naval stores. Naval stores were not a consumer product. Mostly they were for the use of the British Navy. England had long lost its sufficiency in naval stores. For several years prior to 1719, naval stores had been purchased in the colonies and in the Baltic countries. In 1719, England was considering how to encourage a larger production of naval stores in the Plantations, so as to reduce the dependence on the Baltic countries. In the field of iron, the fear was that the colonists would produce consumer products and upset the established trade patterns. Iron had been discouraged and definitely not encouraged. When Alexander Spotswood, Lt. Gov. of Virginia had proposed that the colony itself produce iron, he was warned against doing this because it violated the trade practices.
Alexander Spotswood was hitching his wagon to the acquisition of land. The land was to be used for the production of naval stores which were in demand in England. Also, western expansion via his proposed land purchases would tend to counteract the French threat which was a concern in England. Therefore, he was following the trends which were evident in England as the main thrust of his personal plans. Late in 1717, or early in 1718, he was approached by well-placed people in England to find some iron ore sources. Though iron production in the Plantations was treated with suspicion in England and might be overturned simply on the complaint of merchants there, he was willing to explore iron as a possibility. But it was not the main thrust of his efforts. His plans had not yet been brought to fruition in Virginia, and, before his enemies gained the upper hand and had him evicted from office, he had to make peace with them so as to stay in power in Virginia. Already in 1718, he had people placed on land which he intended to acquire but for which he did not yet have a patent.
On 20 Feb 1718/19, the Board of Trade proposed the name of Mr. Digges as an appointment to the Council of Virginia, to replace William Byrd who had been in England for three and one-half years. Four days later, a letter from Spotswood discussed Lake Erie (and the French), which served to keep the menace of the French alive as a topic of concern.
Naval stores continued to occupy the attention of the Board, Parliament, the Admiralty, and the Customs people. The Board had to consider again the dispute between Spotswood and the Council. The Earl of Orkney was involved and restated that the dispute had to be settled, by surgery if necessary. In the midst of this, a letter from Spotswood had an account of the "remarkable proceedings" in the Assembly of Virginia. Mr. Digges was nominated to replace Mr. Edmond Berkley of the Council of Virginia, who had just died.
In 1719, the Board decided to submit the 1713 Act of the Virginia Assembly, pertaining to the requirements for seating, planting, cultivating, and improving land to Mr. West, one of H.M.'s Counsel at Law, for a legal opinion on the Act.
(07 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.