On 5 Jun 1719, the Commissioners of the Board of Trade in London noted that no private Act of Assembly passed in any of H.M.'s Plantations in America should become effective until it had been confirmed by His Majesty. [Private Acts were for the benefit of a private individual, not for the citizens as a whole.]
23 Jun 1719. Col. Spotswood sent a letter in reply to the charges made against him by the House of Burgesses.
2 Jul 1719. Mr. Keith, Deputy Gov. of Pennsylvania, related in detail the progress made by the French in establishing a line of communication between the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi.
30 Jul 1719. The Commissioners set out to determine the boundaries between the French and the British Plantations on the North American continent. The colonies were asked to send the best maps they had available. There were also some questions pertaining to how far south the English claims went on the continent.
[Over the next few months, the French question took up much of the time of the Board.]
August 1719. The Governors of the Plantations were instructed how to claim a bounty on pitch and tar.
19 Aug 1719. The alleged friendliness of the Indians to Maryland, and the hostility toward the Virginians by the Indians, was discussed with eight invited gentlemen.
22 Jan 1719/20. The question was raised as to whether a Spanish ship could discharge or sell Spanish American goods at a British Plantation port. Mr. West, one of H.M.'s Counsels at Law, said that it was illegal under the trade laws. [This is why the English ships bringing Germans from Rotterdam to America always had to call at a British port before going on to an American port.]
[Note: The Board of Trade, at some point, became the Board of Trade and Plantations.]
[Over the course of several years, considerable discussions had taken place on who had the authority to try pirates who were caught. The discussion extended to the disposal of the effects of the pirates. The Admiralty generally felt that the Courts in the American Plantations were encroaching on the jurisdiction of the Admiralty Courts.]
11 May 1720. A bill in the House of Commons to encourage the production and importation into Britain of naval stores was discussed.
[By this date, Mr. Byrd and Mr. Ludwell were back in Virginia, and Col. Spotswood was reporting on the conduct of Byrd.]
15 Jun 1720. Both Col. Spotswood and the Council of Virginia sent letters saying that their differences had been settled and reconciliation had been effected. [We will see shortly what one of the benefits of this was to the Spotswood and the Council.]
(08 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.