At the Board of Trade and Plantations in London, orders were given (26 Nov 1723) for copies of all Acts of Assembly passed in Virginia to be sent to Mr. West for legal review. He particularly wanted to see "An Act for the better securing the Payment of Levies, and Restraint of vagrant and idle People, and for the more effectual Discovery and Prosecuting of person having Bastard Children".
5 Dec 1723. Mr. Carey, Mr. Harris, and Mr. Chamberlain (merchants) protested the Virginia Act imposing an import duty on liquors and slaves.
18 Dec 1723. An Order of the Lords Justices in Council (dated 6 August 1723), pertaining to the settlement of the two new counties in Virginia, was read (the Act was passed in Virginia three years earlier). The Board also read an Order of the Lord Justices recommending the repeal of the Virginia Act relating to Servants, slaves, and imported convicts.
7 Jan 1723/4. Unnamed Bristol merchants, trading to Africa, protested the Virginia Act of Assembly laying an import duty on liquors and slaves. Another meeting on the subject was set for three days hence. The meeting was held with many merchants attending. Mr. Byrd was not present, and another meeting was set so he could attend. Arguments were heard when he attended, but no decision was reached.
21 Jan 1723/24. Lt. Gov. Drysdale sent a copy of the peace treaty reached by Alexander Spotswood with the Five Nations of Indians. [The agreement had been reached a year and a half earlier.] 22 Jan 1723/4. Several Liverpool merchants protested the Virginia Act pertaining to liquor and slaves. This same day the Board recommended the repeal of the Act (which lay a duty of 40 shillings a head on slaves).
13 March 1723/4. Parliament passed an Act encouraging the importation of naval stores from the Plantations.
13 May 1724. All of the Plantations were warned not to impose any duties on European goods.
15 May 1724. Six named merchants representing Dutch, Hamburg, French, and Spanish trading interests attended a meeting of the Board to discuss the state of the sugar and tobacco trades. Also, on this day, three merchants trading to Sweden submitted their views on sugar and tobacco.
[If you have the impression that the Board of Trade and Plantations existed to promote the interests of the British merchants and traders, you would not be greatly in error. This class of people had the ears of the Board and many other powerful people in the British government, up to and including the King. The views of the traders and merchants could be quite arbitrary from the standpoint of a disinterested party but it made sense to them.]
(20 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.