On 15 December 1710, Spotswood wrote the Council of Trade:
“I gave your Lordships an account in my last of a project intended to be laid before the next Assembly [House of Burgesses plus the Council] for carrying on an Iron Work, but that design did not meet with the countenance which was expected from the House of Burgesses, it being the temper of the People here never to favour any Undertaking unless they can see a particular advantage arising to themselves, and these Iron mines, lying only at the Falls of James River [saying in effect that no other deposits were known], the rest of the Country did not apprehend any benefitt they should reap thereby. Since therefore the Country hath so little inclination to make use of the advantages which nature has put into their hands, I humbly propose to Your Lordships' consideration whether it might not turn to good account if her Majesty would be pleased to take that work into her own hands, sending over workmen and materials for carrying it on, and imploying therein the Revenue of Quitt-Rents which should be a sufficient ffund to bring it to perfection. I have been assured that the Oar has been tryed and found extraordinary Rich, and I have discoursed the Owners of the Land [the William Byrd family], and find them very willing to yield up their Right into her Majesty's hands without expecting any other consideration than such an Office in the management of the work as they shall be found capable of. The Iron might even be sent home as Ballast to Ships without any other charge than of Sloops or Lighters to put it on board, and by this means her Majesty may prevent its being manufactured in this Country, which is the only ill consequence that might have been feared if this work had been undertaken by the Inhabitants . . .[a new subject starts without a formal end to the previous thoughts].”
[ Commentary: This letter makes it clear that the iron ore mentioned in the previous letter to the Commissioners was not on the Rappahannock or Rapidan Rivers, but on the James River. Being at the Falls [i.e., near present day Richmond], it is the location where a smelting furnace had been built in the 1620's and destroyed in the general Indian uprising of 1622. This is also the iron ore sent to England in the 1580's for testing. It was found to be very good ore. Therefore, it was not newly discovered iron, nor had it been found by Spotswood.]
[In this letter, Spotswood takes the position that cast iron, or, in particular, pig iron, was a raw material and not restricted by the trade laws between Great Britain and the Colonies. He admits that wrought iron would be a manufactured project. His proposal is that all of the cast iron be sent back to England as ballast on the ship. The response of the Commissioners of Trade to his proposal shows that this view was not accepted by all. His proposal that Queen Anne sponsor the project seems to have died aborning and, in fact, it is not even clear whether she ever heard of the proposal.]
(01 Sep 04)
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