Tariff as Settled by Mr. Stuart, or Sent by him to me.

A True Copy

Ja. Wright

Governor Wright’s standing instructions to Indian traders, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 55, Enclosed in Wright to Board of Trade, Aug. 19, 1765.

By His Excellency James Wright Esquire Governour and Commander in Chief of his Majesty’s Colony of Georgia, and Vice-Admiral of the same.

INSTRUCTIONS for

That in all Places you come to, you are direct the Indians to be honest, loving and assisting to white Men; to which Purpose you are to set good Examples before them. And your Behaviour must be such that no Offence be given to the Christian Religion.

You are to reprove whatever tends to the contrary. And if any Person or Persons be disaffected to the Indians you are to acquire me therewith.

That your Behaviour and Dealing be such, as well towards the Indians as your fellow Traders among them, that no Person or Persons have Cause or Matter of Complaint of your Severity, or unreasonable Action in suffering your Horses, Hogs, or other Cattle to destroy the Crops.

And that you do not compel, By Threats, the Indians to do any Labour, or carry Packs or Burthens, or buy, sell or deal with you contrary to their Wills and Inclinations.

You are not to receive any Present, Gift, Fee or Reward, of any Indian or Indians, or trust or credit any of them, for Goods or any other Thing whatsoever, except one Pound of Powder and four Pounds of Bullets to each Indian.

You are to inform the Indians, that they are not obliged to pay any Debts they have heretofore contracted, except as before excepted.

That you do not, at your Peril, sell or deliver any Arms, or Ammunition, or other Goods, to any Indian or Indians belonging to the Crowns of France or Spain.

You shall not carry any Swan-Shot to the Indian Country, on any Pretence whatsoever.

You are to inform me, of all Matters that shall come to your Knowledge, relating to the Motions or Designs of the French or Spaniards, as to the Safety of this Government or Trade.

You are not to presume to bring any Indian or Indians within the Settlements, unless you have leave from me or the Commander in Chief of this Colony for the Time being.

You are to pay due Obedience to any Act made or to be made for the better regulating of the Indian trade. In case any Person lives or trades with the Indians not having a Licence, you are to acquaint me therewith as soon as possible. You are not to presume to talk with any Indian or Indians of Matters relating to the State or Government, without special Directions. You are not to suffer your Servants or Men, whom you are permitted to carry with you, to trade with any Indian or Indians whatsoever.

You are not to discharge any of your Men in the Indian Country. You are to send, or cause to be sent down, to the common Goal in Augusta, any of your Men against whom Information hath been made upon Oath, before any lawful Magistrate, of him or them being guilty of any capital Crime, and against whom Process shall be issued upon your receiving Information of the same.

You are, at the Renewal of your Licence, to have but one of the Men whom you are permitted to carry with you at the Trading House; the rest you are to bring down to Savannah in Georgia at that Time.

You are also, at such Renewal, to give me an Account of the Skins or other Effects purchased among the Indians, and the Sort and Quantity of each, together with an Account of what Goods you left behind unsold, or Skins the Effects of Goods sold; and you are to give me a Journal of your Proceedings during your Abode among the Indians.

You are not to employ, by any Manner of Ways or Means, any free Indian or Negro, any Negro or other Slave, in the Indian Trade, or in rowing up and down any Boat or Pettigua to or from any of the Garrisons, or from any other Place, without special Leave.

You are not, in your Barter with the Indians, to take any raw Skins in Exchange for any Goods whatsoever.

You shall not presume to carry Rum or any other spirituous Liquors, or any rifled-barrelled Guns into the Indian Country, or dispose of either to the Indians, under any Colour or Pretence whatsoever.

You are personally to be and appear before me, in one of the Months following, that is to say in April, May, June or July.

You are to return these Instructions and the annexed Licence to the Secretary of the Indian Trade for the Time being.

Given under my Hand and Seal this

By his

Command.

By His Excellency James Wright Esquire Governor and Commander in Chief of his Majesty’s Colony of Georgia, and Vice-Admiral of the same.

To

I Reposing especial Trust and Confidence in the Justice, Probity and good Conduct, of you the said your Substitutes or Servants, do hereby give and grant unto you the said full Leave and Licence, for and during the Term of Twelve Months, and no longer, to carry to or bring from any Indian or Indians in the Town of the any sort or Quality of Goods, Wares, Skins, Furs, or other Merchandize whatsoever, and among the said Indians to trade, traffick, deal or reside during the Term aforesaid. And you are to observe, that, during the Continuance of this Licence, you shall not, either in your own Person or by your Substitutes, Servants or other Persons employed by you, go from thence, or presume to trade at any other Place whatsoever, you strictly observing and obeying the Instructions herewith given you; and all such other and farther Instructions, Orders and Directions, as shall from Time to Time, or at any Time be issued, given or sent to you by me, or any other Person or Persons empowered or authorized by or in Consequence of His Majesty’s Royal Proclamation bearing date the seventh Day of October one thousand seven hundred and Sixty three and published in the Gazette of this Province the 8th of December following.

Given under my Hand and Seal this

By his

Command

Prices of goods in the Indian trade under Georgia licences, [Savannah], received Nov. 10,1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 56. In Wright to Board of Trade, Aug. 19,1765.

Copy of James Wright to John Stuart, Aug. 17, 1765, Savannah, received Nov. 10, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 57, regarding Stuart’s proposed Indian trade regulations. In Wright to Board of Trade, Aug. 19, 1765.

Sir

On the 15 inst I had the Pleasure to receive yours of the 25ult. & am Extremely glad to hear you have Suceeded so much to your Wish in your Negotiations with the Indians at Mobile & Pensacola, I also received yours of the 31 of March last, with your Proposed Regulations, Bond & Tariff, on which you Seem desirous to have my Sentiments. I have with great care & attention Perused the Regulations and Compared them with my Standing & General Instructions, which I give to every Person who Obtains a Licence, & take Bond, & Security that the Same Shall be duely Observed, and find every one of the Regulations Proposed by you, fully and Clearly included & Settled by my Instrns Except the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th, 15th & 16th and as all the rest intirely Correspond with Mine, therefore I shall Confine my Sentiments & Observations to them only which are not Contained in Mine.

Your 2d article Seems unexceptionable & may be usefull. The 4th I think Exceptionable & go’s too far. If the Commissary has any Real & Proper Objection to the Clerk Packhorseman or Factors Character or Conduct the Trader may be Obliged to dismiss Such Clerk &c but as it Stands any Person may be Objected to without Cause at the Meer Caprice of a Commissary who may not always be a disinterested Man. For my Part I don’t See the Propriety of this Regulation, at least as it now Stands, or unless Some further or better Reason is given for it, than Occurs to me, but it Seems to be taking away too much of a Mans Natural Right.

No Objection at Present Occurs to the 6th & 7th. Part of the 13th & 14th are Exceptionable for I shall Certainly expect that whatever Talks or Necessarys I may at any time think Proper to Send to any Indians Shall be delivered whether the Commissary Pleases or not and Shall also Expect the most Immediate Information that can be given or Sent to me on all Occasions, & therefore must disapprove of these Articles in so far as they may be Meant, or can be Construed to affect or include the Right or Power of the Govr., who Surely Ought to be the first Man acquainted with every Circumstance that may affect the Province, & not to have it Just when, or how our Indian Commissary Pleases nor to have any Talk or Message delivered, unless Such Commissary Pleases, or Chooses to Suffer it to be done. I See no Objection to the 15th & part of the 16th, only that the Latter Part of the 16th Seems altogether unnecessary as it is a matter of Course. Your Proposed Tariff is Exactly the same in every Particular but 2 or 3 with that Observed by me ever Since my Arrival here, which the Indians are Perfectly well Acquainted with, and which I have frequently told them Should be Faithfully Observed, & to Complain to me of any abuse to the Contrary. In yours you Say 1 yard of Calicoe 4 lb of Leather. Mine is 3 lb. Hatchets You Say from 1 to 8. Mine is 1 to 3. You Say 10 Flints for 1 lb. Mine is 12 for 1 lb. and this I think is all the difference. It Seems indeed as tho taken from the former Settlement, by its agreeing so Exactly with it. Thus Sir you have my Sentiments freely on the Matter. And I see no alteration Necessary to make my Instructions agree almost literally with what you Propose, unless a Single Article to include the Substance of Some of those I have mentioned and which I have no Objection to as Licences may be hereafter renewed. Indeed as I have very fully & Clearly wrote my Opinion on every Particular of the Plan Proposed by the Lords of Trade, and as Probably the affair is by this time Settled at Home, I am not for making alterations till the matter is Settled there, & Sent out, or I hear from their Lordships again on the Subject, which I Presume must be in a little while. And Sir are you not rather too hasty & Premature in Appointing Commissaries yet. Possibly you may have received Instructions for that Purpose, but the Matter only appears to me at Present on the Footing of a Plan Proposed & under Consideration, the Execution of which when Settled and approved by his Majesty, is to be warranted & authorized by a Law, as it Certainly ought to be before it can Properly take Effect &c. &c. And their Lordships Say in their letter to you of the 10 of July 1764, That the whole depends on the Fund for defraying the Expence of the Establishment, and in another Place that the whole Expence must be borne by the Trade.

As to what you Mention of the Power delegated to Merchants &c. the 29 article of the Plan Proposed by the Lords of Trade is “That no Person Trade under Such Licence but the Person named in it, his Servants or Agents, whose Names are to be inserted in Margin. “ The End of which is that the Party having the Licence & giving the Security may be answerable for the conduct of Such Servant or Agent. The Licences I give are directed to the Person who Applies & gives the Security, to Trade by himself, his Substitutes or Servants, and this from the Nature of the thing Seems Necessary. An Indian Trader must Employ Servants or Substitutes or as the 29 article Says Servants or Agents and I Consider every Mans Bond & Security to Stand good & answerable for the Conduct of every one he Employs under him, or who Trades by Virtue of his Lycence. And on Looking into & Examining my Licence Book, I find there is not one General Licence, but all Confined to Particular Towns, & there is not a Licence but 3. to any Person who do’s not actually go into the Nation himself. And they are, one to Mr. Jackson whose two Partners are always in the Nation, but I am not Certain whether Jackson goes or not. The Others are to Mr. Rae & Mr. Galphin, who have been old Traders themselves, are Men of very Considerable Property, & the best Characters. These Gents I believe dont now take the Fatigue of going into the Nation themselves, but Substitute others for whom they are answerable, and to which I See no Objection or that your Observation Seems Warranted by the Conduct of, or Licences Granted in this Province, which I Conceive is not only well Warranted by His Majesties Proclamation, but also agreeable to the Plan Proposed, with Respect to that Particular. However if any abuses are Committed, or they take any Improper Latitude, on due Information & Proving thereof to me, they may Easily be Restrained for the Future. But as I have already Said, we have Reason to Expect a General Regulation from the Fountain Head, almost every day, wherefore there Seems to be little Necessity for new Regulations here, tho there may be in the New Governments. Indeed every one of your Propositions Except the very few I have Notice of, are already Enforced & Observed by me.

Upon the whole Sir I well believe you are Convinced, and I assure you, that you may Rely I Shall always be Actuated by a Proper Zeal for His Majesties Service, and that I have also the Inclination you can Wish, to Co-operate in bringing the Indian Affairs into better Order. It is a Matter I have Laboured & taken great Pains about ever Since I came to this Government, but which I think is Scarce Practicable or Possible while things Continue on the Footing they now are, and on which I have been very Explicit in my Observations from time to time Transmitted Home on the Subject of Indian Affairs.

P. S. There are Several other Principal Men in the Lower Creeks, besides those you Mention and that I think are Fellows of more Weight and Consequence than any Except Sempiaffee, as for Alleck he assumes an air of Consequence, but is not Really of so much as he would have it believed, however is well disposed.

The White King of the Cussitas. The Chehaw Mico, Wehanny, & Selechee, the 3 last of the Chehaws, or Point Towns. The Lieutenant is a Villain but of Some weight.

James Wright to Board of Trade, Aug. 21, 1765, Savannah, received Nov. 10, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 58, regarding disallowance of law for the transfer of land.

My Lords

On the 19th instant I Received His Majesties Repeal of the Law for Empowering the General Court of Pleas to grant writs of Partition of Lands & Tenements held in Coparcenary Jointenancy & Tenancy in Common, in this Province, & for appointing the Method of Proceeding therein. And of the Law for Preventing Fraudulent Conveyances & for Making Valid all Deeds & Conveyances heretofore made in Respect to any defect in the form & manner of making thereof.

Your Lordships in your letter to me of the 12th of July 1764 are Pleased to Say “That when his Majesty Should have decided upon your Representation on the above Acts you Should be Enabled to State the Objections to me in Such a Light as to pave the way for the renewal of Lands for the Same Salutary Purposes Without being Lyable to the Same Objections. “ But I have not as yet been favoured with any letter on that Subject and as these Laws have been by Experience found to be of great Utility I must entreat your Lordships will be Pleased as Soon as it may be Convenient to you, to let me know what kind of Bills I may assent to for those Purposes, as it really Appears very Necessary to have others for those Ends with Such Variation as your Lordships may think Proper. I hope the Objection to the Bill for Register of Deeds &c does not Lye to the Supplying the defects in Deeds &c as that Seems from the Circumstances of the Case to be Necessary, & is one Principal End of the Law. For in Infant Colonies there are not Lawyers and Persons who know how to draw Deeds in a formal Manner, & Probably one half of the Transfers of Property in Lands are by Bills of Sale, Deeds of Gift, Feoffments Executed without Livery & Seisin, & other not Strictly formal & Legal Titles. And if these are to remain Lyable to be Questioned & Set aside after Long Possession under a Valuable Consideration Paid, & Considerable Improvements made, it may be Productive not only of very great inconveniencies, but in Some Cases Ruin to the innocent or Honest Purchasers. In So. Carolina a Clause was Inserted in the Quit rent Law for this very Purpose in the year 1731, & which is Still in Force without any Objection from Hence, & has been found of very great Utility, and therefore I hope that is not the Exceptionable Part. They have also a Law for making Partitions in Carolina much on the Same Plan with that Passed here, but I think rather more Exceptionable which (I believe) yet remains in Force, and I was hopefull these Laws would not have been Repealed, as I heard nothing further from your Lordships about them Since I received the Letter Mentioned, till now by the Hillsborough Packet, which I find has been upwards of Eight Months in Coming. If your Lordships would be Pleased for the Future to Order the dispatches to be delivered to the Agent, I should receive them in due time, which I never do by any of the Packets.

I must beg your Lordships will be Pleased to let me have your directions, that if Possible other Laws may be Framed less Exceptionable, and altho’ these Laws Might not be Strictly Agreeable to the Law & Practice in England, yet I was hopefull Local Reasons & Circumstances, and the Precedents in the next Province might have induced your Lordships to have Suffered them to Remain.

P. S. When the Titles &c are Carried to the Office to Record if there be any defect it will be discovered, & therefore my Lords without Such a Clause People instead of bettering their Title, or obtaining any degree of Security, may be Ruined by discovering a defect in their Deeds, So that I fear my Lords the one Part may not be thought Expedient without the Other, for making good defective Titles Prior to the Law, for it is not mean’t to Extend to Subsequent Deeds.

James Wright to Board of Trade, Sept. 2, 1765, Savannah, received Nov. 10, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 59, enclosing lists of vessels entered and cleared Savannah.

My Lords

I have the Honor to Transmit to your Lordships the Naval Officers Quarterly Account of Vessels Enter’d & Cleared at this Port from the 5th of April to the 5th of July 1765. ²²

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Sept. 2, 1765, Savannah, received Nov. 10, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 60, regarding expenditures in Georgia.

My Lords

I had the Honor to receive your Lordships letter of the 24th of June last Inclosing the Estimate of the Civil Establishment of this Colony & other incidental Expences from the 24th of June 1764 to the 24th of June 1765, with your Lordships distribution of the Sume of £2120. Part thereof, and your Lordships may be Perfectly assured that I shall Pay all Possible Regard & Attention to your Lordships letters of the 29th of May & 24th of december 1764, the Contents of both Which letters I have Long Since done my Self the Honor of Writing your Lordships very Fully & Circumstantially upon, and to which I beg Leave to Refer.

James Wright to the Lords of the Treasury²³ Oct. 15, 1765, Savannah, received Jan. 15, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 61, transmitting naval officer lists and abstract of grants.

My Lords

I have the Honour to Inclose your Lordships the Naval Officers list of Vessels Enterd & Cleared at the Port of Sunbury in this Province from the 5th of January 1765 to the 5th of July,²⁴ also the Register of Grants abstract of all grants of His Majesties Lands Signed by me from the 25th of March 1765, to the 25 of September.²⁵

James Wright to Board of Trade, Oct. 18, 1765, Savannah, received Jan. 15, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 62, concerning silk produced this year, act about Carolina grants, and lads suspected murdered by Indians.

My Lords

I have the Honor to acquaint your Lordships that the Silk Produced this year amounting to 712 lb. 8 oz. is ship’t on Board the Vessel by which I Send this letter. The Accounts & Vouchers attending the whole matter were yesterday Examined in Council approved & Passed for £ 1619. 12. 0 1/2 and as Soon as this Vessel Sails I Shall give the Persons who advanced their Money, Certificates for the Several Sumes they paid in to the Commissary. I have been very explicit on the Subject of the Silk Culture in Several of my Letters Since April last, and am daily Expecting your Lordships answer and directions on that Head, on which I have nothing to add, but beg leave to refer to the letters I have already wrote.

I hope soon to have his Majesties Confirmation of the Law Passed here relative to the Carolina Grants, which is a matter of the greatest Consequence to this Province.

Inclosed your Lordships will receive the Registers abstract of all Grants Signed by me from the 25th of March to the 25th of September 1765, also the Naval Officers List of Vessels Enterd & Cleared at the Port of Sunbury from the 5th of January 1765, to the 5th of July.

This day I received a letter from Augusta Mentioning 3 young Lads who went from thence towards the Head of little River (about 180 miles from Savannah) are Missing & its Suspected have been Murdered by Some Indians. As soon as I know the Certainty of this Affair, I shall acquaint your Lordships therewith.

James Wright to Board of Trade, Nov. 9, 1765, Savannah, received Feb. 5, read Feb. 6, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 23, concerning silk expenses, Indian murders, and non-receipt of Stamp Act.

My Lords

On the 18th of last Month I did my Self the Honor of Acquainting your Lordships with the Quantity of Silk made this year, & the Amount of the Expence Attending the Same, and which I have this day Signed Certificates for, Vizt. £1619.12.0 1/2 Sterl. I have also given Certificates for £68. 13.5 3/4 being the Amount of the Contingent & Indian Expences from December 1764 to June 1765. The Vouchers for all which I have ordered Mr. Baillie the Commissary here, to Transmit to the Agent.

In my last I mentioned a Report of three young Men being killed by Some Creek Indians, which has Since been confirmed beyond a doubt by many Circumstances tho’ no Positive Proof. It appears my Lords that they were a deer Hunting upon the Indian ground about 70 miles within the Line of the Lands Reserved by the Treaty made at Augusta the 10th of November 1763, for the Indians as their Hunting ground. What Quarrel there was, or Passed between them is not known, but the Fact is Certain.

I am my Lords under great difficulty with Respect to the Stamp Act, not having to this day received the Act of Parliament, or one Scrape of a Pen about it, nor is any Stamp’t Paper or Officer yet arrived here. I fear my Lords there has been an omission Some where relative to this matter which Embarrasses me greatly. The moment I receive the act it shall be Punctually observed to the Utmost of my Power. But am very Sorry to acquaint your Lordships that too much of the Rebellious Spirit in the Northern Colonies has already Shewn itself here, indeed the People have been for many Months Past Stimulated by Letters papers &c. Sent them from the Northward to follow their Example.

Sir Mathew Lamb to Board of Trade, Nov. 20, 1765, Lincolns Inn, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 79, opinion of acts passed in Georgia.

My Lords

In pursuance of your Lordships Commands Signified to me by Mr. Pownall’s Letter Wherein you are Pleased to Desire my Opinion in Point of Law upon the following Acts passed in the province of Georgia in March 1765. I have Perused and Considered the same (Vizt.).

1. An Act for the better Strengthening and Settling this Province by Compelling the several persons who Claim to hold Lands within the same under any Grant or Grants from his Majesty Witnessed by the Governor of South Carolina to bring or send into this Province a Number of White Persons or Negroes in proportion to the Lands they Claim to hold agreeable to his Majesty’s Royal Instructions for Granting Lands and to Cultivate and Improve the same And for the better Ascertaining the said several Tracts of Lands by Regulating the Surveys and Marking the Lines thereof and Recording the several Plotts in the Surveyor Generals Office also for Registering and Docketing such Grants in the other proper Offices in this Province.

2. An Ordinance appointing William Knox Esqr. Agent to Solicit the Affairs of this Province in Great Britain.

James Wright to Board of Trade, Dec. 2, 1765, Savannah, received and read Feb. 11, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 24, concerning the Stamp Act and proposed settlers from Ireland and Pennsylvania.

My Lords

I have not been Honored with any of your Lordships Commands [in ] a great while, am in daily Expectation of hearing from your lordships Relative to the Silk Culture which may Suffer if I am not Soon Authorised to give the People some Assurances Concerning it. I have wrote very fully & clearly on this Subject, and on which Nothing further Occurs at Present.

I am Still in a very Perplexed Situation with respect to the Stamp duty, not having yet received the Law or a Scrape of a Pen from any of His Majesties Ministers or Officers Concerning it, nor is the Paper or officer to distribute it yet come to this Province. I have Since my last of the 9th of November received the Act in a Private way from a Friend & then thought it my duty to take the Oath Prescribed, but how is it Possible my Lords for me to Inforce the Law without the Means, even if there was no Opposition by the Populace which I am apprehensive of, and from what has hitherto Passed my Lords, I have too much Reason to Expect that whenever the Officer Arrives, he will be intimidated from Acting, as the Officers in the Northern Colonies have been, and which I doubt not your Lordships before this time have received an Account of. I herewith Transmit to your Lordships Copys of the Several Orders & Resolutions in Council relative to this matter,²⁶ that your Lordships may See how I am Circumstanced. I have Pursued every Method I could Suggest both in a Public & Private way to Convince the People of their Error and Support his Majesties authority.

An application was made Some time ago my Lords for a Reserve of Lands for Settling a Township by a Number of Families from Ireland, to Promote which I am in Expectation the Assembly will grant a Sum of Money towards Paying their Passage over, and furnishing them with arms & ammunition, but my Lords it has been usual in the other Colonies on Such Occasions to Procure His Majesties Royal Leave to Pass the Grants of Lands in Such Townships free from quit rents for ten years, and the Legislature have Exempted those Lands from Provincial Taxes for that Term. This I Propose to do here, and I am to hope that through your Lordships means & Favour I may receive his Majesties Royal Instruction to Pass the Grants of Lands in any Township to Such Persons as may Actually come into this Province to Settle in them, free from quit rents for ten years. Several Persons my Lords have Proposed coming from Pensilvania as well as from Ireland, Probably in the whole from both Places 200 Families, if they are assisted and Encouraged as above, and its very like they may be Followed by many more.

James Wright to Board of Trade, Jan. 15, 1766, Savannah, received March 27, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 64, concerning Stamp Act troubles.

My Lords

The beginning of last Month I did my Self the Honor of writing your Lordships two letters²⁷ which I sent to Charles Town in South Carolina to go by the Grenville Packet, in which I acquainted your Lordships of the Perplexed Situation I was then in, with Respect to the Stamp Duty, and in the last Mentioned that the Papers &c were brought here by His Majesties Ship Speedwell, and had been Landed & Lodged in the Kings Store in Fort Halifax under the Care of the Commissary without any appearance of Mob or Tumult, but that I had great reason to apprehend there was a design, when the distributor Should arrive to Compell him to resign or Promise not to act, as had been done in every other Colony to the Northward of this. I also acquainted your Lordships that I had been Informed Several Persons here, had Signed an association to Oppose & Prevent the distribution of the Stamp’t Papers, but that I Could not come at Such Proof as was Necessary to Support any Legal Proceedings against them. All which I now Confirm & beg Leave to Refer your Lordships to those Letters. The Military Force in this Province my Lords is two Troops of Rangers Consisting in the whole of 120 Effective Men, which occupy 5 Forts or Posts, in different Parts of the Province, also 30 of the Royal Americans, 20 at Fort Augusta 150 Miles from hence, & 10 at Frederica about the Same distance. And on the 1st appearance of Faction & Sedition I ordered in Some of the Rangers from each Post & made up the Number here at Savannah 56 Privates & 8 officers and with which & the assistance of Such Gent as were of a Right Way of thinking I have been able in a great Measure to Support His Majesties Authority. But my Lords I think it my Indispensable Duty to give your Lordships a Short detail of Some things that have happened here relative to the Stamp Duty affair. Since I had the Honor to write last on Thursday, the 2nd instant about 3 o’clock in the afternoon I received intelligence by the two Captains of Rangers, Milledge & Powell, that the Liberty Boys, as they call themselves, had assembled together to the Number of about 200 & were gathering fast and that Some of them had declared they were determined to go to the Fort & break open the Store & take out & destroy the Stamp’t Papers &c. Upon which I immediately ordered them to get their Men together and armed myself & went to the guard House. And having got together to the Number of about 54 Marched to the Fort & had the Papers taken out of the Store & Carried in a Cart to the guard House Escorted by the above Number of Rangers. This was done my Lords between 4 & 5 o’clock in the afternoon and without any disturbance or opposition tho there was at that time at Least 200 assembled together.

But my Lords appearances & threats were Such that I have not had less than 40 Men on duty every Night Since that to Protect the Papers, or I am Confident they would have been destroyed, and for the 1st four nights I had not my Cloathes off. I had my Lords used Such Precaution as I was Sure to be first Informed of the Arrival of Mr. Angus the distributor for this Province, & had notice of it accordingly on friday the 3rd inst about one oclock, when I Immediately Sent the Scout Boat to Tybee with an Officer & a Party of Men to Protect Mr. Angus & Suffer no Body to Speak to him, but Conduct him Safely to my House, which was done the next day about noon, & that afternoon he took the State Oaths & Oath of Office, & is still at my House, as no other Could Protect him. And I have had the Papers distributed & Lodged in all the different Offices relative to the Shipping & Opening our Ports, but understand my Lords that the People in General are determined not to apply for any other Papers untill His Majesties Pleasure is known on the Petitions Sent from the Colonies. However my Lords I Presume in a very Short time Necessity will oblige them to apply for other Papers.

Notwithstanding my Lords I have been so far Successfull in Supporting His Majesties Authority in this Case. Yet my Lords I must not Conceal from His Majesty, that Several Public Insults have been offered, & abuses Committed, and that I have very nearly seen the Power & Authority His Most Sacred Majesty has been graciously Pleased to Vest in me, wrested out of my Hands, a Matter my Lords too Cutting for a good Subject & Servant to Bear. No Pains my Lords has been Spared in the Northern Colonies to Spirit up and inflame the People here, and a Spirit of Faction & Sedition has been Stirred up throughout this Province, and Partys of armed Men actually assembled themselves together, and were Preparing to do so in different Parts, but my Lords on my Sending Expresses with Letters to Many of the Most Sensible & Dispassionate People, I had the Satisfaction to find that my Weight & Credit was Sufficient to Check & Prevent all Commotions & disturbances in the Country, & every thing is at Present Easy & quiet, & I hope Peace & Confidence will be Restored in general. Thus your Lordships will See the Situation I am in, and I Trust my Lords that Effectual Means will be taken to Support his Majesties Authority from Future Insults, & to Prevent Mobs from daring to attempt to Obstruct the due Course of Law & Civil Power from taking Effect which has been too much the Case upon this Occasion.

The People in general my Lords I think not ill disposed, but have been Misled & Influenced to a degree of Madness, by the Seditious & Rebellious acts & Publications in the other Colonies. And I humbly hope the whole Province will not suffer in your Lordships Opinion for the Rashness of Some. At the Same time my Lords it Seems very Clear that the Executive Part of Government requires Some further degree of Strength & Support.

My Mode of Correspondence being in this Case (as I Conceive) Confined to your Lordships, I have not wrote to Mr. Secretary Conway. I have my Lords Exerted every Means in my Power for His Majesties Service on this Occasion, & hope no further disturbances will happen.

P.S. That your Lordships may See a Specimen of the Rebellious Spirit in this Part of the World. I have taken Liberty to Inclose the last Paper Published in Charles Town So. Carolina. 28

James Wright to Board of Trade, Jan. 22, 1766, Savannah, received March 27, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 66, concerning reports and mail service.

My Lords

On the 20th Instant I had the Honor to Receive your Lordships Letter of the 23d of August by the Grantham Packet, and beg leave to assure your Lordships that I have & Shall with the greatest attention Transmit to your Lordships a Faithfull Account of all Occurences in this Province, and also Observe the Rules Prescribed by His Majesties Instructions for my Corresponding with your Lordships Board. ²⁸

Your Lordships will be Pleased to Observe that this letter has been 5 Months coming by the Packet, it is really the most Tedious Conveyance of dispatches. If they were delivered to Mr. Knox, or Sent to the Georgia Coffee House to come by the Merchant Ships, I Should be sure to receive them in due time Seldom Exceeding 2 Months from the date.

James Wright to Board of Trade, Jan. 22, 1766, Savannah, received March 27, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 67, concerning reserves of land to be made adjoining forts.

My Lords

Your Lordships letter of the 2nd of Sepr. by the Grantham Packet came to my Hands two days ago, and I have the Honor to acquaint your Lordships that Reserves of Land have been made in the Province adjoining every Fort that has yet been Built and if any Should be hereafter Built under my direction, I Shall take great care that His Majesties Commands are fully Observed.

I Shall also Immediately Order the Regulations Prescribed, to be Enter’d upon the Council Books, and Certified Copys of the Plots of Land Reserved for the use of the Several Forts to be made out & delivered to the Respective Commanding Officers at each Fort.

James Wright to Board of Trade, Feb. 1, 1766, Savannah, received March 27, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 68, concerning Stamp Act troubles.

My Lords

Since my last to your Lordships of the 22d of Janry. Some Incendiaries were Sent here from Charles Town in South Carolina, full Fraught with Sedition, and have been about the Country and Inflamed the People to Such a degree, that they were assembling together in all Parts of the Province, & to the Number of about 600 were to have come here as yesterday, all armed, and as I have been Informed were to have Surrounded my House & Endeavoured to extort a Promise from me, that no Papers Should be issued till His Majesties Pleasure is known on the Petitions Sent from the Colonies. And if I did not Immediately Comply, they were to Seize upon & destroy the Papers & Commit many acts of Violence against the Persons & Property of those Gentn. who have declared themselves Friends to Government. On this last alarm I thought it advisable to Remove the Papers to a Place of greater Security, and accordingly ordered them to be Carried to Fort George on Cockspur Island, where they are Protected by a Captain 2 Subalterns & 50 Private Men of the Rangers. But I have the Satisfaction to Inform your Lordships that I have been happy Enough with the assistance of Some well disposed Gentn. to get a great Many of them dispersed who were actually on their way down here, but many of them are Still under arms, and within 7 miles of the Town & the Issue of this matter is yet uncertain. My Task is rendered much more difficult by the Carolinians going the Lengths they have done, & Still do, & Spiriting up the People here to follow their Example. I have only to add, that Notwithstanding the Repeated threats & Insults I meet with, your Lordships may be assured that I will firmly Perservere to the Utmost of my Power, in the Faithfull discharge of my duty to His Majesty. I Still hope there is a Possibility of bringing the People to Reason. But Really my Lords Such of His Majesties Servants in America as are firm in their Opposition to the Present Seditious Spirit, to Call it no Worse, have a very Uncomfortable time of it. P. S. by this Opportunity I write to Mr. Secretary Conway. I am just now in Such a State of Warfare that I hope your Lordships will Excuse haste, Especially as I Expect the Capt. to Call for my Letters before I can get’em Sealed.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Feb. 7, 1766, Savannah, received March 31, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 69, concerning Stamp Act troubles.

My Lords

On the Second instant His Majesties Ship Speedwell arrived at a very Seasonable time, as by Capt. Fanshaw’s taking the Papers on Board the King’s Ship I was Enabled to order up the Officers & Rangers from Fort George, and then Muster’d 70 Officers & Men here. Capt. Fanshawe also brought his Ship up, and Promised me the Assistance of 20 Men, and Several Gentlemen & others also Promised to Join me if the Villains Should come to Town. For Notwithstanding I had been able to disperse a great Number, yet two hundred & forty of them were then within 3 Miles, and being much Exasperated against me for Sending the Papers away, had agreed to Come to me & demand that I Should Order the Papers back, to be delivered up to them, and if I did not, they were to Shoot me. This was avowedly declared by Some of them, and on Tuesday the 4th instant they actually had the Insolence to appear near the Town Common with their Arms & Colours, but finding I had near 100 Men that I Could Command & depend upon, & being told that Many would Join me as Volunteers, after Staying there about 3 Hours, I was Informed they differed amongst themselves & begun to disperse, and I have now the great Satisfaction to Acquaint your Lordships that they are all dispersed. But my Lords Some of them declared they were offered assistance from Carolina to the amount of from 4 to 500, & if they came Would be ready to return again. If none come from thence I hope to Remain quiet. Possibly your Lordships may be Surprized that I have not mentioned Calling out the Militia, but I have too much Reason to think I Should have armed more against me than for me, & that Volunteers were the only People I Could have any Confidence in or dependance upon.

I now write to Mr. Secretary Conway on this Subject.

James Wright to Board of Trade, Feb. 10, 1766, Savannah, received March 31, read June 27, 1766, C. O. 5/649, F. 70, concerning Stamp Act troubles.

My Lords

Since mine to your Lordships of the 7th instant I received the Inclosed News Paper from Charles Town South Carolina. With Respect to the Falsity of that Paragraph relative to what Passed here, I refer your Lordships to the above letter by this Opportunity. This Step of Lieut. Governor Bulls opening the Port in Carolina Contrary to the Late Act of Parliament under Pretence that no Stampt Papers are to be had, when in Fact they are Lodged by his Order in Fort Johnson, & under his own Immediate Authority & direction, occasions great Murmuring in this Province, and Im afraid will raise the People in arms again. And thus your Lordships will See how I am Continually Perplexed & kept in hot water, not only by the Seditious Spirit & Base attempts of the People there in a Private Way, but by the Conduct of those in Authority, from whom I Conceive I ought rather to Expect Assistance.

P. S. I Have not Mentioned this circumstance to Mr. Secretary Conway having no other Paper to Send.

James Wright to Board of Trade, March 10, 1766, Savannah, received May 12, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 71, concerning Stamp Act troubles and proroguing of Assembly.

My Lords

I have nothing Material to Mention to your Lordships Since my Last of the 10 of Febr. but that with very great difficulty I have kept the People quiet. And on the 6th instant I assented to the Tax Bill & the other Bills, and then Prorogued the Assembly for 4 Months, and have the Satisfaction to acquaint your Lordships that I had Influence Enough to Prevent even attempting to make any Resolve as to the Rights and Privileges Claimed by the Americans, and also any application Relative to the Non Execution of the Stamp Act. The above Bills I shall Transmit to your Lordships as Soon as they can be Prepared, with my Observations on Such as I think require any.

P. S. I take the Liberty to Inclose your Lordships Some of the Proceedings in Carolina,²⁹ from which the True Spirit of the People will appear, and where I am Informed & have Great Reason to believe there has not been the Least Attempt to Check or even discountenance their Rebellious Proceedings. And two Vessels Bound for this Province were actually Stopt before they got out of the Port, & carried back to Charles Town & unloaded by the Sons of Liberty, who just Say & do what they Please.

James Wright to Board of Trade, April 5, 1766, Savannah, received June 2, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 81, concerning John Bishop, complained of by the Spanish ambassador, and expenses from the Contingent fund.

My Lords

I am now to acquaint your Lordships that on the 3d day of December 1764. I received a Letter from the Earl of Halifax His Majesties Principal Secretary of State for the Southern Department Signifying His Majesties Commands that if John Bishop & Some other Persons therein Named Should be or come into the Province of Georgia, they Should be forthwith apprehended & Secured to answer a Complaint which the Prince De Masseran., His Catholic Majesties Ambassador had made at the Court of London, a Copy of whose Letter to the Earl of Halifax Containing the Charge against the said Bishop & Others, was also received by me at the time above mentioned. And the Said John Bishop was Some time afterwards discovered to be come into this Province as Master of a Schooner belonging to Some Persons in Charles Town South Carolina, and was apprehended on the 19th day of December aforesaid agreeable to the Command of the Said Letter, of which I immediately acquainted the Earl of Halifax, and on the 22nd day of August 1765 had the Honor to receive his Lordships answer dated the 9th of March 1765, Signifying to me amongst other directions that I must guide my Future Conduct Relative to the Said Bishop by the Opinion of the Kings Lawyers in this Province, and which letter I put into the Hands of His Majesties Chief Justice & Attorney General, and the said John Bishop was discharged from his Confinement. Since he has brought in an account amounting to £102. 0. 0 Sterl. at the Rate of 6/8 per day during his Confinement, and the Provost Marshall has also brought in an Account Amounting to £10. 10.0 Sterl. Which Several Accts. have been Examined & Passed in Council as Proper to be Paid out of the Contingent Money and I have therefore given the Said John Bishop and Mr. Roche the Acting Provost Marshall Certificates as usual for Money to be Paid out of the annual Sume allowed by Parliament for the Contingent Expences of Government here. I am also to acquaint your Lordships That on the 10th of March last I gave a Certificate to John Hopkins Francis Taylor & Geo. Miller Branch Pilots for this Bar and River for £66. 13.4 Sterl, due to them to the 24 of June 1765, as by the Parliament Grant and Estimate to that time appears, and I am further to acquaint your Lordships that I have this day given Mr. George Baillie the Commissary here a Certificate for £49. 16.5½ Sterl. being the usual Contingent & Indian Expences from the 24th of June 1765, to the 24th of December 1765, and advanced & Paid by him, as his Account & Voucher Appears.

James Wright to Board of Trade, April 28, 1766, Savannah, received July 1,³⁰ read June 27, 1766, C. O. 5/649, F. 76, transmitted abstract of grants.

My Lords

I have the Honor to inclose your Lordships the Register of Grants abstract of all Grants Signed from the 25th of March 1765, to the 25 of September 1765.³¹

James Wright to Board of Trade, May 5, 1766, Savannah, received July 12, read July 31, 1766, C. O. 5/649, F. 82, concerning acts lately passed by the Assembly.

My Lords

I have now the Honor to Transmit to your Lordships Copys of the Several Bills assented to by me on the 6th of March last with my Observations on Such of them as I Conceive require any, Vizt. The Tax act Intitled “An Act for Granting to His Majesty the Sume of £1925. 6. 1 Sterl. for the Use & Support of the Government of Georgia for the year 1766, to be Raised by Certain Rates after the Method therein Mentioned; and for the more Effectual Collecting of Arrears. “ “An Act for Encouraging Settlers to come into the Province, and for Granting to His Majesty the Sum of £1815 Sterl. to be Issued in Certificates by the Commissioners therein Named for the said Purpose and also for the Rebuilding the Court House in Savannah, in Consequence of an Act of the General Assembly Passed the 29th day of February 1764. “ This Act my Lords was Framed & Passed in Consequence of a Strong Recommendation from me, and I think will be of Great Utility & bring in Numbers of Settlers, besides the Other Encouragements given, your Lordships Will See that they are Exempted from Provincial Taxes for Ten years, and I Should hope that Agreeable to a letter I formerly wrote your Lordships on this Subject, His Majesty will be graciously Pleased to Enable me to grant them their Lands free of quit rents for ten years, as has been usual in Such Cases in the other Colonies. The Court House was quite in Ruins, & now with the additional Sume granted by this Act we Shall be able to Build a very usefull decent Building that will Serve many years. Your Lordships will be Pleased to Observe there was an Absolute Necessity for Issuing Certificates on this Occasion, but they are not made a Tender in Law, and are to be Sunk in 5 years by the General Tax, which I conceive to be a Sure Provision or Fund, and I hope will appear unexceptionable to your Lordships.

“An Act to Punish Seamen or Marriners Neglecting or Deserting their Duty on Board their Respective Ships or Vessels; and for Preventing Seamen or Marriners being Harboured or Running in Debt” This Act my Lords is Partly taken from the Statute of the 2 Geo. 2 cap. 36 and Partly adapted to the Local Circumstances of the Province & Case here, and I think Will be very beneficial to Trade & Answer Good Purposes. “An Act for the Relief of Debtors who may be Confined in Gaol, & are unable to Support themselves during Such their Confinement. “ This Act my Lords is taken from Part of the Statute of the 2 Geo. 2 Cap. 20 and I think is a Necessary Law. The above Seem to me my Lords to be all that require any Remarks upon. The following 13 Acts are merely for Local Provincial Purposes, and I Conceive are very Proper & Necessary for the uses intended and appear to me to be altogether unexceptionable, as I doubt not but they will to your Lordships. Vizt. “An Act for the better Security of the Inhabitants of this Province by obliging the Male White Persons within the Same to Carry fire arms to all Places of Public Worship. “ “An Act to Explain & amend an Act for the better Regulating Taverns, Punch Houses, and Retailers of Spirituous Liquors. “ “An Act to Amend an act for Holding Special or Extraordinary Courts of Common Pleas, for the Trial of Causes arising between Merchants, Dealers, & others, Ship Masters, Super Cargoes, & Other Transient Persons. “ “An Act to Empower the Several Commissioners or Surveyors hereafter Named to Lay out & make Such Public Roads in the Province of Georgia as are herein after Mentioned & directed, & to Continue to work upon, Clear, Repair & Improve the Several Roads already Laid out, and also the Rivers & Creeks within their Several & Respective Divisions. “ “An Act to Prevent Frauds & deciepts in Selling Beef, Pork, Pitch, Tar, Turpentine & Firewood.” “An Act for the further Continuance of an Act to Prevent Stealing of Horses & Neat Cattle, and for the More Effectual discovery & Punishment of Such Persons as Shall Unlawfully Brand, Mark, or kill the Same. “ “An Ordinance for appointing Packers or Inspectors for the Ports of Savanah & Sunbury in this Province. “ “An Act for Establishing a Ferry from the Plantation of Miles Brewton Esqr. near Savanah, to the Plantation of Jermyn & Charles Wright Esqrs. Called Rochester, in the Province of South Carolina, and for Vesting the Same in the Said Miles Brewton his Executors administrators & Assigns for & during the Term of Seven years.” “An Act to Enable the Commissioners appointed by an Act of the Province Intitled an Act for Regulating the Town of Savanah, and for ascertaining the Common thereunto belonging, to Alien & Convey to the Honorable William Simpson Esqr. his Heirs & Assigns for ever, a Certain Part of the Said Common in Exchange for Part of a Lot of Land adjoining the Same. “ “An Act to amend an Act for the better Regulating the Town of Savanah and for ascertaining the Common thereunto belonging, and also to authorise & Impower the Church Wardens & Vestry of the Parish of Christ Church to appoint a Beadle for the Purposes herein Mentioned. “ “An Act to amend an Act for the better Ordering and Governing Negroes & other Slaves in this Province, & to Prevent the Inveighing or Carrying away Slaves from their Masters or Employers. ”

And on the 18th of November my Lords I assented to a Bill Intitled “An Act for Establishing and Regulating Patrols, and for Preventing any Person from Purchasing Provisions or any other Commodities from any Slave, unless Such Slave Shall Produce a Ticket from his or her owner, Manager, or Imployer. ”

This my Lords Seemed to be a very necessary Law and I doubt not Will Answer very good Purposes.

Your Lordships will also receive herewith the Journals of both Houses of Assembly during the last Session, which Ended on the 6th of March, also the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Governor in Council from the 1st of October 1765 to the 18th of December following inclusive, and an abstract of Grants from the 25th of March 1765, to the 25th of September 1765.

An abstract of grants of land registered in Georgia from March 25 to Sept. 25, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/675, F. 63, enclosed in Wright to Board of Trade, Oct. 18, 1765, or May 5, 1766, in both of which it is said to be enclosed.

Grant dated 2d Aprill 1765

To John Millege for 51 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 9th Aprill 1765.

Grant dated 2d Aprill 1765

To Henry Calwell for 500 Acres of Land South side of the River Alatamaha. Registred 9th Aprill 1765.

Grant dated 2d Aprl 1765

To Samuel Haynes for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 10th Aprill 1765.

Grant dated 2d Aprl 1765

To John Rae for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registred 10th April 1765.

Grant dated 2d Aprl 1765

To Thomas Morgan for 1000 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George (on Purchase). Registred 11th Aprill 1765.

Grant dated 2d Aprl 1765

To Michael Wainsoff for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew (on Purchase). Registred 11th April 1765.

Grant dated 2d Aprl 1765

To Francis Stringer for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 11th Aprill 1765.

Grant dated 2d Aprl. 1765

To William Rhodes for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 11th Aprill 1765.

Grant dated 2d Aprl 1765

To Wolfgang Mack for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthews. Registred 12th Aprill 1765.

Grant dated 2d Aprl 1765

To Christian Oxly for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 12th Aprill 1765.

Grant dated 2d Aprl 1765

To John Michael for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 12th Aprill 1765.

Grant dated 2d Aprl 1765

To John Michael for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 12th Aprl 1765.

Grant dated 2d Aprl 1765

To Henry Ludwig Buntz for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 12th Aprill 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To Thomas Irwin for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 13th May 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To James Mackay for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Phillip. Registred 11th May 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To John Wertch for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew (on Purchase). Registred 15th May 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To Samuel Elbert for a Town & Farm Lot in Savannah No. 7. Registred 16th Aprill³² 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To Thomas Whitehead for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 17th Aprill³² 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To John Lot for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 18th May 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To John Burnes for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Pauls. Registred 18th May 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To Daniel Durozeaux for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Pauls. Registred 20th May 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To John Goldwire for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthews. Registred 20th May 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To Samuel Tomlinson for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 21st May 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To Thomas Noble for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 21st May 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To Mark Carr Esqr. for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Johns. Registred 21st May 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To Grey Elliott Esqr. for 80 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 21st May 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To Nathan Hooker for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 21st May 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To Lachlan McGillivray for 45 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 22d May 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To David Emanuel for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 22d May 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To John Waters for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew (on Purchase). Registred 22d May 1765.

Grant dated 7th May 1765

To Richard Meadows for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registred 22d May 1765.

Grant dated 2d Aprill 1765

To David John for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 22d May 1765.

Grant dated 5th June 1765

To George Mackintosh for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Thomas. Registred 8th June 1765.

Grant dated 5th June 1765

To William Mackintosh for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. David. Registred 8th June 1765.

Grant dated 5th June 1765

To Donald Mackay for 25 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mary. Registred 8th June 1765.

Grant dated 5th June 1765

To Donald Mackay for 250 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mary (on Purchase). Registred 8th June 1765.

Grant dated 5th June 1765

To Morgan Sabb for 500 Acres of Land on the side of the River Alatamaha. Registred 10th June 1765.

Grant dated 5th June 1765

To James Bullock for 2000 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Marys. Registred 10th June 1765.

Grant dated 5th June 1765

To Robert Nichols for 1000 Acres of Land on the south side of the River Alatamaha. Registred 10th June 1765.

Grant dated 5th June 1765

To Grey Elliott Esqr. for 237 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 10th June 1765.

Grant dated 5th June 1765

To Raymond Demere for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. James. Registred 11th June 1765.

Grant dated 5th June 1765

To John Morris for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 11th June 1765.

Grant dated 5th June 1765

To George Upton for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 11th June 1765.

Grant dated 5th June 1765

To Caleb Howell for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 11th June 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To Lieutenant Harry Munroe for 1000 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. David Registred 8th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To Alexander McDonald for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. David. Registred 8th July 1765.

Grant dated 2 July 1765

To James Graham for 400 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Thomas. Registred 8th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To James Graham for 1000 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Thomas (on Purchase). Registred 8th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To Mary Larcey for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 9th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To Richard Keaton for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 9 July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To John Hangleiter for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 9 July 1765.

Grant dated 2 July 1765

To William Fox for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 10th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To Christopher Hudson for 400 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 10th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To John Sheley for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 11th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1766

To Walter Kelly for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 11th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To John Greuber for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 12th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To George Gnan for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 12th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To John Fryer for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 12th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To John Coughlan for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 13th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To George Buntz for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 13th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To Grey Elliott Esqr. for 800 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew (on Purchase). Registred 13th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To Grey Elliott Esqr. for 1200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 13th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To Thomas Burrington for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 13th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To Thomas Burrington for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George (on Purchase). Registred 13th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To Zachariah Fenn for 250 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 15th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To Daniel Wallicon for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 15th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To Fras. Harris & Jas. Habersham Esqrs. for a town Lot in Savannah No. 7. Registred 15th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To James Anderson for a town Lot in Augusta No. 19. Registred 15th July 1765.

Grant dated 2d July 1765

To Robert Botton for 40 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 15th July 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To David Unseld for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew (on Purchase). Registred 12th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To Grey Elliott and John Gordon for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registred 12th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To Grey Elliott & Jno. Gordon for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registred 12th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To Grey Elliott & Jno. Gordon for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 12th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To Grey Elliott & Jno. Gordon for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 13th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To Grey Elliott & Jno. Gordon for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 13th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To Grey Elliott & Jno. Gordon for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 13th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To James Habersham for 750 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mary. Registred 13th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To James Habersham for 750 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mary. Registred 13th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To Benjamin Moody for 400 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 13th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To Christian Bittenback for 81 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 14th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To Matthias Biddenback for 200 Acres of land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 14th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To Henry Overstreet for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 15th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To David Steiner for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 16th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To James Pugh for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 17th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To Eisom Roberts for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 17th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To Jno. Joachim Zubly for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Phillip. Registred 17th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To William Colson for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 17th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To John Kugell for 108 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 19th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To Casper Hack for 250 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 19th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To Edward Sizemore for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 19th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To The Revd. Geo. Whitefield for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. David. Registred 20th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To The Revd. Geo. Whitefield for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. David. Registred 20th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To the Revd. Geo Whitefield for 1000 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Patrick. Registred 20th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To Lucas Seigler for a town Lot in Ebenezer No. 10. Registred 20th August 1765.

Grant dated 6th August 1765

To Appolana Grase for 50 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 20th August 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To James Gray for 50 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To Francis Arthur for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philip. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To Mary Arthur for 200 Acres of Land on Bermuda Island (on Purchase). Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To Anthony Brunell for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To William Bland for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d Septr. 1765

To Miles Brewton for 1000 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mary. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To Miles Brewton for 1500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mary. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To Robt. Crooke, Alexan McKintosh & Jas. Jackson for 350 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To John Collins Debutts for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Phillip. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To Joseph Dunlap for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To John Goldwire for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew (on Purchase). Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To John Hackle for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To William Harbert for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To Thomas King for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To James Larrimore for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To Thomas King for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To John Morris for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To William McDonald for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To Elijah Sapp for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To Abraham Sapp for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To Robert Savage for 200 Acres of Land on the south side of the River Alatamaha. Registred 10 September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To Jno. Frans. Williams for 600 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mary. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To Jno. Frans. Williams for 400 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mary (on Purchase). Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To John Williams for 231 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 10th September 1765.

Grant dated 3d September 1765

To The Revd. Bartholomew Zouberbuhler for 1000 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Patrick. Registred 10th September 1765.

Georgia

The Abstract of the Grants Registred from the 25th March to the 25th Septr. 1765 compared with the Register Book the 10th day of October 1765.

Pat Houstoun Regr.

James Wright to Board of Trade, June 24, 1766, Savannah, received and read Aug. 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 83, concerning the silk culture.

My Lords

I had the Honor to Receive your Lordships letter of the 27th of February, wherein your Lordships are Pleased to Express a Concern at the little Progress made in the Silk Culture, and direct that no more be Paid this year than 1/6 per lb. for all Cocoons brought to the Filature at Savannah whether of the Produce of Georgia or Elsewhere, which Direction I Notified the very day that I received the Letters, & no more will be Paid than that Sume.

I have my Lords given great Attention & Endeavoured to the Utmost of my Power to encourage & Promote the encrease of that Article ever Since I have been in the Province. And if your Lordships will be Pleased to Observe the Account in mine of the 23d of April 1765 of the Quantity Sent Home for Nine years past, I believe you will find the years 1762, 63, & 64, near Equal to the 6 Preceeding years. Last year altho there was a great Prospect at the beginning, yet we only had 12514 lb. of Cocoons which made 712 lb. 8 oz. of Silk. I have made all the Observations I Could at every Period & find the Quantity Principally depends on the Season. A late Spring, Succeeded by Steady weather is the most Favourable, a Manifest Proof of which we have had this year, there having been delivered in at the Filature 20,000 lb. of Cocoons, and last year there was only 12514 lb., and yet not So Many Persons went on Raising Cocoons this year as did the former, but the encrease in Quantity is Clearly & intirely owing to a Favourable Season, & this will ever be the Case. When there is an early Spring and afterwards any Cold, or Raw wet weather, the Worms Sicken & dye by Bushells, and Consequently there will be a Less Quantity of Cocoons Raised, & not so good in Quality. Another Grand Obstacle is as I Mentioned formerly that People of Property can make more by Employing their Negroes about other things, in Short on a Plantation they have full Employment for every Negroe good & bad, & its not Worth their while to give their time & attention to the Raising of Cocoons at 1/6 per lb. and I fear None will go upon it but the Poorer Sort of People, who I Presume will Continue to Pursue it as an object very well worth their attention at 1/6 per lb, and Such are the Inhabitants of that little Trifling Wretched Village of Purysburgh. Your Lordships may rely I Shall use every argument & Means in my Power to Promote the encrease of this Valuable Commodity. Another Obstacle is the dearness of Labour in this Country which makes the Manufacturing Part that is Performed here Amount to a Considerable Expence. Upon the whole my Lords I heartily wish I Could give a more Satisfactory account, but Nothing further Occurs to me at Present on the Subject, and for the whole Conduct Management &c. &c. in and about this Affair, I beg leave to refer your Lordships to my Letters of the 14th December 1764. 23rd of April & 29th of June 1765. Your Lordships are Pleased to Observe that the Surplus accumulated by Savings is now intirely Exhausted. I hope therefore to be favoured with your Lordships directions in time, against the next Season, that I may Regulate my Conduct accordingly, for this year the Purchase of the 20,000 lb. of Cocoons at 1/6 comes to £1500. Sterl. and I Presume the usual & Necessary Expences till Ship’t will amount to £500 more, so that there will remain £1000 of the Money to be Raised or Paid out of the Produce of the Silk. If this be not Agreeable to your Lordships Sentiments, and I am not to have in View the Money arising by the Sale of the Silk, to be added to the £1000 granted by Parliament towards defraying the expence, and answering the Certificates given by me, I must request your Lordships will be Pleased to Set me Right, and whatever directions I receive Shall be Carefully & Strictly followed. I have Sent by this Conveyance the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Governor in Council from the 7th of January to the 4th of March 1766.

Proposal of Henry Kennan to the Board of Trade, June 26, 1766, London, received and read July 3, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 80, for carrying on the silk filature at Savannah.

Henry Kennan proposes to take the Filature in Savannah under his own direction, and will give one shilling for every pound of merchantable Cocoons delivered there, and also pay the bounty given by Government for the same, in such manner as may be directed by the Lords of Trade, on delivery of the Cocoons. As the people who raise the Cocoons are the poorer Inhabitants, it will be a great relief to them, who at present wait some time for their money.

It is proposed that as soon as the Cocoons are fit for reeling, public notice thereof be given in the Georgia Gazette, that any of the inhabitants of that Province or South Carolina have free access thereto, and if they desire it, be instructed in the whole process of managing the Cocoons, by the Superintendant, which that he may the better be enabled to do, he shall be assisted therein by persons who perfectly understand it.

To induce the people to reel their own silk, they shall on delivery of every pound of silk of a good quality at the Filature, be paid eighteen shillings, and also the full bounty for the same; and whatever the silk sells for in London, if any balance arises in their favor, such balance to be paid them.

On the arrival of the silk in London, four or more eminent silk merchants shall be requested to inspect it. Public notice of the sale thereof shall be given in the papers, and when sold, the Broker’s certificate of the Sale, together with a certificate from the Gentlemen who inspected the silk, shall be printed and distributed to each of the persons who raised any of the Cocoons from which the silk was made.

An exact account shall be kept of each particular sort of Silk, and the quantity and quality of Cocoons used to each sort, which shall also be expressed upon labels fixed thereto. The same method to be observed with such silk as may be reeled by the makers of the Cocoons, whose names should also be added.

Security shall be given in the Secretary’s Office in Savannah, for payment for the Cocoons.

It is proposed that the quantity of Cocoons delivered be ascertained by the oaths of the makers, to be deposited in the Secretary’s Office, from whence a general certificate for the whole quantity authenticated by the Governor, shall be annually transmitted to the Board of Trade.

As Mr. Kennan will be at the whole expence of reeling, it is evident on comparing these Proposals with the accounts of the Georgia Filature for some years past, that there will be a considerable saving to Government, and that he can have no pecuniary views; he therefore hopes that he be allowed about two hundred pounds per annum, to defray the expence of some small premiums, which he wishes to have in his power to bestow, together with the charge of firing, other small incidental expences, and some allowance for his trouble included. This however to cease as soon as the people come into the method of reeling their own silk. ³³

James Wright to the Board of Trade, June 28, 1766, Savannah, received and read Aug. 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 84, relative to Indian trade and predicting Indian disturbances.

My Lords

I have already done my Self the Honor of writing to your Lordships by this Conveyance, and am Sorry now to Acquaint your Lordships that I think I Pretty Clearly See disturbances & Mischief Gathering and breaking out Amongst the Indians, indeed this I was almost Certain would be the Consequence of the Regulation of the Indian Trade by His Majesties Royal Declaration of the Seventh of October 1763, and took the Liberty to give my Sentiments thereupon to the Board so Early as the 27th of August, 10th of November and the 11th of December 1764, Also in my Answer to the Queries of the 28th of Decr. 1764, and I believe Since that time. The General Right which by that Procln. every Man has to demand a Licence, & Trade where he Pleases, is the thing my Lords that I Principally think (with Great Deference & Submission) is Improper at Present, & will be for some years to Come. The Indians are over Stock’t with Goods by the Great Number of Traders that go amongst them, the well known Consequence of which is Insolence, Wantoness & Mischief, besides my Lords the Irregularities & abuses Committed by the Traders or those they Employ as Packhorsemen or Servants, who are generally the very worst kind of People, has a very bad Effect. And at the distance these People are; & as things are Circumstanced, it’s next to Impossible to Come at or Punish them. I think it my duty my Lords to hint what appears to me as a growing evil, and beg Leave to Refer your Lordships to Mine of the 27th of August, 10th of Novr. & 11th of Decr. 1764, and to my answers to the Queries Relative to the Indian Trade 28th Decr. 1764.

I have not yet been Favoured with your Lordships Answer to Mine of the 16th of July & 21 of August 1765. Relative to the two Repealed Laws. It really seems to be a Matter of Some Consequence, & untill I know the Exceptionable part I Can’t Attempt to Frame new Laws. I must therefore entreat your Lordships to give the Necessary directions on this Occasion.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Aug. 2, 1766, Savannah, received Oct. 8, read Nov. 6, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 85, transmitting minutes of the Upper House of the Assembly.

My Lords

I have not been Honoured with any of your Lordships Commands Since Yours of the 27th of February last. This Serves to Inclose your Lordships Some Minutes of the Council as an upper House, and of the Assembly, on my Calling them together Since the Prorogation in March last. I beg Leave to Refer your lordships to my Letters of the 24th & 28th of June.

James Wright to John Pownall, Secretary to the Board of Trade, Aug. 23, 1766, received Nov. 5, read Nov. 6, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 86, relative to silk culture and Indian affairs.

Sir

Your letter of the 5th of June wrote to me by Direction of the Lords Commissioners For Trade and Plantations, Inclosing a Copy of the Estimate of the Civil Establishment of this Province from the 24th of June 1765, to the 24th of June 1766, I received the 21st Instant, and desire you will be Pleased to Acquaint their Lordships that I Shall Govern my Self Accordingly.

I have wrote Several letters lately on the Silk Culture & Indian Affairs, to which I hope to receive their Lordships Answers in due time, they appearing to me to be Letters of Some Importance. If there is any Prospect of the Bounty on, or rather Purchase of the Cocoons being discontinued, I Should hope to have the Earliest Notice, that I may know how to Conduct my Self, and the People what they have to Trust to. For in Case the Cocoons are received, & the Filature Opened before I get Such Information, how am I to Act, or what is to be done in that Event? The Cocoons will Perish if not Cured & the Silk wound off. The People Can’t take em back, not being Prepared, and few of them knowing how to do either. And how are they to be Paid for if the Parliamentary Grant is to be discontinued? I must desire Sir that you will be Pleased to Lay this Matter before their Lordships, who I Presume can Pretty well Judge whether the Grant is like to Continue or not, or will be Pleased to direct me to Proceed as usual till I receive Orders to the Contrary. An answer to this, & the Other matters I have wrote about relative to the Silk Culture will be very usefull for the Regulation of my Conduct, and I think the Indian Affairs require Some attention. I must therefore request you’l be Pleased to remind their Lordships of these matters. And as we have no agent at Present, I must rely on you to let me know the Fate of our Law respecting the Carolina Grants. Mr. Knox will take care to forward any Letters to me that may be delivered to him, or if they are Sent to me per Thomas and Richard Shubrick Merchants in Bucklersbury I Shall be Sent to get them in due time, but not if they are Sent by any of the Packets.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Sept. 25, 1766, Savannah, received Dec. 31, 1766, read Jan. 2, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 87, relative to silk culture and Carolina grants south of the Altamaha.

My Lords

I have directed the Commissary to Ship the Silk the Produce of this year on Board the Vessel this comes by. Net weight is 1084 lb 4 ozs. & 877 lb 4 oz. of the Filozel & Trash, and there is about 200 lb more of the Trash which is not yet dry enough to Ship. This my Lords is far Short of the Quantity of Good Silk that I Expected from the Cocoons delivered which was 20,350 lb. 7 oz.

I attended or Visited the Filature much oftener this year than usual & had many Conversations with Mr. Ottolenghe on this Subject, and he gave me Several Reasons for its Turning out so badly, but I directed him to give me them in writing that I might Transmit them to your Lordships, and which I Shall do as Soon as I receive them.

Its very Certain we have had great Rains this Spring & Summer, almost the whole Country under water, Inundations twice & the River Banks in the Swamps over flowed, 6, 8, 10 Foot in Common for a Considerable time, and Many Settlements broke up, Houses washed away some few People & a great Number of Cattle &c. drowned. But I will not take upon me to Say how far, or in what degree that might affect the Cocoons, it is a matter that I must Confess mySelf rather Ignorant of as yet, notwithstanding I have not been wanting in either observations or inquiries, and I Recollect that I have some years ago mentioned the Necessity of a Change of Seed. Mr. Ottolenghe is apprehensive that Some Persons have done him ill offices. Upon the whole I can only assure your Lordships that I believe him to be a very honest Man and am well Satisfied there has not been any Fraud or abuse Committed, nor do I think it Possible there Could be any if attempted without being discovered. And this I Judge from the Commodity itself, the Number of People Employed, different Checks, and Manner of Conducting the whole affair from first to last.

I find my Lords by the last letter received from Mr. Knox Late Agent for this Province that no hearing or determination was had upon our Law Relative to the Grants Signed by Governor Boone for Lands to the Southward of the Alatamaha in this Province. This matter Remaining in the State it is, is a Manifest Injury to the Province. For till the Fate of that Law is determined, neither the People who have the Grants, nor I, can tell how to Proceed, and of Course the Lands will Lye waste & Unimproved. If His Majesty is Pleased to Confirm the Law, they will Soon be Settled either by the Carolina People or others. If the Law is disallowed, then I Expect those Lands or most of them will remain as they are in Woods. Some Trifling Settlements may be made, but I think very few. This is Certainly my Lords a matter of Some Consequence to the Province and as we have now no agent to Attend your Lordships upon the Occasion I must entreat that you will be Pleased to appoint a day for an hearing upon it. Mr Knox writes that Counsellor Wedderburn is Prepared to appear in behalf of this Province, and Notice may Easily be given to the Carolina Agent. I hope your Lordships will Pardon me & be so good as to bring this Matter to a Point. I have Nothing further Material to add.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Oct. 10, 1766, Savannah, received Dec. 31, 1766, read Jan. 2, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 88, relative to the silk culture and transmitting various official papers.

My Lords

Since My last of the 25th of September I have had the Honor to receive your Lordships letter of the 4th of July Inclosing Mr. Kennans Proposals Relative to the Management of the Filature, and also Sundry Reports of Sir Mathew Lamb on Some of the Bills assented to by me. I return your Lordships my best thanks for the good Opinion you are Pleased to Express of, and the Confidence you have in me, Which I hope I Shall be happy Enough to Merit the Continuance of. Some of the Matters your Lordships Mention require Consideration, and being much hurried Examining into the Silk Accounts & Vouchers, renders it Impossible for me to return your Lordships an Answer by this Ship.

The Silk is now Ship’t Quantity as Mentioned in my Last, and yesterday the Commissaries accounts & Vouchers were all Examined & Passed in Council, & are now Transmitted to Mr. Campbell the Agent.

The Purchase of the Cocoons at 1/6 per lb. & the Other Necessary Expences amounts to £1938. 6. 4 3/4, and for which Sum Certificates will be given to the Several Persons who have advanced & Paid their Money as Soon as this Ship Sails.

The Indian & Contingent Accounts have also been Examined & Passed to Midsummer last amounting to £70. 18. 1 as appears by the Vouchers now sent to the Agent, and for which I Shall give the Commissary a Certificate.

By this Opportunity I Transmit Your Lordships the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Governor in Council from the 1st of April 1766 to the 16th of June following and the Register of Grants abstracts from the 25th of Sepr. 1765 to the 25 of Sepr. 1766³⁴ also the Naval Officers list of Vessels entered & Cleared at this Port from the 5th of January 1766 to the 5th of April 1766. I also Inclose your Lordships Mr. Ottolenghes Reasons why the Silk has fallen so Short. I Examined the Cocoons frequently & think what he Says is very right, and I believe his Skill & knowledge in the Culture & Management of Silk is unquestionable. I knew he frequently wrote to Mr. Martyn about Seed, & so did I, and I believe he also wrote to Mr. Garth for Change of Seed.

P.S. Your Lordships will also receive a Copy of the agreemt. Enter’d into with Mr. Ottolenghe according to your directions. I sent one as Soon as it was Executed but believe it Miscarried.

Joseph Ottolenghe to James Wright, Oct. 2, 1766, Savannah, received Dec. 31, 1766, read Jan. 2, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 89, concerning reasons for poor quantity of silk. Enclosed in Wright to Board of Trade, Oct. 10, 1766.

Sir

In answer to your Excellency’s Letter of this morning I shall give a True and just account of the Cause that so little Silk is made from so large a quantity of Cocoons, occasioned by the irregularity of the Work made by the Worms in forming the Ball. It is easily to perceive that at one End of the Cocoon the Silk is thin and ill cloathed, that after 2 to 3 turns in the Bason its Thread broke off, and in brushing them again, they hung to the waste in the Hands of the spinners and in very large quantities, as twill appear by Examining the waste. And I have shewd it to your Excellency. The waste this year, by far Exceeds in proportion to the quantity of Cocoons, and had they been Good, it would have been a great deal less. Your Excellency will observe also that the quantity of the inferior Silk exceeds that of the best quality by 335 lb which if it was upon a par with the best would prove the bad quality of the Cocoons, for when the Cocoons are Good the good or first Silk always exceeds the inferior Sort and takes less Cocoons in making a Pound of Silk. What I have here advancd is evident that the badness of the Cocoons is the Cause that so little silk is made in this and the preceding Years and I fear, nay am Certain, every Years will grow worse if the Seed is not Changed of which I have earnestly desird for these several Years past without Effect. I do not know if what I have said will be satisfactory tho I assure you it is fact and a fact that may be easily provd by Examining the Waste and the Women that workd at them. I shall add no more but to beg of you to excuse my Scrawls, it being Court Day and am oblige immediately to open the Court and therefore shall conclude.

Articles of Agreement between Gov. James Wright, Joseph Ottolenghe, and Isaac Baillou, April 4, 1764, Savannah, received Dec. 31, 1766, read Jan. 2, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 90, concerning training of Baillou in silk culture. Enclosed in Wright to Board of Trade, Oct. 10, 1766.

Whereas the advantage arising from the Silk Culture in this Province and the present flourishing State and Condition thereof under the Care and Management of the said Joseph Ottolenghe render it highly expedient to use every Means for the preservation and increase of so valuable a Produce. And whereas the said Joseph Ottolenghe being of a weakly Constitution and advancing in Years it is therefore necessary to provide a fit Person to succeed him in the Management of the said silk Culture in case of his Death or leaving the Province or when by Age or Infirmities he shall become incapable thereof. Now these Present Witness that the said Joseph Ottolenghe for and in Consideration of the Sum of two hundred Pounds to be paid the said Joseph Ottolenghe in a public Draught or Certificate for the same to be given him by the said Governor on, or to, his Majesty’s Agent for the said Province at the Time of making the general Payment for the Cocoons of the present Year Doth hereby covenant promise and agree to and with his said Excellency the Governour and his Successors Governours of the said Province for the Time being That he the said Joseph Ottolenghe shall and will from and after the sealing and delivery of these Presents according to the best of his Skill and Ability teach and instruct the said Isaac Baillou in the due Method and Manner of conducting and managing the Culture of the Silk from the hatching of the Worm unto the making up the raw Silk into Scains and Bundles for Exportation and in all the necessary Particulars relative thereto so as to enable the said Isaac Baillou to take upon him the Superintendency of the said silk Culture in like Manner as now done and performed by him the said Joseph Ottolenghe. And the said Joseph Ottolenghe also shall and will in like Manner teach and instruct any other Person or Persons as shall or may from Time to Time be required of him by the said Governour or his Successors Governours for the Time being. And the said Joseph Ottolenghe doth by these Presents further covenant and agree to and with the said Governour and his Successors Governours for the Time being that in Case he the said Joseph Ottolenghe shall happen to depart this Life within one Year from [torn away] that then and in such Case the Executors of Administrators of the said Joseph Ottolenghe shall and will return and repay unto the said Governor or his Successors One hundred Pounds of the said two hundred Pounds so to be paid to the said Joseph Ottolenghe as aforesaid within six Months after such his Decease. And the said Joseph Baillou on his part Doth hereby covenant promise and agree to and with the said Governour and his Successors Governours for the Time being as aforesaid That for and in Consideration of him the said Isaac Baillou being instructed as before mentioned and of his being allowed the yearly Sum of Twenty Pounds Sterling he shall and will from and after the sealing and delivery of these Presents diligently apply himself to learn and receive Instructions from the said Joseph Ottolenghe in the due Care and Management of the Culture and Produce of Silk as herein before mentioned and for this Purpose shall duly attend to, and observe the Instructions and Directions that shall from Time to Time be given to him by the said Joseph Ottolenghe in and about the same and shall likewise constantly attend at the Public Filature during the Season of winding the Silk and assist the said Joseph Ottolenghe therein and in all Matters relative thereto as shall be required of him by the said Joseph Ottolenghe towards instructing him in the said Art and the necessary Service of the Filature. Provided always and it is hereby stipulated and agreed that so soon as the said Isaac Baillou shall be sufficiently instructed in the method and manner of Managing the Silk Culture as aforesaid and shall be capable of conducting the same That then he shall be intitled to have and receive for his attendance at the Filature, as an Assistant to the said Joseph Ottolenghe the yearly Allowance or Sum of Forty Pounds Sterling. And the said Isaac Baillou Doth by these Presents further covenant and agree to and with the said Governour and his Successors Governours as aforesaid That whenever and so soon as he shall be appointed Superintendant of the silk Culture in the Place and Stead of the said Joseph Ottolenghe on his resignation Death or incapacity as before mentioned That then he the said Isaac Baillou on being allowed the like annual Salary or Stipend of One hundred Pounds Sterling per Annum as now allowed to the said Joseph Ottolenghe shall and will for and during the Term of Five Years, conduct manage superintend and take care of the Silk Culture and the Public Filature in like Manner in every Respect as now conducted and managed by the said Joseph Ottolenghe. And also shall and will during the said Term upon the request of the Governour for the Time being instruct one or more Person or Persons in the said Art and Management of the silk Culture and every particular thereof in like Manner as he shall have been taught and instructed by the said Joseph Ottolenghe and according to the best of his Skill and Ability and the Intent and true Meaning of these Presents and of the Parties thereunto. And Lastly for the true Performance of the several and respective Articles clauses and Agreements herein before contained on the Parts of the said Joseph Ottolenghe and Isaac Baillou severally and respectively to be done and performed in Manner as aforesaid, they the said Joseph Ottolenghe and Isaac Baillou Do each of them hereby severally and respectively bind and oblige themselves unto the said Governour and his Successors Governours for the Time being in the penal Sum of Four hundred Pounds of lawfull Money of the said Province firmly by these Presents. In Witness whereof the said Parties have hereunto set their Hands and Seals the Day and Year above written.

Sealed and Delivered by his
Excellency James Wright Esqr.

In the Presence of

Chas. Watson

Sealed and Delivered by Joseph Ottolenghe and Isaac Baillou in the presence of

William Clifton J.P.P.

A true Copy of the Original examined by

Chas. Watson C.C.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Oct. 21, 1766, Savannah, received Dec. 31, 1766, read Jan. 2, 1767,C.O. 5/649, F. 92, concerning payment of schoolmasters.

My Lords

I have this day given a Certificate to Robert McClatchie Schoolmaster here for £20, from the 24th of June 1765 to the 24th of June 1766. Also to Peter Gandy Schoolmaster for £14. 10.0 for the Same time, of which I take Liberty to acquaint your Lordships.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Oct. 21, 1766, Savannah, received and read Jan. 2, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 93, concerning silk culture.

My Lords

I am now to answer your Lordships letter of the 4th of July last, and having very Maturely Considered Mr. Kennans Proposals I Shall give your Lordships my Opinion thereon, as fully & Clearly as I Possibly can. The Plan of Encouragement hitherto Pursued your Lordships know has been for the Government to be the Manufacturer & the Merchant. This year the Cocoons was Purchased at 1/6 per. lb. round good & Indifferent. And the whole Expence of Baking, Sorting, Picking, & Reeling &c. Paid by the Government, and the Silk Ship’t Home to be disposed of on account of the Government. From this Plan your Lordships See that the Bounty or Encouragement the Persons have who raise the Cocoons or Pursue the Object of making Silk, is the Certainty of a Market, & good & Immediate Payment at the Rate of 1/6 per lb. for all the Cocoons they deliver in at the Public Filature, whereas the True & real Value of a lb. of good Cocoons as a Commodity or article of Merchandize is at the most not more than one Shill, as I wrote your Lordships in my letter the 23d of April 1765. In Countries where Labour is Cheap, & are often Purchased at 6d to 9d but here its rather thought they are not worth above 9d or 10d round on account of the Price of Labour & disadvantage of Climate as to keeping &c. So that their advantage is an advanced Price or Bounty of 6d; or rather 8d or 9d per. lb. above the True or Real Value of the Cocoons, and even at that Price I am Persuaded few or none but the Poorer Sort of People will Continue to go upon that article. Several Substantial Persons who did mean to make it an object when the Price was higher have to my knowledge given it over. Thus then the Matter Stands at Present, and the Grand Point is, how, or which way any Parliamentary Encouragement May be given or applied, better Proportioned or adapted to Promote the desirable Object in View. With respect to which my Lords I am Still at a Loss further than what I have already fully wrote your Lordships on the Subject, wherein I mention the difficulties & disadvantages that appeared to me, and to which Several letters I beg leave to refer. But this Much Seemed Necessary to Observe now, that my opinion on Mr. Kennans Proposals may be better understood. The 1st, 2nd & last articles Seem the only Material ones whereby to Judge how far, or whether the Commodity will be Promoted or encreased, the People benefitted, or any Saving to the Government if your Lordships Should adopt the Plan Proposed, therefore I Shall Confine my Observations Chiefly to these 3 articles.

Mr. Kennan Proposes to take the Filature under his own direction, & Says he will give one Shil. per. lb. for every lb. of Merchantable Cocoons, & also Pay the Bounty given by the Government for the Same, in Such Manner as your Lordships Shall direct, on the delivery of the Cocoons, which he Says will be a great relief to the People who at Present wait some time for their Money. This article my Lords appears to me Loose & ambiguous, & will be attended with Endless Strife & disputes for what Shall be deemed Merchantable Cocoons, & what not? Where, or what Rule is to be the Standard, or by what Criterion & by whom is it to be determined. Mr. Kennan Says the Cocoons are not Merchantable, & worth but 6d per. lb. The People Say they are good & worth a Shill. Here I Say my Lords is a door left open, or Foundation laid for Squabbles & Contention, & which I Conceive would Soon put an End to the Raising of Cocoons altogether. Whereas at Present they are all received Good & Indifferent, Except Such as Mr. Ottolenghe objects to as apparently bad or damaged, which are Pickt out, and on which Head, altho I have heard Some Grumblings, I never yet had any application of Complaint made to me by one Single Person, and which would Certainly have been the Case, had they thought themselves Materially Injured or aggrieved in that Particular. What he advances with respect to Immediate Payment being a great relief to the People who at Present wait Some time for their Money, I will not Suppose to be a willfull Misrepresentation, but a Mistake, for their Payment is Immeidate on the delivery of their last Cocoons, & Many of them dont go to receive their Money for a Long while after, or till Called upon by the Commissioners advertisement that he is under a Necessity of Closing the Filature Accounts, & therefore desiring them to come & receive their Money. So that my Lords this Part of the Proposal Cannot be of the Least benefit to the People who are Perfectly Satisfied with the Payment they receive, & the Proposed relief, is Imaginary & without Foundation.

The Matter of Bounty, rests with your Lordships, but Suppose Kennan was to give a Shill. a lb. for the good & Ordinary Cocoons, and your Lordships allow a Bounty of 6d per. lb. In this Case your Lordships See the People who Raise them would be but just on the Same Footing they now are, & Consequently no additional Encouragement or grounds whereby to Expect an increase of the Commodity.

With Respect to the 1st Part of the Second Proposal, it is well known here that Kennan himself is wholly Ignorant of the art or Method of Managing the Cocoons, which indeed he Seems to acknowledge by Saying he Shall be assisted therein by Persons who Perfectly understand it. The Filature is Open & Public & People in General may go there, & make their Observations. And that your Lordships may See how that matter is Circumstanced at Present as to Peoples being Instructed, I must beg leave to refer to the Agreement with Mr. Ottolenghe made by direction of your Lordships Board in April 1764, a Second Copy of which I now Send. And this part of the Proposal is also Loosely worded & in Terms Doubtfull, for it Says he Shall be assisted therein by Persons who Perfectly understand it, but its not quite clear I think whether these Persons who Perfectly understand the business, are to [be] Employed at Kennans expence, or the expence of the Government, & your Lordships will See by the accounts Transmitted, that the Expence is not inconsiderable.

And as to the latter Part of the Proposal, That as an inducement to the People to Reel their own Silk they Shall on the delivery of Every lb. of Silk of a good Quality be Paid 18/ & the Bounty, and after the Silk is bought in London if any Ballance arises in their favour, it Shall also be Paid them. This my Lords likewise appears to me to be Loose & uncertain. What Shall be deemed of a good Quality, & what not?, & will Certainly Produce altercation & disputes. But I will allow the Proposal its utmost weight & Extent, & that they Should receive 18/ per. lb. for every lb. of Silk whether of a good or Ordinary Quality. Yet I Conceive this matter or Part of the Proposal Impracticable by the Partys either at their own Homes or in the Public Filature. And if it were Practicable; or Might be Easily done, yet it can be no Encouragement or inducement to the People to Reel their own Silk.

I Say Impracticable because the People who Raise the Cocoons are in general if not all of them Ignorant of the Method of Curing the Balls, & of Picking Sorting & Reeling, and therefore it must at least for Some Time be done at the Publick Filature & under the direction & Inspection of Persons Properly Skilled & Qualified in those Matters. It Cannot be done at the Partys own Houses as Kennan Seems to Expect or Supposes it May. For the Necessary Instructions Can’t be given in writing, but must be by the Person or Persons Skilled being Present & Shewing & Directing the Partys in every Particular; Vizt how to Bake & cure the Cocoons, to Pick & Sort them, to Reel the Silk off &c. The Cocoons were delivered in this week by 264 different Persons, and how is it Possible for 1, 2, or 3 Persons Skilled in the art to Instruct Such a Number of People at their own Houses Settled about the Country, even if they were desirous of being Instructed & had each an oven, a Bason & Stove fixt, & a Reel & Other Conveniencies of Room &c for Managing the Cocoons. The Cocoons at the Filature are Cured in a Large Stove Room & in Large ovens that will Hold a great Many Bushells at a time, and its absolutely Impossible for Such a Number of People to keep & Cure their Cocoons Separate at the Filature, if the Buildings & Conveniencies were twice or 3 times as Large & Extensive as they are. For it is as much as they can do, Day & Night constant attendance & filling all the ovens & Stove Room as full as they will hold to Bake the Cocoons fast Enough to kill the aurelia or Worms before they Eat through the Cocoons, which Shews the Impossibility of Each Person Curing & Reeling their own Silk Separately at the Filature. And most of these People have Families & little Plantations or Farms & Stocks of Cattle &c to mind & take Care of, & from which they Cannot be absent, so that if it was Practicable for each Person to Cure & Reel their own Silk &c Separately at the Filature, it would not be worth their while to do it. And its clear to me that their receiving 1/6 per. lb. for their green Cocoons is more beneficial to them than Curing & Reeling their own Silk if they Could do it, & receiving 18/ per. lb. & the Bounty of 6d per. lb. on the green Cocoons.

For Example it generally takes about 15 lb. of green Cocoons to Produce 1 lb. of Silk & these must be Pretty good Cocoons, for if they are not it will take 17, or 18, or 19 lb. to make one lb. of Silk as is the Case this year. Altho when the Seed is fresh & the Worms in full Vigour for a few years 11. & 12 lb. of the best Pick’t Cocoons may make 1 lb. of Silk. But on a Medium of good & Ordinary Cocoons as they Rise I will Suppose in Stating this matter that 15 lb. may Produce 1 lb. of Silk, in which Case as it now Stands the Party receives £1. 2. 6 for his 15 lb. of Cocoons without any further Trouble risque or Expence whatever. And for his lb. of Silk (if of a good Quality) he receives 18/ & Say the Bounty at 6d per. lb. on 15 lb. of Cocoons 7/6 in all £1.5. 6. And on the best Calculation I can make it will take at the Rate of the work of one Person two days & an half for each lb. of Silk, and their hyre or Labour including Lodging & dyet together with wood for heating the oven to Cure the Cocoons & the Stove for Reeling the Silk if the work is done at the Filature will not be less than 5/1 l/2d for each lb. of Silk besides the inconvenience of being from their Families and Homes, & Many of them Cannot or would not be so long from Home as it would require, if they were to get double or Treble pay or hyre, but if they Could or would be absent & it was Practicable to do it at the Filature. Your Lordships See it is not equal to 1/6 per lb. for their Cocoons as 5/l 1/2 at least must be deducted from the £1.5.6 for their Expences & hyre or Labour, wood & C. Your Lordships will be Pleased to Observe that this is a Calculation made on a Considerable Quantity of Cocoons & the Sume divided so as to take the Proportion for 15 lb. of Cocoons Supposed to Produce 1 lb. of Silk. For its Impossible for one Person to Perform the whole Work, in the Reeling there must be two People Employed, and if the ovens & C were to be Heated for every Small & Separate Parcel of Cocoons, it would Consume a Vast deal more Wood. Your Lordships will be Pleased also to Observe that the People now Employed at the Filature at 14d, 18d & 10d per. day are old Women & girls who most of them Live in Town, but if the Country People were to Come, they would have Lodging & Board to Seek, and I don’t know whether they could work for 2/ per. day which is only the Price of Common Negro Porters & Labourers. And it Costs the Government this year at the Rate of 4/7d per. lb. tho done in the least Expensive Measure. Nor do I apprehend it would come Cheaper for many years, to Reel it at their own Houses if they were Qualified so to do. For my Lords the Expence of an oven, a Copper Bason, & fixing it in Brick work as a Stove, also a Reel & making other Conveniencies of Room &c. Necessary would amount to a Considerable Sume to a Poor Person, & many of them make so Small a Quantity, that if they were not to Sell their Cocoons green, it would not be worth their while to Raise them at all. So that my Lords I See no Encouragement, or any thing Proposed, that can be an inducement for the Partys to attempt Reeling their own Silk, either at their own Homes or at the Filature. And it rather appears to me that Nothing Proposed by Kennan can be any additional benefit or advantage to the Poor People who Raise the Cocoons, & Consequently Nothing that can Stimulate them, or Conduce to Encrease or Extend that article.

I Shall now State the matter on this Plan, & See what Saving it will be to the Governmt in doing which I Shall Consider the last Article, wherein Kennan Says it will be a Considerable Saving to the Government, & that he has no Pecuniary Views, and therefore hopes to be allowed £200 per. ann. to Enable him to give Some Small Premiums and to defray the Charge of firing, other Small incidental Expences, & Some allowance for his Trouble included. I Presume he means that allowance to Come out of the £200. & in that View, & on a Supposition that your Lordships would allow a Bounty of 6d per. lb. on the Cocoons, I shall Consider & State the Matter.

This year 20,350 lb., of Cocoons Cost the and if your Lordships allow a Larger Bounty than 6d per. lb. then instead of being any Saving to the Governmt the Expence will be Encreased.

But my Lords I Conceive that is not the Object, Saving a few Pounds, Especially when the Consequence I think will Clearly be a total stop to any attempt to Raise Silk here, and destroy instead of Promote the Matter in View. For my Lords no man can afford to give 1/ per. lb. for Cocoons round as they rise good & Indifferent & without that & a Bounty of 6d per. lb. the People will drop it Immediately, and after the 1st year Kennan or any Body Else that gives 1/ per lb. for Cocoons & is at all Expences afterwards will find himself so much out of Pocket that he must either give it over, or be Redressed by reducing the Price or Value of the Cocoons under Pretence of their not being Merchantable, or by Memorials or Petitions to your Lordships for Reimbursement & to make good Losses &c &c &c. It is well known here my Lords that Kennan is a Man in Such Circumstances that he can have no Money to Spare & has a Wife & Children to Support. Is it therefore to be Supposed that such a Person can give up his time &c to the Public? He declares he has no Pecuniary Views. I Shall not say what his Views may be, but Submit it to your Lordships to Judge whether they can be to give up both time & Money for Nothing. Its Probable he may be Mistaken in his Information or Calculation, but be that as it may, its Evident that his Proposals Cannot advance or Promote the Culture or Increase of that Commodity. And in Short the whole Scheme appears to me to be Loose & ambiguous, & formed without Sufficient knowledge or Judgement with Respect to the Subject Matter.

Upon the whole my Lords it rather appears to me that nothing but the Bounty of Parliament keeps the Silk Culture alive or up, and that it Cannot become an article or Commodity of any Considerable amount or Value, while Labour & Living is so dear as it must be here till the Country becomes more Populous. The difference my Lords between 18d & 2/ a day, & 2d or 3d at most, as I believe is the Case in Several of the Silk Countries, is very great, besides the disadvantage of Climate &c. I have not Communicated your Lordships Letter on the Plan Proposed to Mr. Ottolenghe, or Consulted him now upon the Subject. Possibly he might be able to give Still more Reasons than I have done, but I have given your Lordships my own Sentiments and Opinion on the Matter with Freedom & Candour, & Shall think myself happy if it Proves Satisfactory. I hastened to answer this part of your Letter as in April they will begin to bring Cocoons to the Filature & your Lordships will have little time to Resolve & Send me out your further directions, untill I receive which I must Presume things are to go on, & the Cocoons be received as usual. The rest of Kennans Proposal don’t Seem to require any Observations.³⁵

I Shall answer the Other Parts of your Lordships letter as Soon as Possible & Send a duplicate of my answers to the General Queries, with Such additional Remarks as may Occur.

Report of Sir Mathew Lamb to the Board of Trade, Oct. 26, 1766, Lincolns Inn, read March 30, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 99, concerning laws passed in Georgia.

My Lords

In pursuance of your Lordships Command Signified to me by Mr. Pownalls Letter, Wherein your are Pleased to Desire my Opinion in Point of Law upon the following acts passed in Georgia, between December 1764 and March 1765, I have Perused and Considered the same (Vizt.)

1. An Act to prevent as much as may be the Spreading of the Small Pox in this Province.

2. An Act for the better Ordering the Militia of this Province.

3. An Act to Amend an Act to prevent Persons throwing Ballast or Falling Trees, into the Rivers and Navigable Creeks within this Province; And for keeping Clear the Channels of the same.

4. An Act for the better Ordering and Governing Negroes and other Slaves in this Province; And to prevent the Inveigling or Carrying away Slaves from their Masters or Employers.

5. An Act for Raising a Fund by an Impost on Shipping to Defray the Expence of keeping in Repair or Rebuilding the Light House and Pilot House on Tybee Island.

6. An Act to Extend and Enforce the Authority of the several Laws therein mentioned to and throughout the Territory lately annexed to this Province, for dividing the same into Parishes, and for adding the Island of Jekyl to the Parish of Saint James.

7. An Act to Continue several Acts of the General Assembly therein mentioned, to prevent Masters of Vessels from Carrying of [f] Persons in Debt, to Continue the several Road Acts, and an Act to prevent Stealing of Horses and Neat Cattle.

8. An Additional Act to an Act Intitled An Act to Suppress Lotteries, and prevent other Excessive and Deceitful Gaming.

9. An Additional Act to an Act Intitled An Act for the better Regulating Taverns Punch houses and Retailers of Spiritous Liquors.

10. An Act for Building a Fort and Barracks within the same, on the Lands reserved for the use of the Publick near the Town of Augusta in the Parish of Saint Paul; a Guard House in Savannah, and Repairing the Barracks in the Fort in the Town of Frederica, on the Island of Saint Simons; And for Granting to his Majesty the Sum of £650 Sterling, to Defray the Expence of the same; also for appointing and Impowring Comissioners to Issue Certificates for the said purposes.

11. An Act to Impower Comissioners to Lease, or Lett for a certain Term of Years the Lott of Land commonly called the Spring near Savannah, And to Rent the Building in Savanna commonly called the Watch House, and to Appropriate the Monies arising therefrom.

12. An Act for Granting to his Majesty a Duty on the Sundry Articles therein mentioned, that shall hereafter be Imported from any of his Majestys Colonies to the Northward of the Province of South Carolina, And for Appropriating the Money arising therefrom in Aid of the General Tax.

13. An Act to prevent Frauds and Abuses, in the Admeasurement and Laying out his Majestys Lands in this Province.

14. An Act to Amend an Act Intitled an Act to prevent private Persons from Purchasing Lands from the Indians, and for preventing Persons trading with them without Licence.

15. An Act for Granting to his Majesty the Sum of £1599. 7S. 1 1/2D for the Use and Support of the Government of Georgia for the Year 1765, to be Raised at certain Rates and after the Method therein mentioned, And for the more effectual Collecting of Arrears.

16. An Act to Amend an Act, to prevent as much as may be the Spreading of the Small Pox in this Province.

17. An Ordinance for Appointing Francis Lee Esqr. Comptroller and Collector of the Country Duties at the Port of Sunbury, and for appointing Daniel Nunes Waiter for the Port of Savannah in this Province.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Nov. 18, 1766, Savannah, received and read Jan. 27, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 95, concerning manufacturing in Georgia.

My Lords,

Your Lordships letter of the 1st of August I had the honor to receive on the 12th Inst. by which I am required to transmit to your Lordships an exact Account of the several Manufacturers which have been set up & carried on within this Province from the year 1734, & of the Publick encouragement which has been given thereto.

In obedience to which I am to acquaint your Lordships, that there has not been any Manufactures of any kind set up or carried on in this Province; but we are supplied with every thing from & through Great Britain. Some few of the poorer & more industrious People make a trifling Quantity of coarse home Spun Cloth for their own families, & knit a few Cotton & Yarn Stockings for their own use, & this done but by very few; & I don’t know, that there is, or had been a yard of Linen Cloth of any Kind manufactured within this Province.

Hitherto my Lords, & untill the Province becomes much more populous than it just now is, the People can employ their time to much better purpose than manufacturing, as they can be a great deal cheaper & better supplied from Great Britain; & from whence my Lords, all our supplies of Silks, Linens, & Woollen of every kind is brought; & all our Tools, Nails, Locks, Hinges & Utensils of every sort and great quantities of Shoes, are likewise Imported, although we have some Tanners & Shoemakers here, but chiefly employed in making Shoes for the Negroes. Also Blacksmiths who work up Bar Iron imported from the Northern Colonies for building & repairs of Vessels, & such other work as is not usually or indeed cannot be Imported from Great Britain, as no particular orders or directions can well be given to suit occasional necessary demands, & uses. We have built one Ship, one Snow, one Brigantine & five or six Schooners, & a number of Coasting Vessels since I have presided here. Our whole time & strength my Lords, is applied in planting Rice, Corn, Pease, & a small quantity of wheat & rye, & in making pitch, Tar & Turpentine & in making Shingles & Staves, & sawing Lumber & Scantling & Boards of every kind; & in raising stocks of Cattle, Mules, Horses & Hogs; & next year I hope some essays will be made towards planting & making Hemp, & that it will in due time become a considerable article with us. At present my Lords the People have no Idea of manufacturing their commodities; but possibly may hereafter when they become more numerous, & labour cheaper, especially as they have been within the course of the last Year so strongly called upon & exhorted to it by the Northern Colonies.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Nov. 29, 1766, Savannah, received Feb. 13, read Feb. 17, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 96, Concerning laws about partition of lands and the Carolina grants.

My Lords

I am now to answer the Residue of your Lordships letter of the 4th of July last, not already answered in Mine of the 21st of last month. And with Respect to the Law for making Partition of Lands, I Shall Endeavour to Frame a New Bill to avoid the Objections made by Sir M Lambe, but my Lords this Law was taken from one in So. Carolina assented to by Govr. Glen on the 21 of June 1748 with this difference that by the Carolina Law 5 Persons are Empowered to make the Partition, and by ours it is to be done by 11. The Generality of our Lands here are of so little Value that they will not admit of the Expence that would attend Pursuing the Method Observed in England, and if we are not Enabled to do it in a Summary and Cheap way, the Consequence Must be, that all Lands Held by Joint Rights will Lye Waste & uncultivated till the Partys are of age and agree on a Partition. The Law for Registring Deeds is Certainly Lyable to Sir Mathews Objections, and on that very Account was made Vizt. That Persons who become Purchasers or Mortgages may be Safe in their Purchases &c by Recording them as Soon as made, and not Run any risque of Losing their Money & Estates by Prior Dormant Deeds being Produced against them years afterwards. Purchasers my Lords Cannot know of Prior Conveyances &c unless Recorded, and if those who have them will not Record them, I Conceive they ought to Suffer for Vigilantibus non dormientibus jura Subveniunt.³⁶ And if they do Suffer it would be by their own Laches.³⁷ In Infant Colonies my Lords Such as this yet is, Credit is a very Material article, and it is Consistent with my own Memory & knowledge my Lords, that Credit given by the Negro Merchants to the Planters in Carolina, has been a very great, if not the Chief Means of that Province becoming so Opulent & Considerable as it is. For where an Industrious Man who has good Land can get Credit for a few Negroes, he will Soon be able to pay for them, and many Tolerable good Estates have been made in Carolina without any Capital or Other Foundation than a Tract of good Land, & Purchasing Negroes on Credit. And this is what must in a great Measure & will Promote & Increase the Settlement & wealth of this Province, which is now making a Rapid Progress. But my Lords if there can be no Security had against Prior Mortgages &c. as Proposed by this Law, it will hurt Credit, & I fear Prove very injurious to the Province.

And this Law tho in Strictness it may be Lyable to Legal Objections yet Seems Founded on Equitable Principle throughout, altho I think 6, or 8, Months Ought to have been allowed Prior Purchasers & Mortgages to Record their deeds after the Passing of the Act. And if all the Purchases made at the first Settlement of this Province are to be set aside in the Courts of Law, which I will know they may be for Want of Livery & Seisin or other Legal Formalities, when there was not a Man in the Province who knew what was Proper & Necessary to be done (for the Trustees would not Suffer Lawyers in their time, or at least discountenanced them). I say My Lords if this is to be the Case, it will be Productive of great inconveniencies & Hardships if not Injustice. In Carolina My Lords these Matters are Provided for by two different Laws, That for Registring deeds by a Law Passed the 8th of October 1698, & that for Confirming defective deeds by the 28 Section of the Quit Rent Law, Passed the 20 of August 1731 & the benefit of which they Enjoy to this day. And therefore my Lords the People in this Province may rather hope they are Intitled to the Same Indulgence, which matter is Submitted to your Lordships great Wisdom & Judgment, whose further directions I shall hope to Receive, as it is a matter of Consequence & till which Shall not attempt to Frame a New Bill.

Sir Mathews Objections to the Law Relative to Executors and administrators, are, that it deviates from the Laws of England, & the Rules Observed in the Ecclesiastical Courts, & Says he cannot do better than to Enforce them, and Observes that no allowance of a Commission or Poundage, is made by any Court in England, & ought not to be allowed otherwise than in Respect to their Charges & Expences, which they have a Right to Retain.³⁸ But I rather think my Lords that Sir Mathew is in Part Mistaken, and that our Law does not alter or affect the operation of any act of Parliament Relative to these matters. The Statues of Wills, of Frauds & Perjuries, of distributions or for Settling Intestates Estates &c. and the Rules Observed in the Ecclesiastical Courts, do not appear to me to be any way Infringed, and are all observed in this Province, and this Law is rather as I Conceive a usefull addition to the Laws of Great Britain, and the only alterations that appear to me to be made, seem altogether Just & Equitable. The 1st is to Prevent one Creditor who may happen to get Letters of administration from absorbing & Sinking the whole Effects by Paying or Returning the assets in his own Hands to Satisfy his own debt, which is done in England to this day, but not by virtue of any Act of Parliament that I know of. And this Seems unjust & Injurious, for what Right my Lords can one Man have, or why Should he be Suffered to Pay himself his whole debt, and other Creditors not get a Shilling, and therefore by this Law a Creditor administring is Obliged to Pay all debts of an Equal Nature in Proportion. But where the next of Kin administers, it Remains on the Same Footing as in England. And with Respect to allowing Commissions I well know they are not allowd in England, and that tis a Voluntary act, and that an Executor &c may accept or Refuse to Qualify or Serve, But the Settling & allowing Commissions here, my Lords, is to my knowledge Clearly for the benefit and advantage of the Estate & the Partys who are Intitled to receive it. For a Custom has Prevailed in Carolina which has been followed here, for Executors & Administrators & C to Charge Commissions of 10 per Cent 5 per Cent on Receiving & 5 per Cent on Paying away, besides all their Charges & Expences. And in Carolina I have known the Court of Chancery allow Commissions of 10 per Cent and I have known Juries in the Court of Common Pleas allow 7 & 1/2 per Cent & Sometimes 10 per Cent. And upon the whole my Lords I Look upon the Act to be a very Equitable & Necessary Law tho not Strictly Conformable to the Common Law & usuage in Great Britain. And I am Clear if Commissions are not allowed, Estates will go to Ruin here for Want of Proper Persons acting & or they will as usual Retain 10 per Cent instead of 5 & Leave the Partys to their Remedy. And therefore my Lords I Consider it as a very beneficial Law, & well adapted to the Local Circumstances of this Province. And I am hopefull your Lordships will be Pleased to Suffer it to Remain in Force. Especially as I am Pretty Certain there is Laws Somewhat Similar in other Colonies.

With Respect to the Law Relative to the Carolina Grants of Land in this Province, I have so frequently & fully wrote your Lordships my Sentiments on that matter, That I Shall not Presume to Trouble you further at Present, than Earnestly to Request your Lordships that the matter may be brought to a Conclusion Some way or Other, that I may know how to Conduct my Self, & the Kings Quit Rents & Provincial Taxes may be Collected, not a farthing of which has been yet Paid by any of the Grantees that I know of.

I herewith Transmit your Lordships a Copy of my answers to the general Queries given in February 1762, with such Notes & further Observations as the difference of time has made Necessary.

In my Letter of the 21 of October I wrote to your Lordships very fully about the Silk Culture, to which I refer, & Shall only again Repeat, That untill your Lordships are Pleased to order a Fresh Supply of Seed, I’m afraid our accounts will Continue to grow worse.

Copy of James Wright’s answers to the queries of the Board of Trade made Feb. 15, 1762,³⁹ with additional observations made in 1766, Savannah, read Feb. 17, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 97, on conditions in the colony. Enclosed with Wright to the Board of Trade, Nov. 29, 1766.

Ansr to the First.

The Situation of His Majesty’s Province of Georgia is on the South Side of South Carolina, and extends towards St. Augustine in Florida. The Lands rather low and flat, the Soil upon all the Rivers and in the Swamps, strong, rich, and fertile, but intermixed with very large Tracts of Pine barren Land, some of it of a clay Soil, but in general of a white, sharp, Sand, not worth Cultivation, which greatly impedes the Settling of the Province, and often occasions the Plantations to be at a very considerable distance from each other. The Climate generally serene and clear from the latter end of March to the end of May, pleasant agreable Weather. From the end of May to the end of September very hot and sultry, and generally attended with a depression of Spirits, Relaxation, and Debilitation. From the end of September, to the end of November, pleasant, healthy, agreable Weather, and from the end of Novemr to the end of March, common Winter Weather, and sometimes intensely cold. We have no constant or periodical rainy Seasons, tho’ generally more Wet in July and August, than at other times. Towards the Fall of the Year, intermitting Fevers, and Fevers and Agues are pretty common, and sometimes Stubborn and very mortal Fevers, but these not frequent also Pleurisies and Peripneumonias, and in the Spring and Summer, there is sometimes Dysenteries and other Fluxes.

The principal Rivers that Lie South from Savannah River, which is the boundary between South Carolina and Georgia as far Southward as St. Augustine in Florida, are great Ogechee, Medway, Alatamaha, St. Mary’s and St. Juan’s. Savannah River on which the Town and present Seat of Government is placed, has abundance of very fine Settlements and Plantations on it. The Town is about 15 miles from the Sea, and the River extends a great way back into the Country on about a North-West Course and is Navigable for large Boats as far as Augusta, which is about 140 miles above Savannah by Land, but near 300, by Water, and above Augusta this River runs about 150 Miles the same Course near north-west into the Cherokee Country, and there interlocks with the Tanassee [Tennessee] River, a branch from the Ohio, but does not join it, therefore has no communication with the Mississipi, there being a small space of Land between that and the Tanassee. Above Fort Augusta, is not navigable for Trade but the Cherokee Indians come down in canoes to the Falls near Augusta.

The next River is great Ogechee, which runs almost parallel with Savannah, and is about 15 Miles to the Southward, it goes into the Country about 300 computed Miles and there spends itself in small Branches or Creeks, and it is said to be navigable for near 200 Miles. On this River also are many very valuable Settlements.

Medway River lies about nine Miles to the Southward of Ogechee. Near the Mouth of this River, stands the Town of Sunbury, on a pleasant Hill fronting the Sound or inlet, about 12 Miles from the Sea, the River extends westerly about 7 or 8 Miles above the Town.

The next River is New Port, about 10 Miles to the Southward of Medway, and which runs near the same course and Extent that Medway does. Sapeloe is 18 Miles to the Southward of Newport, but the next of any consequence is the Alatamaha, which is our South Boundary,⁴⁰ & about 10 Miles to the Southward of Sapeloe, and 62 to the Southward of Savannah. This is a very fine River, and runs much the same course with Savannah River, the North Banks of this River is now settling very fast, and if we were permitted to settle on the South side, there is great reason to think the Province would encrease & flourish very considerably.

St. Mary’s River lies about 50 Miles to the Southward of the Alatamaha & extends back into the Country a considerable way and there is a vast body of very fertile fine Lands lie between the Alatamaha & this River.

St. Juans lies about 60 Miles to the Southward of St. Mary’s & extends back into the Country about a West and by North course for about 130 computed Miles, and then turns to the Southward & Eastward into the Sea, and makes St. Augustine an Island; from St. Juan’s to St. Augustine is about 40 Miles. NB: The Distances to the Southward of the Alatamaha are only by Computation.

There are other small Rivers that lie between Savannah and the Alatamaha Vizt. Vernon and Little Ogechee, but of no very great Consequence or extent, altho they are all pretty well settled. The Harbours known and generally used are at Savanah & Sunbury, and there is good Navigation for Vessels at the place called Hardwick on great Ogechee, & at Frederica on the Southwest side of the Island of St. Simons.

Tybee the Inlet to the River Savanah, lies in the Lat. of 31 and 55, & Long. of 80 West of London. The distances of the other places mentioned in your Lordship’s letter, is but little. St. Augustine the nearest Spanish Government, lies South of Georgia in the Lat. of 29 & 46. & Longitude of 80 & 46. from London.

Mobile lies about Southwest Westerly from Savanah, on a River of that Name in the Bay of Apalachee, & the mouth of the River is in, or near the Lat. of 30 & 20, as I am informed by Masters of Vessels, & New Orleans lies about Sth. West of Mobile 140 computed miles in the Bay or Gulph of Mexico, & Lat. of about 29 & 50. N.B. There is no passing on a direct line from Mobile to New Orleans, but the Land passage is a vast way round to head the Morasses &c. &c. Pensacola a Spanish Settlement lies close by Mobile a little to the East or north east about 40 computed Miles. These my Lords are the only considerable French & Spanish Settlements in the neighbourhood of this Province, the Lat. & Longde. which I take to be pretty exact by Observations chiefly, besides which there is a small French Garrison of about 40 Men, which is intirely dependant on Mobile, & about 140 Miles from it, in one of the Towns of the Creek Indians called the Albama Fort, & by means of which, the French influence with the Creeks is chiefly supported.

Nov. 1766 N.B. What related to this Province I confirm & with respect to St. Augustine, Pensacola, Mobile &c and the French, your Lordships will have had accounts from the Governors of the Floridas & actual surveys &c.

Ansr. to the 2nd.

The Nominal Boundaries of this Province & those mentioned in His late Majesty’s Charter to the Trustees, for establishing this Colony in the Year 1732, & mentioned by His Majesty in His Royal Commission to me Vizt. from the most northern Stream of Savanah River all along the Sea Coast to the Southward, to the most Southern Stream of the Alatamaha, & westward from the heads of the same Rivers in straight Lines to the South Seas, together with the Islands in the Sea lying opposite to the Eastern Coast of the said Lands within 20 miles of the same.

These my Lords are the nominal or reputed boundaries of this Province & I do not know that any part of them are disputed, except whether a small tract of Land on Savanah River be an Island, & so belonging to Georgia, or part of the main land & so belonging to Carolina, which matter will easily be settled, & is now enquiring into, & unless the claim of the Creek Indians may be called to, for it was heretofore stipulated with them, that His Majesty’s Subjects should not settle further from the Sea Coast, or westward, than the flowing of the Tides; which Matter these People are very tenacious of, and at present extremely jealous of our making any Encroachment on them; & here, pardon me my Lords, for observing that notwithstanding this nominal Boundary of the southermost Stream of the Alatamaha, in the Charter of the Trustees, yet Genl. Oglethorpe extended his settlement Southward without any regard to that Boundary; many Plantations were settled far beyond the Alatamaha, & marks of Possession held, & the Lands claimed by him, quite to St. Juan’s River, & my Lords there always had been, & to this day a Serjeants Guard kept at Fort William near the South end of Cumberland Island by a detachment from His Majesty’s Independent Companies in South Carolina. The South Point of Cumberland Island is called Amelia Sound, & the inlet between Cumberland & Amelia Islands, is the mouth of the River St. Mary’s. And here I must inform your Lordships, that a set of People who were formerly settled on Cumberland Island, & to the Southward of the Alatamaha at a place by them called new Hanover, & who were by His Majesty’s Order in February 1759, commanded to remove from thence, only made a Shew of doing so, but returned again immediately, & that those People with some Vagabonds & Runagates from Virginia, North Carolina, &c &c are now on those lands so the number of 70 or 80 Men, besides Women, & Children, and which is out of my present Authority & Jurisdiction. This is a matter my Lords that has not very long come to my knowledge, & which I think is highly necessary your Lordships should be made acquainted with, as it is a Receptacle & Asylum for all Villains, & Runagates, and most injurious to this Colony. If it were His Majesty’s Pleasure to extend the Authority & Jurisdiction of this Government further South than the present nominal or reputed boundary it would draw vast numbers of Inhabitants, & be productive of the best ends for increasing the Strength, Riches, & Consequences of this Province, to Great Britain. The South Boundary is a matter I wrote to your Lordships about in December 1760 & should not presume to have mentioned it again now, were I required by your Lordships to give my opinion relative to the fixing the Boundary Lines. 1766 your Lordships well know what alterations have been made in the boundaries of this Province since February 1762 by His Majesty’s Proclamation & the Treaty of Augusta.

Answ. to the 3rd.

The Trade of this Province at present is carried on with Great Britain, The Northern Colonies, & the English West India Islands. The amount of the Goods imported from Great Britain the last year is £50,000, prime cost in England, & the imports from the Northern Colonies & Islands, amount of £7000 Stg. This is chiefly in Sugar, Rum, Melasses, Flour, Bisket, Coffee &c &c.

There are ten Sea Vessels belonging to, or owned, by Persons who are Settlers and Inhabitants of this Town, Viz: 2 Ships of 200 Tons each, 2 Brigantines of 120 Tons each, & 6 Schooners of 40 Tons each, besides Coasters & Small Craft & these are navigated with about 100 Seamen in all. The number Vessels entered at the Custom House in the last 12 months, are 41, & the Number cleared out is 45. The Trade till lately had been very inconsiderable, it seems now to be in a flourishing State. The cause of the increase, your Lordships will see in my Answer to the 10th Quere, & I am in great expectation that some Vessels will be very soon fixed in a direct Trade between London and this Province. Hitherto all European Goods, consumed here, have been first carried to Charles Town in South Carolina, and from thence reshipped here, & almost the whole quantity of Deer-Skins, that are shipped off from Carolina, are, in fact, the Produce of this Province, but these & a considerable Quantity of Indico and Rice is obliged to be carried from thence to Charles Town in South Carolina, in small Craft, for want of Ships here, to carry them directly to Great Britain, & so appears by the Custom House Entries as the Product of South Carolina and not of Georgia, which it really is. Another disadvantage in War time, is the want of Convoy from this place, for although the Distance from Charles Town Bar is not, with a fair wind above 10 or 12 hours run, yet the King’s Ships that are ordered to Convoy the trade from thence will not call off this Bar for any Ships, because they are not ordered by their Instructions from the Lords of the Admiralty, & the Article of Convoy making a difference of 15 per Cent in the premium of Insurances, the Merchants here find it more for their Interest to send the Produce to Charles Town, & ship it from thence, & this I conceive my Lords, is a great prejudice to the Province.

There are no Trades, Works, or Manufactures set up, or about to be set up in this Province that I know of, which are, or may prove hurtfull to Great Britain.

1766. We have now four Ships fixed in the London Trade to this Province, and several others that are freighted occasionally & the last Year’s Imports from Great Britain amount to £83,000, Sterlg., from North America £12,017.10.1 1/2, From the Islands £26,241. 14.5, and Negroes from Africa £14,820. And there are now fourteen Sea Vessels owned here. Viz: Three Ships, Two Snows, Three Brigantines, Three Sloops, & three Schooners, & abundance of Coasters & small Craft, & the number of Vessels entered here, & at Sunbury last Year is, 171, & cleared & loaded 161. Imports at Sunbury last Year £14,193. 15.0, included in the above several sums.

Answer to the 4th.

The British Manufactures consumed in this Province, are Woollens & Linens of all sorts, Shoes, Stockings, Saddlery, Ware, Haberdashery, Cutlery, China Earthen & Glass ware, Axes, Hoes, Spades, Nails, Locks, Hinges, wrought Iron of all sorts, Brass, Copper, Pewter, Tin, Oil, Paint, Gunpowder, Shot, Guns, & East India Goods & C. & C. & C. The whole Importation of the last Year by almost an exact account, amounts to £5000 Sterlg. first cost in England as before mentioned & may be expected to increase annually.

1766. The Imports from Great Britain now are £83,000. Sterlg. see the next preceeding Answer, and £14,820 in Negroes.

Answer to the 5th.

This Province has no Trade with any foreign Plantations or Islands, except a little Lumber & Provisions to Santa Croix, and the Vessels generally go from thence to some of the British West India Islands, & to return with Rum, & Sugar, Salt, & C & C, and I know of no Trade from hence to any part of Europe besides Great Britain & Ireland.

1766. A small trade now by carrying Rice, since the Act of Parliament, allowing that liberty but no great Quantity.

Ansr. to the 6th.

The method used to prevent illegal trade, is by a due observance of, the Laws of Trade, & discharge of the duty of the several Officers of the Customs, Viz. Collector, Comptroller, Naval Officer, & Searcher, in which I believe they use proper diligence, & I do not know, nor have I heard of any illegal Trade carried on here, except once, since I came, that a small Spanish Launch, had put in at one of the Southern Inlets, & brought some dollars & Hides to purchase European Goods, & this I only heard of accidentally sometime afterwards, & there may be possibly a little Rum & Sugar run from on board Vessels from Santa Croix, but if any such is at all it must be very trifling.

Ansr. to the 7th.

The general produce of the Country is Rice, Indico, Silk, Pitch, Tar, Turpentine, Corn, Pease, & Potatoes, Hemp would grow very well, Boards, Plank, Lumber, Shingles & Hogshead Staves, &c. & Deer, & Beaver Skins are purchased from the Indians, great stocks of Cattle & Hogs, from which quantities of barreled Beef & Pork is made & exported, & a variety of other lesser Articles of Produce, as Hides, Wax, Tallow, & C & C, but the staple Commodities are chiefly Rice, Indico, Lumber, Shingles, & Hogshead Staves, & the amount of the Exports for the Year 1760, according to the nearest & best accounts I can get is £40,688. 6. 8. Sterlg. besides the Silk. And the Year 1761 will be considerably more Viz: 10,000 H.⁴¹ of Rice 15,000 H. of Indico, 200,000, H. of Deer Skins, 300,000 feet of Lumber, 700,000 Shingles, 130,000 Staves, 2,800 Sides of Leather, 700 H. of Pitch & other Articles computed at £43,718. 16.8 Sterlg. besides the Silk. And although by this it may appear as though the balance of Trade is against the Province, & therefore the Country is indebted, yet my Lords, it is not to be considered so, for the deficiency is made up in bills of Exchange, & the Crops will increase greatly, for at present it is a young new settled Country, & the Plantations not yet in order to produce a full crop, & the expence of settling new Plantations is considerable, so that for the future the Planter’s Expences will be less every year, & their Plantations being more improved & in better order, will produce a greater quantity of Rice & C. more than sufficient to ballance the Imports. There is no Provincial Law for preventing abuses in the Exportation of Produce, nor have any hitherto seemed necessary, except one to prevent frauds in the making of Lumber, which was passed the 3rd of May 1760 to continue for 2 Years from thence to the end of the next Session of Assembly.

1766. Last year was exported from Savanah 8,774 Hs of Rice 38,660 H. of Indico 235,600 H. of Deer Skins, 1,846,478 feet of Lumber, 2,588. 062 of Shingles, 550,961 Staves, 25,600 H weight of Leather, 1,281 Hs. of Pitch & Tar & other articles in the whole computed at £71,862. 12.3 3/4 Sterlg. & exported from Sunbury 3,700 Hs of Rice, 827,877 feet of Lumber, 278,449 Staves, 452,455 Shingles, 88 Steers, 42 Horses, 290 Hogs, 400 Bushels of Corn, & sundry other Articles the whole computed at £12,939. 12.4 Sterlg. so that our whole Imports amount to £136,079. 4.6 1/2 Sterlg. & our whole Exports of Produce to £84,802.4. 7 3/4 Sterlg to which is to be added an additional remittance of £5,500 Sterlg. by Bills of Exchange, Government Certificates & which seems to leave a balance against the Province of £45,776. 19. 10 3/4 Sterlg. But my Lords, an Infant Colony running a little in Debt for the purchase of Slaves, is what I know by experience in other Provinces has been the chief means of their becoming Opulent & considerable, & Negroes are the wealth & strength of the Southern American Colonies, & therefore I cannot consider a Province in which there are great quantities of fine Land as in debt because they owe for a few Negroes, when the Negroes owing for, are every day becoming more valuable, & will soon clear or pay for themselves. N.B: last March a Law was passed to prevent frauds &c. in packing & selling Beef, Pork, Pitch, Tar, &c and am now framing one for the better regulation of the Lumber Trade.

Ansr. to the 8th Querie.

There are no Mines that I have heard of, at least none are opened or worked possibly there may be some in the Mountainous back part of the Country.

Ansr. to the 9th Querie.

The number of White Inhabitants according to the return I made in April last, were Men, Women, & Children about 6,100. Since which the Whites have increased about 700, & the Blacks were then about 3,600, & now may be reckoned at least 4,500.

1766. Notwithstanding we lost above 200 Whites by the Small Pox 1764 & upwards of 100 this Fall, yet I now compute the Whites in all about 9,900 or say 10,000 Men, Women, & Children, in the whole Province & the Negroes amount to, at the least 7,800.

Ansr. to the 10th Quere.

The Inhabitants are greatly increased within these 10 Years, for in the Year 1753, there were not more than 2,381 Whites, and only 1,060 Blacks, this increase is owing to the great alteration in the Constitution & Government of this Province, Tenure of holding Lands, Admission of Slaves &c &c. as the plan at first proposed by the Honble The Trustees, was not properly adapted for settling an American Colony.

Ansr. to the 11th Quere.

The number of the whole Militia in the Province by my return to your Lordships in Decr. 1760, was 895, and which are now increased to about 1100, which are divided into 3 Regiments, one of the Inhabitants in, about & near Savanah, one of the Inhabitants about Sunbury and to the Southward, and one of the Inhabitants at & about Augusta & to the westward. The Officers have all Commissions from the Governor in His Majesty’s name, & are regulated, & their duty &c. directed by Law of the Province, by which they are compellable to appear at Public Musters and Trainings on certain days appointed, the whole under the immediate command & direction of the Governor agreeable to His Majesty’s Commission and Royal Instructions. This is not usually attended with any Public Expense at all, but when particular circumstances have required an Expense, it has, been defrayed by the Province for which purpose a sum was raised in the Tax Law for the Year 1760 to pay the Militia who were obliged to be under Arms, & do duty on account of the Indian Alarm &c.

1766. The number of the whole Militia is now 1800, & the whole Regulars in the Province are 30 Privates, an Ensign, & Doctor’s Mate.

Ansr. to the 12th Quere.

At Savanah there is a fort called Fort Halifax, it is constructed of Posts in the ground, planked inside & out & filled in with earth, the figure of it is a square of 4 Curtains with Flankers at each corner, each side being in the whole 200 feet, and, in which is a Powder Magazine 18 by 30, & 4 Block Houses, or Caponieres, each 20 feet square. This work is in pretty good condition at present, but the materials of this Fort are of no duration & begin to fail already, the Block Houses may stand some Years, & would be very useful against Indian attacks, & there are two more of these Block Houses on the South side of the Town, these works are not garrisoned by any of the King’s Troops, but in case of necessity would be garrisoned, & defended by the Inhabitants. And the Detachment now here being of the Carolina Independants, are 16, & about 30 of the Georgia Rangers now doing duty at Savanah.

Fort Augusta, on the River Savanah about 140 Miles by Land from Savanah is a Stockade Fort about 110 feet square, but in a ruinous Condition as appears by a report very lately made to me by the Commanding Officer at that Place. It is garrisoned by 35 Independants from South Carolina & 30 Rangers of this Province, all paid by His Majesty, those from Carolina at Home, & the Georgia Rangers by Bills of Exchange drawn by me quarterly on Mr. Mortier, the Deputy Pay Master of His Majesty’s Forces in America, at New York, which Draughts are vouched & Supported as directed by Sir Jeffrey Amherst.

Fort Argyle about 19 Miles from Savanah, on great Ogechee River is a square Fort of 110 feet each way, with 2 Rows of Barracks, & is in good condition & garrisoned by 35 Rangers paid as above.

Fort St. John about 10 Miles back from Sunbury & 29 Miles from Savanah, is a Stockade Fort, about 200 feet Square not intended to be garrisoned, but occasionally, & built only for the protection of the Inhabitants of that part of the Province, in case of Alarms & necessity. This Fort is in bad repair, has usually been garrisoned by 30 of the Rangers, but at present they are withdrawn from thence.

Fort Barrington on the River Alatamaha, is a square about 75 feet each way, and with a Caponiere in it & barracks; these works are not yet finished, the money given by the province not being sufficient. What is done is in good condition, and is garrisoned by 25 of the Rangers.

There is a Serjeant’s Guard & 3 Men at Fort William, on the South end of Cumberland Island, & a detachment of about 40 of the Carolina Independants at Frederica. These are at present under the direction & command of the Governor of South Carolina, a matter that appeared very inconsistent & much to the hurt of the Service, & of which I took liberty to acquaint your Lordship sometime ago, and have now wrote to Genl. Amherst on the subject, besides these my Lords there are some small stockade Forts about the Province, not garrisoned, but just to shelter the Inhabitants in case of any surprise or sudden Attack by the Indians. The expence of supporting the two troops of Rangers for pay and subsistence, as drawn for by me payable to each Captain Quarterly is from £505 to 509 Sterling and the provisions are found them by the Agent Victualler. There is no other expence attending the Forts or Places of Defence, but that of keeping them in repair, & which is done by a general Tax. On the 19th of December, I assented to a Law for building a Fort at Cockspur, an Island situate at the mouth of this River, & a measure that seemed most necessary, the Plan of which is now in consideration.

1766. Fort Halifax begins to want repairs & also the Caponieres, no Regulars at Savanah, only the Rangers. Fort Augusta new built agreeable to the Law passed the 25th of March 1765 and now garrisoned by a detachment of the Royal Americans, viz: 20 Privates, an Ensign & Surgeon’s Mate.

Fort St. John evacuated & quite in ruins and now unnecessary.

Fort Barrington in decay, & the Command will either be removed to the South side of the River, or broke up. No Command now at Fort William which is quite in ruins, & only a Serjeant and nine Men of the Royal Americans at Frederica, & the Rangers for near 3 years past have been obliged to victual themselves out of their pay, The Agent Victualler being ordered not to furnish them any longer, which is complained of to me as a great hardship, but not in my power to redress. The Fort at Cockspur, which I called Fort George was built in 1762, & is now in good repair, & a most useful & necessary Fort. It is garrisoned by a Party of the Rangers from 15 to 20.

Ansr. to the 13th Quere.

The Creek Indians are the people of most consequence to this Province, & are supposed to consist of about 2,150 Gun Men, or Hunters, they have about 38 Towns.

The Chickesaws have always been firm friends to the English, but do not contain in the whole about 350 Gun Men, about 50 of which are settled near Augusta, & the rest about — Miles beyond the Upper Creeks westward from thence.

The Chactaws are a very numerous Nation, supposed to contain about 4,000 Gun Men, mostly in the French Interest, altho’ some pretend to be in ours, their settlements lie between the Creek Country & Mobile, but very near to the latter.

The Cherokees & Catawbas, lie more contiguous to the Province of Sth. Carolina, and I presume from thence, your Lordships will be clearly informed with respect to them. We have had many treaties of Peace, Friendship, & Commerce with these People, which are still subsisting, all those, since the surrender of the Trustee’s Charter to His Majesty, I conceive has been regularly transmitted to your Lordships.

Mr. Atkins, the late Indian Agent, it is said, settled a kind of a treaty with part of the Chactaws, the beginning of the year 1760, but this was of very little Signification, and a small party of Chactaws were down here in October 1760, & for what was transacted with them, I must beg leave to refer your Lordships, to the Minutes of Council in that month. The quantity of Leather purchased from the Creeks, Chickesaws and Chactaws annually, is computed at 200,000 H. weight.

This Trade my Lord is under the immediate direction & regulation of the Governor, established by an Act of Assembly whereby no person is to trade with any Indian or Indians without a licence from the Governor, under the Penalty of £100 Sterling for each offence, & with this Licence is given, a set of Instructions to observe which, the Party gives Bond with security in the sum of £100 Sterlg. There are standing Instructions, & others are given occasionally, & the licence renewed every year, & for your Lordships further Information in this particular I have taken liberty to inclose a copy of the general Instructions. The People of Sth. Carolina also trade with those Indians, but the whole is, & goes through this province, and a difference of Measures & Regulations in each Province it is feared, may be productive of mischief & bad consequences, & therefore I would humbly submit it whether the regulating the trade, & granting Licences to trade with such Indians as are in this Province, should not be exercised wholly by this Government, and that the Province of South Carolina should have no power to intermeddle, but that such People as live there & are disposed to trade with the Indians in Georgia, should apply to Georgia for Licences, & be subject to its authority. For although it may be said that the Carolina People have nothing to do with affairs out of their province yet as they have always had that trade till very lately & I am informed going to pass a Law relative to it, it may occasion disputes & Inconveniences, if your Lordships are not pleased to interpose, & procure an Instruction to the Governor of South Carolina on this head, or give new directions therein. If this is not done my Lords, I have great reason to apprehend there will be differences, & disputes between the Provinces & that many Inconveniences will ensue. The tribes of the Cherokees and Catawbas lie convenient to South Carolina, & might be under their management and direction, as the Creeks & Chickesaws, I should hope may be to Georgia.

1766. I presume your Lordships have all these accounts from the Superintendant more circumstantially than I was or may be able to give, with respect to their numbers &c. as it is immediately within his department. As to these matters I confirm my former report.

Ansr. to the 14th Quere.

The French in the neighbourhood of this Province, are principally those at Mobile & New Orleans, there is a small Fort at the Albama’s in the Creek Country before mentioned these settlements my Lords are of the utmost importance to this Province & their Effect the very worst possible, for as long as they continue possessed of these places, the Chactaw Indians will ever be in their interest & under their influence, & the Creeks will continue wavering & insolent & this Province on such a precarious footing that must greatly impede its Settlement & Improvement.

The State of the French in Louisiana is not easily to be known, but by the best accounts I could get they had from 2,000 to 2,500 effective Men before the conquest of Canada, by His Majesty but what numbers may have gone cross the Country from Canada to Mobile, New Orleans, & the other settlements in Louisiana it’s impossible to judge of.

The chief Spanish Settlement my Lords is at St. Augustine, which is rather only a Garrison, little is planted, I believe nothing but provisions, & not a great deal of that nor any Manufactures made there. The Inhabitants are chiefly supplied with provisions & dry Goods from New York, & the Northern Colonies, & I believe some from South Carolina, & a few Cattle from hence. The numbers I cannot mention with much precision, but by my Information suppose there may be 1,200 Men in all & I have lately had an account from thence, that a Reinforcement of 500 Regulars are daily expected from the Havanah. They have likewise a settlement at Pensacola, near Mobile afore mentioned, where a small trade is carried on, but I do not see that either of these settlements in time of peace have any other bad effect, save that of receiving & protecting Runaway Slaves who as soon as they get there, threw themselves into the hands of the Priests & are deemed by them as Freemen.

1766. These matters doubtless your Lordships have full & clear information about from the Governor of West Florida.

Ansr. to the 15th. Quere.

The only standing or established Revenue is the King’s Quit rents, & some very small & trifling duties, which dutes are applied to the particular purposes mentioned & expressed in the Laws that lay & raise them. And all other expences of Government, are borne & paid by a general Tax, raised annually on all lands, & Slaves, Monies at Interest, Stock in Trade &c. This Mony is appropriated towards the Support of the Government, and for the uses mentioned in the Annual Tax Law, & is issued by Order of the Governor and Council upon the Treasurer. The Accounts of those who have Demands on the Publick are audited & passed by me in Council agreeable to the direction of the Tax Law, & to which I beg leave to refer your Lordships, for a more particular account, & satisfaction on this head.

Ansr. to the 16th Quere.

The civil establishment of Officers who have Salaries & Perquisites, is, The Governor, whose Salary is £1000 Sterlg. Perquisites on granting Lands &c &c. not quite £200 per Annum.

Wm. Grover, Chief Justice appointed by His Majesty’s Sign Manual, the 14th. of April 1761. Salary £500 Sterlg. per Annum, Perquisites about £25.

Wm Clifton, Attorney Genl appointed by His Majesty’s Sign Manual the 14th of April 1761. Salary £150 Sterlg. per Annum perquisits about £18 or 20.

James Habersham, Secretary, appointed by His Majesty’s Sign Manual the 14th of April 1761. Salary £100 per Ann. Perquisites about £50, after paying a deputy & all expences of Stationery &c.

Wm. Knox, Provost Marshall, appointed by His Majesty’s Sign Manual 29th Oct. 1758. Salary £100 per Ann. Perquisites about £60, after paying a deputy.

Sir Pat. Houstown Bart. Receiver of His Majesty’s Quit Rents & Register of Grants, appointed by me the 10th Inst. to succeed his Father who died the 5th Inst. Salary £100, perquisites about £37.

Henry Yonge & Wm. Debrahm, Surveyors Genl appointed by the Lords of the Treasury, the 28th of May 1761. Salary between them £150 perquisites about £100 between them.

Wm. Spencer, Collector of the Customs appointed by the commissioners of the customs, in Great Britain, the 16th of June 1761. Salary £60 Sterlg. Fees £36 per Ann.

Wm. Russell, Comptroller of Do. appointed by the Commrs. of the Customs, the 16th of June 1761. Salary £50. Fees £13 per Ann.

John Tally, Naval Officer, appointed by Governor Ellis, & reappointed by me February 1762. No Salary, Perquisites £25.

Wm. Mackenzie, Searcher appointed by John Cleland Esqr. late Surveyor & Comptroller of the Customs for the South District of North America, 3rd March 1759. Salary £30, Perquisites £15.

The Salaries of all the above Officers are paid by the Crown.

Noble Jones, Treasurer appointed by Governor Ellis 16th February 1760 he has no Salary, but Commissions of 5 per Cent, which on the last year’s tax amounted to about £65, and may this year amount to £80.

Charles Watson, Clerk of the Council, the whole annual income is about £60 after paying a Clerk & Stationery.

Thomas Burrington, Clerk of the Assembly, appointed by Governor Ellis 15th April 1757; Salary from Home £20, Sterlg. Do paid here £25, Perquisites about £50 to £55 the whole about £100.

John Graham, Commissary, & Clerk of the Accounts appointed by Governor Ellis, 27th. March 1757. For the 1st he has a salary of £20 per annum paid by the Province, for the other, is allowed a Salary of £40 paid out of the Contingent Money granted by Parliament. These Offices are attended with a great deal of trouble, & take up much time.

Noble Jones, James Deveaux, Elisha Butler, & Edmund Tannatt, Assistant Justices, appointed by the Governor, no Salaries or perquisites are allowed them.

Charles Pryce, Clerk of the Crown & Prothonotary in the Court of Common Pleas, also Register & Examiner in Chancery, no Salary & the whole perquisites amount to about £40 per Annum, on executing all the offices mentioned.

Grey Elliot, Deputy Auditor, appointed by the Honble. & Revrd. Mr. Cholmondeley.

James Edwd. Powell, Judge of the Admiralty, No Salary, Perquisites uncertain, as it depends on Business that may, or may not happen & the last year did not exceed £5 Sterlg.

Wm. Spencer, Register to Do. no Salary & the perquisites about £16 per Annum.

Wm. Russel, Powder Receiver, no Salary, but the Perquisites are about £8 Sterlg. per Ann.

Edmd. Pearce, Messenger and Door-keeper, of the Upper House of Assembly. Salary £25 Sterling paid by the Province.

Thos Lee Messenger & Door-keeper of the Assembly, Salary £25 paid by the Province.

Thos [illegible] Gunner of Fort Halifax, no Salary, but his Account for occasional Services amounts to £10 Sterlg. per Annum.

1766. The Alterations by the appointmt. of new Officers, by His Majesty, your Lordships well know, & there have been some new Appointments here, but of no Consequence & the Fees & Perquisites are somewhat more as your Lordships must suppose will be the case as Business increases.

Ansr. to the 17th Quere.

The Constitution of the Government is a Governor, Council and Assembly, appointed & established by His Majesty’s authority a Court of Chancery established in October, & held in November 1761, over which, the Governor presides as Chancellor, this, by virtue of the Custody &c of the Great Seal, for which see a letter from your Lordships Board to Governor Ellis, dated the 14th of December 1759. A Court of Oyer & Terminer and general Gaol delivery established in December 1754 & held the 10th of that Month. A Court of Common Pleas, or General Court, established in December 1754 & held the 14th of January 1755. And a Court of Admiralty established & held the 16th of January 1755.

All these by virtue of the several Powers & Authorities given to the Governor by His Majesty’s Commission & Instructions with the advice & consent of the Council.

The Rules & method of proceeding are as near as may be, agreeable to those in use & practice, in his Majesty’s several Courts in Great Britain, & the Judges, & all other subordinate Officers are appointed as herein before mentioned. All which is most humbly submitted to your Lordships, by my Lords, your Lordship’s most obliged & most obedient Servant.

Ja. Wright 15 Novr. 1766.

The above approved & confirmed with the additions, by me this 29th of November 1766.

Ja. Wright.

A general state of Georgia’s trade from Oct., 1765, to Oct. 1766, Savannah, read Feb. 17, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 98. Enclosed with Wright to the Board of Trade, Nov. 29, 1766.

N.B. From the deficiency Should be taken £4943. 13.3 1/2 the Ball. that by this State appears to be due to the Northern Colonies, for altho it appears So by the Custom House Books &c. yet in fact there is Nothing due, for they always Carry away the Amount of their Cargoes in Produce, Bills, & Gold & Silver, for theirs is a Ready Money Trade, and the Value of the Negroes we have in them, who are encresing in Value every day.

Charles Garth, agent for South Carolina, to John Pownall, Jan. 10, 1767, Devizes, received Jan. 12, read Jan. 15, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 94, concerning date for hearing on Georgia law.

Sir

I have this Morning your Favour signifying the Pleasure of the Lords Commissioners for Trade & Plantations to hear upon the 22d. Instant what I may have to offer against the Act pass’d by the Legislature of Georgia for better strengthening &c. of that Colony. I beg therefore you will be so good to present my Respects to their Lordships and to acquaint them that I should with great Readiness obey their Commands for that Day, but that being under a Necessity of holding the Quarter Sessions for this Borough which is fix’d already too late for me to be in London time enough fully & properly to instruct my Counsel to be in readiness for the 22d. Instant. I shall esteem it a Favour to indulge me with a longer Day & should hope as a Fortnight or 3 weeks after the 22d. can make no Difference or be of any Prejudice to the Matter in Question, that it will not be inconvenient to their Lordships to appoint another Day for the Hearing thereof.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Feb. 12, 1767, Savannah, received May 2, read May 12, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 100, concerning Indian relations and transmitting reports.

My Lords

I have now the Honor to Transmit to your Lordships the Public Accounts for the years 1764 & 1765. Audited by the Deputy Auditor. Also the Register of Grants abstracts from the 26th. of Sepr. 1765 to the 26th. of Sepr. 1766 & the Naval Officers list of Vessels Enter’d & Cleared at this Port from the 5th. of April 1766 to the 5th. October. 42

All our Affairs here Seem in good order and we are making a very Rapid Progress. Our Indian Affairs my Lords Continue quiet & Easy, but this I Attribute to a kind of War, that has for Some time Subsisted between the Creeks & Chactaws, & Which is not yet over. And in my Opinion it is this Favourable & Lucky Circumstance alone that has Saved us from being Embroiled with them.

I shall now Soon Expect your Lordships Answer & Directions Relative to the Silk Affairs, which I wrote So fully upon in October last. ⁴²

An Abstract of all the Grants of Lands Registered in Georgia from Sept. 25, 1765, to March 25, 1766, received May 2, read May 12, 1767, C.O. 5/675, F. 102, enclosed with Wright to the Board of Trade, Feb. 12, 1767.

Grant dated 1 October 1765.

To Edward Barnard for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philip. Registered 2 October 1765.

Grant dated 1 October 1765.

To George Cornell for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registered 2 October 1765.

Grant Dated 1 October 1765.

To Samuel Germany for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registered 2 October 1765.

Grant Dated 1 October 1765.

To Lachlan Mackintosh for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew as a reduced Officer. Registered 2 October 1765.

Grant Dated 1 October 1765.

To Henry Frederick Myers for 35 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registered 2 October 1765.

Grant Dated 1 October 1765.

To Christopher Ring for 250 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church (on Purchase). Registered 2 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To James Bulloch for 450 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Nicholas Cavenah for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To George Cuthbert for 1000 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church (on Purchase). Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Luke Dean for 75 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Benjamin Fox 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To John Grant for 250 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To John Howart for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Dame Prescilla Houstoun 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Patrick. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant dated 29 October 1765.

To Michael Illy for 150 Acres of Land on Skedoway Island. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Roger Kelsal for 800 Acres of Land on the south side of the Alatamaha (on Purchase). Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To George McDonald 150 Acres of Land inthe Parish of St. Andrew. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Jacob Myers for 90 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Thomas Morgan for 350 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To James Mackay for 50 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew (on Purchase). Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To James Pugh 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To John Perkins 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. James. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To John Perkins 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. James (on Purchase). Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To John Rae Esquire 600 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To John Rae Esquire 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29th. October 1765.

To John Rae Esquire for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To John Rae Junr. for 220 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To John Stratton for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Elizabeth Wright for 62 1/2 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philip. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Peter Wynne for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 30 October 1765.

Grant Dated 31 October 1765.

To William Wright for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registered the 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 31 October 1765.

To Thomas Red 764 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 31 October 1765.

To James Red for 94 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Edward Barnard 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 31 October 1765.

To David Cutler Braddock 600 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 31 October 1765.

To George Baillie for 350 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Thomas. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 31 October 1765.

To George Baillie 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Thomas (on Purchase). Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To James Deveaux Esqr. 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated the 29 October 1765.

To Alexander Fyffe for 450 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Patrick. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To George Galphin for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Adrian Loyer for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Francis Macartan for a Town Lott in Augusta in the Parish of St. Paul. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To James Mossman for 1000 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philip (on Purchase). Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To James Mossman for 1000 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philip. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To William Truin Wm Struthers &c 1400 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Patrick. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Alexander Wylly Esquire 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Alexander Wylly Esquire 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Alexander Wylly Esquire 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Thomas Ford for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Thomas White for 250 Acres of Land in the Parish of [blank]. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To William Gibbons for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Thomas. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 31 October 1765.

To Nicholas Cavenah for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Daniel Douglass for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Frederick Lackner for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To John Lott Senr. for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Jacob Kettle for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To George Gnann for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Jethro Rowantree for 600 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Thomas Balsh for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To John Phillips for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Daniel Underwood for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To John Wells for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 31 October 1765.

To John Wilson for 260 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To James Murphy for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Jessie Wiggins for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To John Howell for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Samuel Hudson for 600 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Jonathan Woodland for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To George Harnage for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 31 October 1765.

To Lachlan McIntosh for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew (on Purchase). Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Mary Margaretta Leimberger, Lotts in Ebenezer. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Balthasar Reizer for 105 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Edward Boykin for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Martin Dasher for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To James Smith for a Lot in Augusta in the Parish of St. Paul. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 31 October 1765.

To William Swinton for 800 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To John Hall for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 31 October 1765.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To John Hall for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 31 October 1765.

This Abstract of the Grants Registered from the 25th of September 1765 to the 25th March 1766. Compared with the Register Book at Savannah the 4th day of October 1766.

Pat. Houstoun. Regr.

An Abstract of all the Grants of Land Registered in Georgia from March, 25, 1766, to Sept. 25, 1766, received May 2, read May 12, 1767, C.O. 5/674, F. 102, enclosed with Wright to the Board of Trade, Feb. 12, 1767.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To Elizabeth Anderson for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthews. Registered 11 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To Elizabeth Anderson for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthews (for Purchase). Registered 11 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To Philip Alston for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registered 11 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To Isaac Attwood for a Lott in Augusta. Registered 11 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To Joseph Butler Senr. for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philip. Registered 12 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To Joseph Cannon for 400 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mary. Registered 12 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To Henry Cavenah for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 12 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To John Calwell for 400 Acres of Land South side of the Alatamaha. Registered 12 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To James Cuthbert for 1500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mary. Registered 12 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To Frederick Ebinger for 50 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 12 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To David Fisher for 500 Acres of Lands in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 12 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To John Fitzgerald for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registered 12 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To James Fordice for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philip. Registered the 12 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To John Green & Elizabeth his Wife 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registered 12 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To Edward Hopton for a Wharf Lott in Savannah No. 11. Registered 13 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To John Hangleiter for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 13 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To John Mullryne Esqr. 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 13 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To John Mullryne Esqr. 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew (on Purchase). Registered 13 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To John Mullryne Esqr. for 250 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 13 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To John Poulson for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registered 13 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To John Poulson for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registered 13 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To Christopher Ring for 350 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 13 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To Francis Stringer for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George (on Purchase). Registered 13 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To John Thomas for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 13 August 1766.

Grant Dated 5 August 1766.

To John Thomas for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 13 August 1766.

Grant Dated 29 October 1765.

To Josiah Dickson for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew by order of Council. Registered 8 September 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septr. 1766.

To Joseph Andrew for 1000 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registered 8 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To George Baillie for 1000 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registered 8 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To Chesley Bostick a Town Lot in Augusta No. 36. Registered 8 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To John Cubbage for 425 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registered 8 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To John Cubbage for 425 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registered 8 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To Thomas Davis for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 8 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To John Graham Esquire for 1000 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mary. Registered 8 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To William McPherson for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registered 8 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To Samuel Miller for 800 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philip. Registered 8 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To Edward Hopton for a Town Lot in Savannah. Registered 8 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To Jacob Helvenstine for 400 Acres of Land South side of the Alatamaha. Registered 8 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To Lewis Johnson Esquire 600 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mary. Registered 9 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To Jean Nisbet Johnston 400 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mary. Registered 9 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To David Lewis for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 9 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To John Martin for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. David. Registered 9 Septr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septr. 1766.

To John Martin for 250 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registered 9 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To George McKintosh for 112 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registered 9 Septr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septr. 1766.

To Lachlan McKintosh for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mary. Registered 9 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To Lachlan McKintosh for 250 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registered 9 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To Henry Overstreet Junr. for 43 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 9 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To Nathaniel Parsley for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registered 9 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To Francis Rawlinson for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 9 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To William Sapp for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 9 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To John Adam Treutlen 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philip. Registered 9 Septr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septr. 1766.

To Joshua Vaughan 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Registered 9 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To Francis Wynne for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 9 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septemr. 1766.

To John Warnock for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registered 9 Septemr. 1766.

Grant Dated 2 Septr. 1766.

To John Woodland for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registered 9 Septr. 1766.

This Abstract of the Grants Registered from the 25th of March 1766 to the 25th day of September 1766 Compared with the Register Book at Savannah the 4th day of October 1766.

Pat Houstoun Regr.

Copy of a letter from James Wright to the Earl of Shelburne, April 6, 1767, sent to the Board of Trade, Savannah, received June 4, read June 5, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 103, concerning the assembly’s refusal to provide funds for barracks necessities for troops stationed in Georgia. ⁴³

Memorial of Isaac Levy to the Board of Trade, London, read July 9, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 104, concerning Levy’s claim to a part of the islands in Georgia granted to Mary Bosomworth.

Sheweth,

That your Memorialist in 1759 transmitted from Philadelphia to his Sollicitor in London his humble petition to be presented to his Majesty, which was referrd to your Lordships.

That your Memorialist had conceived from the Equity of his case that he should be under no necessity of coming to England to attend the progress of this affair, but your Memorialist after waiting 4 years found that little or nothing was done therein which obliged your Memorialist to come to London.

That your Memorialist does not pretend to merrit from his Sovereign otherwise than any other loyal Subject, however your Memorialist cannot avoid observing to your Lordships (to shew that he does not deserve oppression) that he is a Native of his Majestys province of New York, has resided in London upwards of 15 years as a Merchant of some reputation, paid great Sums to the revenue as dutys on Merchandize & has exported great quantities of the Manufactors of this Kingdom.

That the purchase made by your Memorialist of a Moiety of these Lands was for a valuable consideration & at the time of purchase had the best advice of Council in London that the title was good, under these considerations if no others could be offerd, your Memorialist thinks it would be extreme hard to suffer by Government measures when no reason of state required it, as it is notoriously known your Memorialist could & would have improved & cultivated the Islands (being thereunto obliged by Articles) to better advantage & more expeditiously than they are now & are like to be, besides your Memorialist has been since his purchase at a great expence in endeavouring to settle & Cultivate the Islands, which have been in their possession upwards of 12 years upon which circumstances your Memorialist would beg leave to mention the Attorney & Sollicitor general’s opinion touching a Similar case in 1732 “they say that some objections were made before them to the nature of the Grants & conveyances under which the petitioners claim, but they conceive that in questions of this kind concerning rights to lands in the West Indies & upon enquiries of this nature the same regularity & exactness is not to be expected as in private suits concerning titles to Lands in England, but that in these Cases the principal regard ought to be had to the possession & expence the partys have been at in endeavouring to settle & cultivate such Lands. ”

That your Memorialist has herewith laid before your Lordships a full & perfect state of his case.

That your Memorialist would with submission propose to your Lordships that in order to make Satisfaction to your Memorialist for his right to a moiety of the Islands that your Memorialist may be compensated in like manner, Bosomworth & his wife were as their Lordships report sets forth without any expence to his Majesty. The manner of which your Memorialist would communicate to your Lordships at such time as will be most agreeable to your Lordships, after which your Memorialist would beg of your Lordships to make a report on your Memorialist’s petition to his Majesty referr’d to your Lordships.

Sir Matthew Lamb to the Board of Trade, May 2, 1767, Lincoln’s Inn, read July 13, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 108, reporting on seventeen acts passed in Georgia in Nov. 1765, and Mar. 1766.

My Lords

In pursuance of your Lordships Commands Signified to me by Mr. Pownall’s Letter wherein you are Pleased to Desire my Opinion in Point of Law upon the following Acts Passed in Georgia in November 1765 and March 1766. I have Perused and Considered the same (Vizt.)

1. An Act for the Establishing and Regulating Patrols, and for preventing any Person from Purchasing Provisions or any other Commodities from or Selling such to any Slave unless such Slave shall produce a Ticket from his or her Owner Manager or Employer.

2. An Act to Punish Seamen or Mariners neglecting or deserting their Duty on board their respective Ships or Vessels and for preventing Seaman or Mariners from being Harboured, or Running into Debt.

3. An Act for the better Security of the Inhabitants of this Province by Obliging the Male White Persons within the same to Carry Fire Arms to all places of Publick Worship.

4. An Act to Explain and amend An Act for the better Regulating Taverns Punch-houses and Retailers of Spirituous Liquors.

5. An Act for Amending An Act for Holding Special or extraordinary Courts of Common Pleas for the Tryal of Causes arising between Merchants Dealers and others and Ship Masters, Supercargoes and other transient Persons.

6. An Act to Impower the several Commissioners or Surveyors hereafter named to lay out and make such Publick Roads in the Province of Georgia as are hereinafter mentioned and directed and to continue to Work upon, clear, repair and improve the several Roads already laid out, and also the Rivers and Creeks within the several and respective Divisions.

7. An Act for the Relief of Debtors, who may be Confined in Goal, and are unable to Support themselves during such their Confinement.

8. An Act for Amending An Act for Regulating the Pilotage of Vessels into the several Ports of this Province.

9. An Act to prevent Frauds and Deceits in Selling Beef, Pork, Pitch, Tarr, Turpentine and Firewood.

10. An Act for the further Continuance of An Act to prevent Stealing of Horses and neat Cattle, and for the more Effectual Discovery and Punishment of such Persons as shall unlawfully brand, mark or kill the same.

11. An Ordinance for appointing Packers and Inspectors for the Ports of Savannah and Sunbury in this Province.

12. An Act for Establishing a Ferry from the Plantation of Miles Brewton Esquire near Savannah to the Plantation of Jermyn and Charles Wright Esquire called Rochester in the Province of South Carolina, and for Vesting the same in the said Miles Brewton Esquire his Executors Administrators and Assigns for and during the Term of Seven Years.

13. An Act to Enable the Comissioners appointed by An Act of the General Assembly of this Province Intituled An Act for Regulating the Town of Savannah and for ascertaining the Common thereto belonging to Alien and Convey to the Honourable William Simpson Esquire his Heirs and Assigns for ever a certain part of the said Common in Exchange for part of the Lot of Land adjoining the same.

14. An Act to Amend An Act for the better Regulating the Town of Savannah and for ascertaining the Common thereunto belonging and also to Authorize and Impower the Churchwardens and Vestry of the Parish of Christ Church to appoint a Beadle for purposes herein mentioned.

15. An Act for Encouraging Settlers to come into the Province and for Granting to his Majesty the Sum of One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifteen Pounds Sterling to be Issued in Certificates by the Comissioners herein named for the said purpose and also for the Rebuilding the Court House in Savannah in Consequence of An Act of the General Assembly Passed the Twenty Ninth day of February One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty Four.

16. An Act to Amend An Act for the better Ordering and Governing Negroes and other Slaves in this Province and to prevent the Inveigling or Carrying away Slaves from their Masters or Employers.

17. An Act for Granting to his Majesty the Sum of One Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty Five Pounds Six Shillings and one Penny Sterling for the use and Support of the Government of Georgia for the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty Six to be Raised by certain Rates and after the Method therein mentioned and for the more effectual Collecting of Arears.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, May 15, 1767, Savannah, received July 9, read July 22, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 106, transmitting abstracts of grants and naval office lists, and reporting on the conduct of the assembly.

My Lords

I have the Honor to Transmit to your Lordships The Register of Grants Abstracts from the 25th. of September 1766 to the 25th. of March 1767, also the Naval Officers List of Vessels enter’d & Cleared at this Port from the 5th. of October 1766 to the 5th. of January 1767, and that for the Port of Sunbury from the 5th. of July 1766, to the 5th. of October 1766. ⁴⁴ There is Nothing more Since my last Relative to the Conduct of the assembly. A Small Check from Home or disapprobation of their Proceedings will Set all Right here, but if that is not done they will Attempt to go on, for the Same Spirit of Independence & to Trample on the Sovereignty of G Britain Prevails here as does in the Northern Colonies. But my Lords they find themselves diligently watched, & kept in order.

An Abstract of Grants of Land Registered in Georgia from Sept. 25, 1766, to March 25, 1767, Savannah, received July 9, read July 22, 1767, C.O. 5/675, F. 107.

Grant dated 7th. Octr. 1766.

To William Bacon for 71 Acres of land in the parish of St. John. Regrd. 10th. Octr. 1766.

Grant dated 7th. Octr. 1766.

To John Fieri the Younger for 200 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Philip. Regrd. 10th. Octr. 1766.

Grant dated 7th. Octr. 1766.

To James Habersham Esquire for a Town Lot and farm Lot in Savannah. Regrd. 10th. Octr. 1766.

Grant dated 7th. Octr. 1766.

To John Morell for a Town Garden and Farm Lot in Savannah. Regrd. 10th. Octr. 1766.

Grant dated 7th. Octr. 1766.

To John Martin for 350 Acres of land in the parish of St. David. Regrd. 10th. Octr. 1766.

Grant dated 7th. Octr. 1766.

To Michael Reitter for 61 Acres of Land in the parish of Christ Church. Regrd. 10th. Octr. 1766.

Grant dated 7th Octr. 1766.

To Mary Venning Lot in Augusta in the parish of St. Paul. Regrd. 10th Octr. 1766.

Grant dated 5th Febry 1760.

To George Walker for 100 Acres of Land in the parish of St. George. Regrd. (by Order) 13th Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 29th Octr. 1765.

To Stephen Smith for 100 Acres of Land in the parish of St. George. Regrd. (by Order) 13th. Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 29th Octr. 1765.

To Daniel Lot for 150 Acres of Land in the parish of St. George. Regrd. (by Order) 13th Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 29th Sepr. 1765.

To John Williams for 100 Acres of Land in the parish of St. George. Regrd. (by Order) 13th Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th Novr. 1766.

To Hillary Butt for 150 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Matthew. Regrd. 15th Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th Novr. 1766.

To William Gibbons for 372 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Thomas. Regrd. 15th Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th Novr. 1766.

To Robert Germany for 216 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Paul. Regrd. 15th. Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th Novr. 1766.

To Francis Jenkins for 350 Acres of Land in the parish of St. George. Regrd. 15th Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th Novr. 1766.

To Benjamin Lewis for 100 Acres of Land in the parish of St. John. Regrd. 15th. Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th. Novr. 1766.

To George McKay for 120 Acres of Land in the parish of St. John. Regrd. 15th. Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th Novr. 1766.

To Lachlan McGillivray for 100 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Matthew. Regrd. 15th Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th. Novr. 1766.

To George McIntosh for 400 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Patrick. Regrd. 15th Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th Novr. 1766.

To Lachlan McIntosh for 150 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Andrew. Regrd. 15th Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th Novr. 1766.

To George McIntosh for 150 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Andrew. Regrd. 15th Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th Novr. 1766.

To George McIntosh for 100 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Patrick (on Purchase). Regrd. 15th Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th Novr. 1766.

To George McIntosh for 250 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Andrew. Regrd. 15th Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th Novr. 1766.

To James Nesmith for 100 Acres of Land in the parish of St. George. Regrd. 17th Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th Novr. 1766.

To John Sandiford for 200 Acres of Land in the parish of St. John. Regrd 17th. Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th. Novr. 1766.

To John Staley for 50 Acres of land in the parish of St. Mathew. Regrd. 17th. Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th Novr. 1766.

To John Thomas for 300 Acres of Land in the parish of St. George. Regrd. 17th Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th Novr. 1766.

To John Staley for 50 Acres of Land in the parish of St. George. Regrd. 17th. Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 4th. Novr. 1766.

To David Cavenah for 100 Acres of Land in the parish of St. George. Regrd. 17th Novr. 1766.

Grant dated 2d Decr. 1766.

To John Man for 100 Acres of Land in the parish of St. George. Regrd. 11th Decr. 1766.

Grant dated 2d Decr. 1766.

To Gotlieb Staley for 300 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Matthew. Regrd. 11th Decr. 1766.

Grant dated 2d Decr. 1766.

To Henry Sapp for 300 Acres of land in the parish of St. George and St. Matthew. Regrd. 11th Decr. 1766.

Grant dated 2d Decr. 1766.

To John McKenzie for 500 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Thomas. Regrd. 11th Decr. 1766.

Grant dated 2d Decr. 1766.

To Abraham Lunday for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Matthew. Regrd. 11th Decr. 1766.

Grant dated 2d Decr. 1766.

To Nathaniel Hooker for 100 Acres of Land in the parish of St. George. Regrd. 11th Decr. 1766.

Grant dated 2d Decr. 1766.

To Abraham Lunday for 100 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Matthew. Regrd. 11th. Decr. 1766.

Grant dated 2d Decr. 1766.

To Philip Howell for 200 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Matthew. Regrd. 11th Decr. 1766.

Grant dated 2d Decr. 1766.

To Philip Howell for 380 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Matthew. Regrd. 11th Decr. 1766.

Grant dated 2d Decr. 1766.

To Jacob Holbrook Town Lott in the parish of Christ Church. Regrd. 11th Decr. 1766.

Grant dated 2d Decr. 1766.

To Kenneth Baillie for 800 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Mary. Regrd. 14th Decr. 1766.

Grant dated 2d Decr. 1766.

To Alex. Baillie for 150 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Mary (on Purchase). Regrd. 14th Decr. 1766.

Grant dated 2d Decr. 1766.

To John Baker for 500 Acres of Land in the parish of St. John. Regrd. 14th Decr. 1766.

Grant dated 6th Janry. 1767.

To Burgon Bird for 100 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Philip. Regrd. 10th Janry. 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To George Caldwell for 400 Acres of land in the parish of St. David (on Purchase). Regrd. 10th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Robert Baillie for 200 Acres of land in the parish of St. Andrew. Regrd. 10th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Henry Denslar for 350 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Matthew. Regrd. 10th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To John Dunbar Thomas Young and John Simpson for 1000 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Mary. Regrd. 10th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th. Janry 1767.

To Andrew Darling for 150 Acres of Land in the parish of St. David. Regrd. 10th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Andrew Darling for 500 Acres of land in the parish of St. David. Regrd. 10 Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th. Janry 1767.

To William Elliot for 100 Acres of Land in the parish of St. John. Regrd. 10th. Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Donald Frazer for 100 Acres of Land in the parish of St. George. Regrd. 10th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6 Janry 1767.

To George Galphin for 200 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Paul. Regrd. 10th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6 Janry 1767.

To Sr. Patrick Houstoun for 300 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Thomas. Regrd. 12th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To James Habersham Esquire for 1400 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Mary. Regrd. 12th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To William Knox Esqr. for 5000 Acres of Land in the Parish of Saint Mary. Regrd. 12th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Henry Laurens for 1000 Acres of land in the Parish of Saint David. Regrd. 12th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Henry Laurens for 1000 Acres of land in the parish of St. David. Regrd. 12th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To James McKay Esqr. for 500 Acres of land So. of the Alatamaha. Regrd. 12th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Francis Perry for 300 Acres of land in the parish of St. Philip. Regrd. 12th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Winwood McIntosh for 500 Acres of land in the parish of St. David. Regrd. 12th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6 Janry 1767.

To Thomas Moodie for 500 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Mary. Regrd. 12 Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Catherine Mullryne for 100 Acres of Land in the parish of Christ Church. Regrd. 12th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Matthew Roche for 99 Acres of land in the parish of Christ Church. Regrd. 13th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Benjamin Stirk for 650 Acres of land in the parish of St. Matthew. Regrd. 13th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To John Simpson Esquire for 600 Acres of land in the parish of St. Mary (on Purchase). Regrd. 13th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Levi Sheftall for 150 Acres of land in the parish of Christ Church. Regrd. 13th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Levi Shefftal for 350 Acres of land in the parish of Christ Church. Regrd. 13th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Mary Wife of Josiah Tatnell for One hundred Acres of land in the parish of Christ Church. Regrd. 13th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To William Williamson for 35 Acres of land in the parish of Christ Church. Regrd. 14th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To James Wright Junr. for 1000 Acres of land in the parish of St. Mary. Regrd. 14th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Jermyn and Charles Wright for 800 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Mary. Regrd. 14th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Jermyn and Charles Wright for 500 Acres of Land in the parish of St. Mary. Regrd. 14th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Jermyn and Charles Wright for 2000 Acres of land in the parish of St. Mary. Regrd. 14th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Jermyn and Charles Wright for 1200 Acres of land in the parish of St. Mary. Regrd. 14th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Jermyn and Charles Wright for 650 Acres of land in the parish of St. Mary. Regrd. 14th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Jermyn and Charles Wright for 1600 Acres of land in the parish of St. Mary. Regrd. 14th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To Thomas Younge for 300 Acres of land in the parish of St. John. Regrd. 14th Janry 1767.

Grant dated 6th Janry 1767.

To William Richardson and Susannah Richardson for a Town Garden and Farm Lot. Regrd. (by Order) 4th Febry 1767.

Grant dated 29 Octr. 1765.

To Joseph Burton for 113 Acres of land in the parish of St. Matthew. Regr. (by Order) 14th Febry 1767.

Grant dated 1st July 1760.

To John Dinkins for 200 Acres of land in the parish of St. Matthew. Regrd. (by Order) 23 March 1767.

Grant dated 3d Febry 1767.

To James Anderson for 150 Acres of land in the parish of St. George. Regrd. 23d March 1767.

Grant dated 3d Febry 1767.

To James Bennett for 200 Acres of land in the parish of St. Matthew. Regrd. 23d March 1767.

Grant dated 3d Febry 1767.

To Hugh Burns for 750 Acres of land in the parish of St. Mary. Regrd. 24th March 1767.

Grant dated 3d Febry 1767.

To John William and Jane Carney for 300 Acres of land in the parish of St. Patrick. Regrd. 24th March 1767.

Grant dated 3d Febry 1767.

To Arthur Carney for 500 Acres of land on the So. Side of the Alatamaha. Regrd. 24th March 1767.

Grant dated 3d Febry 1767.

To James Forrester for 200 Acres of land in the parish of St. Patrick. Regrd. 24th March 1767.

Grant dated 3d Febry 1767.

To James Forrester for 500 Acres of land in the parish of St. Patrick. Regrd. 24th March 1767.

Grant dated 3d Febry 1767.

To James Forrester for 500 Acres of land in the parish of St. Patrick. Regrd. 24th March 1767.

Grant dated 3d Febry 1767.

To Richard Fox for 100 Acres of land in the parish of Christ Church. Regrd. 24th March 1767.

Grant dated 3d Febry 1767.

To Nicholas Fisher for 100 Acres of Land in the parish of St. George. Regrd. 24th March 1767.

Grant dated 3d Febry 1767.

To John Germany for 100 Acres of land in the parish of St. Paul. Regrd. 24th March 1767.

Georgia

Patr. Houstoun Regr.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, June 15, 1767, Savannah, received and read July 29, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 109, transmitting laws of the assembly and reporting on the lands south of the Altamaha.

My Lords

By this Conveyance I have the Honor to Transmit to your Lordships Copys of an Act of Assembly to Prohibit the Exportation of Corn &c. and of an Ordinance to Empower Certain Commissioners to Purchase a Quantity of Rice & retail the Same on Account of the Public. These my Lords were Passed the 18th of June 1766 and which the Necessity of the times made expedient, and I also now Transmit Copys of the Several Laws assented to by me during the last Session of Assembly, with my Observations on Such as Seem to require any, and Reasons for Passing them.

The 1st., is Intitled “An Act to Prohibit the Exportation of Indian Corn & Pease till the 1st day of September next, and to Empower the Governor or Commander in Chief for the time being, by & with the Advice & Consent of the Honble Council at any time or times hereafter during the Continuance of this Act, Conditionally to Prohibit the Exportation thereof. “ The Shortness of last years Crop & Prospect of a Scarcity of Provisions, my lords Made it Necessary to Frame & Pass this Law, which was done on the 19th of December 1766. All the rest were assented to on the 26th of March last Vizt. “An Act for Granting to His Majesty the Sum of £ 1843. 11.4 3/4 Sterl. for the use & Support of the Government of Georgia for the year 1767, to be Raised at Certain Rates, & after the Method therein Mentioned, & for the More Effectual Collecting of Arrears. “ Some Articles my Lords in the Estimate Part of this Act, were thought Exceptionable & Improper by the Gentl. of the Council, but however they Passed it with Proper Savings, & their Reasons for so doing, on which Head I have already wrote your Lordships very fully in my Letter of the 6th of April last, to which I refer, and beg Leave to Repeat again, that I am Pretty Certain If I am Authorised in His Majesties Name to Require a literal Compliance with the Terms of the Mutiny Act, and to declare to the Assembly his Majesties disapprobation of their Conduct relative to the matters Stated in that letter, it will reduce them into Proper Bounds, & they will in Future observe a more decent Conduct & Show more Obedience to British acts of Parliament, Especially if a few Troops are Sent, which will Prevent any Attempt to Insult his Majesties Authority & the officers of the Crown, & this my Lords may be the more necessary as the Rangers are disbanded. The Assembly here are only Just now attempting to follow the Example & Advice of Some of their Republican Spirited Neighbours, and if Check’t at the beginning the matter will rest, and I am very hopefull every thing will be set Right, but otherwise I Shall Expect they will Endeavor to Trample further upon the Council & Kings Authority here, and also on the Sovereignty of Great Britain, and that British acts of Parliamt. will be Set & held at Nought, a Specimen of wch. appears by their address to me in answer to my Message on the Mutiny Act, and in Some other Part of their Conduct, wch. I wrote your Lordships fully about in my last, and I am Clear My Lords that a Check will answer very good Purposes. But if not, & Partial applications are Reced. directly from the Assembly alone in the first Instance & from a Person by them Alone appointed or Called Provincial agent, they will by that be Encouraged to assume every Power, & Enter into very Extraordinary Measures. The Assembly here my Lords has not got so far a Head, or Gone that Length that their Northern Neighbours have. This I have with Great Attention & Pains prevented hitherto & kept them within tolerable decent Bounds, altho I have lately discovered more than ever, a Strong Propensity to be as Considerable & Independent as they Term it, of the British Parliament, or Say of the Sovereignty of Great Britain as any of the Northern Assemblys.

“An Act to Empower the General Court of Pleas to grant Writs of partition of Lands & Tenements held in Coparcenary Jointenancy and Tenancy in Common in this Province, & appointing the Method of Proceeding therein.” This Law my Lords I had Framed so as to Avoid the Objections wch. Sir M. Lamb made in his Report on the former Law Passed on this Occasion, & hope the Bill now assented to, will not appear Exceptionable, if it Should we must Submit to the inconvenience attending the want of Partitions of Land in this Province.

“An Act for Limitation of Actions & for Avoiding of Suits in Law. ”

This my Lords appeared to me to be a most necessary one, and is what I Proposed Several years ago, and it then Passed the Council as an upper House, but the Assembly threw it out on Account of the Provisoe or Saving of Sir Wm. Bakers Right to a Barony Claimed by him in this Province. Before I came here my Lords they had Passed a Law for Quieting Possessions of Lands, which indeed Seemed Calculated on Purpose to destroy Sir Williams Claim. But on his Petitioning to be heard against it, it was disallowed by His Majesty, forwch. Reason my Lords & that we might not Run the hazard of Losing so very beneficial & Salutary a Law, I had the Exception or Provisoe at the End added. This Law my Lords is Framed on the Plan of the Stat. of the 21st James 1st but not taken literally from it, there are Some deviations adapted to the Local Circumstances of Affairs here, and I hope it will appear in a Just & Equitable Light, and beg leave to Recommend it to your Lordships Patronage, as what appears to me a very Necessary Law to have in this Province.

“An Act to Empower the Commissioners therein Named to Purchase from Josiah Tatnell Esqr. his Exors. or Admors. 104 Acres of Land for the Purpose of Erecting a Lazaretto upon Tybee Island. ”

This my Lords is a most necessary Service. The Health & almost existence of the People Seemed to depend greatly upon it, and I Recommended this Measure to them at the Opening of the Session on the 10th of November last.

“An Act to Impower the Comrs. therein Named to Erect a Lazaretto & a House for the keeper thereof upon the Island of Tybee, & to Receive from the Treasurer or Powder Receiver of this Province, a Sume not Exceeding £300 to defray the Expence thereof, and to Empower the Said Treasurer to Repay the Same. ”

The Measure my Lords that was Proposed by me & in Part Executed by the foregoing Law, I found Could not be Compleated (at least this year) without the Aid given by this law, to have Provided the whole Money for this Service would have kept up, if not encreased the General Tax, wch. I much wished to Lower, or keep down as an Inducement to Settlers to Come into the Province. And therefore my Lords I Consented to the appropriation of £300, of the Powder Money to this use, untill I Could State the matter to your Lordships & Receive His Majesties Commands thereon, and to wch. End I must beg leave as Briefly as Possible to State this Matter. By His Majesties 95th Instruction It is required that a Law Should be Passed Imposing a duty of Gun Powder on every Vessel that Enters & Clears, in order to Raise a Stock or Quantity of Powder for furnishing a Magazine, and That no Commutation Should be allowed but in Case of Necessity, and where they have no Powder on Board, in wch. Case the Master of the Vessel is to Pay the full Price of the Powder, and the Money so Collected is to be Laid out in the Purchase of Powder agreeable to wch. my Lords a Law was Passed in this Province & a Proper Person appointed to Collect & Receive the Gun Powder from the Shipping, or Money in Lieu thereof, and my Lords on my Examining into the State of this Matter, I found that there was in the Public Magazine 1110 lb. of Powder, and that the Receiver had in his Hands £311 Sterl, wch. had been Collected in Lieu of Powder, wch. Sume if laid out, would have Purchased about 6000 lb. of Gun Powder.

That our Present Magazine will not Hold (with Room to Turn the Casks as directed by Law) above 15000 lb. of Powder. That the Supply of Powder is daily encreasing by the Arrival of Vessels, and that if the Magazine was Sufficient to Hold a Larger Quantity of Powder, yet there being at Present no Public use or Great Demand for Powder, it would take damage, decay & be totally Lost, for my Lords Gun Powder will not keep Long good here, with the greatest care. So that my Lords Notwithstanding His Majesties Instruction That the Money reced Shall be Laid out in Purchasing Powder, and Notwithstanding the Law Exactly agreeable to that Instrucn. yet in Point of Prudence, I Saw it Clearly Necessary for His Majesties Service & the Public good to depart from both for a while, till I can be further Instructed on this Head. My Lords its very Clear to me That if this Money is laid out in the Purchase of Powder, it will be Sunk and lost, for there being no use for Such a Quantity it must Perish, besides the Magazine will not hold it, and there is not Proper Place to Lodge it in. For my Lords not only the Public Powder is Lodged in the Magazine but all that is Imported by the Merchants for Sale, & all that belongs to the Ships is Lodged there, & taken out as wanted, wherefore I Stated the whole matter to the Gentl of the Council & Laid the Address of the assembly before them for their Opinion & Advice, Copys of all which are Inclosed, and these were my Reasons for Complying with their Request Notwithstanding the Solid Objections against it. Vizt. His Majesties Instructions & the Law of the Province. Seeing Clearly that a benefit must Arise, and that no inconvenience Could Possibly happen or Attend the Application of the Money for a time, and I am now to request your Lordships will be Pleased to Procure his Majesties orders on this Head. The Encrease of Money reced in Lieu of Powder is, & will be always in time of Peace, too much to Lay out in the Purchase of Gun Powder. A Larger & better Magazine is Necessary even for the Quantity that is Reced, and as our Trade is daily encreasing so that will encrease. Therefore whether the Money already reced, may remain as appropriated by the Law now Transmitted, or be Applied to the Building of a Proper Magazine, or be Laid out in the Purchase of Powder, agreeable to the Present Instrn. & Law, or what other use it is to be applied to? is a Matter I hope to be Instructed about.

“An Act to Prevent the bringing into & Spreading of Malignant & Contagious distempers in this Province, to Oblige Masters & Commanders of Vessels going out of any Port within the Same, first to Produce a Passport from the Governor or Comr. in Chief, to Prevent Harbouring of Sick Sailors & Others, and for Regulating & well ordering of the Lazaretto upon the Island of Tybee. “ The former Law for Some of these Purposes would have Expired with the last Session, wch. made it Necessary to reconsider that & make such additions as appeared usefull, & this Law was therefore Framed. There are Many very good Provisions in it, & it Seems to be of Great Utility.

“An Act for Laying a duty upon Negroes & other Slaves that have been above Six Months in any of the Islands or Colonies in America, & Imported for Sale in this Province, and for appropriating the Same towards the Reparing or Rebuilding the Light House on Tybee Island. ”

This Law my Lords appeared to be very Proper & Necessary in Order to Prevent Rebellious Negroes & Felons from being brought here from the Islands & C. as there had been Some Instances of Such People being brought into this Province, and who had Endeavoured to Corrupt other Slaves here, & Committed Many Acts of Villany, for wch. Reason this Law was Carefully & Strictly Penned in Order if Possible totally to Prevent the bringing in of any Such Delinquents, and the Fines & C. if any arise, being appropriated to a Most Necessary Service, I hope this Law will Meet with your Lordships Approbation.

“An Act to Prevent Stealing of Horses & Neat Cattle & for the Effectual discovery & Punishment of Such Persons as Shall unlawfully Brand, Mark, kill, or drive the Same. ”

This my Lords, is Framed Partly on the British acts of Parliamt. & Partly Calculated according to the Local Circumstances of the Place, and to Check a most growing Evil in this Part of the World, Seems to be a very usefull Law, & I hope will approve unexceptionable.

“An Act to Regulate the making of Cypress, Oak & Pine Lumber, Staves & Shingle, & to ascertain the Quality thereof. ”

There was a Law here formerly for this Purpose wch. was near Expiring & I found it Rather Insufficient, & as our Lumber Trade is Considerable, & Increasing, I thought it very necessary to Prevent Frauds & Abuses, wch. I am hopefull this Act will do, and believe it will Prove a Salutary & usefull Law.

“An Act to Oblige the Inhabitants of the Town of Sunbury to Clear & keep Clean the Several Squares, Streets, Lanes & Common within the Same, and to Exempt the Said Inhabitants from working upon the Roads within the Parish of St. John. ”

This Seems to be a usefull Law as it will Contribute towards the Health of the Inhabitants of the Town of Sunbury.

“An Act to further Amend an Act for the better Regulating Towns Punch Houses & Retailers of Spirituous Liquors. ”

“An Act to Amend & Continue an Act for Regulating a work House for the Custody & Punishment of Negroes. ”

“An Act to amend an Act to Empower the Several Comrs. or Surveyors thereafter Named to Lay out & make Such Public Roads in the Province of Georgia as are therein after mentioned and directed, and to Continue to work upon Clear Repair and Improve the Several Roads already laid out, and also the Rivers & Creeks within their Several & Respective Divisions, so far as the Same Respects the Male White Inhabitants within the Town Division therein Contained. ”

These three last Laws are adapted to Particular Cases & Circumstances, not Clearly or Properly Provided for in & by the Original Laws, & appeared to me as Proper Amendments to them.

“An Act for Continuing Several Laws of this Province which are near Expiring. ”

This was Necessary & the Several Laws Continued very Salutary & usefull.

“An Ordinance for appointing Packers & Inspectors for the Ports of Savannah & Sunbury and also Cullers & Inspectors of Lumber for the Said Ports. ”

This my Lords was absolutely Necessary in Order to Enforce the Law for Regulating Lumber & C.

Soon after Closing the Session of Assembly my Lords I took a Tour through the Southern Parts of this Province, & Examined the Several Rivers & Lands upon them, as far as our Southern Boundary, the River St. Mary, and have the Satisfaction to Acquaint your Lordships that I found a very fine & well Watered Country, with a Great Quantity of Extraordinary good Land, which only wants Cultivation & Improvement to make this Province very Considerable.

I observed that the further South I went the Land on the Rivers was of a worse Quality, and those on St. Marys far Inferior to those on the Alatamaha.

The Carolinians my Lords Hold about 90,000 acres of the best Land in the South Part of this Province, & have as yet made but three Settlements on the whole. I am in daily Expectation of hearing that His Majesty has been graciously Pleased to Confirm the Law Passed here Relative to those Grants. If so, our Province will Soon be Settled, but if not the Lands will Lye waste and unimproved, than which Nothing can be more Injurious to any Province. I am Pretty Clear my Lords That Granting Large Tracts of Land to Absentees or even Small Tracts to any Persons who don’t Settle and Improve the Property (and wch. cannot be done by White People) is the direct Way to Obstruct the Settlement of & Ruin a Young Colony, and if our Law is not Confirmed it will be the greatest Injury Possible to this Province.

I shall hope my Lords to Receive His Majesties Orders Relative to the Conduct of the Assembly on the Several Matters Mentioned in my Last, & also in this Letter. I Suppose they will be Called the beginning of November, and if I am happy Enough to Receive any Instructions by that time, I Conceive they will be very Conducive to His Majesties Service, and Tend to Support the Sovereignty of Great Britain. But my Lords if these Matters Pass in Silence, the assembly will suppose themselves to be in the Right, and it will be in Vain to Mention British Acts of Parliament any more.

I now Transmit to your Lordships the Journals of the Council as an upper House during the last Session, and also the Journals of the House of Assembly during the last Session, and the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Governor in Council from the 1st. of July 1766 to the 2nd. of Septr. 1766 and a duplicate of the Register of Grants Abstracts from the 25 of Sepr. 1766 to the 25th of March 1767.

P.S. Duplicate Sent by Way of Charles Town in So. Carolina. The Original with the Several Papers Mentioned go in a Box on Board the Brigantine Nancy, Philip Conway, Bound from this Province to Bristol.

Address of the Commons House of Assembly to Gov. Wright, Feb. 2, 1767, and Wright’s reply, Feb. 5, 1767, Savannah, read July 29, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 110, concerning the financing of the lazaretto.⁴⁵ In Wright to the Board of Trade, June 15, 1767.

Minutes of the Governor’s Council, Feb. 3, 1767, Savannah, read July 29, 1767, C. O. 5/649, F. 110, concerning the financing of the lazaretto.⁴⁶ In Wright to the Board of Trade, June 15, 1767.

Order in Council, June 26, 1767, Court at St. James, received and read Jan. 22, 1768, C.O. 5/650, G. 10, repealing Georgia 1765 act for better ordering and governing Negroes.

Whereas by Commission under the Great Seal of Great Britain the Governor Council and Assembly of His Majestys Province of Georgia are Authorized and impowered to make constitute and Ordain Laws Statutes and Ordinances for the publick peace welfare and government of the said Province, which Laws Statutes and Ordinances are to be as near as conveniently may be, agreable to the Laws and Statutes of this Kingdom, and are to be transmitted to His Majesty for his Royal Approbation or Disallowance, And W’hereas in pursuance of the said powers, An Act was passed in the said province in the Year 1765, and transmitted, intitled as follows. Vizt.

Which Act together with a Representation from the Lords Commissioners for Trade and plantations thereupon having been referred to the Consideration of a Committee of the Lords of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Council for Plantation Affairs, the said Lords of the Committee did this Day Report as their opinion to His Majesty that the said Act ought to be Repealed. His Majesty taking the same into Consideration was pleased with the advice of His Privy Council to Declare his Disallowance of the said Act; And pursuant to His Majestys Royal pleasure thereupon expressed the said Act is hereby Repealed Declared Void and of none Effect. Whereof the Governor or Commander in Chief of His Majesty’s province of Georgia for the time being, and all others whom it may concern, are to take Notice and Govern themselves accordingly.

Order of the Lords of Council for Plantation Affairs, June 30, 1767, Whitehall, received and read July 9, 1767, C.O. 5/649, F. 105, directing draughts of instructions to the governors of South Carolina and Georgia respecting South Carolina grants south of the AItamaha.

His Majesty having been pleased by his order in Council of the 26th. of this Instant, to referr unto this Committee a Representation from the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations upon An Act passed in His Majestys Colony of Georgia in March 1765, intituled

The Lords of the Committee this Day took the said Representation and Act into their Consideration, and are hereby pleased to order, that the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations do prepare and lay before this Committee a Draught of an Instruction to the Governor or Commander in Chief of his Majestys province of South Carolina directing him to give positive orders to the proper officers in that Colony forthwith to prepare Transcripts duly Authenticated, of all the patents Granted under the Seal of that province for Lands to the Southward of the River Alatamaha, and also of all orders, Warrants and proceedings thereupon and to Transmit the same with all convenient Dispatch to the Governor of the province of Georgia.

And that the said Lords Commissioners do also prepare and lay before this Committee, a Draught of an Instruction to the Governor or Commander in Chief of His Majesty’s Province of Georgia directing him to cause such Transcripts when received by him to be Entered upon Record in all the proper offices in that Colony And also Directing the said Governor to Recommend to the Council and Assembly of the province of Georgia to pass an Act for Establishing a Method of Enforcing the Cultivation of Lands not lyable to the Objections made to the Act passed in March 1765. And for Erecting a Court of Commission before whom the several Persons Claiming Lands to the Southward of the River Alatamaha by virtue of patents granted under the Seal of the province of South Carolina, are to make and Substantiate their respective Claims, within the Space of a Year, and in Case the grantees or others claiming under them, shall neglect to Establish their Grants before such Commissioners within that time, the Lands shall become forfeited, and be revested in his Majesty his Heirs and Successors, without any further or other process.

Robert Walpole