(1) Letter from James Bridgnell to H W I Wood, 28 Apr 1857. Relating to the introduction of a gold currency into India. (2) Reply from H W I Wood to James Bridgnell, 4 Jun 1857. Both letters with signatures.
Sans titreLetter from William Henry Rowlestone Jessop of Grove House, St David's, Haverfordwest, [Pembrokeshire] to an unidentified correspondent, 17 Oct 1855. Accompanying a copy of his work on the decimal system: '... it is the first book which embraces the whole System of Money and Measures that has yet appeared ... You will perceive that this system is very superior to that in France [i.e. to the metric system]'.
Autograph, with signature.
Sans titreLetter from Charles Jones of 16 Whittall Street, Birmingham to Thomas Attwood, 12 Apr 1841. Covering letter to a copy of Jones's pamphlet Letter to Charles Wood, Esq. M.P. '... lately written on the currency'. He warns Attwood: 'I fear you will not find Birmingham either more happy or more prosperous than when you left it although it continues to increase in the external signs of both'.
Autograph, with signature.
Sans titreCorrespondence between Henry Hucks Gibbs and Edward Lucas Jenks Ridsdale (Chief Assayer of the Royal Mint), on bimetallism (i.e. the use of a monetary standard based on both silver and gold), 1876-1884. Including a letter from E Koch to Gibbs, thanking him for permission to translate a pamphlet on bimetallism into German.
Sans titreLetter from Richard Cobden of London to C E Macqueen, [Secretary of the Liverpool Financial Reform Association], 11 May 1863. '... I hope before the close of the session to be able to offer some remarks on finance, and to urge a reduction of taxation... In my opinion the only way of enforcing economy is by witholding the means of extravagance...'.
Autograph, with signature.
Sans titreLetter from Edward Kirkpatrick of Southampton to Thomas Attree [or Altree] Esq of Brighthelmstone [Brighton], Sussex, 21 Sep 1822. Enquiring about the tax payable on flies [i.e. light carriages], as he wishes to have an example before advising resistance to the Tax Office. The duty demanded at Southampton was £6 10s. The flies there '... are built with metallic springs and leather in every respect as a large Landau, the wheels under 30 inches and driven by one ass'. Attree had evidently not answered [and perhaps not received] Kirkpatrick's earlier letter on the same subject.
Autograph, with signature. The following comment has been inserted in another hand: 'They are only liable to 30/- [or 30%] duty'.
Sans titreLetter from Richard Cobden of Midhurst, [Sussex] to T G Shaw, Esq, 27 Sep 1861. On wine duties.
Autograph, with signature. Annotated with comments in Shaw's hand.
Sans titreLetter from Charles Headach of Basingstoke, Hampshire to Messrs Hodding, Hodding and Co, Salisbury, 19 Oct 1840. Giving their agent permission to receive the interest due on the late Bishop of Salisbury's bonds of the Basingstoke Canal Company; giving details of the bonds and the method of authorizing payment; also mentioning a bond of Mr Hodding's. [Thomas Burgess, Bishop of Salisbury, died in 1837.]
Autograph, with signature. Postmarked at Basingstoke and Salisbury.
Sans titreLetter from George Macirone of 163 Bishopsgate Street Without, [London] to Henry Clarke, Esq, 29 Nov 1826. Discussing repayment of money due to Macirone.
Autograph, with signature. A copy of Clarke's reply (probably written the following day), is attached.
Sans titreLetter from Henry Blain to Joseph T Pooley of 5 Church Court, [c1842]. Discussing the corn laws (with reference to Blain's pamphlet on the subject) and proposed duties [taxes]. Autograph, with signature ('H.B.'). Dated 'Sunday night'.
Sans titreTranscripts relating to local taxation in Edinburgh from 1745 to 1760, including:
- 'Memorandum offered by the members of the College of Justice appointed by the Faculty of Advocates and Society of Writers to the Signet to the preses and other remanent stent-masters of the city of Edinburgh in relation to the imposing the stent on the inhabitants of the town for the year 1749'. The memorandum, dated 18 July 1749, contains eight questions put to the stent-masters, and these are answered in the following eight pages of the manuscript, written for the most part in another hand, and dated 19 July 1749.
- A 'Report to the Faculty of Advocates of the stent-masters appointed by them to meet with the stent-masters of the town of Edinburgh for imposing the stent or cess for the year 1749', written in the second hand. A note in the original hand says that the reports were 'drop'd'.
- Comments on the collusion between the Faculty of Advocates and the Town Council regarding the stent-masters, with a copy of a letter to George Chalmers, writer to the Signet, from Robert Thomson of Aberdeen, dated 13 Feb 1745, concerning stents at Aberdeen.
- The final leaf, dated 14 Jul 1760, contains in a third hand an 'Estimate of the land cess and trade stent to be imposed by the...Magistrats & Town Council of Edinburgh for the service of the year, viz. from 25 March 1759 to 25 March 1760'.
Customs declarations certificates, 1890-1893, comprising two certificates in Portuguese of a personal history nature (perhaps for emigration purposes), one dated 4 Sep 1890 and certified by Charles O'Donnell, British Consul in Lisbon, as being in the hand of Emygdio José da Silva, notary public of Lisbon, and the second of similar date in the same hand; and a third certificate in Spanish of 20 Dec 1893 relating to a cargo of soap from London on the Spanish vessel Molina, certified by John W. Witty, British Pro-Consul in Barcelona, as bearing the true signature of M. Martinez, Chief Collector of Customs, Barcelona.
Sans titreManuscript volume containing papers relating to the issue of Exchequer Bills during the reign of King William III in order to carry on the war with France (the War of the Grand Alliance), 1696-1697, notably a holograph memorandum by Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, advocating steps to encourage subscriptions to Exchequer bills and steps to make the bills assignable, [1696]; a draft of letters patent of King William III concerning the payment of Dutch troops, written in Dutch, [1696]; a list of subscribers to the contract for exchanging bills, 4 May 1697; a copy of the sign manual warrant to the Treasury ordering payment to the trustees of the second contract for Exchequer bills of the interest on the subscription contracted, [1697]; a Statement of Exchequer bills from 27 Apr to 9 Jun, 11 Jun 1697; a tract [by William Paterson] headed 'A proposall for setling a transferrable fund of perpetual interest', which is possibly the first proposal for a funded debt.
Sans titreA wives' certificate book of the Benevolent Company of Dublin, from the period 1771 to 1801.
Sans titreManuscript volume containing transcripts of parliamentary papers relating to grants in England and Ireland, 1690-1702, including an account of royal grants made in Ireland from Jan 1698 to Dec 1699, presented by William Lowndes, Secretary to the Treasury, 1699; a report by the Commissioners of Enquiry into the Forfeited Estates in Ireland, [Dec 1699]; an account of rents in the honour of Windsor presented by David Cobb, 13 Feb 1700; an abstract of the sale of fee-farm rents, presented by William Haward and Sir John Talbot, [13 Dec 1700]; an account of royal grants made in the Duchy of Lancaster Mar 1699 to Jan 1702, presented by John Bennett, Auditor of the Duchy, 1699-1702; extracts from parliamentary proceedings relating to policy towards forfeited estates in Ireland, 4 Apr 1690-26 Feb 1700; an alphabetical list of those holding land of the crown [in Ireland], their debts to the Crown, and notes of proceedings against them; an account of all royal grants made in England from Feb 1685 to Jan 1702, presented by William Lowndes, 1700-1702; an account of grants and gratuities paid by the Commissioners for Prizes since Jun 1692, Mar 1701.
Sans titreA collection of 240 invoices, printed forms completed in manuscript, often with engraved headings and scenes, dated between 1833 and 1879, addressed to 107 companies and individuals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and to 2 in New York, from one German and 89 British manufacturers. Goods invoiced consist mainly of textile and textile machinery, pottery, cutlery and tools. Most invoices after Sep 1835 bear the stamp of the Custom House, Philadelphia, and after Feb 1869 many have attached a consular certificate combined with a sworn declaration by the manufacturer as to the origin, destination and price of the goods.
Sans titreHolograph drafts of speeches, 1765-1784, to be made in the House of Commons (but apparently not delivered) on subjects including American internal taxation, trade with Canada, the window tax and defence of the current administration.
Sans titreLetters and accounts, mostly concerned with the cloth and clothing trade, between 1755 and 1763. The material was created by both Benjamin Wilson and Jonathan Dickinson, who appear to have been business partners.
Sans titrePapers relating to the estate of John Appleton of Queen Square, Bristol, 1786-1791, including:
- An inventory of his goods and chattels taken at his lodgings in Queen Square, Bristol, 10 Oct 1786, including details of clothes, household goods, plate, and books and pamphlets, with a total value of £170 11s.
- An account of monies received and paid out by Thomas Rutter, executor of John Appleton, 1786-1790.
- Letter from Thomas Rutter to Patrick Buck explaining that, owing to bad debts, the effects left by Appleton are not sufficient to pay the legacies left by him, 1789.
- Receipt, 1791, signed by William and Hannah Reynolds for legacies left them by Appleton.
Financial abstract of the East India Company, entitled 'Abstract of the finances and disbursements for 1783-4, the estimate from the end of 1783'. The abstract is 'extracted from materials received from Bengal', and signed by John Annis 'Auditor of Indian Accounts' and endorsed by John Michie, Director of the Company. Other endorsements include the following: 'Deficiency 156 Lack 17 m[ohurs?]. Bond Debts 193 [Lack] 43 [mohurs?] or about £2,200,000'.
Sans titreManuscript volume containing sermons written in a mixture of shorthand and longhand, Aug 1727-Feb 1728; some sermons have a second date, such as 1735 and 1736. Many blank pages are stamped with the inscription 'R Porter, Ironmonger, Cutler & Brazier, Tin, Zinc, & Iron Plate Worker, nr. St Peter's Church, Northampton'. There is also a copy of an unaddressed letter, R Porter, Northampton, 22 Dec [18]51 (f.116 verso). The name of George Porter appears on some pages. Pages at the beginning and end of the book are taken up with accounts of the sale of ironmongery, dated 1822-1835.
Sans titreManuscript volume by Hopton Haynes relating to English recoinage, 1700-1702, entitled 'Briefe memoirs relating to the silver and gold coins of England; with an account of the corruption of the hammered moneys and of the reform by the late grand coynage at the Tower and the five county mints in the years 1696, 1697, 1698 and 1699'. On the back of the title page the following note has been added: 'These Papers being begun and almost perfected near 7 years since, several things and expressions in them are now out of Fashion, which upon a Review may be layd aside to make the performance as Unexeptionable as may be to the Publick'. An addendum, in a different hand, gives 'An account of Guinea Coins of Gold imported from Africa by the Royal Africa Company [from 1675-1725], taken from the Gazeteer 23 Jan 1755'. This valuable manuscript gives minute details of the recoinage of 1696.
Sans titrePrinted receipt form, completed in manuscript on 5 Apr 1816, for £1497 18s. 7d paid by Alexander Browne for a share or interest of £1657 9s 2d. in the capital of 'Navy Five per Century Annuities'. Signed by John Hewitt for Ellis, Laurence & Amory.
Sans titreBrief for the trial of John Hatch and David Boyce, dealers in foreign and British spirits at Averstoake in the county of Southampton, [1723], headed 'For the Attorney General...Information for the 10s. per gallon penalty for not keeping British spirits seperate [sic] from foreign brandy', and endorsed with the signatures of Sir Thomas Pengelly, Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and J. White, solicitor, and with the words 'To attend Mr. Justice [Alexander] Denton upon the point reserved. Ellis Solicitor for the Excise. For Sir Thomas Pengelly'. The dealers had been accused of mixing foreign and British spirits to avoid the customs: '...the said dealers kept in their warehouses and storehouses great numbers of caskes both of foreign brandy and of British spirits, which they industriously laid and placed in the most confused and disorderly manner they could contrive, on purpose to perplex and confound the officers...'.
Sans titreManuscript volume, 1701-1704, containing the legal opinions of Sir Edward Northey, Attorney General, on cases submitted by the Treasury Board between 2 Oct 1701 and 29 Sep 1704 on matters including Customs and Excise, maritime law including the Navigation Act, prizes taken by Her Majesty's ships of war, the colonies, the Post Office, and the armed forces.
Sans titreExtract from records of proceedings before the Commissioners 'for hearing and determining appeals against the duties on male servants' at the Golden Lion Inn at Cheriton Bishop, Devon, on 3 Feb 1807, giving reasons for allowing an appeal against a surcharge on a domestic servant made by the Rev. Bryan Roberts, Rector of Drewsteignton. The appeal had been challenged by James Searle, surveyor, and the commissioners were Richard Holland, John Cann and Baldwin Huldford. The return made by Roberts in 1806 had included 1 four wheel carriage, 2 riding horses, 2 labour horses, 4 sporting dogs, 1 male servant, and 'one other occasionally employed in his garden'.
Sans titrePart of a copy of a letter, possibly a circular letter, dated at Whitehall, 9 Jul 1763, from the Secretary of State for the Southern Department to the Governor of an unidentified American colony, containing orders to execute the measures of the 'Act for the further improvement of his Majesty's Revenue of Customs and for the encouragement of officers making seizures and for the prevention of clandestine running of goods into any part of his Majesty's dominions' (3 Geo.III c.22). The writer enclosed copies - all wanting - of the act, of an order in council, and of a list of the ships stationed in America.
Sans titreManuscript volume, 1660-1702, containing transcripts of briefs, patents and commissions relating to the Exchequer, from the reign of King Charles II to the beginning of the reign of Queen Anne, with descriptions of offices within the Exchequer. There is a possibility that this manuscript was compiled by William Bromley.
Sans titreManuscripts relating to public finance, comprising:
- 'An account of the disposal of the one million granted last session of Parliament towards enabling his Majesty to augment his forces by sea and land and to take necessary measures for the security of his dominions... presented by Charles Lowndes [Chief Clerk of the Treasury]' 19 Jan 1756.
- 'An account shewing how the money given for the service of the year 1756 has been disposed of distinguished under the several heads (navy, ordnance, forces, deficience and one section of miscellaneous items) until the 4th day of March 1757 with the overplus thereupon...presented...by me Samuel Martin', 4 Mar 1757.
Printed receipt, completed in manuscript, for six month's tax on four fire hearths (4 shillings), paid by Dorothy Watson for her house at Cawood, Yorkshire, to John Palmer, collector, on 3 Jun 1675.
Sans titreManuscript volume containing an account of the public revenue of England, 1702-1710.
Sans titreAn account book, 1793-1800, belonging to Edward Lowe who owned land in Nottingham and Derbyshire. The account book includes details on servants' wages, business accounts and accounts with tradesmen. Also includes details of Lowe's marriage settlement with his wife Elizabeth.
Sans titreLeaf from a cancelled instrument recording the contract established before two notaries of the court of the Prévôté of Paris, by which Jean Baptiste Godin, of Rue St Denis, undertook to pay annually to Nicolas Avisse, of the Faubourg St Germain, the sum of 250 livres, being the interest on a loan of 5,000 livres. An inscription records the cancelling of the contract: 'Constitution du 8 Mai 1754 de 5,000 livres de Capital. Remboursé'.
Sans titreCollection of royal warrants directed to Richard Temple (afterwards Grenville-Temple), Earl Temple, as Lord Privy Seal, directing him to issue letters to the Commissioners of the Treasury under the Privy Seal for the payment of monies to the following persons. The warrants all have duty stamps and an impression of the Signet seals of George II and George III under paper. Some of the warrants have dockets signed by three Commissioners of the Treasury.
- 1758, 25 Feb. To William Davis, for salaries of former servants of Princess Louisa and Princess Mary of Hesse (names given), £500.
- 1758, 25 Feb. To Richard [Edgcumbe, 2nd Baron] Edgcumbe, an annuity of £1200.
- 1758, 22 Mar. To George Augustus Selwyn, as Paymaster of the Works, £40,000. With docket.
- 1758, 22 Mar. To George Grenville, as Treasurer of the Navy, £1,000,000.
- 1758, 20 Apr. To William Hall, Viscount Gage, as Paymaster of Pensions, £50,000.
- 1759, 21 Feb. To John [Hobart, 2nd] Earl of Buckinghamshire, as Comptroller of the Household, a gift of 1,000 ounces of 'white plate' worth £333/6/8.
- 1759, 12 May. To Francis Gashry, as Treasurer and Paymaster of the Office of Ordnance, £300,000. With docket.
- 1759, 15 May. To George Grenville, as Treasurer of the Navy, £1,000,000.
- 1759, 25 May. To William Hall, Viscount Gage, as Paymaster of Pensions, £50,000.
- 1760, 30 Apr. To George Grenville, as Treasurer of the Navy, £1,000,000.
- 1760, 13 Dec. To William Hall, Viscount Gage, as paymaster of Pensions, £50,000. With docket.
- 1761, 15 Jan. Docket of a Privy Seal warrant for the payment to George Grenville, as Treasurer of the Navy of £1,000,000.
- 1761, 20 Jan. To Henry [Fiennes Clinton, 9th] Earl Lincoln [later 2nd Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne], as Gentleman of the Bedchamber, a pension of £1,000 p.a.
- 1761, 22 Jan. To George Augustus Selwyn, as Paymaster of the Works, £40,000.
- 1761, 28 Feb. To John Shelley, as Keeper of the Records in the Tower of London, salary of £500 p.a. With docket.
- 1761, 7 Mar. To Henry [Herbert, 10th] Earl of Pembroke, as Gentleman of the Bedchamber, a pension of £1,000 p.a. With docket.
- 1761, 13 Mar. To Thomas [Osborne, 4th] Duke of Leeds, as Cofferer of the Household, £100,000.
- 1761, 28 Apr. To William Davis, for salaries of former servants of Princess Louisa and Princess Mary of Hesse (names given), £415 p.a. With docket.
- 1761, 30 Jun. To 'The Justices of Wales' (not named), salary for each of £400 p.a. With docket.
- 1761, 30 Jun. To Edward Cornwallis, Groom of the Bedchamber, pension of £500 p.a. With docket.
Manuscript volume containing a treatise on the organisation and management of Her Majesty's Customs, [1713-1748], giving details of the roles of officers. The manuscript was largely based on a draft by William Dickinson, formerly one of the Commissioners, which was updated, according to the Sotheby's sale catalogue, by Bryan Fairfax, Commissioner of Customs in the reigns of Kings George I and II.
Sans titreManuscript volume containing papers relating to coinage and the Royal Mint, 1722-1774, including a table of the gold and silver minted in the reigns of kings and queens of England from Queen Elizabeth I up to 1772, with a value in sterling for the total in each reign; a table of gold and silver minted from 20 Jul 1660-31 Dec 1751, with a value in sterling for the amount minted in each reign within this period; table of the weight of gold brought to the Mint for 20 years [1751-1770], with columns showing by whom it was brought and in what species it was coined; a table of 'gold at the Mint before the diminished guineas were sent', with a monthly account of gold coined from Aug 1773 to May 1774 and a statement of all gold coined from 1760-1774; an account of cut guineas imported into the Mint between 25 Aug 1773 and 9 Aug 1774, and delivered out between 13 Oct 1773 and 5 Oct 1774; tables giving the costs of coining various metals; a calculation table [for measuring fineness]; details of rises in salaries for officers of the Mint; details of salary scales for officers of the Mint, [Aug 1772].
Sans titreManuscript volume, [1729], containing an monthly account of the differences in exchange between London and Amsterdam from Mar 1697 to Dec 1728.
Sans titreManuscript volume containing transcripts of papers relating to the Royal Mint, [1732-1770], including a copy confirmation of the Charter of the Royal Mint, dated 24 Apr 1662, including the original grant of 1 May 1308 and successive confirmations and grants; a copy of the indenture dated 23 Aug 1732 appointing John Conduitt as Warden of the Mint, with corrections in red ink to form the basis of an indenture for the Hon Charles Sloane Cadogan, 23 Nov 1770; copy of a warrant dated 24 Jul 1729 for John Conduitt to coin British copper, with a note of a similar warrant dated 17 Aug 1738 for Richard Arundell, Master of the Irish Mint; copy of a warrant dated 20 Nov 1740 for Richard Arundell, Master of the Irish Mint, to coin copper for Ireland.
Sans titreAn essay on paper credit and banking, c1758.
Sans titreManuscript of a book on finance between England and Holland, c1770.
Sans titreManuscript volume containing a [transcript of a] report by Maximilien Lasowski on the state of English finances in 1784, addressed to his pupil François Alexandre Frédéric, Duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt (1747-1827), a French educator and social reformer. The report is written in the form of four letters, dated at Bury St. Edmunds, 10 Jun, 25 Jun, 14 Jul and 2 Aug, and includes a letter addressed to the Duc de Liancourt concerning the laws and principles surrounding parliamentary elections in England, and various impressions of political customs there, [1784]. The manuscript is written on the left half only of each page, and there are additions in pencil and ink in the right hand margin.
Sans titreManuscript volume, 1573, containing documents and tables relating to the Royal Mint, including papers on the prevention of counterfeiting and clipping of coins, and methods of replenishing the circulation of silver coins.
Sans titreManuscript Articles of Agreement, 1 Feb 1793, between a company of gentlemen for raising a fund of fifty thousand pounds, for the purpose of establishing a general insurance office, 'to ensure persons from loss of property by burglaries, highway and footpad robberies, public and private thefts, together with the expense of prosecution'. Includes the signatures of the 84 original shareholders against the number of shares held by each.
Sans titreManuscript volume containing three documents relating to communal tolls/taxation of the Italian city states of Florence and Pisa, 1554-1579.
Sans titreManuscript volume, [1580], containing instruction for all (Dutch) Exchangers for the alteration of coinage books and manuals following a proclamation that the fortieth part of all golden moneys is to be reserved for their salaries. The manuscript gives translations of the mottoes on various coins in place of the engravings of the coins found in the printed book.
Sans titreBook contains full notes on the administration and officers of the Port of London, customs and excise, freights, smuggling, etc., arranged in alphabetical order, preceded by an index, 1842-1863.
Sans titreManuscript volume concerning the expenditure of the royal household of King Edward III, [1550], namely an abstract from the accounts of Walter Wentwage of 'the rates of wages of peace and warre, expenses necessarie of officers and other charges concerning the household', dating from 21 Apr 1344-23 Nov 1374 and mainly relating to armed forces. Includes a statement of the costs of diplomatic, military and naval activity taken from the accounts of William Norwell, Keeper of the King's Wardrobe, for the period 15 Jul 1348-25 May 1350.
Sans titreManuscript volume containing an 18th century transcript of a petition headed 'The particulars examined and proved concerning the grievances by farthing tokens', [1644], complaining that the patentees, in order to circulate their farthings, allowed one shilling over in twenty to those who came to buy them, and small trades people, taking most of their payments in farthings, thus sustained a loss.
Sans titreManuscript volume containing an 'Account of the gross produce of the several duties under the management of Excise, with their respective appropriations and rates, and the times of their commencement', written in [1763], and covering the period 1662 to 1763. There is a possibility that this manuscript was created by James Bindley, Commissioner of Stamp Duties, 1765-1818.
Sans titreManuscript volume containing a memorandum proposing the re-establishment of the Composition Trade, c1675, by which foreign merchants were allowed to import goods for re-shipment to foreign parts on payment of a customs duty, and beginning 'The inhabitants of France, Spain, Flanders and other parts, finding that their merchant ships did not pass the seas with that security as those of England...'.
Sans titre