Please order documents using the alternative reference number where provided. Archive Collection. Scope and Content This 'collection' is made up the many hundreds of minor collections held at Flintshire Record Office, often from individuals and membership and sporting organisations, whose records are often not numerous enough to warrant a distinct Collection number and reference.
Arrangement Arranged numerically in order of being catalogued, which roughly not strictly corresponds to their accession order. Access Information Data Protection Act restrictions will apply to any items less than years old that contain personal information as defined by the Act. Note Please order documents using the alternative reference number where provided. Custodial History Various.
Accruals Further accruals are ongoing. In the year preceding the grant of a charter to the Virginia Company there had been movements along two lines for establishing plantations in Virginia, one by private investment and the other by royal patronage.
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Examples of the private interests are the enterprise of the Earl of Southampton in and that of Lord Zouch as set forth in his contract a Printed in full in Brown, Genesis of the United States , I, 33— The plan which obtained followed neither course, though it was bound to result in a modification of Popham's scheme. The royal aid as finally obtained for a colonial enterprise came in a somewhat different form. Articles, Instructions and Orders for the government of the Colonies , November 20, Reprinted in Brown, Genesis , I, 64—75, from a manuscript record book in the register's office of Virginia.
There is a manuscript copy in the Library of Congress, in the Virginia Miscellaneous Records, — , pp. But the government of the colonies and of the territory of Virginia was reserved to the Crown through the council of thirteen for Virginia, which was to be appointed by the King and to reside in England. Instructions a Printed in full, Brown, Genesis , I, 64— The council in England nominated to the Crown the persons to whom lands were to be granted by the King. It had, in fact, the supervision of affairs, appointed the first council in Virginia, issued orders for the conduct of the first expedition under Captain Newport, b See Certain Orders and Directions , December 10, Reprinted in Brown, Genesis , 1, 75— See Instructions by way of Advice , December, Reprinted in Brown, Genesis , 1, 79— It is in this latter document that the first indication of the real motive of the undertaking is found.
The orders laid down were to "make choice" of the river "which bendeth most toward the North-West, for that way you shall soonest find the other sea," while the choice of a healthy location, wise inter- course with the natives, and the fortification and preparation of a single settle- ment were emphasized.
The chief objects, however, were to plant in a place which should be fitted "to receive the trade of all the countries about," to dis- cover minerals, and to find the passage to the western sea.
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The loss of the records, both of the council and of the "companies" for trade, covering this period, leaves, as the only source of information, both for affairs in England and in Virginia, the narratives of the early settlers. The reports of Newport, Percy, Wingfield, and Smith encouraged the managers of the enterprise to continue their efforts, but proved that a change in object as well as in policy would be necessary. From Newport came descriptions of the fruitful- ness of the soil, of the quantities of fish and of timber, and of clay for making brick, and enumerations of the possible exports, comprising sturgeon, clapboard, wainscot, saxafrage, tobacco, dyes, furs, pitch, resin, turpentine, oils, wines, wood and soap ashes, iron, copper, pearls; but the reports as to the mines were vague.
He declared that the country was rich in gold and copper, and took home with him earth to be assayed, while Smith, in A True Relation , states that he had been left to dig a rock which Captain Newport thought was a mine, but no mention of results is made. The full description of the country by Newport and also by Captain John Smith gave the council a clear idea of its geography, as is indicated by the instructions to Sir Thomas Gates in But the expedition, which penetrated to a distance of miles up the river, brought the explorers to hostile tribes and left the council still uncertain, though hopeful of the discovery of a passage to the south sea.
Further- more, Captain Newport positively stated that there could be no commerce with the Indians, and all evidence shows that the natives were to be a resource for the neces- sities of life rather than for the exchange of lucrative objects of trade. Hence it is that the broadside which was issued by the company in , b Nova Britannia , printed February 18, This document is reprinted in Force's Tracts , I, No. But the effort to develop the resources of the country and to found a settlement for such purposes rather than for exploration required larger investments and more men.
Then, too, the regulation of the affairs of the colony without any control from the council in England meant continued jealousies and quarrels among such a small number of colonists and under such unsettled conditions. According to Wingfield the provisions for defense seem to have been insufficient, the magazine was mismanaged, and the relations with the Indians were strained. To John Smith must be attributed the wisdom of foreseeing the necessity of strong support from England and of the establishment of permanent colonial settlements and the develop- ment of the country for self-support.
The fact that the source of authority before was in the Crown is nowhere so clearly evidenced as in the records themselves. The fundamental documents emanated from the King and his Council or from the council for Virginia representing the royal authority, all instructions to officers bore the sign manual and all letters and reports from Captain Newport, from Edward- Maria Wingfield, and from his associates were addressed to the council for Virginia. Furthermore, the president and council appeared in the name of the Crown as the plaintiffs in a suit by which an attempt was made to enforce the contract with the master of the "Guift of God" for supplying provisions to the passengers in a voyage to North Virginia.
The commercial status of the undertaking is more difficult to determine than the political. That the company was organized for the purpose of exploration and trade has been proved, but whether the control of trade was vested in the council or in companies or groups of undertakers is uncertain. The exact relation of the council to the plantation and of the Crown to the enterprise must have been stated in the court book, in which were kept the records of the acts of the council and perhaps of the companies for the administration of trade.
This book, covering the period from the 28th of January, , to the 14th of February, , was in the possession of the company as late as , but unfortunately no trace of the book has yet been discovered and even its existence has heretofore been unknown. See List of Records, p. Whatever may have been the source of control, the narrations of Captain Percy, Edward-Maria Wingfield, and Captain Newport indicate that the business of the company consisted chiefly in raising funds and equipping expeditions to be sent to Virginia under Captain Newport.
This failure of the investment to bring in returns of gold and silver and of articles for trade, or to accomplish anything in the way of discovery of trade routes to the East Indies during the first three years, served to convince both King and undertakers that a change in method of control was essential. The document known as "Reasons against publishing the Kings title to Virginia. A justification for planting Virginia" b This document was recently found by the Editor in the Bodleian Library.
As a result of this movement the letters patent of were issued, transform- ing the undertakers into a body politic. In this case also the documents are especially characteristic of the organization. Whereas the Crown was formerly the source of all power, beginning with the council of the company, acting as a standing committee for the adventurers rather than in the name of the King, exercised the controlling authority. After the charter of had provided for more frequent meetings of the generality, the council was gradually superseded by special committees and the tendency arose to decide all matters of importance in the general quarter courts and to insist upon all communications being addressed to the company rather than to the council.
The act of incorporation erected a commercial company and made it the overlord of a proprietary province. It at once strengthened its plantation as a center for traffic and established a system for joint management of land and trade to extend over a period of seven years, prom- ising dividends to the adventurer and support to the planter.
The records of the corporation reveal as clearly as do its broadsides and pamphlets that it was a business venture. These records may be grouped into seven classes. The fundamental documents of the company were those by virtue of which it had its legal formation, and consisted of the letters patent, charters, and orders in council issued by the King and Privy Council.
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The activity of the adventurers was recorded in the court books, which com- prised the minutes of the transactions of the company. In those books were kept the discussions and decisions with regard to the plantation, the granting of land, and all financial policies and plans for developing the enterprise and increasing the income. In carrying on its business the company gave commissions to the governors of the colony, issued regulations for the settlers, and, from time to time, sent instructions to the governor and council of the colony.
It also granted lands and patents, entered into contracts, issued receipts, made pleas in court, and kept statements of accounts. From the colony itself came reports, declarations, letters, and complaints. They were an essential part of the records of the company and often determined its course of action. To the public, for the purpose of inspiring confidence, securing adventurers, and maintaining the interest and support of its members, as well as of defending itself against the accusations of its enemies, the company issued advertisements, broadsides of its shipping investments, declarations, pamphlets, and sermons.
A large part of the information which came to the company was derived from private correspondence between members of the company and individual plant- ers. Furthermore, there was a gradual tendency to permit individuals or groups of individuals of the company to form stock companies for trade or plantation, and records of these transactions formed a valuable supplement to those of the company itself.
To the student of history another group of supplementary material is of great value. It comes from the records of contemporary companies, corporations, and towns, as well as from the correspondence of officers of state or of other persons who were not directly concerned in the transactions of the Virginia Company. All of these records of the company for the period previous to , so far as they were known to him, were collected and reprinted in full or cited, if already available in America, by Alexander Brown, in the year Brown in his Genesis of the United States , most of which have recently been discovered, see List of the Records of the Virginia Company, post , pp.
As far as appears from the evidence of the extant documents, when by the charters of and , James I surrendered to the company full rights of trade, as well as territorial and governmental rights in Virginia he apparently lost all interest and part in the undertaking, and it was only when the plantation had developed into the colony, and when at the expiration of the privileges of free importation in , the business of the corporation had become so good as to offer a prospect of revenue that the King in his council began to interfere in the affairs of the company.
This became an important feature of the business of the company in its later procedure. See List of Records, pp. Brown, Genesis , II, , , , , But the aid thus secured was not such as to draw upon the resources of the Crown, and the attempt of members of the company to gain a monopoly of the tobacco trade in met with the same opposition as had similar efforts on the part of the merchant adventurers in previous years. On the other hand the company was com- pelled against its will to submit to the treatment of its plantation as a penal colony by James I in his spasmodic efforts to develop a policy which should save England from an overpopulation of vagabonds.
List of Records, pp. The transportation thus effected is mentioned by Miss E. With the exception of these unimportant relations with the Crown, the company seems to have conducted its business independently of royal aid or interference dur- ing the first decade of its existence as a corporate body. It is therefore in the court book of the company and in its instructions, corre- spondence, and other records suggested under the preceding classifications II and III, that its activity and methods must be found.
That court books were kept under the administration of Sir Thomas Smythe is known from the receipt in the Ferrar papers, already referred to. The first book extended from January 28, , to February 14, , and with it were "other perticuler writings belonging to the company. What these books contained can only be surmised from the scope of the two later volumes, dated April 28, , to May 22, , and May 20, , to April 2, , the contemporary copies of which are now extant and in the Library of Congress, at Washington.
However, the second volume of the court book, which is now in the Library of Congress—the fourth volume here mentioned—was continued until June 19, , after the return of the records to the company.
Administrative / Biographical History
This paper is evidently a series of rough notes of heads and references to prove charges of mismanagement by the Sandys faction. It is in the handwriting of Sir N. List of Records, p. To supply the loss of these documents of the company, both during the control of the council and after that control had passed into the hands of the company by virtue of the charter of , there is a considerable mass of material, which affords a fair outline of the transactions of the company and the life of the colony.
But much of this information is lacking in the completeness and authenticity which would have been supplied by the court book and the other records. The greatest loss is perhaps that of definite knowledge concerning the financial status of the company. The sums adventured by individuals and corporations is preserved in two alphabetical lists; but, so far as is known, only one of these lists is official, and that includes the names of the particular adventure about the year For an act providing for such a compilation see the record of the court, Dec.
List of Records, Nos. Also Brown, Genesis , II, Even our knowledge as to the economic condition of the colony is most indefinite and comes only from printed pamphlets issued by the company. Judging from the sources of information in the later period, this uncertainty is due to the disappearance of the letters themselves, since, after , the published relations of individual planters, the declarations by the company, and even the records of the court books are all more general in character than the letters which were sent from the colony to the company.
Furthermore, in the later period the daily acts of the colonists and their needs, as reported from time to time by returning ships, afforded the adventurers a body of information concerning the social condition of the colony which in form and accuracy left little to be desired. After the time of Captain John Smith not much was accurately known of the colony until the year , when Captain John Rolfe and Ralph Hamor supplied statistics as to the numbers, condi- tion, settlements, and resources of the colony as it then was.
The individual enterprises of this decade in the life of the company are altogether unknown, except from a few contracts for shipping found here and there. Such movements must at least have been noted in the court book. Of the first "hundred," established in , nothing is recorded except the single report, heretofore unknown, b Ibid. This is among the Ferrar papers of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Scattering information of such a character concerning this period appears in the discussions and quarrels recorded in the later court books.
Of the official documents issued by the company during the decade from to the most important have been unknown up to this time. They include the first instructions ever given to a governor of a colony by an English administrative body, and the records of the first suits entered by the company in chancery for the purpose of enforcing the payments of sums adventured in the company and of securing a part of the income from the lottery, which the company claimed had been withheld by the agent, William Leveson.