sailing to, from MD VA in 1702.
MORE THAN JUST NAMES, DATES AND PLACES!
This is about conditions and when ships should sail to Maryland and Virginia.
Found in "State Papers, Domestic, Book 240, pp. 40-43" of 1702-1703, while looking for Holbrook entries.
Found in "State Papers, Domestic, Book 240, pp. 40-43" of 1702-1703, while looking for Holbrook entries.
(petition portion omitted here)
(petition portion omitted here)"Reasons annexed to the foregoing petition. [ omitted here by JCH]
If merchant ships go out in July they will begin engaging [ obtaining crew members]in May, which is the time when her Majesty's officers desire to impress men for the fleet. As the merchants give higher wages than her Majesty's pay(often nigh double), many men will, in such case, desert the Navy for service on the merchantmen. Others will "lurk" and keep out of the way in the hope of being able to engage in merchant service. If the merchant ships go in July thy will be in Virginia at the end of August and September. These are known to be the most sickly months, and the worm is sometimes in September as destructive as at any other time.
It is inconvenient for ships to start from Virginia in April, for, the frosts commonly lasting from December to the end of February or the middle of March, the planters cannot then strip or pack their tobacco.In the month of March there are always dry north-west winds and the rivers are frozen up so that no sloops or boats can go to work in fitting tobacco aboard the ships which was (sic) ready before the frost set in. The fleet therefore could not be ready to set sail in April.
"That it is the most improper month for a fleet to sail out of the country by reason the air then begins to warm and the fogs fall in with small rains, which prepares the tobacco for stripping and packing that was so dry some months before that it could not be handled."Stripping of tobacco in winter occasions great damage and hazards {details.}The end of May or June is the best time for the merchant ships to set out from Virginia. If much tobacco is left in the West Indies its price will fall so low that it will not be worth cultivating, and the planters will betake themselves to raising sheep, hemp and flax and to grow corn for supply of the West Indies and Madeira Islands, as they have formerly done. This would lessen our woollen and other manufactures at home and prejudice the shipping trade."
If merchant ships go out in July they will begin engaging [ obtaining crew members]in May, which is the time when her Majesty's officers desire to impress men for the fleet. As the merchants give higher wages than her Majesty's pay(often nigh double), many men will, in such case, desert the Navy for service on the merchantmen. Others will "lurk" and keep out of the way in the hope of being able to engage in merchant service. If the merchant ships go in July thy will be in Virginia at the end of August and September. These are known to be the most sickly months, and the worm is sometimes in September as destructive as at any other time.
It is inconvenient for ships to start from Virginia in April, for, the frosts commonly lasting from December to the end of February or the middle of March, the planters cannot then strip or pack their tobacco.In the month of March there are always dry north-west winds and the rivers are frozen up so that no sloops or boats can go to work in fitting tobacco aboard the ships which was (sic) ready before the frost set in. The fleet therefore could not be ready to set sail in April.
"That it is the most improper month for a fleet to sail out of the country by reason the air then begins to warm and the fogs fall in with small rains, which prepares the tobacco for stripping and packing that was so dry some months before that it could not be handled."Stripping of tobacco in winter occasions great damage and hazards {details.}The end of May or June is the best time for the merchant ships to set out from Virginia. If much tobacco is left in the West Indies its price will fall so low that it will not be worth cultivating, and the planters will betake themselves to raising sheep, hemp and flax and to grow corn for supply of the West Indies and Madeira Islands, as they have formerly done. This would lessen our woollen and other manufactures at home and prejudice the shipping trade."JC Halbrooks357 Snake Meadow Hill Road, Sterling CT 06377November 23, 1999