Holland, John, [Cape Town). To Earl Macartney
- ZA HPRA A88-458 (354)
- Item
- 22 June 1198
Parte de Earl George Macartney Papers
Encloses letter from Captain Edwards and asks what is to happen to the prison guard.
Holland, John, [Cape Town). To Earl Macartney
Parte de Earl George Macartney Papers
Encloses letter from Captain Edwards and asks what is to happen to the prison guard.
[Barrow. John, Cape of Good Hope. To Earl Macartney]
Parte de Earl George Macartney Papers
Note of expenses for the journey to Graaff Reinet.
Dundas, Major-General [Francis], Simons Town. To Earl Macartney
Parte de Earl George Macartney Papers
Gives news of the mutiny, obtained from Admiral Pringle's servant, that agreement is unlikely because the mutineers refuse to have certain officers restored to them and that the fleet may put to sea; even if the fleet fires on Simon's Town, it is unlikely the town would surrender.
The earliest papers are dated 1779, when Macartney was Governor of the Cariboo Islands, and describe the British surrender to the French during the American War of Independence. Thereafter, the papers relate to the first British Occupation of the Cape of Good Hope and, in particular, to the years 1797-1798 when Macartney was Governor. There are also papers relating to the administration of Sir James Henry Craig, who captured the Cape on 14 September 1795, and was in command until Macartney arrived in 1797.
All aspects of administration at the Cape are touched upon: - shortages of grain, specie (NB: money in the form of coins rather than notes) and timber; the duties of the Burgher Senators (the new name for the old Commissioners of the Court of Justice under the Dutch East India Company); slavery and the importation of slaves; the disaffection of the Dutch population; the indigenous tribes and the need to 'separate' them from the colonists; trade regulations for the Cape and the East India Company's monopoly of trade to and from the East; fiscal arrangements; the question of the debts due to the Dutch East India Company at the time of the capture in 1795 and whether they are to be regarded as prize booty for the captors of the Cape or are to be taken over by His Majesty's government in London. Of particular interest are the reports sent back by Macartney's private secretary, John Barrow, who had been sent on an expedition to investigate supplies of timber, flax and hemp, the existence of mineral deposits, the navigability of certain bays and trading with the "Caffres".
The papers also relate to the Napoleonic Wars and to the Cape's strategic position. There is much about the war at sea, which necessitated the introduction of a convoy system for shipping, and about the military and naval forces at the Cape, including plans for projected attacks on Batavia and Spanish America from the Cape. Many items relate to the naval mutiny at Simon's Town in 1797.
Amongst the British correspondents is the Court of Directors of the East India Company, the Privy Council., Henry Dundas, Secretary of State for War, and William Huskisson, Under-Secretary for War. At the Cape Macartney corresponded with Admirals Pringle and Christian, Major-General Duncan, Commander of the troops, Secretary Andrew Barnard, Under-Secretaries John Barrow and Acheson Maxwell, Deputy Secretary Hercules Ross, Commissary-General John Pringle, the landdrost at Graaff Reinet, Frans Reinhard Dresler, and others.
There in one additional intrusive item (No.594) about the Cape Observatory, dated 1837 and written by Sir John Barrow, who had been closely associated with Macartney at the Cape.
Sem título
Brooke, Thomas, St. Helena. To Earl Macartney. [London]
Parte de Earl George Macartney Papers
Writes on behalf of Governor Brooke to pass the news that the Nizam has made a treaty with Lord Mornington and that Tippoo has expelled his French advisers and ceded Mangalore.
Edmonton, Captain William, Fort Royal, Grenada. To Lord Macartney, [Grenada]
Parte de Earl George Macartney Papers
Monthly return of the five companies of Her Majesty's 48th Regiment of Foot, commanded by Lieutenant-General William Alexander Sorell.
List of the French force at Grenada under the command of the Comte d'Estaing
Parte de Earl George Macartney Papers
Supplies numbers of battleships, frigates and land forces.
Estaing, Comte d', H.Q. Grenada. To Lord Macartney, [Grenada]
Parte de Earl George Macartney Papers
Warns Lord Macartney of the evil consequences which will ensue if he does not surrender to a numerically greater force; the local inhabitants, taken in arms, will lose their estates and free coloured people will be made slaves.
In French, with an English translation.
Macartney, Lord, [Grenada]. To Comte d'Estaing, [Grenada]
Parte de Earl George Macartney Papers
. Articles of capitulation, proposed as a basis for negotiation; the rights of the local inhabitants are to be safeguarded and British troops are to make an honourable withdrawal with "colours flying, drums beating".
Macartney, Lord, Hospital Hill, [Grenada]. To Comte d'Estaing, [Grenada]
Parte de Earl George Macartney Papers
Refuses to surrender to the French.
In French, with an English translation.