MRP: 17th March 1662/63, Letter from George Willoughby to Sir GO, London
17th March 1662/63, Letter from George Willoughby to Sir GO, London
BL, Add. MS. XX,XXX ff. 23-24
Editorial history
14/12/11, CSG: Created page & posted transcription to wiki
Contents
Abstract & context
George Willoughby (c. 1636-1695) was the son of a Madeira based Roman Catholic merchant, Robert Willoughby. Robert's brother, George Willoughy, had been President at Bantam for the East India Company between ?1630 and 1637, but died while his namesake was a mere baby in Madeira.
The two Willoughby brothers were sons of Richard Willoughby, gentleman, of Knoyle, Wiltshire, as is clear from the will of the elder George.[1] The profile of George Willoughby (the younger) in The House of Commons, 1660-1690 states that "Willoughby's connexion with the Wiltshire gentry family has not been established."[2] However, the profile overlooks the fraternal tie between the two merchants, Robert and George Willoughby.
Thomas Tyte appears to be brother-in-law of George Willoughby (EVIDENCE?). George Willoughby was a cousin for Christopher Willoughby
Suggested links
See 24th March 1662/63, Letter from Christopher Willoughby to Sir GO, London
See 24th March 1662/63, Letter from Christopher Willoughby to Sir GO, London, Letter 2
See March 1662/63, Letter from Christopher Willoughby to Sir GO
See 6th March 1665/66, Letter from Christopher Willoughby, XXXX
See March 1665/66, Letter from George Willoughby to Sir GO
See 15th April 1667, Letter from George Willoughby to Sir GO, London
See April 1667, Letter from Christopher Willoughby to Sir GO
See 11th August 1667, Letter from Christopher Willoughby to Sir GO, Bishopton
See October 1667, Letter from Christopher Willoughby to Sir GO
See October 1667, Letter from Robert Bowen to Sir GO
To do
(1) Check transcription against physical manuscript at BL & add foliation
(2) Look at family origins and commercial activities of the Willoughby family. Are the Bristol and London merchants linked to the Derbyshire family, which had links to Barbados?
(3) Follow up names of George Willoughby's Portuguesese contacts in Goa
Transcription
This transcription has been completed , but requires checking
[BL, Add. MS. XX,XXX ff. 23-24]
Hon:d S:r
London y:e 17:th March 1662/3
My Cozen M:r Christopher Willoughby[3] being soe much yo:r Serv:t [hath?] given mee y:e confidence to trouble you, humbly desiring you to doe me y:e ffavour to cause to be received out of y:e Shipp Loy:ll Merch:t Nicholas Millet[4] M:r one Chest containing: 4500: p:rs q/q [o/o?] marked as in y:e G:W no 2 ?Mesgl as alsoo another chesr out of y:e Affrican Rob:t ffisher[5] M:r y:t 2,000 p:rs q£/q when Recd, I humbly Desired you to Send y:e Chest N:o 2:q:t 2,500: p:rs q£/q to Goa by y:e first opportunity Either by Sea or Land and consigne it to Manuell dias da pas,[6] in absence to Joao: [Joad:?] de Prado,[7] in Absence of both to Diego de Fonsica Silva[8], in ansence of all to ffernd: Peres de Paredes,[9] in Goa as you may see by y:e direction of y:e lre [shorthand I assume for letter] Inclosed for them, & y:e other Chest N:o 1: q:t 2,000 pr:s q£/q, I humbly desire you to buy all in Diamonds of y:e Sorts as here Inclosed I appoint in a Memorandum & y:t you would doe me y:e ffavo:r to send them by y:e ffirst Shipps homeward bound Consignening them to me & in my absence to my Cozen Christop:r Willoughby
To those men of Goa I have ordered them to send to you some Diamonds for me, Soo y:t I request you when you receive any thing from them to be pleased to Send it by y:e first Shipps to mee in my Absence to my Cozen Christopher Willoughby, & as for y:e one ?prell & y:d other you may please to charge y:e Commission w:ch is usuall in yo:r Prs [??], & if in ought I can Serve you gere be Assured S:r you will find me to be
[RH side] Yo:r very humble Servant
George Willoughby
P:S: I have paid y:d M:es [could it be short hand for Master?] for their fraight & Inclose ?yoos the Bills of Ladeing, The Inclosed lre [short hand for letter] is from my Brother Tho: Tyte[10] who presents his Services to you
[CHECK IF THE BILLS OF LADING ARE IN THE OTHER VOLUMES OF OXENDEN CORRESPONDENCE?]
Notes
George Willoughby (c. 1636-1695), of Throgmorton Street, London, and Bishopstone, Wiltshire
"WILLOUGHBY, George (c. 1636-95), of Throgmorton Street, London and Bishopstone, Wilts.
MARLBOROUGH 1685, 1689, 1690-9 Jan 1695
b. c1636, yst s. of Robert Willoughby, merchant (d. 1642), of Funchal, Madeira by Mary, da. of one Dandrader. m. 14 Apr. 1662, aged 26, Dorothy, da. of Robert Lowther, Draper, of London, wid. of Jeffrey Northleigh, merchant, of Great St. Helens, London, 1s 2 da. suc. cos. Christopher Willoughby in Bishopstone estate 1681; kntd. 26 Aug. 1686.
Freeman, Drapers' Co. 1658, liveryman 1662-d., assistant 1684; sheriff, Wilts. 1683-4, j.p. 1686-June 1688, Oct. 1688-d., commr. for assessment 1689-99.
Willoughby's connexion with the Wiltshire gentry family has not been established. The son of an ardent Roman Catholic who died in Madeira, he came to London and proved his father's will in 1656. He was naturalized by Act of Parliament in 1663, shortly after his marriage to the sister of Anthony Lowther, and recorded a short pedigree at the heralds' visitation of London in 1664. He continued in the Portugal trade till 1681, when he inherited an estate valued at £1,500 p.a. under the will of a distant cousin. The principal property lay a dozen miles north-west of Marlborough, which he represented from 1685 to his death. He left no trace on the records of the 1685 Parliament, but James II, probably aware of his religious background, took him into favour, knighting him and visiting him at Bishopstone in 1687. But Willoughby disappointed him by leaving the county to avoid the lord lieutenant's questions on the repeal of the Test Act and Penal Laws, and he was omitted from the commission of the peace.
Willoughby was again returned to the Convention by the 'select burgesses' of Marlborough after a contest, and voted to agree with the Lords that the throne was not vacant. An inactive Member, he was named to four committees, those to consider the exactions of customs officials, the regulation of the Droitwich salt works, the East India trade, and floating a loan on the security of forfeited Irish estates. He was re-elected in 1690, but died on 8 Jan. 1695 and was buried at Bishopstone. His descendants did not enter Parliament."[11]
East Indies
"[October 22nd, 1658] Upon reading the petition of George Willoughby, administrator of his brother Robert and his uncle George Willoughby, the Court at first consents to his examining, in the presence of any two Committees, the accounts of their estates ; but on understanding from Mr. Acton that this may prove prejudicial to Jeremy Sambrooke, who is concerned, the Governor and Deputy are entreated to endeavour to reconcile Willoughby and Sambrooke and thus effect a peaceable conclusion."[12]
Goan merchants, early & mid C17th
"It is possible to overdraw the isolation of Goa's leading merchants from Macao and the Far East, It is true that the ccasados returned each year only one or two galliots to Goa, while cessionaries of the japan voyage prepared five, six, or more galliots to sail from macao to Nagasaki. But the Goans were yet some of the major investors in and financiers of the voyages between Macao and Nagasaki. André Salema (chief superintendant of the Goan treasury and a major investor in Indian trade), Manuel de Moraes Sapico, and several other merchants of Goa financed Lopo Sarmento de Carvalho's voyages in 1632-34. About 1634 Francisco Tinoco de Carvalho and Lourenço de Carvalho prepared several galliots that sailed from Goa to Macao. Manuel Dias da Silva reported investing in several voyages to Japan in association with Manuel Gomes da Costa of Goa and his nephew Manuel Dias de Paz. The latter had been handling the affairs of Francisco Tinoco de Carvalho since Jorge Riberio Coresma's return to Portugal (about 1638)."[13]
Manuel Diaz de Paz
Francisco Vaz Isidro, Manuel Dias de paz, and Antonio Gabriel Nunes are good examples of the Portuguese Jewish merchants of Amsterdam who had a three-dimensional interest in the Lisbon, European and inter-continental trade...
Manuel Dias de Paz divided his business interests between Lisbon, Europe and the European colonies overseas. His links with Lisnon show large investments in the import of products from the city itself, or products from city controlled trade networks overseas. On a European and international level, he was involved with men like Volckwein Momma, Johan van de Velden and Hendrick Aertsz. In insurance partnerships for ships leaving Amsterdam Paz's inter-continental connection was supported by his investments in the WIC and the COC, which amounted to 4000 Vlaams ponden en 100 guilders, respectively."[14]
Possible primary sources
TNA
Probably relevant
PROB 11/177 Lee 52-114 Will of George Willoughby, Merchant of London 04 July 1638
- Son of Richard Willoughby of Knoyle, Wiltshire
PROB 11/258 Berkeley 313-362 Will of Robert Willoughby or Wiloughby of Funchal, Island of Madeira 21 October 1656
- Father of PROB 11/426 Irby 85-124 Sir George Willoughby of Bishopstone, Wiltshire 04 June 1695
PROB 11/365 North 1-47 Will of Christopher Willoughby of Bishopstone, Wiltshire 17 February 1681
- Probably Christopher Willoughby, London merchant, correspondent of Sir George Oxenden
PROB 11/426 Irby 85-124
Will of Sir George Willoughby of Bishopstone, Wiltshire 04 June 1695
- Basil Duke Henning (1983: 740) identifies this as the correct will
Probably not relevant
PROB 11/341 Pye 1-52 Will of John Willoughby, Merchant of Bristol, Gloucestershire 15 March 1673
PROB 11/343 Pye 119-167 Will of The Right Honorable William Lord Willoughby of Parham 27 November 1673
PROB 11/343 Pye 119-167 Sentence of The Honorable William Lord Willoughby of Parham of Island of Barbados 02 December 1673
Possible secondary sources
Boyajian, James C., Portuguese Trade in Asia Under the Habsburgs, 1580-1640 (Baltimore, 2007)
Paolo Bernardini, Norman Fiering (eds.), The Jews and the Expansion of Europe to the West, 1400-1800, vol. 2 (Providence, 2001)
- ↑ George Willoughby will
- ↑ Basil Duke Henning (ed.), The House of Commons, 1660-1690, vol. ?1 (London, 1983), p. 740
- ↑ Christopher Willoughby, London merchant
- ↑ Captain Nicholas Millett, commander of the Loyal Merchant
- ↑ Captain Robert Fisher, commander of the African
- ↑ Manuell Dias de Pas was XXXX. See Missing faces
- ↑ Joao: [Joad:?] de Prado was XXXX. See Missing faces
- ↑ Diego de Fonsica Silva was XXXX. See Missing faces
- ↑ Peres de Paredes was XXXX. See Missing faces
- ↑ The London merchant Thomas Tyte also mentioned that his was the brother-in-law of George Willoughby in his letter to Sir George Oxenden. See 21st March 1662/63, Letter from Thomas Tyte to Sir GO, London
- ↑ Basil Duke Henning (ed.), The House of Commons, 1660-1690, vol. 1 (London, 1983), p. 740
- ↑ 'A Court of Committees for the New General Stock, October 22, 1658' (Court Book, vol. xxiv, p. 143), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1655-1659 (Oxford, 1916), p. 291
- ↑ James C. Boyajian, Portuguese Trade in Asia Under the Habsburgs, 1580-1640 (Baltimore, 2007), p. 233
- ↑ ?Author, 'The Portuguese Jews in Amsterdam: an insight on entrepreneurial behaviour in the Republic, 1640-1705' (XXXX, XXXX), p. 7, published as http://library.panteion.gr:8080/dspace/bitstream/123456789/456/1/ANTUNES.pdf, viewed 07/01/12
