MRP: 23rd March 1662/63, Letter from Berkley to Sir GO, St Johns

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23rd March 1662/63, Letter from Berkley to Sir GO, St Johns

BL, Add. MS. XX, XXX, f. 40

Editorial history

22/05/09, CSG: Completed transcription
18/12/11, CSG: Page created




Abstract & context


The writer of this letter to Sir George Oxenden, dated March 22nd 1662/63, was George, Lord Berkeley (b. 1628, d. 1698).

The letter was sent from sent from his house at St. John's [Street, Clerkenwell]. John Evelyn recorded in his diary for May 22nd 1666 that Lord Berkeley's house was next to the new palace of the Lord Chancellor.[1] That it was a substantial house can be seen in the 1666 hearth tax returns for St. James's, Clerkenwell, in which Lord Berkeley's thirty-two heath residence was listed close to the twenty hearth residence of the Lord Chancellor.[2]

A minute of a Court of Committees of the EEIC, dated November 16th, 1661, records that:

Upon the request and recommendation of Lord George Berkely (sic), the Court, notwithstanding their recent order, entertain John Petite to go to India.[3]

Security for John Pettit was accepted by the Court of the EEIC from Thomas Pettit senior and Thomas Pettit junior in March 1662.[4] Thomas Pettit senior and junior were possibly John Pettit's father and brother, respectively.

Son of George Harding, 8th Baron Berkeley, he had succeeded to the Barony on his father's death in 1658. His father had died at the family house in St. John's, Clerkenwell.[5]

Elected an M.P. for Gloucestershire in 1654 and in 1656, he was sent as a commissioner to the Hague in 1660 to invite Charles II to return to England.

George, Lord Berkeley, was elected a committee of the EEIC for the year 1662/1663 shortly after this letter was written.[6] He had already been appointed to the council for foreign plantations in 1661, and in 1663 he was a founding member of the Royal Africa Company. Much later, in 1680, he became the Governor of the Levant Company.

Berkeley referred in his letter to John Pettit being a relative of his wife. She was Elizabeth Massingberd (m. 1646), who was a daughter of John Massingberd, the former Treasurer of the company.[7] Separately, John Servys wrote a letter to Sir George Oxenden, dated March 29th, 1663, from London. He also recommended John Pettit, describing him as "my cousin."[8]


Suggested links


See 28th February 1665/66, Letter from Andrew Riccard to Sir GO


To do


(1) Check transcription against physical manuscript at BL


Transcription


This transcription has been completed, but requires checking

[BL, Add. MS. XX, XXX, f. 40]

[f. 40]

S:r

The experience I have had of your great civility encourages me to desires a favour of you w:ch is that you will please to countenance and respect one Mr: John Pettit[9] (who I suppose is now w:th you at Suratt) being an Ingenious & hopeful young Gentleman related to me by my wife;[10] Soe farr onely as may be w:thout prejudice to y:e East India Comp:a of w:ch I am confident you y:t are o:r Worthy Presid:t is y:e best Judge of, more I am sure you wold not Graunt, or more II am Sure I should not desire & in Graunting this request

[f. 41]

Of mine you will much therein Oblidge

S:t Johns[11] March y:e 23: 1662/3

S:r
Yo:r Affectionate ffreinde &
Serv:t Berkley

P:S: I wish much health & Prosperitie to you & all yo:es during yo:r Stay in India & as ffortunate & Sudden a returne as is consistent w:th yo:r great Occasions, if I can Serve you here in England in anything pray Commande me


Notes


George, 1st Earl of Berkeley


See Wikipedia entry for George Berkeley, 1st Earl of Berkeley


George, Lord Berkeley, EEIC committee, 1662/1663


"[April 17, 1662] The Governor declares that the following have been elected Committees for the ensuing year : George, Lord Berkly (sic), Sir Andrew Riccard, Sir William Thompson, Sir John Lewis, Sir Anthony Bateman, Sir Richard Ford, Sir Thomas Bludworth, Sir George Smith, Sir Stephen White, John Jolliffe, Arthur Ingram, John Bathurst, Maurice Thompson, Robert Lant, Samuel Barnardiston, Christopher Boone, Peter Vandeput, Thomas Kendall, Francis Clarke, John Mascall, Thomas Winter, Christopher Willoughby, Thomas Canham, and Stephen Langham."[12]

"[November 13, 1661] Upon the request and recommendation of Lord George Berkely, the Court, notwithstanding their recent order, entertain John Petite to go to India."[13]


London hearth tax, 1666: St. James, Clerkenwell


"St James Clerkenwell

The Lord Cheife Justice 20 hearths

Lord Barckley 32 hearths

Earle of Carlile 23 hearths

Sr Nicholas Strowd 15 hearths
The Lady Jane Crafts 11 hearths
The Lady Thornhill 13 hearths
The Earle of Essex 19 hearths
The Earle of Alisbury 30 hearths
Doctr. Wm. Goddard 9 hearths
Sr Edward Banister 13 hearths..."[14]


John Pettit, for Surat, 1661


"The following men are entertained for Surat: John Spiller at 100/. a year to go as second to the President ; John Goodyear at 100 marks a year ; Gerard Aungeir, Charles Smeaton and Strensham Maisters, ' now at Suratt ', at 30/. each a year; Caesar Chamberlen, John Pettit, Charles Bendish, and Richard Francis at 25/. a year ; William Jones, William Blackman, Henry Chune, and Henry Oxinden at 20/. a year."[15]


Thomas Pettit senior, Thomas Pettit junior, securities for John Pettit, 1662


"Thomas Pettit, Senior, and Thomas Pettit, Junior, are accepted as securities for John Pettit"[16]


John Pettit, Bombay, 1675


Philip Gyffard was Deputy Governor, or Commissioner of Bombay [TBC] in 1675, however, "Gyffard was very sick, and the actual work fell almost entirely on his second, John Pettit, a man who was at the timecoming to the front"[17]


John Berkeley (b. 1602, d. 1678), first Lord of Stratton


See Dictionary of national Biography entry for John Berkeley (d. 1678)

See Wikipedia entry for John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkely of Stratton


Possible primary sources

TNA


PROB 11/358 Reeve 106-156 Will of Sir John Lord Berkeley or Baron of Stratton, Lord of His Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council 02 October 1678
PROB 11/418 Box 1-45 Will of Thomas Petit or Pettit of Grays Inn, Middlesex 05 February 1694
- See London hearth tax (1666) St Andrews Holborne Parish "Tho: Pettit 7 hearths"[18]

PROB 11/448 Lort 224-268 Will of George Earl of Berkeley 19 December 1698
  1. ↑ William Bray (ed.), The diary of John Evelyn, vol. 2 (New York & London), p. 15
  2. ↑ 'Hearth Tax: Middlesex 1666: Clerkenwell (1 of 2)', London Hearth Tax: City of London and Middlesex, 1666 (2011). URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=118828 Date accessed: 22 January 2012
  3. ↑ 'A Court of Committees, November 13, 1661 (Court Book, vol. xxiv, p. 424), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1660-1663 (Oxford, 1922), p. 158
  4. ↑ 'Court of Committees, March 10, 1662' (Court Book, vol. xxiv, p. 468), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1660-1663 (Oxford, 1922), p. 187
  5. ↑ Cokayne, Complete Peerage of the United Kingdom (XXXX, XXXX), p. 139
  6. ↑ 'A General Court of Adventurers, April 17, 1662' (Court Book, vol. xxiv, p. 482, in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1660-1663 (Oxford, 1922), p. 200
  7. ↑ 'Introduction', Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1660-1663 (Oxford, 1922), p. v; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Berkeley,_1st_Earl_of_Berkeley, viewed 22/01/12
  8. ↑ 29th March 1663, Letter from John Servys to Sir GO, London, Letter 1
  9. ↑ John Pettit was entertained for Surat in December 1661 at a salary of £25 per annum ('A Court of Committees, December 18, 1661' (Court Book, vol. xxiv, p. 439), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1660-1663 (Oxford, 1922), pp. 167-168 John Pettit was in Bombay in 1675, when he was second to the Deputy Governor of Bombay, Phillip Gyffard (Ray Strachey, Oliver Strachey, Keigwin's rebellion (1683-4): an episode in the history of Bombay (Oxford, 1916), p. 26). See Missing faces
  10. ↑ George, Lord Berkeley, married a daughter of John Massingberd, a former Treasurer of the English east India Company
  11. ↑ St. John's, Clerkenwell. The St. James, Clerkenwell 1666 hearth tax returns record Berkeley's house as having thirty-two hearths ('Hearth Tax: Middlesex 1666: Clerkenwell (1 of 2)', London Hearth Tax: City of London and Middlesex, 1666 (2011). URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=118828 Date accessed: 22 January 2012)
  12. ↑ 'A General Court of Adventurers, April 17, 1662' (Court Book, vol. xxiv, p. 482, in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1660-1663 (Oxford, 1922), p. 200
  13. ↑ 'A Court of Committees, November 13, 1661 (Court Book, vol. xxiv, p. 424), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1660-1663 (Oxford, 1922), p. 158
  14. ↑ 'Hearth Tax: Middlesex 1666: Clerkenwell (1 of 2)', London Hearth Tax: City of London and Middlesex, 1666 (2011). URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=118828 Date accessed: 22 January 2012
  15. ↑ 'A Court of Committees, December 18, 1661' (Court Book, vol. xxiv, p. 439), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1660-1663 (Oxford, 1922), pp. 167-168
  16. ↑ 'Court of Committees, March 10, 1662' (Court Book, vol. xxiv, p. 468), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1660-1663 (Oxford, 1922), p. 187
  17. ↑ Ray Strachey, Oliver Strachey, Keigwin's rebellion (1683-4): an episode in the history of Bombay (Oxford, 1916), p. 26
  18. ↑ 'Hearth Tax: Middlesex 1666: St Andrew Holborn (1 of 2)', London Hearth Tax: City of London and Middlesex, 1666 (2011). URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=118895 Date accessed: 22 January 2012

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