Inventory of the William Blathwayt Papers, 1657-1770
Processed by Huntington Library staff; supplementary encoding and revision supplied by Xiuzhi Zhou.
Manuscripts Department
© 2000
The Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2203
Fax: (626) 449-5720
Email: lgarcia@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org/huntingtonlibrary.aspx?id=554
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Inventory of the William Blathwayt Papers, 1657-1770
The Huntington LibrarySan Marino, California
- Manuscripts Department
- The Huntington Library
- 1151 Oxford Road
- San Marino, California 91108
- Phone: (626) 405-2203
- Fax: (626) 449-5720
- Email: lgarcia@huntington.org
- URL: http://www.huntington.org/huntingtonlibrary.aspx?id=554
- Processed by:
- Huntington Library staff
© 2000 The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Title: William Blathwayt Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1657-1770
Creator:
Blathwayt, William, 1649?-1717
Extent: Number of pieces: 461
Repository: The Huntington Library
San Marino, California 91108
Language:
English.
This series of Blathwayt Papers was acquired by the Huntington Library in July, 1924, from Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach. With the
exception of twenty-seven letters addressed to Richard Nicolls, first English governor of the colony of New York, and a few
odd pieces written after 1717, the collection appears to have been a natural accumulation of Blathwayt's office records. Presumably
these were transferred from London to Dyrham Park in 1712. After Blathwayt's death they were carried to King's Weston by his
son-in-law, Edward Southwell. Here they remained until purchased by Sir Thomas Phillipps of Cheltenham, and were known as
Phillipps MSS. no. 8550. A portion of the Phillipps Library was offered for sale in 1908, including these papers, and they
changed hands at least once more, through the agency of Sotheby's.
Collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information
please go to following
URL .
In order to quote from, publish, or reproduce any of the manuscripts or visual materials, researchers must obtain formal permission
from the office of the Library Director. In most instances, permission is given by the Huntington as owner of the physical
property rights only, and researchers must also obtain permission from the holder of the literary rights. In some instances,
the Huntington owns the literary rights, as well as the physical property rights. Researchers may contact the appropriate
curator for further information.
[Identification of item], William Blathwayt Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
William Blathwayt (1649-1717), English politician and administrator, was one of the most distinguished civil servants of his
time. Through the influence of his uncles, Thomas and Richard Povey, both of whom were prominent in colonial affairs, he secured
a position in the Plantation Office in 1675 as a minor clerk. Advancement came rapidly, and among the offices administered
from that time on, were: Clerk of the Privy Council, 1675; Secretary to the Lords of Trade, 1679; Auditor General of Plantation
Revenues, 1680; Secretary at War, 1683; acting Secretary of State with William III, in Flanders, 1692; member of the Board
of Trade, 1696. In 1712 Blathwayt, driven from active public life by ill health, withdrew to his seat at Dyrham Park, where
the last five years of his life were spent in retirement.
A. Unofficial letters (1664-68) addressed to Richard Nicolls from the following: Sir William Berkeley, Charles and Philip
Calvert, Thomas Ludwell, Nathaniel Utie and Jerome White
- 1. Trade, shipping, etc.
- 2. Runaway slaves
- 3. Tobacco
B. Papers having to do with the British West Indies: Antigua (7), Bahamas (4), Barbados (48), Bermudas (5), Jamaica (35),
Montserrat (1), Nevis (4), St. Christopher's (2), Tobago (1)
- 1. Relations with the Crown
a. Administration
b. Taxation
c. Defenses - 2. Local conditions
- a. Orders of governor, council, and assembly
- b. Management of negroes
- c. Piracy
- d. Trade, shipping, etc.
C. Papers having to do with North America: Canada (14), Newfoundland (4), Rhode Island (3), Massachusetts (43), New Hampshire
(19), Connecticut (1), New York (77), Pennsylvania (4), Maryland (26), Virginia (51), Carolinas (2), Florida (3)
- 1. Relations with the Crown
- a. Administration of governments, charter and proprietary
- b. Taxation
- c. Defenses
- 2. Local conditions
- a. Orders of governor, council and assembly
- b. Political corruption
- c. Trade, shipping, etc.
- d. Indian affairs
- e. French encroachments
- f. Piracy
Persons represented by five or more pieces
- Beeston, Sir William
- 5 pieces
- Berkeley, Sir William
- 14 pieces
- Blathwayt, William
- 32 pieces
- Calvert, Philip
- 7 pieces
- Clarke, George
- 8 pieces
- D'Oyley, Edward
- 6 pieces
- Dudley, Joseph
- 9 pieces
- Hyde, Edward, Lord Cornbury
- 7 pieces
- Lowndes, William
- 9 pieces
- Nanfan, John
- 16 pieces
- Penhallow, Samuel
- 6 pieces
- Povey, John
- 8 pieces
- Randolph, Edward
- 10 pieces
Some important or interesting items
- Byrd, William II. Letter to William Lowndes, asking for the appointment to succeed his late father as auditor of the colony of Virginia. Portsmouth, England, May 9, 1705
- Heathcote, Caleb. Letter to his brother, protesting the corrupt administration of the Earl of Bellomont, governor of New York, and commenting on the activities of the Leislerians. 1701
- Honan, Daniel. An account of expenses for Lord Cornbury's journey from New York to Albany, and return, June 22 - October 13, 1702
- Randolph, Edward. Letter to Blathwayt, giving a report of his trip to New England, and news of the American colonies
- Sheils, ----. Letter to an unknown addressee describing an effort of the Scottish East India Company to establish a settlement at Darien. New Caledonia, December 25, 1699
- Van Schaick, Lovinus. Report on Indian affairs in North America. May 11, 1696
Originals predominate slightly. Copies are all contemporary, and most of them are attested and bear Blathwayt's endorsement.
Identifier/Call Number: HM 32265 - 32298
Correspondence and documents from the office of William Blathwayt, [c. 1670-1700]-1712. A description of them was published
in
Huntington Library Quarterly, May 1970, pp. 294-296