Folios 123-124: Wilson Rathborne, North Shields. Responding to Mr Barrow's letter...

Folios 123-124: Wilson Rathborne, North Shields. Responding to Mr Barrow's letter of 23 January, asking if the casters and trimmers employed on the River Wear 'do or do not stand the ballot for the Militia', he replies that the situation is exactly the same as on the River Tyne and therefore there can be no inconvenience to the trade if the impress is continued here, as it has been all the time he has been in post. Assures him that any man brought before him who has regularly stood the ballot has been discharged. Able men with two or more children are exempt from the ballot and those men have their names recorded by a constable, which again exempts them from impress or having to provide substitutes.

Folios 125-126: enclosure with folios 123-124. An original memorial from the shipowners of the port of Sunderland to the Admiralty, signed by over 50 persons. It notes that the keelmen on the river Were [sic] already provide one man for every ten employed, to serve in HM Navy. Otherwise they have always stood their ballot for the militia but are now extremely alarmed at Captain Rathborne's assertion that any caster or trimmer must also be subject to the Impress - if they are not 'immediately assured of their exemption...the coal trade must be stopped' with consequences for the north country and the whole kingdom.