Correspondence, Original-Secretary of State: Letters from various offices (government...

Correspondence, Original-Secretary of State: Letters from various offices (government departments and other organisations) and individuals on matters related to the Bahamas. Correspondents and subjects are as follows: Offices:

• Admiralty (Commodore Augustus Phillimore's departure, seizure of British schooners Violin and Tweed for violation of the Foreign Enlistment Act, seizure of American Schooner Anna by HMS Dart for violation of the Revenue Laws, charge for the hire of the schooner Brilliant, Lilian and Anna condemned at Nassau, claim by the commanding officer of the Lapwing for entertaining passengers, sale of Lilian and arms, withdrawal of HMS Elipse and HMS Minstrel from the Bahamas, capture of the Salvador under British colours with a cargo of arms on the south coast of Cuba, assistance given by HMS Philomel to the lighthouse tender Richmond disabled in a hurricane);
• Council Office (appeals in bankruptcy from the Bahamas to Her Majesty in Council);
• Board of Trade (failure of the prosecution of the master of the Harriet, expense of conveying Major General O'Connor and his family, requisitions by Lighthouse Service for various supplies, works at Inagua Island Lighthouse, light keeper's travelling pay, requisition for account books, resolutions of a public meeting at Inagua concerning the proposed restriction to Nassau of the sale of wrecked property, Light Keeper Mr Webb's examination papers, state of lighthouse tender Richmond, response to 'An Act to regulate the disposal of wrecked property', employment of naval officers as nautical assessors at inquiries into wrecks, gives no objection to the operation of various Acts, necessity of occasionally changing the stations of the light keepers, machinery of Gun Cay and Great Isaacs lighthouses, erection of a lighthouse at Bird Island, occupation of certain premises at Nassau for imperial lighthouse purposes, £20 food allowances for the Lighthouse Department clerk and yard keeper, salvage case, disposal of empty oil cans, reference to a casualty return, the mortgage to 'aliens' of the vessels Salvador, Entrepe and Guanahani belonging to the port of Nassau);
• Law Officers (case of the steamer Salvador, seizure of two schooners for an alleged breach of the Foreign Enlistment Act, 'should the governor of a colony be sued for acts done bona fide in discharge of his official duty', case of the Lilian);
• Treasury (case of the Salvador, case of the Lilian, proposed payments from the Crown Fund to the governor's private secretary and aide-de-camp for extra duties due to the Cuban Insurrection, Parliamentary contribution to the governor's salary, no objection to an Act concerning export duties and town and harbour rates, mail service between New York and Nassau);
• Foreign Office (case of the Lilian, alleged weapons trade between Inagua and Haiti, L Mary's appointment as Haitian Commercial Agent at Inagua, alleged departure of vessels with arms for Cuba, Mr Harriott's appointment as United States Consular Agent at Salt Cay, condemnation and sale of the schooner Tryphenia for breach of the Revenue Laws, governor's salary, seizure of American Schooner Anna for an alleged breach of the Revenue Laws, appointment of Mahlon Chance as United States Consul at Nassau, sale by auction of vessels condemned by the courts, expense of withholding the sale of condemned vessels due to the suspicion that they would be used by Cuban insurgents, appointment of Don Manuel Menendez as Spanish Consul at Nassau, complaint of those engaged in the turtle and sponge trade of their being banned from the cays in or near Cuba, appointment of British subject Samuel P Sannders as vice consul for the United States at Nassau, sale of arms from the Lilian, armed vessel Chieftain formerly HMS Mutine allegedly destined for use of the Japanese Government, judgment in the case of the Salvador, Law Officers opinion on how to deal with the vessels Violin and Tweed, goodwill shown by the governor of the Bahamas to the Spanish authorities in Cuba, instructions to naval officers concerning assistance to be granted to governors, seizure of the British shop John Gray by the Spanish warship Criollo, case of the seamen of the Margaret Jessie brought before the British Consul General in Havana, British vessels at Nassau mortgaged to 'aliens');
• War Office (hire of the schooner Brilliant, Captain Niven of the First West India Regiment to act as the governor's aide-de-camp, recall of rifles due to the disorganised state of the volunteer force);
• General Post Office (postage charged on newspapers coming from the Bahamas, receipt of supplementary mail, non-receipt of the regular mail, contract for the mail service between New York and Nassau, payment of the Bahamas mail service);
• Lunacy Commissioners (boarding of pauper lunatics with families);
• General Board of Lunacy, Edinburgh (boarding of pauper lunatics in private dwellings).

• John Dumaresy (requests a promotion in some other colony);
• Henry Lafone (seizure of the steamer Lilian which he claims to own);
• Bishop of Nassau (recommends Reverend Albert Rivers for the rectory of Grand Turk in the event of a vacancy);
• Mrs Emily Blanche Rothery (asks for her widow's pension to be paid through the Crown Agents);
• Captain Philip R Sharpe (asks if Sir James Walker was still governor of the Bahamas);
• Mrs Wiggins (her son Henry's claim to the lease of Cay Sal);
• Weech & Company (Mr Menedez's appointment as Spanish Consul).

Topics

Shipping

Conveyancing

International

Labour

Mental illness

Army

Trade and commerce

Caribbean

Conflict

Pay and pensions

Weapons

Treason and rebellion

Debt

Food and drink

Nationality

Navy

Poverty

Americas

Banking

Communications