The manuscripts of P. Edward Tillard, Esq.

The Manuscripts of Shrewsbury and Coventry Corporations [Etc] Fourth Report, Appendix: Part X. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1899.

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'The manuscripts of P. Edward Tillard, Esq.', in The Manuscripts of Shrewsbury and Coventry Corporations [Etc] Fourth Report, Appendix: Part X, (London, 1899) pp. 78-91. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/hist-mss-comm/vol47/pt10/pp78-91 [accessed 25 April 2024]

THE MANUSCRIPTS OF P. EDWARD TILLARD, ESQ., OF THE HOLME, GODMANCHESTER.

The diary here reported on was kept by William Tillard (son of Abraham Tillard, a London merchant, by Mary, sister of James Bateman, Lord Mayor of London) who was born 1675, and went out to Masulipatam in 1699 as a servant of the New East India Company. Surviving all his fellow-officers, he became President there (see 13th Report, Appendix III., p. 14), but returned to England in 1705.

The diary illustrates the tension between the old and new companies, and is useful for its accurate record of facts and dates.

The writer set sail from Deal Jan. 15, 1699 [N. S.] in the London, George Mathews captain, "being ye first ship sent out in ye new East India Co. service." Reaching Funchal February 4th, the ship "took in a few pipes of wine," and sailed for the Cape, which was sighted April 8th. Mauritius was sighted May 15th, and on the 17th the ship anchored in Carpenter's Bay.

"As for ye Isld Mauritius, it is pleasant & verry woody & rocky. It was first found out by the Portugeez Ao 1600, who lived on it some short time and deserted it. Afterwards ye Dutch took possession of it 1618, who gave it the name of Mauritius, from Maurice, Pr. of Orange. They kept it for 6 yrs, and yn left it, but ye Dutch East India Co., thinking it might be of use to their ships in their way to India, they sent out 2 ships to take possession of ye Island, which was 12 yrs after their first desertion.

"It is lookt upon by most people as verry healthfull & wants no refreshmts for seamen after a long voyedg. It is still inhabited by ye Dutch, who are in all, with slaves, abt 400 in number. Any oue may be made free of ye Island, but they must first serve ye Compy 3 yrs, & yn ye Gover gives ym a piece of ground to live upon, anywhere upon ye Island, as ye new made freeman shall like best, when he builds himself a house and makes a plantation of tobacco, & so lives upon what he can gitt in ye woods, as Deer, Goats, &ca., till they can gitt a little money, & then they buy cocks & hens, cows and slaves, &ca., when they live a little better. The freemen are not suffered to go off of (sic) ye Island wn they please, but ye unmarried are forct to stay 6 yrs upon ye Island after they are made free, and if they marry they are obliged to stay 15 yrs, the freemens children are free without serving ye Compy 3 years. They deal with all nations in ye same manner, not favouring their own countrymen more yn other people, but at present they are all Dutchmen, exceptg one, who is an Englishman, and lives by black river.

"The present Govers name is P. Diodati, who has 5d per mo. salary. The Dep. Govers name is Van Momberen, who has 4d per mo. The Gover sent his Dep. to us for to suply us wth what we wanted. 'Tis beleeved yt ye Governr designs to go of ye Isld by ye first ship, wch was daily expected, wn the Dep. Van Momberen is to succeed him.

"The Isld is well stored with deer, goats & cows, as also cocks and hens. We gave 3 Doll. for a deer, ½ a Doll. a goat, and 8 Doll. for a cow, wch is ye settled price, they being sold by ye Gover, and not by ye freemen, who cannot sell any of these 3 things. Cocks and hens are sold by ye freemen, 4 for a Doll.; there is also wild hogs, but yt alwaies belongs to ye huntsman, who is commonly one of their slaves, he disposes of it as he pleases. They have potatoes enough, wch suply ye place of bread, for there is no corn can grow upon ye Isld by reason of ye multitude of rats, wch eat it up before 'tis half grown to perfection; but at ye Factory (wch lyes on ye S.E. side of ye Isld) they eat bread, made of corn brought there by ye ships from ye Cape. There is also upon ye Isld a great many oranges, limes, and lemons, wch ye freemen sold us 100 a Doll., but not so good as those ye Gover sent ye Capn; and ye Dep. told us that at ye Factory they have the best of every thing upon ye Isld, as also more plenty, and many things grow there wch they have not in any other part of ye Isld, especially all sorts of sallat & other green trade, for we could gitt nothing green from ye freemen but pursely & another sweet cented herb, with wch we made a sallatt, adding thereto some shallat. There is abundance of fish about ye Island, for one man, wth an angle, in an hour's time shall catch as much fish as 6 men can eat.

"There is verry good fresh water about half-a-mile up ye river from Carpenters bay w[h]ere we lay with our ship, so yt we made 3 turns with fresh water every day, & yt with ease. There is a tomb built at ye entrance of ye river, a little way from ye shore, where lyes one Welden, who died on this Isld abt 2 yrs since, returning home in ye Benja from Bombay. Here are also sharks and manatees about this Isld but we took no notice of either, to strike them. Here is also a great many sea turtle, but we were too soon in ye year to find any of them. Here is abundance of ebony wood, wch we saw going up to ye freemens houses, wch lay 3 mile frm Carpenters bay. As for birds, we did not see many, ye most plentifull are hawks and turtle-doves wch will suffer you to come verry nigh them before they fly away, the grey hawk is verry good food. Here is also a very large batt, at least a yard distance frm ye tip of one wing to ye tip of ye other, there (sic) body as large [as] a midle sized monkey, & there (sic) head just like ym, the inhabitants eat ym, & say they are very good food, I see one of them cut open on the breast, & 'twas nothing butt fatt. They hang upon ye trees, so long till one may take hold of him, without offering to fly away. The cow hath also a great bunch of fatt stick'd up between her two shoulders.

"Horses they have, but are all wild, & wn ye inhabitants bring ym in to tame them, they soon dye, but they do not make many tryals, because they have no place upon ye Isld to ride about, it being nothing but woods & rocks. There is no way to take ye deer alive, unless there is a boat sent out to watch wn ye deer betakes him to ye water, for they will alwaies gitt to ye water if they can, to save ymselves frm ye dogs, wn they often save their lives, unless a shark meets wth ym wn they are devoured, but otherwise they escape, they havg no sort of boat on this Isld to go after ye Deer, onely one wch ye Gover has for his use. The inhabitants take dollars, ye light ones are as good to ym as ye heavier. An English crown goes but for a dollar, but an English shillg they esteem as a shillg, & agree wth ym as cheap as you can. There is abundance of land turtle on Quine Island."

Weighing anchor on May 28 the ship sailed for the Coromandel coast. "No such Isld as St. Appolonio" could be seen after leaving Mauritius, and it was concluded that "ye Isld Maskareen is laid down twice in ye maps." The shoals of Cardoin de Graies were sighted on June 1, and the ship anchored before Porto Novo, July 6. Messrs [Robert], Hedges, (fn. 1) Graham, Watts, and Lee went ashore with the writer and visited the Dutch factory "but saw no body belongg to ye English exceptg an officer wch was come there frm Fort St. David. Having visited the Governor and made him a present, they returned aboard, and sailed the same night for Fort St. George, where they anchored on the morning of the 8th. The same party went ashore and were "civilly receiv'd by Gover [Thomas] Pitts (fn. 2) (sic). The writer "went to see Mr. Hatsell (fn. 3), late Gover of St. David, therefore am unacquainted with the discourse [that] past betwixt our gentlemen and them of the Fort. We were told to go aboard by ye Gover after dinner, as I was inform'd, wch we complyed with after a little discourse.

"Sunday ye 9th we sett sail from Fort St. George & came to an anchor before Metchlepatan [Masulipatam] on Wensday ye 12th July betwn 11 & 12 in ye morng for wch God be praised, havg brought us to our desir'd port in health. In ye afternoon, Mr. Hedges, Mr. Graham & myself went on shore & hired a house . . . . . We went to visit ye More [Moor] & Gentue Govers. They promist us we should land our goods, but we must pay custom. We went to ye Gentu Gover again (ye More Gover answerg us neither good nor bad as to customs, for we promist to come & see him again & bring a present wth us) ye Gentu Gover was a little more compiyant ye next time, he promisg us we should lett ym be chopt (sic) & afterwards they would come to our house & look upon one or two beailes [bales], & if they agreed wth what we said, to suffer all ye rest to be unchopt (sic). We unloaded all ye goods out of ye London, according to those conditions.

"Tuesday night ye 1st of Augt, came to an anchor ship De Grave, Capn Wm Young, & next day Mr. Hedges, & Mr. Grabam went aboard her.

On the evening of the 3rd "Consull Pitt & Mr. Knightly came on shore, ye More Gover sendg ye Catwall to ye water side to welcome him ashore. Ye Dutch chief sent his Dubash ye same evening to ye house to welcome him ashore, as also did Mr. Lovell ye old Compa servt.

"Ye 4th Hagee Mamud Seid sent his servt with a prest, as also to welcome ye Consull on shore.

Ye 8th ye King & flag was hoisted & his commisn to ye Consull [John Pitt (fn. 4) ] read in publick to all ye English on shore. Mr. Lovell & ye rest belonging to ye old Factory was sent ye day before to come & hear ye commissn read, but they came not. 'Tis true they sent a letter to ye consull by ye Dubash ye night before, but he refused to receive it, then they sent it by an English young man, but ye Consull thought fitt not to receive it from him neither, & told him yt he would hear no excuse, but did expect they should comply with his orders. In ye afternoon ye Consull, Mr. Hedges, Mr. Graham, Mr. Knightly, Mr. Lee a passenger, Padre Pitt, & ye two Capns went to dinner with Hagee Mamud Seid. Sunday ye 6th Aug. ye Moor Gover came to make us a visitt as did also ye Dutch Chief Mr Weederlandt.

"Friday, ye 11th Aug. Mr. Graham & Mr. Wats went aboard ye London carryg ye ship's dispatches with them. Accordingly ye ship sailed away about noon for Bengall.

Friday ye 18th Aug. in ye evening Capn Young had his saylg orders when he went aboard, and accordingly set saile for Bengall, but it so fell out yt he left his Yaul wth 5 of his men behind him. There was likewaise 2 of his men (weh he sd were Dutch) run away & not to be found.

"Ye 19th agreed for & ye 22nd went into anor house. . . the Consull ye Padre & ye secretary stayg in ye former. This house is let us for 15pag per mo. to stay 6 mos certain ye landld to repair ye house. Ye former house is 6 pag. per mo. & 2 mos certain.

Ye 27th we had news of Vincatadre his arrivall here frm Maderas. Ye consull ordered him to stop 3 or 4 miles out of town, wch was done, & Mr. Browne . . . . . . was sent to fetch him from thence to our Factory.

Ye 28th we had a consultation, where it was agreed he should be entertained & made our chief Dubash and allowed 150 Pag. per An. to be paid monthly, according to ye custom at Fort St. George; he is also to have a gratuity for his expences upon ye road. He had then presented him 3 yds crimsn cloth, also some glass ware.

This day also we writt to Sr Edwd Littleton & ye Councill at Bengall per ship Benja, Capn Brown, who arrived here Saterday [26th] evening before, & sett saile again this day. We writt also to aforesd Gentlen by ye London & by ye Degrave, wch [I] forgott to mention in their proper places—likewise yt ye 9th Aug. at night there was a messenger sent away to ye Nabab wth a letter from ye consull. Ye contents was to desire liberty to trade in his country wth out molestation, & to land & load goods without trouble frm ye custom officers & ye 21st Aug. ye Madepallam (fn. 5) mercbt return'd home, having been here 4 or 5 days. We told (sic) home the same eveng what goods we wanted & he told us how many pieces of each sort he could help us too, to send away by ye first ships, also yt he would send us samples & prices of ye goods.

"Ye 30th Aug. 2 Peons was sent away to Visagatapam, one with the King's commissn to yt consull directed to ye chief of ye old Compa in ye place, ye other to go frm thence direct to ye Nabab's court with a letter writt by ye consull to our Vakeel there to order to send one to give an acct of his arrivall & reception in yt place.

Ye 5th Sept we held. a consultation, wn it was concluded upon to send 2 Peons to Armagan (2 days journey on this side Fort St. George) wth a 1000 Pag, wch was accordingly done ye next day, & 2 Peons wth letters to ye Gover of sd place & 2 merchts of dto place, to order ym to provide goods, & send us patterns & ye prices for our governmt. They had withem [with them] 4 yds crimsn cloth for ye King's rent gatherer there, as also a sword blade for dto, likewise 3 yds crimsn & a sword blade for ye gover Armagan, & to ye merchts 2 yds crimsn to each man, also 2 yds green to Narso Redwood merch.

7th dto betwn 2 & 3 in ye morng Mr. Michl Wats, one of our councill, dyed, after havg layn sick of a flux abt 3 weeks. He was carryed to ye English buryg place betwn 2 & 3 in ye afternoon ye same day.

[Saterday ye ivth 7ber, there was 2 Peuns sent to Suratt wth letters] (fn. 6)

Monday 12th dto betwn 2 & 3 in ye afternoon, Mr. Val. Knightly dyed, he lying sick of a feavor about a week. He was buryed ye next morning in ye English burying place & layn by Mr. Wats aforesaid.

"20 dto arriv'd here Comadore Warren in ye Harwich wth 3 other men of war, with his Excellency Sr Wm Norris, Ambasr from ye King of Engld to ye great Mogul. In ye evening ye consull Mr. Graham went aboard to wait upon his Excellcy wn they were invited to dinner ye Friday after, & ye time being come they went accordingly. Next day being Saterday I went aboard to wait upon his Excellency.

[Ye 24th 7ber one Penn was sent with letters to Fort St. George, among wch were my letters for England enclos'd to Wm. Hatsell, Esq. (fn. 7)

Ye 25th My Lord came ashore abto 10 in ye morng, his retinue being ashore before to receive him. He made a publick entry, he was met by ye Consull & ye rest of ye Factory upon ye bridge, also by Mr Lovell & ye other gentlemen of ye old Compa Factory, ye Moor Gover mett his Excelcy in ye Banksel wth his retinue, & from thence his Lordship went to his lodgings, ye Nawab's house, wth his retinue, as follows: first, went betwn 40 & 50 Peons, then followed ye horeboys & a compa [of] soldiers, yn ye trumpets, after yt my Lords pages, yn Mr. Browne in place of my Lords steward, his own being sick, & ye rest of my Lords assistants, as ye under-secretary, ye treasurer, ye 3 commisrs for Prizes; yn went Comodore Warren & 2 other comdrs of each side, [that is] to say, Capn Littleton on his right & Capn White on his left side, ye other Capn being not well & so not ashore, then came his Excellcy my Lord Ambasr Wm Norris, after him ye Consull Jno. Pitt, Esq., [the] secretary of ye Embassy, Mr. Norris, my Lords bror & then our Secd Mr. Jno. Graham & Mr. Thos. Lovell, chief of ye old Compa Servts in this place after yn myself with—Pitt ye parson of our Factory, after us Mr. Jno. Holden our Secretary & Mr. Nodham ye old Compa Secd, also ye 3rd of sd Factory, yn went Mr. Hale & ye writers every-one in their sevll stations, & after yn some others from aboard ye ships Harwich, Capn Warren Comadre, Angelsea, Capn— Littleton, Hastings, Capn Richd White, & Lizard, Capn—Romsey.

"Ye 23rd 7ber ye consull Jno. Pitt, Esq. & Mr. Jno. Graham went frm hence to Madapolm to treat with the merchants of that place.

"Ye 30th ye 4 men [of] warr sail'd out of this road & gott out of sight, & that morng att 2 o'clock Mr. Blacket, my Lord's steward, dyed of a flux & was buryed in ye afternoon.

1st 8ber at 12 o'clock at night dyed Mr. Cok, Phician to ye Embassy. He was buryed Monday in ye afternoon.

Ye 3 8ber arriv'd at Govdre one servant frm ye Mogull to raise a tax upon ye Gentues, bringg wth him a piece of beef (yt whoso'er eat of ye beef should be freed frm ye tax; but ye Governor ye other officer of this place would not suffer him to raise it till he had an order frm ye Nawab, ye Vice Roy of Golconda.

Ye 7th a messenger arriv'd here frm ye Nawab, who brought news of ye Mogull's sendg a coat to ye sd Nawab, upon wch there was great rejoycing in this place, it being a mark of favour shown to ye Navab by ye great Mogull. We sent ½ maund of powder towds their rejoycing, but ye Dutch sent 2 maund.

Ye 13th ye consull & Mr. Graham return'd from Madapollam. Next day I see ye Gover of Madapm's cowl to us, also an agreement wch they made wth ye merchts there for goods.

Ye 24th I see a letter from ye Gover of Armagen. It gave us incoureagement to trade in ye country. At ye same time I read a translation of ye Vacca Novis's letter to Court concerng my Lord Ambasdr. It was approved on by us.

[Ye 23rd 3 Peons were sent to Suratt wth my Ld Ambass letters. Ye 20th 2 Peons was sent to Bengall wth ye Ld Ambassdrs letters, as also letters from us (fn. 8).]

Ye 1st Nov. ye contract was made betwn us Jno Pitt, Esq., Jno Graham, & Wm Tillard, & ye merchts of Metchlepm to bring in goods of 20458¾ Pag. by ye last of December next.

"Ye 28th 9ber Mr. Luke Bright, surgeon's mate, dyed of a feavor, at 8 in ye morng.

"Ye 3rd Dec. betwn 12 & 1 at night dyed Mr. Philip Pitt ye parson of our factory of a feavor, both supposed to have proceeded first from a great cold they had gotten.

Ye—ditto, ye new Navab made his publick entry through this citty, Metchlepatam. My Lord Ambassr stood in ye gallery to see him come by, & my Lord ordered 21 great guns to be fired as soon as ye Navab was seated in ye Banksoll; ye Navab took no notice of my Lord coming by, neither did my Lord take any notice of him, onely ordered his musick to be sounded all ye while they were passing by.

1700.

'ye 1st of Jan. we recd a letter from Mr. Ben. Newse and Mr. Brook at Suratt, mentionin that Sr [Nic.] Wait came out in ye Mountague a mo before them, but was not yet arrived.

'ye 4h Jan. at 2 in ye mornyg dyed Mr. Rutter, a writer, of ye dropsy, having layn sick a great while.

ye 15th ditto ye President recd letters frm Fort St. George being ye news of Comadore Warren's death upon ye coast of Malabar' (and further letters on the 17th menticning the death of Mr. Guy and others in Bengal and the serious illness of Sir E. Littleton). On the 17th "Vincatadre our chief Dubash was sent to ye Navab for to treat about gitting a Pherwanne [Firman] for ye freedom of trade etc., but when come thither he was detayned by ye justice of this place, upon ye account of ye Lascars, they complaing yt ye Compa owed ym monny. So they forced Vincatadre to stay, or find somebody else to appear as an attcrney in ye Compa behalf. But this was such a disgrace to ye English nation, yt my Lord Ambassr & ye President was verry angry at it, & ordered ye gentlemen & all ye servts to gitt themselves ready to go up to ye Navab & demand Vincatadre. Upon wch order all ye armes were gott ready this night before they went to sleep.

"Ye 18th every one gott himself ready in order to go, viz: ye Presidt & Mr. Graham & all ye rest of ye factory and Mr. Harlwyn & Mr. Mills wth all his Lordship's servants, makeg together abt 40 men, all clothed in red, & well armed, (myself & 2 of ye writers were left at home to keep ye factory). But, as Providence ordered it, ye President & Mr. Graham went first to ye Ambassr for further orders and then 'twas concluded upon yt they would first send an Englishman to ye Navab's, to lett him know yt his Ldship resented it verry highly and withall to tell him yt was contrary to his former promises, & to lett him know yt if he did not reliese Vincratradre immediately he would write up to court & lett them know what an affront they had putt upon ye King of England's Ambassr. For order thereto there was a black man sent to lett ye Navab know yt his Ldship designed to send a message to him to enquire when he would be at leisure, and he returned answer yt his Ldship might send when he pleased, but no sooner was Mr. Mills, ye person agreed upon to send, gone out of ye house but Vincatadre came in, they having reliest him."

Mr. Mills however brought back an apology from the Nawab who withall ordered ye principall Lascar to be severely drubed with a chaabuck, or a splitt bamboe, for making this disturbance. It seems they heard what preparations ye English were making wch I believe was ye reason why they lett Vincatadre depart so soon, for we had news afterwards that ye Navab had ordered spyes to observe what we were adoing & ordered severall partyes of horse out, to give him notice when we were acoming. The letters ye Presidt recd frm Fort St. George yesterday brought news likewise from Achin, that ye people there had chosen an Arabian King & married him to their Queen, & had ordered that ye English there should pay custom, or else depart from thence in eight days; & likewise that there was a Pyrate who had blundered (sic) a Danish ship before Achin, & was gone afterwards (as is supposed) to cruise before ye straits of Malacca.

"Ye 23rd in ye morng arrived here ye Benga, Capn Browne from Bengall bound for Madras & thence to England.

"Ye 5th Feb. arrived ye De Grave Capn Young from Bengall (she left March 15).

"Ye 3rd Aprill Mr Hale, one of ye Compa factors was cleared from ye Compa service, his Excelly desiring him to go up with him to court to look after ye Prests in ye room of Mr. Thorgood, who was sent to England on ship De Grave, he being non compus (sic) mentis.

"Ye 28th March we contracted with Metchln merchants for severall goods to ye amount of 55736¼ Pag., half to be brought in ye last of Aug. next, & ye remdr before ye last of December," (further similar contract on April 2, for 47, 301¼ Pag.).

"Ye 9th April there was a consultatn, present his Excellncy my Lord Ambassd, ye Consull Jno Pitt, Mr. Jno Norris, Mr. Jno Graham, myself, & Mr. Thos Harlewyn, where it was agreed upon & found proper for ye Compa interest yt my Lord Ambassr should begin his journey to court 1st May next following, and that he should not stay for any his equipage, but if not ready to be sent after, & yt ye Consull & his councill should consider how much ye charges of ye Embassy will come to & provide monny for sd charges, as also how many Peons etc. for State attendency will be necessary to go wth my Lord likewise how much monny (or as nigh as can be guessed) has been laid out by ye consull or councill for acct of ye Embassy, also yt ye sd consull and councill should bring in an acct of what priviledges ye English ever enjoyed on this coast, & what more priviledges they shall think fitt to be enjoy'd in order for a free liberty of tradg, also yt they should consider of an interpreter, being disappointed of those gentlemen who were writt to at Fort St. George. An answere to sd perticers was requir'd by his Excellcy to be brought on Saterday next . . . . . . (Note of contract same day for 5,000 additional coarse 'sallampores.')

"Ye 20th betwn 12 & 1 at night, Mr. Syls Phillips dyed in a convulsn fitt after haveg layn some time sick & very weak. Next day his Excellcy & ye consull recd letters from Surratt wch brought news of Sr Nic. Wait's safe arrivall there & of his kind reception frm ye Gover of ye place.

"Ye 23rd the Presidt & his councill recd frm his Excellcy in councill (by hands of Mr Harlewyn) a paper whereon he desired to know ye reason why everything was not ready for his dispatch to court in order to procure Phirmannds [firmans].

"The next day I careyed an answer to ye above paper, to his Excellcy, his brother Mr. Secy Norris being present. This answer was signed by ye President & myself. Mr. Graham was at Madapelm.

"Ye 3rd May we had a consultatn, present his Excellcy, ye consull Jno Pitt Esq., Tho. Norris Esq., and Mr. Jno Graham, Mr. Wm Tillard [the writer], Mr. Tho. Harlewyn, when there was a letter read frm Emaum Koulee, wch brought us news of his being upon ye road, upon wch it was agreed yt there was no reasn to send an Englishman to Golconda, but only 2 or 3 black peons (of wch Emaum Koulee's servt wch brought ye letter to be one), & so soon as they came to Golconda (if Emaum Koulee was not there) they were ordered to gett 300 Koolyes & 100 palenkn boys & to bring ym immediately for this place, but if Emaum Koolee was there, they were to apply themselves to him.

"Ye 12r ye London sailed out of this road on her voyage to Malacca & frm thence to Bengall. Sd ship arrived here from Bengall ye 3rd inst. . . . . . . .

"Ye 27th May Emaum Koulee's son came to town with ye originall Hassal Hukum etc. for convoyg his Excellcy to court. Ye 30th, his Excellcy called a councill to resolve upon ye sum of mony, necessary to be carryed wth him [to] ye camp. The Consull said it would be impossible to procure more than 34,000 Rup. & yt he would give his Excellcy a bill of credit to Golconda to take up there what other sums his Excellcy shall have occasn for . . . . . .

"Ye 29th July died Mr. Arnld Browne stewd of a feavor, abt a week sick. Primo Augt Mr George Peek was recd into ye Compa service as writer. 15th ditto his Excellcy . . . . went aboard ye ship Somers, Capn John Douglas Comdr, for Surratt. He went thro' ye town in great splendour, viz.: first, from ye great house, called King of Golconda's to ye consull's. . . . . He went under ye canopy of ½ a dozen Rundells, on black man to each, ye consull following him wth 2 over his head, then his Excellcy's brother Jno Norris Esq., wth 2 over his head, after him ye councill wch were onely Mr. Jno Graham & myself, ye rest being dead. After ym follow'd ye factors & writers, & all ye English Nation then in town, exceptng ye old Compa servts, wch never would take any notice of ye Ambassr. Before his Excellcy went his gentlemen, Mr. Mills & Mr. Hales, wth Mr. Harlewyn, Paymaster to ye Embassy, who carried ye sword of Justice before his Excellcy, and before ym went all my Lords Livery servts, there going onely 4 by his side; and before ym went a compa of soldiers wch they took out of ye ship, the barge crue (sic) going first of all with velvett caps & coulld wastcoats, well armed. My Lord had ye Union and King's flagg likewise before him, wch he ordered to be burnt so soon as he came into ye Consull's house—I suppose because they were old and torn.

The same day, Mr Graham, ye Secd was marryed to Mrs Charlton, sister to ye Consull's lady. My Lord Ambassd gave her, & so soon as ye ceremony was over, & that we had dined, the Ambassr went down to ye water side (in order to embark) with the same State as before, ye flags excepted, wch were burnt as before mentioned, ye guns firing after he was in ye barge, till he gott to ye island within side ye barr.

"Ye 26th Aug., ye ship Somers departed this road with my Lord Ambassr on board in order to go for Surratt; the reason why his Excelly took this method to go for ye camp was occasioned by ye impudence of ye governrs in & about this town of Metchlepn, who refused givg Dustick & necessary assistance for carryg his prests & retinue over land; and, ye rains coming on, thought he might be sooner to ye Mogull by way of Surratt.

Ye 10th Sept., Mr. Sam1 Woolston was recd into ye Co. service, in ye quality of Merchant. He signed at ye same time an indenture & bond to be true & faithfull to ye English East India Co. trading to ye East Indies.

Ye 19th Sept. Capt. Praver arrived in ye road, & sailed for Fort St. George ye 25th.

Ye 28th June 1700 ye Tankerville Capt. Newman arriv'd in this road & ye Somers Capt. Jno Douglas ye 5th July following, both from England, wch was omitted. . . . .

Ye 9th Oct. Mr. Jno Holden, Secrty departed this life, havg lain sick a great while wth a humour in his side.

1701.

Jan. 2nd arrived in this road ye King William Capt. Braddeel from Bengall & Visagapatam & sailed ye 15th for Fort St. George & from thence to England. . . . . .

Feb. ye 28th, arrived here ye Tankerville . . . . from Bengall, who went afterwards for Madapm Road, from wch place she was despatcht for England ye 16th March follows.

May ye 15th. Mr. Jno Graham, our Secd dyed of a fever in his head att Madapm, occassioned first per ye gout.

June ye 19th, ye Stretham, Capm Rogr Meyers arrived here from England, & ye 14th dto, Capt. Douglas Comdr of ye Somers was despatched to Bengall. He [had] arrived in this road from Surratt ye 22nd May before.

June 27th ye De Grave Captn Wm Young arrived in Madapm Road. She had but 3mo 20days passage from England.

July ye 6th we had news by a letter frm ye Captn & Mr. Niccols of ye sad misfortune of ye ships pinnis wch was oversett comg over ye barr of sd place. In her was Mr. Du Paz & his younger son, & his servt, also Mr. Bernadiston, formerly ye President's prentice, but this voyage designed for Bengall, Mr. Danel Studd, factor for this place, Mr. Mathw Pevison, writer, belonging to this place, who went off ye day before, who were all drowned, also all ye boats crew, except ye two who saved their lives by swimg on board again.

July 9th, sd ship De Grave arrived in this road, & was dispatcht to Bengall ye 31st.

July 18th. Mr. Sam11 Du Paz used some scurrelous words to ye Consull, & held his hand upon his sword as if he were going to draw itt, as I was afterwds told by ye Consull himself, for I was not present wn ye words was spoken.

Ye 22nd. Mr. Sam11 Du Paz & Isaac Abendana signed a £2000 bond to oblidge themselves to all such regulatns as ye Compa has or shall send out conscerning private merchts wch bond was afterwds cancelled by Mr. Isaac Abendana abovesd by ye sd Jno Pitt & Isaac Abendana, but 'twas without my consent as per ye sevr11 papers wch past betwn ye sd Jno Pitt & myself 'twill appear.

Octob. 1st ye Dutchess Capn Raymond Comdr arrived here from Visagapn. Ye 22nd sd ship was dispatchd for Fort St. George & upon her went Mr. Sam11 Du Paz, who had sev11 days before this thrown himself under ye protection of ye old Compa going into ye factory.

Octob. ye 27th we had news from Mr. Orldo Niccols of ye Katherin Capn Wm Holman's arrivall in Masapm Road; ye same night we sent orders for ye Capn to come into this Road, but ye wind blowing fresh he gott not hether till ye 3rd Novbr following in ye afternoon. He came frm England ye 16th May before.

Mr. Orldo Niccols was recd into ye Compa service as factor for one year ye 1st Oct. last, & Mr. Thos. Prichward was recd as a writer ye same day for 5 yrs, but did not sign ye indentures till Novbr . . . . . . . . . .

1702.

The Stretham frigate, Captain Roger Meyers, reached Masulipatam from Bengal the 5th Jan. and left for England the 24th Feb. The Rising Sun, Capt. Arthur Holford arrived there from Canton the 14th Jan., and left April 29th.

"Ye 2nd March in ye evening we reed letter from his Excellcy Sr Wm Norris Ambassr dated ye 8th Feb., that he had recd his dispatch from ye great Mogull, wth a letter & present to ye King of England, & a present to himself; that he was now going to Surratt; and that Gousde Cawn ye Mogull's Generall had promised to send ye Phirmaunds [firmans] after him; and upon ye delivery of sd Phirmaunds to ye Ambassr, he is to pay sd Generall 250,000 Rups. We had news of his Excellencys going for Surratt.

"Ye 31st March, Mr. Sam1 Woolston was discared ye Compa service for speaking scandalous & shamefull words of ye Presidts Lady & her sister Graham, for wch words—and yt there might be a good understandg & union betwn ye Presidt and myself—I consented to his being putt out of ye sd service. Otherwaise ye Compa business would be impeeded by our differences."

News received on April 7 of arrival of the Chamber frigate, Capt. South, bound for China. Robert Glassel was received as a factor the same day.

On June 1, the Charlton, Capt. Goslin, sailed for China with Mr. Beavoir supercargo.

"23rd June recd lettrs from ye Presidt & ye Councill of Surratt . . . . giving an acct of ye Ambassdrs sailing from Surratt to Bombay in ye Scipio, and of ye death of Mr. Jos. Hale on board ye Beng11 Mercht.

"July 27th ye Mary Gally, Capt Chamberlain frm Banjar arrived in this road, upon her Mr. Landen consull and President at sd place, bound for Bengall." (She left Aug. 4th).

"Ye 2nd Aug. about 6 p.m. came into the river ye ship Norris's pinnace wth 37 persons, bringing ye most dismall news of ye Norris's being blown up a little to ye southward of Deue [Divi] point about 4 o'clock ye same afternoon, occasioned by ye carelessness of a person drawg of brandy in ye Lazaretto about 7 in ye morning. The ship burned frm that time till 4 in ye afternoon when she was seen to blow up . . . . . by those which saved themselves in ye pinnace. . . . . . Mr. Wm Anderson, Minister for the Bay, Thos. Talmash, Jno. Story, writers for dto, Edwd Belytha, Purser, etc., etc. There was immediately ordered 2 country boats to search after ye wreck. . . . . ."

The Dolphin, belonging to the old company, sailed for Bengal on the 7th, having arrived from Fort St. George 26th July preceding . . . . . "Ye 10th Aug. ye Hugliana ketch sailed for Bengall, Jne Fountain master. . . . . We writt ye Presidt & Councill at Hugely [Hooghly] per the Ketch.

"Ye 4th Aug. we entertained Miles Crafts, Trumpr in ye Compa service at 5 Pg per Mo.

"Ye 18th, Mr. Thos. Nevile was turned out of his imploymt as steward & paymaster for sliteing [slighting] ye President's orders, he being ordered ye day before . . . . . not to go within ye house of Mrs Goslin, wife to Capn Goslin, where he went within an hour afterwards openly, in defiance to ye sd order. The reason of ye Presidts forbidg him ye sd house was his going thether 2 or 3 times before & once in perticular stayed within the house till between 9 or 10 at night, the permittance of wch would create reflections on ye Presidt etc., she being noted for a woman who allowed too much freedom to ye men . . . . . . . . . .

"Ye 2nd Septbr an order was delivered to Robert Glassell and Matw Waller how to act in quest of ye wreck & to sail immediately . . . . . . Ye 4th they sett saile, in order to ye attaining Dewe point being not able to sett saile before by reason of contrary winds. . . . . .

"Ye 6th ye Presidt recd a Lettr frm ye Directors concerning some orders yt is to be given by him to Comdrs of ships homeward bound wch letter no one was to see or know ye contents thereof beside ye President himself; and ye President & Councill were enjoined per ye Directors in their generall to them to order every Commander homeward bound to follow ye orders given them by the President."

On the 8th letters were received from Robert Glassell as to his progress, and replied on the 9th "ye country people had seen severall dead bodies come on shore." . . . .

"Ye 14th Sept. in ye eveng betwn 4 & 5 our Peons were stopd by those of ye old Compy going by their factory, it being ye Peons feast, att wch time they pretended it was customary to stop all other Peons from coming by their factory. But Mr. Frewen, ye chief of their factory, his pretence for so doing was yt one of our Peons had struck one of theirs, & made him bleed, which Peon he would have ye Presidt punish before he would suffer our Peons to pass. This was ye message sent from Mr. Frewen to ye consull, who sent for answer that he wondred Mr. Frewen would trouble him with such things wn it was the peon's feast, & yt he might happen to receive his bloody nose in ye scuffle betwn themselves, and sent to him not to hinder our Peons frm passing. But he, not regarding ye consull's answer, but still kept our Peons from passing, and, to hinder them, placed his souldiers cross ye street for which reason ye consull sent to ye Doerga, who, after he had sent 2 or 3 messages to Mr. Frewen, came himself & laid a Deray upon his Peons not to stir out of their places; afterwards went to our Peons, who waited for his coming out some distance from ye old factory, whom he brought by said factory to ye consull's house. The fusdar then sent a message to Mr. Frewen, to lett him know that if he did not lett our Peons pass by immediately, he would send and cut off his Peons' heads and Englishmens too, for sd fustar did not yet know yt they were past by already. Afterwards, about 9 o'clock, ye consull recd a message frm ye fusdar to acquaint that he had sent him 10 horsemen & 100 Peons wch were ready att his command, if he had occasion for them . . . . . .

"The Peon yt Mr. Frewen would have had satisffaction from struck ye other Peon in ye scuffle that hapened when their Peons offered to thrust holes thro' our Compy flag, as they went thro' ye Bazaar."

On Tuesday night, 15th, news was received from Madapollam of the death of Orlando Nichols " after having been sick some time of a flux and feavor."

"Thursday ye 17th Sept. at 3 in y e afternoon [I] arrived at Madapollam." Arrival there of small ships, from Masulipatam, on 20th and 21st, "after having sought for ye Norris wreck in vain."

"Ye 30th we solemnised ye death of King Wm, firing 14 guns. Afterwards we rejoiced at ye proclamatn of Queen Ann, firing 15 guns.

"Ye 7th Oct. in ye afternoon arrived ye consull at Madapm. Ye 8th in ye morng arrived here a Suratt Pattamar wth a letter dated ye 3rd Sept. from ye Residt Councill there giving an acct of King Wm's death, wch news they received per a French ship, also an acct of upwards of 150,000 persons drowned in ye Mogull's camp per ye great rains & overflow of a river . . . . . .

"ye 27th Nov. at 2 in ye afternoon I arrived here [Masulipatam] from Madapm . . . . . . ye 29th I delivd Rob. Glessell, Mat. Waller, & Mat. Wood their dispatches & orders here to behave themselves in respect to ye wreck, signed per ye Presidt & myself . . . .

"Ye 15th Dec. arrived in this road the ship Kathern, Capn Sam Croft frm Malacca [Capn Wm Holman ye former Comdr dyed at Johoa [Johore].)

1703.

"Sunday ye 4th Jan. arrived here the Phœnix, Capn Caswell from Bengall bound for Madras and so to England. The 2nd March in ye morning ye Katherine, Capn Sam. Croft sailed out of this road for London, on board her as passengs Thos. Nevile and Geo. Peek.

"Ye 7th April we sett out frm Metchlm on our journey to Daurampaw [Dharapuram] in quest of ye Norris's wreck, viz., ye Presidt & myself wth Anto Suphy our Surgn & Mr. Raworth wth 3 other Englishmen, 8 Portugse, & ye rest Peons etc., black servts about 200 in all, beside Koolys & Kowrys.

"Ye 9th in ye morng we came to Pettepollee 6 lgs Gentui from Metchlm. We stayed at this place but 4 hours. Here we had like to have fallen foul of ye Haveldare. The occasion was as follows:—

The Armenian who had before writt us of his having seen ye wreck was come in with his vessell to this place & when ye Presidt arrived here came to see him. We had not been together above ½ an hour but ye Haveldar came wth all ye Peons he could muster to see ye Presidt when he was treated wth all ye respect due to him. We layed a carpet down upon ye grass for him & a Pallankin cushion to lean upon. The President and myself sitting in each our Pallankins; and I askt ye Armenian to sett down by me in ye Pallankin, wch, it seems, ye Haveldar so much resented—because he himself satt upon ye ground—that he tipt a wink to his head officer, who gave this Armenn a punch wth his sword, bes in ye scabbard, on his breast. The Armenian knew ye reason of it & immediately satt upon ye ground. But ye Presidt would not putt it up so, but enquired after ye reason of his so doing, which when he came to understand he, in a great heat, said ye Armenian was his guess (sic) & yt he should sitt were (sic) he pleased. And after a great many hott words, ye Haveldar was forced to order his officer yt struck ye Armenian to rise and begon—who before satt on ye left hand of ye Presidt. And by his so doing all was at peace again.

"Saturday noon we arrived at Yantapollam, ye next day being ye 11th, in ye morng we gott to Daurampar, wch is 5 leags Gentue to ye south of Pettepolee. The same day, we went to Alloer where we arrived abt 3 in ye afternoon, wch place is under ye goverment of Doud Cawn, Metchm government reaching no further then Dauramparr & Vellegapundee wch latter lyes 1 Gent. lg beyond ye Alber. About 9 at night we returned to Dauramparr, where we arrived ye next morning early, when we made us harbours to keep us from ye sun and wind. The reason of our coming back was for the conveniency of water & rice— otherwise we designed for Carreera wch lyes 3 lg Gentue to ye southwd of Daurampar, & is on ye sea shore. This place of Dauramparr being 2 miles English up in ye country & lyes by a freshwater river, wch is deep enough for vessels of 200 tons, but ye entrance over ye barr is butt 3 covs at low and 4½ covs. at high water.

"Ye 16th Aprill one of ye head Rajarrs by ye hills came to see ye Presidt, bringg a shawl in his hand. The 21st we recd lettrs from Metchlm bringg an acet of Rustindill Cawn's publick entry at that place.

"Ye 8th May Presidt Pitt was taken wth an apoplectick fitt betwn 3 & 4 in ye afternoon, of which he dyed about 5 hours & a half after[Next day] 3 o'clock we buryed him & after we had done so, began our journey back to Metchlm where we arrived ye 12th May in ye morng early."

The Halifax, Capt. Hudson arrived from Canton June 23rd and sailed for Bengal July 27th. The Silvan, Capt. Chamberlain, arrived from Batavia, in 5 weeks, July 28th.

Ye 17th Aug. all ye English in ye place exceptg these in yt old factory went to Polleram, 1 lg Gent. from this place, to meet ye Presidts Corps, brought thither from Dauramparr. We returned in ye eveng to Goodre, from whence we walkt to ye English garden, where we interred ye corps abt 8 that night.

Ye 25th ye Dolphin sailed for Fort St. George—on her Mrs. Pitt & her family."

31st Decbr (sic) recd a Packett from Fort St. George bringg an acct of ye arrival of ye Tavestock there ye 14 dto from England, ye first ship arrived belonging to ye united Compa.

Ye 6th Sept. Mr. Danl Cole, factor, dyed affter some weeks sickness . . . . . . . . .

Ye 25th dto, in ye evening, sett out frm Metchlm in order to go to Fort St. George overland, being necessitated thereto by ye impetuous clamours of ye Merchts for ye money owing them by ye Compa. (fn. 9)

"Ye 26th Sept. we arrived at Trimaneer fort abt 10 in ye morng & abt ½ an hour after at Nerracoedre & the next day we began to pass the river wch we were 3 days in doing having but 3 sangarees, & ye river very broad & ye freshes coming down. When we were over I sent to Tripatee for a boat to pass over ye other river about an hour's journey from us, but he put us off from time [to] time, so that we found he designed us a trick. But his enemy lying on ye other side of sd river, whom he was afraid of, he lent us a country boat to repass ye river we came over, which we did October 1, and having endeavoured all ways to gitt forwd on our journey & all in vain because of ye partys of robbers that lay on ye road, I writt ye 4 dto to Metchlm for ye Compa Country Bt wch we mett att Baherlanca ye 7th dto, and ye same day went down ye river in her as far as Chippaleer, designg for Pettepolle, but hearg from ye country people of that place that Pettepolle was also in trouble thro fear of ye robbers, we resolved to go over ye Barr of ye river, & so to go to Dauramparr by sea. Accordingly we sailed frm Chippaleer ye 8th . . . & gott over ye Barr to ye southward of Pettepolle point . . . . & next morng . . . . came before Dauramparr, but having a fair wind & fine weather we resolved to go as far as Kisnapatam river where we arrived safe ye 10. . . . We run a great hazard 'tis true, in going in an open boat at this time of ye year, & so many people in her, viz: 3 English beside myself, & between 100 & 110 blacks, and with us we had a great deal of lumber amongst wch were 3 Pallankins beside Doolys. But we were forced to do as we did, else must have returned back to Metchlepm.

"Ye 11th Oct, in ye morng we went frm ye sd river over land to Duhraspatam, where we arrived in ye eveng. The 12th in ye morng we left Duhras . . . . . . and arrived at Pollicat ye next day, & came to Ulwra.

"Ye 14th . . . . . . . . we arrived at Trigature [Tiruchendur], about an hour and a halfs journey to ye northwd of Fort St. George. Abt. 2 in ye afternoon we went fro thence to Narraiads garden, where we arrived an hour afterwards, where we mett wth Mr. Wright & Mr. Raworth, 2 of ye Council of Fort St. George. We slept abt 2 hours at sd garden & arrived at ye Gov's garden abt 5 in ye eveng, the Govr made us very welcome.

1705.

"Ye 25, Feb. 1704/5. I went on board ye Duchess, Capt. Hugh Raymond, Comdr, bound for London, belonging to ye united Compa. The next day morng very early we sett saile out of ye road of Fort St. George, in company with the Chambers frigate, Capt. South comdr belonging to ye old Compa, & ye Marlborough Capt. Minter comdr, belong to ye seperate stock, both bound for London" . . . . . .

Storms were the only incidents in the voyage home till May 27, when the ship anchored in the road of St. Helena.

"Ye 15th July in ye evening ye Comadore fired a gun as a signal for all ye ships to weigh anchor, wch was done, & we sailed frm St. Helena abt 10 ye night, in compa with ye Tavestock Capn Martin, Chambers frigate Capu South, Samuel & Ann Capn— ye Scipio Capn Burrish from Bengall ye Kent Capn Harrison from China ye Anna Capn Kelly frm Bencoole; ye Rochester Capn Stanes from Surratt, ye Sidney from Fort St. George, ye Marlborough Capn Minter from China, but last from Fort St. George, also 5 men of warr, viz.: ye Kingfisher ye Comadore Ship, ye Dartmouth Capn Cock, ye Burlington Capn Hosier, yeScarborough Capn—ye Severn Capn— also a French ship taken per ye Dartmouth in her outwd bound voyage. Our whole fleet from St. Helena consisted of 16 ships.

"Ye 23rd July in ye morng we came to an anchor at ye Island Ascencion & sett saile again ye next day eveng . . . . . .

"Ye 31st we came up wth a small ship belongg to ye Portugz from Brasile bound to ye Guinea coast to buy slaves . . . . .

"Friday ye 28th Sept. 1705 verry early in ye morning we came to an anchor before Kingsale."

J. H. Round.

Footnotes

  • 1. Nephew to Sir William Hedges. See "Diary of William Hedges" Ed. Yule, II. pp. cxcvii–cxcix.
  • 2. See 13th Report, App. III., p, 2.
  • 3. Ibid., p. 1.
  • 4. See letter from Robert Pitt, Ibid., p. 3.
  • 5. Madapallam the weaving town, where the goods were made.
  • 6. Entered on a later fo.
  • 7. Entered in a later fo.
  • 8. Entered on the following fo.
  • 9. See 13th Report, App. III., p. 14.