House of Commons Journal Volume 7: 9 September 1652

Thursday, 9th of September, 1652.

Prayers.

Army.

ORDERED, That the Committee, to whom the Petition of the Officers of the Army is referred, do make their Report to the Parliament on Tuesday Morning next.

Recalling Seamen.

Colonel Thompson reports Amendments to the Act for Calling home English Seamen and Mariners: Which were Twice read; and, upon the Question, assented unto.

The Question being put, That this Act be ingrossed;

It passed with the Negative.

And the said Act, so amended, being put to the Question, passed. And it is

Ordered, That the said Act be forthwith printed and published.

Prohibiting Correspondence with Holland.

An Act, prohibiting all Correspondence with the States General and People of the United Provinces, was this Day read the First and Second time; and, upon the Question, committed to the Committee of the Navy.

Fee-farm Rents.

Mr. Garland reports Amendments to the further Additional Act for Sale of the Fee farm Rents: Which were Twice read, and, upon the Question, assented unto.

The Question being put, That this Bill, so amended, be ingrossed;

It passed with the Negative.

And the said Act, so amended, being put to the Question, was assented unto. And it is

Ordered, That the said Act be forthwith printed and published.

Hamilton's Claims.

Mr. Scott reports from the Council of State:

IN Pursuance of the Order of Parliament, of the 29th of June last, in the Case of Mrs. Hamilton, and her Children, referring it to this Council, to state the Debt in the Report in that Order mentioned, and to consider how the same might be satisfied, and how Reparations might be made to the said Mrs. Hamilton, and her Children, for the Loss of her Husband, out of the Estate of the Lord Eglinton, or other Estates in Scotland, for Maintenance of her and her Children; and to report the same to the House:

The Council have considered of the Matters to them referred; and do humbly offer their Opinion therein to the Parliament, in the Report annexed; and have ordered, &c.

The State of the Debt, due from the State to Archibald Hamilton, deceased, not claimed by any Creditor, by his Widow Mrs. Mary Hamilton, for herself and Children.

IN the Year 1642, Archibald Hamilton, upon the Order of both Houses of Parliament, intituled, An Order, made by both Houses of Parliament, for the bringing of Corn, Meal, and other Victuals whatsoever, into the several Parts of Dublyn, Carikfergus, Youghall, and Londonderry, did, by Encouragement thereof, and at the special Instance and Request of Sir Wm. Stuart, sell, at reasonable Rates, and deliver unto the said Sir Wm. Stuart, for the Use of his Regiment, Peas, Rye, Meal, and other Victuals, to the Value of Eight hundred and Nine Pounds Two Shillings and Sixpence; as by the Certificate under the said Sir Wm. Stuart, and Richard Thornton, then Mayor of Londonderry, their Hands and Seals, dated at Castle-Cunningham, December 26th, 1642, appears; by Certificate also under the Hands and Seals of the said Sir Wm. Stuart, Sir Robert Stuart, and Richard Thornton, then Mayor of Londonderry, dated June 1, 1643, and directed to the then House of Commons, assembled in Parliament, in reference to an Order of the then Committee of Irish Assairs, dated March the 14th, 1642, to give the said Committee the Particulars of the Sum of Six hundred and Sixty-two Pounds Two Shillings and Sixpence, certified by them to the then House of Commons, dated December the Second 1642, to be delivered in Provisions by the said Hamilton, for the Use of the several Regiments in the North Part of Ireland, and the Rates of those Particulars.

It appears, that the said Hamilton did deliver to the said Sir Wm. Stuart, for the Use of his Regiment, in Provisions, to the Value of Three hundred and Thirtyone Pounds One Shilling; and to Sir Robert Stuart, for the Use of his Regiment, in Provisions, to the Value of Three hundred and Thirty-one Pounds One Shilling; in all, to the Sum of Six hundred and Sixty-two Pounds Two Shillings.

It appears also, by a Petition of Mary Hamilton, Relict to Archibald Hamilton, deceased, to the Commissioners of the Revenue of the Province of Ulster, that the said Hamilton delivered, for the Use of the Lord President of Connaught, for the Publick, Sixty Barrels of Herrings at Twenty-two Shillings the Barrel; and that Captain Philip Tayler had also Six Poundsworth of Sheaf Corn from him at the Beginning of the Siege of Londonderry, by the Scotts; and for which she saith, that her said late Husband received no Satisfaction: To whom the said Commissioners returned an Answer, that they were not impowered to pay any Debts of that Nature; and, if that they were, yet they had no Money: And therefore referred the Petitioner elsewhere to obtain her Desires, as, by their Order unto the said Petition, dated the 29th of October 1652, and subscribed Thomas Nuburgh, Robert Parker, Ralph King, appears; the Whole amounting to the Sum of One thousand Five hundred and Forty-three Pounds Five Shillings; which Monies are claimed by the said Mrs. Hamilton for herself and Children, and no other appears to have any Title thereunto.

Besides which Sum, during the Time of the LordGeneral Cromwell being in Scotland, the said Hamilton brought a Ship with Commodities from Ireland into Dunbarton Fryth, where it was seized, to the Value of Six or Seven hundred Pounds, by the King of Scotts Command, upon Suspicion of the said Hamilton's Intentions to relieve therewith the Parliament's Forces under the Command of the Lord-General, as Mr. Maylin, the LordGeneral's Secretary, saith he was informed by the said Hamilton at Edenburgh; who, he saith, also told him, that he brought the said Goods for the Relief of the said Forces. By a Copy of a Certificate also, signed by Fifteen of the Commissioners and Commanders of the NorthWest Parts of Ulster, it is said, that the said Hamilton did, out of his more than ordinary Zeal and Affections to the Relief of that Country, seasonably, punctually, and to much hazard to his Person and Goods, not only deliver all the Provisions that he had contracted for, to the Value of Five thousand Pounds, but Eight hundred Pounds-worth more also; though, they say, he had slow Payment for some of his Commodities, and unseasonable Weather for his Discouragement; for whose Service in that kind they express much Gratitude, and commend him to both Houses of Parliament for Payment and Preferment: Which Sums seem to comprehend the other Sums formerly mentioned.

It is also alleged by Mary Hamilton, that, when she married the said Hamilton, in the Year 1642, she was then Widow of Wyborn Alford, a Dutchman, sometimes Mayor of Londonderry, by whom she had Two Children, and who left her worth, in Money, Plate, Hides, Salt, Deal Boards, Pitch, Tar, Lead, &c. near Three thousand Pounds Value; as appears also by a Certificate of Griffen Howard, sometime Mayor of Colraine, appears; and who saith, that he heard Captain William Holland, who was intrusted with the Granting of Letters of Administration, and Probate of Wills, declare as much; out of which the Two Children, which she had by him, were to have Portions; in Consideration of which, she saith, that nothing hath been made over to her: And that, at the Time of the said Hamilton's Decease, he left the said Mary, and her Six Children (Four of whom she had by the said Hamilton), without any Lands, or Goods, or Money, to live upon, save a House and a little Houshold Goods, left her by her former Husband Alford, which her Servant selleth, to buy the Children Bread and Necessaries; she having waited here Eight Months in great Want upon this Business.

The Debt to Mr. Hamilton being thus stated, amounting to the Sum of One thousand Five hundred and Forty-three Pounds Five Shillings, besides the Ship and Goods lost in Scotland, to the Value of Six or Seven hundred Pounds, and the Loss of his Life; being executed at Sterling for his Service to this State, by Command of the Scotts King, the last Year.

The Council, in point of Reparation for the said Debt, Loss of Ship and Goods, and the Life of the said Hamilton, to Mrs. Hamilton, and her Children, having considered of the same, according to the Order of Parliament, are humbly of Opinion, that the Parliament may be pleased to settle upon the said Mrs. Hamilton, and her said Children, Lands of Inheritance to the Value of Five hundred Pounds per Annum, out of the Estates in Scotland of the Lord Mountgomery, Son to the Earl of Eglington, whom the said Hamilton occasioned to be apprehended, and of Lieutenant General David Lesley, who are (as is informed) chief Causes of the said Hamilton's being put to Death: The said Lands to be apportioned in Form following; viz. To George Hamilton, eldest Son to the said Archibald Hamilton, aged about Four Years, Inheritance to the Value of Two hundred Pounds per Annum; upon Frederick Hamilton, the youngest Son of the said Hamilton, aged about Two Years and a half, Inheritance to the Value of Two hundred Pounds per Annum; upon John, Son of the said Mrs. Mary Hamilton by her former Husband Alford, aged Fourteen Years, Lands of Inheritance to the Value of One hundred Pounds per Annum.

That, out of the said Five hundred Pounds per Annum, Portions be raised for the Three Daughters; viz. For Sidney Hamilton, aged Eight Years, Three hundred Pounds; for Elizabeth Hamilton, aged Five Years, Three hundred Pounds; and for Mary, Daughter of the said Mrs. Hamilton, by her First Husband Alford, aged Twelve Years and a half, Three hundred Pounds; to be paid them when they shall come to their respective Ages of Eighteen Years apiece.

That the said Mary Hamilton have One hundred Pounds a Year allowed her, during her Life, as a Jointure, out of the Four hundred Pounds a Year proposed to be settled on George and Frederick, Sons of the said Archibald Hamilton, to be raised equally out of the said Four hundred Pounds per Annum. That none of the Sons aforementioned shall be possessed of the Lands proposed to be settled upon them, till the said Sum of Nine hundred Pounds be raised for Portions for the Three Daughters.

That the said Mary Hamilton have the Charge of the said Children, and receive the Profits of the Five hundred Pounds per Annum, for her and their Maintenance, and for the Raising of the said Nine hundred Pounds for the Three Daughters; and that, after the Raising of the said Daughters Portions, and the Attainment of the Sons to their several Ages of Twenty Years apiece, that the said Sons be respectively put into Possession of the Lands to them intended to be conveyed as aforesaid, charged with the said One hundred Pounds a Year to the said Mrs. Hamilton, as is afore-mentioned; and that, upon settling the said Lands, the said Mrs. Hamilton give in good Security to some sit Persons in Two thousand Pounds Bond, to perform the Trust aforesaid.

And whereas the said Mrs. Hamilton is in present Distress, with her Children, and cannot presently be put into the Possession of the said Lands, so as to receive Benefit thereby, that the Sum of Five hundred Pounds in Money be provided for her, for the present Relief and Support of herself and Children, out of such Revenue as the Parliament shall please to appoint.

The State of the Debt owing by Archibald Hamilton, deceased, to Richard Finlaw and Robert English, for which the Executors of Mr. Frost, lately deceased, stand engaged in Four thousand Pounds Bond, in the Behalf of the Commonwealth.

Hamilton's Claims.

ARCHIBALD Hamilton, late of Milburne, near Edenburgh, in Scotland, deceased, did, between the 1st of September and the last of November, in the Year 1642, according to a Contract made with Mr. Gualter Frost the elder, then Commissary of Provisions for Ireland, dated August the 8th, 1442, lately deceased, deliver into the Custody of William Whittaker, Deputy Commissary of Provisions for the North Part of Ireland, several Proportions of Oatmeal, Rye and Peas, to the Value of Two thousand Nine hundred Sixty-four Pounds Six Shillings and Six-pence; and laid out Money for Landing and Cellarage for the said Provisions, before they were delivered into the Custody of the said Whittaker, the Sum of Fifteen Pounds Sixteen Shillings; and for Demurrage, the Sum of Fifty Pounds; in all the Sum of Three thousand Thirty Pounds Two Shillings and Six-pence; in part of which Sum Mr. Frost, aforesaid, in his Life-time, paid presently, upon the Contract, the Sum of Five hundred Forty Pounds, and entered into a Bond of Four thousand Pounds, to make good the aforesaid Contract; of which Sum of Three thousand Thirty Pounds Two Shillings and Six-pence, there appears to have been paid only the aforesaid Sum of Five hundred Forty Pounds; but it appears, by what the said Gualter Frost declares, that, for the Payment of the Residue of the Money, viz. Two thousand Four hundred Ninety Pounds Two Shillings and Sixpence, there was a Warrant issued forth, by the Committee whom it then concerned, upon the Treasury then in Guildhall, London: Yet before the said Money, or any Part thereof, was paid, the Parliament commanded all the Treasury in the said Guildhall to be employed for other Uses, notwithstanding any former Warrants granted thereupon.

This being the State of those Debts, for which Mr. Gualter Frost stood bound, it is humbly offered, as the Opinion of the Council, to the Parliament, that the said Gualter Frost Executors be saved harmless from the said Engagements; and that the same be satisfied out of some Lands in Ireland, growing due for Provisions delivered for the Relief of the Forces in that Nation.

Ordered, by the Parliament, That, in Satisfaction of the Debt of One thousand Five hundred Forty-three Pounds and Five Shillings, due to Archibald Hamilton, deceased, and for the Loss of his Ship and Goods, and all other Demands of the said Mary Hamilton his Wise, for Monies due from the Parliament to her said Husband, and in respect of the Loss of his Life, Lands of Inheritance of the yearly Value of Six hundred Pounds, out of the Estates in Scotland of the Lord Mountgomery, Son to the Earl of Eglinton, and of Lieutenant General David Lesley, be settled upon the said Mary Hamilton and her Children, in the said Report mentioned, and their Heirs, in such Manner and in such Proportions, as the Council of State have apportioned in this Report; reserving out of the same the yearly Rent of One hundred Pounds to this Commonwealth.

Resolved, by the Parliament, That the Commissioners for managing the Affairs in Scotland, do settle the said Lands, according to the former Vote; and that Mr. Speaker do write a Letter to the said Commissioners for settling of the same, accordingly.

Wallop's Estate.

Ordered, That the Act enabling Mr. Wallop to make Sale of some Lands for Payment of his Debts, be read on Wednesday Morning next.

Fowke's Claims.

The House, this Day, resumed the Debate upon the Report made from the Committee, the 27th of February 1651, touching Alderman Fowke's Reparations for his Sufferings in 3 Caroli: Which was now read; as also the Report from the Committee of the Navy, the 22th of August 1649.

Ordered, That it be referred to the Members of this House, being of the Council of State, to take into Consideration the Case of Alderman Fowke touching his Sufferings in 3 Caroli; and to hear him therein; and to consider of a sit Sum for his Satisfaction; and of some fitting Way how such Sum may be satisfied; and report their Opinions therein to the Parliament, in order to his Satisfaction.