Extracts from The
Madras Diary and Consultation Book 1693,
p76, 8th May.
The Assay Master reports the assay of five fan of ffort
St David deliver’d him the 29th past to be
4¼ Matt
Madras Diary and Consultation Book 1693,
p148, 26th October.
The gold fanams delivered to the mint the matt being assayed by the mint
Braminy is reported by him to bee
4 matt 5/16 and by the Assay Master better than 4 1/8. It is supposed the same
will serve best to be coined into great fanams at ffort
St David.
Letters to
Letter from
Some time ago we wrote to the President and Council of Fort St George
for a parcel of fanams single double & treble to disperse among the Malays
which will be acceptable service as we cannot procure hardly any of the round
estimates. If your worship can therefore supply us with about four thousand
dollars enough of these sorts, we request you will do it by the first
conveyance, as well as with about five hundred dollars worth
of copper cash, such as the Malabars and Moors call
Bencoolen cash.
Letters to
From
It is the utmost concern to us to find that no money passes your port to
our assistance and having supplied your settlement to the utmost of our power,
we are induced to inform you that it is impossible for us to proceed any
further in such aid to you or to carry on our Honble Masters affairs here
unless you send us a very large supply out of the treasure that shall arrive
with you from Europe. When you receive such a supply we desire you will send as
large a part of what you design us in rupees as may be soon procurable for our
necessities will not admit of delay. Therefore what cannot be turned soon into
rupees must be sent us in bullion, though the shroffs here have reduced the
price of bullion so low that it will be most for our Honble Master’s interest
to have it coined with you if it can be done expeditiously.
Letters to
From
The fanams you were pleased to send us, not being of the proper sort, we
have now returned them according to your order, and have enclosed you a muster
of the sort we request you to send us by the first conveyance 9Vi.) to the
amount of about six or eight thousand dollars with the fanams ( of which 400
makes a dollar) to the amount of four or five hundred dollars.
Letters from
Letter to John Forster, President,
On the arrival of the ships we immediately set about coining the silver
into rupees and we expect to have a quantity ready to send to you in a few days
by the Prince William and a further sum by the True Briton in a short time after,...
Letters from
To John Forster, President Fort William.
We have sent you already 40 chests of rupees by the Prince William &
True Briton & what more treasure we can spare from our own occasions when
we get it coined we shall not be dilatory in forwarding to you.
Letters from
To William Barwell, President,
We doubt not long before this the Lively must have arrived with you, by
whom you will have been acquainted with our reasons for being so silent and not
having sent you any more treasure. We have now a quantity coined into rupees
which we shall forward to you by some of our Honble Masters ships…
Letters from
To Richard Prince, Chief,
We wrote you a few days past by His Majesty’s ship, Medway’s Prize, a
duplicate whereof you will receive herewith, and this comes by our Honble
Master’s ships Exeter and Winchelsea on whom we have laden a supply of thirty
two thousand (32,000) Madras pagodas to be equally divided between your
settlement and Ingeram, & 16,000 rupees for the expenses of your garrison
and as soon as we can procure gold to get more coined, we shall send you a
further supply of pagodas.
Letters from
To Thomas Saunders, Resident at Ingeram.
…We now send a supply of 16,000
Letters from
To Joseph Hurlock, Deputy Governor,
We have received the fanams and cash you returned us by the Brilliant
Snow and now send you on this ship fanams to the amount of 3445 Pags 2 Fas 22 Cash, and cash to
87 Pags 10 Fas 16 Cash…
Letters to
From
We shall send Mr John Andrews what rupees we can spare, but must request
you will please to supply us with rupees 50000 and
Letters from
To William Barwell, President,
On the 28th ult arrived here His Majesty’s ship the Tartar…
the former had on board sixty chests of treasure for your Presidency… and as it
will be so great an advantage to our Honble Masters to coin it into rupees
here, upon our application to Mr Boscawen to have the same landed, he
immediately consented thereto, and we are now coining it into rupees as also
part of the 50 chests we received by the Pelham fifteen chests of which we now
send you on this vessel and fifteen on this ship Fort William and as fast as we
can get it coined, a further supply thereof.
Letters to
From
We have laden on board this vessel the utensils for the mint master as
per invoice and bill of lading herewith sent.
Letters from
To Thomas Saunders, Chief,
The supply of cash you requested shall be sent you, the rupees by the
next conveyance and the
Letters from
To William Barwell, President,
The mint utensils by the Prs. Augusta were duly received, as also the sundrys you sent us by her.
Letters from
To Thomas Saunders,
Agreeable to what we wrote you in our last, we now send you on the Tryall Snow five thousand, 5000,
Letters to
From Fort St George 30th May 1750
We have now to request Your Honour etc that a chest of silver may be
coined into fanams and sent us, the scarcity of this money occasioning great
murmurs amongst our military…
We must likewise beg to be furnished with about twenty or thirty candies
of copper doodoes and cash.
Letters to
From
… and we take liberty to repeat our request for the supply of fanams and
copper cash…
Letters from
To Richard Prince, Deputy Governor,
We shall by the first conveyance supply you with some fanams, which,
however, must as usual be delivered out at thirty six for a pagoda. We shall
likewise send you five or six candies of doodoes and
cash, which we are well convinced, will be as many as you can possibly have
occasion for.
Letters to
From
As the officers are desirous of receiving their pay in rupees, as
before, we shall find it difficult to issue the large quantity of fanams
brought us by the York in the manner Your Honour etc direct, but it has however
had this good effect of lowering the price of that money and thereby quitting
the murmurs of the military.
Letters from
To Richard Prince,
The 70 chests of treasure by the
Letters to
From
A supply of Madrass pagodas and rupees will
greatly forward our investment
Letters from
To Adam Dawson, President,
… the Benjamin has likewise brought out for your use eighty six chests
of bullion some of which, we apprehend, shall be obliged to send you in that
specie as our Honble Masters have limited our stay he to only ten days, but
during that interval we shall use all possible expedition in getting as much
coined into rupees we can & will dispatch to your Honor etc
Letters from
To Richard Prince,
In regard to the pay of your garrison, we consent to them having 12 fans
for each rupee agreeable to what you have promised, till such time we can
procure pags sufficient to pay them in that specie.
[the garrison was in a ‘mutinous disposition’]
Letters to
From
If the five or six candies of copper cash and doodoes
formerly promised us be ready for us, you will please to send them the first
opportunity, being in great want of small money as well fro
the military as for out poorer inhabitants.
Letters from
To Richard Prince,
We have received your letter of the 11th and are glad to hear
your military give you no further reason to complain of their behaviour. What
copper cash and doodoes can be got ready shall be
sent by the Swallow, but our mint people have been so fully employed that we
have not been able to coin any hitherto.
Letters from
To Joseph Hurlock, Deputy Governor,
On the Brilliant we now send you such wares and stores as we have ready
as per invoice and bill of lading enclosed, with two chests of new milled
dollars, which we hope will remove the difficulties you mention.
Letters to
From
If we are to continue paying the military in fanams we shall want a
further supply of that money by the end of next month…
Letters to
From
The letter suggests that the ship Britannia should take 30 chests of
bullion to Fort St David to be coined into rupees before being sent to