British Commissariat document trunk, [circa 1765]

Summary

Creator:

Anonymous

Abstract:

This 82 x 43 x 36 cm wooden document trunk, dating from around 1765, includes a hand-wrought iron lock, reinforcement bands, corner tips, and fancy handles. Its interior is grooved for the placement of three removable wooden panels, one of which is present. Contemporary manuscript lettering on the interior left side of the lid reads "Commissariat / on His Majs: Acct / from Mr Oswald" and on the right "Papers / for the Germn: Army / May 1766 / accounts – [A?] & B."

Extent:

1 item

Language:

English

Authors:

Collection processed and finding aid created by Cheney J. Schopieray, March 2024

Background

Scope and Content:

This 82 x 43 x 36 cm wooden document trunk, dating from around 1765, includes a hand-wrought iron lock, reinforcement bands, corner tips, and fancy handles. Its interior is grooved for the placement of three removable wooden panels, one of which is present. Contemporary manuscript lettering on the interior left side of the lid reads "Commissariat / on His Majs: Acct / from Mr Oswald" and on the right "Papers / for the Germn: Army / May 1766 / accounts – [A?] & B."

A January 9, 1861, note by Philadelphia lawyer Henry J. Williams indicates that the trunk was seized by the French as a prize during the American Revolution, and that his father Jonathan Williams brought it to the United States when returning from his service as acting U.S. Consul at Nantes. Mid-twentieth-century paper tags indicate that the trunk was one of three from the estate of Henry J. Williams' son-in-law Alexander Biddle, discovered after the death of Biddle's son Lynford Biddle in 1941, and sold by Parke-Bernet Galleries in 1943.

Biographical / Historical:

No biographical or historical note is available for this finding aid.

Acquisition Information:

Gift of Carmen D. Valentino, Philadelphia Antiquarian Bookseller, 2020. M-8084 .

Custodial History:

See this finding aid's scope and content note.

Arrangement:

The collection is a single trunk, containing one removable divider and auction tags.

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Subjects

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Subjects:

Privateering--France--History--18th century.
Prizes (Property captured at sea)
Seven Years' War, 1756-1763--Campaigns--Germany.

Formats:

Document trunks.

Names:

Great Britain. Army--Commissariat.
Williams, Jonathan, 1750-1815.
Williams, Henry Jonathan, 1791-1879.

Places:

United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Prizes, etc.