[Dinwiddie, Robert]:

$2,850 · Offered by William Reese Company

[MANUSCRIPT BRITISH ROYAL COMMISSION ON VELLUM APPOINTING ROBERT DINWIDDIE AS INSPECTOR GENERAL OF CUSTOMS FOR THE COLONIES OF BARBADOS AND THE LEEWARD ... This manuscript British royal commission appoints Robert Dinwiddie to the position of inspector general of customs for the colonies of Barbados and the Leeward Islands. It was issued near the beginning of a long career as a colonial administrator that saw Dinwiddie ardently root out financial corruption in the British colonies in the Caribbean and would eventually culminate in his appointment as lieutenant governor of Virginia. As Virginia's acting governor he would play a crucial role on the colonial frontier in the early years of the French and Indian War.Dinwiddie came from a family of traders and merchants, and in 1727 he was made collector of customs for Bermuda. In 1738 his purview was expanded, and he was appointed surveyor-general of the Royal Customs for the Southern Part of America, which included the Bahamas, Jamaica, and the American colonies from Pennsylvania southward. The present commission was issued just a year later and appoints Dinwiddie as inspector general of duties for Barbados and the Leeward Islands, including investigating the "Dutys of Four and a half percent payable to His Majesty." Dinwiddie had uncovered customs frauds in Barbados and the Leeward Islands in 1738, and this commission officially invests him with powers "for examining into the behavior and conduct of the Surveyor General, the Coll

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