THE KING’S AGENT MAKES A SUBMISSION TO THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT on West Indies Trade

Two page letter arguing for the creation of a sort of freeport on Grand Turk in the West Indies in order to permit trade in ‘Flour, Fish, Lumber, Provisions of all sorts and British Manufactured Goods’ even if carried by ‘French and Spanish Craft from their respective colonies.’

Double sided letter on a single sheet of paper with old folds; horizontal chainlines; 48 lines in total, signed by ‘Andrew Symmer’. In his letter Symmer asks for the lifting of British navigation restrictions that were hampering trade in the West Indies and damaging the British exchequer in an attempt to penalise the old enemies, France and Spain and protect British interests: ‘And as from the convenience of One of his Majesties Bahama Islands called Turks Islands, to the French and Spanish Settlement on St Domingue [Haiti] and Cuba it is proposed to be One of the Ports for the Admission of Foreign Craft under such Restrictions as may be deemed proper.’ In order to enforce this new regime - ‘for the present protection of the settlers on Turks Island’ - Symmer sets out plans and costings for a construction of a new fort.

Andrew Symmer was an affluent trader and member of the Bahamas Council who had diplomatic experience when he was appointed King’s Agent at Turks Islands in March 1766 with a mandate to assist British subjects and to support trade, a unique role in the British Empire. This document shows him fulfilling his brief to the letter. The port of Grand Turk became a Mecca for American free traders during the late 1760s before a clamp down by Governor Shirley in 1770 but this letter is a response in particular to the British Navigation Acts.