1749 Gentleman's Magazine - Halifax, Nova Scotia - George Anson's World Voyage

Description

A rare and early monthly issue of the Gentleman's Magazine published in London for September 1749
This venerable publication, the first to use the term "magazine", was founded in 1731 and continued uninterrupted for almost 200 years - see below. The magazine is full of domestic reports, essays, editorials, foreign news, poetry, new books, weather, births and deaths etc.
This edition of 44 pages includes an interesting report from Chebucto Harbour - or Halifax, Nova Scotia which describes the harbor as "the finest I ever saw" and gives an account of the new town of Halifax - 20 acres have already been cleared for building -
see scan.
From South Carolina is a report of poor crops in rice and indigo while trade was slow and Spain was encouraging slaves to desert.
In other news the magazine provides highlights of the current state of Europe including Turkey, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Italy, and Holland
Other interesting accounts relate to George Anson's recent round the world voyage - see scan and below - and the sentencing of death for Besaven Peslez who later was thought to be innocent - see below
Details on London deaths in the previous month by age group show children under the age of 2 representing approx. 30 % of the total - see scan. Giving birth at that time was a risky business.
Fascinating reading for the historian. G
ood condition. The magazine has been bound with other issues and subsequently dis-bound. Page size 8 x 5 inches
Note: The magazine cover calls for two engravings which have been removed and a "plate of noblemen's arms" which was not bound in until the supplement was published at the end of the year
See more of these in Seller's Other Items, priced at a fraction of most
dealer prices
The Gentleman's Magazine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Front page of
The Gentleman's Magazine
, May 1759
The Gentleman's Magazine
was a monthly magazine
[1]
founded in
London
, England, by
Edward Cave
in January 1731.
[2]
It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term
magazine
(from the
French
magazine
, meaning "storehouse") for a
periodical
.
[3]
Samuel Johnson
's first regular employment as a writer was with
The Gentleman's Magazine
.
Contents
1
History
2
Series
3
Indexes
4
See also
4.1
Authors of works appearing in
The Gentleman's Magazine
5
Artists, painters, topographers associated with
The Gentleman's Magazine
6
References
7
Further reading
8
See also
9
External links
History
[
edit
]
The original complete title was
The Gentleman's Magazine: or, Trader's monthly intelligencer
. Cave's innovation was to create a monthly digest of news and commentary on any topic the educated public might be interested in, from commodity prices to
Latin poetry
. It carried original content from a stable of regular contributors, as well as extensive quotations and extracts from other periodicals and books. Cave, who edited
The Gentleman's Magazine
under the
pen name
"Sylvanus Urban", was the first to use the term
magazine
(meaning "storehouse") for a periodical. Contributions to the magazine frequently took the form of letters, addressed to "Mr. Urban". The iconic illustration of
St. John's Gate
on the front of each issue (occasionally updated over the years) depicted Cave's home, in effect, the magazine's "office".
Before the founding of
The Gentleman's Magazine
, there were specialized journals, but no such wide-ranging publications (although there had been attempts, such as
The Gentleman's Journal
, which was edited by
Peter Motteux
and ran from 1692 to 1694).
Samuel Johnson
's first regular employment as a writer was with
The Gentleman's Magazine
. During a time when parliamentary reporting was banned, Johnson regularly contributed parliamentary reports as "Debates of the Senate of Magna Lilliputia". Though they reflected the positions of the participants, the words of the debates were mostly Johnson's own. The name "
Columbia
", a poetic name for America coined by Johnson, first appears in a 1738 weekly publication of the debates of the British Parliament in the magazine.
[4]
[5]
A skilled businessman, Edward Cave developed an extensive distribution system for
The Gentleman's Magazine
. It was read throughout the English-speaking world and continued to flourish through the 18th century and much of the 19th century under a series of different editors and publishers. It went into decline towards the end of the 19th century and finally ceased general publication in September 1907. However, issues consisting of four pages each were printed in very small editions between late 1907 and 1922 in order to keep the title formally "in print".
Series
[
edit
]
Top half of Volume One, Issue One, published January 1731
1731–1735
The Gentleman's Magazine
or
Monthly Intelligencer
1736–1833
The Gentleman's Magazine
and Historical Chronicle
1834–1856 (June) New Series:
The Gentleman's Magazine
1856 (July)–1868 (May) New Series:
The Gentleman's Magazine
and Historical Review
1868 (June)–1922 Entirely New Series:
The Gentleman's Magazine
George Anson, 1st Baron Anson
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Admiral of the Fleet
The Lord Anson
PC
,
FRS
,
RN
Portrait of Lord Anson by
Thomas Hudson
First Lord of the Admiralty
In office
1757–1762
Prime Minister
The Duke of Newcastle
The Earl of Bute
Preceded by
The Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham
Succeeded by
The Earl of Halifax
In office
1751–1756
Prime Minister
Henry Pelham
The Duke of Newcastle
Preceded by
The Earl of Sandwich
Succeeded by
The Earl Temple
Personal details
Born
23 April 1697
[1]
Staffordshire
,
England
Died
6 June 1762 (aged 65)
Moor Park
,
Hertfordshire
, England
Military service
Allegiance
Kingdom of Great Britain
Branch/service
Royal Navy
Years of service
1711–1762
Rank
Admiral of the Fleet
Commands
HMS
Weazel
HMS
Scarborough
HMS
Garland
HMS
Diamond
HMS
Squirrel
HMS
Centurion
Battles/wars
War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Quadruple Alliance
War of Jenkins' Ear
War of the Austrian Succession
Seven Years' War
Admiral of the Fleet
George Anson, 1st Baron Anson
,
PC
,
FRS
(23 April 1697 – 6 June 1762) was a
Royal Navy
officer. Anson served as a junior officer during the
War of the Spanish Succession
and then saw active service against Spain at the
Battle of Cape Passaro
during the
War of the Quadruple Alliance
. He then undertook a
circumnavigation
of the globe during the
War of Jenkins' Ear
. Anson commanded the fleet that defeated the French
Admiral de la Jonquière
at the
First Battle of Cape Finisterre
during the
War of the Austrian Succession
.
Anson went on to be
First Lord of the Admiralty
during the
Seven Years' War
. Among his reforms were the removal of corrupt defence contractors, improved medical care, submitting a revision of the
Articles of War
to Parliament to tighten discipline throughout the Navy,
uniforms
for commissioned
officers
, the transfer of the
Marines
from Army to Navy authority, and a system for rating ships according to their number of guns.
Contents
1
Family and early career
2
Voyage around the world
3
Senior command and the Admiralty
4
Family
5
See also
6
References
7
Sources
8
Further reading
9
External links
Family and early career
[
edit
]
Anson was the son of William Anson of
Shugborough
in
Staffordshire
and Isabella Carrier,
[2]
whose brother-in-law was the
Earl of Macclesfield
and
Lord Chancellor
, a relationship that proved very useful to the future admiral.
[1]
He was born on 23 April 1697,
[1]
[4]
at
Shugborough Manor
.
[3]
He was one of eight surviving children of the couple, and the younger brother of
Thomas Anson
.
[5]
In February 1712, amid the
War of the Spanish Succession
, Anson entered the
navy
at the age of 15.
[3]
He served as a volunteer aboard the
fourth-rate
HMS
Ruby
, before transferring to the
third-rate
HMS
Monmouth
.
[6]
Promoted to
lieutenant
on 17 March 1716, he was assigned to the fourth-rate
HMS
Hampshire
in service as part of a
Baltic Sea
fleet commanded by Admiral
John Norris
.
[7]
Anson transferred to the aging fourth-rate
HMS
Montagu
in March 1718, and saw active service against Spain at the
Battle of Cape Passaro
in August 1718 during the
War of the Quadruple Alliance
.
[8]
He then transferred to the
second-rate
HMS
Barfleur
, flagship of Admiral
George Byng
, in October 1719.
[7]
Anson was promoted to
commander
in June 1722 and given command of the small 8-gun HMS
Weazel
. Anson's orders were to suppress
smuggling
between Britain and Holland, a task he swiftly and effectively performed.
[8]
In recognition of his efforts he was promoted to the rank of
post-captain
in February 1723 and given command of the 32-gun
sixth-rate
HMS
Scarborough
with orders to escort British merchant convoys from the Carolinas.
[8]
(The
Ansonborough
district of
Charleston
,
South Carolina
, still commemorates his time there.)
[3]
He transferred to the command of the sixth-rate HMS
Garland
, still on the Carolinas station, in July 1728, then to the command of the fifth-rate HMS
Diamond
in the
Channel Fleet
in 1730, and to the command of the sixth-rate HMS
Squirrel
back on the Carolinas station in 1731.
[7]
He was given command of the 60-gun
third-rate
HMS
Centurion
in the
West Africa Squadron
in 1737 and, having been promoted to
commodore
with his
broad pennant
in HMS
Centurion
, he took command of a squadron sent to attack
Spanish
possessions in
South America
at the outset of the
War of Jenkins' Ear
.
[9]
Voyage around the world
[
edit
]
Main article:
George Anson's voyage around the world
George Anson's capture of the
Manila galleon
by
Samuel Scott
.
After setting off later than planned, Anson's squadron encountered successive disasters.
[1]
Two of his vessels, the fifth-rate
HMS
Pearl
and the fourth-rate
HMS
Severn
, failed to round
Cape Horn
and returned home. Meanwhile, the sixth-rate
HMS
Wager
was wrecked off the coast of
Chile
,
[1]
where the crew subsequently
mutinied
. The lateness of the season forced him to round the Horn in very stormy weather, and the navigating instruments of the time did not allow for exact observations.
[1]
By the time Anson reached the
Juan Fernández Islands
in June 1741, only three of his six ships remained (HMS
Centurion
, the fourth-rate
HMS
Gloucester
and the sloop HMS
Tryal
), while the strength of his crews had fallen from 961 to 335.
[1]
In the absence of any effective Spanish force on the coast, he was able to harass the enemy and to sack the small port city of
Paita
in
Peru
in November 1741.
[1]
The steady decrease of his crews by
scurvy
and the worn-out state of his remaining consorts compelled him to collect all the remaining survivors in
Centurion
.
[10]
[1]
He rested at the island of
Tinian
, and then made his way to
Macao
in November 1742.
[9]
After considerable difficulties with the
Chinese
, he sailed again with his one remaining vessel to cruise in search of one of the
Manila galleons
that conducted the trade between
Mexico
and the Chinese merchants in the
Philippines
,
[1]
where he captured the
Nuestra Señora de Covadonga
[1]
with 1,313,843
pieces of eight
[9]
on board, which he had encountered off
Cape Espiritu Santo
on 20 June 1743. The charts captured with the ship added many islands (and
phantom islands
) to the British knowledge of the Pacific, including the
Anson Archipelago
.
[11]
[12]
Anson took his prize back to Macao, sold her cargo to the Chinese, kept the
specie
, and sailed for England via the
Cape of Good Hope
. Passing by means of a thick fog a French fleet then patrolling the Channel, he reached England on 15 June 1744.
[1]
The
prize money
earned from the capture of the galleon made Anson a rich man for life
[1]
and bought him considerable political influence.
[9]
He initially refused promotion to
Rear-Admiral of the Blue
[3]
however, out of anger that the admiralty refused to sanction a captain's commission he had given one of his officers.
[1]
Bosavern Penlez
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Bosavern Penlez
(1726–1749) was a British
wig maker
who was convicted and executed for
rioting
along with co-defendant John Wilson. He was sentenced to death and thus hanged on 18 October 1749.
[1]
Bosavern is believed to have been mistakenly identified, although he was present at the time of the murder.
[2]
Penlez was the subject of a 55-page
treatise
by
Henry Fielding
entitled "The Case of the Unfortunate Bosavern Penlez" that year.
[3]
[4]
Penlez was given a proper burial after a last-minute attempt to save him failed.
[2]
Contents
1
Bosavern Penlez's life
2
Bosavern's arrest
3
Awaiting Trial
4
The Trial
5
The Final Sentence
6
Post Sentence Criticism
7
References
8
External links
Bosavern Penlez's life
[
edit
]
Bosavern Penlez was born in Exeter, Devon, in 1726. His father was a clergyman of the Church of England, who, when alive, gave his son a good education.
Subsequent to his father’s death, the Stuarts of the Sons of Clergy
[5]
took care of Bosavern, and, when he was old enough they apprenticed him to a barber and wig maker in the city of Exeter. Bosavern worked there for about seven years (the normal length of time for apprenticeships at that time), before deciding to move to London with the hope of setting up a business of his own. Bosavern remained in London until the night he was arrested for allegedly being involved in the Riot at the brothel "The Star", located in
the Strand
.
[6]
Bosavern's arrest
[
edit
]
The Sailor's Revenge, or the Strand in an Uproar. (1 July 1749)
The riot at "The Star" was part of a wave of riots started the previous night by some sailors. The seamen had stopped at the brothel "The Crown" where they had been robbed of their watches, bank-notes, and some money. Upon their demand of being remunerated for their loss, they were pushed out of the brothel and therefore decided to seek revenge.
[5]
At that time popular vengeance was very often targeted on brothels, as they were considered houses of sin, and in a society prevailed by religious fanaticism sin was believed to be the first step towards crime.
[7]
On that occasion, the Sailors gathered some of their companions and the group returned at night and broke into the brothel, turning the women into the street, breaking the windows and furniture and setting the building on fire.
[5]
However, their fury didn’t stop with the destruction of "The Crown" and the following night they attacked two other brothels, the second of which was "The Star".
As was usual in cases of rioting, a body of soldiers was called upon to restore order. This led to the arrest of several men. Bosavern was not arrested until later the same night, when a watchmen found him, drunk, in an alley not far from "The Star", with a bundle in his hands. When the watchman asked what he had in his hands, Bosavern answered:
[8]
"I am an unfortunate young man, and have married one of the women of the town, who hath pawned all my clothes, and I have got all her linen for it
".
[9]
Bow street, late 19th century
The bundle of linen he was hiding under his clothes consisted of caps, handkerchiefs, ruffles, clouts and aprons. Once taken to the watchhouse, Bosavern claimed a different version about the bundle, saying he had found it in the street. It was a lie.
The next day he and other prisoners were examined by the justice of peace
Henry Fielding
, at his house in
Bow Street
. There, Jane Wood, wife of the keeper of "The Star" recognized the linen as being of her own property. During the justice's interview with Bosavern, rioters gathered outside the house and claimed the intention to break in.
As a result, all the prisoners were committed to the
Prison of Newgate
, to be tried with the charge of:
[10]
"High treason in levying war against his majesty by riotously and tumultuously assembling themselves together in order to suppress and pull down all bawdy houses
".
[11]
Awaiting Trial
[
edit
]
Newgate Prison between in 18th century.
During the awaiting for the trial, many of the prisoners convicted were rescued by the mob. Unfortunately one of them died, so that in the end only 5 people including Bosavern remained in custody. All five of them were charged by terms of the
Riot Act
of 1715. The decision, which entailed death penalty, led to many controversies as it was regarded as an act of tyranny, considering that rioters were usually only fined. What’s more, one of the main articles of the
Riot Act
, stated that a magistrate had to read a proclamation to disperse the riot. A proclamation that was never actually read.
For this reason, the grand jury rejected the charges against two of the prisoners, thus reducing to three the number of prisoners actually tried. Bosavern Penlez, John Wilson and Benjamin Ladder were charged for:
[8]
"being feloniously and riotously assembled to the
disturbance of the public peace, did begin to demolish the dwelling house of
Peter Wood
"
[6]
The Trial
[
edit
]
Peter Wood, keeper of "The Star", was the main witness for prosecution and his testimony was supported by his wife and his servant. During the cross-examination Wood’s wife and servant gave contradictory evidences, whilst other witnesses testified to Peter Wood’s bad character. What's more it was found that he hadn’t paid the rubbish removal tax and that he served liquors without having a license.
Benjamin Ladder was found to have an alibi, as, a soldier on the way to "The Star" met him on the road and asked Ladder to go buy a pint of beer for him. This evidence discredited Wood’s testimony of Ladder being inside "The Star" and causing any damage before the soldiers arrived. Upon this evidence, Ladder was acquitted and only Bosavern and Wilson were sentenced to death.
This sentence led to a wave of contrasting opinions among the public, which resulted in a petition to the King for the suspension of the punishment. Seen that even the jurors who had previously convicted Penlez and Wilson, signed the petition, and that Peter’s wood testimony could not be trusted, Wilson was pardoned, but not Penlez.
[12]
The Final Sentence
[
edit
]
Execution at Tyburn, in a seventeenth century print.
When he was taken, Penlez was indicted for both burglary (for having stolen Jane Wood’s linen) and rioting (for having been found destroying "The Star"), but once convicted for one charge, the judge decided he couldn’t be tried again for another charge related to the same circumstances of the first one. The public opinion was oblivious to Penlez’s second indictment, which was brought to the attention of the crown by
Henry Fielding
. The king, thus found himself divided between the desire to pardon the defendants and the will to provide a representative punishment that could prevent the mob from setting up further riots. The decision to pardon Wilson and execute Penlez was taken in the light of Penlez’s additional charge of theft.
[13]
Bosavern Penlez was executed at
Tyburn
on Wednesday 18 October 1749.
[6]
Post Sentence Criticism
[
edit
]
Public opinion against Penlez’s execution went on throughout autumn, and the case became involved with the election campaign of a member of Westminster parliament. Public’s opinion mainly rested on the government candidate, Lord Trentham’s inability to obtain a pardon for Penlez. Later on, in November an anonymous author published a
pamphlet
entitled "The case of the unfortunate Bosavern Penlez", claiming the utterly unjust execution of Penlez. The
pamphlet
attacked Wood’s testimony about Ladder, referring to it as "a pack of lies".
[14]
Therefore, if he indeed had lied about Ladder he shouldn’t have been trusted regarding Penlez. This claim constituted a criticism on
Henry Fielding's
conduct, as he was the one to shed light on Penlez’s second indictment.
Fielding, not wanting his reputation to be put at stake, published a pamphlet entitled "A true State of the case of Bosavern Penlez", in which he defended the way in which he had handled the case.
[15]
Bosavern Penlez
Born
1726
Died
18 October 1749
Cause of death
Hanged
Occupation
Wig maker
Conviction(s)
Rioting
Criminal penalty
Death
show