1750 · London
by [Great Britain
London: Printed by Thomas Baskett...and by the Assigns of Robert Baskett, 1750. [2],259-278,[2]pp., docketed on verso of final blank. Folio. Dbd. Old folds, repair to final blank. Occasional light soiling or foxing, mild tanning throughout. Contemporary ownership inscription on titlepage (see below). Very good. An important act in the development of the port of Lancaster, England. Several Lancaster merchants and ship owners had petitioned Parliament for support in dealing with problems experienced navigating larger trading vessels in and out of the river port of Lancaster, which led to the passage of this act, the River Lune Navigation Act 1749 (23 Geo. II, Cap. 12). This provided for the construction of St. George's Quay in 1750, and the Custom House was finally completed in 1764. The act also created the Lancaster Port Commission to enable the port to play a larger role in international trade, particularly the Atlantic slave trade. Many of the early commissioners were active slave traders. With government support, Lancaster grew to be the fourth largest slave port in Britain. The act was to be reviewed after twenty-one years, at which time certain duties and fees were scheduled to cease. The act was issued separately, as here, with a general titlepage, and also as part of ANNO REGNI GEORGII II...VICESIMO TERTIO...AT THE PARLIAMENT BEGUN AND HOLDEN AT WESTMINSTER, THE TENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER...1747...TO THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1749, BEING THE THIRD SESSION OF THIS PRESENT PARLIAMENT....
The titlepage is inscribed "James Birket," likely the same Birket (1706-83) who was a West India merchant operating out of Lancaster and Antigua, and whose diary, SOME CURSORY REMARKS MADE BY JAMES BIRKET IN HIS VOYAGE TO NORTH AMERICA, 1750-1751, was published by Yale University Press in 1916. ESTC N53016, N53001. (Inventory #: WRCAM56688)
The titlepage is inscribed "James Birket," likely the same Birket (1706-83) who was a West India merchant operating out of Lancaster and Antigua, and whose diary, SOME CURSORY REMARKS MADE BY JAMES BIRKET IN HIS VOYAGE TO NORTH AMERICA, 1750-1751, was published by Yale University Press in 1916. ESTC N53016, N53001. (Inventory #: WRCAM56688)