PLUMMER

[The Cornwall Estate, Jamaica.] Manuscript bill of loading of 'Supplies required for Cornwall Est[at]e. for the year 1838' to London bankers Messrs Hankeys, with letter from William Ridyard and estate manager Robert Locke, and copy letter from Locke.

Author: 
Lady Katherine Barham [Lady Katharine Foster-Barham (née Grimston)] (1810-1874) [Messrs. Hankeys, Plummer & Wilson, London bankers]
Publication details: 
Both letters from Westmoreland, Jamaica. Ridyard and Locke's letter dated 28 July 1837; Locke's 'Duplicate' letter dated 10 July 1837.
£950.00

The three items form a letter of 4pp., foolscap 8vo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed on reverse of second leaf: 'Bill loading | Messrs. Hankeys Plummer & Wilson | Mincing Lane | London | Lady Kathe Barham'. Docketed '97 Robert Locke | 10 | 28 July 1837 | Received 20 September [1837]'. The bill of loading covers the whole of the first page, with two columns of closely written items, ranging from '2300 yds Osnabury 8lbs do thread' to quinine, opium and '1 Box Hydrometer proof Bubbles from 15 to 30'.

[William Beckford.] Manuscript copy by Fownes & White of 'Points stipulated for & agreed to with Messrs. Thompson Hankey & Co. on their taking the Consignments of the West India Estates of Wm. Beckford Esq: in succession to Messrs. Plummer & Wilson.

Author: 
[William Beckford (1760-1844), author and 'England's wealthiest son'; his London solicitors James Fownes and Richard Samuel White; Messrs Thompson Hankey & Co. and Messrs. Plummer & Wilson, bankers]
Publication details: 
[Messrs. Thompson Hankey & Co., 'at a meeting held at their Counting House in Fenchurch St. on the 24th Decr. 1830.' 27 January 1831.
£600.00

The connection between the two firms of London bankers Thompson Hankey & Co., and Plummer & Wilson & Co. is unclear, but after the bankruptcy of John Plummer and William Wilson of Fenchurch Street 1831, a new firm named Hankey, Plummer & Wilson was formed, Plummer & Wilson bringing to it a number of clients including Beckford. The source of Beckford's vast wealth was of course the family's sugar plantations in the West Indies, and this document dates from before the abolition of slavery. 3pp., foolscap 8vo. Bifolium. Very good, on laid paper with Britannia watermark of 'E SMITH | 1828'.

[Trinidad in 1842.] Autograph Letter Signed from 'G. E.' to the banker William Wilson of Messrs. Hankey, Plummer & Wilson, London, describing his activities on the island, including a visit to the Pitch Lake and capture of an alligator.

Author: 
[Trinidad in 1842; William Wilson, banker, of Messrs. Hankey, Plummer & Wilson, 7 Mincing Lane, London]
Publication details: 
Port of Spain, Trinidad. 30 December 1842.
£280.00

4pp., 4to. 112 lines of text. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged paper, with closed tears along fold lines. Addressed, with two postmarks (one of Trinidad) to 'W. Wilson Esqr. | 7. Mincing Lane | London | Packet'. A closely-written letter, well-written and filled with content, and with a few clues about the identity of the writer. It begins: 'A merry Xmas to you & all my friends in England. I remembered you in my cups, but the liquor was only water for I have become almost a teetotaller of late, having had a little about me when I left St Kitts.

'Keith Grant Tribute' issue of 'The Daub', 'Group IV's magazine', for painting students at the Working Men's College in Camden, with review by Grant of 'diploma week' at the Royal College of Art', and 'Sketch Club Cuttings'.

Author: 
[Group IV; Working Men's College, Camden, London; Sketch Club; Keith Grant [Keith Frederick Grant] (b.1930), landscape painter, born in Liverpool, who studied at the Royal College of Art, 1955-1958]
Publication details: 
[Working Men's College, Camden, London.] July 1958.
£350.00

An interesting and scarce item. There are no copies of any issues of this magazine on either OCLC WorldCat or COPAC, and there is no record whatsoever of 'Group IV' itself. Now acknowledged as one of Britain's finest landscape painters, Keith Grant joined the Working Men's College on finishing his National Service with the RAF; he then enrolled at Willesden Art School, before joining the Royal College of Art, where he studied under Colin Hayes, John Minton and Kenneth Rowntree. 22pp., 4to.

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