| Description | James Farmer is the main recipient of the letters copied into this volume. Other recipients include Joseph Farmer; John Parr; John Galton; Mr Nerbel; Edith Galton; Nicholas Atkinson; Robert Plumsted; Messrs Freame, Barclay & Co; Mary Sowden. Where the address is given, most letters are sent from Birmingham. Although the letters in the volume cover the period from 1751 to 1755, there is a gap in the correspondence between August 1752 and December 1753 Letters to James Farmer concern the business of Farmer & Galton, and contain extensive information about contracts with merchants, the supply and transport of guns, details of orders, and the state of the company's finances. Several merchants and their ships are named in this correspondence, as are other clients. Some pages of the volume contain pages of accounts Other letters contain information about a forge and steel furnace at Belbroughton; details of gun making and proving; the employment of agents and warehouse workers; the unstaisfactory behaviour and replacement of Joseph Farmer as the firm's Liverpool agent in 1751; Samuel Galton's investment in the company; references to James Farmer's financial situation and his bankruptcy in 1755. Some of the same topics are discussed in letters from Samuel Galton to John Parr.
Letters to Joseph Farmer concern his debts and arrangements for repaying Samuel Galton, and his future career prospects, including the possibility of his brother James Farmer using his influence to get him a position at Cape Coast Castle, Africa in the service of the Committee of the Company of Merchants trading to Africa. Galton encourages this possibility 1753-1754.
Letters to John Galton concern the business dealings of Farmer & Galton in Bristol, including those with Graffin & Prankard, which supplied the Birmingham firm with iron. Some letters also refer to the settlement of estates in Somerset on Samuel and John Galton and their sisters.
This volume also contains some loose papers inserted towards the rear of the volume and comprising: part of a letter sent from Samuel Galton to his sister Sarah Galton which relates to her anti-social behaviour; copy of a letter from Samuel Galton to James Farmer 14 May 1755; letter from James Farmer to Samuel Galton 8 Dec 1755 which refers to the Lisbon earthquake. The reverse of this letter has been re-used by Samuel Galton to draft a letter relating to estates in Somerset. |