Footnotes

THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY DOMESTIC INTERIOR, as reflected in the papers of General Thomas ('Jolly') Fowke (1690-1765); the archive also reflecting his wider military, political and diplomatic concerns as Governor of Gibraltar when the colony was under threat during the Seven Years War, highlighting the importance of Gibraltar's position at the boundary of Europe and Moorish North Africa and its crucial role in safeguarding British trading interests and peace in the Mediterranean in the mid eighteenth century.

The first volume, beginning in 1753, deals mainly with domestic matters and the lease or sale of his fine Yorkshire seat, Parkhill, prior to his leaving for his new post. Described as being "in a pleasant sporting country", Parkhill is a substantial estate with "coachhouse...canal and large pond stocked with fish. Gardens inclosed with new walls well planted with the choicest fruit trees...large drying yard and mellon ground". Other papers describe acreage, cropping and tenancies, with long inventories of household items room by room (such as "Mrs Fowkes' Closet" and the curiously named "Brown Paper Room"), indentures, receipts, bills and orders to tradesmen. No expense is spared in his preparations for his governorship; from Peter Des Champs, an upholsterer, dated 14 February 1753, he orders "a large long and strong four post bedstead the pillers turned and brass ferrels and folding sides with strong hinges", curtain rods, "white leather to cover one side of the mattress" and other accoutrements, and pays for "going to Wandsworth and takeing Down a bedstead and furniture and packing it up and carrying it by land and by water on board the ship, and delivered"; from the coachmaker there is a detailed account of the extensive refurbishment of a post chaise including "colouring the post chaise carriage and wheels twice in oyl an olive colour", with seed and vintners bills and an order for "...a handsome Sedan Chair lind with a rich Crimson Genoa and Damask with rich silk curtains, new window blinds..." complete with box and cover for £19 19s from Samuel Vaughan, His Majesty's Sedan Chair maker, 2 May 1753. Also present are many letters by Fowke's agent Captain Theophilus Desbuisay in Dublin regarding his regiment in Galway and Newport, mainly concerning his subsistence accounts and including various requests for military commissions and favours as well as letters of congratulations on his promotion to Governor.

The second volume largely contains papers from his tenure as Governor of Gibraltar, ranging from domestic matters and general administration to important matters of state. Day-to-day matters he dealt with included the renewal of tavern keepers licences, the state of the roads, arrivals and departures of shipping and their cargoes, disputes, mutinies and court martials and requests for favours and promotions. Of continuing concern was the refurbishment of the Governor's residence, there being several long lists of "persons employed and materials bought for the repairs of the Governor's House" clearly at great expense over the summer of 1755 and letters to the Treasury complaining that "it is now so impossible for a Governor to live here without such conveniences...the walls suffered to run so much to decay that they are tumbling down" and asking for more funds to keep a table suitable for the entertainment of "strangers and officers". A Bill of Lading of May 1755 sends some interesting gifts to his friends back in London including "a black Spanish Horse for Sir John Cope...Ostridges in cages... twelve partridges...the three fowles are for Lady Caroline Fox...sea shells, the Green Paraquet is for the Generals Sister Mrs Villiers at her house Kings Road Chelsea" asking particularly that the servant should stay with the "ostridges" and "fowles" until they are collected. A later report confirms that all arrived safely although one partridge and one ostrich died on arrival at Holland House and some of the wine on board was delivered to the wrong address.

On the wider political stage, Fowke had many issues to concern him, primarily relations between Britain and France and with Morocco, about which there is a series of letters regarding an incident involving a British ship and a Moorish vessel, Barbary pirates and "Our Mahometan Friends" particularly the Prince of Salle. Rumours of war abound, even that Gibraltar had been taken by the French, and the state of the defences is of great concern, as is the activities of French shipping in the area. International news also reached the desk of the Governor. He was kept fully informed of news from Boston, New England with several despatches and notes containing details of General Braddock's ill-fated military expedition in North America against the French - "The affair in Ohio is a very bad one" with one of 28 August 1755 reporting the General's death, "it seems most reasonably to suppose it will hurry on a War in Europe".

Fowke, having served with Sir John Cope as Brigadier-General at the Battle of Prestonpans, occupied the post of Governor of Gibraltar from May 1753 to July 1756, a year after our correspondence ends. In May 1756 his refusal to reinforce the squadron of the ill-fated Admiral John Byng on his way to attempt the defence of Minorca led to his court martial and dismissal by George II. For his part in the failure Admiral Byng paid with his life but Fowke was reinstated to his former rank by George III in 1761 and died at Bath in 1765.