Hi More of the same. [#F: The following is a desperate appeal by Thomas Southwell, landlord to the Palatine families in Limerick County, addressed to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, later in 1714 (with reference to the Midsummer reckonings). Thomas is looking for support for his claim to a fair dividend from the Treasury towards the upkeep of the German immigrants. A breakdown of his accounts is set out in the next consignment (#G) and brings us a bit closer to home, in terms of the movements of our - by now, near prostrate - Palatines.] ***START HERE*** Entry Book of King's & Queen's Letters & of Reports &c Vol 21 for 1715-16 1E-2-13 in Record Office Dublin p 156 To His Excellency Henry Earl Of Galway The Humble petition of Sir Thomas Southwell baronet SHEWETH THAT the said Sir Thomas Southwell having sent down 130 German Protestant Families in his estate in the county Limeric in or about Michaelmass 1712. And for their encouragement to settle and be a security to the Protestant interest in that country, He the said Sir Thomas, set them his land at almost half what it was worth, and gave them timber also to build their houses to a very great value. And for their further encouragement did from time to time supply them with cash and other necessaries, as certified by the Trustees for settling the poor Palatines, who having also viewed the accounts and vouchers allowed the sum of £557 16s 4d to be due to the said Sir Thos being by him lent to those poor Protestants when the Fund in the late Queen's time fell short, or they must otherwise have inevitably perished, and the last 90 families would have left the Kingdom, if the said Sir Thos had not then advanced that money. That all those families are since well settled and follow the raising of Hemp and Flax, and have a good stock, which the said Sir Thos tho' very unwillingly, must sieze upon to reimburse him for his great expenses which he has been 3 or 4 years out of, to his excessive loss, Besides the loss of almost £200 sterling per annum for 3 lives to his family, Unless his Majesty will be graciously pleased to repay the said Sir Thos his principal and interest of the said money by him so disbursed, and a consideration for the timber &c by him advanced to the said Palatines according to accounts audited and stated by the said Trustees on the 24 June 1714. ***END HERE*** [I know, I know - what is Michaelmass? This is one of the Quarter Days of the year, when accounts are usually reckoned, bills are paid and dues collected. Lady Day is 25 March, Midsummer is 24 June (look at the date of the audit in the next batch), Michaelmas is 29 September and Christmas is 25 December, of course. For the genealogists that we are, it is perhaps useful to know that the Rectors in their parishes also got all the certificates, registers and so forth together from the previous 3 months, for submission to the higher church authorities at about these same times (Epiphany 6 January; Easter 31 March, etc). As we also know, this was the time when those goodlie clerics picked up the bundles of papers and shuffled them around, put teacups, cream buns and goblets of mead on the important bits in the page and tore corners off to light their candles at the altar. Which is one of the main reasons we trawlers of the truth spend so many fruitless hours making sense of recorded drivel, falsity and outright obfuscation - yes, I too had to check that last one in the dictionary, to be sure I wasn't misleading you. We have enough problems.] Bye bye Terry