Paymaster General's Account Book 1690

A few years ago the Account Book of the Paymaster General of the army of William III for the year 1690 was discovered in the Belfast City Hall. See for example
http://www.boyneobelisklol1690.com/paymaster_general.php and
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/tIt6bsYHTNOVlszDIKd-lg

This Account Book by Paymaster General Thomas Coningsby lists the payments made to the regiments in William III's army, and those made to hospitals, intelligence, etc.

It is a bit unfortunate and strange that this document is kept by the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland in Belfast, and not by an institution like the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland.

Nevertheless, this Orange Lodge made a rather nice workbook based on this Account Book. Though aimed at children, it will be nice for adults too: paymaster-general-workbook.pdf. Unfortunately there is no further information regarding accessibility of this Account Book for researchers. I truly hope this document is not abused for pursuing a political agenda.

Contrary to rumours and gossip, this Account Book does not contain the names of all men in William III's army. It does, however, contain the names of about 400 officers. With about 40 officers in a regiment of foot, this means that this Account Book does neither contain all officers in William III's.

But anyway, let's hope that the information in this document will become available soon!

The First Colonial Soldiers ~~ a glimpse of what is to come this summer!

After more than one year of editing, formatting, reading, more editing, sending and receiving more emails to my co-author, re-shuffling, and quite a bit of editing ahead, the project The First Colonial Soldiers is nearing completion! Stay tuned!

Colonial Records ~~ New Haven

New Haven was founded in 1638 as a ``new haven'' for orthodox Puritans, who found that Massachusetts Bay had become to much of a Sodom and Gomorrah.

The colony, lying west of the Connecticut River, never received a Charter. When the much larger Connecticut Colony was grated a Royal Charter in 1662, this encompassed the towns of New Haven. In January 1665 the colony was finally absorbed into Connecticut.

Two records exist (the years between 1649 and 1653 are missing):

Volume 1: 1638 - 1649 (Records of the Colony and Plantation of New Haven)
Volume 2: 1653 - 1664 (Records of the Colony and Jurisdiction of New Haven)

Map of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth Bay and Rhode Island

Maps tell so much more than words. So, maps will be an important part of a forthcoming publication.

Here a sneak preview of a map for part of New England. Boundaries of provinces (dashed) and counties (dotted) are approximate, and reflect the division of circa 1700.

Jean Baptiste Lully ~~ Marche pour la ceremonie des turcs

Nice tune, and some nice wigs too.

Musical intermezzo ~~ Jean Baptiste Lully

Jean Baptiste Lully (1632 - 1687)  was the composer of choice for Louis XIV. The above selection of his work is rather nice, and gives an idea what Louis was listening to, and perhaps trying a new dance, whilst relaxing from his ambitions to conquer Europe. Though some of the pieces sounds rather martial.

Colonial Records ~~ Pennsylvania

Though this province didn't have much of a militia in during the reigns of William III and Anne, because of the Quaker dominance, there are still relevant records available for the colonial period. These are known either as Colonial Records of Pennsylvania or as the Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania. These records form part of the 138 volume Pennsylvania Archives.

Volume 1: 1683 - 1700
Volume 2: 1700 - 1717
Volume 3: 1717 - 1736
Volume 4: 1736 - 1745
Volume 5: 1745 - 1754
Volume 6: 1754 - 1756
Volume 7: 1756 - 1758
Volume 8: 1757 - 1762
Volume 9: 1762 - 1771
Volume 10: 1771 - 1776
After 1776, when the Revolution had broken out, there are six more records called Minutes of the Supreme Executive Council, still part of the Colonial Records series.

Secondly, there are four volumes in the Series 1 of the Pennsylvania Archives relevant for the colonial period:

Volume 1: Pennsylvania Archives .. commencing 1644
Volume 2: Pennsylvania Archives .. commencing 1748
Volume 3: Pennsylvania Archives .. commencing 1756
Volume 4: Pennsylvania Archives .. commencing 1760
Volume 5 commences in 1776; in total there are twelve volumes in this series.

There is an index for the Colonial Records and the Pennsylvania Archives:
General Index .. colonial Records .. Pennsylvania Archives ..

Series 2 contains a few additional volumes of interest:
Volume 5: Papers Relating to the Colonies on the Delaware 1614 - 1682
Volume 6: Papers Relating to the French Occupation in Western Pennsylvania 1631 - 1764
Volume 7: Provincial Affairs 1682 - 1750