Recommends rejection of Charles Fryth's claims for consignments to the Chester Mint: he has already been overpaid £22 by mistake

<476r>

To the Right Honourable the Lord High Treasurer of England.

May it please your Lordship

The Petition of Mr Charles Fryth for an allowance in his Accompts now depending, of 370li 8s 9d upon two Tickets of the Master & Worker of Chester Mint, with the Report of the Commissioners of Excise upon it, we received 30th March 1702 & in obedience to the Order of the then Lords Commissioners of the Treasury upon them we have enquired into the matter & humbly represent that we see no reason for that allowance. For Mr Fryth imported into Chester Mint several parcells of hammered money before Lady day 1697 for all which he received new monies before the end of Iuly following & endorsed the receipts on the backside of all the Master & Workers Tickets under his own hand which endorsements are ready to be produced, the last payment being of 345li. 16s. 3d in new monies due upon the last Ticket as Mr Halley Comptroller of that Mint is ready to attest. And after these Importations & Tickets thus discharged there were four others vizt

				oz	dwt		li	s	d
No	149.	May 19	1697	2243.	15	making at 5s per ounce	560.	18.	9
	152.	May 28	—	986.	5	– – – – – –	246.	11.	3
	188.	Iuly 24	—	729.	10	– – – – – –	182.	7.	6
	192.	Aug 17	—	752.	5	– – – – – –	188.	1.	3
			—			Total	1177.	18.	9

The two last of which Tickets are those for which an allowance is petitioned, & in discharge of all four amounting to 1177li. 18s. 9d. Mr Fryth by a misrecconing hath received 1200li which is 22li. 1s. 3d too much.

For the first of these four Tickets No 149 became payable about the middle of August 1697 & Mr Fryth drew on the Officers of that Mint two Bills ready to be produced the one of Aug. 18 for 300li (the payment of which was entered at the foot of the Bill in part of this Ticket No 149) & the other of Aug 19 for 100li. These Bills were paid by Williams (Mr Neale's Clerk) in the absence of Mr Lewis & entered by the Clerks of the Mint in their books in part of No 149, and afterwards Mr Fryth received of Mr Lewis & concealing from him the two first payments made by Williams amounting to 400li, deducted from the two first of the said four Tickets amounting to 807li. 10s. the two last payments only amounting to 300li & received from <476v> Mr Lewis a Note for the remaining 507li. 10s, & delivering in the Tickets signed the discharge of them Octob 25 in the Master & Workers Book of Receipts ready to be produced. Whereas all the four payments amounting to 700li should have been deducted & the Note should have been only for 107li 10s the just remainder. And this misrecconing of 400li is the occasion of the controversy.

Vpon this Note made erroneously for 507li. 10s Mr Fryth received 500li at three payments, vizt 150li per Bill of Octob. 26, 300li per Bill of Nov. 19 & 50li per Bill of Dec. 4: all which Bills drawn upon the Officers of the Mint by Mr Fryth are ready to be produced & the receipts are acknowledged by him. Had the Note been made only for 109li. 10s as it ought to have been this Note & the two last Tickets would have amounted only to 477li. 18s. 9d in discharge of which Mr Fryth hath received 500li which is too much by 22li. 1s. 3d

After these seven payments amounting to 1200li the misrecconing was discovered & Mr Fryth demanding several times more money was as often told by the Officers of that Mint that he had already received more money by a misrecconing then was due to him & ought to refund 22li. 1s. 3d & cancel the Tickets. To which Mr Fryth has not yet given a satisfactory answer tho we have now written to him twice about it.

This we take to be the true state of the matter, so far as we can understand it without an opportunity of hearing both parties face to face & the same is confirmed by the annexed testimony of Mr Halley Comptroller of that Mint, & by Mr Fryth's Bills drawn upon the Officers of that Mint & the entry of the payments in the Books of that Mint ready to be produced.

We are therefore humbly of opinion that the two Tickets upon which Mr Fryth petitions for an allowance are already paid off tho not cancelled & that he should make up his Accompts with the Queen without any credit allowed him upon them & that in his Accompts he be also charged with the 22li. 1s. 3d. For the Note being for money due upon the Tickets, whatever money Mr Fryth received upon this Not ought to be set off upon the Tickets, & so much as he received upon this Note more then was due to him upon the Tickets her Majesty is defrauded of unless he account for it.

For which reason if there were any private dealings between Mr Fryth & the Officers of that Mint by which he knowingly received any money whatsoever out of the Treasury of that Mint which was not due to him out of that Treasury for silver imported, we are humbly of opinion that he ought to refund it to her Majesty

Or at least that in passing his Accompts with her Majesty all Accompts in dispute between <477r> him & the Master & Worker of that Mint be set aside & left to the course of the law.

All which is most humbly submitted to your Lordships great wisdome