Draft of MINT00858 (Mint 19/2/481)

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To the Right Honourable the Lord High Treasurer of England.

May it please your Lordship

In obedience to your Lordships Reference of 23 November last we have enquired into the Case of Mr Antony Redhead late Master & Worker of the Mint at Norwich & find it truly stated in the annexed paper on which the said Reference is endorsed. And particularly by the Daybooks of that Mint & the Cash books of Mr Redhead & his Clerk and another book composed & signed by the Warden of that Mint we find that Mr Redhead upon the breaking up of that Mint was indebted 2497li. 16s. 3d to Mr Blofeld for hammered money at 5s per ounce.

In discharge of this Debt Mr Redhead produces three Receipts for 2500li paid to Mr Blofelds Order out of that Mint, the one dated Aug 26 1697 for 500li the other two dated Aug 30 & Sept 1 1697 for 1000li each. To which Mr Blofeld & his friends answer that whatever summs were paid to him or his Order out of that Mint upon such private Receipts, were intended upon the next accounting to be brought to account & set off upon the Printed Mint Tickets then payable in course & accordingly were all of them faithfully brought to account as he is ready to make oath. But the Receipts were not always taken up & cancelled as they should have been, the endorsement on the printed Mint Tickets, as they conceived, imploying according to the order & course of the Mint that all summs paid untill the day of the endorsement were then accounted for & set off upon the printed Tickets & thereby all private Receipts of such summs untill that day discharged & made voyd, which made him & his Agents less carefull to take them up. They say also that about three weeks after the date of the said three Receipts vizt on 22th Sept 1697 Mr Blofeld account with Mr Redhead & endorsed 14922li on two Mint tickets including all summs paid to him untill that time & that is so short a time as three weeks so great a summ as 2500l could not be forgot & that in December following he accounted again & endorsed 6443li. 13s. 9d on two other Mint Tickets including all further summs paid untill that day. By which Accountings & Endorsements the said three Receipts (if they be true ones) being looked upon as discharged they were not mentioned any further by Mr Redhead while that Mint stood nor for a long time after but lay neglected till he thought fit to produce them, as he did also some other Receipts of the same kind which the Importers neglected to take up & cancell, & which are no allowed to be voyd.

In examining this matter we find therefore that † < insertion from the bottom of f 484v > † Mr Redhead did pay several summs of money to Mr Blofeld & some other Importers upon private Receipts without endorsing the summs upon the printed Mint Tickets unitll they camme to a general recconing upon the next Ticket or Tickets payable in course & that the Importers did sometimes upon such a recconing neglect to take up their Receipts: that Mr Blofeld did endorse 14922 on two Tickets 22 Sept 1697 & 6443. 13. 9 more on two others in December following as is alleged & ☉ < text from f 483r resumes > Mr Blofeld did endorse 14922li on two Tickets 22 Sept 1697 & 6443li 13s 9d mroe on two others in December following as is alleged & ☉ < insertion from the top of f 484v > ☉ we humbly conceive those endorsements by the cuourse of the Mint to be in full of all moneys paid upon those Thickets, so as to voyd the paid three Receipts unless Mr Redhead can positively prove the payment of more money by 2500li upon the two first of those Tickets then was endorsed upon them, which proof is wanting & would infer the crime of undue preference. The Officers of that Mint for preventing misrecconings took an account every two or three days & sometimes dayly of all the moneys new coyned & paid away & of what remained in the Treasury, whereby a misrecconing of 2500li would soon have been discovered: Whereas after the endorsement of 22 Sept 1697 those three Receipts lay neglected till about Michaelmas 1699 which was two years after Mr Redhead representing that he then found them amongst his papers. < text from f 483r resumes > That he <483v> representing that he then found them amongst his papers. About the same time he found also & produced a Receipt of 1858li left in that Mint by Mr Dashwood another Importer of publick money, but by an Affidavit of Mr Tho. Allen Clerk to the Warden of that Mint made before my Lord Chief Baron Ward on the 3d of Iuly 1701 & by other circumstances it appears to us that Mr Dashwood did account for that money & neglect to take up & cancell the Receipt, & this is now acknowledged also by Mr Redhead. About the same time he the said Mr Redhead produced also two other Receipts of the aforesaid Mr Blofeld besides the three above mentioned both dated in the same month of August 1697 the one for 500li & the other for 1000li, but by the aforesaid Affidavit of r Allen these summs were accounted for upon the same 22th of Sept. 1697 & Mr Redhead insists no further upon them. And the said Mr Allen in the same Affidavit affirms further that he hath heard & believes that Mr Redhead hath another Note of Mr Blofeld for 1000li & believes that Mr Blofeld forgot to take up that Note when he accompted for the money & signed the printed Receipt or Ticket : which Note we take to be one of the three Receipts now produced by Mr Redhead. And Mr Redhead himself affirms nothing further of the said three Receipts then that he found them amongst his papers sometime after that Mint broke up & believes them to be truly signed by one Mr Crowne who was impoyed by Mr Demee the Agent of Mr Blofeld They are in the form of private receipts so that without Mr Blofelds consent they cannot be allowed by the Auditors eitehr in Mr Redheads Account or in that of Mr Blofeld which is now passing. And all things being considered we are < insertion from f 848r > humbly of opinion that they have already been accompted for & ought not to be insisted upon any further & Mr Redhead himself does not any loger insist peremptorily upon them but submits them to your Lordships wisdome. < text from f 483v resumes >

We further lay before your Lordship that Mr Redhead at the conclusion of the Mint at Norwich was indebted to one Mr Chaplain a Receiver of the Land Tax for 2573oz. 5dwt of hammered money at 5s per ounce the summ of 642li. 6s. 3d, & that in Mr Chaplains Accompt which is past & declared & Quietus obteined, Mr Redhead is set insuper for this debt at 5s 8d per ounce.

The said Mr Redhead was also indebted to Mr Briggs a Receiver of                  for 3529oz 10dwt of hammered money at 5s per ounce the summ of 882li. 7s. 6d. But the Administrators of the said Mr Briggs have passed his Accompts & obteined a Quietus without charging Mr Redhead with this debt & thence it is presumed that they haev either mislaid or lost Mr Redheads Tickets, & thereby have been dammaged in the said summ 882li. 7s. 6d

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seing therefore that Mr Bl upon accounting 22 Sept 97 did neglect to take up some of his receipts then accounted for, it may be suspected that he neglected to take up the rest amongst which are the three now produced. For the said Mr Allen in

The said Mr Redhead was also indebted to three other Receivers Mr Fendal Mr Clark & Mr Thorowgood in the respective summs of 1277li. 16s 3d. 431li. 2s. 6d & 40li 6s 3d for all which his printed Tickets stand out against him. And these & all the other debts above mentioned for silver Imported amount to 5772li. 15s. 0d. part of which debt has arisen from the application for the Importers money to other services of that Mint for which he is to have allowance in his Account now ready to be laid before your Lordship.

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☉ we humbly conceive those endorsements by the course of the Mint to be in full of all moneys paid upon those Thickets, so as to voyd the paid three Receipts unless Mr Redhead can positively prove the payment of more money by 2500li upon the two first of those Tickets then was endorsed upon them, which proof is wanting & would infer the crime of undue preference. The Officers of that Mint for preventing misrecconings took an account every two or three days & sometimes dayly of all the moneys new coyned & paid away & of what remained in the Treasury, whereby a misrecconing of 2500li would soon have been discovered: Whereas after the endorsement of 22 Sept 1697 those three Receipts lay neglected till about Michaelmas 1699 which was two years after Mr Redhead representing that he then found them amongst his papers. About the same time he found also & produced

† Mr Redhead did pay several summs of money to Mr Blofeld & some other Importers upon private Receipts without endorsing the summs upon the printed Mint Tickets unitll they came to a general recconing upon the next Ticket or Tickets payable in course & that the Importers did sometimes upon such a recconing neglect to take up their Receipts: that Mr Blofeld did endorse 14922 on two Tickets 22 Sept 1697 & 6443. 13. 9 more on two others in December following as is alleged & ☉