1726 Robert Walpole Treasury Order — £105,412 for the Office of Ordnance, Signed by Four Treasury Commissioners
Exceptional 1726 Treasury Document Signed by Robert Walpole and Three Fellow Treasury Commissioners
A remarkable original 1726 British Treasury document, signed by Sir Robert Walpole, Britain's first de facto Prime Minister, together with three other senior members of his Treasury administration.
Dated April 19, 1726, from the Whitehall Treasury Chamber, the document orders the payment of the extraordinary sum of £105,412 14s. 3d. to John Plumptree, Treasurer and Paymaster of the Office of Ordnance.
The payment was authorized for "land and sea services" performed and to be performed by the Office of Ordnance, the government department responsible for Britain's artillery, arms, ammunition, military stores and related services.
Four Important Treasury Signatures
The document bears the signatures of:
Sir Robert Walpole (1676–1745) — First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, conventionally regarded as Britain's first Prime Minister.
Sir Charles Turner, 1st Baronet (1666–1738) — prominent Whig politician and Lord of the Treasury, as well as Walpole's brother-in-law.
George Bubb Dodington (1691–1762) — prominent Whig politician and Lord of the Treasury under Walpole.
Sir William Strickland, 4th Baronet (c.1686–1735) — Lord of the Treasury from 1725–1727 and later Secretary at War.
The Treasury commission in place at this time included Walpole, Turner, Dodington and Strickland, making this an unusually attractive example of the financial machinery of the Walpole ministry.
The document orders payment to John Plumptree, Treasurer of the Ordnance, an office documented in contemporary Treasury warrants preserved in the British Library.
Historical Importance
The date, April 1726, places the document at the height of Robert Walpole's first administration and during a period of substantial British military expenditure. Britain was also engaged in a growing confrontation with Spain, and Admiral Hosier's fleet was dispatched to the Spanish West Indies that same month.
Although the document should not be specifically attributed to financing Hosier's expedition without additional evidence, its enormous authorization of more than £105,000 for Ordnance land and sea services provides a remarkable record of the scale of British governmental and military expenditure during the period.
The document is especially desirable because it is not merely a Walpole autograph. It records a major financial action of the Treasury and bears the signatures of four members of the government responsible for administering the nation's finances.
Date: April 19, 1726
Place: Whitehall Treasury Chamber, London
Recipient: John Plumptree, Treasurer and Paymaster of the Office of Ordnance
Amount: £105,412 14s. 3d.
Subject: Payment for land and sea services of the Office of Ordnance
Condition: Good. Original 18th-century paper with substantial period folds, light staining and foxing, edge wear and localized losses/tears. The manuscript remains highly legible, and the four important Treasury signatures remain clear and collectible.
Exceptional 1726 Treasury Document Signed by Robert Walpole and Three Fellow Treasury Commissioners
A remarkable original 1726 British Treasury document, signed by Sir Robert Walpole, Britain's first de facto Prime Minister, together with three other senior members of his Treasury administration.
Dated April 19, 1726, from the Whitehall Treasury Chamber, the document orders the payment of the extraordinary sum of £105,412 14s. 3d. to John Plumptree, Treasurer and Paymaster of the Office of Ordnance.
The payment was authorized for "land and sea services" performed and to be performed by the Office of Ordnance, the government department responsible for Britain's artillery, arms, ammunition, military stores and related services.
Four Important Treasury Signatures
The document bears the signatures of:
Sir Robert Walpole (1676–1745) — First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, conventionally regarded as Britain's first Prime Minister.
Sir Charles Turner, 1st Baronet (1666–1738) — prominent Whig politician and Lord of the Treasury, as well as Walpole's brother-in-law.
George Bubb Dodington (1691–1762) — prominent Whig politician and Lord of the Treasury under Walpole.
Sir William Strickland, 4th Baronet (c.1686–1735) — Lord of the Treasury from 1725–1727 and later Secretary at War.
The Treasury commission in place at this time included Walpole, Turner, Dodington and Strickland, making this an unusually attractive example of the financial machinery of the Walpole ministry.
The document orders payment to John Plumptree, Treasurer of the Ordnance, an office documented in contemporary Treasury warrants preserved in the British Library.
Historical Importance
The date, April 1726, places the document at the height of Robert Walpole's first administration and during a period of substantial British military expenditure. Britain was also engaged in a growing confrontation with Spain, and Admiral Hosier's fleet was dispatched to the Spanish West Indies that same month.
Although the document should not be specifically attributed to financing Hosier's expedition without additional evidence, its enormous authorization of more than £105,000 for Ordnance land and sea services provides a remarkable record of the scale of British governmental and military expenditure during the period.
The document is especially desirable because it is not merely a Walpole autograph. It records a major financial action of the Treasury and bears the signatures of four members of the government responsible for administering the nation's finances.
Date: April 19, 1726
Place: Whitehall Treasury Chamber, London
Recipient: John Plumptree, Treasurer and Paymaster of the Office of Ordnance
Amount: £105,412 14s. 3d.
Subject: Payment for land and sea services of the Office of Ordnance
Condition: Good. Original 18th-century paper with substantial period folds, light staining and foxing, edge wear and localized losses/tears. The manuscript remains highly legible, and the four important Treasury signatures remain clear and collectible.
