MR. DALBY'S CASE.
[London: 1760? 1765?]. 3, [1] pp. Folded folio sheet. Light foxing and horizontal folds, Very Good. Docketed in type on final page, "The Case of Francis Dalby of London, Merchant. Humbly submitted to the Honourable House of Commons of Great Britain."
An interesting illustration of the British government's power to seize private property without paying just compensation. This is a rare "petition addressed to the House of Commons, requesting compensation for the hiring for public service of certain ships owned by Francis Dalby and his father-in-law, Charles Weekes" [ESTC]. Dalby owned the Ship Britannia. In 1743 it sailed from the Isle of Wight with a cargo of wheat, bound for Italy. The British fleet stopped it, seized its cargo for use of the fleet, and used the ship "as a tender in his Majesty's service"-- all without compensation to Dalby. Several other Dalby ships met a similar fate: one was engaged in the Carolina rice trade, another in the West India trade.
Having "solicited and prosecuted all the means in their power to procure a reasonable satisfaction for the heavy losses," Dalby appeals to "the lenity, justice and beneficent aid of this Honourable House, without which the said Dalby and his family must inevitably be ruined."
ESTC T144865. OCLC 558667268 [1- British Lib.] as of February 2017. Item #33538
Price: $450.00