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<DATE>9-18-09</DATE>
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<NAME>John Latta</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="A97186">
<STC T="W">W914</STC>
<STC T="T">669.f.15[71]</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99870722</BIBNO>
<VID>163144</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="petition">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>To the &s;upreme Authority the Parliament of the Common-wealth of ENGLAND;
The humble Petition of &s;everall that have adventured, and are willing to adventure to <HI>Greenland,</HI> who&s;e Names are hereunto &s;ub&s;cribed:</HEAD>
<OPENER>SHEWETH,</OPENER>
<P>THat the Fi&s;hing of <HI>Greenland</HI> for making Oyl there (being of great concernment unto this Common-wealth) hath been for many years ingro&s;&s;ed in great mea&s;ure into the hands of the <HI>Greenland</HI> Company, who have by force (and &s;ometimes blood-&s;hed) endevoured to &s;uppre&s;s all others who have attempted to fi&s;h there, under pretence of a property in &s;everall Harbors, by vertue of a Patent, and an Act of Parliament made in the 8. year of <HI>Eliz.</HI> which Act your Petitioners humbly conceive in no &s;en&s;e can be con&s;trued to warrant their actions or pretences.</P>
<P>That &s;everal of tho&s;e Harbors wherein they principally claim an intere&s;t and propriety are large bayes and are &s;ome of them about 20. or 24. miles in breadth at the going in; and about 14. miles within, and compri&s;e in each of them divers large, convenient, and commodious Harbours, where may be pitched many tents by &s;everal adven|turers, and Coppers erected for boyling places &s;everal miles di&s;tant each from other, without any an noyance or preju|dice to one another, and every one have more fi&s;hing then their utmo&s;t indu&s;try can improve (the Hollanders at this time through the means of the <HI>Greenland</HI> Companies re&s;traint of free. fi&s;hing for all Engli&s;hmen, imploying annually. 3. or 4. &s;core &s;ail of Ships to fi&s;h in <HI>Greenland)</HI> and yet the <HI>Greenland</HI> Company &s;trive to hinder all Engli&s;hmen, &s;aving tho&s;e of their own Company from fi&s;hing there, which are an incon&s;iderable handful of, about 30. or 40. per&s;ons and yet they do nothing neer &s;end out &s;ufficient &s;hipping to &s;upply this Common-wealth with Oyl or Whalefinn.</P>
<P>That the <HI>Greenland</HI> Company have lately and &s;trongly endeavoured at the Councel of Trade to prevent all Forrai|gners from importing fi&s;h Oyl and Whalefin, and all Engli&s;hmen from fi&s;hing freely in <HI>Greenland</HI> but them&s;elves, where|by they would have all Fi&s;h Oyl and Whalefinn in their own hands to inhance the price at their own wills, and in ca&s;e their fi&s;hing be not &s;uccesful any year according to their de&s;ires the whole Common-wealth mu&s;t &s;uffer thereby, pre|tending it is impo&s;&s;ible that other Engli&s;hmen, be&s;ides them&s;elves &s;hould fi&s;h there; but by the Sea-men there will be blood &s;hed, although it is wel known that in or about the year 1645. when the Parliament was plea&s;ed to grant and make a &s;evere order for keeping the Peace, there was no di&s;turbance.</P>
<P>That in ca&s;e the &s;aid fi&s;hing were free for every Engli&s;hman (as of right and ju&s;tice we humbly conceive it ought to be) there would be twice or thrice as many Ships &s;ent every year for <HI>Greenland,</HI> as a renow by the <HI>Greenland</HI> Com|pany (as by the particulars under written may partly appear) whereby that fi&s;hing would be re&s;erved from al forraigners, and this Nation &s;upplied with a full quantity of Fi&s;h-Oyls at cheap rates, without the help of forraigners; yea, and in a few years be able to tran&s;port into forraign Nations for their &s;upply, as now &s;ome of them do to us, for ours. And the Navigation for this Common-wealth very much increa&s;ed, and indu&s;try (the &s;upport of a Nation) encouraged.</P>
<P>Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray, That it may &s;peedily (for the encouragement of the&s;e pre&s;ent yeers fi&s;h|ing) be declared by Parliament, that the fi&s;hing in <HI>Greenland</HI> and making fi&s;h-Oyl and Whalefinn there, &s;hall be free for every Engli&s;h-man, and the &s;ame Oyls and Whalefinn there made to be freely vended in <HI>England,</HI> &amp; that the &s;aid <HI>Greenland</HI> Company may make a ju&s;t &s;atisfaction for that innocent blood that they and their agents have &s;hed there, and a full re&s;titution and &s;atisfaction to all tho&s;e Engli&s;h men they have any way wronged by taking away their goods, &amp;c. Contrary to Law, and that a &s;evere and exact order may be made for the future keeping of the peace among&s;t all tho&s;e Engli&s;hmen that &s;hall repair to <HI>Greenland</HI> to fi&s;h; fora&s;much as already the chiefe&s;t of the <HI>Greenland</HI> Company give out de&s;perate threats again&s;t any Engli&s;h-men that are not of their Company that &s;hall dare to fi&s;h in the <HI>Greenland</HI> Harbours.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>And your Petitioners &s;hall pray, &amp;c.
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Richard Warner,</HI> an Adventurer of a whole Ship at his own charge two years together la&s;t pa&s;t.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Jo. Pibus,</HI> who hath been for this Ten years together there a Fi&s;hing, and is now a Ma&s;ter of a Ship trading for that place.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>William Welch,</HI> who hath been Nine or ten years there, and now a Ma&s;ter of a Ship.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Iohn Warner,</HI> who hath been Three years there, and now is Ma&s;ter of a Ship.</ITEM>
<ITEM>George Baker Adam Cliffe Iohn Cliffe Simon Sylks Which four are now joyned with the Four before-named; all Eight of which intend this year to &s;et out &s;hipping for 250 Tunn of Whale Oyl, be&s;ides Whale Finn.</ITEM>
</LIST></SIGNED>
From <HI>Hull</HI> the la&s;t year went two Ships that never adventured before, and as we are credibly informed, the &s;ame Per&s;ons intend this year to &s;et out Ships for 250 Tunn of Oyl, &amp;c.
Mr. <HI>Thomas Hoth</HI> of <HI>London</HI> this year him&s;elf intends as we credibly under&s;tand, to adventure for 400. Tunn of Oyl.
<SIGNED><LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Alderman</HI> Iohn Hayes</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Col.</HI> Iohn Hardwick</ITEM>
<ITEM>Simon Weeden</ITEM>
<ITEM>Roger Peares</ITEM>
<ITEM>Edward Whittwell</ITEM>
<ITEM>Thomas Howlet</ITEM>
<ITEM>Iames Baker</ITEM>
</LIST> All &s;even of them Sopemakers, with others of their a&s;&s;ociates, if the Trade be free, intend and de&s;ire (as we under&s;tand from &s;ome of them&s;elves) to &s;end out &s;hipping to <HI>Greenland</HI> this year for 700 Tunn of Oyl. All which adventures in the gro&s;s, makes up 1600 Tunn, and the whole <HI>Greenland</HI> Company &s;eldom in one year adventures for above 1000. Tunn of Oyl; &s;o that the advantage the Nation will get by a Free-trade is clear: Free-trade onely being the means to beat the <HI>Hollanders</HI> out of that Trade.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
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<DIV1 TYPE="statement">
<P>The Originall of this Petition in Writing, remaines in the hands of the Honourable LUKE ROBINSON, to be pre&s;ented to the Hou&s;e.</P>
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