HARVEY, Thomas
684
August 10th 1819
Honored Sir,
I hope you will pardon the liberty I take in thus addressing you. Having seen in the public papers that a sum of £50,000 has been voted by the Honourable House of Commons for the assistance of unemployed workmen that wish to emigrate to the Cape of Good Hope, I the undersigned do most humbly beg leave to state to your Honor that there are in the Parish in which I am resident, viz the Parish of Stoke Damerell, twelve or fourteen able bodied active and industrious men, all above the age of eighteen and under forty, and whose families do not exceed the number stated, who will be thankful to accompany me on such an expedition; being all unfortunately unemployed, should your Honor be pleased to accept our services I for myself and on the part of my distressed companions do most humbly solicit that your Honor will be pleased to cause us to be informed more particularly the terms on which we are to proceed on such an expedition. If we are not considered too troublesome we would wish to be informed whether the land which is to be granted to us becomes after ten years settlement the sole property of ourselves and our successors, and for every other information your Honor will condescend to cause us to be acquainted with we shall ever feel grateful to your Honor. Your Honors causing an early answer to be forwarded to us will be considered as a mark of the greatest indulgence to
Your distressed and very humble servants
Thomas HARVEY, for himself and other petitioners
Stoke No.4
Near Plymouth Dock
[Transcriber’s Note: According to the workhouses website at http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhouse/StokeDamerel/StokeDamerel.shtml
the parish of Stoke Damerel was renamed Devonport in 1897. Up to 1834 it was incorporated under a local Act of Parliament for the management of its own poor law administration and provision of a residential workhouse.]