Plantation Trade Ledger Collection

MSA SC 5993
Dates	1745-1757
Medium	bound volume
Restrictions
Storage	00/22/11/50
Description
Parchment bound manuscript volume, eighteenth-century customs and plantation trade record book from the Province of Maryland kept by Benedict Calvert, the Patuxent customs collector from 1745-1757. Cover inscriptions "Lib: B : C, A Register Book begun August 24th, 1745"; For related government records, see NAVAL OFFICER (Ships Trading in Maryland) MSA S 1006. Accessioned with pages missing/removed from volume between the dates of May 1, 1746-May 8, 1750 and at the end of the volume after March 11, 1757.
History
The affidavits list the name of the ship, when built, the present owner, the name of the ship's master, and the vessel’s size. The Naval Office required this information after the passage of the Navigation Acts by Great Britain. These acts, which placed restrictions on foreign trade in the American colonies, began with the Navigation Act of 1651, which was renewed in 1660 and 1663, after the restoration of the monarchy.