Bibliographic Record Display

• Author/Creator:Oswald, Richard, 1705-1784.
  
• Title:Letters to Richard Oswald, 1759-1784.
  
• Physical Description:2.21 linear feet (11 boxes)
  

• Yale Holdings

  Holdings Record Display

  • Location:LSF- BEINECKE
    Request for Use in the Beinecke Reading Room
    
    
  • Call Number: OSB MSS 62
    
  • Status:Not Checked Out
    

   
• Notes:Purchased from William Reese Co. on the James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection Fund, 1998.
  
• Organization:Volumes 1-3 (in boxes 1-3) contain letters from Michael Herries; Volumes 4-6 (in boxes 4-6) contain letters from James and Alexander Oswald; Volumes 7-8 (in boxes 7-8) contain letters from John Russell; Volumes 9-10 (in boxes 9-10) contain letters from other business associates: George Mille, George Muir, and John Levett. Volumes 9-10 are disbound and the contents housed in folders; the bindings for volumes 9 and 10 are housed in Box 11.
  
• Access and use:This material is open for research.
• Biographical / Historical note:Richard Oswald (1705-1784) was a Scottish merchant based in London who made his fortune in the Triangle Trade and as an army contractor during the Seven Years' War. In 1759 he purchased the estate of Auchincruive in Ayrshire, but he continued to remain active in business and in contact with his representatives in London, Virginia, the Caribbean, West Africa, and India. In 1781 Lord Shelburne appointed him as his main negotiator with the American Commissioners in Paris. Oswald returned to Scotland after the signing of the Treaty and died in 1784.
  
• Summary:Ten letterbooks containing business correspondence to Oswald from his agents, factors, nephews and Edinburgh attorney, all written after his "retirement" to Scotland. The letters include extensive information on on Oswald's trading ventures, particularly his trade with the American colonies and his West African slave trade (based at Bunce Island), and his Scottish land investments. The letters from his London agent Michael Herries contain detailed reports on individual ships and cargoes; political news, particularly information on the growing revolt and then open warfare in the American colonies, and the reactions of Parliament and the London public; and copies of letters from agents in Charlestown, South Carolina and Bunce Island. Letters by Oswald's nephews, particularly by Alexander Oswald, include much information on the tobacco trade with Virginia, as well as the impact of the American Revolution on trade with the Continent.
  Letters from John Levett, who was agent for Oswald first at Bunce Island and then in British India, contain speculation on the governmental changes in India and the East India Company's changing role there, in addition to general trade and business news.
  
• Format:Archives or Manuscripts
• Cite as:Letters to Richard Oswald. James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
  
• Subjects:Herries, Michael.
  Levett, John, fl. 1770-1780.
  Mille, George, fl. 1775.
  Muir, George, fl. 1780.
  Oswald, Alexander.
  Oswald, James, 1770-1802.
  Oswald, Richard, 1705-1784.
  Russell, John, active 1765-1766.
  East India Company.
  Definitive Treaty of Peace Between Great Britain and the United States (1783 September 3)
  Commerce--Great Britain.
  Slave trade--Africa, West.
  Slave trade--America.
  Bengal (India)--Commerce.
  Great Britain--Colonies--America.
  Great Britain--Colonies--Commerce.
  Great Britain--Colonies--India.
  Great Britain--Landlord and tenant--Scotland.
  India--Commerce--Great Britain.
  United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Commerce.
  United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Economic aspects.
  United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Foreign public opinion, British.
  United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Peace.
  
• Occupation:Merchants