Catalogue Entry: MINT00825
Complaint about encroachments on Mint property
Contents
During Charles II's reign [regarded as having begun in 1649], the Irish Mint was occupied by the Ordnance, 'we do not know by what authority', and barracks built in the grounds. These were restored to the Mint and used as mill-rooms during the recoinage [1696-8], but then returned again to the Ordnance except for two rooms which are currently used for storing tin. Now the Ordnance want these back as well, which the Mint will be happy to grant 'if his Mty pleases to give order that the Tinn be removed out of the Mint into Warehouses where we may not be answerable for it'. Suspects King William was misinformed about the rights of the Mint if, as the Ordnance claim, he ordered the restoration to them of these barracks. Soldiers should not be allowed to lodge in the Mint precincts as they 'render the custody of the gold & silver unsafe'.
Notes
[Note on dating: NC, 4, places the letter (without explanation) in late 1702. The reference to 'his Mty' makes this highly improbable, since the monarch then was Anne. The mention of 'K. William' effectively rules out the possibility of the letter's dating from his reign (he would have been referred to as 'his Majesty' or 'the King'). Furthermore, the Mint did not stock tin in any quantity before 1703. The document must, then, date from after George I's accession on 1 August 1714. For the conjectural dating of 1717 (based on the putative dating of drafts on the reverse [of the earlier version of this report at MINT00826 (Mint 19/3/439), presumably]), see NC, 7: 428-9.]
Related Material
Printed in NC, 4: 393-4; but note the revised dating in NC, 7: 428-9.
