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Auction: 19022 - Historical Documents, Postal History and Autographs
Lot: 2042

Autographs
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury
1670 (14 December) warrant by Anthony Ahsley Cooper, Baron Ahsley, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Thomas Clifford to Sir Robert Long to pay £6000 to Sir Stephen Fox, for pay of the King's guards and garrisons, "to be payed out of such mony as shall be payd in to the receipt of the Exchequer by Alderman Backwell, by way of loane upon the Credit of the Exchequer in generall". Signed "Ashley" and T. Clifford" with filing endorsement on the reverse. This document reveals both the amount loaned to the Exchequer by bankers such as Backwell and the ways in which the Exchequer spent such loans. Included with 1667 (25 September) treasury warrant to pay Richard Aldworth £30, signed "Ashley" and "T: Clifford" with filing tear through the latter signature. Photo

Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (1621 - 1683) was a prominent English politician, also known for his patronage of the theologian, John Locke. Cooper, around the time of signing this warrant had opposed Sir George Downing's proposal that money rasied for the King should only be used to fund war efforts; Cooper argued for greater freedom, eventually coming to blows with Charle's Lord Lieutenant of Ireland over the matter. Further, Thomas Clifford (1630 - 1673), as Treasurer of the Household, had been negotiating the Treaty of Dover with France. The Treaty garnered support from the French in opposing the Dutch in return for the King's conversion to Roman Catholicism - a clause that Cooper had been ignorant of.

In a similar political move, Cooper joined the Cabal Ministry - a group of high councillors of Charles II across the Kingdom designed to avoid royal favouritism.

Alderman Edward Backwell (1618 - 1683) English goldsmith banker and later politician often named as founder of the banking system of England. Figures such as those mentioned in this warrant go some way to explaining how the Stop of the Exchequer in 1672 almost put an end to his business.

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Sold for
£380