PRICE, Thomas Green

National Archives, Kew CO48/45, 173

Rose Cottage

Little Birch

Near Hereford

Sept 1^st 1819

My Lord,

Having seen in the public papers a grant of £50,000 made by Government for the purpose of enabling HM Government to assist unfortunate agriculturalists & unemployed labourers who may be desirous to remove to the Cape of Good Hope, I beg leave to state it is my wish to avail myself of the opportunity to go there, and to take with me ten able bodied men, labourers in husbandry – I recently occupied an extensive farm under the Gov'r of Guys Hospital in the Parish of Callow Co. of Hereford, which (from many unavoidable misfortunes & through having become responsible for a large sum of money for a person who soon afterwards became insolvent) I was obliged to give up, and all I possessed was sold by auction under a deed of assignment for the benefit of creditors; I subsequently turned land measurer, having a knowledge of that profession, and wrote a small treatise on the depressed state of agriculture which went through 3 editions & paid me 30£. I next wrote a book entitled the Speculator, the object of which was to endeavour with the profits arising from the sales to procure a situation & enable me to follow any business whereby I may support by honest industry my wife & infant family; the second edition of this work is now in the press; it has been approved by many distinguished noblemen & gentlemen, amongst the no. His Grace the Duke of BEDFORD, the Earl of MANVERS, Viscount DUDLEY & WARD, Lord SOMERS, the Right Hon'ble Sir B. BLOOMFIELD, the Hon'ble W.B. GREY, the Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Glocester, The Bishop of Hereford, R.B. COOPER Esq MP, R. PRICE Esq MP, A.R. DOTTIN Esq MP and many others of weight & importance who came forward with that promptitude which is the distinguishing characteristic of genuine English benevolence & liberally contributed towards its avowed object; by these means I have accumulated upwards of 100£, I should therefore be enabled to pay the deposit for myself & 10 others, whom I have spoken to and who are willing to accompany me, but I humbly conceive that 11 men with 100£ or 150£ capital would be inadequate to the task of bringing into cultivation 1000 acres of waste land without receiving considerable assistance from Government, this assistance I perceive is promised in the speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but he does not state to what extent – he also says that the soil is suited to the production of most sorts of culinary & leguminous plants, which last I conceive relates chiefly to pulse (that is spring crops) or what we have [obscured] grain, such as oats, barley, pease &c, but I should wish to be informed whether the soil is capable of bearing a crop of wheat and the nr. of bushells per acre when brought into a regular & good state of cultivation, and also what degree of assistance we should receive when actually located upon the land.

My age is 29 and the age of none of those who are willing to accompany me does not exceed 35 & should we meet with a due share of encouragement it is highly probable much good would result from our united labours. For the truth of what I have asserted & for character &c I beg leave to refer to R. PRICE Esq MP Foxley, Hereford, Mr. WREN-HOSKYNS Esq one of HM Justices of the Peace, [Strickstening?] Hereford & the Rev D. PULZER also one of HM Justices of the Peace Longhope Glocester, which latter gentleman has known me from my infancy. Beging the favor of an answer I subscribe myself with the greatest respect, my Lord

Your Lordship's most obedient humble servant

Thomas Green PRICE

National Archives, Kew CO48/45, 210

Rose Cottage

Little Birch

Near Hereford

12^th Sept 1819

Sir,

I beg leave to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 3^rd inst and in reply I beg to state it is with regret I decline the opportunity afforded me of going to the Cape of Good Hope – conceiving my pecuniary resources, viz 200£ to be insufficient to secure the permanent success of the undertaking. I am Sir with the greatest respect

Your most obedient humble servant

Thomas Green PRICE

[Transcriber's Note: Found on a Herefordshire Family History Website:

In 1818, Thomas Green PRICE published “The Speculator: A Narrative” – printed & sold by W.H. & J. Parker, Minerva Office, Broad Street, Hereford – sold, also, by Baldwin, Craddock, & Joy, and A.K. Newman & Co. London; Roberts, Ross; Thackway, Ledbury; Burlton, Leominster; and all other Booksellers. Some months ago, I saw a copy of “The Speculator: A Narrative” upon which someone had written “This unfortunate man put an end to his existence at Lugwardine, near Hereford February 1822”. The Hereford Journal of 18 February 1822 provided a little more information:

“On Wednesday, Mr. PRICE, late of Twyford, in this county, and residing at Lugwardine, in a fit of despondence, put a period to his existence, by hanging himself. He has left a wife and four children totally destitute.”