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The James Phipps papers in the Public Records Office

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2022

David P. Henige*
Affiliation:
Centre of West African Studies, University of Birmingham
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Extract

Recently I was able to describe briefly the collection of the papers of James Phipps housed in the Chancery Masters Exhibits collection in the Public Record Office. At that time it was not possible to do more than suggest the salient characteristics of this collection since the materials were completely unorganized and in exactly the same condition as when they were deposited some two centuries ago. This collection has now been organized, albeit in a somewhat inchoate form, and some further assesment of its contents and value can be attempted. The reorganization of these materials has resulted in their being reclassified — unfortunately still within the Chancery Masters Exhibits classification rather than the T70 series — and this note is intended to introduce the new system and to enumerate its contents more fully.

James Phipps spent more than twenty years on the Gold Coast in the service of the Royal African Company.

Type
Documentation
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1973

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References

1 Henige, D. P., “Two sources for the history of the Guinea coast, 1680-1722”, International Journal of African Historical Studies, 5 (1972), 272-5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 For Phipps’ service record see Porter, R., “English Chief Factors on the Gold Coast, 1632-1753”, African Historical Studies, 1 (1968), 207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

3 For the location of the Gold Coast outforts see the map in Davies, K. G., The Royal African Company (London, 1957), 246.Google Scholar

4 James Brydges, Duke of Chandos and patron of Handel, was interested in the amalgamation of the RAC and the South Sea Company which was being bruited about at the time.

5 The Bodleian materials consist of three large letter copybooks which contain 3840 letters, of which 767 are duplicates, from every post held by the English on the coast at one time or another between 1618 and 1699.

6 Porter, R., “The Crispe family and the African Trade in the seventeenth century”, JAH, 9 (1968), 5777CrossRefGoogle Scholar; idem., An English family at Cape Coast, 1802-1804”, Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, 9 (1968), 4364Google Scholar; Priestley, Margaret, West African trade and coast society (London, 1969)Google Scholar; idem., Philip Quacue” in Curtin, P. D. (ed.), Africa Remembered (Madison, 1967)Google Scholar