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GSSA
The 1820 Settler Correspondence
 as preserved in the National Archives, Kew
 and edited by Sue Mackay

Correspondence 1821 to 1837.

Here only letters by known settlers or their families, or letters of great relevance to the 1820 settlers, have been transcribed, whereas ALL the 1819 correspondence was transcribed (see CO48/41 through CO48/46) whether or not the writers emigrated to the Cape.

Unless otherwise stated letters were written to either the Secretary of State for the Colonies or his deputy.The original correspondence is filed in order of receipt. Here it has been placed in alphabetical order according to the surname of the writer, with letters by the same writer in chronological order, for ease of reading. Original spelling has been maintained. Reference numbers, where given, refer to printed page numbers stamped on the letters and will enable visitors to the National Archives to locate the letter more easily.

WHITAKER, William and James, 1830

Written by Sue Mackay on .

National Archives, Kew CO48/137, 433

To the Earl of Aberdeen
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

The Humble Petition of William and James WHITAKER, of Waterhead Mill, in the Parish of Saddleworth in the County of York and Diocese of Chester, sheweth
That the said William and James WHITAKER have a Brother by name Philip WHITAKER, who was a Private Soldier in the 60th Regt of Foot, stationed in Grahamstown in the Cape of Good Hope, in South Africa; but such Regt having been disbanded in the year 18, the said Brother Philip WHITAKER became a Settler in Grahamstone, situated in the Cape; and that by letter signified a particular wish that his two Brothers, William and James, the present Petitioners, should if possible join him in the same situation & employment.
The Petitioners, who are orphans, are most anxious to accede to their Brother's wishes, and for the accomplishment of wch they humbly pray the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs would kindly permit them to have a Free Passage in any one of His Majesty's vessels that may be bound or may even touch at the Cape, the Petitioners undertaking to find themselves with Provisions during the voyage, and promising to work in any way they can whilst at sea.
Trusting the resent Application my not be deemed impertinent or presuming, and anxiously hoping that it may be successful, the petitioners herewith subscribe their names with all due submission and respect.
William WHITAKER
Jas. WHITAKER X (mark)

PS To Direct to William, son of Radcliff WHITAKER, Waterhead Mill, near Oldham

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