Letter – William Johnson to William Corbett – 1 Jan 1742

To Mr Wm Corbett Esqr at the Pay Office In Broad Street London these Wth care & speed



Sir

	I should have written you long ago but being not acquainted with you & the business being foren to me I did refer it till now. I see and hear more of the Usuage of that Estate and therefore I thought it Needfull to propose this to you for I thought if you take in proposals for Letting the Farmes belonging to the Estate of Derwentwater you ought also to take in and hear proposals for preserving the rights and priviledges of the Sd Estate the one being as much for your Hon[our] & for the Interest of the Royal Hospital as the other and what  I here propose to you is that you would see to get and Comissionate & Imploy a man to Inspect and take care of the Woods and other properties and privileges of the said estate a man that lives and is acquainted in Country & with the people where the said estate is and likewise  with the Practice of the People in like manner and one that is ingenious and will make that affare his buisness or else his Inspecting is not worth a Straw and Sir I do tell you that such a man rightly Quallified & diligent in the business you Imployed him in would tend to the Hon[our] of the Comiss[ioners] & for the great Interest of the Royal Hospitall whereas  the present practice Reners the former Contemptable & the latere Suffers Losses to give you a detail of the many Abuses and Inroads upon the Sd Estate of Derwentwater would be too tedious I being a Slow bad writer but Sir if you question the truth of what I have here written there is Gent[lemen] who comes from the South into this Country Every Sommer & I do not question but you may know more by Some of them than I can here give you to understand and there is one Mr William tate who lives in Newcastle upon Tyne & is an officer of the Customs of the River there of whom Messrs Walton & Boag may Inform them Selves, or you by writing may Inform your Self of the truth of the Matter for he is a man that knows the Affaires of that estate and the Abuses of it he having Correspondents many in that that Country all over & is a very honest man himself So Sir you may know of these abuses and way Above mentioned . Imploying a man rightly quallifyed is in my thought the only way to amend or prevent them and Sir I do tell you love the hon[our] of the Comiss[ioners] & the Int[erest] of the Royal Hospitall you should bestir yourselfe speedily for now in the winter Season is the great damage done and also the time when means should be used for the greatest Improvement of Woods and Lands  Messrs Walton & Boag Manage very well but yet is blamed for putting some of their friends or relations into the business which is reported to be given to fraud. So Sir I being in haste no more rests your Hble Sert.

      Wm Johnson

East End  Jan 1. 1741



Sr if you would anything that I can do you may direct for me at Eastend to be left John Bell, at the Gun & <Pistil> in Hexham