11th July 1814: George Coldham sends the FWK Union's seized papers to the Home Office

Nottingham 11th July 1814

Dear Sir,

I herewith send you for Lord Sidmouth’s Information a short memorandum or Note of the Contents of such of the Papers as have appeared upon our Inspection of them most material in Developing the nature & Extent of the late Operation of the Combination as applied to the Turning out & [support] [in] the Hands of Messrs Geo & John Ray in striking upon a Demand for an advance of Price which the very Members of the Combination now admit in all its Bearings have been exhorbitant. I also sent for Lord Sidmouth’s Inspection an Account of the Funds of the Society extracted from their Books during the Existence of the application of their [means] to the purpose above stated. The [main] press of the Exchequer has been [borrowing] [money] for the purpose of being applied to Manufacturing & by this means they have produced a great many Silk Hose which are now sent to London to be sold. When I wrote first you about these Papers I had considerable Doubts about the legality of the Seizure. I [ascertained] more [still] as to the probability of our Detaining them or rather our being enabled legally to do so beyond the Sessions I had therefore entertained a strong Opinion that it was necessary they should have been sent to Lord Sidmouth previous to the Sessions.

Those Doubts are now Dissipated by the Opinion of Mr. Balguy whom I have had an opportunity of consulting & who seems clearly to consider the Magistrates as justified in what they have done by the Contents of the Papers as upon the [same] Ground justified in retaining them after the Sessions. for ulterior operations against these Men. I Do not mean to Detract from the merits of the Secret Committee but I think it only justice to the Magistrates to state that the first Information upon which we could stand was derived from the Skill with which [they] examined Joseph Brookhouse one of Mr. Ray’s Hands (in [consequence] indeed of information given there by the secret Committee) & if the manner in which they Directed the Execution of the Warrant for the apprehension of the Committee

I am Dear Sir
Your’s very Obediently
Geo Coldham

[To John Beckett]

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This letter can be found at HO 42/140.