months, he was given £500 l>y the Assembly as well 

 .is ,in illegal grant by the Council ol £300 from the 

 royal quit-rents, which led George Chalmers, an 

 English historian, to comment sourly in 1782 that for 

 tliis gift "he in return resigned in a great measure, the 

 government to them 



This v\ as not altogether a fair conclusion, for, though 

 (hi. nil, as Campbell in his History of Virginia states, 

 may have been possessed of "some flexibility of 

 principle," he was an extraordinarily successful 

 Governor. Percy S. Flippin concluded that Gooch 

 "was a striking example of what an energetic, forceful 

 royal governor, who was influenced by conditions in 

 the colony and not altogether by his instructions, 

 could accomplish, both for the colony and for the 

 British government." '" He repeatedly acted in the 

 interests of the colonists, particularly regarding im- 

 proved tobacco laws. He attended almost every 

 meeting of the Council, whose members constituted 

 the most influential persons in the colony, and thus 

 established a close working relationship and under- 

 Standing with those who expressed the colonial view- 

 point. Quite evidently he understood that prosperity 

 m the colon)' was a prerequisite to successful trade 

 with England and to a substantial tax return. In 

 respect to improving the tobacco laws, we know that 

 he opposed existing British attitudes: in relation to 

 colonial manufactures beneficial to colonial prosperity, 

 we may assume that he was sympathetic, even though 

 he could not advocate them openly. Certainly, as 

 Campbell stated, "Owing partly to this coalition 

 [between Gooch and the planters], partly to a well- 

 established revenue and a rigid economy, Virginia 

 enjoyed prosperous repose during his long adminis- 

 tration.'" " 



Gooch's reports on manufactures to the Board ol 

 Trade provide an exercise in reading between the 

 lines. "1 hey suggest that he was doing his best to 

 support the colonists while observing the letter of the 

 Crown's instructions. They allude to manufactures 

 here and there, but usually in terms that minimize 



• Pi ri:\ Scon Flippin, "William Gooch: Successful Royal 

 Governor of Virginia," William & Mary ' olli ■ Quarterly His- 

 torical Vlagazini I 1926 . ser. 2, vol. 6, no. 1. pp. i7 S8; IT ippin, 

 I !:■ Royal Government in Virginia (1624 1775 (New York: Co- 

 luinlii.i University Puss. 1919), pp. 124 IT. 



< hard ( vmpbell, History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion 

 oj Virginia (Philadelphia. 1810), p. 448. 



I i ippin i 1926), op. i it. (footnote 8 . p. 38. 

 11 < Iampbell, op. cit. i footnoti 9), p. II 1. 



their importance or that brush aside the possibilities 

 oi their growth. Yet in his depreciations one senses 

 that while lie was trving <o state such facts as were 

 necessai v , he actual!) was ti \ mg on occasion to create 

 an impression that was at variance with the whole 

 trutii. In tracing the Yorktown potter we shall see 

 that this must have been the case. 



In his report of 1732 he made a general statement 

 calculated to allow the Lords of the Board of Track- 

 to relax in calm reassurance, while at the same time 

 encouraging their recognition of his wisdom in in- 

 itiating a new tobacco law : 



There hath been much Discourse amongst the common 

 People of Sowing Flax and Cotton, and therewith 

 supplying themselves with Cloathing: but since the late 

 Tobacco Law hath begun to raise the Price of that 

 Staple, all these projected Schemes are laid aside, and in 

 all probability will Continue so, as long as Tobacco is of 

 any Value, seeing the necessary Cloathing for the 

 Planters and their Negroes, may be more easily Purchas'd 

 with Tobacco than made by themselves. Nor indeed is 

 there much ground to suspect that any kind of Manu- 

 factures will prevail in a Country where handycraft 

 Labour is so dear as " lis Here; The Heat in Summer, 

 and severe Colds in Winter, accompani'd with sundry 

 Diseases proceeding from these Causes, such as Labouring 

 People in Great Britain undergo, and where the Earth 

 produces enough to purchase and supply all the necessity's 

 of life without the drudgery of much Toil, men are 

 tempted to be lazy. 



He then added inconsistently that four ironworks 

 making pots and "Backs for Fireplaces" had been set 

 up in Virginia and admitted that one even included 

 an air furnace. The Lords of the Board of Trade 

 might well have asked how these were accomplished 

 without "the drudgery of much Toil." 



He also stated that: "there is one poor Potter's work 

 of course earthen Ware, which is of so little Conse- 

 quence, that I dare say there hath not been twenty 

 Shilings worth less of that Commodity imported since 

 it was sett up than there was before." '"' It is remark- 

 able that Gooch felt the need to mention the potter at 

 all, since pottery making was usually an anonymous, 

 little-noted craft. Nevertheless, in 1733 he reported 

 again on this seemingly insignificant enterprise: 



As to Manufactures sett up, Wee have at York Town 

 upon York River one poor Potter's Work lor Earthen 

 Ware, which is so very inconsiderable that I dare Say 



1 Library oi l^ut'irss Transcripts: Great Britain, Public 

 Record Office, Colonial Office 5, vol. 1 (23, p. 82. 



78 



P.l I.I.ETIN 249: CONTRIBUTIONS I ROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



