Weeks, James

To His Excellency General The Right Honourable Lord
Charles Somerset, Governor of the Cape of Good Hope
&c &c &c
May it please your Excellency
The Memorial of James Weeks residing at Pendonis
near Bathurst most humbly and respectfully
Sheweth
That some time ago your Excellencys
Memorialist made application to Major Jones the late Landdrost
of Albany, in order to obtain a passport to Craddock, where
he intended to take out a Licence to barter with European
Articles for Cattle &c with the Inhabitants of that district
when he was refered by the sitting Magistrate to Mr Le Seur
the Secretary of Grahams Town, as his legal Adviser, and
was told by him , that One Licence would be sufficient
to authorize him to Travel through every distict of this
Colony.
That your Excellencys Memorialist said
in reply, that if Mr Le Seur was certain of that fact, that
he (your Memorialist) would then take out his Licence in
Grahams Town, although he would reap no advantages
from its sic including the district in which he resides, and he
was answered by the professional Gentleman before
alluded to, that such was the Law of the Colony, when
Major Jones, immediately said I know nothing of the
Laws of this Colony, therefore do not bring Me into
any Scrape ! and Mr Le Seur and Mr Unkuright
both confirmed the former statement and in consequence
of which your Memorialist was induced to pay him Thirty

Rix Dollars for that extensive privilige
That your Memorialist on his arrival
at Craddock, conceiving it to be his duty (agreeable to
his settled principles,) to show a proper respect to the local
authority, waited upon Captain Harding the deputy
Landdrost, to exhibit his Licence, as his legal authority
for trading in the Colony, when to his great surprise, he
was informed by that Gentleman, that, that document
was of no use whatever within the limits of his district,
and Moreover, that if your Excellencys Memorialist
has disposed of any part of his Goods, that his Waggon,
Bullocks and Stock, would have become forfeited to His
Majestys Government, without any hope of recovery
whatever, and which would inevitable have effected the
utter ruin of himself and family. Captain Harding
also stated to your Memorialist that had he, even
desired a Licence for the Albany district, that Twenty
Five Rix Dollars was the largest sum, which could
legally have been charged
That Your Excellencys Memorialist
was therefore obliged to take out an additional Licence
at Craddock for the district of Graaf Reinet and for which
he paid Twenty Five Rix Dollars, and on his return to
Grahams Town, waited upon Mr Le Seur, to state to
him, the disappointment he had met with, and the
peculiar hardships of his case, when he again insisted
that he was perfectly right in his former assertion, and
that Capt Harding was wrong. Your Memorialist therefore

has no alternative but to intreat your Excellency to decide
the point, which certainly affects the trading part of the British
Settlers, and probably his Majestys revenue, and as it was
never his intention to take out a Licence for the district
of Albany, that you will be graciously pleased in your
goodness and clemency to direct that The Thirty Rix Dollars
received from him by Mr Le Seur, under such very extraordinary
circumstances may be forthwith returned and
your Memorialist (as in duty bound) will ever
pray &c &c

(That your Excellencys Memorialist a short time
previous to the period, when Sir R. Shawe Donkin gave up the
Government of this Colony into your illustrious hand, prayed him
to grant your Memorialist an additional three hundred Acres of Land,
which are near to his present location, on the grounds that he
was in possession of a larger number of Cattle than his pasturage
would keep, but to which he received no answer. Your
Memorialist therefore humbly prays your Excellency will be
pleased to grant him a favourable answer to the prayer contained
in his Memorial and he will ever feel and manifest the most
genuine gratitude)
the Land for which Memorialist prays has been assigned to no one.