Sometimes you find something that looks interesting .
Any link between Rotterdam and England could be a clue to Jerome Nicholas Vlieland.
So here we start with a petition from 1815.
Next time we tell you more about James Le Marchant.
A banker and merchant from Guernsey who lived in Rotterdam.
A banker and merchant from Guernsey who lived in Rotterdam.
PETITION FROM THE BRITISH INHABITANTS OF ROTTERDAM.
The following Petition from the British Inhabitants of Rotterdam; praying for pecuniary Aid to repair and reinstate the English Episcopal Church there; was laid before the House, and ordered to be printed.
To the Right Hon. the Lords Commissioners of his Majesty's Treasury. The humble Petition of the undersigned British Inhabitants of, Rotterdam, and Members of the Established Church of England,
"Sheweth,
That your petitioners having, until the year 1794, enjoyed the free use and comfort of their religion, were, most of them, from the invasion of this country by the French armies, obliged to quit it, together with their clergyman, at that period:
"That their Church is a handsome detached brick building, and was erected in 1706 and 1707, by means of the liberal contribution of her majesty queen Anne of glorious memory, his grace the duke of Marlborough, and the officers and privates of her majesty's army and navy; to which were added subscriptions from the two Universities of England, dignified and ether clergy as well as nobility, and in- 542dividuals, by which means the present building was erected at an expense of nearly 12,000l. sterling:
"That during the years of trouble and desolation which followed the French invasion, this building became seized by that government, and suffered the greatest abuses, by being converted into an hospital, and afterwards a storehouse:
That during the interval of peace in 1802, the period was too short to reinstate the building, and make it fit for resuming Divine Service; the war soon broke out, the church was again seized by the French, and threatened to be confiscated as a national domain belonging to British subjects, which however was with difficulty, resisted by some of your petitioners, but who could not prevent the French government from appropriating it to the service of the marine, who cut down the oak pews, destroyed the organ, took up the pavement, broke all the windows and ceiling, while the roof, gutters, timbers, and principal parts of the outside of the church were year after year suffered to go to decay, for want of the necessary repairs; which your petitioners had not the means or power to prevent:
"The glorious successes of Great Britain and her Allies, having among other nations happily delivered this country from foreign oppression, and restored to it its former free and protective Government: your petitioners, anxious to be enabled again to assemble themselves together in the worship of the Church of England, most humbly approach your lordships, praying that they will be pleased to grant them the necessary pecuniary aid to accomplish so desirable an object for the benefit of themselves and their children, as well as the numerous class of his Majesty's subjects constantly employed in the shipping trade between Great Britain and this Country:
Your petitioners beg humbly to state, that according to an accurate survey made by the government architect of this department of Holland, he has reported that it will take the sum of 4,500l. sterling, to put the Episcopal Church in complete repair, and reinstate the same as it was heretofore fit for the performance of Divine Service, the brick-work and outside shell of the building being still in good order.
"Your petitioners are under the necessity of stating to your lordships, their utter inability to raise the sum, or any 543part of it, and your petitioners will still have to provide the necessary funds for the annual stipend of their clergyman, whose appointment is with the right rev. lord bishop of London, and whose fixed pay from the Crown is only net about 83l. sterling a year. Your petitioners humbly hope your lordships will graciously take their case into consideration; and, as in duty bound, they will ever pray, &c.
"Rotterdam, July, 1814.
"(Signed) James Le Marchant, jun. G.
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