Fairfax Family Ledger, 1739-1747

There are three sets of entries in the ledger. The first set of entries consists of 36 pages and date to 1739, 1740, 1742, 1744, 1745, 1746, and 1747 and individual lists are accepted and signed by William Fairfax ( 1691 – 1757) , who had just built Belvoir. Several pages are headed “Gedney Clarke Mercht of Barbados” who apparently is in charge of shipping items to William Fairfax in Virginia. The second set of entries in the ledger comprises most of the ledger and consists of 52 pages. It covers the years 1760 to 1772 and accounts are initialed by “GWFx,” George William Fairfax, son of William Fairfax, who died in 1757. These entries consist of page after page of goods or services purchased largely from London merchants; Cheapside, Fleet Street, and Charring Cross are mentioned. A third section of the ledger consists of six pages in the middle of the book that date from 1760 to 1766. It is an “Acct of Sales of Tobacco” from 1760 to 1766. The names of the buyers are unknown.