Description:

Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
n.p., February 9, 1743
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough Receives Royal Annuity 29 Years After Queen Anne's Death
PPDS

A 1p partly printed and partly manuscript document signed by Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (1660-1744), as "S: Marlborough" near the bottom edge. February 9, 1743. N.p. Co-signed by a witness as "J. Stephens" at lower left. Secretarially inscribed on laid watermarked paper, with a table of itemized manuscript calculations found near upper right. Expected age-related wear including toning, foxing, and stains. Scattered chips and paper loss mostly affecting the right edge. Flattened transmittal folds and closed tears; a little fragile and well-creased. Else good. 7.625" x 8.625." Provenance: Accompanied by an invoice from The Rendells, No. 8439, dated December 22, 1980.

Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough was an intimate friend, adviser, and agent of Queen Anne I (1655-1714) both before and after Anne assumed the throne in 1702. The Duchess of Marlborough's influence at court granted her access to many honorary roles and titles including Mistress of the Robes and Keeper of the Privy Purse. She also received pecuniary awards, like this 1706 annuity. In accordance with a parliamentary act dated March 25, 1706, the Duchess of Marlborough was guaranteed to receive the annual sum of £1,050, dispensed in biannual installments, for up to 99 years. Thus, in 1743, the 82-year-old Duchess of Marlborough was still eligible to receive an annuity granted by Queen Anne, who had died 29 years earlier.

The document reads in part, with original spelling and punctuation:

"The 9th Day of February 1743. Received by me Sarah Dutchess Dowager of Marlborough assignee as per margin

Of the Honourable Philip Yorke, Esq; One of the Four Tellers of His Majesty's Receipt of Exchequer, the Sum of five hundred + twenty five Pounds

in full of all former Directions and for Six Months Annuity, due at Christmas last pass, of one thousand + fifty Pounds per Annum, payable for the Term of Ninety-Nine Years from the 25th of March 1706, by Virtue of an Act of Parliament made and passed in the Fourth Year of the Reign of our late most Gracious Sovereign Lady Queen Anne, (Intitled, An Act for continuing an Additional Subsidy of Tonnage and Poundage, and certain Duties upon Coals, Culm, and Cinder, and Additional Duties of Excise, and for settling and establishing a Fund thereby, and by other Ways and Means, for Payment of Annuities, to be sold for raising a further Supply to Her Majesty for the Service of the Year 1706, and other Uses therein mentioned)

I say Received by me

[signed] S: Marlborough."

Queen Anne's 1706 annuity was primarily raised through taxation of goods; the "Coals, Culm, and Cinder" mentioned in the act referred to fuel sources (culm was coal wadded in clay.) The 1706 royal annuity was not just reserved for favorites like the Duchess of Marlborough. It was also given - albeit in much smaller grants - to individuals and groups, like a French Huguenot Church in London. The 1706 annuity was repealed in 1867 as part of the Statute Law Revision Act - more than 160 years after its passage!

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 7.625" x 8.625"
  • Medium: PPDS

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