The Blathwayt Papers of Colonial Williamsburg, Inc

ACQUAINTANCESHIP with William Blathwayt (i649-1717), 1LA English colonial administrator, is confined almost exclusively to historians and archivists. He was a public official and he left voluminous records which have been used effectively by his recent biographer, Gertrude Ann Jacobsen.' But Blathwayt was essentially a bureaucrat whose job was to keep wheels of administration turning smoothly. He never rose to level of policy making whereby he might have become famous in history. He enjoyed favor of three successive kings during his long career of almost forty years and he was known to numerous high officials and to a legion of lesser public servants in England and colonies. As clerk and then secretary of Lords of Trade and Plantations, as auditor general, as secretary at war, and in other capacities he was a hard worker, doing more of routine than a good administrator should. He was efficient cold Mr. Blathwayt, the Elephant, as one of his assistants dubbed him,2 who set pace for his underlings and yet was solicitous of their advancement. His portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller reveals a comfortable, portly person with an air of smugness and an eager glint in his eyeY Since he knew limitations of his political and social position, it must have pleased him immensely to sit for Sir Godfrey, who painted King William III and many of his brother monarchs. Blathwayt guarded carefully his own worldly goods, as he did His Majesty's interests; he married well and lived in retirement during his last years at Dyrham Park, his late wife's estate in Gloucester. The years of Blathwayt's public service span period which marks evolution of old colonial system under Lords of Trade and Plantations, i675-i696, followed by Board of Trade, of which he was a member. The first secretary of Lords of Trade was Blathwayt's mentor and friend, Sir Robert Southwell. After his retirement in De

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