in the way of the enforcement of their commands. To have compelled every planter to substitute brick for wood in the construction of his residence would have been an imposition of the most tyrannical nature. The instruction was a nullity because it could not be put into operation. The inconvenience as well as the expense of obtaining the brick for several thousand widely separated estates would have been intolerable even if it had been practicable. Such an order at least indicates that brick was not very much used in the construction of plantation residences.[1] Secretary Kemp, writing to Secretary Windebank at this time, asserted that the people of Virginia were now showing a disposition to erect good houses, but this statement probably had its origin in his desire to make the impression on the English Government that the order to build towns, which had only recently been received, had had a marked influence in leading the planters at large to improve the architectural character of their homes.[2] It is possible that Secretary Kemp had in mind Jamestown, where some activity in building in compliance with the Act of Assembly to promote the growth of that corporation was now displayed. In this year, the Secretary had erected a brick residence there, which was described as being the most substantial private dwelling-house in the Colony.[3] It was perhaps the first structure entirely of
- ↑ Instructions to Wyatt, 1638-39, British State Papers, Colonial Entry Book, red. 79, pp. 219, 236; Sainsbury Abstracts for 1638, p. 46, Va. State Library. This order was repeated in the instructions to Berkeley, 1641. See Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. II, p. 284.
- ↑ Richard Kemp to Secretary Windebank, British State Papers, Colonial, vol. IX, No. 96; Sainsbury Abstracts for 1638, p. 7, Va. State Library.
- ↑ Letter of Governor and Council in Virginia, Jan. 18, 1639, British State Papers, Colonial, vol. X, No. 5; McDonald Papers, vol. II, p. 248, Va. State Library.
