Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use

No usage restrictions.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the George Nelson Letter Copybook, #3720-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Purchased from Lathrop C. Harper, Inc., of New York, N.Y., September 1965.

Additional Descriptive Resources

A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Bellamy, Samuel, fl. 1784-1798.
• Charleston (S.C.)--Commerce.
• England--Commerce--United States--History--18th century.
• Lambert, Bill.
• Lambert, Francis.
• Merchants--South Carolina--History--18th century.
• Nelson, George, fl. 1784-1798.
• Philadelphia (Pa.)--Commerce.
• United States--Commerce--England--History--18th century.

George Nelson (fl. 1784-1798) was an English merchant and exporter in Charleston, S.C., and other American cities. Nelson was involved in the firms Geo. Nelson & Co. and Nelson & Bellamy. Nelson and Samuel Bellamy (fl. 1784-1798) were the American-based partners of W. C. (Bill) and Francis Lambert of London, England, engaged in selling general merchandise and exporting tobacco, rice, and other goods.

The collection includes contemporary handwritten copies of letters, 1784-1798, written by George Nelson, with a few letters received and other commercial records. The letters were written to Nelson's associates in London, W. C. (Bill) and Francis Lambert; to his partner, Samuel Bellamy, who was at various times in Philadelphia, Pa., New York, N.Y., and other cities; to South Carolinians to whom he sold goods and whose rice and other products he exported; to relatives in England; and to commercial connections in many eastern seaboard cities. From 1784 to 1796 the letters were written chiefly from Charleston (although occasionally from other places), and in 1796-1798, chiefly from Philadelphia. The volume also contains the partnership agreement between Nelson, Bellamy, and the Lamberts, and a census of the inhabitants of South Carolina as of February 1792.