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James Mario Matra draft correspondence, 1801-1804

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Summary

Creator:
Matra, James Mario
Abstract:
This collection is made up of 43 drafts of outgoing letters by James Mario Matra, while serving as British Consul in Tangier, Morocco, between 1801 and 1804. He wrote detailed letters to the Home Secretary and Secretary of State for War and the Colonies in London about diplomatic and trade issues, Anglo-Moroccan relations during the Peace of Amiens, ships seized by Barbary pirates or held by Sultan Mawlay Sulayman, payment negotiations and refusals, happenings in the Moroccan Court, internal consulate affairs, and relations between Morocco, European powers, and the United States. The draft letters include revisions, stricken content, and additions. Also present are English translations of a letter from Sulayman to Tangier consuls and orders to Ra'is Ibrahim Lubaris (enclosed in September 20, 1803).
Extent:
45 items
Language:
English
Authors:
Collection processed and finding aid created by Cheney J. Schopieray, December 2024

Background

Scope and Content:

This collection is made up of 43 drafts of outgoing letters by James Mario Matra, while serving as British Consul in Tangier, Morocco, between 1801 and 1804. He sent detailed letters to London about diplomatic and trade issues, Anglo-Moroccan relations during the Peace of Amiens, ships seized by Barbary pirates or held by Sultan Mawlay Sulayman, payment negotiations and refusals, happenings in the Moroccan Court, internal consulate affairs, and relations between Morocco, European powers, and the United States. The draft letters include revisions, stricken content, and additions. His recipients included Home Secretaries Thomas Pelham, 2nd Earl of Chichester (1801-1803, 26 letters, 86 pages) and Charles Yorke (1803-1804, 7 letters, 27 pages); as well as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies John Pratt, 2nd Earl Camden (ca. 1804, 9 letters, 34 pages). Also present are English translations of a letter from Mawlay Sulayman to Tangier consuls and orders to ship captain Ibrahim Lubaris (enclosed in September 20, 1803).

James Matra kept Whitehall informed of the many economic, political, and governmental issues pertinent to Tangier and Anglo-Moroccan relations. For example, the consul provided updates about a case involving Marrakesh merchants Meir Cohen Macnin and his nephew David Cohen Macnin from August 1801 to December 1802. In brief, the Macnins were assured funding by the late Governor of Mogadore to purchase trade goods in England and bring them back to Morocco. One of the Macnins stayed while the other went to England to procure the items on long credit. When the cargo-laden ships returned to North Africa, the Sultan ordered the ship master to sign for the goods at full freight cost. Once the goods were delivered, however, "the Moors" would only pay half freight. Two shipments were held in this manner, with goods estimated at 200,000 Dollars. The Macnins' finances and property were held in limbo and the Macnin in England was disallowed from returning. Finally, on December 23, 1802, Matra reported that he'd received a long answer from the Sultan, which contained a history of the case and statement that the Macnins "were not worth an ounce" until employed by the Governor of Mogadore on public monies to expand commerce with England. The Sultan did not believe that an unfamiliar Jewish merchant could secure large credit in London and so the purpose of holding/seizing the shipments was to protect what belonged to his Treasury. Matra concluded, " having no farther demands against the Jew [Macnin] he [Sulayman] pardons him he may return here & Trade, or he may remain in London & trade to the country, for his Person & Property are safe."

James Matra commented on American business and diplomacy throughout his letters. In the summer of 1803, for example, he reflected on Sulayman's "ill humour" because of the non-arrival of the American Consul (James Simpson), followed by the American seizure of the ship Tripoli on its way from Gibraltar. "Being disappointed in cruising on the Dutch, his Barks will sail with Orders to attack the American Commerce, and when they make any Prizes, the Consul will be spoken to. The Imperialists & Neapolitans, not having any connexion with this Country, will also be in danger if met with" (July 1, 1803). Two months later, Matra gave a report on the American Consul and diplomatic matters associated with the capture of an American Brig, which was then "met by a Frigate belonging to the States, who seized the Moor & his Prize; the Moorish Rais in his justification shewed his Orders from the Governor of this Place, by which it appeared that he was sent out expressly to cruise against the Americans" (September 2, 1803). An English translation of the orders to Ra'is Ibrahim Lubaris is present, enclosed in Matra's letter of September 20, 1803. The Sultan then seized an American ship unloading in Mogadore, and James Simpson was placed under guard at the American consulate. On September 20, Matra wrote to Yorke, enclosing an English translation of a letter from "Mulay Suleiman" to the consuls in Tangier, indicating that "Servant Hashash in arresting the American Consul whom he received advice of the taking our Ship, the fighter for the Islam. We neither ordered nor will we Order the Consul to be Arrested, should War ensue between Us and his Nation he shall be sent to his Country in security, both with respect to his person and property." The following month, Matra indicated that Sulayman and the Americans came to an agreement by which opposing ships would be returned with an added stipulation that Sulayman be given the American ship on the condition that it would not return to Tripoli while war ensued with the United States. The ship arrived and "Muly Suleiman for the third time has confirmed the Treaty made by the States with his Father . . . No satisfaction was given, nor none demanded for the sudden & unprovoked hostility of the Moor, nor for the violent treatment of the American Consul. Had the War continued it was the American plan to declare the whole coast blockaded, except the export of live stock for Gibraltar Spain & Portugal; had it gone to that extremity, there would have been a complete revolution in this Country in less than three months."

In addition to ongoing diplomatic and trade minutia, Matra was frustrated with challenges in his own consular home. For example, in a letter to Lord Pelham, he gave his report on a long-running struggle with Richard Mounteney Jephson, his wife Catharine Joliffe Jephson, and "Miss Jolliffe," one of Catharine's sisters. According to Matra, he and Jephson had a cordial official relationship. However, Miss Jolliffe had been staying with the Matras for around eight months, during which time they learned that she was treated with the "contempt of her Sister, & tyranny of the Husband." While James Matra was in London, the Jephsons invited themselves to visit the Matras' home in Tangier, and then argued with Henrietta Matra, disgusted her, and kept Miss Jolleffe in tears "the whole time he was here." The Danish Vice Consul made arrangements for the Jephsons to stay in a "Moorish House" until James' return. Matra indicated that Miss Jolliffe took ill, during which time her sister Catharine made no inquiries about her health. Acrimonious correspondence ensued between them until Matra resolved to safely restore Miss Jolliffe to her mother. Afterward, according to Matra, the Jephsons began entreating Miss Jolliffe against doing so, with visits, messages, and letters containing "much very illiberal abuse." At one of the visits, Mrs. Jephson gave Miss Jolliffe "the obscene Letter from her Brother" [which Matra sent to Pelham but is not present in this collection]. Matra believed that no more improper paper could be handed from one sister to another and told Mr. Jephson that no reconciliation could be made. Jephson agreed, and, to the Matras, he described Miss Jolliffe as "the most abandoned Character" and warned them "against the danger of giving our confidence to such a monster." To this, Henrietta was staggered, but Matra indicated that he defended Miss Jolliffe.

James Matra's letters cover wide range of additional subject matter, including remarks on Sulayman's brothers, Napoleon Bonaparte's ambitions in the lead-up to the War of the Third Coalition, the American blockade of Tripoli (and their refusal to grant Great Britain a pass to deliver corn to that city), antisemitism, supplying gunpowder and armaments to Sulayman, an "adventurer" who claimed to be Syrian but who Matra believed was a French spy, and other diplomatic and consular matters.

Biographical / Historical:

James Magra was born in New York to Corsican immigrants James and Elizabeth Magra, likely in 1746. He received his education in England before entering the Royal Navy in May 1761 as a "Captain's servant." After the Seven Years' War, he traveled back to New York and then served aboard multiple vessels in North American and British waters.

James Magra joined the first voyage of James Cook on July 25, 1768, sailing aboard the Endeavour until reaching New South Wales. Captain Cook suspended Magra from duty after he chopped off Cook's clerk's ears in a drunken confrontation in May 1770. On returning to England with the expedition in 1771, he gained diplomatic and secretarial positions at Tenerife (1772-1775) and Constantinople (1778-1780).

In 1775, James Magra successfully petitioned the King to "take the name and bear the Arms of Mario Matra" (in order to secure an inheritance from Corsica). In the 1780s, James Mario Matra advocated for British convicts to be transported and imprisoned at Botany Bay, New South Wales, and for the creation of a colony there to be settled by displaced American Loyalists. Although proposals for the establishment of a penal colony were approved and implemented, Matra was not appointed to a post there as he had hoped. Instead, he became consul at Tangier, Morocco, where he took up residence in 1786. He married Henrietta Maxwell in October 1793, and the couple had no children. Matra remained consul at Tangier until his death on March 29, 1806.

Acquisition Information:
2024. M-8283.1 .
Arrangement:

The collection is arranged chronologically.

Rules or Conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Contents

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PREFERRED CITATION:

James Mario Matra Draft Correspondence, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan

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Collection

James Mario Matra draft correspondence, 1801-1804
Total components 1
Last indexed 2025-06-20