Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1 L. Blart, Les Rapports de la France et de l'Espagne après le Pacte de Famille (Paris, 1915); P. Coquelle, ‘Le Comte de Guerchy, Ambassadeur de France à Londres, 1763–1767’, Revue des Etudes Historiques, lxxiv (1908), 432–72; E. Daubigny, Choiseul et la France d'outre-mer après le Traité de Paris (Paris, 1897); F. P. Renaut, Le Pacte de Famille et la politique coloniale franco-espagnole en Amérique, 1760–1792 (Paris, 1922). 2 J. Goebel, The Struggle for the Falkland Islands (New Haven, 1927, repr. 1982). 3 Sir John Fortescue (ed), The Correspondence of George III from 1760 to December 1783 (London, 1927–8), hereafter cited as Fortescue. 4 Most historians have accepted Goebel's version of the secret promise, including the present writer (see G. W. Rice, ‘Nassau van Zuylestein, William Henry, fourth Earl of Rochford’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, xl, 260–3), but a closer reading of Rochford's correspondence with George III and the correspondence of foreign diplomats in London has led me to a different conclusion. 5 N. Tracy, ‘The Falkland Islands Crisis of 1770: Use of Naval Force’, English Historical Review, xc (1975), 40–75. 6 H. M. Scott, ‘The Importance of Bourbon Naval Reconstruction on the Strategy of Choiseul after the Seven Years’ War', International History Review, i (1979), 17–35. 7 Parliamentary History of England … to 1802 (London, 1806–20), xvi, cols. 1050 and 1132. 8 A. Valentine, Lord North (University of Oklahoma Press, 1967). 9 The King to Rochford, 6 December 1770, No. 846, in Fortescue, iii, 177–8. 10 N. Tracy, Navies, Deterrence and American Independence: Britain and Sea Power in the 1760s and 1770s (Vancouver, 1988), 69–99. 11 Tracy, Navies, 86, n.73. 12 Tracy, Navies, 88 citing Goebel, Falkland Islands, 310, 368. 13 W. Baring Pemberton, Lord North (London, 1938), 122–32; Valentine, Lord North, 208–17. 14 P. D. G. Thomas, Lord North (London, 1976). 15 M. C. Morison, ‘The Duc de Choiseul and the Invasion of England’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 3rd series (1910), 104–5. 16 P. Whiteley, Lord North, the Prime Minister Who Lost America (London, 1996), 96–101. 17 R. E. Abarca, ‘Bourbon Revanche against England: the Balance of Power, 1763–1770’ (Ph.D. thesis, University of Notre Dame, 1964). 18 Juan Lalaguna Lasala, ‘England, Spain and the Family Compact, 1763–1783’ (Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1968). 19 M.T. Hamer, ‘From the Grafton Administration to the Ministry of North, 1768–1772’ (Ph.D. thesis, Cambridge University, 1971), 203, n. 2. 20 M. M. Escott, ‘Britain's Relations with France and Spain, 1763–1771’ (Ph.D. thesis, University of Wales, 1988). 21 H. Scott, British Foreign Policy in the Age of the American Revolution (Oxford, 1990), 140–56. 22 G. W. Rice, ‘Great Britain, the Manila Ransom and the First Falklands Islands Dispute with Spain, 1766’, International History Review, ii (1980), 386–409. 23 Weymouth to Walpole, 6 July 1770 [National Archives, London], S[tate] P[apers Foreign], 78/281, fo. 13; Tracy, Navies, 47–50. 24 H. Scott, ‘Religion and Realpolitik: The Duc de Choiseul, the Bourbon Family Compact, and the Attack on the Society of Jesus, 1758–1775’, International History Review, xxv (2003), 37–62. 25 Goebel, Falkland Islands, 276–7. 26 Tracy, Navies, 52–3, citing National Archives, London, ADM 2/96, 1. 27 Scott, British Foreign Policy, 114; H. Scott, ‘Weymouth’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, liv, 747–50. 28 G. W. Rice, ‘Nassau van Zuylestein, William Henry, fourth Earl of Rochford’, in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, xl, 260–3; G. W. Rice, ‘Deceit and Distraction: Britain, France and the Corsican Crisis of 1768’, International History Review, xxxviii (2006), 287–315. On Sweden see Michael Roberts, British Diplomacy and Swedish Politics, 1758–1773 (London, 1980), chapter IX, ‘Lord Rochford and the Hat Diet’, 275–325. 29 Rochford to Conway, 11 November 1765, SP 94/253, fo. 136. 30 Scott, British Foreign Policy, 126. 31 P. D. G. Thomas, ‘North’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, xli, 89–99. 32 J. Cannon, ‘George III’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, xxi, 833–56; see also J. Black, George III: America's Last King (New Haven & London, 2006). 33 Scott, British Foreign Policy, 15–18. Peter Thomas has questioned the extent of George III's influence over American policy (‘George III and the American Revolution’, History, lxx [1985], 16–31), but Ian Christie has emphasised his role in major policy decisions, especially those involving diplomatic strategy (‘George III and the Historians: Thirty Years On’, History, lxxi [1986], 218). On Hanover and continental politics, see T. C. W. Blanning, ‘ “That Horrid Electorate” or “ma patrie germanique”? George III, Hanover and the Fürstenbund’, Historical Journal, xx (1977), 311–44, and Black, George III, 305–28. 34 Rochford to George III, 8 September 1770, Fortescue, iii, 813. 35 Weymouth to Harris, 12 September 1770, SP 94/185, fo. 329. 36 Walpole to Hertford, 8 June 1764, Horace Walpole Correspondence, ed. W.S. Lewis, xxxviii, 402. 37 H. Walpole, Memoirs of the Reign of George III, ed. G.F.R. Barker (London, 1894), iv, 129. 38 Scott, ‘Weymouth’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, liv, 749. 39 Rochford to Lords of Admiralty, 19 September 1770, SP 42/47; also in ADM 1/4128, no. 40. Tracy, Navies, astonishingly, omits this important order to augment Britain's naval armament. 40 Walpole to Weymouth, 18 September 1770, SP 78/281, fo. 140. 41 Rochford to Walpole, 22 September 1770, SP 78/281, fo. 144. 42 Rochford to Walpole, 22 September 1770, No. 24, Separate and Secret, SP 78/281, fo. 146. 43 Weymouth to Walpole, 12 September 1770, SP 78/281, fo. 127. 44 Francès to Choiseul, 21 September 1770, A[rchives] E[trangères, Paris], C[orrespondance] P[olitique], Angleterre 488, fo. 56. 45 Rochford to Denbigh, 24 September 1770, Warwick County Record Office, Denbigh Papers, CR2017/C242/9. 46 Diede to Christian VII, 25 September 1770, Danske Rigsarkiv, TKUA England B, Depecher 1770, fo. 265b. 47 Tracy, Navies, 58. 48 Grimaldi to Choiseul, 3 October 1770, AECP Espagne, 561, text in Goebel, 291–3. 49 Choiseul to Francès, 7 October 1770, AECP Angleterre, 493. 50 Rochford to George III, 29 September 1770, Fortescue, iii, No. 815. 51 George III to North, 9 November 1770, Fortescue, iii, No. 822. 52 Tracy, Navies, p. 56, citing ADM 2/1332, fo. 178. 53 Admiralty to Weymouth, 17 & 23 October 1770, SP 42/46. 54 Weymouth to Harris, 17 October 1770, No. 11, SP 94/184 (no folio number); Weymouth to Walpole, 17 October 1770, No. 26, SP 78/281, fo. 173. 55 Harris to Weymouth, 7 November 1770, No. 65, SP 94/185 (no folio number). 56 Goebel, Falkland Islands, 302–3. 57 Scott, British Foreign Policy, 147, citing Historic Manuscripts Commission, Various vi, 264. 58 Mitchell to Rochford, 17 November 1770, SP 90/89, fo. 189. 59 Diede to Christian VII, 5 October 1770, Danske Rigsarkiv, TKUA England B, Depecher 1770. 60 Goebel, Falkland Islands, 303. Text in Cobbett's Parliamentary History, xvi, col. 1030. 61 Goebel, Falkland Islands, 304. 62 C. Jones, The Great Nation: France from Louis XIV to Napoleon (London, 2003), 276. 63 Walpole to Weymouth, 17, 28, 30 October, 4, 7, 11 November 1770, SP 78/281, fos. 192, 196, 198, 200, 204, 205. 64 Weymouth to Walpole, 25 October 1770, SP 78/281, fo. 189. 65 Tracy, Falkland Islands, 57. 66 H. Walpole, Last Journals, i, 251. 67 Harcourt to Weymouth, 20 November 1770, SP 78/281, fo. 211 68 Choiseul to Francès, 15 November 1770, AECP Angleterre 494, fo. 110; P. Vaucher (ed), Recueil des Instructions données aux Ambassadeurs de France, xxv-2, Angleterre (Paris, 1965), III, 460–3. 69 Diede to Christian VII, 23 & 27 November 1770, Danske Rigsarkiv, TKUA England B, Depecher 1770, nos. 282 & 283. 70 Masserano to Grimaldi, 3 December 1770, A[rchivo] G[eneral de] S[imancas], [Spain, Estada, Inglaterra], legajo 6980, fo. 3. 71 George III to North, 28 November 1770, Fortescue, iii, no. 841. 72 Goebel, Falkland Islands, pp. 307–9, citing Masserano to Grimaldi, 4 December 1770, AGS 6976, fo. 2. 73 Scott, British Foreign Policy, p. 151 notes that Francès' letter of 3 December is missing, but his conversations with North and Rochford can be reconstructed from his later summary to Choiseul, AECP 494, fos. 311–16. 74 Diede to Christian VII, 30 November 1770, Danske Rigsarkiv, TKUA England B, Depecher 1770, no. 284. 75 Masserano to Grimaldi, 4 December 1770, AGS 6976, fo. 2, summarises Francès' reports to Masserano across 28 November–3 December 1770. 76 Tracy, Navies, pp. 61–3 citing Weymouth to Admiralty, 4 December 1770, ADM 1/4128, no. 77. 77 Rochford to George III, 8 am, 6 December 1770, Fortescue, iii, no. 842. 78 George III to Rochford, 10 am, 6 December 1770, Fortescue, iii, no. 844. 79 Rochford to the King, noon, 6 December 1770, Fortescue, iii, no. 845. 80 George III to Rochford, 10.05 pm, 6 December 1770, Fortescue, iii, no. 846. 81 Rochford's ‘Reflections’, Fortescue, iii, 178–9. 82 See Rice, ‘Great Britain, the Manila Ransom, and the first Falkland Islands Dispute with Spain’, International History Review, ii (1980), 386–409. 83 Rochford to George III, 9.15 am, 8 December 1770, Fortescue, iii, no. 848. 84 Rochford to George III, 8 and 9 December 1770, Fortescue, iii, nos. 849 & 850. 85 George III to Rochford, 10 December 1770, Fortescue, iii, no. 851. 86 Rochford to George III, 8.10 am, 10 December 1770, Fortescue, iii, no. 852. 87 George II to Rochford, 10 December 1770, Rochford to George III, 11 and 12 December 1770, Fortescue, iii, nos. 853–5. 88 Diede to Christian VII, 14 December 1770, Danske Rigsarkiv, TKUA England B, Depecher 1770, no. 288. 89 Tracy, Navies, 64. 90 Harcourt to Weymouth, 2 December 1770, SP 78/281, fo. 230. 91 Choiseul to Francès, 24 October & 8 December 1770, AECP Angleterre 488, fos. 276 and 310. 92 Choiseul to Grimaldi, 10 December 1770, AECP Espagne 561, fo. 398; Martin-Allanic, ii, 1166 for Choiseul to Ossun, 10 December 1770. 93 Francès to Choiseul, 14 December 1770, Francès to - [left blank, after the fall of Choiseul], 5 January 1771, AECP Angleterre 495. 94 Rochford to Harris, 21 December 1770, SP 94/185 [no folio number], No. 17. 95 Rochford to Harcourt, 21 December 1770, SP 78/281, fo. 253. 96 Diede to Christian VII, 21 & 25 December 1770, Danske Rigsarkiv, TKUA England B Depecher 1770. 97 Choiseul to Grimaldi, 19 December 1770, Choiseul to Ossun, 23 December 1770, AECP Espagne 561, fos. 445, 466. 98 Francès to Choiseul, 22 December 1770 [second letter], AECP Angleterre 494. 99 Goebel, Falkland Islands, p. 339; Jones, Great Nation, 277–8; Scott, British Foreign Policy, 153. 100 Text in Goebel, Falkland Islands, 341–2; Ossun to Louis XV, 2 January 1771, AECP Espagne 562, fo. 19. See also Martin-Allanic, ii, 1176–7. 101 Tracy, Navies, 53, denies that this was brinkmanship, but Rochford had pressed a dangerous situation to the limit of safety in order to win an advantage, by showing that Britain was prepared to fight if necessary. 102 Goebel, Falkland Islands, 347–8; Martin-Allanic, ii, 1185–6. 103 Horace Walpole, Memoirs, iv, 172. 104 Goebel, Falkland Islands, 348, n. 63, is wrong to allege that Grimaldi had misunderstood Harris, who had indeed been elected MP for Christchurch, Hampshire, on 20 November 1770. 105 Chatham to Calcraft, 29 December 1770: ‘War I take to be certain, be the ministry what it mat be at Versailles …’ Chatham Correspondence, iv, 64–5. 106 Masserano to Grimaldi, 5 January 1771, AGS 6980, fo. 16. Francès reported this interview in almost the same words to whoever was now in charge of foreign affairs at Versailles; AECP Angleterre 495, fo. 6. 107 Goebel, Falkland Islands, 351–2. 108 Rochford to George III, 7 January 1771, Fortescue, iii, no. 878. 109 George III to North, 13 January 1771, Fortescue, iii, no. 882. 110 Thomas, Lord North, 1976, pp. 48–50; cf. Valentine, i, 221–6. 111 George III to North, 13 January 1771, Fortescue, iii, no. 882. 112 Escott, ‘France and Spain’, 412. 113 Harcourt to Rochford, 12 January 1771, SP 78/282, fo. 27; Martin-Allanic, ii, 1187–9. 114 Goebel, Falkland Islands, 356–7. 115 Rochford to Harris, 18 January 1771, SP 94/186, no. 1. 116 Texts in Goebel, Falkland Islands, 358–60. 117 Goebel, Falkland Islands, 360–1; Martin-Allanic, ii, 1196–1200. 118 See, for example, Sarah Maza, Private Lives and Public Affairs (Berkeley & London, 1993), 156. 119 Scott, British Foreign Policy (p. 154) following Goebel, credits the secret promise to Rochford, in three places, but it is clear from the diplomatic correspondence that it came from North. 120 Masserano to Grimaldi, 9 March 1771, AGS 6980, fo. 64. 121 Martin-Allanic, ii, 1233–4. 122 Goebel, 397–8. 123 Masserano to Grimaldi, 24 April 1771, AGS 6978 (old numbering), fo. 575. 124 Goebel, 402–7. 125 M. Roberts, British Diplomacy and Swedish Politics, 1758–1773 (London, 1980), 337. 126 Goebel, Falkland Islands, 399. 127 Scott, British Foreign Policy, 272–6. 128 Scott, British Foreign Policy, 155.