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Original 1791 Spanish Royal Navy administrative manuscript, written and signed at Isla de León (San Fernando, Cádiz), concerning naval officer promotions, overseas service in Havana, and unpaid salary arrears under the Ordenanzas Generales de la Armada.
This official document addresses the cases of Alférez de Fragata Juan Pérez Lazo and Alférez de Fragata Luis del Arco, junior commissioned officers whose promotions occurred while serving in the Americas. As explained in the text, their increased pay was not credited overseas, a common situation that left many officers returning to Europe as creditors of the Crown.
The matter was formally reviewed by the Contador General de Marina, Spain’s chief naval accounting authority. The document cites specific articles of the Armada’s ordinances, outlining where arrears must be paid and how currency conversion (peso fuerte vs. reales) was legally calculated between Europe and the Americas.
Dated 21 December 1791, this manuscript is a strong example of late-18th-century Spanish imperial naval administration, illustrating how the Crown managed officer pay, promotions, and transatlantic finance in the post–American Revolution era.
✒️ Transcription Highlights (Original Spanish)
“Son innumerables los objetos de la Administración que se han atendido estando en las Américas, y por no haber contado este ascenso en ellas, fueron pagados solo su anterior sueldo…”
“…regresan a Europa acreedores a crecidas cantidades vencidas en aquellos dominios…”
“…con arreglo al art. 24, título 10, tratado 6º de las Ordenanzas Generales de la Armada…”
These passages explain why promotion pay was often delayed overseas, and how naval law governed the settlement of arrears.
📚 Historical Significance
Spanish Royal Navy (Armada) administration
Havana as a major transatlantic naval and financial hub
Officer promotions and unpaid salary disputes
Explicit citation of Ordenanzas de la Armada
Bourbon-era imperial finance and bureaucracy
📐 Condition
Period laid paper with expected age toning, light ink oxidation, and minor handling wear. Manuscript remains legible, complete, and well preserved for its age.
🔍 Keywords for Search Visibility
Spanish Armada, Havana manuscript, colonial Caribbean, naval pay, military finance, 18th century Spain, Bourbon Navy, Isla de León, Cádiz manuscript
Diplomatic Transcription (Spanish)
(Quotation marks reflect the manuscript’s use of ditto marks)
“no tienen derecho
” reclamar abono algᵒ
” siendo logᵒ puedo
” decir en el particular lo
” trasladado a V.E. pᵃ qᵉ lo
” junto se departamᵗᵒ
” pueda acordar en su
” vista lo qᵉ tenga por
” conveniente.
Dios guᵉ a V.E. mᵘ
Sᵃ Ysla de Leon a
Diezᵐᵇʳᵉ 21 de 1791.
Es moᵒ
Exᵐᵒ Sᵒʳ
Eᵈᵒ S. Dᵒnᵢ de Córdoba.”
Interior / Continuation
habersele abonado
en la Havana el haber
correspondᵉᵗᵉ a un
último ascenso, me
dice lo qᵉ sigue.
” Son innumerables
” los objᵉtos de la Admᵒn
” qᵉ se han atendido es-
” estando en las Americas,
” y por no haber contado
” este ascenso en ellas,
” fueron pagados solo
” su anterior sueldo;
” son muy frecuentes
” los casos en qᵉ regresan
” a Europa acreedores
” a crecidas cantidades
” vencidas en aqᵘᵉ dominios,
” sin qᵉ por uno, ni…”
Additional Page
Exᵐᵒ Sᵒʳ
Habiendo pasado
al Contador Grᵃl de
Marina el oficio de
V.E. de 3 del corrᵗᵉ pᵃ
qᵉ me informase lo qᵉ
se le ofreciera y pareciera
en razon de la subs-
tancia qᵉ comprehendía
y restituyᵉ a V.E. adjᵒ
junta de los documentos
por graduados de Alfᵉrᵉz
de Fragata D. Juan
Pérez Lazo y D. Luis
del Arco sobre no…
Final Section
” otro motivo puedan de-
” dar de ser satisfechas
” aquí, cargandoles el
” peso fuerte por los años
” en conformidad de lo qᵉ
” expresamente prescribe
” el artᵒ 24 titᵒ 10 tratado
” 6ᵒ de las ordenanzas
” grales de la Armada;
” como por el contrario
” tienen los interesados
” en haberes vencidos en
” Europa, qᵉ se pagan
” en America, el beneficio
” de qᵉ se les considere el
” peso por cinco rs. y
” dos mᵃs con arreglo
” al artᵒ 21 del mᵒ titᵒ
” tratado; en cuya virtud
” parece qᵉ lo pedido…”
(text breaks off at the end of the image)
🧾 Plain-English Summary (What this document is about)
This is a Spanish Navy / Treasury administrative letter (1791) dealing with military pay, promotions, and currency conversion rules between Spain (Europe) and the Americas, specifically Havana.
Key points:
An officer received a promotion, but the pay increase was not counted or paid while he was in the Americas.
As a result, he was paid only his previous salary, not the higher rate.
This was not unusual, and many officers returned to Europe owed large sums of back pay.
Spanish naval regulations (Ordenanzas de la Armada) explicitly governed how arrears were paid, including:
The document cites specific articles of naval ordinances to justify:
Named officers involved:
The matter was reviewed by the Contador General de Marina and forwarded with supporting documents for higher decision.
In short:
This is a bureaucratic ruling on back pay and promotion arrears in the Spanish Navy, grounded in formal naval law, with transatlantic financial implications.
