King’s Warrant, signed ‘George R’ by the King uper left, countersigned by the Earl of Bute (”Bute”) as Prime Minister, also by Lord North and Francis Dashwood, addressed to Henry Fox, Paymaster General, authorising payments of £2524 to George Colebrooke and others “for Provisions issued to Mr. Robert Leake, Commissary of Stores and Provisions in North America in the months of August & October 1762 for the use of Our Forces in different Garrisons there, and also for damag’d Provisions”. Signed overleaf by George Colebrooke and other beneficiaries by GEORGE III, the 3rd Earl of Bute and Lord North. King’s Warrant, 1763

Given at Our Court at St James’s, 30 March 1763. 1 page 14 x 9 inches, with the integral blank leaf, in good condition, a few minor repairs and tears at centre fold, horizontal folds. King George III (reigned 1760-1820). John Stuart (1713-1792), 3rd Earl of Bute, Prime Minister or First Lord of the Treasury (26 May 1762 – 8 April 1763), and one of the rarest of Prime Minister autographs. He was a powerful secretary of state from 1761 and succeeded Newcastle as First Lord of the Treasury in May 1762. Frederick North (1732-92), known as Lord North, was Prime Minister from 1770-1782 and was largely responsible for the measures which led to the loss of America. Sir George Colebrooke (1729-1809) held two lucrative government contracts, one for remitting money to the British forces in the American colonies and the other for victualling the troops there.