Sir.
I am directed by His Excellency Sir Henry Pottinger to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 25th of last month, in which you stated, that a seaman called Peter Sinclair then in the Merchant Seaman's Hospital had been reported fit for duty, and requested to be instructed whether he was to be discharged immediately from the Hospital, and if to be discharged, whether he was to receive the allowance of a distressed and destitute British seaman, until he could provide himself with the means of subsistence.
Your subsequent letter dated the 6th Instant stating that the above named seaman had got a birth on board a ship in the harbour has likewise been received, but His Excellency thinks it advisable to lay down the following Rules, by which you can regulate your proceedings in all future similar cases.
These Rules, with a copy of this letter will likewise be published for general information and guidance. You will of course distinctly understand, that the Rules now laid down are not in any degree to interfere with those promulgated in the Government Notification of the 16th of August last respecting the admission of seamen to the Merchant Seamen's Hospital.
I have the honour to be,
I signed
Richard Woosham
Rules regarding the discharge of destitute British Seamen from the Merchant Seaman's Hospital.
For the sake of more strictly defining these Rules, British Merchant Seamen may be considered to be of two classes, viz:
Those who may have been serving on board ships...