s in Jamaica, New
England, Virginia, Antigua, Somers Islands, Newfoundland, and Nevis,
regarding the transporting of horses, mining of saltpeter, payments of
salaries, indemnities, and trade, and regarding personal claims, such as
those of Lord Baltimore, William Franklin, De La Tour, and others, were
referred to committees composed of from two to eight members of the
Council, whose services in this particular ended with the presentation
of their report. Sometimes a question would be referred to the whole
Council or to a "committee," with the names unspecified, or to "any
three of the Council." The burden of serving upon these occasional
committees fell upon a comparatively small number of councillors:
Ashley, Montague, Strickland, Wolseley, Fiennes, Jones, Sydenham, Lisle,
and Mulgrave. One or more of these names appear on the list of every
special committee appointed except that to which Lord Baltimore's case
was referred, consisting of the sergeants-at-law, Lords Whitelocke and
Widdrington. During 1654 the committees for Virginia and Barbadoes, to
which were referred other colonial matters, came to be known as the
"committee for plantations," but it is doubtful if this was deemed in
any sense a standing committee.

When the affairs of Jamaica became exigent after the summer of 1655
a committee of the Council was appointed to carry out the terms of
Cromwell's proclamation and to report the needs of the colony. Though
the membership was generally changed this committee continued to be
reappointed as one question after another arose which demanded the
attention of the Council. It reported on the equipment of tools,
clothing, medicaments and other necessaries, on the transporting of
persons from Ireland and colonies in America, on the distribution of
lands in the island, and on various matters presented to the Council
in letters and petitions from officers and others there or in England.
After 1656 this committee, which continued to exist certainly until
the middle of April, 1660, played a more or less secondary part, doing
little more than consider the various colonial matters, whether relating
to Jamaica or to other colonies, that were taken up by the select or
outside committee appointed by Cromwell in 1656.

The employment of expert advisers in the Jamaica business was rendered
necessary by the financial questions involved, and in December Robert
Bowes, Francis Hodges and Richard Creed were called upon to assist a