Laird Brothers to Her Majesty’s Foreign Office.
Sir: We have received your letter of the 4th instant, stating that Lord Russell has instructed you to request us to inform him, with as little delay as possible, on whose account and with what destination we have built the iron-clad vessels recently launched and now in course of completion at our works.
In reply, we beg to say, that although it is not usual for ship-builders to declare the names of parties for whom they are building vessels until the vessels are completed and the owners have taken possession, yet in this particular case, in consequence of the many rumors afloat, coupled with the repeated visits of Mr. Morgan, the surveyor of customs, to our works, we thought it right to ask permission of the parties on whose account we are building the vessels to give their names to the English government, in the event of such information being asked for officially in writing.
They at once granted us the permission we sought for.
We therefore beg to inform you that the firm on whose account we are building the vessels is A. Bravay & Co., and that their address is No. 6 Rue de Lòndres, Paris, and that our engagement is to deliver the vessels to them in the port of Liverpool when they are completed, according to our contract.
The time in which we expect to have the first vessel so completed is not less than one month from this date, and the second not less than six or seven weeks from this date.
We are, sir, your obedient servants,
A. H. Layard, Esq., M. P.