Amanda Bevan

28 November 2014

Cataloguing HCA Prize Papers & Captured Papers ORBritannia rules the waves, but does not waive the rules

The High Court of Admiralty had a Prize Court which only sat in wartime – to judge if captured ships and cargo were ‘good prize’ and could be sold

At least 10 wars between 1665 and 1817 – 75 years of war

HMS Sappho capturing the Danish naval brig Admiral Juul, 1808

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The taking of the Nuestra Senora de les Remedios by the privateers Prince Frederick, Duke and Prince George, 1746 … en route from Spain to Peru, with cargo and mail

A ship is stopped or captured …

the ship’s papers are inspected• If it is friendly or a neutral and NOT carrying

warlike stores, it may be let go

• If it is an enemy ship, or a neutral carrying warlike stores, it will be taken as a prize

The captors• collect and inspect all papers on the ship,

including mail for delivery

• search for hidden papers or evidence of status

• sail the ship to a friendly port with a prize crew

Ships logs and papers

Officers’ archives

85,000 undelivered letters

At the port• local commissioners ask a set series of questions - the

standing interrogatories

• senior members of the original crew testify as to the ship and cargo

• the prize commander testifies about the capture, and any papers taken from the ship

• the answers and the papers from the ship are sent to the High Court of Admiralty in London

At the HCA, the case began• a public notice of the

capture (monition) was displayed at the Royal Exchange

• claims to the cargo or ship were put in by any interested parties

The HCA used the captured papers

to prove the ‘national’ status of claimants [owners of cargo or ship]

o allegiance at birtho residence in an enemy state or passing through?o any strong attachment to claimed neutral abode

– where is the real domicile?

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Clear from notes and reports that the HCA judge looked very closely at evidence

What did they do with the papers?

Working papers, on which the court

based its judgement:

indexed by HCA

[HCA 32]

Other papers (including mail) which may be of use in an appeal:

not indexed by HCA

[HCA 30]

HCA 32/722Ships beginning K1793

HCA 30/752Danish1790-1801

We aim tocreate brief listing of all captured ships (HCA 32)

work out a simple but robust reference system

identify those ships carrying mail and papers, ready for future work (HCA 30)

Work done so far on HCA 32…Wars of 1775-1815: 19,000 ships briefly listed - by court number, ship and master.

Work in progress on HCA 32…War of 1756-1763: 1,886 ships: detailed draft list

War of 1739-1748: 1,788 ships: detailed listing

Previous wars: no indexes, no detail: still to do

1950s: Charles GaskoinWar of Austrian Succession7 Years War

•Created detailed descriptions.•He moved associated papers from HCA 30 into HCA 32 for these wars.•Died before completing the moves.•Volunteers are checking and labelling.

Captured ship: Le Walpole: master Julien Tanquerel (previously William Jackson).

History: French, formerly English, merchant ship, captured by the French privateer La Grande Biche; retaken by the Greyhound privateer; recaptured by French privateers and carried to Newfoundland; finally retaken by HMS Fly.

Documents: allegation; claim; examinations; ship's papers.

1745A ‘Gaskoin’ description

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Captured ship: Franciscus: master Christian Lourentzen. History: Hamburg merchant ship (from Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain) alleged to be going to Dunkirk. Documents: allegation; claims with attestations; ship's papers, translations; examinations; master's valuation of the ship; bills of lading, correspondence from Tenerife to London, Hamburg, Amsterdam, etc; miscellaneous papers; letters from English, Irish and other merchants, specimens of cloth; a printed papal bull; violin music

1744 A ‘Gaskoin’ amalgamation of HCA 32 and HCA 30

Surveying the captured letters and papers in HCA 30

[funded by the Friends of TNA]

What ship?• Context has often been lost [Danish, Dutch etc]

• Clues can lead to ship’s records in HCA 32

• Lots of technical vocabulary

• A dozen languages and counting …

HCA 30: problems• ‘inherited’ papers - loose bills of lading, private

collections of old papers, letters and ships’ logs – do not always indicate the captured ship

• papers of more than one ship in a box

• papers of one ship split among several boxes

Without a dollar in my pocketA film about a young Irishman living in Tenerife in 1744, and his

letters about his adventures, sent home to Waterford, Ireland