Transcript Cataloguing HCA Prize Papers & Captured Papers OR Britannia rules the waves, but does not waive the rules Amanda Bevan 28 November 2014

Cataloguing HCA Prize Papers & Captured Papers
OR
Britannia rules the waves, but does not waive the rules
Amanda Bevan
28 November 2014
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
3
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 birth
o 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
Other papers
(including mail)
which may be of
use in an appeal:
not indexed by
HCA
[HCA 32]
[HCA 30]
HCA 32/722
Ships beginning K
1793
HCA 30/752
Danish
1790-1801
We aim to
create 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 Gaskoin
War of Austrian Succession
7 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.
A ‘Gaskoin’ description
1745
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
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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 pocket
A film about a young Irishman living in Tenerife in 1744, and his
letters about his adventures, sent home to Waterford, Ireland