High Court of Admiralty. Captured ship: Active (master Richard Bishop, an American...

High Court of Admiralty.

Captured ship: Active (master Richard Bishop, an American subject of King George).

Capture history: an English merchant ship (brigantine, 80 tons, 7 men including 3 Americans, 2 passengers) bound from Ostend, Austrian Netherlands to St Eustatius, laden with blankets, coarse woollen cloths, Irish linen, thread, handkerchiefs, buttons, buckles, knives, three chests of medicinal drugs and surgical instruments from Apothecaries Hall, London, and salt [thought to be warlike stores intended for the American forces]; seized at anchor as droits of the Admiralty on 18 November 1778 in Cowes harbour, Isle of Wight by William Arnold, Collector of Customs at Cowes, because of the embargo.

Intended voyage: from the Austrian Netherlands to the Caribbean Islands.

Court papers numbered CP 1-32:-

• [CP 1]: claim of William Sewell, mariner of Shacklewell, Middlesex, owner of the Active, 26 February 1779;
• [CP 2]: corrected claim of William Sewell, 22 March 1779;
• [CP 3]: attestation as to papers (numbered 1-3) by William Arnold, 17 May 1779;
• [CP 4]: standing interrogatories;
• [CP 5]: three depositions taken at Portsmouth, of Richard Bishop of Lower Marlborough, Maryland, John Jarman mate of Providence, Rhode Island and George Smith of Nantucket, commissioner's affidavit, and attestation that no further ship's papers were produced, and all papers had been delivered previously, 28 May 1779;
• [CP 6] translations of ship's papers, from Low Dutch, 9 June 1779;
• [CP 7]: claim by Edward Hague merchant of London, on behalf of Levin Baer of Ostend for the whole cargo, 12 June 1779;
• [CP 8]: joint affidavit of William Sewell and Richard Bishop, dated 11 July 1779, that Sewell bought the Active from Solomon Townsend on 18 May 1778 for £500, as shown by the exhibit marked A; that exhibit B is the register for the ship; that exhibit C is the receipt for lighthouse fees; that exhibit D is a letter of recommendation in Dutch from the owner of the cargo to gentlemen in St Eustatius; and that exhibit E is the clearance from Ostend, and that all these papers [now SP A-SP E] were shown to William Arnold when he seized the ship in 1778, but that Arnold only took the three other ships [now SP 1-SP 3];
• [CP 9]: translations from Dutch and French of papers D and E, 14 July 1779;
• [CP 10-CP 12]: three attestations by John Andrewes, William Arnold and John Miller, all of Cowes, that Bishop had not produced the papers marked A-E on the seizure of the Active by Arnold, 18 August 1779;
• [CP 13]: affidavit of John Jarman mate, of Whitechapel, that the paper marked B had been shown to Arnold, who said he only wanted the bills of lading, 15 September 1779;
• [CP 14]: affidavit of William Sewell and Richard Bishop, that Arnold had refused to see the register and bill of sale of the ship, proving her to be British property, 17 September 1779;
• [CP 15-CP 16]: further affidavits of John Miller, surveyor of Customs at Cowes, and William Arnold, collector of Customs at Cowes, that the judge of the HCA had approved their actions on 5 July 1779 [in an interlocutory decree]; that Bishop sometimes claimed detailed knowledge of the cargo, and sometimes claimed ignorance; that Richard Bishop and John Jarman stayed on board the vessel until 31 July 1779, and that the cargo stayed under the joint possession of the master and Arnold to prevent embezzlement, 28 September 1779;
• [CP 17]: affidavit of Richard Bishop about his knowledge of the cargo, 5 October 1779;
• [CP 18]: affidavit of William Sewell that the ship was truly bound from Ostend to St Eustatius, as shown by exhibits A, C and D, 6 November 1779;
• [CP 19]: commission of appraisement and sale (being condemned as droits of the Admiralty), the proceeds to be brought into court, 13 November 1779;
• [CP 20]: detailed inventory and appraisement of the cargo at Cowes, 1-7 January 1780;
• [CP 21]: particulars of sale of the cargo, total £876 before expenses;
• [CP 22]: account of costs for the sale, £269 1s 4d;
• [CP 23-CP 32]: detailed costs of commissioners and customs officers at Cowes, etc.

[Decision: condemned as droits of the Admiralty, 13 November 1779].

Ship's Papers numbered SP 1-3, and SP A-E:-

• SP 1: official ship's paper, Ostend;
• SP 2-SP 3: bill of lading;
• SP A: deed of purchase of the Active;
• SP B: registration of the Active;
• SP C: receipt for lighthouse fees for the three North and South Foreland lighthouses;
• SP D: letter of recommendation to Messrs Bize & Fabry, St Eustatius;
• SP E: clearance from Ostend.

[Papers previously wrongly identified as Court papers: 1-28; Ship's papers: 29-36 (large pencil numbers): sorted and renumbered in 2024]/ More court papers were added from HCA 32/261/2 in 2024, where they had been misfiled.

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