British New York Vice-Admiralty Court. Captured ship: Caledonia (master John Parrott)....

British New York Vice-Admiralty Court.

Captured ship: Caledonia (master John Parrott).

Capture history: an American merchant ship (brigantine, 120 tons, 8 men) bound from Dominica to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, laden with rum, sugar, coffee and molasses; taken on 3 May 1779 in latitude 36°N, longitude 68°W by the loyalist privateers George and Elizabeth (William van Assendelft commanding) and Black Prince (Stephen Williams commanding), and brought into New York.

Intended voyage: from the Caribbean Islands to the United States.

Court papers numbered CP 1-3:-

• [CP 1]: affidavit of papers brought in by the prize master Matthew Morgan, mariner, 12 May 1779;
• [CP 2]: deposition of John Parrott, 28 May 1779;
• [CP 3]: wrapper for mail in transit, after capture, marked 'Messrs Benjamin Davies & Co & Mr Jacob Albright, merchts New York Letters to America; Sloop George Elisabeth Capt Wm Vanassendelft'.

Ship's Papers numbered SP 1-17 (New Hampshire papers):-

• SP 1-SP 5: official ship's papers;
• SP 6-SP 17: ship's business papers.

Mail in Transit from Dominica, numbered MT 1-13, in English and French:-

• MT 1: S S Wentworth [Samuel S Wentworth] to Joshua Wentworth, War Office, Piscatagua, New Hampshire, mentioning Captain Babson's bill of lading for molasses, 15 April 1779;
• MT 2: S S Wentworth to Captain Sergent, Piscatagua, mentioning memo of articles sent by Babson, 14 April 1779:
• MT 3: S S Wentworth to Joshua Wentworth, New Hampshire, about consignment of goods and promise of more, 14 April 1779;
• MT 4: S S Wentworth to Hannah Bunbury, Piscatagua;"Capt Parrot has left with me your negro Jack for sale, I have put him at 80 dollars" [Jack, an enslaved man].... sent a hogshead of coffee by Capt Sergeant and now by Capt Parrot, 14 April 1779;
• MT 5: Isaac Warden to Joshua Wentworth, Piscatagua, sending a single terce of coffee, 10 April 1779;
• MT 6: Isaac Warden to Sarah Warden, Storrington, Connecticut; sent coffee care of Joshua Wentworth, 10 April 1779;
• MT 7: LP, [Madame Henri de Fadat] to her son [William Galvan de Bernoux, later serving with Lafayette] who is in trouble for not writing (a 7 page affectionate letter, 8 April 1779 [no envelope; related to MT 8-MT 10];
• MT 8: Louise Paulin, Charlotteville, Dominica, to her son M Galvan de Bernoux, Edenton, Virginia ..."nous somme en grand besoins, les maison tombé and ruinée"..., 22 March 1779;
• MT 9: John Sargenton, at St Pierre, Martinique, to Mme Henri De Fadat, at Roseau, Dominica; requests on behalf of her children, 13 Feb 1779;
• MT 10: Henri De Fadat to John Sargenton, waiting for letter from his youngest son, 30 January 1779 [no envelope; related to MT 7-MT 9];
• MT 11: Vance Caldwill & Vance to William Erskine, Boston, to forward inclosed to our mutual friend Mr James Caldwell of Philadelphia;
• MT 12: Adrien Lemaistre, at Roseau, to Monsieur Morriz, secretary of theAdmiralty, Philadelphia; consignment of goods, 15 April 1779;
• MT 13 : letter from R C [Caldwell] to his brother James Caldwell, Philadelphia, about business issues in general...."the trade in this island is totally knocked up"....."monstrous rate of 10 for 1 exchange"...."this place has changed so much for the worse by its change of masters," 14 April 1779 [Dominica was taken from the British by the French in 1778].

[Papers previously wrongly identified as Court papers: 1-2; Ship's papers: 3-33 (large pencil numbers): sorted and renumbered in 2025].

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