High Court of Admiralty. Captured ship: Alexandre (master Stephen Gregory, owner...

High Court of Admiralty.

Captured ship: Alexandre (master Stephen Gregory, owner M [Pierre-Augustin] Caron de Beaumarchais).

Capture history: a French merchant ship with an American letter of marque, sailing under American colours (550-600 tons, 102 men including 2 Americans) bound from Bayonne via Bordeaux to Port au Prince, Saint Domingue [but really for America?], laden with cordage, flour, wine and other goods and merchandise; taken on 12 December 1782 near Cape Ortegal by HMS Mediator (James Luttrell commanding), and brought into Portsmouth.

Intended voyage: from France to the United States.

Court papers numbered CP 1-4:-

• [CP 1]: attestation as to papers [8 papers] brought in by James Luttrell, at Plymouth, 26 December 1782;
• [CP 2]: standing interrogatories [34 questions];
• [CP 3]: three depositions taken at Plymouth (of Stephen Gregory, Sanson Halzouet and Jean Minibielle, and commissioners' affidavit, 27 December 1782;
• [CP 4]: detailed translations of the ship's papers.

Ship's Papers numbered SP 1-8:-

• SP 1: bill of lading;
• SP 2: cargo manifest;
• SP 3: invoice of cordage;
• SP 4-SP 6: invoice, and detailed lists of china and glass goods consigned by Messrs Testart Gachet & Testart Fils;
• SP 7: invoice for drugs consigned by the same;
• SP 8: invoice for iron goods (axes, knives etc) for the account of M de Beaumarchais.

[Papers previously wrongly identified as Court papers: 1-12; Ship's papers: 13-20 (large pencil numbers): sorted and renumbered in 2024].

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