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High Court of Admiralty. Captured ship: Charming Betsey of Charleston, formerly Mermaid...
Catalogue reference: HCA 32/292/4
What’s it about?
This record is about the High Court of Admiralty. Captured ship: Charming Betsey of Charleston, formerly Mermaid... dating from 1777 Oct 19 in the series High Court of Admiralty: Prize Court: Prize Papers. It is held at The National Archives, Kew.
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Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- HCA 32/292/4
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Date (When the record was created)
- 1777 Oct 19
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Description (What the record is about)
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High Court of Admiralty.
Captured ship: Charming Betsey of Charleston, formerly Mermaid (master Ephraim Gardner).
Capture history: an American merchant ship (brigantine, 120 tons, 7 crew and 1 passenger) bound from Charleston, South Carolina to Bordeaux, laden with rice and oak staves; taken on 19 October 1777 about 15 leagues W of Cape Finisterre by HMS Mars (George Falconer commanding), and brought into Portsmouth.
Intended voyage: from the United States to France.
Court papers numbered CP 1-5:-
- [CP 1]: attestation as to papers (numbered 1-2) brought in by Falconer (signed with a mark,"being lame in the right hand", 4 November 1777;
- [CP 2]: standing interrogatories;
- [CP 3]: three depositions of Ephraim Gardner, William Gardner and Reuben Colman, all of Nantucket, Massachusetts, commissioners' affidavit, and covering letter, taken at Portsmouth, 4 November 1777;
- [CP 4]: attestation as to the perishing nature of the cargo, by William Caley, lieutenant of HMS Mars, prize master, who brought the prize into the River Thames, pumping every hour and quantities of rice appearing in the pumped water, 13 November 1777;
- [CP 5]: allegation, 2 December 1777;
Ship's Papers numbered SP 1-2 (South Carolina papers):-
- SP 1: clearance;
- SP 2: ship's register.
[Papers previously wrongly identified as Court papers: 1-12; Ship's papers: 13-14 (large pencil numbers): sorted and renumbered in 2025].
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Former department reference (Former identifier given by the originating creator)
- HCA 32/292/4/1-14
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
- English
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Closure status (Whether the record is ‘open’ (available to the public) or ‘closed’ (not available due to a legal exemption))
- Open Document, Open Description
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Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C13505238/
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Series information
HCA 32
High Court of Admiralty: Prize Court: Prize Papers
See the series level description for more information about this record.
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High Court of Admiralty. Captured ship: Charming Betsey of Charleston, formerly Mermaid...
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