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Item

British New York Vice-Admiralty Court. Captured ship: Escape (master Benjamin Wickes)....

Catalogue reference: HCA 32/323/10

What’s it about?

This record is about the British New York Vice-Admiralty Court. Captured ship: Escape (master Benjamin Wickes).... dating from 1777 Apr 14 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

Reference
HCA 32/323/10
Date
1777 Apr 14
Description

British New York Vice-Admiralty Court.

Captured ship: Escape (master Benjamin Wickes).

History: an American merchant ship (brigantine, 160 tons, 13 men) bound from Chester, Maryland to Cape Nicola Mole [Môle-Saint-Nicolas], Saint Domingue, laden with flour, lumber; taken on 14 April 1777 off North Carolina by HMS Mermaid (James Hawker commanding), and brought into New York.

Court papers numbered CP 1-2:-

  • [CP 1]: affidavit of papers (numbered 1-5) brought in by the prize master William Moore, 29 October 1777;
  • [CP 2]: libel in Hawker v The brigantine Escape and her cargo, 29 October 1777.

Ship's Papers numbered SP 1-5:-

  • SP 1: invoice of cargo;
  • SP 2: business letter from William Hemsley, owner, Chester Town, Maryland, to John Dupuy, agent, 25 March 1777, originally enclosing SP 1 and SP 4;
  • SP 3: crew list and agreement;
  • SP 4: bill of lading;
  • SP 5: clearance from Annapolis, 2 April 1777.

[Papers previously wrongly identified as Court papers: 1-2; Ship's papers: 3-8 (large pencil numbers): sorted and renumbered in 2025].

Held by
The National Archives, Kew
Former department reference
HCA 32/323/10/1-8
Legal status
Public Record(s)
Language
English
Closure status
Open Document, Open Description
Record URL
https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C13505664/

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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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Catalogue hierarchy

Over 27 million records

This record is held at The National Archives, Kew

109,109 records

Within the department: HCA

Records of the High Court of Admiralty and colonial Vice-Admiralty courts

37,247 records

Within the series: HCA 32

High Court of Admiralty: Prize Court: Prize Papers

16 records

Within the piece: HCA 32/323

Captured ships with names beginning with E. Described at item level

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British New York Vice-Admiralty Court. Captured ship: Escape (master Benjamin Wickes)....

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