High Court of Admiralty. Captured ship: Fanny of Beverly, Massachusetts (master Richard...

High Court of Admiralty.

Captured ship: Fanny of Beverly, Massachusetts (master Richard Ober or Obear).

History: an American merchant ship (snow, 100 tons, 4 guns, 12 men) bound from Virginia to Bordeaux, laden with tobacco, flour, sassafras; taken on 30 September 1778 in latitude 45°14'N, longitude 9°W by HMS Pelican (Henry Lloyd commanding), and brought into Lisbon.

Court papers numbered CP 1-3:-

• [CP 1]: attestation as to papers (numbered 1-24) brought in by Henry Lloyd, Lisbon, 14 October 1778;
• [CP 2]: three depositions of Richard Ober, Richard Ober junior and George Stevens, of Beverly, Masachusetts, taken at the Consul General's Office, Lisbon, 19 October 1778;
• [CP 3]: covering letter from John Hort, [consul], 19 October 1778,

Ship's Papers, with a master's archive, numbered SP 1-37:-

• SP 1: letter book of Richard Ober, containing detailed letters to or from Stephen Higginson, and James and Adam Hunter [owners?], March-July 1778;
• SP 2: journal or logbook kept by Richard Ober, first on the schooner William (master William Russell, January 1776), and later on the snow Fanny, July-28 September 1778;
• SP 3: account book; receipts, disbursements, payments and loans to crew (loose sheet at back);
• SP 4: empty envelope;
• SP 5: invoice of cargo, Matamkin Folly Landing [Metompkin], Virginia, 26 June 1778;
• SP 6: bill of lading;
• SP 7: ship's register, Salem, Massachusetts;
• SP 8: account of boatswain's stores;
• SP 9: manifest;
• SP 10: invoice of cargo, Matamkin River, 17 June 1778;
• SP 11: accounts;
• SP 12: crew list and agreement
• SP 13: [wanting];
• SP 14: copy letter to Stephen Higginson, Matamkin, 29 July 1778;
• SP 15-SP 16: business notes;
• SP 17: clearance from Port Accomack;
• SP 18: account;
• SP 19: personal letter from Joanna Ober, Beverly, to her husband Captain Richard Ober in the snow Jenny, at"Matmankin", Virginia on the eastern shore, 3 June 1778: she mentions the many friends who have been taken, inoculation for smallpox, and her worry in case they never see each other again;
• SP 20: business note;
• SP 21: detailed list of several personal commissions from Beverly, e.g. Joanna Ober for a gold necklace, perhaps enclosed in SP 19 or SP 22;
• SP 22: letter from John Dyer, Beverley, to Captain Ober; please lay out this money as your own, 11 February 1778;
• SP 23: [wanting]
• SP 24: brief notes of money owed;
• SP 25-SP 36: receipts for tobacco shipped from various warehouses on the Rappahanock River to various ships (including this one), April-June 1778.
• SP 37: sums.

[Papers previously wrongly identified as Court papers: 1-2; Ship's papers: 3-37 (large pencil numbers): sorted and renumbered in 2025].