British New York Vice-Admiralty Court. Captured ship: Liberty of Baltimore or of...

HCA 32/389/14

1778 Nov 1

British New York Vice-Admiralty Court.

Captured ship: Liberty of Baltimore or of Virginia (master Francis Reade).

Capture history: an American merchant ship (schooner) (60 tons, 12 men) bound from Bordeaux to Virginia, laden with salt, wine, brandy, tea and dry goods; taken on 1 November 1778 in latitude 37°N off Cape Henry, Virginia, by the privateer sloop Harlequin (John Stout commanding) and brought into New York. The owners of the ship were Messrs Norton & Beall and Nicholas Brown Seabrook of Williamsburg, Virginia, who had previously been her master.

Intended voyage: from France to the United States.

Court Papers numbered CP 1-5:-

• [CP 1]: affidavit of papers brought in by the prize master John Myer, second lieutenant, 13 November 1778;
• [CP 2]: libel in Stout v The schooner Liberty, 13 November 1778;
• [CP 3]: monition, 13 November 1778.
• [CP 4-CP 5]: depositions of Francis Reade and John Lely, seaman, 19 November 1778.

[Decision: condemned, if no response to the monition by [11] December 1778].

Ships Papers numbered SP 1-67:-

• SP 1: French passport for the ship, endorsed (erroneously) 'papers prove to the schooner Harlequin, sent in the 8th October 1778' [i.e. before the capture];
• SP 2: French Customs certificate for duty paid on Bordeaux wine, 4 September 1778;
• SP 3: French tonnage certificate, 15 September 1778;
• SP 4: clearance from South Quay, Roanoke, North Carolina, 8 May 1778;
• SP 5: ship registry certificate, South Quay, June 1778;
• SP 6-SP 6A: accounts of payments for provisions and personal goods, December 1777-March 1778;
• SP 7-SP 11: bills of lading, in French and English;
• SP 12: list of sails;
• SP 13: details of some 'barraques' i.e. huts, with details of windows, furniture etc;
• SP 14: notebook (mostly empty) of a Frenchman learning English;
• SP 15-SP 32: articles of agreement and papers relating to wages of named crewmen (and more): Francis Reade, captain; Eliazer Hawkins, chief mate; Hutchinson, second mate; John White, Patrick Burn, Alexander Tomson, Richard Reeves, John Lely, Fredrick Aps, Samuel Hansey and Jack Lucy, all seaman; Benjamin Israel, cook.
• SP 33-SP 55: master's disbursements;
• SP 56-SP 63: master's instructions from the owners, and personal archive (letters received by him);
• SP 64-SP 65: a cover annotated '10 lettres écrites par mon père à mon second frère, pendant son séjour à Bordeaux': only one letter here seems to fit that description: a letter to M Dutith in Bordeaux, from Dutith, dated 23 August 1778;
• SP 66: letter in French dated 22 avril 1778, possibly a draft;
• SP 67: letter in English to 'Capt Seabruke', the previous master of the Liberty, containing detailed sailing directions for North Carolina, probably owner's instructions passed on to the new master Francis Reade.

Mail-in-Transit numbered MT 1-4:

• MT 1-MT 1A: a cover;"Inclosed is a Letter for General de Lafayette Recommended by James Sauvage to Capn Reade Particular Care" and 1A, an affectionate letter in French to Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, unsigned but written by his wife Marie Adrienne Françoise de Noailles, Marquise de La Fayette, and referring to their daughter Anastasie, dated at Bordeaux, 9 September 1778 and addressed to Monsieur le Marquis de la Fayette General Majer au service del etas unis de lamerique A l'armée, with seal;
• MT 2-MT 2A: letter in English to Norton & Beall in Williamsburg, Virginia, enclosing invoice and bill of lading for salt on board the Liberty. The master's copy of this bill of lading is SP 11;
• MT 3-MT 3C: small packet of three family letters in French to Monsieur Dulanaut or Dulanot, 'capitaine de navire prés Boston, a Edonton' [meaning Edenton, North Carolina], two from Bordeaux 23 August 1778, enclosing an earlier one from Bajien Laporte at Edenton, Carolina, 6 May 1778, addressed to his uncle de Guimard in Paris;
• MT 4: letter in English by an unnamed American patriot in Europe to George Davis at Mrs [Messrs?] Stills in Trentown [Trenton], New Jersey, unsigned but dated Paris 1 July 1778; the writer is moving on to Nantes and Bordeaux. Describes his first arriving in Nantes and going on a journey through England, Ireland and Scotland. Was present when the American plenipotentiaries [Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane and Arthur Lee] were presented at the French court on 20 March 1778. Reports the British no longer expect victory over the Americans and hope for peace, and describes alarm in Britain over expected raids from American privateers. Recommends Davis to approach the agents of the United States, Mr John Bondfield in Bordeaux and Mr Schweighauser in Nantes, if he wishes to trade with France. [From the website Founders Online: George Davis (died c.1799) was born in Donegal, Ireland, and came to America before 1771.]

[Papers previously wrongly identified as Court papers: 1-45; Ship's papers 5-85 (large pencil numbers): sorted and renumbered in 2024.

HCA 32/389/14/1-85

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