High Court of Admiralty. Captured ship: Lowndes renamed from Peggy (master John Hazard,...

High Court of Admiralty.

Captured ship: Lowndes renamed from Peggy (master John Hazard, replaced by Captain John Joyner (one of the captains appointed to frigates in France) under orders of [Rawlins Lowndes] President of South Carolina).

Capture history: an American merchant ship (sloop, 120 ton, 17 seamen, John Spencer a passenger) bound from Charleston, South Carolina to Nantes, laden with indigo and rice; taken on 3 June 1778 about 4 leagues off the Lizard by a rising of 5 of the crew (in revolt against the enemy, but not brought by them into port, so droits of Admiralty), seized on 4 June 1778 by HMS Martin (Charles Chamberlayne commanding), and brought into Plymouth.

Intended voyage: from the United States to France.

Court papers, numbered:-

• [CP 1]: attestation as to papers (numbered 1-71, but 59 and 68 are wanting) brought in by Chamberlayne, 6 Jun;
• [CP 2]: 5 depositions of John Joyner (taken at pistol point while sitting on deck with Spencer), John Lindsay, John Thomas, John Spencer and Anthony Burt, commissioners' affidavit, taken at Plymouth, 6-9 June;
• [CP 3]: allegation, 7 July;
• [CP 4]: bill of Gostling, for HM Procurator General;
• [CP 5-CP 6]: commission of appraisement and return;
• [CP 7]: printed auction notice, Plymouth, value £3450, 18 Aug 1778;
• [CP 8/1-11-CP 9]; costs, accounts;
• [CP 10-CP 14]: powers of attorney for loyalist crew, 1779.

Ship's papers numbered 1-71 (all mail in transit, given in order of sender, from Charleston and April 1778 unless stated), from:-

• T Barnewell:- SP 58: [to Captain Joyner ?];
• Antoine Biseul, Beaufort:- SP 24: to his friend Miss Derante, at Mrs Robineau de Bouguenais, Nantes, 19 Mar 1778;
• Thomas Buckle:- SP 36 enclosing SP 41: to Captain Joyner;
• James Cuthbert, Beaufort:- SP 7-SP 8: to his brother Alexander Cuthbert of Castlehill, at Paris; inheritance and family;
• Dardelie:- SP 11: to Reculès de Basmarein, Raimbaux & Cie, Bordeaux;
• Captain Daniel DeSaussure, Beaufort:- SP 9: to Babut & Labouchere, Nantes; SP 10: to his cousin Isabelle De Saussure, Lausanne; SP 12: to his uncle César-François De Saussure, Lausanne, 18 Apr 1778; SP 14: to his cousin Henriette Roux, Bordeaux; SP 22: to Messrs Arnoux, Nantes; SP 26: to his friend Miss M Stevens, at Mme Hadfield, Florence, Italy, probably sent with SP 27: John Stevens to his friend Margarate Stevens [n.d.];
• Thomas Farr:- SP 16: to John Schweighauser [American Agent], Nantes enclosing SP 15: to J H Martens & Eytelwein, Amsterdam, 28 Mar; SP 20: to Babut & Labouchere, Nantes;
• Galvan:- SP 23 to Thomas De la Barberie, Paris, 29 Mar;
• Jean Louis Gervais:- SP 35: to Mrs Babut & Labouchere, Nantes, 21 Mar;
• Alexander Gillon:-SP 29 enclosing SP 28: to Nicolaas & Jacob Van Staphorst, Amsterdam; SP 30: to his sister Mrs Susannah Hoodenpijl, Rotterdam; SP 46 enclosing SP 39-40: to Chamand Freres, Nantes;
• Baron de Holtzendorff (no envelopes): SP 21, at Yorktown and SP 21a at Charleston; to his wife, on his way home, news of George Washington, Marquis de Lafayette, the January fire in Charleston;
• John Houstoun, Savannah, Georgia:- SP 65: to Benjamin Franklin, commissioner of the United States, Versailles, 10 Apr 1778;
• William Joyner:- SP 69: to his friend William Hammond; SP 70: his guardian Simon Oliver; SP 71: his sister Margaret Joyner; all in Bristol, England;
• John Laurens [aide-de-camp to George Washington]:- SP 34: Pennsylvania, to his wife [Martha Manning] Laurens, St Mary Axe, London, 9 November 1777: little time to write, ordering her not to come to America for danger of capture, however great their joint unhappiness at their separation;
• Adrien Lemaistre:- SP 13: to Doudet, Rivet de la Pitou, Nantes;
• Henri Lemoine:- SP 53: to his wife, c/o Rosse, St Malo;
• Lory & Mombard: SP 31: to Bernier & Gourlade, Lorient, 14 Mar;
• John Neufville:- SP 49: to John Lloyd, Nantes, plannned attack on HMS Galatea; enclosing SP 48: to Edward Neufville, Bristol; news of the fire, opposition to the oath of allegiance;
• M Newman [Miss Mary Newman]:- SP 56: to unknown about her debts in England [no envelope]; SP 60-SP 64: to her sister Elizabeth Southam, Marsh Gibbon, Oxfordshire (a very long letter, from a firm patriot, with Charleston and national news, reflections on the fire, the war, and roles of men and women; numbered by captor on each sheet. [Elizabeth's will of 1803 refers);
• Roche:- SP 3-SP 4: to De Rabec, director of the Compagnie des Indes, Paris; goods on L'Union;
• C L Rouxel:- SP 19: to his wife, St Malo;
• Edward Rutledge:- SP 67: to [Ralph Izard, Paris], political and plantation news (no envelope);
• J Rutledge:- SP 57, enclosing SP 50, SP 51, SP 55: to John Lloyd, Nantes;
• George Smith:- SP 25: to Babut & Labouchere, Nantes, 17 Mar;
• Roger Smith:- SP 44: instructions to John Joyner, enclosing SP 45: Alexander Gillon's instructions to John Joyner;
• Roger Smith & Alexander Gillon:- SP 47, enclosing SP 42-43, to Babut & Labouchere, Nantes
• Jean Thibaudeau, master of Jonquille:- SP 1-SP 2, SP 5: to Arnoux; SP 17-SP 18: to Massoneau; both Nantes;
• George Walton, Savannah: SP 66: to Benjamin Franklin, Versailles.

[Papers previously wrongly identified as Court papers: 1-16; Ship's papers: 17-95 (large pencil numbers): sorted and renumbered in 2025].

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