British New York Vice-Admiralty Court. Captured ship: Molly of Maryland (original...

British New York Vice-Admiralty Court.

Captured ship: Molly of Maryland (original master Wiiliam Gosnold or Daniel Lawrence, then Isaac Hudson, an American prize master Moran, British prize master James Ridley).

Capture history: an American merchant ship (ship, 300 or 400 tons, 12 or 16 men, original owner Isaac Hudson of Baltimore) bound from Baltimore, Maryland colourably to to Falmouth, England but actually to Cadiz, laden with wheat and flour insured by Congress; taken on 9 March 1776 in the Chesapeake Bay by two armed tenders of HMS Liverpool, retaken on 10 March 1776 by the American privateer Defence (commander Nicholson) and returned to Baltimore; sailed again on 23 March 1776 and was taken on 3 April 1776 in the Chesapeake Bay by two armed vessels commissioned [as loyalist privateers] by Lord Dunmore [Governor of Virginia], taken into Norfolk and detained until August 1776 when Ridley, previously the mate, was given the command and despatched by Lord Dunmore to Bermuda, to deliver her cargo to HM forces and to get her condemned in the Vice-Admiralty Court of Bermuda; the Molly was retaken on this voyage on 23 August 1776 by the 'rebel privateer', otherwise the Continental Navy warship Andrew Doria and sent in for America, and was finally retaken [for the fifth time] on 30 August 1776 about 60 leagues E of New York in latitude 30°50'N, longitude 66°W 'of Land's End' by the British merchant brigantine (without a commission) Favourite Betsey (George Moore master), and brought into HM fleet off New York. [See HCA 42/139/5 for an appeal]

Intended voyage: from the United States to Spain.

Court papers numbered CP 1-18-

• [CP 1]: libel in Advocate General on behalf of the King v The ship Molly [droits], 17 September 1777;
• [CP 2]: affidavit of papers (numbered 1-4) by both George Moore master of the Favourite Betsy and James Ridley late master of the Molly, 6 November 1777;
• [CP 3]: deposition of George Mayo or Mayes of Suffolk, mate of the Molly from November 1775 until April 1776 when he entered the crew of HMS Liverpool, 13 December 1777;
• [CP 4]: deposition of James Ridley of London, 18 December 1777;
• [CP 5]: detailed accounts of sale of the cargo on 11 September 1776 by order of Admiral Howe, Commander in Chief: 14,200 bushels of wheat were sold to Daniel Charmier, HM Commissary General, for £5,680, and small amounts 'little better than dung' sold to various naval captains [the wheat had been loaded in November 1775]; net proceeds £ 5,074 17 s 1d, 16 January 1778 ;
• [CP 6]: accounts of sale of the ship, net proceeds £ 1,165 2s 7d, 17 January 1778;
• [CP 7]: wrapper for vouchers for disbursements on account of the cargo of the ship Molly by George Cherry;
• [CP 8-CP 18]: detailed accounts of payments for unloading etc of the Molly, repairs, wages to named men, drawing up depositions, etc, etc.

Ship's Papers numbered SP 1-4 (1-2 colonial Maryland papers):-

• SP 2: ship's register, owner Isaac Hudson, Annapolis, Province of Maryland, 3 February 1776;
• SP 2: clearance certificate for the Molly (master William Gosnold) and for 12,000 bushels of wheat and 800 barrels of flour bound for Falmouth, England, Annapolis, 3 February 1776;
• SP 3: orders to Captain Ridley from the Earl of Dunmore and Captain Andrew Snape Hammond, 31 July 1776;
• SP 4: orders from Nicholas Biddle, captain of the Andrew Doria to William Moran, to take her into Dartmouth, Providence or Boston or to any other port of safety in the United States, and to seek out the agent there; and not allow the crew to behave with disrespect to the women on board, 23 August 1776.

[Papers previously wrongly identified as Court papers: 1-7; Ship's papers: 8-12 (large pencil numbers): other papers once numbered 48 to 60 added from HCA 49/91. All sorted and renumbered in 2025]. Appeal papers are in HCA 42/139/5