Captured ship: La Sainte Croix of Bayonne (master Pierre Dufourg or Dufourq). History:...

Captured ship: La Sainte Croix of Bayonne (master Pierre Dufourg or Dufourq).

History: a French merchant ship (snow, 210 tons, 1 swivel gun in the hold, 12 seamen, and 1 passenger, Bernard Darcodag otherwise Darcodoy or Durcodoq), bound from Martinique to Bordeaux, laden with sugar, coffee, cocoa and contraband tobacco; taken on 7 March 1778 in latitude 41°30'N, longitude 24°W from Paris by the privateer Bess of Liverpool (Richard Perrey commanding), and brought first into Castlehaven, Ireland, and then into Liverpool.

The owners of the ship were Sampson Dufourg (the master's father) and Jean Lorrient, both of Saint-Jean-de-Luz.

Court Papers:

• [CP 1-CP 3]: three examinations of Pierre Dufourg of St Jean de Luz, Bertie or Betri Richards and William Corran;
• [CP 4]: commissioners' affidavit (added from HCA 32/260/8 on 21 Aug 2023);
• [CP 5]: another copy of the three examinations above [CP 1-CP 3]"extracted from the Registry"
• [CP 6]: attestations as to papers by the prize master William Corran (first lieutenant of the Bess of Liverpool , Joshua Cobham (Liverpool merchant's clerk or book-keeper) and Gill Slater (Liverpool merchant and part-owner of the Bess) describing the circumstances of the capture: the Bess posed as an American ship and the cargo of American tobacco was discovered; the prize was forced by bad weather into Castlehaven, where they were persuaded to take out a cause in the Irish High Court of Admiralty. To that end, the papers were numbered JC 1 to JC 269 (JC for Joshua Cobham) tied in a sealed bundle and taken to Dublin by Cobham, only to find the ship had sailed on to Liverpool, so he took the papers to England and delivered them to the High Court of Admiralty in London;
• [CP 7]: attestation and claim for the ship and cargo by her French owners, 29 July 1778;
• [CP 8]: commission of appraisement;
• [CP 9-CP 10]: inventory, appraisement and sale;
• [CP 11-CP 12]: expenses incurred by the captors, with receipts numbered [CP 12/1-CP 12/30] (no [CP 12]);
• [CP 13-CP 13A]: legal bills and expenses;
• [CP 14]: abstract and translation of those ships papers annexed: nos. 60, 158, 162-176, 182, 223, 226, 247;
• [CP 15]: another copy of the abstract and translation above [CP 14]"extracted from the Registry".

Ship's papers were numbered JC 1-269 by Joshua Cobham without regard to their status as seized mail-in-transit, seized personal papers including collections of letters received, and other papers including ships papers, and consequently these three classes of material are here jumbled together. The ships papers together with some bills of lading were then selected for use as evidence and filed with the court papers; these are the papers prefixed SP below.

Ships Papers abstracted and translated:

• SP 60B, SP 164-SP 176, SP 182, SP 247: bills of lading.
• SP 158: supplement to the cargo - tobacco (the second cargo manifest mentioned in Dufourg's examination).
• SP 162: cargo manifest.
• SP 163: passport.
• SP 223: charter party?
• SP 226: master's instructions.

Mail-in-Transit and other papers added from HCA 30/278 and HCA 30/302 in October 2023. Some mail is from Boston, most from Martinique, mostly in French, eight in Basque, two packets and some letters in English:

• nos. 1 to 154, excluding those bundled with the abstract and translations (above) and excluding missing items 21, 89, 145. Includes:-
  • nos. 10, 74, 85, 94, 106, 136, 142 and 150 are written in the Basque language;
  • nos. 25, 38, 53, 154: to Capt Dufourq at Martinique;
  • no. 29: to Silas Deane in Paris;
  • no. 149: has a freemason's seal of Jean Sargenton.

Ships Papers and Master's Papers, and more Mail in Transit (no. 160) added from HCA 30/278 and HCA 30/302 in October 2023:

• nos. 155 to 269, excluding those bundled with the abstract and translations (above) and excluding missing items 180, 205, 224-225, 231, 234-236, 239-240. Includes:-
  • no. 155: notebook of victuals;
  • no. 156: journal of Martin Dufourg, second in command, on the return voyage from Martinique, 2 February to 6 March 1778;
  • no. 157: muster;
  • no. 159: clearance;
  • no. 202: list of victuals for the crew;
  • no. 269: master's log.

Papers and Mail not numbered by the court or which have lost their numbers, now numbered [270]-[284]. The provenance of a few of these is doubtful, but most are clearly from this ship.