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 a passenger, Bernard Darcodag, 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.

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;
• [CP 5]: copy of examinations [CP 1-CP 3]"extracted from the Registry"
• [CP 6]: attestations as to papers by the prize master William Corran, Joshua Cobham (Liverpool merchant's clerk or book-keeper) and Gill Slater (Liverpool merchant and part-owner of the Bess): the Bess posed as an American ship, and the cargo of American tobacco was discovered; were 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 that the Sainte Croix had sailed to Liverpool, so he delivered the papers to the High Court of Admiralty in London;
• [CP 7]: attestation and claim for the ship and cargo by her owners, Sampson Dufourg (the master's father) and Jean Lorrient, of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, 29 July 1778;
• [CP 8]: commission of appraisement;
• [CP 9-CP 10]: inventory, appraisement and sale, Liverpool;
• [CP 11-CP 12]: expenses incurred by the captors, with receipts numbered [CP 12/1-CP 12/30] (no [CP 12]), Liverpool;
• [CP 13-CP 13A]: legal bills and expenses;
• [CP 14]: abstract and translation of the 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: ship's pass;
• SP 223: charter party;
• SP 226: owners instructions.

Mail-in-Transit, some from Boston, most from Martinique, numbered 1-154 [see above: 21, 89, 145 are wanting]. Includes:-

• 10, 74, 85, 94, 106, 136, 142 and 150 : eight letters in the Basque language;
• 25, 38, 53, 154: to Captain Dufourq at Martinique;
• 34A, 34B; two business letters from David H Conyngham and Archibald Gamble, respectively, at St Pierre et Miquelon, to Messrs Samuel & J Hans Delap, Bordeaux, 31 January 1778;
• 119A: business letter from Archibald Gamble, Antigua, to Messrs Alexander & Fletcher, London, 28 January 1788;
• 119B: business letter from William Patterson, St Pierre, Martinique, to Messrs Samuel & J Hans Delap, Bordeaux, 24 December 1777;
• 119C1A: business letter from William Patterson, St Pierre, Martinique, to James Lecky & J Wilson, Dublin, 23 January 1778;
• 119C1B: business letter from William Patterson, St Pierre, Martinique, to Johnson & Canning, merchants, London, 21 January 1778;
• 119C1C: business letter from H [?], St Pierre, Martinique, to James Lecky & J Wilson, Dublin, 20 September 1777;
• 119C1D: business letter from William Patterson, St Pierre, Martinique, to James Lecky & J Wilson, Dublin, 18 December 1777;
• 146: business letter from [?], St Pierre, Martinique, to George Clifford & Teysett, merchants, Amsterdam, 21 January 1778;
• 149: has a freemason's seal of Jean Sargenton
• 149B: business letter from Vance, Caldwell & Vance, Dominica, to Thomas & Rowland Hunt, merchants, London, 24 January 1778;
• 149C: business letter from Vance, Caldwell & Vance, Dominica, to William Davenport & Co, Liverpool, 24 January 1778.

Ships Papers and Master's Papers, numbered 155 to 269 [see above: 180, 205, 224-225, 231, 234-236, 239-240 are wanting]. Includes:- :

• 155: notebook of victuals;
• 156: journal of Martin Dufourg, second captain, from Martinique, 2 February to 6 March 1778;
• 157: muster roll;
• 159: clearance;
• 202: provisions list;
• 269: logbook;
• 272: letter from Jean Baptiste Larreguy, Boston, to Bernard Fourcade, Bayonne. 29 December 1777.

Nos [270]-[284]; papers not previously numbered.

(The papers not used by the court were moved here from HCA 30/278 and HCA 30/302 in 2023)