No 41. Captured ship: St Katherine of Bruges, otherwise Sint Catalina , Santa Catalina...

No 41.

Captured ship: St Katherine of Bruges, otherwise Sint Catalina, Santa Catalina (master Jan de Vogelaer otherwise John Fowler, Vooghelaer).

History: [a Flemish (Spanish Netherlands) merchant ship (hooker, 80 tons, ? guns, 6 men, 3 Dutch passengers (the commander and lieutenant of the privateer Flushing [Vlissingen] of Flushing, and the master of the privateer Kittle [Kettle, Ketel] of Flushing), 7 English passengers (5 men and 2 women), built at Vlaardingen near Rotterdam, bought at Rotterdam in November 1671), bound from Bilbao to Ostend and Bruges Amsterdam, laden with iron bars, Spanish wool, sea coal, and 52 sealed bags of silver money stowed under the ship's bread, plus some plate sewn up in canvas; taken [after 13/23 February and before 24 February/6 March] 1672/1673 location by the privateer Dover Castle (Henry Sturt commanding), and brought first into Dover, then later to London. Two days before the ship was taken, she was stopped and cleared by a French warship. At that time, some of the English passengers saw the Dutch privateer lieutenant passenger throw a packet of papers into the sea, weighted with hand spikes. The Dutch privateer commander aboard as a passenger was Adrian Williamson of Flushing, otherwise Aaert Willemsen. The owner of the privateer Dover Castle was John Strode, Lieutenant-Governor of Dover Castle. ]

Allegation, 14 April 1673, of Henry Sturte, commander of privateer Dover Castle, against ship St Catherine [Katherine] of Bruges, and against George van Bistoe and other owners, and against John Stalpert and others concerned in the silver aboard.

Exmainations on behalf of Sturte: witnesses Adrian Williamson, John Rosse and Martin Adrienson were examined on behalf of Sturte: they came to the ship a few days before the ship left Bilbao and asked Vogelaer if they could be passengers for Ostend (Adrienson had lost his ship), but he was unwilling in public. (All 3 were strangers to Vogelaer.)

Leaving Bilbao at end February/start March (NS), the 3 named came aboard in a boat with 2 small chests and persuaded the master to take them as passengers, he stipulating they should have no papers or letters with them. They said they did not, Vogelaer believed them and received them as passengers.

Two days before capture (that is, sometime 11/21 Feb-22 Feb/4 Mar 1673), they met a French warship who commanded the master aboard with his papers. But on first seeing the warship, Vogelaer, fearing for the silver, tore 11 papers out of his ship's book, but 'being then in some hast and disorder', only gave 8 of these to Frederick Williamson his cook to hide. The 3 remaining torn-out papers were taken by Sturte after capture. If John Rosse threw any letters or papers overboard this was before, on seeing the French warship; these were not the ship's papers. Vogelaer knew nothing of these documents and did not see any thrown overboard.

None of the 3 named passengers revealed to anyone else aboard that they had any letters or papers.

In the examinations, Patrick Rositer deposed that the lieutenant (Rosse) brought the papers out of the master's cabin, threw them overboard and that Vogelaer was on deck and saw this. To the contrary, (Rosse) says that the master never knew that any such documents were aboard. The 3 named passengers did not tell Vogelaer that they had silver aboard until 5 days after they left Bilbao. Adrian Williamson also had a lee sail and a top sail aboard. Justice [Justo] Smith, John Stalpert (otherwise Staelpert) and the other owners are subjects of Spain.

Extra information:-

• See HCA 24/147/42, in this file.
• See the entry for HCA 32/1949/17 for more details and cross-references.
• Much detail is given in IND 1/9012 ff.46v-47.