Captured ship: Providence of Falmouth, otherwise Providence of Amsterdam, or Little...

Captured ship: Providence of Falmouth, otherwise Providence of Amsterdam, or Little Providence (master Richard Jones, otherwise Ricardo Juane of Amsterdam; prize master Bastiaen Fransen Elinck of Flushing, otherwise Bastyaen Eelinck).

History: an English merchant ship (30-40 tons, 6 prize crew and 4 prisoners when retaken), bound from Malaga to Topsham, laden with raisins for the owner, Bryan Rogers of Falmouth; taken about 8 pm on 4/14 December 1673 about 4-6 leagues off the Lizard by the 10-gun Dutch privateer frigate Vogel Grip [Vogel Grijp: Griffin] of Middelburg (Martyn Claessen of Flushing, otherwise Maerten Claesen, commanding) and sent for the first port in the Dutch Republic they could reach; retaken about 9-10 am on 6/16 December 1673 about 8 leagues off Lands End, by HMS Dartmouth (Edward Pinn commanding), and brought into Plymouth on 8/18 December.

In the event of meeting any Dutch warships, (especially privateers), another set of papers had been prepared by the English owners, colouring the cargo (also the lading of the previous outbound voyage to Malaga), purporting that the ship and cargo belonged to John Rombouth of Amsterdam, and that the ship was now bound for Ostend. The master also instructed the crew to say this to the Dutch captors, which they did. The master and crew also threw overboard English letters and papers a short time before capture by the Dutch, which they acknowledged to the captors.

Court Papers, numbered CP 1-13:-

• [CP 1]: standing interrogatories;
• [CP 2]: examinations at Plymouth, 9 December 1673;
• [CP 3]: cover, endorsed as for 10 ships papers shown at examination, 9 December 1673;
• [CP 4]: certificate that cargo in danger of perishing due to leaks (at Plymouth), 12 December 1673;
• [CP 5]: commission, 20 January 1673/4;
• [CP 6]: examinations at Falmouth, 1 February 1673/4, paginated 1-18;
• [CP 7]: cover endorsed as for 6 papers and as received on 24 January 1673/4;
• [CP 8]: certificate for Bryan Rogers, 12 December 1673 (numbered by the Court 1a Schedule);
• [CP 9]: bill of lading, Malaga, 10 November 1673 (numbered by the Court 2a);
• [CP 10]: copies of two letters, Malaga, 28 October 1673 and 14 November 1673 (numbered by the Court 3a);
• [CP 11]: letter, Malaga, 28 October 1673 (numbered by the Court 4a);
• [CP 12]: invoice, Malaga, 14 November 1673 (numbered by the Court 5a);
• [CP 13]: letter, Amsterdam, 15 June 1673.

State Papers, numbered SP 1-10:- all on thong, mostly a fictitious set of papers contrived for 'Providence of Amsterdam', bound from Malaga to Ostend: sequence here matches the numbering (on reverse) by the Court No 1-10:

• SP 1-2 bills;
• SP 3-4 invoice & cover letter;
• SP 5 Malaga pass, 14 Nov 1673, in Spanish;
• SP 6 letter of Johan Rombout, Amsterdam, 15 Jun 1672, in Dutch;
• SP 7 Malaga, 13 Nov 1673, in Dutch;
• SP 8 Instructions for Richart Jounes, in Dutch;
• SP 9 bill of sale for the ship, 10 August 1673;
• SP 10 privateering commission issued in the name of Willem, Prince of Orange, copy given by Maerten Claesen to Bastiaen Fransen Elinck as prize master, 14 December [1673]

Extra information:-

• See IND 1/9012, f.69: restored on payment of salvage, 10 May 1674;
• See the detailed allegation [in Pinn v The Providence ?] at HCA 24/147/52.